ARCHIVEXEMPLAR GENERAL(6) 67 ZURUCKAN DOKUMENTATIONI ' ANPA/TEC 1989 Display Ad Systems - As exciting as computer games Keyless Offset and Tower Configurations - Still the order of the day Mailroom Equipment - Always good for a surprise
This year’s ANPA/TEC, the 61st ANPA exhibition, took place from June 10th to 14th in New Orleans, the city of jazz and Missis: Gppi River steamboats. More than 300 manufac- turers showed their systems, machines and equipment for the newspaper in- dustry on a floor space of more than 30,000 square meters. The show filled two separate halls linked by a shuttle bus service, while the accompanying congress had to be held in the nearby Hilton Hotel. This three-way division of the event may have prevented any feeling of overcrowding but it was easi- er to meet someone in the evening in the French Quarter than during the day in the exhibition halls.
As usual, the organisation and documen- tation of the event was impeccable. Although at times it was stiflingly hot outside the halls, the temperature within was pleasantly cool. Howeveg, in some places the air conditioning creqted such a draught that demonstrations bad to be kept to a minimum. Indeed, one could not help but admire the resilience of some of the stand personnel in the face of such climatic conditions. Met in New Orleans: Mr. MC Intosh, Systems Manager As far as exhibits and exhibitors are for the progressive St. Petersburg Times. A sign of the concerned, ANPA/TEC 89 showed the times!
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IFRA (INCA-FIEJ Research Association) Washingtonplatz D-6100 Darmstadt (F. R. Germany) .,Tel. (6151) 7005-O TX. 4 19273 (ifra d) Fax (6151) 784542
PRE-PRESS
Pre-press systems
In the pre-press sector, there were naturally once again network will become even more important. Undoubtedly, numerous exhibitors showing all system variations ranging Token Ring networks will take their place alongside Eth- from a “trumped-up” DTP system up to every manner of ernet LANs. A good, musical demonstration of the bene- large-scale system. The fact that first struck the experi- fits of a Token Ring network was given on the IBM stand. enced exhibit visitor was that there were no really new Besides the aforementioned colour monitors, there names in the area of text processing systems. Apparently, were no obvious new developments in editorial and adver- all newcomers this year had directed their efforts towards tising systems, testifying to the fact that the systems in this the development of digital image processing systems. field can be generally considered mature. Most manufac- The trend towards use of only so-called standard hard- turers seemed to have concentrated on presenting ad ware is becoming increasingly obvious. Apple Macintosh, layout software, since the conversations on all the stands MS-DOS and OS/2 PC workstations, or, for more de- seemed to center on it. Full-page make-up solutions could manding applications, Sun or DEC VAX workstations be seen also, but did not hold the same attraction for the form the basis of nearly all pre-press systems. Depending normal visitor as the ad layout terminals did. on how they are equipped, these products can be config- For some years now, it has been apparent that it is ured as workstations or as file servers in networks. The easier to develop a system than to market one successful- fact that in some cases Tandem or larger-sized IBM ly. Although many American system specialists are poten- computers were shown as fde servers does not alter the tially interested in the European market, in many cases accuracy of this statement. they are put off by the confusion of languages and adapta- “Proprietary” terminals from Atex, Crosfield or SII, tions they require. That is certainly also the reason why which continue to be offered in addition to PCs, appeared the systems from CText and Dewar Information Systems almost as “freaks” alongside the PC workstations, most of (Disc), which are highly popular in the U.S.A., are which are equipped with colour monitors. (N.B. This distributed only in the U.S.A. and Canada. Although remark is not intended to detract from the efficiency of other system specialists, such as Camex, Cybergraphic, these terminals.) Information International Inc. (III) and Mikro-Tek, are As a rule today, most systems are configured as net- represented in other countries, their systems cannot be work systems with fde servers. Ethernet and Novell net- classified as being distributed worldwide. In addition, work software were the names that cropped up most there are many companies that are of interest only to the frequently when enquiries were made about the individual American market. system components. Decentralised databank software is Therefore, only a few companies are of “universal” not expected to become available before next year at the significance. We shall report briefly about these in the earliest; when this happens, the performance capacity of a following.
Atex: Demonstrated on the Atex stand were the indivi- Another Atex press release said closer cooperation dual steps in newspaper production with an Atex system, with Archetype is planned, aimed especially at promoting with special emphasis on ad production as well as the the development of ad layout software. make-up of text and advertising pages. Of much greater Camex: Although this company unfortunately is not interest, however, was the news that the < 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 3 PRE-PRESS Highlighted in the demonstrations were the AdWizard for ad layout, NewsWizard for full-page make-up, News- line for receiving and processing agency pictures, the Lineart and Logo workstation and the 2750 Monochrome Image Subsystem for processing b/w pictures. SII: Systems Integrators was present this year once again on a large stand that it shared with Digital Tech- nology International (DTI). The announcement shortly before the start of the exhibition lhat System Integrators had acquired Ffrom DTI exclusive distribution rights to DTI programs for ad layout, full-page make-up, colour image processing and several other products caused quite a stir. According to the information available, SII will sell DTI programs exclusively in the U.S.A. to newspapers with circulations of more than 30,000 copies, to all news- papers in the F.R.G. and Austiia, as well as to French newspapers with circulations in excess of 30,000 copies. In other countries, DTI products will continue to be dis- tributed by its existing agents, e.g. Expograph in the Netherlands and Tele-Ekonomie in the Scandinavian countries. The AdSpeed program for ad layout is the best-known and most popular DTI program. It runs on Macintosh hardware and output is usually on laser printers. Im- portant, however, is the PostScript output, so that a number of imagesetters can be connected as a standard feature. But the agreement did not prevent SII from presenting This ad was laid out from prepared components during a a further-developed version of its INL interactive News demonstration of a Camex Breeze terminal, and output on a Layout program. INL permits both layout-controlled and laser printer in seven different colour separations, with register text-controlled make-up. As the name indicates, there is a marks. very high level of interaction between the editorial and make-up systems. A demonstration was given also of terminal. The only thing the Breeze terminal has in classified-ad make-up. common with its predecessors is its name. Today, it is It is too early to say just how quickly the DTI products based on a Sun workstation and offers all functions for can be integrated into the SII system, and which programs the production of complex ads, including the processing will be sold in the future. The first practical advances of continuous tone