A SUPPLEMENT TO

MONTHLY

Nonstop Printing

Goss Automatic Transfer Technology Opens Up Exclusive On-the-Run Changeover Advantages

MAY 2005 Performance Reports from First Users Technology That Delivers

riting about productive breakthrough tech- high productivity, high efficiency and high versatility is nology that benefits both printers and their for the first time not a function of nor dependent on run customers is one of the real treats of my length, short or long. W It’s no exaggeration to say that web printers, job because doing so allows me to shine a light on a whole series of activities customarily carried out in out- squeezed between ever-shorter print runs and tougher of-the-way places by individuals who seldom see any challenges to keep costs down, have been asking for kind of spotlight. this kind of automated versatility for years. So while I’m exploring the technical details of a The engineering accomplishment becomes clear given innovation, I can also learn about the efforts of when you consider that, for maximum efficiency, all individuals: their sense of market needs, projections mechanical actions needed to be controlled automati- about the next generation of equipment, their cally from the touch-screen of the press console, cer- thoughtful problem-solving and engineering accom- tainly not by operators wielding wrenches. Thus, engi- plishments, and how they can make the technology neers have paired Automatic Transfer technology with operator-friendly and attractive to printing managers. extensive workflow software that controls virtually all functions of the current job and the next one.

Engineers and product developers may The back story on innovation work behind the scenes but they stand in It’s fascinating to note that the Sunday press itself a timeline of industry innovation. was a product of intense innovation that yielded the gapless, tubular-type printing blanket, high operating The open and closed case speed and wider web design. The basic elements were Which brings us to Goss International and the conceived in the 1980s by a team of engineers of the development of its Automatic Transfer feature for the company, then known as Harris Graphics Corporation, company’s Sunday gapless web offset presses for com- who were seeking the next-generation successor to the mercial and publication markets. The basis of the “AT” M-1000 model that ruled web plants. option, as Goss refers to it, is a patented technology Harris, which was bought by Heidelberg of Germany that allows an exceptionally wide opening between the in 1988, demonstrated a gapless press in 1990, then blanket cylinders on idle printing units. The opening is debuted the Sunday 3000 model in 1993 under the wide enough for the running web to pass straight Heidelberg Harris name. Late last year, Goss through the “off-impression” cylinders without any con- International completed its acquisition of the web press tact whatsoever. operation from Heidelberg. Halting the upper and lower cylinders of the AT units Thus, the engineers and product developers who while the press is still running allows those cylinders to worked on Automatic Transfer technology stand in a be mounted with new plates; thus, presses equipped timeline of innovation that’s among the best in the with two AT units can allow for quick version changes graphic arts industry. We can all be assured that even (for example, a black-only price or language change), now they’re giving thoughtful attention to the next while a press having eight AT units can accommodate a enhancement, the next generation of technology that full four-color job change on the fly. Use of Goss’s con- will benefit both printers and their customers. sole-controlled Autoplate plate-changing system com- pletes the full innovation, requiring only that operators load the Autoplate cassettes. The accomplishment: up to zero-makeready print production for a succession of jobs on a web offset press, or nonstop, on-the-fly color or black-only plate Editorial Director changes on the same run. This unique combination of [email protected]

S2 graphicartsmonthly.com may 05 Patented System

Changeover Breakthrough

atented Automatic Transfer (AT) er to printer depending on the mix of jobs an AT-equipped Sunday press and pro- technology developed by Goss and equipment configuration, Goss offi- ducing the right work mix conceivably International for its Sunday web cials estimate that for a printing operation could move from job to job on the press offset presses is bringing the performing 12 makereadies per day, the without the usual delays or waste attribut- Pconcept of the “lights-out” pressroom a time savings AT represents could be as able to job changeover. The result, they few steps closer to reality. much as four hours per day. note, would be a virtually continuous The innovative AT option from Goss In terms of paper savings, Goss says operation (save for maintenance, of (www.gossinternational.com) enables that on-the-run print transfer from one job course), fulfilling market trends that are printers to complete job changeovers to the next can cut paper waste by a factor moving both toward shorter jobs and without having to stop the press, a break- of 10 or even 20, easily resulting in longer runs with versioning, produced through that represents an enormous wastage of less than 100 copies in some with impressive operational efficiency. boost in productivity and one that corre- cases. With the ability to make on-the-run lates directly to the savings of time, paper Regarding manpower, AT technology version changes by bringing either one or and labor. advances a printer’s workflow routines in more idle web printing units on impres- the pressroom, requiring fewer people to sion while simultaneously taking another Savings abound run the machinery. unit or group of units off impression, AT While the measurement of time sav- In fact, Goss developers say they envi- maintains a straight web lead. ings obviously can vary greatly from print- sion a printing company that’s operating Unlike competitive on-the-run transfer systems, Goss says its AT system does not require air bars or diverters that can adversely affect print quality or limit the positioning of the printing units within the press line. Indeed, AT units, which mechanically operate virtually identically to standard Sunday printing units, can be placed anywhere within a press line, and can print on both sides of the web.

