Printing equipment manufacturer RMGT (Placentia, California) has launched its RMGT 970 Offset Press – the newest member of the RMGT 9 Series of presses that have 80 installations across North America in the past 6 years. “This game-changing new press further consolidates RMGT’s strength in the 8-up market sector that was created in 2005 with the introduction of the Ryobi 920 press,” said RMGT. The new 8-up+ (25” x 38”) RMGT 970 was set to debut as part of RMGT’s Assisting Your Potential exhibition at drupa, along with significant enhancements to the RMGT 10 Series Press capabilities.
“The entire industry suffered a loss when drupa was cancelled,” said Kian Hemmen, RMGT Director of Sales for Print & Finishing Solutions. “RMGT’s planned launch of the new 970 was a key step forward in our continuing leadership in the 8-up market. The decision to launch now, without the drupa push, is a welcomed step – and we can’t wait to see the RMGT 970 landing stateside. Growing our sheet size to the popular 25” x 38” format and adding RMGT’s new ASAP System will set the 970 apart from other players in this market segment. As we have since 2008, LED-UV curing will continue to play a major role in our customer’s success,” Hemmen added.
ASAP (Automated Smart Assist Printing) System. Smart Insta.Color technology has proven itself with fast make-ready times for many years, and the release of the ASAP (Automated Smart Assist Printing) system will allow press operators to experience “an entirely new level of automation and autonomous press operation in the 8-up press format,” RMGT pointed out. With ASAP, the press operator touches one button and the entire printing process – from ink and paper presetting, blanket and impression cleaning, and plate changing through verification of test printing, register adjustment, ink density adjustment, and full sheet inspection – are all autonomously processed without pulling a sheet.
Within the ASAP system, once CCD scanners verify that all print quality control parameters have been met, the RMGT 970 flags the first ‘ok’d’ sheet and begins the production run at up to 16,000 sheets per hour. ASAP helps the operator to ensure “flawless print quality from start to finish” by monitoring every sheet and flagging any non-compliant sheets – without stopping production. The result is a much higher press operation rate, lower make-ready times and confirmed print quality control. This enables more profitable production of continuous short-run printing that requires frequent job changeovers. RMGT now offers four different in-press scanning solutions that can be ordered ‘a la carte’ depending on each user’s specific needs.
New 8-up+ (25” x 38”) sheet size. RMGT added that, since 2005, the RMGT 9 Series Press has defined and developed the 8-up market as an ideal bridge between small and expensive-to-run digital devices, and 40” presses that seldom run a full-sized sheet in commercial applications (such as direct mail, 16-page signatures and short-run packaging). “The new 8-up+ RMGT 970 will now produce jobs such as 9” x 12” booklets and many other applications on the same size sheet that a 40” press would run,” said the OEM.
Single press operator with ASAP and Speed Productivity Boost. Over 80% of RMGT 9 Series presses currently running in North America require only one press operator. Based on the “rapid growth and excellent profitability” that these companies have experienced, this approach has been successful in over 1,300 print shops worldwide. “Many of our customers have found that running their 9 Series with a single press operator has allowed them to run two shifts for just a bit more labour costs than running one shift with a first and second press operator,” Hemmen added. “The RMGT 970 now offers this exceptional cost performance with even higher productivity, flexibility and the ASAP system that raises the single press operator’s throughput by further assisting the operation of the press.”
Rollout and order intake. The RMGT 970 will be unveiled toward the end of August 2020, with an open-house event at the RMGT demonstration centre in Fukuyama, Japan. The open house will feature an 8-colour RMGT 970 Long Perfector Press running LED-UV cured 9” x 12” signatures, as well as a 5-colour RMGT 970 Press with coater producing high-value-added print using LED-UV curing. Orders have already been accepted as of June, and the RMGT 970 will be commercially available starting in Q1 of 2021. A review of the new features of the RMGT 970 is available as a trailer video and can be viewed at https://bit.ly/RMGT970. In North America, RMGT equipment is directly imported, sold and supported by Graphic Systems North America (GSNA). GSNA delivers exclusive access to the RMGT 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 Series offset and digital presses.
RMGT launches new 970 Series Offset Press
