The perfecting system of the ROLAND 900, XXL with a maximum sheet size of 1,310 x 1,870 millimeters revolutionizes sheetfed offset and sets new efficiency standards: this perfecting press prints 64 A4 pages in one pass which is right in line with the manroland Value Added Printing philosophy.

Driven by globalization and consolidation in the industry, large-format is a market with a bright future. Big printing companies are emerging that select the most suitable orders for large-format presses from the vast number of print jobs in the marketplace. This is accompanied by industrial-scale printing including perfecting. As Dr. Markus Rall, Executive Board Member Sheetfed Printing Systems at manroland, observes: "The ROLAND 900, XXL is the technological consequence of this development. Format 8 enables the unit cost advantage of a large-format press to be optimally utilized." The ROLAND 900, XXL perfector unites the advantages of large-format printing with those of perfecting. "One Pass Productivity" is the magic formula: no second pass, shorter wash-up and makeready processes, lower spoils allowance, simpler organization, the space saved by fewer pallets, and shorter throughput times prior to the postpress operations. This press is primarily aimed at services providers in the fields of commercial and publications printing who are looking to print paper and light carton in perfecting mode for signatures and covers. The classic products of commercial printers are catalogs and brochures in the DIN A4 format. Even though the products of publications printers are often not in DIN formats, the ROLAND 900, XXL increases productivity enormously – by up to 100 percent compared with a 7B perfector. First user Himmer AG in Augsburg, Germany, is convinced about the production efficiency of this new press. Hannes Eisele, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Himmer AG: "We already call format 8 the Golden Format because it gives us advantages for almost all our jobs."

A turn for the better: the perfector
The perfecting system enables up to 64 A4 pages to be printed on one sheet. Maximum production speed of the ROLAND 900, XXL is 12,000 sheets per hour (format 7B) and 11,000 sheets (format 8) in straight printing mode. In perfecting mode the maximum speed is 10,000 sheets per hour (format 7B and 8). Double-size cylinders in the sheet turning module provide a maximum of image area and ensure optimal sheet travel. For quality and efficiency, the new XXL perfecting press is equipped with performance features that large-format perfectors never had before. With a maximum sheet size of 1,310 x 1,870 mm, the XXL perfecting press in format 8 can print a sheet 10 mm longer and 20 mm wider than a straight printing press of the same format. The benefit for the printing company: even though perfecting always requires a 10 mm longer sheet, the maximum image area of both versions is the same (1,290 x 1,850 mm). All cylinders of the sheet turning device are double-size, which ensures extremely stable and smooth sheet travel in perfecting mode. Standard equipment includes the ROLAND InlineObserver, which uses video cameras to monitor the sheet turning process and sheet travel between the printing units.

Automatically good: Modules for quality and efficiency
The new delivery of this perfector is equipped with only four delivery systems that ensure optimal sheet guiding from the last impression cylinder to the delivery stack. Together with the take-off grippers, the segmented sheet brake provides the same stacking quality that manroland straight printing presses are renowned for. The free space needed on the underside of the sheet for positioning the suction elements (sheet brake) is minimal. The optional ROLAND InlineSlitter that slits the sheet down the middle is positioned over the delivery drum, which reduces maintenance and makeready time because there is no blanket changing. During the procedure, a slitting wheel runs against a steel band on the drum. Two perfect delivery stacks in a maximum sheet size of 5B are ideal for the postpress operations.

Up to 64 premium quality pages: This is what the ROLAND 900, XXL perfector delivers. The production process must provide quality and efficiency. Therefore the design of the large-format perfecting press is based on the manroland PQS Standard. This includes tight tolerances for unit-to-unit register, slurring, doubling and spreading. OptiPrint jackets, stable front-to-back register, the highly accurate ROLAND InlineSlitter and the ROLAND InlineColorPilot ensure quality and, because they are highly automated, efficiency as well. OptiPrint jackets deliver premium print quality comparable with the results from medium-format presses. As opposed to textured cylinders, exchangeable jackets ensure consistently high print quality over the entire press life cycle, which enables printing companies to serve completely new market segments. The highest level of automation in the large-format class maximizes net output with print quality second to none. Color Management with ColorPilot plus provides quality assurance and thus reduces the number of waste sheets. Ink density is measured from print control strips positioned anywhere on the sheet at right angles to the printing direction. ROLAND InlineColorPilot, the inline color measuring and control system, is another option which immediately detects and automatically corrects the slightest color variation. This saves a great deal of makeready time and ensures constantly high print quality over the entire run. The APL (AutomaticPlateLoading) system also reduces makeready time. To make sure these time savings are not lost in the postpress operations, the ROLAND InlineSlitter provides two format 5 stacks in the delivery.