A revamped System 38S 16pp web will be running at the exhibition with a new 60,000iph-rated double chopper folder that can be set up using JDF data.

The folder will also be used on the 32pp version, which uses the same reel size but has cylinders that are twice the diameter in order to print 16-back-16. The System 38 has a reputation in Europe as the leading 16pp press. We are now bringing the characteristics of the 38, such as very quick makeready, to the 32pp market, said managing director Martin Rickards.

The Drupa web will also be equipped with a fast deck change facility that allows the top set of plates to be changed in just three minutes so we can make text and colour changes very very quickly.

Rickards said the firm would continue to focus on the commercial web market, as opposed to high pagination publication presses of 48-64pp. We believe it [commercial] is evolving to 32pp. We know how to make commercial webs well, and we are extending that into higher volume, he added.

At Drupa Komori will add perfecting your printroom to its established freedom of impression theme. The firms 2,000 square metre stand will be split into zones focusing on cartons, magazine and commercial, general printers and JDF/DoNet.

It is expecting an influx of Chinese visitors to the exhibition and will subtitle all its presentations in Chinese, as well as German and Spanish.

Komori has major ambitions in the perfecting arena traditionally dominated by Heidelberg: In the past we werent strongly positioned in perfecting but our current offering is second to none. Latterly we have been building up our installed base fast, and we would aspire to 30-40% market share, Rickards stated.

In the current economic environment printers are looking for ways to improve efficiency. If someone has two or three presses its natural to consider a long perfector purely on efficiency grounds, he added.

Komoris perfecting line-up has been boosted with the SPICA, a new entry-level four-colour press will be unveiled at the show. Available in A2 or B2 formats, it offers one level of automation including auto changeover from 4/0 to 2/2 at a price point pledged to be significantly lower than existing models.

A new LS version of the double-decker SP model will also be shown. This is 25% faster at 15,000sph and can handle thicker stocks too.

Drupa will also see the European debut for the Lithrone LS840P long perfector first seen at Igas in Japan last autumn. Its perfecting mechanism uses three double-sized cylinders so it can handle heavyweight paper at high speed and you can run any paper youd normally run. The ten-colour B2 Lithrone NL1028P uses the same mechanism.

For the carton market Komori will show a highly-automated LS640 Lithrone with coater, a new non-stop feed and a double delivery that changes the stack automatically.

In addition sister company Komori Chambon will launch a new variable size rotary die-cutter.

An upbeat Rickards added: We are moving forward and are very confident that at Drupa 2004 people will be viewing Komori in a new light. We have the best range of machines weve ever had and our status and standing in the industry is quite different.

[o] At Drupa Komori will use JDF to manage the production of thirty jobs for charity Save the Children, with runs varying from just 50 up to 10,000.

Story by Jo Francis