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In October 2005, the very first DIAMOND 16 MAX-V was put into commercial operations at Seki Company Limited, located in Ehime Prefecture on the Japanese island of Shikoku. First introduced at drupa 2004, the 16 MAX-V is truly proving to be a state-of-the-art press capable of producing multiple-sized and multi-color signatures.
About three years ago, Seki Company was considering the option of installing a web press for A-sized products. However, in light of the anticipated work volume and the investment costs involved, a decision was put off until the company learned of Mitsubishi's development plans for the MAX-V. Upon witnessing the successful changeover of cutoff sizes conducted in press demonstrations at drupa, Seki and Mitsubishi agreed to field test a four-unit (eightcolor) version of the press for applications to the printing company's anticipated future requirements.
The following is a report compiled from a recent visit to Seki Company with comments from Shigeru Matsunaga, general manager of the plant.
<DIAMOND 16 MAX-V Operational Status>
"Currently," says GM Matsunaga, "the press in our plant has been operating smoothly and this year has reached a performance rate comparable to our existing web offset presses. We've been printing a variety of jobs on the press, including different sized leaflets, but from here on out will focus more on printing mainly high quality products such as brochures and magazines."
<On the Operational Status of Cutoff Changes>
A three-person crew mans the DIAMOND 16 MAX-V and includes one main operator and two assistant operators. The main operator manages overall printing operations and is primarily involved with product quality control and overall color control of upper side units. One of the assistants handles color control of lower side units, while the other assistant controls and monitors the reelstand and folder. For cutoff changes from A-sized products to B-sized products, two operators are involved in the blanket sleeve and plate changing operations, and the third operator handles the folder changeover. The job changeover normally takes approximately 45 minutes in total, which includes 30 minutes for sleeve changes at all eight colors (total 16 sleeves), and15 minutes for plate changes at all eight colors, with the folder changeover accomplished simultaneously. The shaftless drive system allows plate change operations to be undertaken at more than one unit at a time, shortening the overall press makeready. For repeat jobs, the job memory function of IPC II provides extensive press setting data, which also contributes to quicker press makeready. Seki expects that an automated plate changing operation, currently performed manually, will lead to further improvements in makeready time, and that a sheeter in the folder would also prove effective.
<DIAMOND 16 MAX-V Advantages>
"The main advantage," according to Matsunaga, "in actually operating the MAX-V is of course with the changeover of A- to B-sized jobs. We believe that this will be an essential key to improving our production rates. Like with any new first product, we did encounter some problems in the initial press operation stages, but the crews from Mitsubishi were available at all hours of the day to help us, and for this we are very grateful. The press hardware is sound, and we are satisfied with the printing quality. We would appreciate further assistance from Mitsubishi as we move into the printing of high quality product brochures, and we also believe that we will achieve 100% maximum performance of the MAX-V by the time field-testing is completed in May."
Following on from the above comments by General Manager Matsunaga, Mitsubishi will continue to work towards removing the "cutoff fixation" bottleneck among commercial web offset press printers and promote further development of product automation and stable press structures.
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