PrintingNews.com

Videojet Technologies’ Cheshire TLS tabber has been upgraded to meet new booklet tabbing requirements from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Noncompliance with the new tabbing regulations, which went into effect Sept. 8, means commercial printing and mailing companies cannot receive discounted postage rates. According to the USPS, booklets “consist of bound sheets or pages.” Binding methods that are compatible with automated processing and eligible for discounted postage rates include perfect binding, pressed glue and permanent fastening with at least two staples in the manufacturing fold (saddle-stitched).

Under the new rules, most booklets now require two 1.5-inch tabs wrapped on the leading edge of the product and one 1.5-inch tab wrapped on the trailing edge. These tabs cannot be perforated, and the required orientation of the tabs varies depending on the product being tabbed.

The upgraded Videojet Cheshire TLS tabber offers increased tabber head speed and greater product control. These upgrades ensure the tabber will meet the new USPS regulations and easily integrate with existing addressing and mailing systems. The Cheshire TLS tabber is capable of tabbing up to 30,000 pieces per hour. Extended product guides ensure that booklets do not shift as they move through the tabber, resulting in USPS-compliant tab placement. Commercial printing and mailing companies with existing Cheshire TLS tabbers can upgrade their systems to reduce capital outlays and installation time.

Based near Chicago, contributing editor Mark Vruno is a business writer who has reported on the commercial print industry for more than 20 years. Most recently, he was executive editor of Graphic Arts Monthly magazine. E-mail him at markvmail@comcast.net.

PRINT Show $ales

In addition to the $25 million Screen sale mentioned later in the article, other large capital equipment purchases were made on the floor at the big Chicago show, including:

• Postpress: Allan Graphics, Ltd., Kingston, Ontario (Canada), bought a C.P. Bourg BST-e tower collator and BME booklet-making system.
• Packaging: Folding carton producer Bell Inc., Sioux Falls, SD, became the first U.S. company to purchase Heidelberg’s new Speedmaster XL 162 6+LX press with aqueous coater and Prinect Press Center with Intellistart and integrated Wallscreen. This is the first sheetfed press for the formerly all-web company. The new machine will be the first installation of Heidelberg’s 64-inch VLF model in North America. Another large-format press—this one a six-color Speedmaster XL145—also was sold to carton producer Proteus Packaging. The Franklin, Wis. firm says it’s replacing a pair of aging 50-inch presses.
• Inkjet: Digital Edge, Oakville, Ontario, purchased a K200 drop-on-demand inkjet system from Domino Amjet.
• Bindery: Family Binding, Norcross, Ga., purchased its fifth Standard Horizon postpress line: a CABS 4000 perfect binder from Standard Finishing Systems dealer Paper Handling Solutions.
• Web Offet: The Church of Scientology will install a Goss Sunday 2000 press in early 2010, premiering a new web-offset production facility in addition to an existing extensive digital print operation in Los Angeles used to produce its collateral materials and publications. Automatic Transfer technology will enable language changes for various products to be completed on the fly. Also, Grupo Infagon of Mexico signed on for a 16-page Sunday 2000 web press from Goss International.
• Foil stamping/die cutting: French folding carton firm Cultech purchased North America’s first Duopress double-headed die cutter for its Edison, N.J. facility. Manufactured in China by Masterwork Graphic Equipment, the MK21060STE features two platens in a row and can foil stamp, die cut and strip inline.
• Digital Print: Commercial shop Hansen Quality Printing, Syracuse, N.Y., bought a four-color MGI Meteor DP60 Pro multi-substrate digital press. MGI sold five Meteors at the show. The DP60 Pro prints on paper, plastics and envelopes as well as in super-wide formats on sheets up to 13 by 47 inches.
• LF Inkjet: Screen and digital printer NGS, Elgin, Ill., bought an Inca Onset S20 UV flatbed printer from Fujifilm Sericol for short-run, quick-turn retail signage, packaging and point-of-purchase work as well as prototypes.
• Digital Imaging Offset: Mega printer Quad/Graphics, Sussex, Wis., purchased the first Presstek 52DI-AC, a 20.5-inch digital offset press featuring an integrated aqueous coater that supports flood and spot applications. The press prints on a broad range of substrates from .0024 to .02 inches thick, supports up to 300 lpi and FM screening, and support runs from 500 to 20,000.
  “Presstek’s 52DI-AC gives us high-quality reproduction and print-run-count flexibility—features which are extremely important to our client base—with the added benefits of quick makeready and minimal waste,” said Tom Frankowski, senior Quad/Graphics’ manufacturing vice president. “We envision a wide range of uses for this equipment. It will augment our manufacturing platform very well, giving our clients more ways to profitfrom our print capabilities.”
• Digital Print: Specialty Print Communications, Niles, Ill., a national printing firm and full-service direct mail production specialist, purchased a Kodak NexPress 2500. “The NexPress 2500 signals SPC’s continued commitment to data-driven, one-to-one personalized communications as a source of continued growth and escalation up the value chain,” says SPC’s Dustin LeFebvre. “The increased size of the 2500, along with the dimensional capabilities, enable SPC to continue to bring marketing solutions that drive engagement and interactivity, are targeted and relevant, and increase bottom line ROI for our clients.”
• Southeastern commercial shops 4D Printing, Conyers, Ga., and Paramount Performance Marketing, Jacksonville, Fla., each purchased a 29.5-inch Rapida 75; 4D’s is a six-color model plus coater. Manufacturer KBA North America reports selling some $25 million in press equipment at the Print 09 show, including 11 other printing presses—and says it has a commitment for six more. In addition to the Rapida 75, KBA also showed the 41-inch, 8-unit Rapida 106 and a 20-inch, four-color Genius 52 UV in its exhibit.

Post-show Buys

Two days after the Print 09 show, book printing firm Bradford & Bigelow (Newburyport, Mass.) placed an order for the HP Indigo W7200 digital press color web press that was on display on the show floor in Chicago. The firm said the purchase is part of its transition from book manufacturer to a “complete provider of sustainable supply chain solutions for the publishing industry.”