DUPLO LAUNCHES NEW MODULAR PRINT FINISHING OFFERINGS AND DIGITAL SOLUTIONS AT GRAPHEXPO 2004, CHICAGO, OCTOBER 10 - 13, 2004, BOOTH 3052, TO THE US MARKET CONVERTING PRINT INTO PROFITABLE SOLUTIONS WITH DUPLO

At GraphExpo, Duplo will launch its new and most revolutionary digital print finishing products to the Americas. This will include the new SCC (slit/cut/crease) bookletmaker as well as the second generation digital slitting, cutting an creasing machine – the DC-645 and the DBM-500 2KT two-knife trimmer. In addition, Duplo expands its range of digital duplicators with the introduction of the DP-460H digital print system which has been designed specifically for the quick and commercial print market.

Committed to manufacturing sophisticated and scaleable solutions that support both digital and offset print finishing requirements, Duplo will also show its benchmark bookletmaking and collating systems, the System 5000 and Duetto, as well as a variety of additional bookletmaking, printing, folding and bindery solutions.

Dominic Quennell, vice president of marketing at Duplo Corporation says, “Our new products were extremely well received during drupa which was shown by the number of orders we took.

We’ll expect the same from GraphExpo given the number of US printers that took an interest in our products during the show in May.

Printers clearly understand the benefits digital technology can bring to their businesses and demand solutions that are flexible and versatile. Our advanced digital finishing systems are capable of catering for a wide range of market applications and are designed to produce high quality, cost-effective results.”

As a driving force in the UP3I consortium which in turn is a participant of the JDF industry standard, producing modular machines that are able to communicate is key to Duplo. Comments Dominic: “We have recognized that printers have different requirements and therefore need equipment that suits their operational and financial needs. For example, a traditional printer that wants to provide a combined offset and digital offering can easily upgrade a System 5000 to a Duetto by investing in a DSF-2000 sheet feeder, without incurring huge costs by purchasing a second independent digital finishing system.”

Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to see Duplo’s new DC-645 Slitter/Creaser/Trimmer in two of Duplo’s partners’ stands:

HP Indigo – Booth # 1031

Xerox – Booth # 1431

DC-645 Slitter/Cutter/Creaser

Building on the success of the DC-545HC slitter/cutter/creaser, Duplo is launching its second-generation machine - the DC-645. Like the DC-545HC, the DC-645 has the ability to read printed images and automatically adjust and compensate for the common problem of image shift. It slits, cuts, and creases in precisely the right place around the image every time, reducing waste and ensuring high quality and optimum productivity. It also combines slitting, cutting, and creasing in one single product – so applications requiring these three functions can be handled in a single pass.

However, the new features which set it apart from the DC-545HC are its high duty cycle, its ability to manage heavier substrates (up to 350gsm) and larger sheet sizes, and its ability to produce a six-page brochure. With a state-of-the-art user interface, the DC-645 has been specifically developed to support the JDF industry standard. The popular DC-545HC model remains as an entry-level machine for those customers whose requirements in terms of substrate weight and format are not as wide as those catered for by the new DC-645.

SCC Bookletmaker

The SCC (slit/cut/crease) bookletmaking system incorporates a DSF-2000 sheet feeder (with optional barcode reader, the SCC unit, a DBM-500 bookletmaker and a DBM-500T trimmer. This system is unique in bringing a slit/cut/crease function to the near-line bookletmaking process. Designed principally for the production color digital market, the SCC-equipped bookletmaking system takes care of two common issues associated with digital color output. First, the SCC unit side-slits and trims the head and foot of each sheet. This provides an accurate full bleed trim which is registered by a CCD camera to the image, rather than to the physical dimensions of the sheet – this means that image drift can be corrected. Second, the SCC module can crease the cover and innermost sheets of the booklet, or all the sheets in the booklet so that image cracking on the fold-line is prevented.

For jobs where color and black and white output is to be combined, the DSF-2000 sheet feeder is equipped with two feed trays, so that one can be loaded with oversized color output from one digital press and the other with finished-size black and white output from a different digital device. The colored sheets are fed through the slitting, cutting and creasing units, while the finished-size black and white sheets are transported via a by-pass unit to the accumulation section of the bookletmaker. There the entire set is re-integrated, with the colored sheets now the same format as the black and white sheets, ready to be stitched, folded, and trimmed.

