The six-color 6000XL press prints 14,000 sheets per hour, handles a maximum paper thickness of 0.040in and features an Air Motion Systems P3 ultraviolet (UV) curing system. In a statement announcing the install, Lewisburg Printing CEO Hale Hawkins said, "We've had really good success with Mitsubishi presses. We also operate two older 40in Mitsubishi presses - a six-color and a seven-color - with aqueous coaters. They're incredible workhorses."

Lewisburg Printing employs 95 in a 70,000 sq ft facility and has seen revenues rise 40% since 2005, in part because of an increased focus on packaging-related work. "We'd been in the can label and spot box label business," Hawkins said. "The larger formats have increased our sales in that area."

In an interview with PrintWeek, Mike Stock, director of sheetfed and web sales at Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses (MLP), noted, "The bright market in the US right now is packaging and labels - if it wasn't for those two categories growing, there's almost nothing happening on the commercial side, outside of the used market.

"Packaging and label printers have traditionally spent additional dollars for automation and are doing fairly well - not as good as four years ago, but well enough to help all the manufacturers survive the tough times."

Lewisburg was already an MLP customer and Stock said that for the past few years, most commercial printing equipment companies have been selling to their existing customer base rather than adding new clients.

"Everybody's looking for a deal because it's a buyer market right now," he said, adding many of the large print equipment suppliers are sitting on large amounts of inventory. "We may have one of the smallest inventories at this time compared to the rest of the big guys."

Stock also noted the current economy is forcing many in the industry to expand their offerings.  "Right now, many of the commercial printers are looking for niches to get into and packaging is one area many are investigating," he said. "But it is a little capital intensive because you need a press and typically you need UV and die-cutting equipment."

Stock went as far to say there are even signs of a US print industry recovery, but did note, "There seems to be some return to the market, especially in the Northeast, which has been getting a lot of activity after being down for so long. But there's also still a lot of overcapacity and much of the equipment being sold is replacement equipment."

MLP is in the process of moving from its current Lincolnshire, IL facility to a new building in Baltimore. "We had two facilities and we own the one in Baltimore so there'll be cost savings as a result of the consolidation," Stock said.