images, logos, graphics, texts and should be ready in time for presentation at the IFRA ornamental borders. The output of colour separations Expo, to be held from 16 to 19 October 1989 in Amster- for as many spot colours as desired, including register dam. marks, is possible. The Bitprinter III permits the output Harris: As far as is known, Harris ha; sold a large of entire broadsheet pages with a resolution of 800 dpi system to Falun in Sweden. The familiar and proven 8300 (31.5 lines/cm) on normal paper. d and 8900 systems will also process colour ads in the Crosfiefd: It seems every supplier nee ds a major pro- future. As with all other ad layout systems, colour separa- ject to inspire creativity. In the case of ‘Crosfield, the tions from spot colours today are a matter of course. Also project is called <(Baltimore Sun>>. Crosfield has been new from Harris was the demonstration of an image commissioned to connect AdWizards to the existing SII processing system. system for ad layout, NewsWizards for full-page make-up, Information International Inc. (III): Despite the in- as well as image processing systems. The special aspect of troduction of layout-oriented full-page make-up for the this order, however, is that Crosfield has promised a TECY2 editorial system (the former Morris system), the genuine integration of both systems. What that means is focus here was on the demonstration of the AMS Ad the style formats input by SII users are interpreted exactly Makeup Station. It is probably the first system of its kind by Crosfield, and that it is possible also to feed data from that can process four-colour continuous-tone images and Crosfield to the SII system. supply corresponding colour separations. 4 0 IFRA, Darmstadt PRE-PRESS GB Techniques: The Mentor system was the only example “three texts in full-text form, two newspaper European system on show in New Orleans intended for clippings and four photos.” The clippings can be displayed marketing in the U.S.A. In view of the fact that earlier on a high-resolution monitor and printed out, as can texts attempts to launch European systems in North America and photos, though additionally the latter can be trans- frequently came to a sticky end, it remains to be seen just ferred to a frontend system. Thus the Infosel system not how much success GBT will have. We wish them all the only provides the storage of full-text data, it also manages best! all material that is to be archived. This is one solution we shall continue to observe with interest. Summary Output devices Reviewing the presentations in the systems field, it can be stated that the demonstrations of the ad layout termi- All well-known manufacturers of image recorders, such nals were the most impressive, no matter whether they as Autologic, Bidco, Chelgraph, Compugraphic, ECRM, involved PC workstations or larger “professional Linotype, Monotype, Ultre and Varityper/Tegra, were systems. ” The larger systems from Crosfield, Camex, represented at the exhibition. The common catchword Harris and triple-I offer very efficient user guidance as among nearly all those present was “PostScript.” There is well as high speeds. The PC workstation systems also practically no manufacturer today whose products cannot offer amazing performance, though in our opinion the fact be addressed via a PostScript RIP. In addition, most that they are entirely menu-controlled makes them some- manufacturers have entered into agreements with Adobe what more complicated to operate. However, the factor in order to offer their customers the original PostScript determining the efficiency of all devices is just how well typefaces. the operator is trained. Another benefit of this wide- ECRM exhibited the Pelbox 3000. This machine provides ranging offer is that it should be possible today for every a resolution of 3048 dpi with the ability to produce screens newspaper to acquire a system to suit its particular of up to 255 lines per inch. The speed depends on the requirements. resolution and varies from 3.3 inches/min. at the highest resolution to 10 inches/min. at a resolution of 1016 dpi. Electronic archives Laser printers with A2-sized output were shown on three stands, namely Camex, Graphic Enterprises and The well-known suppliers of full-text archive systems, Varityper/Tegra. These printers can output full broad- such as DataTimes and Vu/Text, showed nothing new. sheet pages at a resolution of 800 dpi. The range of DataTimes and Vu/Text are databanks that store and sell smaller-sized laser printers is now so vast that it is impos- the text of many newspapers. However, the current trend sible to obtain an overview. Everything was on show, is for newspapers to install their own full-text archives, from 300 dpi to 800 dpi printers, and in some cases the largely because the prices for such systems are affordable quality of the printouts was amazing. today and their operation extremely simple. The texts are stored from the in-house editorial system. There were no market-mature photo databanks to be seen. Newsphoto recording, Infosel showed a comprehensive archiving of text, transmission, reception newspaper clippings, graphics and photos. The Infosel system was originally developed by the Mexican Conveying the picture from the site of the event to the newspaper < 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 5 PRE-PRESS Kodak is not officially active in this sector, but its laboratories have developed a CCD sensor with four million pixels. Although this does not reach the standards of 35 mm high-speed photographic film (30 megapixels), a four-megapixel sensor will produce a definition that is more than sufficient for a newsphoto. At present, no one is integrating this sensor into a marketable device. Reporter scanners L In cases where a photo reporter has to transmit highly topical pictures quickly to his agency or newspaper, he The Nikon Still Video Camera System. can use a scanner/transmitter for 35 mm film. Two such devices are offered in portable cases: the Hasselblad off an amazing feat. Let us take a look at the different Dixel 2000 and the Leafax 35 from Leaf Systems. Both of possibilities presented in New Orleans. these were highlighted in New Orleans. Dixel is used by European agencies and distributed in the U.S.A. by Sin- The magnetic photo clair Communications. Leafax is used and marketed by Associated Press. Great hopes are attached to this technique. The current image definition (380,000 pixels) is acceptable, Digital photo transmission especially when time pressure calls for the use of such a fully electronic process. Nikon highlighted a magnetic There were two good pieces of news in this sector. photo taken at the inauguration of George Bush and First, the AP PhotoStream service is starting to serve transmitted right away via the Associated Press network. newspapers on a test basis. Using a 1.5 Mbit/s satellite On its stand and in its brochures, Nikon offered the link, PhotoStream permits the transmission of a b/w photo magnetic photo in black and white only. In colour, the in 40 seconds, or ten times faster than standard analog current definition is insufficient, as tests carried out by transmission. Second, the International Press Telecom- several newspapers in Europe demonstrated (See ccnews- munications Council (IPTC) and ANPA have definitively paper techniques>, June 1989, for coverage of the IFRA adopted a joint format for the digital transmission of Symposium on Reproduction Electronics). agency photos. AP currently uses its own format, but told Sony applies HDTV (high-definition television) us that it intends to adopt the joint format as soon as it is techniques to the magnetic photo. A camera with published. 