He told a contingent of international trade journalists assembled at the MAN Roland HQ in Augsburg yesterday that we are all a bit more upbeat but nothing is normal.

We should at this stage despite all the exciting things that are happening at Drupa avoid telling you only the good things and forget about the problems, Finkbeiner said.

He added that two-thirds of MAN Rolands customers business was advertising related and the pick up in that market was still not yet convincing.

We are far away from the fact that advertising is booming or growing. [The market] is full of hesitation and questions about what is the right model for advertising, he said.

With that in mind MAN Roland, under its new corporate slogan We are print, will be focusing on three key drivers at Drupa: applications, automation and added value.

The cost-cutting alone will not provide the answer, said Finkbeiner. We need new ideas and new impulses.

MAN Roland will show a number of product enhancements at the show, including faster running speeds for both its sheetfed and web presses.
It has boosted the running speed its B1 700 and large-format 900 press by 1,000sph. They now run at 16,000sph and 14,000sph respectively giving a productivity enhancement of 7%.

A number of new makeready tools have been developed under the QuickChange umbrella including QC Job, QC feeder, QC Wash and QC Clamp. The aim is to reduce makeready by up to 30%, said head of sheetfed Michael Nitsche.

It XXL format 900 will be a focus for its sheetfed showing. The company will be highlighting the 1,300mmx1,850mm press ability to produce 64pp on one sheet and to print a nine-sheet billboard in four parts.

In web, it will show a six-unit 16pp Rotoman, which will offer the lowest cost per copy for short runs as well as long runs, said executive vice president of sales for web Peter Kuisle.

The press, which has an enhanced running speed of 90,000cph, will feature MAN Rolands latest enhancements in job change-over, webbing up and folding technology. It will also show a unit of its 72pp Lithoman large-format web.

DICOweb, its revolutionary web with on-pres imaging, will be on display and the company said the machine, first seen at Drupa 2000, is now ready for sale.

MAN Roland will again form part of the PrintCity exhibit - which it has dubbed the Star Alliance of the Graphic Arts - where it will demonstrate JDF [networking] in the real world of production.

The message is not all is ready. But JDF is now going into the real world of production. Its come out of the labs now, said PECOM product manager Christian Gugler.

MAN Roland, along with partner ppi Media, will demonstrate its printnet suite of networking tools.

by Lauretta Roberts