Two parts instead of three

Poster printing F12 formats or larger can now be produced with fewer sheets. Less is more - at least when it comes to the number of poster parts. Instead of three, for example, only two poster parts need to be produced for the production of F12 posters thanks to new large-format printing presses in sheet-fed offset. The advantages are obvious - fewer sheets need to be set up, printed and glued on the machine. In addition, fewer printing plates (but larger ones) are required and the overall set-up times on the machine are reduced. Other advantages include greater flexibility in design (instead of two parts of the same size, the F12 can also print two parts at a ratio of 2:1 depending on the subject; this means that the gluing point is not in the middle of the subject, and the right-hand third can also be easily regionalized), in printing (printing of two uses or two different subjects per printing form) and, finally, fewer problems and sources of error during billposting (gluing). In the meantime, billposters have also responded to these possibilities. APG, the largest Swiss poster company, officially released the new two-part F12 posters on January 21. The first new one at SetaprintAt Setaprint, one of the two fully automatic screen printing machines was replaced last year by a large-format MAN Roland 900 XXL offset printing machine. When a company almost gives up a process after a good twenty years and commits to a new one, there must be a reason for this. There was one at Setaprint, and it is quickly explained: owner Pierre-Louis Marti does not believe that screen printing will be able to hold its own against offset printing in the poster sector for much longer. Marti has therefore never seen the approximately 6 million investment costs (machine, structural measures, expansion of prepress, workflow, CtP) as a risky decision: "We have improved in all three disciplines: quality, speed and, last but not least, price. Not investing would have been a bigger risk for the company." Pierre-Louis Marti did everything in his power to ensure that the first large-format machine of the latest design arrived in Bachenbülach. With a six-month lead over the competition, he achieved this goal and, according to his own statements, was able to increase his market share.
Only three machines are in operation worldwide: two in Germany and the third Roland 900 XXL has now left the MAN plant in Offenbach for Bachenbülach. Being the first was not the main motivation. Marti is pleased with the productivity and the fact that the popular three-part F12 posters can now be printed in two instead of three sheets.
The largest format at JCM
The five-color Rapida 205 from KBA in the format 151 ¥ 205 cm - the only machine with a fully automatic cutting device - is used at JCM exclusively for the production of posters.
The large-format offset printing system is nothing new at the Schlieren-based company. For more than ten years, large-format posters have been produced using the offset printing process on a modified Miehle sheetfed offset press imported by JCM itself. With the purchase of the Rapida 205 a good two years ago, JCM opted for a modern printing press. The Rapida 205, currently the largest sheetfed press, has now been in production for five months. Marketing and sales manager Manfred Sollberger is delighted with the fully automatic plate changer, the integrated cutting device and the short makeready times. In technical terms, the machine is state-of-the-art: CIP3-PPF data generated in the prepress stage is transmitted directly and automatically controls the ink presetting. Overall, productivity has improved significantly thanks to the new machine, adds Sollberger.
In addition to mainly F200 posters, GF posters (large format) are also produced. The advantages are particularly clear when printing GF posters: instead of nine parts, only four are produced. In addition to the savings in plates, set-up and printing time, JCM achieves a higher quality standard. The sheet transitions are therefore reduced to two.
JCM JCM Offsetdruck AG has 18 printing units, making it the largest poster printing company in Switzerland. The company is based in Schlieren near Zurich. JCM currently employs 47 people. The company was founded in 1895 by Jakob Clemens Müller.
Since 1995, JCM has been printing large-format posters using offset printing on a specially imported and converted Miehle four-color press (format 137 x 197 cm). Even with the Miehle, the company was able to print posters in fewer parts and has been able to
This has had a lasting impact on the market. In October 2004, a KBA Rapida 205, the largest sheetfed offset press in Switzerland, started production of posters at JCM. This press was unveiled as a world first at the drupa trade fair in Düsseldorf just a few months before it was commissioned at JCM.

In addition to the Rapida 205, the company also operates five-color and six-color presses up to a format of 100 x 140 cm. (jf)
Setaprint Setaprint is a company belonging to Pierre-Louis-Marti Holding in the industrial area of Bachenbülach, approx. 15 km north of Zurich. The company, which has 25 employees, uses three printing processes to print posters: large-format digital printing, screen printing and offset printing.
Since its foundation in 1986 (when it was still based in Zurich-Altstetten), the machinery has always been at the forefront of technology. In 1986, for example, the first fully automatic
screen printing machine installed in Switzerland. Since then, city posters can be produced cost-effectively. Setaprint then installed the direct projection process, with which the screen printing forms were directly imaged using mother litho. In 1999, Setaprint was also the first Swiss company to acquire a computer-to-screen system for the production of screen printing forms based on digital data. And finally, the pioneers put a large-format poster printing machine of the latest design into operation. (jf)

JCM prints large-format posters in fewer sheets using a KBA Rapida 205 - the largest-format offset press in Switzerland.
Instead of three parts (picture above), F12 posters can also be produced in just two parts at Setaprint - here on a MAN Roland 900 XXL.
Instead of three sheet sections (right) for F12 posters, only two sections need to be produced. The prerequisite is that the print shop has a suitable machine. Source: APG
Jürgen Franck