Hiroshima, Japan, 21.02.11 - The Asahi Shimbun Company, Japan’s second largest newspaper publisher with a daily circulation of more than eight million copies, has placed another order for Mitsubishi 4 x 1 DIAMONDSPIRIT newspaper offset presses.  This latest order is for five presses to be installed at a new plant in Ebie, Osaka, and follows on the heels of Asahi Shimbun’s first DIAMONDSPIRIT press ordered for its Funabashi Plant and scheduled to be installed towards the middle of this year.  

The Asahi Shimbun Company was founded in Osaka in 1879, and Osaka still remains a very key area for The Asahi Shimbun Company.  Following a redevelopment study of the Nakanoshima area where its Osaka Headquarters and flagship plant are now located, Asahi Shimbun has opted to close its Nakanoshima Plant and build a new flagship plant in Ebie.  At the same time, the company will also form a joint venture with Nikkan Sports News West Japan and Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.  In addition to Asahi Shimbun, printing of Nikkan Sports Shimbun is to be shifted to the Ebie Plant, and Nikkan Offset’s Toyonaka Plant, where the paper is currently printed, is scheduled to be closed due to its aging newspaper presses.

During the press selection process, Asahi Shimbun seriously evaluated a number of different press models, including 4 x 2 presses offered by several press manufacturers.  And while the company did select the Mitsubishi 4 x 1 DIAMONDSPIRIT press for its Funabashi Plant, at its Nakanoshima Plant, the company currently prints with presses from another manufacturer.  After considering the significant savings in plate cost and start-up waste achieved by the 4 x 1 format, and verifying the high productivity and reliability of the DIAMONDSPIRIT presses during actual production runs at Nikkan Sports Shimbun and Shin-Nihonkai Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun chose the DIAMONDSPIRIT, handing Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Printing & Packaging Machinery Ltd. the order for five presses.

The Mitsubishi 4 x 1 DIAMONDSPIRIT presses to be installed at the Ebie Plant are rated at 80,000 cph and comprise ten 4/4 tower printing units, fourteen 2/1 tower printing units, five 2:2 double rotary folders and 24 load-bearing-type reelstands.  The presses are operated by the Mitsubishi press control system with automated features that include precision ink presetting with CTP interface, various press presetting, automatic dual web tension control and color register control.  The first DIAMONDSPIRIT press for the Ebie Plant will start production in September 2012 and the project will be completed in December 2012.