Newspapers, freesheets and more
In addition to the two dailies Nürtinger Zeitung and Wendlinger Zeitung with a total of 22,000 copies, Senner Medien also prints the local weekly advertiser NPLUS (18,000 copies). Printing services for industrial customers is an important sideline. “Printing is the simplest part of this business,” says Markus Krichenbauer, CEO of Senner Druckhaus GmbH and a member of the owner family. “We’re deep down in our industrial clients’ supply chains: we have to manage complex logistics and deliver daily. The lots we’re requested to produce can be anywhere from 500 to 150,000 in size.”

All products are printed on a Geoman web press with two four-high towers that is designed for Rhenish format, Since the beginning of June 2017 Senner Druckhaus has been using the KODAK LIBRA VP Digital Plate. The newspaper printer took this step because they had mounting problems with the conventionally processed violet plates they previously used, and they had an unsuccessful trial with another violet plate (the run length was too short). The LIBRA VP Plate is a negative working photopolymer plate that is suitable for imaging with AM linescreens up to 150 lpi or up to 180 lpi hybrid. “We tested the LIBRA VP Plate for four weeks in January and received excellent backup from Kodak’s media experts. We were enthusiastic about it from day one,” Krichenbauer reports.

Easy chem process makes things a lot easier
The newspaper printer opted for the easy chem process with clean-out finisher in an older Techno-Grafica processor already in place. The processor was modified for this purpose by the firm’s own electricians and mechanics, who deactivated the prewash and post-development rinse steps and adjusted the control settings.

“Thanks to the easy chem system, we use far less chemistry compared to the old plate. We also save wash water, and because the processing temperature is lower we consume less energy. These are environmental benefits that are good arguments for convincing print buyers. What’s more, there are fewer deposits in the clean-out finisher circuit,” Krichenbauer continues. “However, it’s the easy handling and the LIBRA VP Plate’s technical features in prepress and production that ultimately tip the scales for us, because they have a bigger impact on costs.“

Improvements in the printing process
Markus Krichenbauer also mentions the significantly better on press behavior of the Kodak violet plate: “The LIBRA VP Plate needs almost 20 percent less fountain solution than its predecessor. That’s a huge advantage because it means we can simultaneously reduce the ink / water balance and get a tighter control on the fan-out, which is always critical in press configurations with four-high towers. Thanks to this particular plate feature, we also have fewer problems printing on difficult substrates like very smooth SC paper. All of this adds up to more production efficiency and less waste.” And on the subject of paper, as well as classic 45 g/m² for newspapers and industrial customers, the Nürtingen newspaper printer also uses 52, 60 and 70 g/m² grammages for certain freesheet and insert products and is currently trying out 90 g material for blue ribbon orders.

There’s one final reason why prepress and production staff at Senner Medien have no regrets about switching to the LIBRA VP Plate: “Unlike the plate we used to work with, the LIBRA VP Plate’s cut edges are always clean and burr-free, so that our people no longer cut their fingers on the plates,” Krichenbauer explains. “All in all, this Kodak plate is a product with very consistent properties and geometry. After about three months in daily use, we can testify that the LIBRA VP Plate has given us much more stability in production; all of the departments involved in the process are thoroughly satisfied.“

(http://www.kodak.com)