March 12, 2004 -- More than 50 journalists from 22 countries attended the press kickoff in the Augsburg MAN Museum, MAN Roland’s official drupa prelude for the writing profession. Board Chairman Gerd Finkbeiner and various representatives of the MAN Roland divisions informed the audience about the arrangements for the approaching drupa 2004 event and about new and improved machines and workflows. A few of the drupa exhibits were shown at the Augsburg factory. MAN Roland also announced that its DICOweb, having completed a two-year pilot phase, will be offered as a series-produced press. Gerd Finkbeiner’s introductory words were outspoken in criticizing that drupa 2004 is taking place in circumstances of continued uncertainty. All major suppliers in the printing industry had suffered disadvantages from the decline in advertising expenditures for print products during the past several years, Finkbeiner emphasized. And the situation of world economy – except in some parts of Asia – had not yet shown any distinct upswing tendency either. The graphic arts industry would have to react to this situation with dramatic cost reductions, which alone, however, surely could not be regarded as a satisfactory answer for the future. Under its new slogan WE ARE PRINT., MAN Roland intends to face the challenges with self-confidence and, above all, customer orientation. The slogan makes clear that the print product is at the centre of MAN Roland thinking and activity and that production on MAN Roland presses is exact, reliable and of highest quality. At the same time, services, interface technologies, the entire value-adding chain of operations and the functioning of the network of all participants in the market are just as important as the presses and systems themselves. WE ARE PRINT. stands for MAN Roland’s complete identification with and commitment to its industry and – even more important – to the customers, the entire MAN Roland Community worldwide. Finkbeiner urged the companies of the graphic arts industry to redefine print products and their performances with new and fresh impulse. He explained that MAN Roland had singled out the subjects of applications, automation and added value as driving forces for the strategic reorientation of the industry and, logically, as main subjects for MAN Roland and its drupa appearance. Print products exactly answering the customer requirements in question, customized applications or new business ideas are the basis for commercial success of the printing companies. MAN Roland’s comprehensive product portfolio ensures the right solution for every conceivable application. Appropriate automation, supported by software-based workflows, provides for the desired efficiency and consistent high level of quality. And the added value resulting from the full range of services offered by MAN Roland fosters unique relations with the customer, which benefit him in many ways. Overall, costs must go down and quality must go up. At drupa 2004, the customer is to see very clearly why it pays to invest. Automation, Inline Production and Increased Productivity With new and improved presses and workflows for the various market segments, MAN Roland at drupa will, in particular, promote automation, inline production and, thus, productivity. In the sheetfed offset segment, it will show as new developments or introduce in concept form, among other products: the ROLAND 900 in XXL format 8; nonstop delivery (Rollomatic), coating unit, double coating, corrugated and UV equipment package for ROLAND 900 and XXL; the ROLAND 700 with white priming in the coating unit and two dryer towers before the first colour; ROLAND 700 and ROLAND 900 with increased speed (16,000 and 14,000 sheets per hour respectively); special equipment for quick job changeover (QuickChange); semiautomatic forme change in the coating unit for the small format; inline sheet monitoring systems for different press positions; inline embossing in the coating unit; inline foil stamping. The presentation in the commercial web offset segment will include: automatic webbing-up also in the folder; a new folding technology; AutoJobChange for operator-independent and standardized job changeover (APL, QuickStart and closed-loop control); printing on the ROTOMAN with six printing couples for flying job changeover (two printing couples) or six-colour printing (hexachrome); the LITHOMAN with 72 pages; increased speed on ROTOMAN S and 48-page LITHOMAN (90,000 and. 45,000 revolutions per hour, respectively); changeover of the DICOweb to changed cut-off lengths by the press operator. As of drupa 2004, the DICOweb, after a two-year pilot phase, can be ordered as a series-produced press. This makes it the world’s first and only offset press that combines imaging and erasing of the printing forme with conventional offset technology and inline finishing, and is available to a broad market. In the newspaper printing segment, no presses will be exhibited; instead, for the duration of drupa, newspaper printing by MAN Roland will be presented on customer sites. On the MAN Roland stand, information will be provided on automation components (PPL, QuickStart, PECOM and closed-loop control) and the press concepts COLORMAN 6/2 XXL, REGIOMAN 4/1, UNISET 3/2 and CROMOMAN 3/1 as well as on integrating the DICO technology into newspaper printing (DICOkit) and on the possibilities of extending/upgrading existing systems, including machinery from other suppliers. MAN Roland will be showing the entire JDF-based printnet workflow for applications in sheetfed and webfed commercial work in cooperation with PrintCity partners, for which purpose practically all PECOM functions will be integrated into the new production management system from MAN Roland and its subsidiary ppi Media, i.e. into printnet. The MAN Roland show in Hall 6 at drupa will manifest itself in two ways: by integration into PrintCity, where various applications of the cooperating partners in the area of prepress, printing and postpress will be demonstrated in the PrintCity Factory through to the finished product; and by its own stand with its structure of six technology showcases and nine regional showcases for the different parts of the world. Here, drupa visitors can find the right MAN Roland representatives to talk to about the desired subjects according to country and market segment in question. In conclusion of the press kickoff, the journalists saw some new developments for drupa demonstrated live in different departments of the Augsburg factory: format changeover on the DICOweb, the ROTOMAN with six printing couples, and the test stand of the COLORMAN 6/2 in XXL format, which, as a nine-cylinder satellite press, printed a 32-page, 4/4-colour newspaper.