Offset Printing - Web

A second-generation printing company, Addison, IL-based Fenton Press has always adopted a progressive philosophy when it comes to making decisions about the company's growth. That philosophy still holds true today. With a strong belief in the management principles of gurus like Stephen Covey and William Deming, Fenton Press President Alan Tobiason believes that human resources are his company's greatest asset, followed by its use of quality equipment and the most up-to-date technology on the market. An active force in Fenton's ISO 9000 certification, Tobiason backs up his beliefs with a commitment to training that involves leadership, as well as technical seminars. Employing a team philosophy throughout

(Editor's Note: Emporia, KS-based Didde Web Press has reinvented itself during the past two years by developing new web press models designed for the direct mail and commercial markets. In a one-on-one interview, David Thompson, president, tells us how.) PI: What's new with Didde Web Press? Thompson: Didde Web Press has a rich tradition in the industry, with more than 45 years of history and over 7,000 narrow web presses installed around the world. This represents more installations than all of our competitors combined. Over the past two years, Didde Web Press has quietly completed an entire transformation of the company, changing to high speed, variable and

BY ERIK CAGLE Shorter runs, longer runs, less waste, reduced makeready time, skilled labor shortages, increased automation—some of the biggest issues facing the commercial printers who use heatset web offset presses are also some of the oldest issues. They are issues constantly being addressed. It is a flourishing market, as some of the open web industry's manufacturing stalwarts now offer enhanced commercial models or are breaking into the heatset specialty for the first time. That gives the printer more variety of choices in both the quantity and quality departments. For the manufacturers already entrenched in the heatset web market, the quest is to answer

When it comes right down to it, savvy, educated print buyers have one sweeping requirement of their commercial printers, expressed here in no-frills vernacular: They want more for less. And, taking into consideration the expert engineering of printing presses on the market today, it's increasingly possible to give them just that. Good news for printing executives who might be poring over product literature, grappling with some tough choices. Printers shopping for web offset presses all agree on one thing: less is more. Less makeready time, less manpower and less paper waste equal more profitability. "Right now, [web printers] are looking for a

Direct cylinder imaging, variable cutoffs, gapless and mini-gap printing, pinless folding, shaftless press drives, digitally preset ink, computer-to-plate workflow and data management systems. Web press manufacturers call these technological advancements. Printers consider them survival techniques—survival of the technologically fittest. In today's highly competitive heatset web offset market, presses are being designed with high quality, high speed, folder flexibility and paper savings in mind. Manufacturers are constantly improving upon existing technologies and incorporating new automation innovations into their equipment designs. However, technology is only a tool. It's up to the printers to grow their own business, then reap whatever they sow. Statistics show two promising

PHOENIX—The people who created "Dryography" are at it again. Imperial Litho & Dryography, based here, says it is the first printer in the United States to offer commercially available 300-line heatset web printing. They've dubbed the process WebElite. "The debut of WebElite is in keeping with our commitment to constantly introduce innovative products to the marketplace, something we've continued to do over the past 39 years," declares Malcolm Marr, CEO. Marr says Imperial developed WebElite by taking the prepress techniques it has advanced over the past five years of manufacturing 300- and 600-line Dryography and combining them with specialized ink, chemistry, blanket and roller configurations. Dryography, a sheetfed