July 21, 2003 -- Kendallville, Indiana — Courier Corporation is transforming its facility here into the nation’s top four-color book plant focused primarily on the education market. The pace-setting capacity will come from a new four-unit MAN Roland LITHOMAN IV web offset press that is scheduled for installation and start-up by next spring. “Our new LITHOMAN will be running well in advance of the 2004 new title publishing season for textbooks,” says Peter Tobin, Executive Vice President of Courier’s book manufacturing business. “Higher education is this plant’s primary market, and these books are generally manufactured in the summer.” The 48-page LITHOMAN will feature a web width of 57.48 inches and a 22.75 inch cutoff. Its four printing units will feed a MAN Roland PFI-3/2 2:3:3 jaw folding system. Like all new LITHOMAN presses, it features a Shaftless AC Drive System that promotes easier web-ups and smoother, more consistent operation. The top speed of the new press is 35,000 impressions per hour. Courier expects to increase throughput and enhance production with a range of automated features that will be integrated into the company’s LITHOMAN. A Power Plate Loading (PPL) system will allow pressmen to replate the press in a matter of minutes between jobs. Also: the press will be operated from MAN Roland’s PECOM extended control system that includes the automation modules ProductionManager, PresetManager, PrepressLink and PressLink. The package forms the basis of a Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) network that will allow Courier pressmen to preset upcoming jobs while current work is running in order to maximize press uptime. The advanced automation also enables the press to set its own ink profiles directly from CIP3 Print Production Format prepress data for additional makeready savings. Plus, it provides Courier management with an array of production monitoring tools to conduct in-depth performance analysis. “We’re very excited to buy our first MAN Roland press,” says Tobin, speaking from the company’s North Chelmsford, Massachusetts headquarters. “We are adding the LITHOMAN in order to meet the growing demand for color in textbooks, and we look forward to enhancing our position in this growing market.” According to Courier, four-color is the fastest growing segment of the educational book market. The reason: providing full-color photography and illustrations in their books is one of the best ways for publishers to engage students and to complement other educational materials that are increasingly produced in electronic format. “We try to figure out what our customers need to be successful,” Tobin notes. “We identify their growth opportunities and then apply technology to best address their needs. Our new press is an example of that process in action.” Focusing on book production since 1824, Courier has grown to become the nation’s sixth largest book manufacturer. “That puts us in a unique place,” Tobin observes. “We’re big enough to make any kind of book and in any quantity, yet we are flexible and we provide the highest level of customer service to all orders.”