Achim Schmidt

Sheetfed offset press manufacturers key in on efficiency, larger formats, and specialty needs, and wave off flexo competition. by Susan Friedman, Editor One of the best competitive edges carton converters can develop these days is the capability to get product out the door faster than the other guys. "Our customers are focusing strictly on productivity," says Bob McKinney, director of marketing for KBA North America, Sheetfed Division. "Converters want to increase margins through efficiency." Sheetfed offset press manufacturers are well aware of this fact, and each is ready with a game plan. "With run length continuing to drop, faster, more accurate makeready with less

Equipment suppliers address coating/laminating material handling issues for both sheet- and web-based applications. by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor STUDY #1: Web coating Registration to a preprinted web (a.k.a. optical registration or dynamic registration) is often used to apply specialty coatings or spot varnishes, and comes in handy for re-running a web through the press for line work. Dri-Tec's Gravure/Flex convertible print station handles such applications with ease, but, as Dri-Tec VP Matt Tielkemeier notes, retrofitting the unit to a geared press may require a little extra attention. As Tielkemeier explains, dynamic registration is achieved through the use of a high-speed optical sensor, an encoder,

Consumer behavior continues to shape package printers' need for sheetfed offset presses. By Chris Bauer WHEN IT COMES to corrugated package printing, sheetfed offset suppliers suggest printers remember the old saying, "The customer is always right." Customers want shorter runs of high quality work and cost-effective results. This is why suppliers say sheetfed offset is the perfect solution. "For the folding carton and the packaging industry, sheetfed offset is really the production unit of choice," offers Achim Schmidt, packaging manager for Heidelberg. Schmidt believes sheetfed offset presses are the answer for shorter runs, more flexible and versatile press operation, and higher quality work which

Sheetfed offset press advances have reached a level where neither sheet size—nor substrate—has to matter. By Susan Friedman Sheetfed offset press technologies have reached a nearly egalitarian state in which small-, medium- and large-size jobs can be handled in similar time with similar resources. But which format are most printers trying on for size? A smaller sheet size that appears to have garnered appeal across printing markets is the 28˝ x 40˝. Achim Schmidt, manager for the packaging and label industry, Heidelberg, relates that the company's 40˝ Speedmaster CD, though introduced at DRUPA 86, took until the early '90s to really catch the sheetfed