With IPEX 2010 less than three months away, manroland GB is issuing a final call for entries to its "Printing Classics" campaign to find the UK's oldest operational manroland press. Users of ROLAND Rekord, Favorit, Parva, Ultra, 800 and 600 presses can register before the 30th April closing date.

The prize for the winner can today be revealed as a weekend for two in Barcelona with hotel included, to be presented during an official ceremony on the manroland stand at IPEX 2010 (stand number D921, hall 17). Those wishing to enter should visit the campaign's dedicated webpage where they will be able to register their press and outline the type of work they are producing on it. All those who register their press before the show are eligible for VIP entry to IPEX 2010 courtesy of manroland, where they will also be able to experience the company's renowned corporate hospitality.

The campaign has turned up nearly twenty presses since its launch in the summer of 2009, some of which are decades old and all of which are true classics of the printing industry. One entry of special interest has come from Derbyshire's Easibind International, a company with a reputation for innovative printing, particularly in lenticular and plastics. The company's production facilities are state of the art and include a Roland 500 that was installed just over a year ago. But it continues to employ its 1974 Roland Favorit for one and two colour short run work on paper and board.

Says Ilann Hepworth, Easbind International: "The Roland Favorit has been central to what you might call our 'bread and butter' work since its installation in 1986. It's a reliable workhorse of a machine that's in use for around three days a week on a double day shift operation and has required no significant maintenance or repairs in 24 years. It is mainly used to produce covers for perfect bound corporate accounts where we supply the covers pre-glued to our customers who then use heat binders also from Easibind to bind documents as and when they need them. These are produced on stocks that our digital presses can't handle easily and as long as it keeps on running then I can't see us ever needing to replace it."

Says Norman Revill, Managing Director, manroland GB: "The campaign is proving to be a great success and it's great to hear of the high-quality, diverse and demanding work our customers are continuing to produce on a daily basis with their classic manroland presses. So far we've had entries from the full spectrum of the printing industry: one customer is using a press that's nearly thirty years old to produce magazine covers and others are using even older presses to print on plastics or apply UV finishes. In that respect, the campaign is well on its way to achieving its stated aim of demonstrating the true strength and diversity of manroland's printing technology and giving some well-deserved recognition to those printers throughout the UK who form part of the backbone of the industry.

"Presses like the Rekord, Favorit and Ultra were cutting edge in the 1970s and the fact that some are still operating in a commercial capacity, and in daily use, is a source of immense pride for manroland. It is testament to their design and engineering that after all this time they remain a profitable production solution for customers. I would urge users of these presses that haven't done so already to register on the website and celebrate with us at IPEX 2010 the often unsung heroes of the print industry."