Eric Short

MONTREAL, Canada- Drent Goebel has acquired Canada's RDP Marathon. Following the merger of Drent and Goebel in 2001 and the acquisition of Giebeler in 2003 this step will further strengthen Drent Goebel's position, especially in the US and Canadian markets. RDP Marathon, based in Montreal, Canada, has built a very strong reputation in the North American market with soundly built machines. RDP has a large market share especially in the commercial printing market for long runs. RDP builds the V-series blanket to steel and the P-series blanket to blanket machines for this market. These presses with web widths up to 965 mm (38-inch) will

Will combination presses boldly go where relatively few have gone before? by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor THOUGH COMBINATION PROCESS is now and will continue to be a strong contender in the package print market, that strength, at present, is concentrated in narrow-web applications, and configurations most commonly involving flexo/screen pairings. While machines outside this perimeter have been built, they are relatively rare. Here, suppliers summarize combo print possibilities for not-so-fully explored worlds. New World: Wider webs/CI formats Today's platform combo presses afford printers a considerable luxury: choice. The combo press's ability to print using different methods, in whatever order necessary, means the printer can

Will web offset ultimately gain greater quality or efficiency momentum? By Susan Friedman You've got to hand it to offset for being such a well-rounded printing process—the printing equivalent of a person who's attractive and athletic, with a good personality to boot. Web offset, of late, has brought many positives to many package printers. Eric Short, president of RDP Marathon, confirms web offset's continuing ability to satisfy on multiple counts with his prediction that this process will be strongest in both high-volume and high-quality package printing applications in the coming year. Several recently introduced presses appear poised to make this prediction come true, but