ABB's mechanics are heading to Mechanicsville following an order for a drives retrofit at the Times-Dispatch Hanover County production plant.

The Virginia, USA, site is part of Warren Buffett's BH Media Publishing Solutions, and prints the daily Richmond Times-Dispatch, Newport News Daily Press, group weeklies and other publications on two Mitsubishi presses.

Each of the two shafted presses currently has 11 Fincor drives - five 200 hp and six 100 hp - now obsolete and difficult to troubleshoot and repair.

ABB will supply DCS880 DC industrial drives which have a thyristor power platform with what is claimed to be the widest power range of any DC drive on the market. The new drives will be commissioned on the first press around mid-year 2019, with the second press following in 2021.