The Rapida press today is able to simultaneously wash the blanket
cylinders, impression cylinders, and change all of the lithographic printing
plates while using KBA’s Plate Ident to register the printing units before
the fi rst press pull is made. This feature drastically reduces make ready
times. The Rapida 106 can produce 20,000 impressions per hour on a wide
range of substrates to allow the printer to meet the print buyers delivery
demands.
OFFSET:
A Migration,
Not an Addition
With everyone talking about digital technologies, where does that leave offset?
By Toni McQuilken
More than one pundit has declared “print is dead,”
or more specifi cally “off set print is dead.” But
the reality is that despite all the talk about digital
technologies in recent years, off set is still just
as vibrant—and profi table—segment as ever before.
“Our general commercial print customers state that off set
still represents more than 75% of their sales volume, and yet
they are oft en producing their work on 10-15 old presses,”
noted Chris Manley, president of Graphco, part of the Graphic
Systems North America distribution group for RMGT.
Kian Hemmen, western regional RMGT sales manager,
Print & Finishing Solutions, also part of the Graphic Systems
North America group, further explained, “Over the past
decade we have seen digital press sales increase and drive
revenue in that direction. Today we are seeing more and
more commercial printers try to bridge the gap between
digital and off set. When we get into discussions with clients
and partners, the need of short run is always increasing, but
the defi nition of short run is oft en 500 to 2000 sheets.”
“Off set printing is a key application when it comes to
managing the required volume of printed products. More
importantly it’s tied to the vast majority of a print shops
revenue which usually is between 70% & 85% of their total
revenue,” agreed Clarence Penge, VP sheetfed, product
management, Heidelberg. “With that said, off set is adapting
with automation to handle extremely short run lengths in a
profi table manor.”
One key thing to keep in mind, said Susan Baines, director
of marketing, Komori America Corporation, is that digital
10 Printing News December 2017 PrintingNewscom
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