The single-wide offset press market continues to chug along happily as newspaper and commercial printers begin to exploit the capabilities of the less costly press configuration.

Case in point: Wesco Graphics Inc., a Tracy, Calif., newspaper and commercial printer that last month began a pilot program with Flint Ink to evaluate how UV drying and inks could be used in concert with single-wide presses to produce products with more brilliant print quality.

“Because shops like us receive a lot of requests for glossy covers we wanted to see what we could do to improve our print quality,” said Jim Estes, Wesco’s president. “UV is attractive because it gives us the same commercial quality” on a press that might not have been originally designed for that function.

Estes began investigating UV inks and drying last summer, adding to an existing six-unit Atlas commercial press a Web Press Corp. Quad-Stack equipped with UV lamps supplied by Pleasanton, Calif.-based OnLine Energy Inc.

Beefed up

The press was also equipped with a spray dampening system provided by technotrans and a customized rubberized blanket developed by Dayco.

After producing a number of 40,000- to 50,000-piece jobs with UV inks, Estes said he proved to his satisfaction that a UV-enabled Quad-Stack could be employed as a tool to produce newspaper and commercial products.

“The web stays in constant impression,” he said. “There is no fan-out because there isn’t the space between units. It’s dead-on.”

Estes initially used UV inks formulated by Kramer Inks but is now working with Flint to develop “specialized inks for us,” he said. Wesco was scheduled to run two tests with Flint in May with other evaluations to follow.

The goal: to find inks that will permit faster press cleanup and also allow vendors like Flint to develop UV inks competitively priced with prevailing soy- and oil-based inks primarily used by newspaper publishers.

“We think UV printing on a single-wide is a sweet spot,” Estes said. “You get extremely accurate registration without requiring [costly] electronic registration” required by most coat-sheeted presses. “You get print quality and dot quality at a press that costs less than $300,000.”

At this month’s Nexpo/SuperConference, Web Press plans to hand out UV drying information, in anticipation of offering UV drying across its product line later this year, according to Gary Palmer, president.

“Our plans are to be able to fully market UV at the end of the year,” he said. “More customers want to be able to produce a glossy finish that you can get from an energy-set. The whole game plan is to find a suitable and cost-effective ink.”

UV growing elsewhere

Dauphin Graphic Machines, meanwhile, added UV drying to its model 440 four-high offset press, said Dave Moreland, vice president of sales and marketing. The four-lamp UV ink curing system was developed by Prime UV. “Printers want to use single-widths for preruns and commercial work,” he said.

The addition of UV drying means newspaper publishers can use their presses to produce higher-quality pieces without jobbing them out to outside vendors, he said.

Another benefit: Single-wide presses usually are easier to set up and boast faster plate changing capabilities than double-wide counterparts. That means it’s more affordable for users to print shorter-run jobs and further exploit the commercial market.

Two other single-wide vendors, integra International Inc. and Tensor Group Inc., also have plans to investigate UV drying for their respective presses.

Demand for more color, meanwhile, let The Monitor in McAllen, Texas, opt for a single-wide press. The newspaper last December ordered a Universal 45 press manufactured by Goss International Corp.

The press will be configured as six four-high towers and two two-high towers and will also include a 1:3:3 folder as well as a commercial folder unit with two-high formers and a quarter folder. It will produce four-section products at 45,000 copies per hour, with each containing up to 40 total pages, including 24 in full color.

“We’ll be able to triple the number of color positions available for our news department and advertisers,” said Stephan Wingert, The Monitor’s general manager.

Internationally, demand for single-wides is blossoming, due in part to favorable foreign exchange rates that have seen a weaker U.S. dollar compared to the Euro.

“We can export at a much better advantage than we could a year ago,” said Don Gustafson, president of Tensor.

“There’s definitely a niche to exploit” with single-wides, he said. “We are talking a smaller investment and more companies are recognizing the cost/benefit ratio. They get a good bang for their dollar.”