Double-sided printing machine

The process of double-sided printing of a single sheet of paper at once by means of a printing press has become very popular, and many high-quality commercial prints are currently printed using Heidelberg's double-sided printing technology.

As the saying goes: "Everything has two sides," which is easy to say. It is almost impossible to make both sides have the same high quality in the process of completing both sides of the printing at a time. Equipment engineers are faced with difficulties and obstacles in solving this problem.

The time for double-sided printing on web offset printing is relatively longer and the technology is more mature. Therefore, a very routine matter in rotary printing may become an insurmountable obstacle in the sheet-fed offset printing process. One of them is how to achieve accurate paper flipping. In fact, the perfect realization of the double-sided printing technology is a matter of nearly two decades. The ultimate goal is to resolve the contradiction between the production cost and the customer's expectations, and to print a high-quality printed matter that meets the user's needs.

The speed at which Heidelberg develops two-color printing presses is astonishing. In 1992 Heidelberg introduced the 8-speed Speedmaster SM102 AP press. In 1995, the SM102 AP+LX (8-color + coating) press was launched. The following 10-color SM102-10-P press was introduced the following year. In 1998 and 1999, 11 color SM102-11-P presses and printing machines with 12 units were launched. In addition, the SM74-8-P launched in September 1997 created a precedent for 74-cm-format double-sided printing. A few years later, Drupa 2000 exhibited the same 10-color SM74-10-P press. Heidelberg's technology for sheet-fed presses in various formats (from 52 cm to 102 cm) in the Speedmaster family is three-roller technology.

Prior to 1993, double-sided printing technology was mainly used in monochrome and bi-color printing products with low quality requirements. At that time, it is necessary to have a highly absorbable printing material, and it takes a long time to set up the printing press during the replacement work. All of this has changed due to Heidelberg's latest press technology. The high-quality double-sided commercial prints once printed now make it impossible to disobey the technical level of Heidelberger Superman, and the printers are not in demand for the demanding quality of customers. Feeling helpless. At present, the most advanced double-sided printing technology is formulated on all pageable Heidelberger Speedmaster presses, even on double-color machines. The printers who purchased these products have gained huge profits both in print quality and in production efficiency.

Heidelberg continues to innovate in double-sided printing technology, and accordingly, the types of jobs that can be handled and the range of operations are also becoming wider. At the same time, Heidelberg also confirmed their strength in the single-sided printing process. The Speedmaster presses with 8 to 12 units can be easily produced using high-fidelity color systems such as Kupper's seven-color system, Du Pont's Hypercolor system, and Pantone's Hexachrome system. In the coating unit it is possible to obtain perfect special effects, matte film or varnish.

The types of jobs that can be printed on this type of press include brochures, magazines, catalogs, books, magazine covers, manuals, calendars, double-sided or seven-color printed labels, maps, artwork, packaging, packaged papers, annual reports As well as sample books, etc., the market for small format prints is also rapidly developing. Although software retailers continue to boast that the “paperless office” should be adopted in the Internet era, the number of print products has not only declined but has reached its highest ever. The survey data shows that in the next few years, the development of the printing industry will remain stable and even accelerate the pace of development. In Germany alone, the per capita paper consumption in 2000 reached 231 kg, which is the highest record in history and is seven times that of the end of the fifties.

Although the reproduction of monochrome documents is increasingly dependent on copy machines, the number of customers who need multicolor documents at the same time is also increasing. They want to have a wide variety of spot colors, customized file formats, and Well-designed layout. In the medium-to-long-term printing operations, the demand for multi-colored prints containing special colors on two sides that need to be coated has mushroomed.

However, the potential of technology is not the whole of change. The market itself is also very fast. While the customer's expectation of quality continues to increase, the price of printed materials continues to decline. This is mainly due to the fact that the industry is characterized by the promotion of competition and the reduction of profit. In the face of a rapidly changing market, it is increasingly important for printers to optimize their production operations. Whether for single-sided printing or double-sided printing, fast job production cycles and simulated print quality are the keys to meeting challenges and achieving success. For this reason, printers have to make decisions on systematic investment so that they can increase their production capacity and expand the scope of their services. There is no doubt that the perfector is the best choice.

The advantages of the useful technology of double-sided printing are obvious. In the double-sided printing process, only one pre-press preparation is required for each job, and only one blanket cleaning is required. Compared with single-sided printing, double-sided printing can reduce the average time to complete a job by 1/3, eliminating the need to save the semi-finished products and turn pages. It also saves space for storing semi-finished products. Fast job production capabilities provide commercial printers with extremely important competitiveness, enabling them to handle more print jobs at the same time.

Fast delivery of large orders is another convincing proof. With the double-sided printing technology, the user can complete the inspection and signing of the entire page at a time. Finally, productivity gains can be achieved from reduced manpower requirements, which can significantly reduce costs from shortened job preparation time and startup waste.

Heidelberg Speedmaster series printers have a very wide range of printing formats; up to 12 printing units; the optional accessories for expanding production performance are also exceptionally rich. All in all, Heidelberg offers a world-class, diverse range of double-sided printing equipment.