September 6, 2006 -- When several of your major clients are involved in fashion, you want to make sure your offset press produces the best possible dot because for them, appearance is everything. That's why when SouthPrint in Columbus, Ohio needed a new 40-inch offset system, it created its own print quality test project and used it to put the three major press makers through their paces, before deciding on its next press. When the smoke cleared, MAN Roland emerged as the winner with its ROLAND 700, surpassing results produced by the 40-inch models of the other leading contenders. SouthPrint owner and president Tod Haman, who devised the test based on his clients' requirements, believes the results will be an eye opener for every print buyer in his marketplace. Quality that Sells “We tested and researched presses from MAN Roland, Komori and Heidelberg intensely, and found that the ROLAND 700 is capable of producing the finest dot and solids in our market,” Haman says. “Heidelberg presses can't come close to printing the dot that the ROLAND 700 does, and most of our competition in this market run Heidelbergs. So with the ROLAND 700, we can offer our customers and prospective customers unsurpassed print quality.” SouthPrint currently runs two earlier model 40-inch presses from MAN Roland — a six-color and a four-color. The printer's new ROLAND 700 is configured with six colors, an in-line coating and an extended delivery. It is scheduled to be up and running in September, only two months from the time SouthPrint signed for it. “In anticipation of a large influx of work in early fall, we needed to react quickly, and MAN Roland came through for us,” Haman notes. SouthPrint's high-end fashion work includes retail store point of purchase (POP) signage as well as collateral material. The ROLAND 700's ability to handle a wide range of substrates, up to 40 pt, will have a positive impact for those applications, as will its short run capabilities. “They expect very quick turnaround on print projects and excellent reproduction of flesh-tones of models and accuracy in matching the colors of their products,” Haman says. Press checks will be faster as well, according to the SouthPrint owner: “The MAN Roland will speed up our press OKs since we expect to get up to color much faster. We won't have to use waste stock, and we will be able to produce multiple forms due to faster plate changes.” Automated Advantages SouthPrint ordered its ROLAND 700 with a variety of automated features that will increase productivity and raise profitability. “Automated plate loading will be a big advantage for us as we are presently manually hanging plates,” Haman projects. But the biggest time and money savings will be derived from the press' printnet operating and networking system. SouthPrint intends to use the system as a digital backbone that will facilitate computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). “printnet will network our job management workflow from order entry through production, prepress and out to the ROLAND 700,” Haman says. “Print jobs will get to the press in JDF format with usable job information that can do most of the press presetting tasks without the press operator's involvement. That's a timesaver, especially on shorter runs.” Building Business Longer runs will also be on the new ROLAND 700's to-do list at SouthPrint, thanks to the press' 16,000 sheet per hour run rate. “Our press speeds will double on many jobs and this feature will enable us to bid on and be more price competitive on larger runs than previously,” says Phil Hodgson, who directs the sales effort at SouthPrint. He adds that the ROLAND 700 will be a business builder for SouthPrint across-the-board: “We're eager to have the press available to take the lead in producing the large volume of work we are expecting in September. Faster speeds and makereadies on the new 700 will allow us to take on print jobs that we may have otherwise turned away.” Haman adds that both new prospects and existing clients will be better served by the more advanced press. “Current customers who have higher quantity projects will be able to turn to us to produce these for them now,” he says. “We will be able to print signage or packaging products on heavier substrates. And the inline coating capabilities will not only speed up our production but will also allow us to offer our print services to customers who require coating on their projects.” Above all, the ROLAND 700 will significantly increase SouthPrint's capacity, and the printer is already planning on how to capitalize on the extra firepower. In late October the company plans an Open House to demonstrate the new press' capabilities for Columbus-area print buyers. SouthPrint is also scheduled to host two “Printing for Creatives” seminars at its facility. Conducted by MAN Roland, the event attracts art directors, graphic designers, ad agency executives and corporate marketers with the objective of making them more savvy print buyers. Another growth channel is SouthPrint's status as a Veteran-Owned Small Business. That puts the company in contention for major print projects from corporations that participate in vendor and supplier diversity programs. Streamlining Service SouthPrint has been a MAN Roland customer for 20 years and so is familiar with the high level of service and support the pressmaker provides. The company will kick that up a notch by equipping its new press with MAN Roland's TelePresence remote diagnostic system. The innovation enables MAN Roland's expert technicians to examine and analyze any press that is experiencing technical difficulties, over the Internet, saving the time and expense of a live service call. TelePresence allows them to monitor the system's vital signs in real time, utilize troubleshooting programs and tell onsite press operators how to effect repairs. In addition to making SouthPrint press crews more effective troubleshooters, the ROLAND 700 will also make them better at their craft. “We will be able to produce finer work faster and more profitably,” Haman says. But it is SouthPrint's customers who will benefit most from the new technology. “We know what our clients expect out of us as printers,” Haman says. “To satisfy their high expectations of us, we searched for a new press with the intent to find out how good the current generation of presses are and what they are capable of producing. We found the answer in the ROLAND 700.”