Commenting on his company’s acquisition, Astra CEO Steve Messenger says, “Shorter, cost-effective print runs on behalf of publishers deliver a distinct competitive edge, environmental benefits and dynamic service levels to our customers.

“In Screen’s Truepress Jet 520, we now have the technology to offer all of this to book, newspaper and magazine publishers – in full colour or mono – with crisp black text and excellent colour reproduction.”

According to Screen, the Truepress Jet 520’s production speed is up to around 1,600 A4 pages per minute across its 520mm wide web, which equates to around 3,200 typical trade paperback book impressions of 135mm x 216mm. This is nearly 200,000 book pages per hour in duplex mode, making 1,250 x 160-page paperbacks in an hour. Post-press equipment consists of Hunkeler, CP Bourg and Ibis Smartbinder and Challenge three-knife trimmer.

Akira Hayakawa, managing director of Screen Australia says, “We are excited by the forward-looking and innovative vision of Astra Printing. While this is the first in the Oceania region, together with all versions, there are now around 200 Truepress 520s operating throughout the world – more than any other similar supplier.

“These are being used in all of the ideal applications for high-volume digital inkjet printing, namely, transactional and promotional documentation, books, manuals, newspapers, brochures, instruction leaflets and catalogues.”

The Jet 520 is available in several versions as simplex or duplex (perfecting). Astra Printing’s is a twin-engine duplex colour machine configured at right-angles to conserve space.

Meanwhile at Ipex, Screen says it will extend its leadership in high-speed digital inkjet printing with the addition of the Truepress JetSX, a sheetfed B2 format duplexing press that is expected to create considerable excitement in the B2 offset segment.

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