September 11, 2002 -- Southwest Offset Printing in Gardena, California will install the first Heidelberg M-600 A-24 web press in North America this fall. The 16-page press system will include five printing units, a Contiweb SH-40 splicer, Ecotherm dryer and JF-44 folder, all supplied by Heidelberg. "Automation, fast makereadies and proven reliability led us to select the M-600," according to Warren Dow, vice president and chief operating officer at Southwest Offset. The press will include Autoplate, the fully automated system that allows a single operator to change all the plates in less than two minutes. It will also be equipped with closed-loop color and registration systems. "We do a lot of makereadies, and this is a closed-loop press that will allow us to do them very quickly with extremely low waste," Dow adds. Southwest Offset has facilities in both southern and northern California. The company specializes in short-run publication printing and offers complete prepress, heatset and non-heatset web printing and postpress capabilities. The new M-600 will address a growing demand for heatset printing and allow the company to better serve customers requiring both heatset and non-heatset production. The M-600 will be the ninth web press line at Southwest Offset. The company was established in 1990 and has 275 employees. Titles printed at the 85,000 square foot facility near Los Angeles include the Financial Times, Daily Racing Form, Christian Science Monitor, Radio and Records and the Washington Post National Weekly. The A-24 version of the Heidelberg M-600 prints up to 40,000 impressions per hour. Heidelberg has installed similar versions of the press in Europe and Asia since 1992. The M-600, which is also available in B-24 and C-24 models, is currently the best selling 16-page web press in the world. Nearly 1,600 printing units have been installed worldwide.