DBM-500 2KT Two-Knife Trimmer

The DBM-500 2KT provides a uniquely modular approach to trimming all open sides of a booklet. An optional unit to the DBM-500T face trimmer, the DBM-500 2KT trims the head and foot of completed booklets, delivering them on a shingled belt delivery back to the operator station. The initial settings are programmed from a user interface on the trimmer and then transferred to the main memory of the finishing modules. The operator can then call up frequently used jobs from a single-user interface.

The benefit of Duplo’s modular approach is that users can build up their system as their needs dictate, starting with a simple face-trim function then adding the head and foot trim when required. The design of the complete Duplo bookletmaker with three-knife trimming still enables side-stitched or corner-stitched sets to be produced. The overall benefit is that full-bleed jobs can now be transferred directly from the press to the finishing device without the need for trimming on a guillotine before or after stitching and folding. This saves a great deal of time and increases productivity.

DP-460H Air-fed Digital Printing System

The DP-460H has been designed specifically for the quick and commercial print market. It offers a cost-effective, alternative solution to short-run offset printing, taking on single and spot color jobs from 25 to 10,000 prints at 600dpi. Revolutionary features include a high capacity feeder allowing printers to stack 3,000 sheets, making the machine ideally suited to typical commercial run lengths. Automatic plate change is carried out within 22 seconds, and an offset stacker means that separate jobs can be offset stacked for easy identification at the end of the print run.

The DP

-460H also incorporates a vacuum feeding system which eliminates paper marking and offers faster rerun for duplex and spot color work. Another advantage of the digital duplicator is its ability to change ink color in just 20 seconds, even with special colors such as gold and silver. The new digital duplicator is ideal for producing order sheets, invitations, envelopes, exam papers, newsletters, score cards, menus, tickets, timetables, stationery, and more. Once switched on, it can print or copy instantly onto a range of stocks from NCR to card and envelopes at weights of 11 lb. and NCR to 110 lb., while achieving 130 prints per minute. The DP-460H is fully network compatible (PC or Mac) with RIP or a Duplo print server, offering computer to press imaging and can print within seconds of turning it on, producing 1,300 prints in just ten minutes.

Additional products to be shown at GraphExpo are:

System 5000 Bookletmaking and Collating System

The most advanced addition to Duplo’s bookletmaking family is the System 5000 bookletmaking and collating solution. The new system incorporates DC-10/60 collating towers, the dynamic DBM-500 bookletmaker, a face trimmer, and a precision stacker and has been optimized for both the digital and offset markets.

A fourth generation product developed to meet UP3i standardization, the System 5000 provides a complete finishing solution for both commercial offset printers planning to migrate to digital, and for digital printers with a pre-press background looking for a productive and easy to operate solution. Capable of producing up to 5,000 booklets per hour, the DBM-500 has a center-referenced paper transport system that provides a fully automated sheet transport system.

The bookletmaker easily accommodates the entire range from minimum to maximum sheet sizes without any manual operator intervention and caters for on-demand applications such as CD and DVD sized booklets through to letter (8.5” x 11”), ledger (11” x 17”), and oversized commercial print formats, alternating between the formats at the push of a button or, when part of a near-line or in-line system, under the control of a UP3I compatible controller.

Duetto Bookletmaking and Collating System

An advanced hybrid solution based on the System 5000, the Duetto bookletmaking and collating solution incorporates up to three DC-10/60 collating towers, a DSF-2000 dynamic sheet feeder, and DBM-500 bookletmaker, and is the first system of its kind to address both digital and offset requirements. The ability of the DBM-500 to handle set-by-set and sheet-by-sheet output with equal ease makes the system ideal for printers making the transition from offset to digital, allowing them to incorporate color content and variable data into their finishing solutions.

DF-920 Fully Automated Table Top Folder

Duplo’s newest folding product is the automatic Duplo DF-920 folding machine. The DF-920 can be used with minimal training and enables people to multi-task easily, a growing requirement in today's production environment.

The DF-920 is a high-end desktop folding machine which accepts sheet sizes of up to 11” x 17”. The new product is 30% faster than Duplo’s previous offering.

Targeted at small printers, direct mail houses and large offices the machine operates at speeds of 280 sheets of letter (8.5” x 11”) size paper per minute, which makes it the fastest product of its kind. The DF-920 incorporates a new feature - sound absorbers - which reduce the machine’s operational noise making it ideal for office environments. The DF-920 also addresses paper jams providing an easy jam clearance function.

Issued on behalf of Duplo Corporation by AD Communications