McCormick Place, Chicago — MAN Roland is taking the computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) concept to the next level at Graph Expo 2004, joining with several other industry innovators in an operating workflow demonstration called CIMcity. Its purpose: to create a real world JDF production environment that will show Graph Expo visitors how they can combine open systems in prepress, press and postpress to create customized workflows to best serve their markets and their customers. Connecting all the components of CIMcity is a new network solution called printnet, created by ppi Media, a MAN Roland subsidiary. A fully open system, the innovation works like a digital backbone, allowing a printer to integrate all aspects of his production workflow — prepress, press and postpress — and connect them to the MIS system of his choice. The result is a complete end-to-end JDF-driven workflow. The modular innovation is capable of seamlessly connecting any digitally based press operating system to all other printing facility functions. As such, printnet can fully network the production workflow and all the administrative automation provided by virtually any JDF-compatible MIS solution. “Open architecture is the key here,” says Yves Rogivue, CEO of MAN Roland Inc. “printnet lets a facility chose solutions that work best for it in each function, including MIS.“ Participating partners in CIMcity: • EFI’s Hagen Management Information System is integrating back office capabilities, like estimating and invoicing, to the network. • Creo is supplying prepress components, consisting of the Prinergy workflow, the Magnus VLF platesetter and its Synapse Link JDF connection. • MBO’s Perfection folder will connect to CIMcity via its Data Manager JDF-driven connection. • Muller Martini is linking its BravoPlus Amrys saddle stitching system to convert the workflow’s printed signatures into finished products. MAN Roland is launching several new press enhancements in North America that will further demonstrate the interoperability printnet provides. Its CIMcity platform is a six-color ROLAND 700 that integrates the new developments into the workflow. The premiering products include: a double coater module, Eagle Eye inline full-speed quality control, a digitally controlled inline sorter, the QuickChange makeready accelerator, and the Prindor inline foiler. All are features that make printing more productive on the 41-inch machine and enable printers to add new applications to their agenda. Rolling Back Costs The digitally driven in-line sheeter reduces raw materials costs for sheetfed printers by enabling them to use web rolls in place of more expensive cut sheets. Cost reductions of up to 20% can be achieved. The device also reduces paper waste because it can dimension sheets precisely to the specifications of each job, eliminating the need for trimming. This new digital version lets the press operator switch the cutting format in a matter of seconds by just introducing the format on the control panel. No tools or gear changes are required. An Eye on Quality At the other end of the Graph Expo 700 is MAN Roland’s new Inline Sorter. It streamlines the makeready process and improves quality control during press runs by identifying and diverting waste sheets before they wind up in the delivery pile. That means press crews don’t have to stop the press to eliminate rejects from the product stack. Inline Sorter functions as a second delivery on the ROLAND 700. That means the press can continue to ran producing saleable sheets, as waste sheets are automatically removed from the production stream. Working in conjunction with the Inline Sorter is EagleEye. The video-driven inspection systems checks the quality of each sheet at full speed and on the fly, as it exits the last printing unit and before the coating unit. To guarantee precision results, the device examines the entire sheet length-wise, utilizing 0.024” x 0.024” grid zones. When an anomaly is spotted, EagleEye activates the Inline Sorter to divert the problem sheet. Foil without the Fumble Prindor is the new inline foiler from MAN Roland that automates the application of foil and metallic effects to printed products by incorporating the process in the printing cycle. That eliminates the need for hot foil stamping and the time and expense associated with that technique. The innovation is making its global trade show debut at Graph Expo, applying its effects live for the first time before a graphic arts audience. It will be installed on the first two printing units of the ROLAND 700 that is running at the show. Makeready Accelerated QuickChange is being introduced in North America at Graph Expo as a new productivity option on the ROLAND 700. It can reduce the already best in class makeready times on the 41-inch press by an additional 30%. QuickChange is a bundle of new makeready enhancements that supercharges the ROLAND 700 from one end to the other. That makes it easier and faster than