1280x1050 pixel CCD sensor is scheduled to become avail- able on the market within one year. But the prototype Electronic picture desks shown in New Orleans certainly was heavy! AFP, AP and Reuters.presented their photo receiving and processing systems. AFP showed the Dixel, the Image Terminal, and a Mat II colour station connected to the Impact system. The AP Electronic Picture System is now obtainable in two versions, one running on a PC-386, the other on a VAXstation 3100 from DEC. Reuters offered TIFF-format output as well as a new digital printer. The Monotype Picture Post is marketed in the U.S.A. by Sinclair Communications under the name of PIPS. The Crosfield Newsline and the Tecnavia PSF/Modular also are attempting to become established in the U.S.A.. In another context, many partial solutions (for example, reception of a single agency, thus of a single format) seem to have been developed on PCs or Mac- intoshes at the request of user newspapers. Thus Tele- Ekonomi, distributor in Sweden and partner of DTI, has already supplied telephoto reception modems and soft- A reporter scanner. ware to two DTI locations, using Macintoshes. At these 6 0 IFRA, Darmstadt PRE-PRESS side a high-definition recorder (at least 1000 laser dots per inch), it is possible to have an image processing system for newspaper requirements. There is no lack of suppliers offering solutions based on some or all of these compo- nents. For b/w, applications were featured especially in the Macintosh range, comprising scanners (Barneyscan, Microtek, Truvel, etc.), software programs (Digital Dark- room, Image Studio, etc.) and output devices. For colour, the interested visitor had the opportunity to witness demonstrations given by Howtek, Pre-Press Technologies, SeeColor, and others. It is up to each individual user to estimate whether these “table-top” systems are able to meet his particular requirements. Full-page RIPS . ANPA/TEC was buzzing with excitement over the Electronic picture desks are starting to gain a foothold in edi- performances of RIPS, PIPS, RIGS (the same thing with torial departments. different names, in each case supplying the output locations, the image processing software is supplied by recorder with a bit-map of the page). In the production of DPS-Typecraft, a partner of DTI in the U.K. a daily newspaper, the RIP can represent a bottleneck. Scanners The word “scanner” is used to describe many different types of equipment. Let us start by taking a look at devices that do everything: They scan originals, separate Rock-bottom %llm colours where applicable, do printing corrections, and from Storehouse finally output screened reproductions. Among the b/w scanners, the ECRM Autokon is the winner. New features: a device that permits scanning of pre-screened documents and their reproduction without any moire (this can be retrofitted to existing installations); and a new, high-definition “PelBox”. Our traditional suppliers of colour scanners offer a wider selection at the lower end of the scale - undoubtedly insufficient for high-quality reproduction but suitable for printing on newsprint. Examples here are the Magnascan 616 from Crosfield, the SG-2020 from Dainip- pon Screen, and the RZ 210-L from Royal Zenith (in Europe, Itek). For the colour assembly table, Royal Zenith presented the Diadem Carat 500, while Scitex gave the name “Publisher” to a configuration co sisting of the Smart Scanner, an Assembler console and $,, olev output \ device. The “table-top scanners” differ greatly from the afore- mentioned devices. Their sole function is to analyse and digitise images. When they provide 300 scandots per inch and, more importantly, 256 grey levels, they give a digital picture suitable for an 80-line-per-inch printing screen (assuming here that the original document is not signifi- cantly enlarged). With a table-top scanner, an “upgraded” PC or Mat II, image processing software, electronic Four minutes elapse from giving the “print” command on the screening (possibly included in a RIP), and on the output Macintosh to the composed output. 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 7 ROTARY PRESS Rotary presses and auxiliaries No new trends or major innovations were to be seen at this year’s ANPA/TEC. The topics were very much the same as last year: flexo, conventional offset, offset with keyless inkers, and tower configurations. Another contin- ued trend is the growing concern for environmental pro- tection in North America. At the show this trend had been turned to business in such areas as new types of raw materials for newsprint, vegetable-oil-based inks and material recycling technologies. No automation or robot equipment, except automated guided vehicles (AGVs), was shown at the exhibition floor. The platelines dis- played were very much the same as those shown at last year’s IFRA and ANPA/TEC shows. Anticipated developments, such as laser imaging directly to the plate cylinder - bypassing the platemaking process - single-fluid lithography, and voice-activated press control systems, were discussed at the parallel ANPA technical conference. However, seeing that An overview of one of the three exhibition halls in New Orleans. current research and development in press technology In the foreground is the Rockwell International stand with concentrates on inking methods and press configurations, the new keyless Goss Community unit, the Goss CT50 RTP we do not expect to see any of them reaching the market and tower units of the Goss Colorliner and Goss Flexo- in the next few years, at least not at ANPA/TEC 90. liner. Flex0 described the “trials and tribulations” during the first six months since startup in November 1988. He reported In the U.S.A., flexo typically is used when older reader satisfaction with the clean inks and encouraging letterpress installations need more colour capacity. The process colour printing on the positive side, and problems advantages of flexo printing are no rub-off, consistent with the ink system and paper dust on the negative side. colour quality, ease of control (“set it and forget it” as the MAN Roland U.S.A. Inc. claims to have 41% of the Americans say), low waste and environmentally friendly North American newspaper flexo market with 443 Flexo- materials. During the last few years we have seen a man couples sold to 15 newspaper publishers. In MAN number of completely new flexo press installations, most statistics of flexo press sales, Publishers Equipment Corp. of them in the U.S.A., but also in Italy and the much- (PEC) comes in second with 31%, Goss third with 17%, talked about U.K. installation at the Daily Mail. How- and Motter fourth with 11%. On display at the MAN ever, since ANPA/TEC last year, only one U.S. order has stand was the 100th Flexoman unit, in a four-colour been placed for a new flexo press. Some of the challenges configuration, sold to the, Miami Herald and a single- to overcome for flexo printers still include plugging, mot- tling, losses in highlights, changing ink transfer behaviour under doctor blade wear, and inconsistent print quality of black and white halftones. Rockwell International Corp., Gosq Newspaper Products, Graphic Systems Division, showe its modular Flexoliner for the first time on an exhibiti ii,n floor. The unit was configured with the maximum ‘six printing couples and a easily manageable control system which includes diagnostic and maintenance information feed- back. The Flexoliner comes with automatic ink wash-up and an ink management system designed according to the customer’s needs. Two Flexoliners are currently in opera- tion. In 1991 five different publishers will be printing with Goss Flexoliners. Donald Fordham, Production Manager at the Herald in Monterey, Calif., the very first Flexoliner installation, MAN Roland Flexoman unit. 