Smith Litho Purchases Sunday 2000 Web Press

ROCKVILLE, MD—December 23, 2009—Smith Litho has confirmed the purchase of a Heidelberg/Goss Sunday 2000 web press that was originally purchased by George Rice & Sons in 2002. The Sunday 2000 is a 57" 24-page press with a 23.23" cutoff and will be installed with six printing units in Smith Litho's current Heidelberg double-web location. The immediate benefit to clients is the Sunday 2000 "Gapless" technology. This was a revolutionary change in printing with the advent of gapless blankets in 1993. The Sunday 2000 made further improvements on this technology.

The technology reduces vibrations which has a direct effect on print quality. Each printing unit contains independent motors allowing our crews to makeready and perform maintenance on units without impacting the entire press system. The 24-page, six-across format will give Smith Litho the ability to run 50% more pages with no additional personnel. This format will allow us to print full 8.5x11 plus bleed as well as slim-jim and square formats. The press is also equipped with a semi-automatic plate change system allow quicker change-over between signatures and jobs.

The press will require maintenance and cleaning upon arrival. Our plan is to remove the double web and an additional load bearing concrete pad will be constructed. Some mechanical elements of the Heidelberg Single Web will need be moved to make room for the control side of the press. We will also relocated the Colortech into the sheetfed pressroom, ironically Smith Litho had a Didde web press in that same location in the mid 1980s prior to its expansion into the heatset web market. The current timeline is expected to have all installation and testing done with live work printing by March 2010.

"This is an exciting growth opportunity for all of us at Smith Litho," says CEO Charlie Smith. "This press will give us direction and ability to compete in markets we have currently been out of with 16 pages on the M1000. We know there is work for this press that has been purchased out of town from printers with similar capability. This press will have a profound impact on our market in terms of buyers who desire a local source and the reliability to get the job done.

"While buyers need a product printed, most of all they want peace of mind that it can be done right," Smith continues. "We have the reputation and knowledge base to make that happen and it is only because of the current people we have that makes it possible. This could not be a better way to end 2009, it is a tremendous positive direction for all of us."