Offset Printing
Speedmaster XL 105 With Perfecting Device Delivers Impressive Performance in a Single Pass
Tuesday 20. January 2009 - Initial users benefit from enhanced productivity and quality; Highest level of automation in its format class (70 x 100 centimeters)
Industrial print shops looking to offer their customers top quality and quick delivery achieve this through high-performance presses such as the new Speedmaster XL 105 with perfecting device from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg). This Peak Performance Class press is now in use at a number of pioneering print shops around the world and is setting new standards in terms of productivity and cost efficiency in perfecting mode. “This press enables us to boost productivity by ten million sheets per year,” report Christian and Stefan Aumüller, owners of Aumüller Druck in Regensburg. This commercial print shop has a workforce of hundred and, following a comprehensive field test, installed not one but four Speedmaster XL 105 perfecting presses in its pressroom. “The excellent productivity and flexibility of these presses cuts production costs and enables us to offer competitive prices,” the two owners add. The Speedmaster XL 105 with perfecting device is an integrated end-to-end system that processes substrate thicknesses of between 0.03 and 0.60 millimeters (between 0.0012 and 0.024 inches) at a speed of 15,000 sheets per hour.
The Franz Kuthal print shop in Mainaschaff has also converted its entire pressroom to Speedmaster XL 105 technology from Heidelberg. It operates a total of 29 printing units in this series, including a ten-color perfecting press. “This press produces top-quality sheets printed in five colors on both sides in a single pass,” confirm print shop owners Helmut Kraft and Stefan Glaab. Kuthal has a workforce of 320 (including staff from RMD) and a product portfolio that includes high-quality prospectuses, product brochures, and annual reports. The Speedmaster XL 105-P boasts fully automatic three-drum perfecting technology with variable transfer cylinder and eccentric reversing drum. This is further enhanced by high-precision and ultra-smooth sheet travel. The innovative, variable AirTransfer system and exchangeable shells for the impression and transfer cylinders ensure that perfected sheets are guided mark-free through the press.
DS Graphics in Lowell, Massachusetts, recently started production with the first Speedmaster XL 105-P in the U.S. This ten-color press incorporates Prinect Inpress Control for color and register control on the fly and is already achieving a throughput of more than one million sheets per week. “We are keen to offer our customers higher quality and shorter delivery times,” explains Jack McGrath, Vice President Sales & Marketing at DS Graphics. “Production in a single pass and the reduction in paper waste achieved by the high level of automation also help make our printing operations more sustainable,” adds McGrath, who is an advocate of green printing. A workforce of over 180 produces commercial products for industry and offers a range of services based on a complete solution from Heidelberg that includes the Suprasetter 105, other Speedmaster presses, Stahlfolder folders, and a Polar cutter.
Sustainability was one of the key criteria for Rolf Ottesen AS Grafisk Produksjon in Oslo. This print shop will take delivery of Norways first Speedmaster XL 105 with perfecting device early this year and intends to continue the policy adopted for its two existing Speedmaster CD 102 four-color presses by operating the eight-color press using alcohol-free production methods. The new press is equipped with Prinect Inpress Control for quick makeready and a minimum of paper waste. The print shop is also investing in a Stahlfolder KH 82 with automated cross-fold unit – another innovation unveiled at drupa 2008. The company is relocating to a new production hall to allow the Ottesen print shop and the Joker Grafisk AS print shop to combine their production operations. Both companies use the Prinect workflow. The Speedmaster XL 105-P will be supplied complete with Prinect Pressroom Manager, and all equipment in the new hall will be connected to the Prinect Integration System. “Thanks to the largest investment in our companys history, we are very well placed for the future,” states owner Per Ottesen.
Highest level of automation in the 70 x 100 centimeter format class
The Speedmaster SM 102 with perfecting device has dominated the 70 x 100 centimeter (27.56 x 39.37 inch) format long perfector market for many years. More than 1,500 presses with eight or more printing units have been installed worldwide. With the Speedmaster XL 105-P, Heidelberg is expanding its product range in this format, appealing to customers who value maximum productivity and cost efficiency.
The fully automatic perfecting device and comprehensive automation of numerous process steps help minimize makeready times and raise productivity levels. The new high-performance Prinect Press Center control station and the brand new Sheetfed Control press control system deliver simple and central press control. The innovative Intellistart process-oriented operator guidance system also helps deliver shorter makeready times during job changes.