04.07.11 - On 31 May KBA’s innovative compact press, the Cortina, strutted its stuff pumping out high-spec commemorative prints at the official inauguration of a pressroom extension at the Sundsvall plant of MittMedia Print, part of Sweden’s fourth-biggest newspaper group. The waterless press with heatset dryer stunned the customers and VIPs present with its superb print quality, green credentials, minimum waste and fast job changes.

Shift towards quality green printing in Scandinavia
Waterless newspaper production with the Cortina has long been routine in Denmark, and the first four-by-one version in Finland came on stream at Botnia Print, Kokkola, in May last year. MittMedia Print is the first Swedish newspaper printer to exploit the Cortina’s quality excellence in both coldset and heatset with the aim of moving up into the top slot.

Cortina combines quality, productivity and flexibility
“Alongside its quality benefits, cost efficiency and short makereadies the KBA Cortina offers decisive USPs compared to presses with conventional inking,” explains MittMedia Print managing director Jan Andersson. “There are none of the time-consuming ink changes that are necessary in wet offset when switching between coldset and heatset. Uniquely fast conversion from coldset to heatset and vice versa extends productive time and eases operation. The KBA Cortina is ideal where production entails frequent changes of web width and stock. It allows different formats to be printed on different substrates, and the speed at which we can switch from one job to the next would previously have been considered impossible. We can now print a broad range of products embracing newspapers, supplements, inserts and magazines.”

Andersson continues. “The Cortina’s repetitive accuracy and ability to reproduce 70lpc and FM screens mean there is scarcely any adjustment required when printing such diverse products. Its outstanding green credentials – minimum waste, reduced wash consumption and the total absence of fount solution and ink mist – are a major advantage with environmentally minded customers, while our staff are delighted to have a more pleasant working climate and fewer cleaning chores.”

Fast commissioning
Press commissioning and acceptance were completed smoothly within a few weeks thanks to a highly motivated team and sophisticated technology. The new Cortina, which apart from the heatset dryer is configured with two KBA Pastomat reelstands, two compact “four-low” towers and a KF3 folder, went live at the end of April. It has a 560mm (22in) cut-off, and automatic conversion from the maximum web width of 1,590mm (62.6in) to others, such as 1,260mm (49.6in) for magazine production. The press crew quickly mastered the Cortina and appreciate the benefits it delivers in terms of operating ease, makeready times, maintenance and print quality.

Broader product palette enhances potential
The MittMedia Förvaltnings media group is based in Gävle and owns seventeen regional titles with a total daily circulation of 280,000 copies in central and northern Sweden. Alongside its own newspaper titles and their online versions MittMedia is also active in distribution, contract printing and radio. Its subsidiary MittMedia Print has seven production plants. Since the Cortina came on stream up north in Sundsvall, in addition to two daily titles, Sundsvalls Tidning and Dagbladet, Mittmedia has started printing more heatset inserts and magazines on coated stock.

Jan Andersson says: “This high-tech compact press line for top-quality newspaper production in both coldset and heatset has enabled us to expand our print spectrum considerably. We can now handle anything from ultra-short part editions to runs of 300,000 copies fast and cost-effectively, with a choice of inline finishing options. In our finishing department, which was also upgraded, we can collated tabloids with up to 128 pages. This has given us a unique advantage in the regional markets in Sweden, and we are aiming to exploit this advantage to expand on an ongoing basis. The KBA Cortina is the ideal press for us: as well as newspaper production it enables us to tap into a strong demand for heatset products and utilise our capacities to the full.”