Offset Printing

Presstek Garners Awards, Sales, Leads at Print 09

Monday 28. September 2009 - Results Validate That Company's Strategic Growth Initiatives Are on the Right Path

Presstek, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRST), a leading manufacturer and marketer of digital offset printing solutions, today reported that it had a successful showing at Print 09, North America’s largest printing trade show held September 11-16 at McCormick Place in Chicago, where it introduced an array of new products designed to serve a larger segment of the print market.
“Especially in difficult economic times,” said Mark Levin, President of Presstek Americas Region, “it can be hard to predict the return on investment from a major trade show such as Print 09. Presstek was delighted with our decision to support the show, where we announced four new products, gained important purchase commitments, and garnered recognition for our achievements with a number of industry awards for us and our customers.”
Presstek was awarded a coveted Print 09 Must See ’ems award for the Presstek 52DI-UV and 34DI-UV digital offset presses which blend the core benefits of the highly automated Presstek DI press — waterless press design, on-press chemistry-free platemaking and Zero Transfer Printing (ZTP) process which uses a single impression cylinder to provide immediate and precise on press registration — with the ability to print with instant drying, highly durable UV inks for cost-effective, quick production of high quality short run printing for an even wider range of commercial and packaging printing applications.
“We were especially proud of this award,” added Levin, “since we believe products such as the 52DI-UV and 34DI-UV are critical business enablers for printers of all sizes that want to differentiate themselves in a changing market. We are continuing to enhance the capabilities of the DI platform, and also introduced the Presstek 52DI-AC, a 52DI with inline aqueous coating, which was well-received at the show. In fact, Quad/Graphics, one of the world’s largest printers, purchased the Presstek 52DI-AC press we were demonstrating on the show floor.”
The new Presstek 52DI-AC supports both flood and spot aqueous coating. It combines the high quality short-run, cost-effective color of the 52DI with aqueous coating’s speed, durability and visual appeal opening up new market opportunities for Presstek and its customers.
“Presstek’s 52DI-AC gives us high-quality reproduction and print-run-count flexibility — features which are extremely important to our client base — with the added benefits of quick makeready and minimal waste,” said Tom Frankowski, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing for Quad/Graphics. “We envision a wide range of uses for this equipment. It will augment our manufacturing platform very well, giving our clients more ways to profit from our print capabilities.”
Other recognition included the award of an American Printer Environmental Excellence Silver Award to Presstek 52DI press owner Ambit Press/Minuteman Press of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Environmental Excellence Awards recognize commercial printers who are leading the industry in environmentally conscious manufacturing.
In addition, Mark J. Levin, President of Presstek Americas, was inducted into the prestigious NAPL Soderstrom Society. The Soderstrom Society is an honors organization that recognizes leaders with outstanding records of industry service, including printing firm owners, equipment manufacturers, consultants, and educators.
New Products Draw Strong Booth Attendance
The following products made their worldwide debut at Print 09.
· Presstek Aeon. This long run, high resolution open platform non-preheat thermal CTP plate can image up to 200,000 impressions, or up to one million with an optional post-bake capability. Presstek Aeon plates offer a robust choice for the large population (over 30,000) thermal platesetters installed around the world, including Presstek’s Compass and Dimension Pro Series.

· Presstek DPM Pro 400 platesetter. This efficient system produces high resolution polyester plates in sizes from 9-inches to 16.31-inches. Its built-in processor provides extremely stable plate development, and uses 66 percent less chemistry as compared to other units on the market. The DPM Pro 400 uses Presstek’s MEGAPRO polyester and paper-based plates.

· Presstek DI-Dry waterless offset printing inks. These brand-new inks optimize the fast turnaround and consistent color performance of Presstek DI presses.

The Presstek team did an excellent job of assembling an effective and educational display at Print 09,” said Jeff Jacobson, Chairman, CEO and President of Presstek. “We took real order commitments across our product portfolio from a range of companies of all sizes, as well as generating hundreds of qualified leads for our sales team. We believe this validates our strategy of being a total solutions provider to printers of all sizes and our efforts to expand our presence both geographically and among larger printers. While the overall show attendance was down versus prior years, I was very pleased with the quality of the customers who visited the Presstek booth.”