WESTMONT, IL-- A true innovation in newspaper changeover technology has captured the graphic arts' most coveted prize. manroland's autoprint APL (AutomaticPlateLoading) is the recipient of a 2011 InterTech Technology Award from the Printing Industries of America.

The award is manroland's seventh in the last seventeen years - a reflection on the company's leadership in advancing press technologies. In 1994, the industry breakthrough press, the ROLAND 700, received the award. In 2001, DICOweb was awarded the honor. PECOM/printnet press control automation was given the award in 2002. TelePresence remote diagnostics received the award in 2005. InlineFoiler PRINDOR was given an InterTech Award in 2006, and the ROLAND 700 DirectDrive was awarded in 2007.

autoprint, manroland's family of products dedicated to "One-Touch Printing," applies modern operating concepts, substantially reducing makeready processes with APL, as well as utilizing ClosedLoop technologies, constituting manroland's "One Touch" vision. Or to put it in other words: the vision of automated printing is becoming a reality, and manroland is leading the way.

autoprint APL utilizes a combination of technologies to reduce plate-hanging time dramatically on newspaper presses. A robotic arm is automatically fed the plates, the plates are all loaded onto the cylinder simultaneously, and the entire process is completely automated. Unlike standard newspaper makeready systems, which can take up to 30 minutes, autoprint APL can reduce this time down to a mere 3 minutes - a 90% reduction in makeready time.

"It's a new age for newspapers," said Vince Lapinski, CEO of manroland Inc. "Newspaper pressrooms no longer have to struggle to accommodate inserts or short runs. Dramatically reduced makeready times through autoprint APL are the answer for high-volume pressrooms producing several different regional editions per day."

The judges for the InterTech Technology Awards seek out the very best in printing advancements. Only applications that are truly innovative and likely to have a significant impact on the printing industry are chosen.

"manroland autoprint APL's combination of robotics and automation to quickly change plates on newspaper presses is unquestionably innovative and responds perfectly to the trend to shorter runs and more targeted editions," said Mark Bohan, Vice President, Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America and chair of the InterTech Technology Awards.

The InterTech star, a symbol of technological innovation and excellence, will be presented before an audience of industry leaders during the 2011 Printing Industries of America Premier Print Awards and InterTech Technology Awards Gala, September 11, in Chicago, Illinois.

In the words of Vince Lapinski, "autoprint APL is only one more example of how manroland's engineers are reinventing the makeready process for newspapers. We thrive on the challenge to make our presses flexible, fast, and best in class."