Penn State University’s Multimedia & Print Center adds Presstek 52DI digital offset press

By Bob Neubauer

Quality, efficiency and cost. Those were the three areas that Penn State University’s Multimedia & Print Center (MPC) sought to improve when it recently installed a new Presstek 52DI digital offset press.

The 50-employee in-plant already had a two-color, 40˝ offset press, as well as a Xerox iGen3. But as the demand for static four-color jobs increased, the shop found itself printing some very long runs on the iGen. With the addition of the 52DI, four-color jobs of more than 2,000 impressions are being transitioned to the new press, opening up capacity.

“It’s given us a bigger array of choices,” remarks Abbas Badani, director of the University Park, Pa.- based in-plant.

The Presstek 52DI is an automated 52-cm (20.5˝) landscape digital offset press. Able to print up to 10,000 sheets per hour, it features support for 300 lpi and FM screening and can go from a digital file to a printed sheet in 10 minutes. The chemistry-free press uses waterless printing technology, which has the added benefit of improving quality.

“There’s been a definite improvement in the end product quality,” affirms Badani.

The in-plant uses the new press to print posters, brochures, newsletters, view books, direct mail, postcards, programs and more.

“It’s still the same mix of work, it’s just run more efficiently...with a better quality and at a lower cost,” Badani says.

This isn’t all that’s new at the in-plant. It recently replaced two Xerox Nuvera 100s and a 120 with a pair of Nuvera 144s. The shop also added a second Xanté envelope printer, a Morgana Digifold scoring and folding machine, an inline stamping unit on its Pitney Bowes FlowMaster inserter and upgraded its Pitney Bowes mail meters.

“This brings us to the current level of technology so we are competitive,” explains Badani.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 170 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.

Penn State Adds DI Press