The 100th Speedmaster 74 DI is going to Loyal Digital Planning in Tokyo, the same printshop that received the first DI series A2 format press. Yutaka Matsuura, Director of Loyal Digital Planning, is delighted with Heidelberg's A2 DI technology. "We have stayed with the Speedmaster 74 DI not only because of its systematic digital workflow, cost-efficiency and quality, but also, and most impor-tantly, because of its high-speed production," explains Mr. Matsuura. "We now run up to 50 jobs a day on these presses." Yet equally important to him is the tremendous market success that Loyal Digital Planning has enjoyed with the Speedmaster 74 DI. The company's extensive portfolio has won many new customers, from the publishing industry, for example. And the future looks bright with order levels increasing all the time. The new plant has a total of four Speedmaster 74 DI presses. Mr. Matsuura even traveled to the Wiesloch site with Kohei Yamamoto, Director of Heidelberg Japan, to personally take delivery of the SM 74 DI. Dr. Klaus Spiegel, Member of the Management Board and Head of the Sheetfed Solution Center, and Gotthard Schmid, Head of the Direct Imaging Product Center, congratulated the customer. Successful Direct Imaging technology Heidelberg has ten years of expertise when it comes to Direct Imaging technology. Starting off with the GTO-DI, the Quickmaster DI soon followed in 1995. The successful concept was developed further and finally applied to the Speedmaster range. The result was an A2-format digital offset printing system with the same standard of quality as the proven high-end range – the Speedmaster 74 DI. And right from the start, Heidelberg's order books looked better than anyone could have imagined. Now, two years after the start of series production in summer 1999, the 100th Speedmaster 74 DI has been shipped. Over the course of these two years, the press concept has been systematically enhanced and the press has been equipped with a whole host of interesting product features such as the highly automated CP2000 Center press control system. The Speedmaster 74 DI has become even faster and more versatile for printing short color runs. The CP2000 Center is extremely user-friendly. Direct imaging of printing plates in the press and a high level of automation make the Speedmaster 74 DI ideal for digital service providers and printshops who cover the whole value-added chain from data creation right through to printing. The Speedmaster 74 DI fits very well into the business concept of Loyal Digital Planning in Tokyo. The company, which started as a small prepress house and today employs over 300 people, works from four completely networked sites. A2 digital offset printing is ideal for the short run color market. The Speedmaster 74 DI is available as a four-, five- or six-color press. With optional sheet reversing, coating units and Heidelberg DryStar dryer, it supports a vast array of applications in terms of inks, formats and printing stock. Imaging of processless thermal printing plates takes place in all printing units simultaneously in just 3.5 minutes. A resolution of 2,400 dpi and thermal imaging technology ensure excellent print quality. The Inkline optional ink cartridge system guarantees a constant ink level throughout the entire print process. This optimized ink feed de-livers high-quality results with the shortest possible makeready times. The com-bination of quality, speed and versatility this offers is particularly in demand on the short run color market. The Speedmaster 74 DI is the ideal digital press for high-quality, cost-effective printing of short color runs of 500 to 10,000 sheets.