May
 2004








Mitsubishi (U.S.)
847.634.9100
www.mlpusa.com

MIHARA, Japan - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is taking aim at the U.S. and European newspaper markets with a family of presses that includes the vendor’s first 4-by-1 shaftless double-wide press.



Kiyama

At a briefing conducted here in March, Nobuo Kiyama, director and general manager of Mitsubishi’s paper and printing machinery division, told Newspapers & Technology that despite the current “flat” market, the vendor intends to beef up its Lincolnshire, Ill., sales office and tout press technologies it maintains are robust enough to attract interest among North American publishers.

The new 4-by-1 DiamondSpirit press, which Mitsubishi maintains is the industry’s fastest 4-by-1, uses a narrow-gap design for both plate and blanket cylinders to reduce vibration, Kiyama said. The machine, available now, is capable of producing 80,000 copies per hour.

The new open design of Mitsubishi’s pneumatic core break control helps dissipate heat buildup, the vendor claims. The pneumatic core break controls paper tension while the press is reaching its top-rated speed.




The DiamondStar press has the ability to use 
either the digital page pack inking system 
or an open fountain system.
Photos: Newspapers & Technology

The press features double-diameter blanket cylinders engineered to stabilize any deflection of the single-diameter plate cylinders, he said.

The DiamondSpirit will join two other Mitsubishi presses aimed at U.S. publishers, the DiamondStar 90, a 4-by-2 press rated at 90,000 copies per hour, and the DiamondSpace, a 4-by-2 machine rated at 75,000 copies per hour.

After selling presses to four American newspapers in the mid-1990s, Mitsubishi has stayed away from the U.S. market due to trade and legal issues, all of which have been settled, Kiyama said.

“We want to support our U.S. clients,” he said.

Users said they’re ready.

“Mitsubishi has been quiet too long. We want to see MHI sell presses in the United States,” said Mike Clurman, vice president of operations at The Washington Post. The Post installed eight keyless offset presses from MHI in the late 1990s.

“Our partnership is stronger today than when we signed the contract,” he said.

In addition to The Post, The Record in Hackensack, N.J., The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore., and the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal are also using MHI technology to produce their papers.

Worldwide, Mitsubishi said it sold 500 presses, with eight DiamondStars sold within the last year.

“The United States is a growth market for us with a great deal of potential,” said Kiyama. “Flat markets are a challenge and if this trend continues, we will have to eat competitors’ market share in order to expand our technology. We realize it will be a challenge in coming back to the United States.”

Kiyama said Mitsubishi drew upon its internal research and development facility to redesign the presses. The site, which employs 60 researchers, has a budget of about 4 percent of annual sales. All told, the company has six research centers employing more than 2,000 engineers.

As a result, MHI’s presses have been completely re-engineered, boasting such capabilities as shaftless drives, protection in the event of power failure, data monitoring and tools to address malfunctions and press operations, Kiyama said.

Two other advancements, both patent-pending, let users remove plates more easily and reduce start-up waste, Kiyama said.

In addition, the machines feature a redesigned pneumatic core break and staggered plates with narrow-gap cylinders.

The DiamondSpirit and DiamondStar each feature a 21.5-inch cutoff and variable web widths extending from 48 inches to 66 inches. They can be configured as open fountain or digital ink systems and feature either 2:5:5 or 2:3:3 jaw folders. They can also be designed with 3:2 rotary folders.

To ensure print quality, the 96-page broadsheet presses use three ink form rollers. Three dampening rollers are applied to each ink train.

Finally, Mitsubishi added roller pasters instead of brush pasters and improved web catcher capabilities, Kiyama said.

In addition to the new DiamondSpirit, which is making its debut at this month’s Drupa convention, Mitsubishi execs said they are also evaluating the rollout of 6-by-2 and 2-by-2 presses.