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News Release from: KBA | Subject: Cortina press line
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 March 2007
Waterless Press's Fast Coldset-Heatset
Change-Over
More than 100 representatives from European newspapers and their suppliers witnessed a world premiere at Eco Print Centre (EPC), Belgian media house De Persgroep's new production plant near Brussels.
More than 100 representatives from European newspapers and their suppliers witnessed a world premiere at Eco Print Centre (EPC), Belgian media house De Persgroep's new production plant in Lokeren, near Brussels The first section of the biggest KBA Cortina press line ordered to date (four of an ultimate 12 four-high towers) demonstrated a high-speed production change from a 32-page coldset broadsheet newspaper to a 32-page heatset tabloid magazine, complete with blanket washing and changes of plates, paper and web leads
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 10 Oct 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The waterless Cortina uses the same inks for both coldset and heatset production, eliminating the need for time-consuming changes, said KBA.
The Cortina's new capability targets contract printers, whose success depends on agility in responding to customer needs and printers of traditional newspapers and coldset products who are keen to make the most of costly pre-press, press and post-press technology by printing value-added semi-commercials, such as journals and flyers on LWC and other stock.
Opting for the automated KBA Cortina allowed De Persgroep not only to dispense with a fifth 48-page press line but also to take in-house a number of titles that had previously been printed externally.
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De Persgroep's strategy is founded on profitability, efficient organisation, continuous innovation in publishing practices and technology and strong brands with print and the internet as the central pillars, said KBA.
The Eco Print Centre project was driven by a need to expand printing and colour capabilities by upgrading press and post-press technology and increase plant utilisation to get a better return on investment, none of which was possible in the confines of the old production plant in Kobbegem.
Lokeren was chosen for its central position in the group's sales market, the waterless Cortina for its print quality, fast edition changes, 'green' technology and its ability to use the same inks for both coldset and heatset production.
The start-up of the first section of the Cortina last year coincided with the conversion of deMorgen to the more compact Berliner format, with Het Laatste Niews and other titles scheduled to follow as further press sections are brought on stream in the course of this year.
KBA marketing director Klaus Schmidt described heatset printing on newspaper presses as a market sector that is experiencing dynamic growth.
Worldwide more than 50 conventional KBA newspaper presses (most of them single-width) have been fitted with a heatset package.
The most common types of stock are SC and LWC weighing up to 90gsm.
Schmidt said: "Newspaper presses with a semi-commercial capability can be used to print a whole raft of everyday products for which a costly commercial press would be an overkill.
But printers must be aware that they are not full-blown commercial presses for printing glossy magazines or luxury catalogues." The quality they deliver depends on press technology (automatic colour and cut-off register controls) and the type of stock used but falls somewhere between Ifra (newspaper) and Fogra (commercial) norms, added Schmidt.
At present no wet offset inks suitable for both coldset and heatset have been launched on the market and because the two types of ink are formulated differently (particularly their pigmentation) no such hybrid inks can be expected in the near future, he explained.
Here, too, waterless printing with the Cortina (dryography) is claimed to be ahead of wet offset.
According to Schmidt, since 1999 KBA has invested millions of Euros in waterless coldset with the Cortina.
The added heatset option for semi-commercials is a welcome bonus for users, he explained.
KBA project manager Peter Benz examined the current state of play in the Cortina's development and findings to date.
The seven press lines currently in operation in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland print almost 70 million newspapers, supplements, magazines and community titles per month, with the plant in Lokeren accounting for around 2.3 million heatset magazines in March alone.
Total ink consumption for today's Cortinas is just under 1,000 tonnes and plate consumption almost 500,000 sqaure metres (five million square feet) per year.
KBA believes that waterless web offset has moved in to the mainstream and is no longer a niche application for eccentric visionaries.
Inks from Flint Group, Huber Group (Huber Munchen, Hostmann Steinberg Celle) and Sun Chemical are routinely used, others from Siegwerk and Toka (Japan) have also been trialled successfully.
The Cortina runs with metal-backed blankets from Reeves, Conti, Day and MacDermid.
Benz emphasised that the Cortina complies with the relevant Ifra quality norm for coldset production, whilst heatset images printed using a Fogra/ BVDM test forme on class three paper also largely fall within the tolerance range.
On top of that, a bigger colour gamut is possible with waterless heatset.
Another advantage of the waterless Cortina is that when converting between coldset and heatset there is no fount solution whose pH value must be checked and no dampeners to clean or adjust.
In fact, the similarities between waterless coldset and heatset - from the inks, plates and blankets to make-ready times and manning requirements - far outweigh the differences, added Benz.