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 9 ROTARY PRESS Windmoeller & Hoelsher (W&H) in Lengerich and Koenig & Bauer (K&B) in Wtirzburg, both in the Federal Republic of Germany. Last summer Koenig & Bauer acquired 21% of PEC. However, no K&B presses were to be seen in the PEC booth and no sales of K&B machines were acknowledged. During the show Crabtree Vickers announced the signing of a distribution agreement with PEC covering the marketing and support of PECs double- width presses in the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland. North American Cerutti Corp. showed up with an information booth at ANPA/TEC for the fourth year in a row. After some success in the commercial U.S. flexo market Cerutti is still trying hard to get into the U.S. newspaper market. Offset A publisher who sets the highest priority on good print quality, that is, smooth solids, low losses in highlights, and high ink gloss, today probably chooses the proven offset printing method. If he is an North American publisher the possibility that he will choose a tower configuration is foreseeable. According to persuasive tower contenders, towered units offer maximum colour capacity with mini- mum space requirements, flexibility in colour positioning, Single-width Flexoman 212 unit from MAN Roland with three good registration and no set-off because of a straight web printing couples. path, and expansion flexibility due to modular design. Rockwell International showed a base unit of its mod- width Flexoman SW three-colour unit meant for smaller ular Colorliner, which was introduced at ANPA/TEC in newspapers and commercial printers. 1986 and now is “the most successful new press in the Recently MAN got an order for 66 Flexoman couples company’s history.” More than 750 units for 52 presses from the Fresno Bee in California. This order includes the are currently on order or in operation. The first two new three-armed HUR 50 running belt reel-tension-paster installations, at the Times Journal in Springfield, Va., and (RTP) which was also exhibited. In fact, the Fresno Bee the News/Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., are in order is the first complete flexo press order on the world operation and on edition. market since spring 1988. It is also the second biggest Michael Bella, who is responsible for production at the flexo order ever, after the Daily Mail order for its Koenig Times Journal, summarised his experience of the first six & Bauer press. months in production by saying that they “may have been Motter Printing Press Co. showed a new 50 inch- disappointed at times but never discouraged”. He diameter three-arm reelstand, similar to MAN’s new described the initial problems, such as spray bars that did HUR 50, together with a Motterflex FX-4 two-colour not clean up, control system software not working and printing unit. The Motter exhibit also included newly paster problems, but also emphasised that the press “now created technologies in ink management systems with its produces extremely good print quality with good registra- new corrosion-resistant polymer ink fount ns and plastic 9 tion.” Waste was high, mostly due to start-up problems. doctor blades. At ANPA/TEC in New Oxleans, Motter However, now they are starting up USA Today, which was the first manufacturer to present a ‘press control they also print every night, with good copies after 250-400 system based on the industry standard Intel 80386 micro- waste copies. A main advantage of going with the Color- processor, which collects signals from the press through liner, according to Bella, is that it handles daily news- fibre optic cables. paper products as well as commercial printings “with Publishers Equipment Corp. (PEC) concentrates main- equal ease.” Colorliner installations are also under way at ly on the conversion of existing letter-presses to flexo. PEC the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Sacramen- dominates the slip-in and conversion sales of flexo units in to Bee, France Soir, Vestmanlands Lans Tidningar and the U.S.A. In New Orleans PEC exhibited a mono flexo several other North American and European newspapers. unit and a four colour flexo add-on unit that contains A Colorliner comes with advanced production control flexo technology from the press manufacturing companies and information systems with touch-screen input work- 10 0 IFRA, Darmstadt ROTARY PRESS that this press is the “world’s fastest selling double-width offset press” with more than 200 presses sold since its introduction in 1980. There are approximately 100 units in about 15 Uniman 4/2 installations in the U.S.A. Also, about 200 presses of the larger, high-capacity Colorman type, which was not on display in New Orleans, have been sold worldwide. The Asleville Citizen Times in Asleville, Nebraska is the only Colorman in the U.S.A. to date. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries displayed an offset press unit with two monochrome keyless printing couples and one conventional printing couple for spot colour. This press is discussed under the Keyless Offset subhead in this report. Mitsubishi has finally made its breakthrough into the U.S. press market. Orders for two double-width con- ventional offset installations were placed early last fall (see 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 11 ROTARY PRESS American markets. It is being made at a new manufactu- MITSUBISHI ring and assembly plant in Motala, Sweden. Suitably PRINTING QUALITY equipped, the Circulator can produce newspapers, MONITORING SYSTEM (PQMS) brochures, books and inserts on uncoated paper. The Circulator units are the standard Solna l+ 1 perfecting MHl’s latest innovation in printing quality: units or 2+1 colour units. The reelstands are integrated a system that catches errors and rejects into each printing unit. Solna especially hopes this press misprints, automatically! will become popular in the South American market. OPERATING PRINCIPLE Single-width offset presses were also shown by TKS, Sensor & light source PEC-King, Web Press Corp., L&M and DEV Industries /“-_ _ --wii Web Inc. DEV showed a 4-high tower configuration of its 1’ Horizon series, which consists of modular arch-type units Rotary encoder : very similar to the Goss Community. I ‘1’ /, I:’ 16, li i 8, Current values Reierence values memory Sensor signal * Judgement crrcuit t Error dfspley FEATURES (1) Conducts 3 kinds of check, CAPABILIYY covering 4 dtfferent fault types (2) Checktng can also be The principle of Mitsubishi’s PQMS system. (PQMS) was shown for the first time. It catches unaccept- able print quality information from light sensors in the press and rejects misprints automatically or warns with buzzers and warning lights. The faults the system can detect are black spots on white parts of thq web or white spots on black printed areas, colour variatio s in spot and process colour, and all-black and all-white $ aste. Last year, at ANPA/TEC 88, Mitsubishj emphasised robotics and automation at its exhibit. This year no robot- The DEV Industries single-width Horizon 2000 conventional ics were shown. As a matter of fact, robotics or automa- offset I-high tower unit. tion equipment could not be seen anywhere at this year’s show. Why? The general view seems to be that U.S. Keyless Offset publishers do not consider robotics cost-effective enough, and that - perhaps the real reason - current trade union Much development work is being done by several press contracts resist this kind of labour-saving automation. manufacturers in the U.S.A., Germany and Japan on Solna Web AB introduced its new single-width Circula- keyless inkers for offset. About 500 keyless inking units tor non-heatset web offset press to the North and South will run in daily production at the end of this year, most 12 0 IFRA, Darmstadt ROTARY PRESS of them in Japan but a few also in Europe. The first quality on the print. Black inks handle water better keyless offset press in the U.S.A. will be a