Solna Web USA Announces C800 Sale

Solna Web USA announces the sale of a Solna C800 commercial web press to TAP Publishing of Crossville, TN.  The equipment, valued at approximately $10.3 million, consists of a 12-unit, 3-web heatset press configured as two parallel lines, one with eight units stacked four-over-four, and one with four units.  The equipment will be manufactured in Solna Offset’s plant just outside of Stockholm,  Sweden.

TAP will use the presses to print its publications, Trade-A-Plane, Rock & Dirt,   and Tradequip International, serving the aviation, construction and oil field/refining industries. In addition, the press will be equipped for TAP's expanding commercial printing business.

Solna's C800 provides extraordinary flexibility both in features and in configuration, allowing printers such as TAP to tackle more business in less time. It boasts tremendous output from a very small "footprint" in the pressroom. Standard spray dampening technology means printers can get up to color in less time, which translates to less waste and faster turnaround. Solna's Hydraloc© bearerless cylinder design allows printers to quickly change over stock or make adjustments on the run with a simple dial.

The TAP press is equipped with Solna Digital Press Control, C800 shaftless drives, ink-fountain pre-setting using CTP data, closed-loop color measurement and control, and two F303 high-speed folders. It includes features from manufacturers including QTI, MEGTEC, Scheffer, U.S. Automation, Baldwin, Gammerler and D&R Engineering.

            TAP Publishing can trace its beginnings to 1937, when Cosby Harrison crashed his plane. In an effort to find parts or trade his plane for another, Cosby began to network with other aviators, and his initial letters of inquiry became an informal newsletter called Trade-A-Plane. Demand for the newsletter was strong, and during World War II when paper supplies were short, he found a large surplus of lightweight yellow stock, not unlike today's Yellow Pages, and bought up as much as he could. The canary paper became Trade-A-Plane's signature.

            Today, TAP Publishing prints five regular publications just blocks from the center of Crossville, TN. Alan Strachn, Cosby's grandson, now oversees the commercial printing side of the thriving business. "We started into web printing with an old Hantscho press, the second one off the drawing board," he recalls. When it came time to consider a new press, TAP visited all the major manufacturers. The company wanted to spice up its single-color publication with four-color covers while maintaining the yellow stock inside. With classified ads averaging 10,000 in each issue, they also demanded a higher page count. TAP turned to Solna Web USA for that first four-color process press.

            As TAP became more comfortable with the four-color press, the company found it could run a plain white web, print the four color images, then tint the remainder of the pages with canary yellow ink, thus continuing a years-long tradition without sacrificing the quality of its four-color images. It was so successful that TAP added a second eight-unit Solna Commercial heatset press for higher-quality reproduction.

            New color capabilities allowed TAP to increase revenue. "We get requests from all over the region to do high-quality printing on coated stocks. We took a gamble on the upgrade to a new press, but our first web paid for itself in two short years," Strachn says.

            With the purchase of the new Solna C800, TAP compliments its existing two Solna web presses ( 15 units) and further expands its capabilities in meeting the printing needs of its own publications and commercial businesses as well.

For more information:

Rich Kerns, President

Solna Web USA

800-247-8392 *202

Rich Kerns, President of Solna Web USA and Cosby Stone, CEO of TAP Publishing seal the deal with a handshake, while Solna's Sales Manager, Bill Gordon looks on.