Web Systems

BY MARK SMITH It's the nature of the business for newspaper editorial departments to move from one crisis to the next. Unfortunately, market factors in recent years have forced their back offices to regularly function in crisis management mode, as well. Declining readership, drops in advertising revenues, the Internet threat (or opportunity), industry consolidation, volatility in newsprint prices, and more have made it a challenging business environment. The one bright spot has been the ability to maintain healthy profit margins. These business pressures have translated into an ever-greater need for flexibility on the production side. Newspaper plants can provide a competitive edge by

Heatset web offset press manufacturers tackle burning issues BY CAROLINE MILLER Less waste, shorter runs and labor shortages are all issues that commercial printers who use heatset web offset presses must contend with on a daily basis. These issues, coupled with customer demands for better quality and lower costs, can quickly put web printers in the hot seat. It's enough to make anyone start to sweat. In response, heatset web offset press manufacturers are coming to the rescue, finding ways to put out the flames and respond effectively to these age-old problems. Several heatset web offset manufacturers were interviewed by Printing Impressions to discuss

BY ERIK CAGLE Freedom of choice, from a consumer standpoint, is a double-edged sword when your pool of choices is a veritable ocean. Anyone in the graphic arts industry knows what it means to have an unlimited array of manufacturers. It's the old deer-in-the-headlights syndrome—there are far too many choices and simply not enough time in the day to do sufficient homework that would yield an educated choice. At the end of the day during Graph Expo, printers riding the shuttle from the exhibition hall back to the hotel frequently wonder aloud, "You know, I looked at so many systems today—and I still

BY ERIK CAGLE The evolution of book publishing has some parallels with that of the computer. Smaller and quicker are the operative words in this comparison. Before the PC became a household fixture, computers were hulking boxes with reel-to-reel tapes and other round objects that made those cute little concentric circles. And they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, boasting the processing speed of a can opener. Book publishing was also big and scarry—1,000-page megatomes were loaded onto presses to churn out millions of copies. "War and Peace" was followed by hundreds of thousands of 500-page copies of biology books. Obviously, they

BY ERIK CAGLE Whatever fat existed in the adhesive binding portion of the postpress workflow has long since been trimmed away. The days of the long run are long gone. On-demand environments are everywhere, and inventories are kept as low as possible. Makeready times must make a NASCAR pit crew green with envy, and the machines must be easy to use, as quality help, like substance in this year's presidential election, is nowhere to be found. Through it all, customers are still asking for lower prices—frantically waving table-top machine money while standing in front of the floor- model machines. They can't be blamed;

BY ERIK CAGLE When is a floor model saddle stitcher not a saddle stitcher? When does it become a perfect binder? Ask Bob Morton, president of Best Graphics, one of the nation's leading bindery product distributors. Best Graphics will be introducing the Best Osako 612 UB 'reverse stitcher' to the U.S. market later this year. The innovative machine will produce books that appear to be perfect bound, despite the fact they are produced on a stitcher. In essence, it's the look of a perfectly bound book at saddle stitcher cost; but there's more to it than the bottom line. The reverse stitcher is designed

BY ERIK CAGLE Aretha Franklin herself would have a tough time drumming up a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the coldset web offset press. While its heatset counterpart struts on by, wearing UV Ray Bans and leading the way as the prime choice for high-end, multi-color commercial work, the dryer-less stepchild ekes out a living churning out newspapers, direct mailers, promotional graphics and other types of printed communications, primarily on uncoated stocks. Even manufacturers and distributors of open-web presses believe the market for this type of machine has been declining in recent years, but it remains a viable, strong option in several print communications segments. Like

Digital output devices didn't capture all the headlines. Manufacturers of traditional sheetfed and web presses also demonstrated cutting-edge models. BY MARK MICHELSON Even the12,000 gallons of flame-retardant water, which came gushing down from sprinklers onto a MAN Roland web press in the 250,000-square-foot PrintCity hall the afternoon before the exhibition was to open, couldn't dampen the DRUPA spirits of this press manufacturer. The flooding resulted from a pipe burst, and MAN technicians had to work through the night to ready the press for opening day. And, while other printing press exhibitors didn't have to face such an 11th-hour, potential disaster, their enthusiasm was

Digital output devices didn't capture all the headlines. Manufacturers of traditional sheetfed and web presses also demonstrated cutting-edge models. BY MARK MICHELSON Even the12,000 gallons of flame-retardant water, which came gushing down from sprinklers onto a MAN Roland web press in the 250,000-square-foot PrintCity hall the afternoon before the exhibition was to open, couldn't dampen the DRUPA spirits of this press manufacturer. The flooding resulted from a pipe burst, and MAN technicians had to work through the night to ready the press for opening day. And, while other printing press exhibitors didn't have to face such an 11th-hour, potential disaster, their enthusiasm was

The graphic arts world shifts its attention to Dusseldorf for the World Series of Printing. For some manufacturers, it's a coming-out party for new heatset web offset press hardware. BY ERIK CAGLE Don't worry, it's not too late to book a hotel within a half-hour commute of Dusseldorf for May's DRUPA 2000 exhibition. Should nothing be available, there's always nearby Brussels or Amsterdam. Yes, when it comes to attending the world's foremost ink-on-paper (et al) exhibition, early planning is absolutely necessary. The same can definitely be said for the many manufacturers, technology providers and assorted vendors that will be displaying their goods and