Offset Printing

The Yomiuri Shimbun and Mitsubishi Mark Successful Start-up of New Kiba Plant

Wednesday 29. December 2010 - Mitsubishi DIAMONDSTAR and DIAMOND EYE bring high quality newspapers to the heart of Tokyo

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Printing & Packaging Machinery, Ltd. (MHI-P&PM) today announced the successful completion of The Yomiuri Shimbun’s Kiba Plant Project, following the start-up of the third and final Mitsubishi 4 x 2 DIAMONDSTAR press line installed at the publisher’s new Tokyo metropolitan site. The Kiba Plant is located in the heart of Tokyo and approximately 5 kilometers east of Tokyo Station.
The Yomiuri Shimbun boasts the world’s largest daily circulation of approximately 10 million copies, and editions printed at the Kiba Plant are distributed to subscribers residing in the center and east side of the nation’s capitol.
In 2004, The Yomiuri Shimbun took delivery of the very first DIAMONDSTAR press designed and manufactured by Mitsubishi. Since then, the company went on to purchase an additional thirteen DIAMONDSTAR press lines prior to the Kiba Plant order. Based on its extensive experience with this press model and the reliable production and high print quality that each delivered, The Yomiuri Shimbun ordered another three DIAMONDSTAR press lines along with the DIAMOND EYE system for its new Kiba Plant in September 2007.
The first two DIAMONDSTAR press lines installed at the Kiba Plant started production in March 2010. The Yomiuri Shimbun hosted a celebration at that time to commemorate the new plant start-up. Guests at this event included Mr. Shoichi Oikawa, President of The Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters, Mr. Akihisa Miura, President of Minato Ltd., the print subcontractor operating the Kiba Plant, and MHI-P&PM President Ken Watabe. The third DIAMONDSTAR press line began production on December 1, 2010, successfully concluding the new Kiba Plant project.
On November 30, 2010, The Yomiuri Shimbun stopped 39 years of production at its Otemachi Plant, which was located under the headquarters building. At its peak, the Otemachi Plant housed 11 newspaper press lines and employed approximately 500 people. Under The Yomiuri Shimbun’s production-decentralization policy, capacity at the Otemachi Plant was gradually rolled back with just two newspaper press lines remaining for the city center of Tokyo. The DIAMONDSTAR press lines at the new Kiba Plant are additionally handling the important role that the remaining presses served, allowing for the complete closure of the Otemachi Plant.
The state-of-the-art DIAMOND EYE system – the world’s most successful fully automatic in-line closed-loop print quality control system with more than 50 installations, achieves high-quality printing throughout production runs while maintaining consistent color uniformity among each of the three press lines. The system greatly contributes to improved printing quality while saving energy and reducing costs, such as less start-up waste.
The Mitsubishi 4 x 2 DIAMONDSTAR press lines installed at the Kiba Plant are rated at 90,000 cph, have a cutoff of 546mm (21.5 in) and handle web widths up to 1,626mm (64 in). Each press is configured with two 4/4 tower printing units, three 2/1 tower printing unit, one 3:2 & 2:2 double rotary folder, five reelstands and future provisions for one 4/4 tower printing unit and one reelstand. The presses are operated by the Mitsubishi press control system with automated features that include press presetting, ink presetting with CTP interface, color register control, dual web tension control and the DIAMOND EYE system.