RESTON, VA—August 6, 2008—To better understand printers’ views on the future of sheetfed lithography, PRIMIR (the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization) commissioned Reed Business Information to conduct a study entitled Trends in Sheetfed Lithography: 2006-2011. The study addressed the commercial, packaging and specialty market segments in areas such as characterization and analysis of capital equipment purchasing practices, press format and configuration preferences, automation, inline technologies, and environmental and safety issues. Commercial sheetfed printers interviewed report they plan to increase their dependence on automation in the coming years. Several printers attributed stabilized print prices and higher profit levels to on-press automation
Offset Printing - Sheet-Fed
HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—August 6, 2008—As a result of the keen interest shown in the new Heidelberg Eco Printing Award at drupa, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has decided to extend the closing date for entries by a month to the end of August 2008. This means that any printshop around the world that is equipped with at least one sheetfed offset press now has until August 31, 2008 to submit an entry for this illustrious award. The prize will be awarded to the most sustainable printshop and innovative stand-alone solutions for environmental protection in prepress, press, and postpress. For more information on the entry conditions, go
HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—08/05/2008—In the first quarter of financial year 2008/2009, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) recorded a significant improvement in incoming orders over the previous year thanks to the industry trade show drupa. In the period under review, the Heidelberg Group increased its incoming orders by around 23 percent over the same quarter the previous year to 1.151 billion Euro (previous year: 934 million Euro). As already announced on July 10, 2008, sales and earnings were significantly down on the equivalent figures for the previous year due to difficult market conditions and customers’ reluctance to invest in the run-up to drupa. Sales by the Heidelberg Group
HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—08/04/2008—Following in the footsteps of prepress and press, all current generations of electronic postpress equipment have also been covered by Heidelberg Remote Service since drupa 2008. Heidelberg thus provides Internet-based services for all value-added operations in the print shop. This makes it the only supplier in the print media industry offering solutions that can be fully maintained online. By the end of 2008, online remote diagnosis of postpress equipment will be supported for the latest generations of the Stahlfolder, Stitchmaster, Eurobind, Dymatrix and Diana product families from Heidelberg, plus POLAR brand machines. In addition, the online Remote Service module eCall will
“WE KNOW our competition. And, it wasn’t who we thought it was!” reveals Bo Forbes, owner of Ironside Press in Vero Beach, FL. “We realized that we’re no longer in the business of simply providing printed ink on paper. At the end of the day, our tangible product is printing, but what exactly are we providing? “Ironside Press isn’t merely a printing company. It’s a marketing services group,” Forbes contends. “We provide a solution for customers who need to communicate something to a target audience: design ideas, production estimates, mailing lists, response management strategies and, ultimately, the tools clients will use to communicate and
ORLANDO—07/17/08—Central Florida Press (CFP), a division of The MATLET Group - the largest minority owned commercial printing company in the U.S. - is installing the first ROLAND 700 DirectDrive. A leader in new and innovative approaches, CFP was the first company in the region with half web and full web presses. “We are extremely pleased to be the first printing operation to install manroland’s DirectDrive press,” said John Glick, CFP Vice President of Sales. “We saw the DirectDrive prototype at drupa four years ago. We returned to Germany about a year ago to see the press and were impressed by what we
KENNESAW, GA—July 14, 2008—Proteus Packaging has become the first U.S. company to purchase Heidelberg’s new Speedmaster XL 145 press — one of two very large format (VLF) press models Heidelberg unveiled at drupa 2008. The Franklin, Wis.-based folding carton producer chose the 6-color Speedmaster XL 145 press with inline aqueous coater to upgrade its pressroom and keep the company competitive in a challenging marketplace. The new machine will be the first VLF press from Heidelberg installed in North America. Proteus expects to replace two older VLF presses with the XL 145, thanks to major gains in efficiency expected with the new press. “Our existing
WESTMONT, IL—07/02/08—The North American headquarters of manroland, Inc. was the scene for the newest chapter in the company’s long and successful history on June 30. One of the world’s most influential printing press manufacturers played host to a rededication ceremony as part of the company’s rebranding, and several local dignitaries participated in the event. Joining manroland CEO Vince Lapinski for the occasion were Kirk Dillard, Illinois State Senator of the 24th District, Patricia R. Bellock, Illinois State Representative for the 47th District, and Polly Jensen, President and CEO of the Printing Industry of Illinois Association. All made brief statements to a crowd of
WILLISTON, VT—07/01/08—KBA North America, a global press manufacturer, pronounced Drupa 2008 a resounding success with a capacity crowd and sales success at the KBA booth during each of the 14 show days. Attendance figures soared and KBA’s spacious show booth surrounded by four litho presses was often so packed that it was almost impossible to push one’s way through. “Drupa 2008 exceeded our expectations in many ways,” says Holger Garbrecht, president and CEO of KBA North America. “According to group president and CEO Albrecht Bolza-Schünemann, the 14-day print media trade fair held in Düsseldorf in late May to early June, has brought in
ALTHOUGH MANY industry pundits were quick to label Drupa 2008 as The Digital Ink-Jet Drupa—given the technology previews shown there by the likes of Kodak, HP, Océ, Screen and Fujifilm—traditional sheetfed and web offset press manufacturers were just as diligent in showcasing their vision regarding the print shop of the future. Based on the sampling of new press offerings highlighted here, the massive trade show could just as easily have been called The Large-Format Press Drupa; The Short-Run, Fast Makeready Offset Press Drupa; and even The Value-Added Press Drupa. These themes were very apparent from Heidelberg, which filled two entire halls that were
