Expressing Digital Technology

KBA North America

A coater version of KBA's (www.kba-print.com) 29-inch DI offset press made its American debut at Graph Expo. The 74 Karat has the ability to finish sheets immediately or pass them through a second time once the plates have been reimaged. KBA developed the compact digital offset press in cooperation with Scitex to address the expanding market in short-run color format.

Features include complete job change in just 15 minutes from RIP to print and excellent print quality to 10,000 sheets per hour.

MAN Roland

MAN Roland (www.manroland.com) introduced the Roland 500 to the North American market to expand market opportunities for printers. According to the company, the Roland 500 sets new production standards by running at 18,000 sheets per hour that enables half-size printers to compete against 40-inch equipment. The 500 handles substrates up to 40-pt. thick, expanding the range of the 500 for areas beyond commercial printing.

Also at the show was a DICOweb digital imaging printing unit first introduced as a concept in 1990. The unit produces runs of 500 to 20,000 copies. MAN Roland emphasized the innovation's high concept heatset capabilities, demonstrating its cost effectiveness as a replacement for sheetfed machines. The DICOweb is a plateless digital web offset press that uses a polymer coating to image directly onto press cylinders and erases the images once completing the print job.

NexPress

NexPress (www.nexpress.com) showcased its 2100 family of variable data printing solutions. The NexPress performs like an offset press, providing high uptime for maximum productivity while delivering consistent high-quality images. Possessing the capability to use mixed paper stock and collate electronically, the NexPress 2100 easily handles on-demand and web-fulfillment printing, short runs, quick turnaround and produces full-color collated pages.

Océ

Adding to its line of digital document management and delivery technology, Océ (www.oceusa.com) displayed the CPS700 Color Production System, which entered the marketplace at the end of 2000. The short-run printer handles a wide variety of color applications, including duplex or tri-fold, personalized or full color. The toner-based system uses Océ's patented Direct Imaging Technology for consistent color quality without stopping the print job to recalibrate. Océ's Color Copy Press technology presses the toner into the paper creating images free of flaking or cracking.