Offset Printing
Nothing is impossible
Thursday 22. October 2009 - EAE expands and modernizes a rotation in Gävle in Sweden
EAE Ewert Ahrensburg Electronic GmbH was awarded a rather unusual but extremely interesting contract in the Swedish coastal city of Gävle, located on the Gulf of Bothnia.
The press which belongs to the Östersund based publisher, “Mittmedia Print AB” is a “Journal” model, manufactured by KBA, Wurzburg in 1995, with two 8’s towers and a bridge.
This rotation did not support four-color printing on all pages. Changing that was and is the main task of EAE in collaboration with its Dutch partner GWS (Graphic Web Systems).
Essentially, the contract involves expanding the machine by an additional eight-couple tower, while partially retrofitting the rotation at the same time. In questions of press modernization, EAE is already a specialist in the industry. Moreover, since successfully completing the contract in Sweden of dismantling a rotation and reassembling it at another location, EAE has also gained sufficient experience in machine expansion including the relocation of whole or partial rotations. This particular contract was placed by the largest Swedish printing group “V-TAB”, based in Gothenburg, during 2007/2008. EAE, then acting as a general contractor, was responsible for the dismantling of a rotation belonging to the Colorman family from MAN in the Swedish capital Stockholm, transportation via an interim storage facility in Jonköping to Gothenburg, and subsequent re-assembling and reconfiguration.
Quantitatively, the Gävle order is somewhat smaller, but qualitatively it just as challenging
The first stage involved dismantling the existing jumper, which only facilities black printing. In the second stage, an eight-couple tower was transported from the Swedish city of Växjö to Gävle, where it was fitted in the printing house to the existing, structurally sufficient supports of the old jumper. This project was helped by a coincidence: the above-mentioned additional eight-couple tower was part of a rotation belonging to the publisher “Smålandsposten” in Växjö, which had already been disassembled for storage there two years ago. This involved a KBA Journal tower, also dating from 1995 – similar to the machine in Gävle.
This was followed by system upgrades. EAE migrated the two existing EAE Vegas control consoles to Windows level and equipped these control consoles with new monitors. On the basis of the new control console computer, the publisher “Mittmedia Print AB” is now able to use the EAE production planning and presetting system “Print”. In particular, the possibilities offered by press presetting – which refers here to the presetting of ink zones, register, dampening etc. – have resulted in a significant reduction of start-up waste. Additional “Press Retrofit” measures included the installation of EAE’s message and reporting system “Info”, and an EAE color register control and a network upgrade. In the further scope of delivery, this “Press Retrofit” also contained an EAE Service PC to facilitate remote access to the machine control. In case support is required, this means that any faults can be quickly rectified with as little disturbance and costs as possible.
In a couple of weeks, at the beginning of November, the new/old eight-couple tower will be put into operation, with production scheduled to start on the expanded, modernized and reconfigured machine in December. Ömer Sengün, one of the EAE specialists for these tasks, is well aware of the tight schedule. That said, with more than 20 years’ experience, he is confident that this aim is realistic. His experience also tells him that this investment is costing the Swedish publisher a fraction of the costs necessary for a new machine – moreover, for a rotation which can certainly compete with new machines, both as regards the production possibilities and in view of operating comfort.