ever to transition from one job to the next. QuickChange also automates more aspects of the makeready process so a printer’s rookie operators can produce like pros. Just as importantly, QuickChange reduces waste dramatically on every run, so printers can make more on every sheet they produce. It addresses virtually every function of the makeready process through an integrated bundle of seven modules: • QuickChange Job • QuickChange Air • QuickChange Feeder • QuickChange Infeed • QuickChange Color • QuickChange Wash • QuickChange Clamp Controlling QuickChange and connecting the press to the CIMcity workflow is MAN Roland’s PECOM operating and automation system. “It seems like only yesterday that MAN Roland introduced the industry to Computer Integrated Manufacturing with our PECOM system,” said MAN Roland CEO Yves Rogivue. “Now PECOM is automating hundreds of printing facilities around the world, and we’re set to advance CIM a giant step further with the new innovations we’ll be introducing at Graph Expo 2004.” Driving Up Efficiency MAN Roland’s prototype DirectDrive concept will also make its North American debut at Graph Expo. The innovation powers a printing unit’s plate cylinder with its own high torque motor, controlled by PECOM. Visitors to MAN Roland’s Graph Expo exhibit (#1017) will witness how DirectDrive decouples the plate cylinder from the press’ main drive on a demonstration unit. The result: all of the plates on a ROLAND 700 with DirectDrive can be changed simultaneously, instead of one at a time, considerably slashing makeready time. Another job-changeover savings prompted by DirectDrive: wash-up routines can be completed during plate changing for additional efficiency. DirectDrive also equips printers to replate a printing unit while the press is running. That will facilitate extremely short run length printing that accommodates versioning or frequent language changes. Web Works MAN Roland’s position as the world leader in web press technology and web press installations is being reinforced in several presentations. A key focus will be on the PECOM press operating system and how it helps web-equipped printers automate their workflows. A PECOM simulator will be demonstrated continually at the show, utilizing a newly designed ROTOMAN control console. The PECOM Print Manager (PPM) will be deployed to pre-set print projects from JDF job tickets. The productive result: PPM lets a press operator makeready the next job for a MAN Roland web press while current project continues to print. That maximizes press uptime. The simulator will use video clips to show precisely how the press reacts to the PECOM commands, focusing on the automated systems that take the time and labor out of web press makereadies. A separate demonstration will show the diagnostic and analytical capabilities of MAN Roland’s TelePresence program. A presentation computer will be connected to one of MAN Roland’s Tele Support Center (TSC), where technicians connect online with user presses worldwide to troubleshoot problems and formulate onsite repairs. The TSC crews will also show how they can analyze details of a press’ production track record and provide suggestions on how to improve its productivity. In a separate multimedia presentation, commercial printers who are successfully using MAN Roland web presses will provide guided tours of their plants, emphasizing how the technology enables them to serve their markets more competitively and more effectively Parts & Service In a separate presentation, MAN Roland’s parts and service offerings will be reviewed with an eye on how they help make printers more competitive. Programs covered will include: • Tresu Inline Coating Modules that can be retrofitted to applicable MAN Roland presses. • MAG-In, an accessory that turns the last unit of a MAN Roland press into an in-line die cutter/creaser/perforator. • Roller Exchange, which lets press users trade-in their worn rollers for a set rejuvenated with new high performance surfaces. • EnergyLink, a new electrical protector that connects between a printing facility’s power source and its presses to purge the electrical supply of any anomalies before they can affect production. • Air Station, a soundproof enclosure for a press’ floor pumps and blowers that improves the working environment in the pressroom. • Rebuilding & Refurbishment, which makes older presses run like new by upgrading vital components. • TelePresence, 24/7 online assistance, which reduces the need for service calls by empowering press crews to identify and repair many types of problems on their own. • ProServe, a series of preventive maintenance and press tune-up packages that allow printers to precisely choose the level of maintenance they require. “With our CIMcity workflow, our press advancements and our proactive parts and service offerings, we believe the MAN Roland exhibit is a top destination at Graph Expo for any printer who wants to be more profitable and successful,” Rogivue said.