Heavy Weight

As sheetfed printers go, Strine is a big one. Situated in York, PA, the private company bills itself as the largest single-location commercial sheetfed printing facility in the Northeast. What's more, with annual sales of nearly $80 million, Strine Printing is among the top 70 printing companies

in all of North America. Its 400,000-sq.ft. plant features 14 offset presses—including eight Heidelberg Speedmasters in various configurations and two five-year-old 56´´ MAN Roland 900s—as well as a trio of HP Indigo digital presses.

Strine's newest press is a 6-color Roland XXL model: the first extra-wide press (51×73´´) installed in North America. (Print 05 attendees can see this jumbo press in action at Booth 1245.) The massive machine yields 22% more printable area than a 47×64´´ press—and 328% more than a conventional 40´´—making Strine more competitive on longer commercial work.

Up and running for seven months now, the first fully automated extra-wide press in the U.S. has been raising eyebrows, quite literally, because most customers and prospects have never seen an offset sheet taller than they are. But automation is what caught the eye of Dave Kornbau, Strine's VP operations.

“Unlike 1960s-vintage presses above 64´´ format,” says Kornbau, “we can run the modern automated Roland 900 XXL with only two men—the same as an automated 40´´ press.” In addition to tight crews, the 73´´ format offers another production efficiency: “On one recent job, running several images up, we cut the impressions by one-third,” he says, adding that the jumbo format has helped Strine carve out a new niche.

Configured with inline coating and hybrid UV capabilities, the new press “gives us a lot of point-of-purchase advantage with laminates, litho wraps, posters, signage and packaging,” he says. Strine has a separate, 140,000-sq.ft. packaging division less than a mile down the road.

“There is a great need above the 65´´ format because there are few printers that have that capability, and many [who do] use old presses.”

Like MAN's smaller 39×55´´ 900s, the superwide machine's printing unit incorporates a double-diameter impression cylinder. This, combined with its contact-free transferters, facilitates high-speed (10,000 sph) printing—on heavy board and even corrugated microflute.

Strine prints on 10-, 12- and 14-pt. board and coats it on press with either aqueous or UV. “We take the sheets and laminate them to corrugated to produce oversize packaging and displays. The boxes are getting larger,” he adds, “and there aren't many vendors who can do extra-large sizes.

“The 73´´ press also acts as a sales tool, bringing in more work that we can put on our 55´´ and 40´´ presses,” says Kornbau. The prospect of hybrid UV also is bringing new customers in the door. The XXL handles thick substrates, such as plastic and heavy board (up to 47-pt.).

“It allows us to print a variety of new products,” says Mike Strine, Sr., president and CEO, whose father started the company in the late 1950s. The jumbo also ties in with the company's under-one-roof philosophy. “Our goal is to develop long-term, strategic partnerships with corporate and trade clients who appreciate and utilize the benefits from a single-source supplier,” he says.

In addition to large-format POP, Strine's three-shift operation produces a range of marketing collateral and publications, including annual reports, brochures and catalogs. “You can produce a 64-page signature on a single sheet on the 900 XXL,” says Strine.

“It's got the quality that web presses can't match,” he adds. “It prints as well as any press we've ever had. In terms of inking, its coverage is better than any press in the shop.”

Other web work is coming into the sheetfed shop thanks to the behemoth, adds Kornbau. “We're printing large-format remoistenable envelopes on it,” he says. “You'd think they fit the web, but the 900 makes us more competitive for that kind of work.”

The new press also features a Pecom operating and automation system, which Strine had retrofitted on its pair of 56´´ 900s seven months prior to the XXL's arrival. Kornbau says his operators were up to speed, but “the challenge was making sure everyone gets the most out of Pecom automation.”

He sent a group to suburban Chicago for PowerPrinter training classes run by MAN that focus on how to save to save time and money in the pressroom. “Once the automation became part of their daily routine, it accelerated the overall workflow.” Back in Pennsylvania, the payback came quickly. “Pecom has cut a third off our makeready time,” Kornbau says.

Of course, the size of the 6´ wide sheets has repercussions in prepress, as well as in the bindery. Strine opted for Agfa's :Xcalibur VLF XXT very-large-format platesetter with its PlateManager feature. A four-cassette design permits multiple plate types to be kept online at all times, while transporting press-ready plates from loading to imaging to online processing—with no operator intervention.

“We need the automation from the Plate-Manager and inline processing,” says Randall Jones, Strine's prepress director. He adds that Agfa's GLV [Grating Light Valve technology] gives us bullet-proof imaging.”

On the back end, the jumbo press's inline slitter can be programmed to automatically divide the 73´´ sheets in two, allowing finishing in Strine's conventional bindery equipment.

“The installation and ramp-up went more smoothly and professionally than for any other press in our facility,” Strine says. “Its performance gives me the confidence to consider a full-blown UV press with double coating.”