Excuse my ignorance but how is each platen independently controlled what does that mean?
Kudos to Rick he is a big MHM guy I am sure he will make that press do wonders.
There's no central indexer, just smaller ac/servo motors on each head that travel independently around the rail. It said in the pdf you could, for example, have your carousel style Digotex installed around an existing column or support as it has no center. Totally crazy smart and it's about time somebody innovated instead of refining and imitating.
I believe it's the fact that each platen, being independently controlled, can reg up to the print head on it's own that let's them make such a bold warranty on the registration of the press. I'm no engineer but I would guess it's some tricky business getting classic presses to stay in registration across such a large diameter. The independent heads would eliminate the issue perhaps.
It's success likely depends on how intelligently the little motor systems are designed. If they aren't super efficient and chock full of torque they wouldn't be able to perform as well, or I guess I should say as quickly, individually as a chain or screw drive system for example. But honestly, I don't care if the machine only runs at 600 pcs/hr., the safety benefits, especially for loading large pieces or doing all-over printing would outweigh the speed limit. I always thought it was silly how much is spent on demonstrating a press's top speed.