Four More KBA Presses Bound For Italian Media Firm

Less than two years after installing nine KBA Commander 4/2 and two KBA Comet newspaper presses, Italy's Rizzoli Corriere della Sera (RCS), has ordered a further four KBA Commanders 4/1.

Less than two years after installing nine KBA Commander 4/2 and two KBA Comet newspaper presses at six production locations, Italy's leading media group, Rizzoli Corriere della Sera (RCS), has ordered a further four KBA Commanders 4/1.

Following market research and production analyses the group opted for four-by-one nine-cylinder satellites featuring KBA's patented ribbon-splitting system, which is claimed to reduce press height and shorten make-ready times by eliminating the need for turner bars.

The new presses will print RCS's most common format - tabloids.

RCS chose nine-cylinder satellites for their precise registration and one-around plate cylinders for their product flexibility and reduced plate costs.

The four KBA Commander presses have a cylinder circumference of 620mm (24.5"), a maximum web width of 1,800mm (70.25") and a maximum rated output of 75,000 64-page full-colour copies per hour.

Two of the four presses will be sent to Pessano near Milan as part of a move to upgrade Gazzetta dello Sport to full colour, another is earmarked for Rome and the fourth for Padua.

Production start-up is scheduled for spring next year.

Each press line will be configured with four KBA Pastomat RC automatic reelstands, plus KBA Patras A automatic reel handling, four nine-cylinder satellite towers for 4/4, a folder superstructure with two formers and patented ribbon-splitting system.

There will also be a KF 5 jaw folder with a 2:5:5 cylinder ratio.

Alongside cut-off register and sidelay controls, automatic washing systems for the inking units and cylinders, automatic pumping for black and process inks and optional semi-automated plate changing, the Commander presses will sport KBA's Rollertronic automatic roller locks and Webtronic web-tension controls.

The presses will be controlled from new-generation consoles incorporating a job-scheduling and press pre-setting system, a RIP interface and diagnostics PC.

The RCS media group employs 5,200 people and in 2005 posted sales of around EUR2.2 billion.

It is the leading company in the Italian newspaper market, accounting for 20 per cent of total copies sold.

Gazzetta dello Sport, with a daily circulation of around 400,000 copies and 3.7 million readers, is Italy's most popular sports title, whilst Corriere della Sera, which was founded in 1876 and has a circulation of 675,000 copies and 2.9 million readers, is Italy's biggest national daily.

In 2001 RCS expanded in to the free sheet market with City, more than 600,000 copies of which are distributed throughout the country.

RCS's activities also embrace magazines, books and new media.

Thirty per cent of sales are generated abroad.

Grupo Unedisa, a Spanish subsidiary, publishes the country's second-biggest daily title, El Mundo, which has a circulation of over 300,000 copies.

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