Manroland Sheetfed was exhibiting at the recent China Print tradeshow in Beijing, showcasing its R708 LV + UV Evolution press for the first time at an exhibition in China. The machine with a coating unit that was on the show floor was already sold to a Chinese customer by the end of the event. 

Manroland Sheetfed sales manager Jens Kaiser said the 8-colour machine has been hugely popular since its launch in May, with many China-based customers buying it.

“The packaging market is still growing in China – especially for food and beverage, cosmetics, tobacco and playing cards – and print quality in China is now required on a very high level. In the past, the requirement was always four, five, or six colour presses, but nowadays customers want seven or eight colour presses, and ‘Ultima’ configurations.”

With the Ultima concept Manroland Sheetfed offers tailor-made solutions for a wide array of applications. Ultima stands for customising.

“This machine is also highly-automated – it has an automated job change sequence with AI integrated into the back – which reduces makeready times. It also has an intelligent networking solution that prepares jobs seamlessly and provides operators with the data they need,” Kaiser said.

Here are some of the significant new automation technologies of the machine:

• With three different ink distributions at the push of a button, TripleFlow offers high colour consistency during the whole print run and savings in waste.
• IntegrationPilot 2.0 does the job preparation and scheduling work, conducts data collection and provides accurate productivity reports.
• ProServ 360 allows for performance for 24 months. Besides routine installation, repair, training, and spare parts, the ProServ 360 Performance provides the customers with the preventative maintenance and performance optimisation. It helps the printers continuously improve the equipment utilisation rate and enhance stability, so they can provide high quality packaging products and services.
• Maximum press speed of 20,000 sheets per hour.
• Various effect coatings like ‘Twin-effect coating’, which creates a matte and gloss differentiation and some structure on the sheet.
• The creation of special applications like individualised QR codes by InlineInkJet heads

Manroland Sheetfed CEO Mirko Kern was at the event, where he provided Sprinter with an update on the company’s direction.

“We are focused on building high tech litho offset presses for commercial printing and packaging in the 700 and 900 size – so, medium and large sizes – and the extra-large size from size six to size eight,” he said.

“China is one of our key markets, it is the biggest for us, especially for special applications, which we call Ultima configurations, to enable the creation of very special packaging. This trend is extending out of China, into other countries, which makes this machine very suitable for such applications globally.

“Manroland Sheetfed is constantly in R&D, making its machines more efficient for printing and energy-efficient, but without impacting its speed and quality of output. Today, we have solutions in the market where we can say that from the first sheet till the last sheet, we have a stable situation in the machine which is also waste reducing, energy-efficient, and sustainable.

“Even for small details like reducing a gripper margin, for example, it makes a difference. So, Manroland Sheetfed is constantly looking into areas of improvement to deliver better results for the customer.”

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