Nonstop, pushbutton ease Up to eight AT printing units can be configured on a Sunday press, allowing complete four-color job changeovers with- out stopping for a makeready, say Goss officials. Critical in the aid of this effort is Goss’s Autoplate technology, which enables a press operator to change plates on an idle unit with the push of a button while the press is printing. Read on within this special supplement to learn more about how Goss AT tech- nology for Sunday presses works to streamline efficiencies by achieving zero- makeready production and on-the-fly job changes, thereby widening the market opportunities for your business. ■

AT technology on all units of an eight-color Goss Sunday web press allows up to four- color on-the-run form changes.

may 05 graphicartsmonthly.com S3 First U.S. User

Opening Doors to Profitablilty

of projects for those clients.” Adds Ron Lanio, vice president of Geographics, which has earned the sales for Geographics, “We have to Printing Association of Georgia's “Top almost be a marketing company now, and Notch” Award for printing quality three of help our customers reach their customers the last four years, serves many well- more directly and in a more personalized known companies, including some of the way. Our customers are excited about the largest in the Atlanta area, like CNN, new, cost-effective opportunities for ver- Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Georgia- sioning that we are going to be able to Pacific, Home Depot and UPS. In its ongo- provide with the automation and waste- ing pursuit to meet the demands of those reduction features of the Sunday 2000.” customers, Geographics recently installed Geographics equipped its six-unit a six-unit, 24-page Sunday 2000 press, the Sunday 2000 with two AT printing units, first of its kind in the United States to be Autoplate functionality, a Contiweb CS installed with Automatic Transfer (AT) splicer, Ecocool dryer with integrated chill functionality. rolls, and pinless combination and former folders. Shorter runs… “The combination of AT, Autoplate “The market for high-quality commer- and Sunday gapless technology creates cial printing is going in the direction of an ideal platform for us to better serve our shorter runs, with more versioning,” customers,” Hagan continues. “We’ll cut explains Hagan, who says the Sunday makeready time and paper waste to a 2000 installation was part of his company’s minimum, and even eliminate some make- recent $11 million expansion of its readies altogether. And with the AT units’ Norvin C. Hagan is guiding Geographics in all 400,000-square-foot facility. ability to operate as a standard printing the directions that its print clients require. “Print run lengths have come down unit, we also have the option of using all substantially from those in the past,” he six units for six-color jobs.” states. “Instead of single runs of 800,000 hen it comes to foster- or 900,000, customers are now asking us Reduced crewing ing its business growth, to do 12 or 15 individual versions that total Moreover, says Hagan, with AT and Atlanta-based 800,000 or 900,000. This is totally different Autoplate, Geographics expects to run Geographics knows from a cost standpoint, and we have to be the press with a reduced crew and run it thatW success lies in continuously refining competitive on these jobs.” continuously through several edition the scope of its service offerings. Hagan says that as Geographics also changes. Geographics, founded in 1976 when uses both half-web and sheetfed presses, “We’re counting on the fact that we Norvin C. Hagan bought a bankrupt print- the company doesn’t quote any run will run more work with smaller crews,” he ing business for $32,000, today employs lengths of less than 20,000 on the full web. explains. “That’s the only way to pay for 270 people and garners about $37.5 mil- “But now that our new Sunday 2000 is in, the press. And we believe between short- lion in annual revenues. we think that figure will drop down sub- er makereadies, shorter runs, and printing Says Hagan, who serves as president stantially,” he adds. larger web widths, we’ll get the same and chief executive of the company, amount of work through in substantially “We’re a commercial plant, but we’ve got …more versioning less time.” sheetfed, half-web and full-web press "Along with shorter runs, our cus- equipment. However, we’re also in the tomers also want to target their products Gaining competitive advantages database management business and the with more customized versions,” Hagan Hagan also asserts that the wider, 24- image bank business. We have a full fulfill- says. “Being able to do that with zero page format will provide significant com- ment house and we have mailing services. makeready will be a real competitive petitive advantages, producing eight Our strategy is to go after large cus- advantage to us from the standpoint of more pages per revolution than a tradi- tomers, and handle a lot of different types both cost and time savings.” tional 16-page web press.

