August 25, 2003 -- "Boosting Quality - Cutting Costs" is the motto chosen by MAN Roland for its appearance at ifraEXPO from 13 to 16 October 2003 in Leipzig, Germany. Central topics are the COLORMAN in XXL format, the UNISET in 3/2 concept, approaches to cost optimization by Life Cycle Management, and the first version of printnet. "Boosting quality, cutting costs - this is no contradiction in itself but a vital requirement for any printing company wanting to stay successful in the market for years to come", emphasizes MAN Roland Board Chairman Gerd Finkbeiner. "The two factors, quality and costs, not only influence each other but one depends on the other. So we must look at them over the entire value-adding chain, not as separate, isolated solutions." printnet - the modular production management system for publishers and printers At ifraEXPO, MAN Roland and ppi Media jointly present the new printnet solution for the newspaper field: printnet is an open, modular production management system for publishing houses and printing companies, supporting highly automated workflow throughout - from sales to publishing, prepress and printing through to postpress. Organizational and technical operations alike are fully automated via the system's planning, controlling and monitoring functions. The networked individual areas of the overall workflow communicate with each other on JDF basis. printnet ensures optimum utilization of the operation as a whole and improves production flexibility. Changes in planning are possible at any time. An electronic plan board keeps everybody informed about the actual conditions of all production systems and indicates critical situations in time. This ensures maximum reliability of production at reduced production times and costs. printnet is the modular production management system for publishers and printers. At ifraEXPO MAN Roland and ppi Media jointly present the new solution for the newspaper field. Substantial cost cutting by Life Cycle Management Research has shown that the life cycle costs of an average production system are often three or five times that of the original investment. Consequently, MAN Roland offers publishers and printers its integrated Life Cycle Management concept. With it, maintenance costs of newspaper presses over their life can be reduced by at least 20 per cent. The central points in this respect are process optimization, reduction of energy consumption, servicing, and maintenance of value. Results of initial, successful reference projects have since become available. Innovative press concepts - reduced costs A central topic again at this ifraEXPO: the comprehensive range of MAN Roland newspaper presses. The successful CROMOMAN, UNISET, REGIOMAN, GEOMAN and COLORMAN lines - with each press tailored to individual user requirements - satisfy all demands of printers and newspaper publishers throughout the world. But the focal point of MAN Roland's presentation is the new COLORMAN in XXL format for 6/2 production, which is attracting great attention in the newspaper world. With features such as nine-cylinder design, high degree of automation and maximum productivity at reduced space requirements, it meets the criteria of "boosting quality and cutting costs" to the optimum.