MAN Roland's Rotoman S is now achieving 3.36m A4 pages per hour using the company's new Sleeve technology.


A two-web Rotoman S has been installed at magazine insert printer Appl in Wemding, near Munich.


It has four units per web stacked in configuration (2 x 24pp/48pp A4 long-grain format).


The press has been specially constructed. It has
a circumference of 578mm and a web width measuring 1,460mm.


It is one of only 25 units with Sleeve technology installed across Europe, none of which are in the UK.


Since 1996, customers in 22 countries have ordered 135 large-format presses (24pp to 64pp).


The high performance of Appl's press is made possible by its high-speed, wide web width, and the two-web production.


The Sleeve is a vulcanised rubber covering for the blanket cylinder, which can be easily fitted to and removed from the cylinder.


Long-grain double-circumference presses like the 24pp Rotoman S and the 48pp Lithoman III S are benefiting from a lower cylinder vibration rate achieved by the Sleeve.


A 50% increase in output can also be achieved by increasing the web width at the same cylinder circumference.


Story by Andy Scott