Next-gen Roland 700 highly automated for high quality

Mar 30, 2007 12:05 PM

MAN Roland (Westmont, IL) has unveiled the next-generation Roland 700 press.

Two distinct versions of the mid-size press offer innovative technology to set new benchmarks for sheetfed performance.

The new Roland 700 HiPrint is the mainstream choice for the majority of printing facilities, while the new ROLAND 700 DirectDrive is designed for printers who require advanced makeready performance and long perfecting capabilities.

HiPrint

The “Hi” in HiPrint stands for high quality, and the new press line can be equipped with MAN Roland’s array of inline quality control enhancements. It also can be configured with any of the company’s inline advancements that integrate the application of special effects into the printing process, providing added value without adding press time.

“The Roland 700 HiPrint is aimed at printing companies that mainly focus on innovative enhancement of their print products, meaning industrial-scale inline finishing such as coating, double coating, UV, embossing, cold foil transfer and the like,” says Dr. Markus Rall, MAN Roland board member in charge of sheetfed presses. “It is the right press for all printers who want a higher level of performance from their pressrooms.”

To increase its performance, the Roland 700 HiPrint can be equipped with MAN Roland’s QuickChange bundle of makeready enhancements. The option offers a series of automation modules that work together to accelerate changeover from job to job.

DirectDrive

As its name indicates, the new Roland 700 DirectDrive features MAN Roland’s DirectDrive system, which was introduced as a prototype at drupa 2004. The innovation uses computer-controlled servomotors to power the plate cylinders in its printing units. Isolating the plate cylinder from the main drive allows a number of time-consuming makeready chores to be completed simultaneously.

For example: All of the plates can be changed on the Roland 700 DirectDrive at the same time, while washup takes place, effectively resulting in zero plate-changing time.

One segment of the printing industry that the ROLAND 700 DirectDrive is aimed at consists of short-run, high-performance printers,” Rall says. “These are facilities that have to makeready and print over ten jobs per shift, with average run lengths below 5,000 sheets per job. To be competitive, they have to drive costs out of their workflows. DirectDrive will let them achieve major savings by essentially taking the time it takes to plate the press out of the production process.”

Rall points to a second application sector as prime territory for the ROLAND 700 DirectDrive. “It is also ideal for users of long perfectors with 8, 10 and 12 printing units, who produce a high volume of perfecting work,” he says. “It can reduce their makeready time by as much as 60 percent, and even more if they have the QuickChange modules such as closed loop inking.”

A select bundle of QuickChange modules are standard equipment on DirectDrive models and are available as options on HiPrint presses. Similarly, Automatic Plate Loading (APL) and 13,000-sph perfecting are standard on ROLAND 700 DirectDrive presses and optional on HiPrint models.

Inline features

The Roland 700 HiPrint can be ordered with inline options, including: InlineFoiler Prindor; InlineInspector; InlineSorter; InlineObserver; InlineSheeter; and InlineCoater.

Other options available only with the Roland 700 HiPrint press line include Ultima configurations with special placement of multiple coating units, and 700-plus presses that expand the printable image area of the machine.

That last exclusive is a new special edition ROLAND 700 that handles the largest sheet size in its class. The new system delivers almost nine percent more image area than a conventional 40-inch press.

“A productive midsize press has to provide maximum versatility to equip printers to capitalize on the widest variety of opportunities,” says Vince Lapinski, CEO of MAN Roland Inc. “On the other hand, it needs to offer specialized functionality to enable printers to add value to their projects. By offering two distinct ROLAND 700 press lines, MAN Roland makes it easier for printers to choose a model that maximizes the added value they can provide to optimize their profitability.”