A 2003 newspaper press will continue its central role with an Austrian daily following a comprehensive update.
Koenig & Bauer has been appointed lead contractor for the three-stage mechanical and electrical retrofit at Oberösterreichische Nachrichten in Pasching. Reelstands, printing towers, folders, press control system and operating consoles of the Commander press will brought up to date.
Control system and consoles will be converted to the latest EAE technology, with QIPC colour density and colour and cut-off register systems added.
Inking units, reelstands and folders will undergo a mechanical overhaul, spray bars will be renewed, and all main drives will be overhauled.
Print centre managing director Ronald Sonnleitner says parts of the installation will be 20 years old by next year and are still doing their job reliably. “We want to ensure that we are properly prepared for the future – because we continue to believe in the printed newspaper.
“This retrofit will position us ideally to handle everything that lies ahead,” he says.
The control system retrofit will be performed in three stages, so as not to interrupt daily production, with the project scheduled for completion in winter 2022.
Sonnleitner says the company is also responding to the shortage of spare parts for electronic elements in a context of global shortages, “initially to be able to operate the existing press longer and secondly to achieve a higher degree of press automation in order to reduce operational costs”.
EAE will will retrofit the press controls for two folders, four printing towers and four splicers, implementing EAE Print 7 to upgrade planning and presetting. QIPC will install its mRC-3D for cut-off and IDS-3D for colour, colour register and front-to back register control, as well as its damp control system.
“We trust QIPC-EAE will meet our expectation that the press will have the necessary stability and better performance in terms of print quality and waste. “We reckon to make savings on staff and paper and also greater integration in the workflow area,” Sonnleitner says.
Still one of Austria’s most modern, the Pasching print centre gets through 300,000 plates, 180,000 kg of ink and almost 12,000 tonnes of paper a year. With 1200 m2 of solar panels, the company generates enough electricity to meet around 20 per cent of requirements.
Pictured: The joint project team at the print centre