TKS C-21, without loss of print quality. scheduled for delivery in the last quarter of 1989. Keyless TKS U.S.A. Inc. is the new name of the company offset represents - at least in the glossy brochures - the marketing TKS products in the U.S.A., formerly TAFT perfect marriage between the ease of use of keyless anilox Equipment sales. It is now a direct subsidary of Tokyo rollers and the print quality of offset. Keyless offset in 4- Kikai Seisakusho Ltd. in Japan. TKS was the first Japa- high tower configurations could be a very attractive com- nese manufacturer to do process colour printing with bination for publishers and printers who have to handle keyless offset inkers. On its stand TKS showed its keyless large amounts of spot and process colour. A comprehen- C-21 arch-type offset unit in a new 4-high tower configura- sive summary of the development of keyless offset can be tion. However, the upper two units were only a mock-up. found in ccnewspaper techniques>, April 1989, page 68. Next to the highlighted press tower in the centre of the Rockwell International showed a Goss Community TKS booth, another four-couple C-21 unit was in opera- press unit featuring keyless offset inking. It is the first tion every second hour, printing a three-colour four-page product resulting from a special keyless development pro- broadsheet paper. Also displayed at the TKS stand was a new production control system developed by Comar Inc., which from now on belongs to the TKS group. This system controls and monitors multiple production facili- ties, reel storage, press totalising and mailroom. The single-width Goss Community in its new keylesslanilox offset version. gram at Rockwell’s Graphic Systems Division. The single- width monochrome ink unit is aimed for small news- papers, shoppers and book printing. The new keyless inking technology is based on testing and experimentation at the St. Petersburg Times and The New York Times and experiences from the Japanese joint venture with IKEGAI in Japan. The new keyless unit, which according to Rock- well representatives will also occasionally be fitted to the Colorliner, has a completely enclosed inking system. An ink chamber is used rather than a pan roll r and open e fountain. The ink chamber fits against the patanted meter- ing AS roller and is connected to the ink :ecirculation system. The keyless Community press uses special inks produced according to recommendations from Rockwell International. Mitsubishi has more than 180 keyless inking units in operation in Japan, mainly for -printing black. They dis- played an offset press with a monochrome blanket-to- blanket unit with a stacked spot colour unit. Mitsubishi is of the opinion that the colour inks in keyless systems take The I-high keyless TKS C-21 tower. The upper part is a up too much damping water, which leads to a loss in tone mockup. 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 13 ROTARY PRESS Operating side Drive side motorfor lateralregister driveQears for blanketcy / anddrive side plate cyl / I\drive Qearsfor operating’sideplate cyl ‘piatecyl platecyl Circumferentalregister device lateralregister devi& motorfor circumferential register TKS offers optional shell cylinder registration for every printing couple of the keyless C-21 press type. This gives the printer fine control of colour registration. The TKS C-21 tower unit with its keyless-anilox offset inkers. The Star Ledger in Newark, N.J., will be the first Height measures are in milli- completely new keyless offset installation in the U.S.A. meters and inches. TKS is currently installing a C-21 press, consisting of 18 blanket-to-blanket units and two satellites. Andy Harleveld, TKS points out that the C-21 4-high tower unit measures Production Manager at the Star Ledger, believes that the only 5.24 meters in height. That compares with other new press will, compared to their existing offset press, designs of keyless offset presses, which reach over 7 meters improve print quality due to consistent inking across the in stacked arch-type configurations. The TKS C-21 press page, reduce press staffing due to the elimination of more includes adjustable position plate register pins, which assure than 500 ink keys, reduce printed waste by 2%) and reduce control over registration and enable the operator to com- maintenance with 520 machinist/electrician shifts per year pensate fan-out of the web. TKS claims the press uses due to the simplicity of the keyless units. Besides the Star standard off-the-shelf offset plates and standard offset inks. Ledger order, TKS has 32 conventional offset press installa- tions in the U.S.A., including 110 blanket-to-blanket units at 11 Dow Jones printing plants. Crubtree Vickers Inc., the British letterpress retrofit specialist, showed a prototype of its new keyless offset The TKS C-21 blanket-to- blanket unit with half deck. 5ff3 Notice that the upper half-deck unit is reversable because of’ two ink doctor blades. The numbered iters are 1. Impres- 1 sion cylinder;U. Blanket cylin- j der; 3. Plate Lylinder; 4. Ink transfer roll&; 5. Anilox roller; 6. Fountain roller; 7. Ink form roller; 8. Refresh chromium roller; 9. Refresh rubber roller; 10. Ink doctor blade; 11. Refresh blade; 12. Ink fountain; 13. Damping 1 roller; 14. Chromium roller; 15. Anti-set-off rubber roller; Crabtree Vickers’ new Civilox keyless offset inking system, on 16. Spray bar. the right, compared to a conventional offset inking system, left. 14 0 IFRA, Darmstadt ROTARY PRESS retrofit unit. One such prototype is currently in produc- tion testing at an unnamed American publishing house. Two more test sites are scheduled, one in the U.S.A. and one in Europe. These tests are made only on mono- chrome inking units. Colour units will follow later, according to the Vickers spokesman. Environmental protection At last year’s ANPA show there was much talk about the kenaf newsprint and soy newsink projects. Canadian Pacific Forest Products Ltd. (CPSF) is the main pusher for using the fast-growing kenaf tree as raw material for newsprint. CPSF has acquired land for a kenaf mill site, suppliers to grow kenaf have been secured, and research is now under way on developing harvesting equipment. Kenaf plants grow in very warm and humid climates close to the equator. At the earliest, kenaf newsprint will be available on a large scale from CPSF in 1992. According to the American Soybean Association, more Large Offset/ eysk than 1000 U.S. newspapers have tried or switched to soy ink. That represents about 60% of the total number of This year’s winner in Kodak’s “Run for the Money” contest, newspapers in the U.S.A. The ANPA and several U.S. Berita Harian of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the third time in ink manufacturers, such as Flint Ink Corp. and the Ink the eight-year history of the contest that the “World’s Best” prize Company, claim that soy inks, in addition to being envi- has been awarded to a newspaper in the Singapore Press Hold- ronmentally friendly, produce bright four-colour and less ings group. rub-off than mineral-oil-based inks do. Several smaller stands exhibited different kinds of (Artech), all showed their in-house ink reclamation equipment and solutions for recycling materials such as systems. United States Petrolon Industrial displayed an ink, water and oil. Separation Technologies Inc., Eclectic oil filtration system that takes used dirty press oil and Cnmnanv Inc.. and Alternative Resource Technologies cleans it while the oil is still in the press. 