Offset Printing
Switch to waterless offset on the shores of Lake Constance
Friday 09. May 2008 - Südkurier signs up for compact KBA Cortina
The ranks of German newspapers making the transition to waterless offset with KBA’s highly automated Cortina have been swelled by the Südkurier, a regional title owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group (Handelsblatt, Die Zeit). The triple-wide press line, comprising two 48pp sections, will be the fourteenth Cortina and the fourth 6/2 version to leave KBA’s production line.
Südkurier managing director Rainer Wiesner says: “We checked out all the conventional options but none of them could compare with the Cortina’s waterless technology in terms of print quality, cost efficiency and environmental credentials. There is no doubt in my mind that the Cortina, with its compact footprint, is the press of the future.”
The new press line, the first section of which will go live in Constance in autumn 2009, will progressively replace a KBA Express delivered in 1989 and extended in 2000. Of the 60 Cortina towers ordered to date, 39 are in operation at nine locations in Germany, Switzerland, the Benelux states and Denmark. Christoph Müller, KBA executive vice-president for web press sales, says: “The first batch of Cortinas we sold mainly went to printers using other makes of press, but I am pleased to see that now some longstanding KBA customers like the Südkurier in Constance and DuMont Schauberg in Cologne are also beginning to take our innovative Compact platform on board.”
Prominent regional media player
One of Germany’s leading regional media and service providers, the Südkurier publishes a broad spectrum of paid-for, free and special-interest titles as well as magazines. One of the first publishers in Germany to launch an online edition, its website suedkurier.de with classified sections for property, jobs and motoring attracts millions of hits every month from users all over the country. Other activities include a postal service, a call centre, mobile telephony (including a texting service for news headlines and football results) and a stake in a local radio station. Its flagship title, the Südkurier, which first hit the streets in 1945, is one of the most popular in southern Germany, with a total daily circulation of around 140,000 copies and 400,000 readers. Along with the Alb-Boten it is printed in 17 local editions and distributed in the Lake Constance region, the Black Forest and the upper reaches of the Rhine.
Compact 6/2 press with a slew of winning features
The Cortina has a maximum hourly output in straight production of 80,000 full-colour 48pp broadsheet or 96pp tabloid copies. The four triple-wide compact towers will feature all the automation modules that are standard on the Cortina: KBA PlateTronic plate changers, KBA RollerTronic roller setting, KBA NipTronic remotely adjustable bearing units, colour-register controls, blanket washing and central ink pumping. For greater productivity the four KBA Pastomat CL reelstands will be engineered to accept a bigger reel diameter of 1,500mm (59in). Eight double turning decks, two folder superstructures with three formers apiece, cut-off register controls, skip slitters, stitchers and two KBA KF 5 jaw folders guarantee a high level of production flexibility. Other modules, eg a cross perforator, can be fitted easily at a later date. The press will be controlled from KBA ErgoTronic consoles with a link-up to job scheduling and press preset and a Prime interface for integrating a soft-proofing system.