GTO vs SM 52

We have a PM GTO 52-4 and we plan to upgrade to SM 52-4.
And before we do that I would like to know if there are any downsides of SM compared to GTO.
For example: SM uses little bigger offset plates and they are a little more expensive.

 

Simple answer, No downside. Unless you dont like to run fast, you love slow make ready time, love to hang plates manually, love to wash impression cylinders, blanket cylinders and rollers manually, you love to move side guides and back cylinder pressures manually and hate to make money. All kidding aside, no downside.

 

GTO has circumferential register adjustment 360°
this is practical if you print small format you can have more jobs on one plate set.

How is it on SM? How much can you adjust register?

 

I think your referring to the coarse register on the plate cylinder gear. Yes the SM52 has fine register which is done at the consol via servo motors. Coarse register is done at the gear itself much like the GTO. Weather it will give you 360 degrees or not i dont know. In all my years working on these presses I have never come across someone who needed that... Strange

 

Think it is used by someone who is incapable of making a printing plate correctly !!

 

Some people expose two small layouts on a single plate and use it twice. That's why they need 360 degree circumferential register. Pretty common here.

 

Maybe I'm not understanding the process here. So, your ganging up 2 jobs on 1 plate, correct? why wouldn't you just print them both at the same time and then cut them down after instead of running them separately. To me that just seems like a waste of time and poor efficient use of the machine. Like I said, maybe I'm just missing something here.

 

For example if you have two jobs with different substrates to be printed.

 

and envelopes are good example.
you can have 3 layouts on one set of plates end save 8 plates and plate changes and shorten make ready time coz diagonal and leteral registration is already done.