About 50 printers and package converters got an up-close look at new large-format presses and the economics behind the move to “livin' larger” than 40 in. at a recent open house held by manroland  in Westmont, IL.

The pressmaker demonstrated a half-dozen runs on its 56-in. HiPrint 900 press as well as a HiPrint 700 with an Inline Foiler Prindor. The first job, using Kodak Prinergy files to create 175-lpi plates on a Kodak Magnus VLF 2.1-meter platesetter, was printed at 14,000 sph on 39 x 55-in. glossy stock with Toyo Inks. Other vendor partners on hand were Prism (MIS software), Bobst Group (diecutters), and MBO (inline finishing).

Brad Keller, vp with St. Joseph Packaging in Missouri, said the 900 was “very impressive. We have a 6-year-old 900, and we're especially interested in the Prindor inline foiling.” St. Joe's specializes in folding cartons for high-end, retail products.

David Kornbau, vp-operations for Strine Printing Co. (York, PA), participated in a panel group on large format. His company has four 900 presses—two 56-in., one 65-in. with integrated UV coating and one 73-in. Strine is a much more vertically integrated printer/converter by sheeting most of its materials in-house, printing them, diecutting them, and even litho-laminating sheets to corrugated. “We have to stay on the leading edge of technology in our market,” Kornbau says. “We're not looking over our shoulder (for the competition)...just moving ahead.”