May 30, 2001 – Allied Litho, Co., Inc., an established trade printer in Kansas City, Missouri, which recently installed a six-color MAN Roland 700 press, is using the additional capacity and automation for expansion into new geographic markets. “With shorter makereadies, faster washups, higher running speeds, and computer controlled inking the Roland 700 has created the opportunity to offer more on-press time to other printers across the country,” said Tom Heier, chief executive office, Allied Litho. As a trade printer, Allied Litho handles a wide variety of sheetfed and web print jobs for other commercial printers, a knowledgeable and quality-minded customer base. Allied Litho specialties include brochures and flyers, labels, large point-of-purchase posters, books, large runs of envelopes, durable styrene promotional banners for large retailers and general commercial work. The new Roland 700 prints on sheets up to 29 x 41 inches and handles up to 40-point board stock. The press, which also includes an aqueous coater and dryer, has impressed management and press crews, alike. “The Roland 700 has been a great experience for Allied Litho and has helped us serve our customers better,” said Heier. “I don’t believe anyone here had any idea just how automated this press is. There was a learning curve period involved with the PECOM computer, the dryer, the feeder and other new accessories, but it seemed like only a short period of time before we had enough employees trained to man and run three shifts around the clock.” A survey of the pressmen by Allied’s management team revealed they were pleased with the many features on the press which had reduced or eliminated manual labor features that allow them to concentrate more on achieving the quality required by Allied Litho customers. The most popular features included Automatic Plate Loading (APL), impression and blanket cylinder washing and the CCI inking unit which automatically corrects color on the run. Allied Litho’s choice of the Roland 700 was strongly influenced by the performance of its existing MAN Roland equipment and by the support provided by MAN Roland. In addition to the new 40-inch format Roland 700, Allied Litho’s sheetfed presses include a four-color 63-inch Roland 800 and a five-color 60-inch Miehle press. Allied Litho’s web press, which handles roll sizes up to 38 inches, has a 23-inch cutoff and prints up to six colors. Allied Lithography Co., Inc., is a family-owned company that has been in business for more than 50 years. The company specializes in large format runs and quick press availability. A subsidiary, Allied Graphics of North Kansas City, Missouri, specializes in pre-press services. MAN Roland offers the Roland 700 press in arrangements from two to 10 units and a single or double coater. It features double-sized impression cylinders and prints at speeds up to 15,000 sph in straight production or 12,000 sph in perfecting mode. The CIP3-compliant PECOM console accommodates data generated from plate scanners, stores job information, allows job retrieval when preparing for the next job and can interface with management information systems. Other features of the Roland 700 include completely automatic format setting, automatic ink roller and blanket washers, and remote control inking. Power Plate Loading (PPL) is standard and the Automatic Plate Loading (APL) ordered by Allied Litho is available. Also offered are automatic washup, sheet size and thickness changes and straight-to-perfecting mode changeover in under a minute.