Successful printers & advanced technology driving MAN Roland Exhibit
Press release from the issuing company
McCormick Place, Chicago — MAN Roland Inc. will be getting personal at Graph Expo 2003 (September 28-October 1). The press maker is populating pavilion #1030 with printers who are using MAN Roland systems to successfully implement the advantages of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) in their shops and plants.
In an interactive presentation, sheetfed printers, packaging printers, newspaper executives and commercial web printers from across the country will tell their production stories, sharing their thoughts on the workflow enhancements that are making a profitable difference in their facilities.
Simultaneously, a six-color ROLAND 500 will be put through its paces, producing a project designed to delineate the productivity of the press by benchmarking the costs involved in the job rather than the time it takes to do it.
The concept is to let the 500 tell its success story in terms of dollars and cents. MAN Roland will use metrics from its exclusive Press Operating Profitability (POP) analysis to set some baseline parameters. it will also incorporate actual bids from printers across the country to get average production numbers.
“The idea is to see how the ROLAND 500 can beat them by the time our presentation ends,” says Christian Cerfontaine, Director of Marketing.
MAN Roland commissioned an independent research group and worked with the NAPL to create POP. It’s based on live performance data collected on the world’s most popular presses. The program cross references those factors with input about a facility — the number of shifts run, coverage requirements, job mix, and run lengths. The result is an objective analysis that tells a printer which press will be the most cost-effective choice for the way he operates.
In addition to the 500’s performance, a feed to MAN Roland’s Graphic/Training Center will facilitate the creation of CIM network from the show floor to the company’s working demonstration facility in Westmont, Illinois. A ROLAND 700, the company’s 41-inch press, will demonstrate makeready and production that is controlled from the Graph Expo show floor via the PECOM press operating system.
While showcasing those innovations, the MAN Roland exhibit will focus on process rather than product. The goal is to give the North American graphic arts community working knowledge of the benefits of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM).
Toward that end, a CIM Classroom will present mini-workshops featuring experts from MAN Roland and Creo. CIM-based innovations, like the advanced PECOM modules and the Rover remote diagnostic system will be demonstrated. And participants will be invited to use JobPilot to makeready a press.
But the centerpiece of the exhibit will be a live/multimedia presentation — titled Success Spoken Here — that will transport Graph Expo visitors to a variety of pressrooms that are putting CIM into action.
The purpose of the presentation is threefold: First, MAN Roland will demonstrate how its presses can be networked and controlled digitally through the power of the company’s PECOM automation and press operating system. Second, the on-site visits will provide a blueprint for printers on putting CIM into action in their facilities. Third, video clips will provide a sneak preview of some of the systems MAN Roland will be introducing at drupa next spring to further advance CIM in print.
Show jobs will be printed both on the show floor and in the remote location. They are limited edition prints by internationally renowned photographer/illustrator Ryan Roessler, who will be on hand to sign the lithographs.
Other advancements MAN Roland will display at its exhibit include:
DICOweb. A unit from the industry’s only plateless offset press — DICOweb — will illustrate the ongoing commercialization of the advanced technology and demonstrate how DICOweb is the ultimate CIM printing system.
ROLAND 900 XXL. The largest sheetfed press in the industry will show-off its extra capacity in the form of a complete printing unit. The 900 XXL had its world premiere in Germany in April.
LITHOMAN IV. A unit from MAN Roland’s largest commercial web press will show why a variety of North American printers have broadened the capabilities of their workflows with the LITHOMAN IV.
ServiceVision. The Rover remote service diagnostic tool will show how it plugs in to MAN Roland’s ServiceVision package to provide North American printers with increased press uptime and lower service costs.
Showgoers can get a sneak preview of the exhibit’s presentation by visiting www.manroland.com and clicking in the “Success Spoken Here” section.