Offset Printing

Swedish media group Bonnier orders ultra-compact KBA press

Tuesday 08. February 2011 - DNEX Tryckeriet upgrades with innovative KBA Commander CT

Bonnier, a Swedish media group with an international profile, is investing heavily in printed newspapers. For its print arm, Bold Printing Group, it has ordered a highly automated KBA Commander CT press line which will be installed at subsidiary DNEX Tryckeriet in Kista, near Stockholm. Bold Printing Group also has production plants in Malmö and Borås, and is one of the biggest print groups in Europe.
The 96pp Commander CT with six reelstands, six double-wide four-high towers, one folder and automated paper logistics will go live next year in an existing building, replacing two other presses.

Clarion call for print
Leif Wiklund, managing director of the Bold Printing Group and chairman of the DNEX board, says: “The media environment is in a state of transition, and the demands of our customers and readers are becoming ever more sophisticated. The KBA Commander CT’s cutting-edge technology will enable us to address these demands while at the same time slashing production costs. We visited a number of Commander CT installations in Germany and North America, and met satisfied users everywhere.”
Erik Wallhed, DNEX managing director, agrees: “What most impressed us was the first-class quality in full-colour production, the ease with which this compact, practical and highly automated press can be operated, and its high output, with fast job changes and low levels of start-up waste. The way in which KBA and Ingenieurbüro Mauser, the engineering firm, worked so smoothly alongside our project team to produce a comprehensive strategic concept also played a major role. This created a powerful basis of trust for a successful long-term collaboration.” Bold Printing Group technical director Johan Stenberg comments: “Another subsidiary, Borås Tidning Tryckeri, has been running a KBA Colora since the end of 2001. Our satisfaction both with the press and with the service provided reinforced our decision to implement this key strategic move in tandem with KBA.”
KBA sales director Jochen Schwab is delighted at winning the 18th contract for the innovative Commander CT: “In a relatively short period of time this has raised the total number of towers ordered by newspaper printers worldwide to 95, and further projects approaching completion in the next few weeks will push it over the 100 mark. The decision by this prominent Swedish media group is a declaration of confidence in KBA’s competence as the market leader in newspaper press technology, and confirmation of our endeavour to provide the newspaper sector with systems addressing the demands of the 21st century.”
Blend of traditional and new media
Bonnier is a family business with roots dating back to 1804. Today it encompasses some 180 companies in Europe, Russia and the USA. Its extensive print-based operations include book publishers such as Ullstein in Berlin, magazines, daily titles and business publications. In northern Europe Bonnier is a major shareholder in a number of enterprises, among them the biggest commercial television channels in Sweden (TV4) and Finland (MTV3). Radio stations, cinema chains, music and film production firms, online distributors and providers of business and economic data are also part of the group. Alongside its traditional activities Bonnier intends to expand more and more into new business models in the internet. In 2009 its 11,000-strong workforce generated sales of around €3bn ($4bn).
Productivity boost for newspaper business
The KBA Commander CT for DNEX will have a 560mm (22in) cut-off, a maximum web width of 1,590mm (62.5in) and a maximum rated output of 90,000cph in straight production. Since the titles printed will have different page counts, conversion will be automatic from the console. The press will print the greater part of Sweden’s biggest national daily, Dagens Nyheter, which was first published in 1864. Other titles will include a business newspaper, Dagens Industri, a freesheet, Metro, and a second news daily, Expressen, which was launched in 1944 and has a current readership (with online edition) of over 1.5 million. Alongside these tabloid titles the Commander CT will still have plenty of capacity for printing supplements and inserts etc.
Cutting-edge technology enhances output and ease of operation
The six compact 4/2 towers will feature KBA PlateTronic automatic plate changers, KBA RollerTronic automatically adjustable roller locks, automatic colour-register controls, and a KBA CleanTronic washing system for the blankets and inking units. The six Pastomat reelstands will be embedded in a paper-logistics system embracing reel preparation, transport to the daily store via AGVs and on-demand loading. Other press features include four turner bar assemblies, a folder superstructure with two formers, a KBA KF 5 jaw folder and cut-off register controls, plus section and ribbon stitchers, a gluing unit and a quarterfold for even greater flexibility. The Commander CT will be controlled from two KBA ErgoTronic consoles incorporating a KBA production-scheduling and press-presetting system along with a raft of automation modules such as KBA EasyStart and EasyStop for automated press run-up and run-down and a page-monitoring system. Provision has already been made for an additional 96pp section, thermal air dryers, balloon formers and a change in web width.