CHICAGO, September 8, 2005 – At PRINT '05 in Chicago, the premier graphics industry show in America, POLAR, the equipment manufacturer based in Hofheim, Germany, will show many of its products at the Heidelberg booth. In addition to Autojog, our fully automatic jogging system, and the operator-free T-155-T PACE cutting system, the show also will provide an opportunity for visitors to see the following: - POLAR L-R-115-B Cutting System Equipped with a stacklift LW 1000-4, an automatic jogger RA-4, a high-speed cutter POLAR 115 XT Autotrim and a single-head bander BT with feeder table, the materials cut with this standard cutting system are not unloaded with a stacklift or Transomat unit. Instead, materials are banded, ensuring that they are ready for manual packing. The BT single-head bander is perfect for banding small to medium volumes such as labels and business cards or for “in-between” jobs. - POLAR L-R-P-137-T Cutting System This classic POLAR cutting system with rear table loading comprises a LW 1000-4 loading lift, a RAH-4 automatic jogger, a STR piling-board shelf, a POLAR 137 XT Autotrim and a Transomat unit TRE 130-4. The piling-board shelf is used to buffer the jogged reams. - POLAR 78 X High-Speed Cutter Ideal for smaller cutting jobs or as a second cutter for rush orders in the size range DIN A2 (43 x 61 cm ~ 16 15/16 x 24 inches), POLAR cutter 66 is ideal for copy shops, digital printing and printers of small formats with one-shift operation and little cutting in the size range up to DIN A3 (36 x 52 cm ~ 14 3/16 x 23 1/12 inches). - POLAR DC-M Stand-Alone Die-Cutter This machine is used to produce die-cut labels, e.g. wet glue labels for bottles, plastic cards for telephone cards and paper/cardboard cards as business cards. It is especially suitable for short runs and frequent job changes. (Label size, after die-cutting, max. 166 x 206 mm; 6 ½ x 8 1/9 inches; min. 16 x 36 mm; 5/8x13/7 inches) - POLAR PW-4 ABV Pile Turner In addition to avoiding manual handling when turning piles, the PW-4 ABV helps condition paper much faster prior to the printing job. Glossy sheets in particular dry faster between recto and verso printing. The airing function reduces powder-related printing- and post-printing problems. (Sheet size, max. cm/inches 80 x120; 31 1/2 x 47 1/4) - Autojog, our fully automatic jogging system, is THE highlight from POLAR. Now ready to go into production, this system was presented to a large public for the first time ever at the POLAR one-month Open House event in June. PRINT '05 is only the second occasion on which this operator-free system will be shown. Autojog picks up reams from the starter stack standing on a pallet (the ream height can be precision-adjusted), fans the reams and airs the individual sheets. The ream then is transported to the automatic jogger, where it is deposited. The automatic jogger works with two counter-rotating vibration motors which create a targeted oscillation (a world novelty) to ensure the best possible jogging results. The air is removed once the desired ream height is obtained. The entire jogging process is entirely automatic, with absolutely no manual intervention required! Depending on how Autojog is used, the jogged material then is accurately aligned and deposited onto a waiting pallet by a Transomat unloading unit (in offline mode). When used in inline mode in conjunction with a cutting system, a gripper system pulls the ream onto the rear table of the high-speed cutter. Core benefits of Autojog include its compact design (space-saving), ease of format changeovers, gentle material handling and high productivity (2.5 to 3 pallets per hour). This performance level is some 50 to 100 percent above what can be processed by a single jogging station operator. If needed, Autojog also can be switched to manual mode with the touch of a button. - The POLAR T-155-T *PACE Cutting System This system provides fully automatic processing of unprinted material up to a format size of 102 x 142 cm. Ream by ream, a 3BL Transomat unit removes the material to be cut from the stack and pushes it onto the rear table of the POLAR 155 XT Autotrim high-speed cutter. The ream then is picked up by the Autoturn turning gripper and a four-sided cutting operation is executed. Autoturn ensures precision turning and accurate alignment of the ream before each cut. A Transomat E unit then deposits the cut reams onto a waiting pallet. This operation also proceeds without an operator. *PACE stands for: POLAR Automated Cutting for Efficiency. It denotes complex, highly automated cutting systems capable of working without operators (depending on the configuration). POLAR already has installed 20 such machines. This success marks a continuation of developments in recent years – years in which POLAR has achieved a significant increase in sales of its systems. This trend comes as no surprise, confirming the philosophy of linking and automating process steps as repeatedly advocated by POLAR. The pressure placed on converting businesses due to constantly increasing personnel costs is undeniable. Productivity increases and rationalization are essential. These machines and systems will ensure that POLAR is represented at this top show in our largest market: more than 500 of the new X/XT generation of high-speed cutters alone have been sold in the U.S. since 2004. The feedback we receive from the U.S. market, and indeed other markets, reveals that our new generation of machines far exceeds many customer expectations, with operator comfort and the OptiKnife knife change facility attracting particularly positive comments. The P-Net networking concept also is catching on fast: some 90 P-Net sales have been reported since early 2005. Worldwide sales of Compucut licenses have increased considerably – to more than 800 – as a result. PRINT attendees can take advantage of the opportunity to familiarize themselves more thoroughly with POLAR's P-Net machine networking facility. At PRINT '05, P-Net will be used to network all POLAR high-speed cutters, except for the POLAR 66. This will be the first time that P-Net networking will be shown with the following modules: “external storage management”, “Compucut“ and “Remote Diagnosis“. POLAR also is reminding booth visitors that spare parts for the CE and EMC-1 generation of high-speed cutters no longer will be available as of the end of this year. After more than 25 years of ensuring supplies, POLAR has decided to discontinue the production of spare parts for these models due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable delivery of important safety-related components. This is the right moment for a new generation: the POLAR X and XT high-speed cutters are dependable, superior successors in every respect. For more information, please visit www.polar-mohr.com.