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 15 MAILROOM Mailroom equipment: always good for a surprise To those who can no longer be impressed with the phies. This, logically, should bring even more liveliness to boundless wizardry of prepress systems or do not want to the marketplace in the near future. Already, the number participate in the religious wars of the printing processes, of U.S. manufacturers displaying interest in overseas, the manufacturers of mailroom equipment have continu- specifically European markets, at ANPATEC 89 was up ously offered, over the past decade, a flow of refreshing notably from two years ago. But the degree of increased innovations. As ANPATEC 89 again proved, they are not competition resulting from this development and bound to tired of it yet. The motors of creativity in this domain are, benefit the user in the foreseeable future will also depend of course, the ever-swelling insert business and, to a lesser on the company size and the financial resources of the degree, the increased pagecounts of their customers. suppliers. Both these aspects seem to need some strength- The main endeavour remains the same: to economical- ening, on the American side at least. ly handle more bulk under critical time constraints. Auto- Maybe because they are now thoroughly convinced of mation has become the name of the game. Mainly for this their engineering creativity (the application by QUIPP of reason, gripper systems, which with a few exceptions were linear motors is but one example), some U.S. manufac- ignored by U.S. manufacturers until two years ago, are turers of mailroom equipment are seriously considering now offered by all of them, in a variety of designs. But diversification into new areas. IDAB and NOLAN, for quality concerns also have begun to emerge. Newspaper instance, are currently entering ‘the Automated Guided bundles no longer need to look like footballs! Individual Vehicle System market. Is the grass greener there? The copies, bulging with inserts as they are, neither. Manufac- only certain thing is that no friendly reception committee turers of stackers, of wrappers and of conveyors now show awaits them, while so much remains to be done still to concern for the delivery of aesthetically acceptable news- turn newspapers’ mailrooms into money-making proposi- papers to the readers. tions. It is system optimisation and system control that These new considerations tend to make more compara- should now be on the mind of the “traditional” mailroom ble with one another the offer of American and European equipment suppliers who possess the state of the art in suppliers who, until recently, gave the impression of mailroom hardware. Otherwise the upcoming thirst for operating according to two completely different philoso- software will have to be quenched by newcomers again. Buldwin, Stamford, Corm., showed its Compensating plastic wrapper (30 bundles per minute) and VA3605 Overstacker Model 166 running at speeds up to 55,000 plastic wrapper (28 bundles per minute), both from copies per hour. Maximum product size is 12.50 x - Schule, Germany. 17.50 inches (31.8 x 44.50 cm). Minimum product size is Ferag Inc., Bristol, Penn., which has equipped many of 8 x 5.50 inches (20.30 x 14 cm). The stacker is equipped the larger US papers with complete mailroom systems with a Denex Laser Copy Counter. “from folder to truck,” showed for the first time in the Dynaric Inc., Hackensack, N.J., showed mainly im- USA a Variodisc storage system with a new buffer system ported new equipment such as the NP-1 newspaper/insert at the delivery. strapping system of SMB, Hamburg; and the VA3612 Giimmerler US Corp., Elkgrove Village, Ill., showed its known trimming machines and its transport system FS, which, Gammerler claims, should make nicks and mark- ings on the signature things of the past, as well as reduce wear to an absolute minimum. The Gammerler transport system FS now features a single copy removal unit that can be used to monitor the print quality on the product itself. This removal module consists of a removal station, a conveyor and a delivery device. G.M.A. (Graphic Management Associates Inc.), South- borough, Mass., unveiled its Total Integrated Inserting Systems (TIIS), highlighting on-line features such as the News-Grip single gripper conveyor, two on-line high- speed SLS-1000 inserting press-to-pocket systems and the mockup of a new buffer and storage system. A video presentation showed the first line-storage production system, which was recently installed at the Gavle Dagblad Ferags innovative buffer between its Variodisc and the transfer newspaper in Sweden. In this system, inserts are trans- to its inserting machine. ported at full press speed away from the folder by the 16 0 IFRA, Darmstadt MAILROOM gripper conveyor. A pre-determined number of copies are dropped onto the belt conveyor at pre-set intervals and conveyed to an upright line-storage module. In the module, inserts are stored horizontally in overlapped streams on metal plates. The shingle stream presents the same length as the metal storage plates and moves like a continuous belt within the module by means of motor- driven chains and worm gears. The number of modules depends upon the newspaper’s needs, but at least two are required, each with its own drop point from the gripper conveyor. Depending on publishing requirements and mailroom layouts, modules can be arranged in-line or as two or more storage lines with divided split-level convey- ing streams. Inserts flow through their respective storage modules in a straight line, in one end and out the other, and are conveyed to the inserters. The storage modules are also used for overflow storage. At the Gavle Dagblad, each module has 100 storage plates with a capacity of 10,000 broadsheet copies with a 35 mm spacing. It could take 5,000 copies of a 64-page broadsheet issue with 17 mm spacing or 10,000 copies, also broadsheet, with 32 pages. GMA’s high-speed SLS-1000 inserter is the foundation of the integrated inserting system, which features straight- line conveyor design. Its modularity allows for a number of hoppers varying from two to over 30. It also features the microprocessor-based Package Monitoring System (PMS) with zone control for 1,000 zones and Missed Insert Repair System (MIRS) guaranteeing 100% product integrity. GMA’s Package Monitoring System with Zone Control and Missed Insert Repair System features missed insert repair, reject of doubles, zone control up to 1,000 zones, complete package integrity, pocket silencing, management H. T. Halls Monitor H. T. Stacker is equipped with computer reports and diagnostics. control. GMA claims 300 of the SLS-1000 and SLS-40 (40,000 copies per hour) inserting systems have been installed worldwide. Internationally, GMA installations are now concentrated in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and Spain. GMA’s AF-100 compact hopper loader can be posi- tioned at any or all hopper positions on the jnserter line. Its speed is adjustable, the cycle rate being d$ermined the size of the product fed, either newspaper or msert. Avail- able as a low-profile and high-profile unit, it is also compatible with Harris 72P and 48P inserting systems. Hall Processing Systems, Westlake, Ohio, exhibited its known Monitor HT stacker in which the stacking motor has been equipped with a servo drive for better bundle quality control. Belts have replaced the wires on the in- feed section. The Monitor HT handled up to 75,000 copies per hour. A control system can supply four stackers The delivery on H. T. Hall’s “Onserter”. Supplements and inserts and each stacker can feed two trucks on the right and on are no longer “stuffed” into the copy but “topped” and wrapped, the left side. Hall showed also its new AccuGrip Single which reportedly pleases advertisers but slows down the output. 