Start-up waste can be slashed by automating colour and cut-off register controls, web edge controls, length and cross perforation and adding a semi-commercial package for the folder.
Wim Maes, technical director of de Persgroep Publishing, described the new Eco Print Centre and his experience to date with the waterless process.
The company has invested around EUR100m (US$133m) in new premises with 39,000 square metres (420,000 square feet) of floor space and 300,000 cubic metres (10.5 million cubic feet) of production space, pre-press systems (AGFA, Nela, Konings), press (KBA) and mailroom technology (mainly Ferag) as well as automated paper logistics (including KBA).
The prime objectives in making the transition to waterless with the Cortina were to maximise plant utilisation between 8.00pm on Sunday and 5.00am on Saturday, cut production costs by reducing manning levels, waste and production times, and enhance press ecology.
The old Aurex/DPP printing plant in Asse, near Brussels, consumed 35,000 tonnes (38,500 US tons) of newsprint a year but in 2008, once the current investment package for Lokeren has been implemented, the aim is to boost consumption to 70,000 tonnes (77,000 US tons) printing 200 million newspapers, as well as 100 million coldset and 120 million heatset journals.
Annual plate consumption will then be as high as 180,000 square metres (two million square feet), ink consumption 750 tonnes - 1,000 tonnes (825 US tons- 1,100 US tons).
After almost a year's experience with coldset and two months with heatset, Wim Maes ranked lower waste levels, five-minute job changes in coldset and 15-minute conversion between coldset and heatset (thanks to automatic plate changing) as the Cortina's biggest advantages, said KBA.
In March alone, the first Cortina section at ECP will print just under 15 million broadsheet newspapers and tabloid magazines ready for stitching, gluing or trimming, added the company.
KBA explained that on waterless offset, as in conventional offset, print quality, washing cycles and plate service life depend on the quality of the stock used and the stability of the inks.
According to Wim Maes, in the past nine months advances have been made in the development of waterless inks and the optimum formulation is now within reach.
Wet offset inks, by contrast, continue to cause problems on high-speed presses even after 40 years of development work, with ink mist being just one example.
To back up his claim Maes quoted Ian Mc Donald, managing director of News International, who is in the process of bringing high-speed 6/2 satellite presses on stream.
For Maes the service life of waterless plates, at 200,000 cylinder revolutions, is no longer an issue and alternatives to the Toray plates commonly used have already been tested.
Following the addition of a pre-setting system and automatic colour and cut-off register controls, in coldset production Maes is planning to close the waste diverter after just 60 copies, as is the case at the Badische Zeitung and even in heatset he is looking to push waste levels well below those of conventional presses.
Waste in semi-commercial production will then be determined by the register setting system, which on newspaper presses is more complex than on commercial presses.
KBA said that here, the absence of fan-out is a big asset and should make it much easier to run hybrid coldset and heatset production on newsprint and commercial stock via one former.
That has already been tested successfully in Lokeren.
Maes commented: "Provided all the parameters are set correctly, the waterless Cortina press is the ideal tool for standardising coldset and heatset production on one press, making it simpler and more cost-effective to grow business by increasing the level of press utilisation." KBA said that the absence of dampeners and ink keys on the Cortina shortens the learning curve, makes the press easier to operate and dramatically reduces contamination (no ink mist), whilst Rollertronic automatic roller locks and Niptronic remotely adjustable cylinder bearings reduce maintenance.
Maes added: "The Cortina is a giant copier, the quality is the same from the first copy to the last." KBA said that was evidenced by the newspapers and magazines printed during the press demonstration: a special edition of a coldset broadsheet title, deMorgen (32 pages in Berliner format), printed on two towers, and a heatset magazine, DM (32 pages in tabloid format), printed on one tower following a high-speed job change with no preset.
The De Persgroep media group, which in addition to De Persgroep Publishing also owns Mediafin (newspapers, financial journals and internet), VMMa (television, radio and interactive media) and Het Parool (newspapers).
The group's newspaper titles include Het Laatste Niews (daily circulation 287,857 copies) with a number of regional editions, DeMorgen, De Tijd, L'Echo and Het Parool.
All of them have online editions with additional reader offers.
De Persgroep's numerous magazine titles - among them Daq, Joepie, Familie, DM, Nina, Netwerk and Zone magazines - have circulations of between 129,000 and almost 400,000 copies.
In 2005 De Persgroep Publishing posted an operating profit of EUR32.2m (US$42.8m) on sales of EUR433m (US$576.4m). Request a free brochure from KBA ...
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