York, Pennsylvania -- Strine Printing has purchased the world’s first 900 XXL system to be equipped with an in-inline coater and UV-curing capabilities. The six-color press was also the first ROLAND 900 XXL to be sold in North America. Providing a 73-inch sheet size, the 900 XXL is the widest-format sheetfed press on the market. It delivers 328% more printable area than a conventional 40" machine, and 22% more printable area than even the largest 47" X 64" press. That will result in considerable production efficiencies for Strine, which is the largest single-location commercial sheetfed printer in the Northeast corridor. Strine plans to use the press for point-of-sale, packaging and commercial applications. It currently runs two 56" six-color ROLAND 900s, and plans to network them with the new press via the PECOM press operating and automation system. The ROLANDS act as the company’s flagships and combine with four perfectors of up to 10 colors each and 5 straight-line presses of up to 7 colors each to complete Strine Printing’s arsenal. Those presses are complemented by two direct digital sheet presses of up to 6 colors and a 6-color variable-data web press. "All of our experiences with MAN Roland have been good experiences," says Michael A. Strine, CEO of the company. "We have no concerns about reliability or support because of the way they worked with us in the past. That makes it a lot easier to commit to this major investment in new technology." Strine Printing’s newest investment is in keeping with the company’s philosophy of being the first with the best. "Several years ago, we went from 40 inches to 56 inches, when we installed our first two ROLAND 900s," Strine says. "That opened a field for us that no one else had entered, and made us more competitive overall." Adds David Kornbau, Vice President of Operations at Strine: "With the XXL, we’re going with the next largest press available -- 73 inches of productive power. It will separate us from the 20,000 other commercial printers out there. We’ll be delivering capabilities no one else can offer. Performance sets the standard. " Strine Printing is looking to the extra wide press to add a new dimension to point-of-sale and point-of-purchase products. The thinking: It was time for a printer to step up and offer size with quality and the new technology, which isn't available on the old generation format. Package printing is another Strine stronghold in which the 900 XXL is scheduled to play a big role. "It can print more up on every sheet, which will make us more competitive and provide additional value to our packaging customers," Strine notes. The same holds true on the commercial printing and publishing side of Strine’s operations, where Fortune 500 companies are a mainstay. "This press will give us the capability of offering quality 64 page signatures," Michael Strine notes. "That gives publishers a new option for color signatures in the book industry. But regardless of the configuration of the sheet, from multiples of 3"x5" reply cards up to 73" posters, our higher quality and better value pricing will be provided to our customer base." Strine is equipping its ROLAND 900 XXL with two slitters -- one long-grain oriented and one short-grain oriented -- to maximize the press’ versatility. "We’ll have more flexibility than a web press can deliver, because its sheet orientation and cutoff is predetermined," Kornbau comments. "The 900’s slitters will allow us to cut each sheet precisely to the dimensions of each job in-line, saving us paper and time." Strine Printing is also a leading producer of greeting cards. In fact the company is one of only two in the U.S. capable of fully integrating the manufacturing process, going from digital files to boxed card sets. "The 900 XXL will allow us to run more up on every sheet, which position us better in that segment," say Strine. "And the quality is consistent from corner to corner. So here again we’re giving our customers a better choice." The 900’s in-line coater is also expected to add a quality touch to a variety of products from packaging to point-of-sales material. Aqueous coating, blister pack products and UV coating are all on its agenda. The company also intends to make good use of the press’ ability to handle substrates up to 1.2mm or 48 points thick. Microflute corrugated packaging is on 900’s radar screen, as are point-of-purchase materials printed on vinyl or polystyrene. While the new press will allow Strine Printing to explore a variety of new applications, its operation is expected to be familiar experience for the company’s press crews. The reason: They can carry over their know-how operating Strine’s two 56-inch ROLAND 900s to the new press. They’ll be further assisted by the new PECOM press operating and automation system that will not only be installed on the new press, but will network into the company’s existing pair of 900 machines. Strine is adding the advanced modules JobPilot and PressMonitor to its PECOM system. JobPilot will let the company’s operators to preset its fleet of 900s while they continue to print. That will cut average makeready times by 10 minutes per job. PressMonitor, meanwhile, will provide Strine management with an inside look at press performance, providing both real time and archival data on every project. "We’ll be able to run a full shift assessment on these three presses," notes Kornbau. "That will greatly enhance our ability to analyze all of the variables that constitute pressroom performance." Encompassing two buildings, four pressrooms, 500 employees and 400,000 sq. ft. of production and warehouse space, Strine Printing prides itself on its ability to provide its clients with whatever they require in the way of printed communications. "One phone call and we take care of all their needs from prepress, through printing, through finishing, to warehousing and distribution," Strine notes. "Our clients tell us that we are the most diversified printer that they know of. Wait until they see what our new 900 XXL can do."