05.04.11 - Following up its initial decision to purchase an innovative compact KBA Commander CT press at the beginning of the year, the Bold Printing Group, a member of the Swedish Bonnier media group, has now placed an order for a second 96pp press line with Koenig & Bauer. The latest Commander CT installation is to comprise six reelstands, six double-width four-high tower units, a jaw folder and automated paper logistics, and has been earmarked for the plant of subsidiary Bold/Sydsvenskan Tryck AB in Malmö. One special feature is the realisation of eight-high towers, which permits a significantly shorter press line at a height nevertheless comparable to a conventional four-high tower or satellite press. Such configurations are only feasible with the KBA compact tower design. The new press is to be installed in the existing building in 2012 and will replace a press supplied by a different manufacturer during the 1990s. This order takes KBA's sales figures in Europe and North America to 21 Commander CT installations with a total of 105 double- and triple-width towers. Several of these presses also incorporate dryers to facilitate semi-commercial printing.

Leif Wiklund, managing director of the Bold Printing Group and chairman of the board of Bold/Sydsvenskan Tryck: “After some intensive evaluation studies, we decided to invest in the modern KBA Commander CT technology for our DNEX Tryckeriet production plant in Kista near Stockholm. Alongside the high productivity and economic efficiency, we were impressed above all by the print quality, the convenience of the operating concept and a good production flexibility. Given the many benefits, it was only logical to choose the Commander CT again for the modernisation of our print facility in Malmö.”

Elegant technology switch
Björn Ridhammar, managing director of Bold/Sydsvenskan Tryck, adds: “We could only consider a solution which would allow us to switch the technology in our existing building without major construction work and without significant restrictions for our current production. The ultra-compact Commander CT permits two four-high towers to be stacked into an approximately 10-metre eight-high tower. Consequently, the exchange process in steps, with switchover from old equipment to new, will be easier with this layout. We are also really looking forward to the high level of automation on the new compact press, which will enable us to work noticeably faster and more efficiently.”

Strong in print and electronic media
Together with TV, radio, music and film production, cinemas and Internet, print is an essential business field for the media group (Bonnier), whose operations spread across Europe, Russia and the USA. Print activities cover books, magazines, daily newspapers and industry journals. The new press is to print dailies such as Sydsvenskan, a part edition, Kvällsposten, of the national Expressen, the freesheet Metro and further regional titles. The remaining capacity can be used to handle third-party products.

Extensively automated press technology
The Commander CT for Malmö has been engineered for a 560 mm (22in) cut-off length and a maximum web width of 1,590 mm (62.5in), providing for a maximum output of 90,000 full-colour newspapers per hour in straight production. The six Pastomat reelstands are supplied automatically via the integrated paper logistics system KBA Patras A. The six printing towers, which glide apart in the centre for maintenance work, boast an all-embracing level of function automation. Alongside the facility for automatic conversion to different page counts, optional modules for stitching, gluing and a quarter fold raise the possible product diversity. The Commander CT is controlled via two KBA ErgoTronic consoles incorporating a production-scheduling and press-presetting system and the modules KBA EasyStart and EasyStop for time- and waste-saving press run-up and run-down. A proof system is also included in the project.