Prinovis has a successful start in web offset printing in Dresden Prinovis, Europe’s largest printshop, is expanding its product range and investing in commercial web offset. Two LITHOMAN presses complement the existing rotogravure equipment at Prinovis in Dresden, a company previously focused solely on gravure printing. The market leader for webfed printing, manroland web systems, prepared the company for the new business unit. 

Bertram Stausberg, CEO of Prinovis, made it clear at the LITHOMAN inauguration in mid-January 2015, explaining that many customers’ projects are becoming more diverse in terms of print runs and formats, “and Prinovis now has the speed and flexibility to meet these additional requirements even better.” For Stausberg, entering the web offset printing sector means “a strategically important complement to our core business of gravure printing.” The LITHOMAN presses are intended to print products including supplements and magazines in premium quality.

Transferring machines and expertise
Prinovis had purchased two interlocking short-grain 48-page LITHOMAN S presses from insolvent Adam Nord, located in Laage near Rostock. The setup with two webs, two reel splicers, ten printing couples, and three folders renders 96-page A4 production possible and is the only print configuration of this kind in the world. Hauke Knafla, Head of Production at Prinovis Dresden, puts the high expectations manroland web systems had to meet in the project into words: “manroland web systems was to support us with technical expertise in the area of offset printing. In addition to the pure printing technology, this also included knowledge on the versatile production options provided by the sophisticated LITHOMAN press. It went off without a hitch – allowing us to enter the area of web offset printing well-equipped.” Anton Happacher, Vice President Technical Service at manroland web systems, adds: “The teams from both companies worked in close collaboration in regular project sessions. There were many aspects to be clarified and explained, be it plate handling or general offset-relevant processes. We also provided the Prinovis press operators with intensive training.” Happacher was also impressed by the press relocation. Between press disassembly in Laage and reassembly at the hall in Dresden, including press storage, all process steps were timed perfectly. “It was a logistical feat.”
 
Convincing start-up
Installation was completed quicker than planned and the reassembled LITHOMAN press has been running at full speed since January 2015. The first customer was K-Mail Order (Klingel Group). The printshop provided the mail-order company with a brochure in several language and country versions in the medium-sized print run range. 

The premiere impressed Isolde Adamietz, Head of Production at K-Mail Order: “We are very pleased with the results of the first offset job at Prinovis and are very happy that our colleagues at Prinovis can now produce our communications even more flexibly and more closely aligned to our needs.” In addition to variable print run options, Prinovis provides the customer with new combination products at its hybrid location: for instance, the cover of a magazine can continue to be produced in gravure, while a regional bound-in insert (“stitched-in supplement”) to the same magazine could be produced on the offset presses. Or the cover could be gravure-printed with UV coating, while the content is produced in offset. In addition, customers can now order magazines that use different types of paper (matte offset paper and glossy gravure paper). Add to that new options in finishing and logistics. A special brochure produced for the “Prinovis Media Day” customer conference held in Dresden combined offset content with a gravure cover for the first time.