More than 300 print professionals attended the open house focusing on the criteria for choosing between medium and large format
As part of its first open house of the year KBA, “5 over 5 in 3B or straight printing in large format?” at its Radebeul plant in February KBA detailed cost-effective production scenarios based on run lengths and processes for commercial printing. More than 300 participants from Germany, Europe and the USA took the opportunity to come up to speed on the current state of the art in medium- and large-format sheetfed offset production with integrated workflows, and to explore the cost efficiencies with a view to opting for one or the other, an issue of increasing moment for major printers.
The first speaker, Hannes Rogler, managing director of Rogler Softwarelösungen, presented a practical view of the technoPLAN management information system as an example of open and versatile job management in modern day-to-day printing.
The MIS system, which is also deployed in the KBA customer centre, enabled jobs for the event – 10,000 copies of a 32-page A4 brochure on 135gsm paper and an additional cover on 350gsm paper – to be planned and costed for 5 back 5 on a ten-colour Rapida 105 perfector or straight printing on a six-colour Rapida 142 large-format press.
TechnoPLAN compares individually definable production channels and thus facilitate job scheduling. Jobs are displayed on the electronic schedule and all feedback from the individual production stages is collected centrally and clearly displayed.
Drag-and-drop enables jobs to be shifted around within the schedule, both in terms of their sequence and press allocation, which also makes it easier to respond to unforeseen circumstances.
Finally, the data are forwarded via JDF to the Logotronic Professional production management system and Creo Prinergy workflow for digital plate imaging on a Lotem 800 II Quantum.
Ursula Voss-Eiden, marketing manager at Creo Germany, explained the processes involved in switching a job at short notice from the medium-format Rapida 105 to the large-format Rapida 142.
Using the job parameters defined in the MIS system, the Creo workflow adopts the imposition pattern for the large-format press and in a matter of seconds prepares CTP output on the Creo Magnus VLF.
This is possible because the JDF interface supports fast and reliable data exchange, including feedback on production progress. On top of this the high-precision Squarespot thermal head, dynamic autofocus system with automatic compensation of plate irregularities and integrated electronic temperature compensation for the plates and imaging drums enables the Creo system to be switched – with no impairment to quality – between platesetters of differing formats.
In the unusual dimensions of large and super-large formats these Creo CTP system properties have proved to be extremely helpful in achieving a consistent image quality across the entire sheet. There followed by a live demonstration of plate imaging by the Creo specialists.
KBA product manager Reinhold Stange showed how job data are professionally transferred from the MIS to Logotronic. Once the plates have been made the CIP3 data are automatically assigned to the job via the hot folder.
The CIP3 files are also converted into preset data for the press. When a job is rescheduled to another press the preset data are automatically recalculated for that press. This ensures that the latest job data, including preset data, is always available at the control console.
PressWatch and SpeedWatch furnish printshop managers with practical tools for monitoring and subsequently analysing the current production run within the Logotronic system. This not only increases effective production time by utilising preset and repeat data but also reduces the number of waste sheets. Company efficiency is boosted by a continuous flow of data. Precise press and production data support a more accurate cost calculation.
The key contribution to the open house came from Jürgen Veil, marketing manager and print specialist at KBA Radebeul, who calculated production costs for a medium-sized printshop. Basing his calculations on prespecified job structures he demonstrated that choosing the right kit can have a dramatic impact on production figures and pressroom efficiency.
The printshop cited in his example had three 3B sheetfed offset presses, a slightly antiquated four-colour perfector, a five-colour press with coater and an eight-colour press for 4 over 4. Jürgen Veil assigned some typical jobs and run lengths to the various presses. The printshop in question was then retooled with a large-format Rapida 142 five-colour with coater and a new-generation Rapida 105 ten-colour for 5 over 5.
The older four-colour perfector was retained and the jobs reassigned, with identical content. When calculating the production output Jürgen Veil demonstrated that the new press fleet could reduce the number of shifts required from eight (2 x 3 shifts, 1 x 2 shifts) to five (2 x 2 shifts, 1 x 1 shift). So the new kit not only generated capacity reserves technology but also substantially reduced labour costs for the standard job range.
Using the job data and the number of print runs required for a fictitious print job produced during the open house – a 32-page brochure with four-page cover – Jürgen Veil demonstrated that, factoring in the output levels now achievable in the individual formats, a large-format press is more cost-effective than a 3B 5 over 5 perfector for run lengths of just 20,000 copies or more.
The cost benefits associated with large format increase in proportion to the run length. Below 20,000cph the long perfector is more economical, and here the cost advantage increases as the run length decreases. If the four-page cover on 350gsm paper is excluded the break-even point in favour of large-format production shifts downwards. Factoring in the total manufacturing costs (pre-press, press, cutting, folding, saddle stitching) produces no significant change in the result, ie large formats retain their economic advantage from 20,000 copies.
German printing house Heidenreich in Bünde has a press fleet very similar to the one examined by Jürgen Veil: a Rapida 105 ten-colour perfector, a Rapida 105 five-colour with coater and delivery extension, and a Rapida 142 six-colour with coater.
Torsten Uhlig, technical manager at Heidenreich, portrayed the company, its equipment and its production range, gave a run-down on the daily routine and thus confirmed the premises put forward by Jürgen Veil.
The company expanded into large-format sheetfed offset in order to address additional markets, for example the display sector, to guarantee high quality for critical jobs that cannot be produced 5 over 5 due to the colour imposition or substrate, and to relieve pressure on the existing medium-format presses. The increasing number of job specifying coating also played a decisive role.
Even though, after considering all the processes, the choice of 5 over 5 in medium format or straight production in large format is still dictated largely by the job structure, the open house at KBA revealed two things: large format printing is frequently much more cost-effective, particularly for longer print runs or challenging substrates that can only be perfect printed with great difficulty, if at all, in medium format.
It also offers users an option to extend their range of services, for example by printing large-format displays or posters. If the product range largely comprises a succession of smaller jobs with a limited number of pages, like the above-mentioned 32-page brochure with less than 10,000 copies, then perfecting in 3B has distinct advantages.
As for prepress, the print and finishing quality that can now be achieved, the preferred format is no longer relevant because there is little difference in the quality, makeready times, manning levels and maximum output possible with medium and large formats.
