Offset Printing
UNISET – the long seller with double circumference
Tuesday 21. October 2014 - The UNISET from manroland web systems is the world's most successful single-width newspaper printing press series with double circumference.
Since its market launch in the early 1990s, more than 350 UNISET presses with more than 1100 printing towers have been installed around the world. The design with two broadsheet pages each in the circumference and up to three in the web width is the basis for the high productivity of the press. With the latest version, up to 80,000 newspaper copies can be produced on each web per hour. Newspaper publishers in particular appreciate the high performance and reliability of the series. Over the last few years, several Chinese printing houses have also opted for this high-quality technology. This year’s clients include the People’s Daily and Economic Daily in Beijing.
The UNISET is particularly popular in China. Overall, more than 130 UNISET presses are currently operating in Chinese printing houses – clear evidence of the ongoing acceptance of these rotary presses by Chinese printing companies. The single width format is perfectly suited to the Chinese paper logistics chain, coupled with the particularly high productivity of the double circumference. In addition, the option of 2-page increments and single or double production make the system extremely flexible. The well-known high printing quality and reliability of manroland web systems’ presses also substantially contributes to the popularity of the UNISET. The newly ordered presses in Beijing are a continuation of this impressive success story. Guizhou Ribao, Sichuan Ribao, and Anhui Ribao were the last companies to commission presses of this type.
Two new UNISET presses for Beijing in 2015
The People’s Daily and Economic Daily in Beijing are the two Chinese printing companies that most recently opted for the successful 2-2 newspaper offset system. The new UNISET for the People’s Daily will take up operation at the end of this year and will be part of a completely new printing center at a new location. Other already operational printing presses will also be moved to the new building. The new pressline is already the seventh UNISET for the influential Chinese publishing house, underscoring the long-standing mutually trusting relationship. The printing company produces more than 70 different issues daily with a print run of around five million broadsheet copies. This amounts to an annual print run of 1.825 billion copies.
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Strategic approach of the Economic Daily
Two new UNISET newspaper printing presses from manroland web systems will replace several old systems at the Economic Daily. They will commence operation in September 2015. Established in 1983, the company is striving to become one of the worlrd’s largest and most influential economic newspapers. The publishing house already has 60 subsidiaries in China and more than 20 locations abroad. The Economic Daily Group includes nine newspapers, five magazines, and two publishing houses. The successful Chinese corporation also incorporates a centralized Internet portal, a printshop, and a vocational school. Currently, the Economic Daily printing house in Beijing has 220 employees and its annual print volume amounts to 100 million broadsheet pages. In Beijing, it produces 30 newspapers and magazines. In addition to the Economic Daily, its publications include, for example, China Population News, China Business News, Entertainment News, and Beijing Morning Post.
Redesign: Smaller and more powerful
With the redesign of the UNISET, manroland web systems has responded to the growing demand of many customers for compact presses. The latest generation offers a clear advantage with an installation height of only 480 cm for an eight-couple tower. Of course, the known advantages such as the stable construction and the optional 11-roller inking unit as the basis for sustainably high printing quality remain unchanged. One gallery level is enough for carrying out all frequent tasks on the press. The printer can use the MobilPad, the mobile control console from manroland web systems, directly on location to, for example, optimize the settings of the turner bar nest or the folder.
Successful around the world
The concept of producing eight broadsheet pages with single-width presses is attractive to many printing houses not only because of the high productivity of the double circumference. The application options of the UNISET range from newspaper printing in single or double production up to commercial applications for heatset and book printing. This is based on the wide variety of configuration options from pure newspaper production systems to combined presses for newspaper and book printing, up to commercial systems with heatset or UV equipment. Pin jaw folders with quarter folds and various finishing units, such as stitching and gluing devices, complement the scope of possibilities.
Ecological and economical
The new UNISET generation is also state of the art when it comes to sustainability.
Up to eight percent of energy can be saved through consistent application of a single motor for 2 printing couples as opposed to a single motor per printing couple. The new technology even offers up to 13% savings compared to conventional DC drives. This way, less heat is generated in the pressroom. The use of water-cooled motors also eliminates the need for time-consuming filter replacements. Featuring component presets, automated threading-in, and automated press start-up with QuickStart, the Inline Control systems from manroland web systems considerably contribute to reducing the CO2 footprint of the system – minimizing waste always protects resources as well.
Inside: High performance expertise of manroland web systems
The high performance capacity of the UNISET is primarily based on the many years of experience of the manroland web systems designers in the area of printing press construction. This allows the system to produce 80,000 copies per hour from the outset, day by day, year by year. An especially high quality folding system with optimized product lead, additional product deceleration, and lighter-weight folding cylinders increases the production capacity per shift. The high printing quality of the UNISET is additionally ensured in the long run by the optional IROLOC roller supports. They use simple mechanics to compensate for the temperature-based size changes of the rollers and roller coverings. This lowers energy costs and decreases the required maintenance for the rollers by around 65% while increasing the service life of the rollers by up to one-fifth.
Special equipment for high-end quality and heatset
For commercial productions with particularly high printing quality requirements, the UNISET is available with an equipment package that is derived in part from the experiences with high-volume commercial offset printing with the LITHOMAN series. The ink flow is optimized by a large ink fountain roller and a larger film roller. Laser-cut ink zone meters enable precise ink profiles. The UNISET is the only series of its class that is also available with three cooled oscillating ink rollers and three ink form rollers. In addition, dryers and cooling units as well as all other system components required for heatset offset can be integrated. The UNISET is the uncontested market leader for hybrid systems with heatset.
Constructed and tested according to international standards
Quality and performance of the UNISET are more than mere promises. manroland web systems bases its work on the directives of internationally recognized quality standards. The presses also comply with the European safety standards. In addition, WAN-IFRA has certified repeatedly that UNISET presses comply with the IFRA quality standards.
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Conclusion
The UNISET is designed and constructed in Augsburg, Germany, based on the same criteria as a COLORMAN. It is therefore increasingly a suitable option for European printing houses as a commercially viable means of production. The web width variability that is practically available free of charge with single-width designs can be a key purchase argument.