Come next DRUPA in 2012, exhibition visitors will have a shorter distance to travel to see KBA’s waterless Cortina technology in action. The local ‘Rheinische Post’ publishing has signed up for a four-tower, two folder press to be delivered next January.
The publisher is the third in the Rhine region to go waterless with the Cortina, the other two being the ‘Rheinpfalz’ in Ludwigshafen and M. DuMont Schauberg in Cologne.
president of the Rheinische Post media group Clemens Bauer says the future of printed newspapers depends on their journalistic quality and standard of presentation: “Based on our own experience with e-media, and also that of other publishers, we are confident that especially regional and local titles still offer plenty of potential for growth in the media landscape of the 21st century.
“That is why, even in the midst of a severe recession, we are investing millions of Euros in new printing technology and the associated infrastructure.”
Matthias Tietz who runs the group’s RBD print facility says the company’s KBA Commander satellite presses have “done us proud” over the years in terms of print quality, waste levels and productivity. Having kept a weather eye on the evolution of waterless offset and the Cortina, they have decided that the time is right for the ove.
“The Cortina is by far the best means of addressing the increasingly sophisticated expectations of our advertisers and readers, and the press configuration we have chosen allows us to keep more options open than with a satellite press, so we can respond to unforeseen market trends,” he says.
Established in 1949, the ‘Post’ is the second biggest regional paid-for title in Germany, with a total daily circulation of 400,000 in 29 local editions. The company also publishes 23 frees with a total weekly circulation of 1.8 million copies in a joint venture with publishing house W. Giradet.
The new Cortina will have a maximum web width of 1400 mm and cylinder circumference of 1020 mm, producing 80,000 full-colour Berliner-sized copies an hour. The four double-wide towers will be fitted with PlateTronic automatic plate changers, RollerTronic automatic roller locks, NipTronic bearings, Plate-Ident automatic plate recognition, automatic colour-register controls, KBA automatic blanket washing and central ink pumping. Five Pastomat CL reelstands will be embedded in a KBA Patras A automated reel logistics system.
Other features include seven double turner bars, two folder superstructures with three formers apiece, two KBA KF5 jaw folders, two section stitchers and a quarterfold capability. Web width will be infinitely adjustable to accommodate the production of half covers and spadias. In tandem with its waterless, keyless technology the Cortina will incorporate reel aligners, cut-off register, sidelay and web centre controls and pre-former web guides to minimise waste.
Provision has been made for the addition of two heatset dryers plus extras such as a skip slitter and ribbon stitcher. The press will be controlled from two KBA ErgoTronic consoles linked to the existing MPS Production job-scheduling and presetting system from ABB. A Prime interface will allow the integration of a soft-proofing system at the console.
