Kennesaw, Ga., October 20, 2003 – Heidelberg announced today that users of its CutStar sheeter are reporting significant reductions in production and paper costs, which are leading to significant new sales growth. Boyd Brothers, Inc. of Panama City, Fla., for example, reports a 20% increase in annual gross sales since installing its CutStar in June 2002. President Jim Boyd, Jr. said that being able to buy paper in rolls as opposed to sheets has resulted in substantial savings, enabling Boyd Brothers to be more competitive. “A lot of the jobs we take in now are based on lower pricing because we have been able to save so much by purchasing our paper on rolls,” Boyd said. “Adding the CutStar to our shop has enabled us to take on new jobs and grow our business.” Boyd Brothers, a third-generation family-owned shop that specializes in publication-type work, is among a growing list of printers turning to CutStar to reduce costs and run more profitable businesses. More than 40 CutStar units have been installed since April 2001 and seven of those users, after only a short startup phase, have installed a second. “Heidelberg’s sheetfed presses already are renowned for their high print quality and short setup times, but it is still important, particularly during difficult economic times, to continue to identify new opportunities for cost cutting in production and purchasing,” said Christian Matthiesen of Project Management Special Presses at Heidelberg. “Because CutStar uses reel paper instead of the more expensive sheets, customers can save as much as 30 percent on paper costs.” Here’s how it works: The CutStar allows reel stock to be processed on Heidelberg SM/CD 102 presses. The paper web is fed to the cutting unit via dancer rollers and cut to the required format which can be selected at will anywhere between 40 and 72 cm. Once the cutting process is finished, the sheet is accelerated slightly and guided to a shingling unit where the rear edge of the sheet is lifted so that the following sheet can slip into the resulting gap. The stream of shingled stock thus formed is directed unchanged to the forwarding rollers in the feeder. In order to process sheets, the motor-driven cutting unit is removed from the feeder area laterally towards the drive side. The main advantage of the CutStar is the lower cost of reel paper compared to sheeted paper. “Customers can save especially with foils and special printing stock,” said Matthiesen. “Because of the infinitely variable cutoff length, only the format actually required is cut from the reel paper. That is a big advantage over standardized sheet stock.” Because shingling is performed directly in the CutStar, the stock feed is extremely reliable and constant, making the Speedmaster more efficient than when using sheeted stock. This is particularly true for critical papers less than 80 gsm and special stock such as polypropylene. A further advantage is the higher dimensional stability of the reel paper compared to bought-in sheet stock. This means far shorter makeready and thus further reductions in production costs. The use of reel stock must be applied all the way from purchasing and storage right up to production in order to fully realize the enormous potential of CutStar. “The move towards reel stock indicates a change of thinking, but the growing number of customers who already have two installations clearly confirms that their decision was right,” said Matthiesen. CutStar allows the sheet printer to win back lost ground in the longer job run sector. In addition, the variable cutoff gives increased flexibility over fixed cutoff lengths. This means that new products or product variations can be produced at advantageous costs. The CutStar is available for customer demonstrations in Heidelberg’s Print Media Center in Heidelberg, where it is used in conjunction with a Speedmaster SM 102-5-P3 and supports a full range of functions.