New equipment to maintain leadership position in the print sector
Rotolito Lombarda, a leading European publications printer, continues its programme of investment with the installation of a manroland Lithoman 48-page press scheduled for September.
The press will include a Kodak inkjet unit for personalising long runs of leaflets for large retail customers. The configuration complements the similarly equipped 72-page Lithoman already in operation.
The investment follows the recent installation of a seven-colour HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press for printing covers for the books produced on the two HP Color Inkjet Web Presses as well as for general commercial print and short-run, quality book production. A B2 format press, the HP Indigo 10000 has generated interest not only from printers, but also among print buyers who regard it as the perfect solution for printing products that could not previously be printed digitally due to size and print run limitations.
These orders demonstrate Rotolito's strategy of investing in both traditional web offset as well as digital technologies.
The benefits of this conventional and digital strategy can be realised, for example, by newspaper publishers who are facing changes in their marketplace that require them to adapt their business models. Some of these changes include ever-decreasing print runs; the need to grow advertising revenue through localised advertising; personalised inserts and variable content and producing local editions of foreign newspapers for hotels, airports and holiday villages during the peak holiday season – all of which can be accommodated by a digital capability.
"We see these changes as an opportunity that we have decided to grasp," explains Emanuele Bandecchi, marketing director at Rotolito. "The HP T410 Color Inkjet Web Press installed at the end of 2013 will be used not only for printing books and commercial print, but also for newspaper production, thanks to the FoldLine system from manroland web systems. This digital finishing system enables the production of both Berliner and tabloid format newspapers up to 124 pages along with the ability to add up to three inserts in every newspaper automatically. The system has been fully online since May."
Investing to meet changing needs
The print sector is a fast moving industry, and in order to keep up with the changes it is important to have a reliable production system that can respond to the demands of the print buyer in both quality and price. Rotolito Lombarda is amongst the companies that have understood the importance of being at the forefront of adopting new technologies and of keeping its facilities up to date. Rotolito was the first company in Europe to install a full colour inkjet web press from HP in 2010. Always focused on continuous innovation, Rotolito is once again the first in the world to install the Foldline VPF211 digital finishing system from manroland web systems dedicated to the production of books, magazines, catalogues and newspapers.
Thanks to the company's leading position in the print sector and cutting edge facilities, Rotolito has become a consultant for its industry partners, hosting events and equipment demonstrations in a live production environment. At the end of February, manroland web systems organised an event at Rotolito, bringing in a large group of printers and newspaper publishers from around the world who were interested in the new FoldLine finishing system.
Current print production volumes on the digital HP Color Inkjet Web Presses total approximately 500 jobs a month. The Rotolito IT department has developed a job management system that enables work to be directed to the most appropriate machine taking into account cost-efficiency, delivery deadlines and press capacity. The system also incorporates a dedicated area for web orders reserved for B2B clients. In addition, the production workflow for digitally printed products is completely automated with the use of automatic imposition technology and JDF interface with the production machines.
Rotolito Lombarda also supports and attends external industry events. On 24th June 2014, Rotolito Lombarda will contribute to the panel discussions at the INTERQUEST 2014 London Digital Book Printing Forum (Royal Society, Carlton Terrace, in London). The forum will bring book printers, publishers, suppliers and influencers together to discuss the key trends and challenges facing the industry today.
