May 7, 2007 -- DALLAS -- Growing interest in long perfectors configured for printing and coating both sides of the sheet in one pass provided the impetus and theme for Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses' 2007 National Open House. Held on April 24-25 in Dallas, the event explored the "State of Perfection," referring to technology that is revolutionizing the printing industry. Buchanan Visual Communications, a $22 million commercial printing operation, opened its doors to printers from all over the United States. Open house guests, which included a cross-section of the commercial printing market, viewed Buchanan's 12-color, 40-inch Mitsubishi Diamond 3000R convertible perfector equipped with tower coaters before and after the sheet-reversing unit. The press is known as the Double Diamond because of the dual coaters. Many opportunities Participants were treated to live demonstrations and informative presentations showcasing the many opportunities made possible by what Buchanan CEO David Johnson called "a truly one-of-a-kind press." "The press demonstrations went beyond every expectation," said Ken Lont, owner of Lont & Overkamp Publishing Co. in Prospect Park, N.J. "We are planning to purchase a 10-color perfector and wanted to see the Mitsubishi press with double coaters in action. Our pressroom consists of six-color, 40-inch presses from different manufacturers, along with smaller presses. We print a lot of five-over-five work, so a 10-color perfector would be a good fit." Veteran in perfecting Founded in 1956, Buchanan occupies a 75,000-square-foot facility staffed by 122 employees. The family-owned company provides high-quality, branded collateral for business-to-business and business-to-consumer communications, typically from 5,000 to 200,000 pieces. "The 12-color press pushes about the same amount of work out the door per hour as two six-color straight presses with half the labor cost," Johnson observed. Buchanan already operated a four-color and an eight-color Diamond 3000R with single coaters when the company decided to upgrade its production capacity. In commercial production since last September, Buchanan's Double Diamond can deliver an exceptionally diverse array of jobs on paper, board or plastic up to 24-point -- from six-over-six work with two-sided coating to straight 12-color printing with spot coating to full-coverage coating. Product versatility The first chamber/anilox coater is located after the sixth printing unit. The second chamber/anilox coater is situated after the twelfth printing unit. Buchanan's customers can enjoy aqueous-over-aqueous coatings, ultraviolet (UV) coating on one side of the sheet and aqueous on the other or UV-over-UV applications. A high-efficiency dryer package from Grafix LLC incorporates hot air knives, interdeck UV curing system, infrared dryer lamps and air-and water-cooled UV lamps. Two dryers can be positioned after printing units two, four or six. Buchanan outfitted the press with stub unit dryers before and after the coaters. The press includes an X-Rite closed-loop color-control system. The printer also invested in a Sentinel automatic ink-dispensing system from Accel Graphic Systems Inc. for improved quality and print consistency and lower waste. "Hybrid UV is key to why we came to the open house," said Jim Bagley, pressroom manager at DS Graphics in Lowell, Mass. "We are interested in seeing some of the high-quality commercial work that other printers are achieving with UV. A press like this would definitely put us in higher-end markets." Live jobs As part of the live demonstrations during the open house, visitors saw the Double Diamond print brochure pages on Centura 100-pound gloss text with INX Fusion hybrid UV inks. The brochure used four-color process plus one PMS color. Kelstar strike-through varnish and UV gloss coating were applied to both sides of the sheet. A second job showed clearly the Double Diamond's ability to handle complex projects. The 11-color poster printed on 100-pound Consort Royal Silk cover stock from Scheufelen employed INX Fusion and Eckart Topstar metallic inks. It featured Kelstar strike-though dull varnish and Prisco UV gloss coating. 'Fantastic' technology "Mitsubishi is the first manufacturer to offer a dual-coater perfector that we have been able to actually see in operation," said Patrick Wilson, pressroom foreman at People's Graphics in Bridgeview, Ill. "We print four-over-four and five-over-five work, and being able to coat both sides of the sheet in one pass would be a great benefit for our customers. I was impressed with the demonstrations. The press runs well and seems operator-friendly. It's a nice press." Joe Metzger, president of Metzgers Printing & Mailing in Toledo, Ohio, echoed this view. "It's exciting to see what is next in printing," Metzger said. "The technology of the press is fantastic. The people from Mitsubishi and Buchanan are knowledgeable about the product. They answered every question we had. If there were a printer with a machine like this in my back yard, I would be very nervous."