S4 graphicartsmonthly.com may 05 “We like the 24-page press idea,” says technology yet,” he adds. “It’s a competi- over the years is that distributors, which Hagan. “It’s similar to what we at tive advantage for us. For example, many have gotten larger and larger and thus Geographics have done all along. When of our customers print catalogs in different have more clout today, want to brand other shops were printing with sheetfeds, languages. Being able to handle this in themselves as much as the product man- we put in a half web. When they were line with zero makeready will be a real ufacturers brand themselves. Many of printing with full webs rated at 1,500 feet advantage to us on many levels.” our major manufacturer accounts realize per minute, we put in a press rated at the value of this as well, and have asked 2,000 fpm. Now we’re attacking the same Branding power us to help find ways in which the distribu- market with a 24-page web. It’s faster, and Hagan explains that Geographics tion community can self-promote or we’re printing one-and-a-half more handles quite a bit of printing for compa- self-brand. pages.” nies that go to market either through dis- “This is an example of where printed Similarly, says Hagan, AT capability will tributors or franchisees. “We think that versioning provides the solution,” Hagan afford even more of a competitive advan- being able to allow these clients to cus- concludes, “and where AT serves as an tage. tomize their main brochures is going to enabling technology. It will empower us “We chose to add Autoplate and auto be a huge deal, both for them and us,” to accommodate this type of work more transfer functionality because an awful lot he states. efficiently, cost-effectively, and thus of other printers have not chosen this Hagan continues, “What we’ve seen profitably.” ■

First User in Europe

Frankly Efficient

rance-based FOT Imprimeurs, based in Pusignan, near Lyon, has been using Goss Automatic Transfer technology on its six-unit Sunday 2000 web press since January 2004 to print multiple versions of cata- Flogs, direct-mail pieces and other products. Say FOT officials, makeready time and effort has been vir- tually eliminated since installation as the press does not have to stop in between printing different versions of the same piece. Further, the press’s Autoplate feature enables FOT press operators to automatically replate an idle unit in less than one minute while the press is running, then complete the automat- ed transfer with the push of a button. FOT reports that waste levels between jobs average just 200 to 400 copies. Philippe Bourgeois, president of FOT Imprimeurs, points to a high-quality catalog printed in 13 different languages as an example of how AT’s changeover efficiency has opened new market opportunities for the printing company. “This type of job would have been very time-consuming and labor-intensive without Automatic Transfer,” he asserts. “With the Sunday press and AT technology, we are able to offer customers the added value of a more personalized job Operators of the six-unit Sunday 2000 at FOT Imprimeurs use Goss AT without a prohibitive cost increase.” ■ technology for on-the-run version changes with extremely low waste.

may 05 graphicartsmonthly.com S5 The Why & How of AT Technology

Many New Business Benefits . . .

