Goss is going after long perfecting sheetfed presses with a new set-up featuring a Goss M-600 with a high-speed sheeter. The press will have a competitive investment cost, and its footprint will match that of a long perfector. It will be running multiple times daily at drupa.

Hewlett Packard hosted the international trade press at a media event in Israel to announce a series of new products including the higher-volume sheetfed HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press running at speeds of 120 four-colour pages per minute (43% faster than the previous flagship, the Indigo 5500). Targeting commercial operations with average digital colour print volumes exceeding 1 million pages per month, this press will be available at drupa.

HP also announced two new web-fed models, the HP Indigo WS6000 and W7200, both due to become available in 2009. The WS6000 offers twice the productivity of the ws4500, designed for label and packaging applications. While the high-speed W7200 press targets direct mail and transactional markets.

HP also used the pre-drupa event to announce its introduction into high-speed inkjet printing for the commercial market. The new HP inkjet Web Press will feature an industry-leading 30-inch wide roll running at 400 feet-per-minute (2,600 letter-sized impressions/minute). The unit will leverage HP’s Edgeline scalable thermal inkjet head technology, printing 600 dpi using aqueous-based pigmented ink. Incorporating a unique priming option will allow the press to print on a wide range of media, uncoated and coated. Projected acquisition cost for the press will be around $2.5 million for a duplex configuration. Availability will be late 2009. The press, although not at the media event, will be shown at drupa.

HP’s drupa space will be the third largest overall.

Punch Graphix announced an all-new Xeikon 8000, featuring a print speed of 230 letter-sized pages per minute while maintaining 1,200 dpi. Based on classic Xeikon engine design, the web-fed duplexing Xeikon 8000 uses dry toner and handles substrate widths from 12.6 inches to 20.16 inches with a maximum imaging width of 19.8 inches. This engine also uses two in- line densitometers to control colour consistency. The company is targeting the commercial printers as well as the direct marketing and transactional printing markets. The new 8000 will be running at drupa.

Agfa will feature an improved version of its chemistry-free plate in the :Azura TS, for faster throughput, and the introduction of :Azura V, a chemistry-free digital plate for violet platesetters. The company will also introduce a new series of :Avalon thermal platesetters in 8-up and VLF formats. Agfa will also display new bundles of its Apogee software products creating new collaborative and automated workflow options. Agfa will launch a quick-drying polyester-based synthetic paper (called Synaps) for use on offset printing presses. 

As expected, Heidelberg announced it will extend its range of Suprasetter platesetters to accommodate its larger-format presses premiering at drupa.