72pp Press Boosts Magazine Print Capacity

Southernprint in Poole, one of the 10 largest magazine printers in the UK with customers such as Future Publishing and the BBC, has installed a 72-page Lithoman from MAN Roland, the fourth in the UK.

Southernprint in Poole, one of the 10 largest magazine printers in the UK with customers such as Future Publishing and the BBC, has installed a 72-page Lithoman from MAN Roland, the fourth in the UK.

The 72-page press is capable of printing up to 42,500 copies per hour (cph).

The format and speed of the press equate to a capability of producing 3,060,000 four-colour A4 pages per hour.

Once the press is up to full operational speed, it feeds through 15 metres of paper per second.

It replaced two web presses from a competitor - 16-page and 32-page systems and joined a press from another competitor.

Since April 2003, Southernprint has been equipped with five printing systems in 16, 32, 48, 64 and 72-page formats.

During the last three years, the company has invested more than GBP18 million (about EUR27 million) in new equipment in an effort to keep ahead of competitors in the magazine printing market.

Southernprint had been expected to purchase a second 48-page machine but the decision to go with the larger-width machine from MAN Roland followed a thorough review of the market by the company.

MAN Roland was also able to supply the required configuration in the time span requested by Southernprint.

Due to the ability of the Lithoman to process paper reels in widths of up to 1,980mm, the 72-page format provides for even higher productivity than would otherwise have been the case with competitive products, which can typically handle only 64-page sections.

Southernprint operations director Paul Toms commented: "We believe that this is the most technologically advanced plant in Europe." Norman Revill, director of web sales for MAN Roland GB, said: "The marketplace has been under immense pressure over the last few years to reduce the cost per copy.

The new generation of wide presses is opening up new opportunities in cost saving and efficiencies, however this type of technology can be successful only if it is supported by a professional and highly reliable press manufacturer and that is most certainly why MAN Roland is leading the way in web offset." Because of that the company believes the Lithoman is one of the most productive presses operating in Europe today, and it has helped the company to increase productivity by a significant amount.

MAN Roland said it never sees itself as a supplier only of printing presses, although that remains the company's core business.

It attaches equal importance to offering its customers system and integration competence and to realise, together with them, complete projects in which the press constitutes only the central element.

Southernprint is a notable example because its progressiveness encompasses activity in all areas of the business.

It was one of the first printers to move to a 100 per cent PDF workflow.

The company also has one of the most modern Creo pre-press operations in Europe, with two VLF Trendsetters imaging some 6,000 PDF pages per week.

CIP3 links from the pre-press department deliver ink duct setting information to both of the large web press printing systems.

Once the plates are on the press, the use of MAN Roland's Pecom electronic process management system (one of the products in the Printnet family), coupled with the QTI closed-loop colour control system, means that good copy can be achieved very quickly - with start up waste as low as 1,500 sections.

Southernprint is also leading the way in environmental issues with the use of Europe's first MEGTEC Regeneration Thermal Oxydation burner.

This drying unit utilizes the solvent from the ink passing through it to produce its own energy.

Conventional gas is necessary to bring the oven up to working temperature, at which point the exhaust gases take over.

This system minimises both emissions and energy consumption, with MEGTEC claiming that it will recover 95% of the thermal energy within the solvent.

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