Offset Printing
Weiss-Druck: the high-flyer of Monschau
Wednesday 16. July 2014 - Inauguration of the COLORMAN e:line
Some real high-flyers entered the speaker’s desk when the new COLORMAN e:line was inaugurated at Weiss Druck: Company director Georg Weiss gave distinction to the German printing industry, extreme mountaineer Helga Hengge sent her greetings from the Mount Everest and Helmut Markwort is a legend of the media industry. Among these successful people, the COLORMAN e:line demonstrated her impressing capability and printed the newspaper Wochenspiegel as a “high-flyer” special edition.
“Today, we have brought a newspaper press into operation, which enables us to print faster. Furthermore, this increases the quality of our products and the operation of the press is better and easier for our employees.” With great anticipation, Georg Weiss, director at Weiss Druck, welcomed the 200 guests from politics, economy and society in Monschau on June 26, 2014. A colorful illuminated COLORMAN e:line waited for her sign to start-up. Only two years after successfully installing the world’s first 96-page LITHOMAN in Monschau, Weiss Druck now restructures the coldset production and Georg Weiss put the message in a nutshell: “At Weiss, we are high-flyers”. At last, the company group with 1,200 employees always aims to offer the complete portfolio of printing technology to their customers, “for producing best possible outcome for them. The consequences are steady investments and expansions of the product range”.
Upwards, here we go?Professor Axel Thomas chaired the celebration with great humor and knowledge and welcomed extreme mountaineer Helga Hengge. The first German woman that has climbed the Mount Everest described her ascent as evocative, motivating and exciting at the same time. In the end, managing challenges with intention and strategy also were the keys to success for the teams of Weiss Druck and manroland web systems during this project. Feelings of happiness, no matter if they arise from the mountains or the printing house, are good for the publishing industry. Journalist and publishing expert Helmut Markwort (“Focus”) analyzed the “future of print in the course of media change” and stated: “Print media have to be more profound, offering news to the readers that show practical value – then there will be a great future for them.”
Second COLORMAN e:line worldwide?The COLORMAN e:line with two printing towers and one folder has been installed during March and May 2014. For this reason, a concrete floor of the printing hall was carved and replaced by a considerably stronger construction. Now the COLORMAN e:line can demonstrate her dimension when producing small runs cost effective and with high frequency at Weiss Druck – with currently 45,000 cylinder revolutions per hour (optional 50,000 rev/h). “Actually, Weiss wanted a small coldset press with high cost-value-ratio” Alwin Stadler, Head of Sales and Business Development Digital Printing at manroland web systems explains. “But the COLORMAN e:line furthermore stays flexible due to the future proof system and is designed for future upgrades and extensions.” For this reason, the fundament of the printing hall has been constructed for a press extension. The “Wochenspiegel” (618,000 copies) with 22 editions in Berliner format can be produced in 16 hours now – incomparably faster than before. Georg Weiss got convinced by the printing quality of the coldset rotation when he was visiting the Allgaeuer Zeitungsverlag in Kempten. In Monschau, amongst others, three oscillating ink rollers and three form rollers allow a continuous inking. Also important for Weiss is the comfort for the operator. Besides the new operating system with MobilPad, the high automation of the press offers ergonomic benefits. APL robots automatically change the manually loaded plates. Inline Control Systems control the color register (InlineRegistration Control) and the cutoff register (InlineCutoff Control). What is well received is the blanket washing system, as is helps omitting manual cleaning.
Weiss shows energy?Weiss Druck is a very special company. This has also been shown by another inauguration: The inhouse block heat and power plant went into operation and now covers 80% of the current demand of Weiss Druck. The power station will produce efficient and environmental friendly energy. 7,180 tons of CO2 shall be saved each year. “Due to this, we once more climbed on top – on top of energy efficiency”, Georg Weiss explains. An absorption cooling unit transforms the heat of gas and motor exhaust of the two gas engines to cooling energy that can be used at the chill rollers of the heatset presses. Georg Weiss about this investment: “Therewith we get more independent from the turbulent and non-predictable development of the energy market. Energy that is not needed will be fed to the public grid. For me, this is a sign for how energy intensive companies can have a share in the energy transition.”?