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 17 MAILROOM H. T. Hall’s own gripper solution: AccuGrip. Harris Graphics’ new delivery grippers. Copy Conveying System, which, Hall claims, is capable of hopper to serve the NP1472A, NP1372 or NP848 insert- handling the complete range of production requirements ers; the BOSS 60 packaging machine; the RS30 stacker - daily, Sunday and “everything in between.” AccuGrip and NP212 hopper loaders. The NP2299 inserts up to 21 accepts either broadsheet or tabloid newspapers in a lap- inserts into a jacket at 20,000 cycles per hour through a stream configuration. Each newspaper is gripped by the single delivery. It can also work in dual, triple and cut edge and is conveyed to the distribution area. Gripper quadruple delivery configurations at 40,000, 60,000 and release is accomplished through the use of a gripper- 80,000 cph respectively. ICON, like the preceding models, mounted magnet, which releases the gripper when it not only repairs missed inserts, but selects feeding for passes beneath an electromagnet, which is energized by a zoned distribution of inserts up to 1,000 zones. It also programmable power supply. AccuGrip has been designed features self-diagnostic functions at start-up. Planned in- to be compatible with existing mailroom equipment. Grip- stallations in Europe include Fyns Tidende in Odense, pers are mounted to the conveyor chain by two bolts. Denmark, which has purchased NP1472 and NP848 insert- They can be removed at any point along the conveyor ers with Quipp feeder grippers and Harris delivery grip- route and disassembled for repair. Computer control pro- pers. vides system diagnostic capability to facilitate quick and Idab, Hialeah, Fla., showed its known line of mail- easy system maintenance. room equipment, including high-speed stackers, but the Another new product on the Hall booth was the Onser- highlight of its booth was a new press delivery vehicle ter I Collating and Packaging System. This system can “PDV” and automatic guided vehicle for picking up, collate up to 40 different pre-printed products, placing transporting and delivering newsprint rolls from laydown them on a paper or creating individual pre-print packages. and/or roll preparation areas to reelstands for automatic The Onserter I then plastic-wraps each assembled set at chucking. Idab’s PDV has a low profile, is quad-direc- speeds up to 14,000 papers per hour. The Onserter I tional and powered by German-made Hoppecke batteries handles a variety of product sizes and thicknesses ranging (nickel-cadmium) ensuring a quick charge, and therefore from a minimum size of 3 x 5 inches (7.60 x 12.70 cm) reducing the number of vehicles and the amount of labour to a maximum of 12 x 14 inches (30.5 x+5.5 cm). Pro- needed. The water level is checked once a year. Idab ducts ranging from single-sheet to 128-p ge broadsheet expects the PDV to evolve into a complete system for can be collated, be they stitched, unstitc be d or perfect- trucking the reels. Among other customers, the New York bound. The Onserter I can collate packages up to 350 Times has bought 23 of these PDVs. broadsheet pages, maximum thickness 2 inches (5.10 cm) Ideal Equipment Ltd, Montreal, Canada, showed its loose bulk. automatic sleeve wrapper, model 505-30N, for polyethyl- Harrk Graphics Bindev and Forms Press Division, ene, featuring a speed of up to 30 variable-height bundles Dayton, Ohio, exhibited its NP2299 inserter for operation per minute. Also exhibited was a speed-compensating at press speeds (with five or fewer inserts) along with a conveyor that accepts the wrapped packages at whatever new delivery gripper conveyor (moving the product at up speed they are delivered by the wrapper, yet feeds the to 20,000 cph) for inserted products. Also shown were the shrink tunnel at a constant, pre-determined rate. The new Inserter Control System (ICON), a zone-control and height detection system compensates for different package performance monitoring system for inserters; a dual-feed heights and insures uniform wrap tightness. Ideal claims 18 0 IFRA, Darmstadt MAILROOM that its sealing system requires no maintenance or down- to the exact scale of the mailroom. IEC sells the Mail- time. The new 505-40N plastic wrapper equipped with the room Modelling System for $16,7pO, including the icon side sealer model SSlOO runs at 40 bundles per minute. libraries for conveyors, stackers, etc. Its Insert Manage- IEC System Solutions, Lincoln Park, N.J., presented ment System costs $38,500 and features zone set-up, on the Digital Equipment Corporation booth its post-press edition set-up, back-up selection and database storage and integration products, from the pressroom to the loading retrieval. dock, including the Mailroom Modelling System and the Kunsa Corp., Emporia, Kan., showed, among other Management Automation System, both on DEC VAXsta- products, its 480 inserter with main control panel featur- tion 3100’s. The Modelling System allows formulation of ing constant digital readout for speed and insert count, the most efficient mailroom possible with any given pa- positive feeding by vacuum suckers and nip rollers, finger- rameter. Icons are used to simulate a current or future tip adjustable side guides, on-the-run feeder timing adjust- production facility in the modeling editor. The icons are ment for each station. The 480 runs at up to 12,500 cycles retrieved from a database provided by the ANPA and can per hour. Jacket dimensions go from 7 x 10 inches be placed in any position on the screen. The user assigns (17.80 x 25.40 cm) to 14 x 19 inches (35.55 x 48.25 cm). display attributes and interactive attributes to the icon The 480 inserter accommodates four to 128 pages half-fold images and develops a menu based on the icons. The broadsheet or two to 64 pages standard quarter-fold. graphic screens displayed on the VAXstation 3100 can be Insert dimensions are 4 x 6 inches (10.15 x 15.25 cm) to patterned to any mailroom floor plan. The resulting 14 x 19 inches (35.55 x 48.25 cm). The delivered paper model provides the user with performance values based can have up to 250 pages half-fold broadsheet and the on the equipment selected. All icons are to scale and can number of insert stations is one to seven. be assigned to sized locations, measured in feet and inches Kirk-Rudy, Kennesaw, Ga., showed its 512 inserting/ labeling system for small dailies. The 512 can be equipped with up to six feeders and features a tank tread track to carry and support the product at every point along the entire machine. The inclined tabletop lets gravity help assemble every item. McCain Manufacturing Corp., Chicago, Ill,, showed its known 660 newspaper stuffer, equipped this time with a new “re-feed station” installed at the end of the insert line. Re-feed stations are used to pre-stuff and re-feed on days when inserts outnumber the insert stations. They are similar to the jacket feeders and can handle a l/2-inch thick package. The 660 newspaper stuffer can insert cards as small as 3.5 x 5.5 inches (8.90 cm x 12.70 cm). Miiller Martini, Hauppauge, N.Y., showed its inserter model 375 with 10 to 24 stations and performance of 48,000 copies an hour with two deliveries and 24,000 copies an hour with one delivery. The machine is Once the model of the mailroom has been established on the equipped with a new copy control system with program- VAXstation 3100, the actual production can be checked at any ming and oversight functions for a fully automatic zoning moment. control. This system guarantees the output of complete 0 IFRA, Darmstadt 19 Nolan Products Inc., Rome, N.Y., showed its already- known belt stream conveyor (with channel belt) for broadsheet and tabloid newspapers (new was only a third belt for quarter-fold capability); its pneumatic stacker EZ-1 for over 72,000 signatures per hour; and a truck loader. Nolan had, however, more in store, namely its Nolan Smart Cart automatic guided vehicle, powered either by battery or contact power. The Smart Cart (not exhibited) will take rolls from storage to place them on the laydown lane and will