Full-ccolor changes on the fly Clement quickly points out that AT affords full-color on-the- fly changes as well. “Another customer has ordered a Sunday press with eight AT units in line,” reports Clement. “This configuration would allow complete four-color on-the-run form changes.” The result, he notes: a Sunday press that can run essentially nonstop in a 24/7 operation. Clement continues, “The wide opening between the blan- ket cylinders is what enables the press to run continuously; while this printer’s web is running through four press units, the operator can make ready the other four units for the next job, then change over the press without stopping. Obviously this is a huge productivity improvement.” Clement states that while competitive web press manufac- turers offer their own versions of automatic transfer capability, Chris Clement (right) and John Dowling help Goss's development they require inter-knife technology to blow air onto the web to team simultaneously fill printers' business and operational needs. help direct it between the blanket cylinders to avoid marking. “Conventional presses have to be stopped and started, while our Sunday AT presses do not,” he asserts. “Once you cool down here’s great growth potential for web printers in a web press and have to start it back up, you have to get the inks, Automatic Transfer technology for Sunday presses fountain solutions, rollers and blankets into equilibrium before from Goss International, according to Chris you’re able to output usable product. Our Sunday AT users can Clement, senior product manager of the company’s cut ink usage and paper waste while gaining huge time savings.” TCommercial Web division. “This technology brings incredible business value to web Opening new markets and new doors operations,” says Clement, citing short-run print production, copy These technical advantages, says Clement, give Goss versioning, enhanced efficiency, continuous press operation and Sunday AT press users the opportunity to provide new produc- improved return on investment. “Helping printers achieve these tion capabilities to serve prospective customers that they could- benefits is what drove our AT product development.” n’t approach before, plus they gain new opportunities to better serve their current customers by, for example, being able to Versioning popularity offer them job versions in much shorter runs. In the latter case, One of the main drivers in the development of AT technolo- he notes, those print quantities might have had to go to gy, Clement explains, was the increasing trend toward short- sheetfed or to digital printing. run, versioned printing. But, Clement adds, the new technology provides a further Notable is the approach of France-based FOT, the first cus- advantage: “A printer that previously had turned away jobs tomer to use AT technology on a Sunday 2000 web press, says from customers that it thought would take too long or be too Clement. “FOT can produce the same catalog in multiple lan- costly in terms of waste has a new business model. The web guages,” he relates, “easily printing parts of the run in German, printer that could never go after short-run jobs can do so now, Italian and French. The versions all use the same four-color pho- for 30,000 copies, 20,000 or even 10,000, and produce them at tographs but have different black text for the various regional a profitable rate. AT changes the economics of how a printer markets.” prices a job.” Printers can use the same technology to incorporate price In this way, AT offers a speedy payback on investment, changes in high-quality direct mail pieces, inserts or catalogs, Clement contends: “Considering the myriad benefits that AT adds Clement. “In a brochure, a national car rental company offers, the up-charge for automatic transfer capability on the can offer a different Labor Day weekend rate to recipients living Sunday web presses is very minimal today and the payback in Pennsylvania than to those in New York City,” he says. very quick.” ■

S6 graphicartsmonthly.com may 05 The Why & How of AT Technology

. . . and Operational Advantages

rom the beginning of the AT Multi-drive widens the opening Workflow, project, Goss engineers pursued Sunday’s multi-drive technology, too, Conductor of an innovative press technology serves as an AT enabler. “Each unit has the Symphony option that was advanced, prof- its own motor,” Dowling states, “and Fitable and easy to use. “Design and devel- there’s a separate gearless drive for the Digital workflow and preset- opment of the AT option for Sunday upper blanket cylinder as well as the ting are crucial to the cumula- presses progressed quickly: from initial lower. This is how we achieve a very tive efficiency that AT brings to design through to final product testing large throw-off opening, which enables Sunday press users. took just one year,” reports John Dowling, the web to run through unencumbered. Goss’s electrical develop- Goss’s director of research and develop- This simply can’t be done in the same ment R&D director Howie Hoff ment for Printing Unit Design. “We had way with traditional web presses.” led AT's electrical team, which five mechanical and three electrical engi- Mechanically, an AT unit is very simi- was responsible for the creation neers working on AT.” lar to a standard Sunday printing unit, of the AT workflow control sys- AT units were designed, manufactured and therefore prints with the same level tem. Therein, Goss’s Omni and tested in the Goss facility in Dover, of output quality. It can even operate as Presetting and Omni Reporting N.H., whereafter they were shipped to a standard printing unit. “They are the tools enable Sunday AT users to France for start-up testing on press. same exact size, and use the same exact set up and monitor each job “Yes, it was very challenging,” he plate,” Dowling explains. “The only dif- automatically, from presetting admits, “but there was a certain level of ference is that, on the gear side of the inking and platemaking param- serendipity to it in advancing the Sunday press, instead of having one drive motor, eters to setting up slitter posi- press itself and the benefits of the there are two for AT.” tion, angle bars, compensators, press’s unique engineering.” former position, fold Dowling points specifically to how types, and cross per- Sunday’s impression mechanism works. foration, plus tracking ink usage, paper Cylinder throw: going long usage, and job start “Among the many patents on and stop time. Sunday technology is the way the cylin- “In this highly ders throw on and off,” he explains. “It’s automated system, very different from conventional printing the press operator has units on other web presses.” much less to do,” Hoff The Sunday's impression mechanism says. “For example, uses unique and patented pivoting cylin- workflow software der housings (versus eccentric cylinder queues up jobs so housings used on a standard web press) A wider blanket-to-blanket cylinder opening that while one run is to move a cylinder much farther—10 is crucial to Goss AT web technology. expiring, the system knows times as far, to be precise—than a typi- exactly when to queue up the cal web press’s throw-off. AT vs. traditional imprinters idle unit to get it to spin up to “The cleanest, most elegant techni- A Sunday AT unit differs dramatically impression at just the right cal solution is to pass a wet web through from imprinters used on conventional moment, take the expiring job an idle print unit without contact,” he web presses. “A traditional imprinter has off at just the right moment, and states. “The only way this is achievable two plate cylinders and three blanket continue.” with any consistent accuracy is with a cylinders, with the middle one cycling Hoff concludes, “In this case, very large blanket-to-blanket opening, between an upper print coupler and a when the symphony is working which is inherent only to the Sunday lower print coupler,” Dowling explains. great, there is just the conduc- press. This is the real key to our AT tech- Because of this, a traditional imprinter tor performing.” nology.” can handle versioning on only one side

