Tried & Tested

A successful machine can handle pretty much anything that’s thrown at it. One press that fits the bill is the MAN Roland 800, launched in 1972. The manufacturer describes it as “bulletproof”, and its durability helped Roland to notch up over 100 installations in the UK.

Aimed at the large-format arena, at the time of its launch there were few manufacturers to compete with. Rival machines included KBA’s Planeta printing presses and Nebiolo machines. Even now it’s a fairly closed market.

“KBA and Roland are the only two players,” says Gary Doman, MAN Roland GB sales director for sheetfed products.

Producing sheets up to 7B, the machine was able to print on five different sheet sizes for the book-printing, poster and packaging industries. In 1986, Roland unveiled sequential tripping of impression cylinders, followed by remote-controlled running register adjustment in 1988.

Features that were optional on its predecessor, the Ultra, came as standard on the Roland 800 – and its improved ink rolling power proved especially popular. It had Rolandmatic dampening, which was a first in its day, and the 800 was also the first press to integrate automated inking controls, via either Roland’s RCI (remote controlled) or CCI (computer controlled) inking systems, which became available in 1980. This was followed by the improved RCII a few years later. Features also included a cam-controlled swing arm and continuous lubrication of all movable parts in the side-frame.

Developments
Production of the 800 stopped with the launch of the Roland 900 in 1995, the main difference between the presses being the level of automation. The ability to introduce features such as automatic and semi-automatic plate loading was virtually impossible on the 800, says Doman.

There were also speed improvements: while the 800 could achieve a maximum of 11,000 sheets per hour, the 900 was capable of 14,000.

The 800 used the manufacturer’s five-cylinder principle – configured as plate, blanket, common impression cylinder, with another plate and blanket in an ‘L’ shape underneath. Due to the configuration of the 800 there was no room to fit an auto-plate system. The press was available in two-, four-, six- and eight-colour with a perfector and, later, a coater as optional extras.

MAN Roland will part-exchange 800s, and sells fully refurbished machines. The manufacturer has 64 engineers working in the UK and offers four levels of service contract, under the umbrella name of ProServ. With the basic level, customers get an inspection service, while under level two inspection and service is included. Parts are added for level three and breakdown is covered for level four.

A popular model was the Size 6 – 1,000x1,400 – but according to Mark Stribley, director of Used Machinery Direct, none of these remain in the UK.