be programmed by forklift operators. Nolan reported already having a contract for two systems. The Smart Cart is compatible with the automatic reel loaders of the Japanese press manufacturer Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho (TKS). Offset Technology, Sylmar, Calif., showed its Stack- Rite stacker. The new model 5 understacker has been Miiller Martini’s inserter is programmed and controlled from a designed for insert and newspaper printers. It features on- panel reminiscent of a machine tools. the-run adjustable joggers and infrared counter for exact copy count. A microprocessor controls lift size stop tim- ing, total count, back-up encoder, and count and calcula- tor functions. Powerstrap, Westlake, Ohio, showed its modular underwrapper for bottom wrap with bottom wrap feeder for up to 50 bundles per minute and over wrap with over wrap feeder up to 35 bundles per minute. In Europe, Powerstrap is represented by Pakseal in Maidenhead, Berks., U.K. Quipp Systems Inc., Miami, Fla., introduced a whole line of innovative products, starting with a new sort bundle distribution system powered by linear induction motors, a new application of these motors to the news- paper industry. This system consists of a number of tilt trays connected in a continuous loop similar to an endless chain. There are no external chains or sprockets, and the A veteran justly honored. Miiller Martini’s 227 inserting machine track system is completely closed. Through the use of a is still exhibited, demonstrated and.. . sold! distributed drive system, linear motors placed at intervals of 50 feet around the loop provide non-contact, silent copies. The 375 inserter has been sold to the Charlotte Observer (240,000 circulation) as well as the Chattanooga Free Press. The old 227 model, which did so much to foster the expansion of the insert business in the USA between 1965 and 1970 and was sold in masses to small and medium-sized American newspaper& was also de- servedly displayed on Mtiller Martini’s bobth. Specifically for the US market, DaveriQghas developed the Newsveyor conveyor for 160 pages, also called the ZTU - Zeitungstransporteur USA. On Muller Martini’s booth was also a model of the News York Times’ Print- Roll buffer and storage system, with more than 1,000 print rolls with a maximum diameter of 114 inches (290 cm), corresponding to more than 7,000 copies with 64 tabloid pages. This system will handle the production of six Goss Colorliner presses and will be in full production in early 1991. This fully automatic PrintRoll storage will call upon an The control panel of Quipps 301 stacker calls on a touch screen automatic PrintRoll Carrier to move the rolls. and enables programming as well as reporting. 20 0 IFRA, Darmstadt MAILROOM drive to the system. Excessive force applied to the con- veyor at any one point is avoided. Bundles are loaded into trays by overhead loaders or side loaders, depending on the application and the layout. Bundles are identified, placed in trays, transported to the loading docks and discharged at given locations. In addition, Quipp showed its new 300 newspaper compensating stacker with double-bucket and touch- screen display electronic control panel. The panel enables the operator to communicate with the stacker by respond- ing to prompts and reading instructions instead of deci- phering coded responses. It maintains control of the papers longer during the batching cycle and eliminates the papers’ free-falling into the stacking section. Quipp showed also the non-compensating SJ302 version of the stacker. The cart of Quipps linear motor driv& delivery carrousel. Quipp showed also its single grip conveyor line, of which it has sold eight to the Asahi Shimbun for its Osaka newly-appointed dealer is Web Sales International in Pe- plant. In total, Quipp has sold 24 gripper lines to this terborough. Quipp, however, continues to cooperate with newspaper. Harris Graphics for the feeding lines. Quipp, a company with a volume of approximately $15 Shuttleworth, Huntington, Ind., showed its Slip-Torque million and 120 employees, now wants to actively market conveyor, which provides alternate routes for newspaper its products in Europe through dealers. In the U.K., the bundles without interruption or monitoring in case of The Quipp Sort Conveyor. 0 IFRA, Darmstadt MAILROOM diverges loose stacks from a stacker to manual insert, wrapping, strapping or palletizing. The T-Switch can add one or more lines without adding stacker stations or connect parallel lines to increase flow pattern flexibility. Signode, Glenview, Ill. , unveiled its News 90, news- paper bundling machine, a high-speed plastic strapping system handling bundles from 7.5 x 11.5 inches (19 cm x 29.20 cm) quarter-fold, to 13.5 x 17 inches (34.30 cm x 43.20 cm) broadsheet, with stacks from 1.5 to 18 inches high (3.80 cm to 45.70 cm). Pneumatic side compression squares and centers each bundle and a two- sided bundle stop contacts both front corners to prevent skewing. The News 90 can strap up to 45 bundles per minute and can be operated in tandem installations. In addition, Signode displayed its MLN-2A high-speed plas- tic strapping system for 40 bundles per minute with an optional insert bundle conveyor and side clamps, which was introduced more than 10 years ago. The lightweight, portable Spirit Automatic Plastic Strapping System straps up to 32 bundles per minute and is often used with another strapping system to cross-tie bundles in-line. It can apply one, two or three straps per bundle. Signode also displayed its SpiroGrip model MLS- SS stretch-wrap system for off-line wrapping of pallet The Slip-Torque principle on Shuttleworth’s accumulating loads of printed material with prestretch film, at up to 25 conveyor. loads per hour. Stepper Inc., Olathe, Kan., this year did not show, but upstream stacker jammings. During initial operation provided information on, its Stepper SOLO assembling mode, the newspaper stacks exit on the primary track, and packaging machine. SOLO machines are used at the making a 90-degree turn. Sensors detect the presence of Chicago Tribune to assemble all the Sunday sections in product, the Shuttleworth pneumatic diverter is extended one pass without any pre-stuffing for 30,000 weekend and the newspaper stacks are channeled by the diverter to completes on Saturday and Sunday morning, instead of the palletizer. When there is an impasse in the stacker pre-stuffing many times all week long. area, absence of product is likewise sensed on the track Videojet Systems, Inc., Elkgrove Village, Ill., showed and the product is channeled to the alternate route. The its new Variable Mailing System (VMS) based on dot newspapers continue on stream to a Shuttleworth Pacer matrix characters and featuring a variety of font styles, and the new T-Switch. The pacer opens, and the diverter not only to address but also to personalize the product. retracts to a closed position. The newspapers then con- The VMS prints at the production speed selected. It tinue to the palletizer. The system continues in this alter- can address 30,000 envelopes per hour. The VMS can nate operation mode until the stacker is cleared to allow’ print 500 characters per line. The model; for on-line or product to flow again on primary track. All components off-line operation (Videojet I) costs $75,000 and can resume initial operation mode when a pr?duct is sensed. handle 55,000 papers per hour. The new model for off- A Shuttleworth-supplied programmable ntroller oper- line operation (Videojet II) costs $50,000. Videojet ates the system sequence. Y Systems International is a subsidiary of AB Dick. Its The T-Switch brings together the ou\put from two products equip the Cheshire addressing (Jetstream II) stackers to a single strapping or packaging machine or machines. 22 0 IFRA, Darmstadt