may 05 graphicartsmonthly.com S7 The Why & How of AT Technology

starting again to get back up and run- ning. With our technology, the time is zero minutes. Essentially, it is on-the-fly.” With AT, a busy printer handling, say, 20 plate changes per day could gain three to four hours in press uptime. “That’s a quantum leap in productivity,” notes Dowling, “especially for the short- run web plant that measures success by how well it handles makeready time. That time saved per makeready is sheer margin.”

The Goss Autoplate feature allows an operator to preload cassettes while the press is running, Less waste, more money then execute a fully automatic plate change on the run directly from the console touchscreen. Significant savings in waste, too, are Continued from page 7 nificant makeready savings, as well as afforded via the use of Goss’s AT tech- of the web, thus it cannot perform on- the ability to do short-run work on a nology. “It could be a factor of anywhere the-fly form changes. Sunday web press. “Autoplate is an intri- from 10 to 20, depending on the busi- “The other two big drawbacks with cate, essential part of AT that allows idle ness,” he states. “When you run a 24- traditional imprinters are print quality trade-off, and the limitation of where they can be placed in the press line,” he Typical Sunday Press Configurations with AT Option says. Configuration Advantage Dowling explains that, to keep the web from bouncing, imprinters use air Six printing units/two with AT bars or guide rollers to angle the web Enables four-color printing through idle units. “But we’ve found that with on-the run black text doing so causes disturbances to the web changes OR five- and six- that can lead to potential problems in color standard printing unit register, unit doubling and so forth.” “Also,” says Dowling, “a traditional imprinter has to be the first unit because Eight printing units with AT of a special web lead that has to come over the top, so the paper doesn’t even Enables complete four-color on-the-run form changes OR run through it like a regular print unit.” five-, six-, seven-, or eight- A Sunday AT-equipped printing unit, color standard printing however, can be positioned anywhere in the press line, offering printers unparal- leled flexibility. “A typical installation configuration is a one-web, six-unit units to be plated faster, more accurate- page web press and handle color on press, where the AT unit is either in the ly and with less operator effort,” he says. both sides of the sheet, a typically very one-two or one-six position,” states good makeready is probably 1,000 Dowling. “Numerous configurations are Zero makeready=profit gained waste impressions. With AT, if you are possible with AT, including those that AT technology really shines when it just changing black, realistically your enable complete four-color on-the-fly comes to makeready. Says Dowling, “A waste could be 100 impressions or less form changes.” short-run web printer that does not have [in theory it can be zero], which is dra- Goss’s Autoplate technology also auto transfer capability loses 10 to 12 matic. In France, FOT is frequently see- serves as an AT enabler, according to minutes on each job changeover—stop- ing just 100 waste copies between auto Dowling, as it affords the benefits of sig- ping the press to change plates, then transfers.” [Story on page S5.] ■

S8 graphicartsmonthly.com may 05