Newspaper & Mailroom
German newspaper industry continues to invest in print
Tuesday 29. March 2011 - Nordkurier in Neubrandenburg orders KBA Commander CT
The wave of investment by German newspaper printers in new production kit continues with an order placed by Verlagsgruppe Nordkurier in Neubrandenburg for a 32pp KBA Commander CT press line with two Pastomat reelstands, two towers and a KF 5 folder.
The purpose of the investment is to address more sophisticated demands in terms of quality, productivity and flexibility. Nordkurier, which has thirteen regional editions, has frequently been accepted for membership of WAN-Ifras exclusive International Newspaper Color Quality Club. Along with other in-house dailies it covers the largest catchment area for a regional newspaper in Germany.
Press technology with all the trimmings
The new press will be installed early next year at subsidiary Nordost-Druck in Neubrandenburg, a good 130km (80m) north of Berlin, and will replace a 64pp KBA Express that is almost twenty years old. As well as the Nordkurier, a daily, the Commander CT will print a weekly, Anzeigenkurier, with a total circulation of 321,000 copies published in eight editions, plus diverse other publications and contract work.
The 45,000cph double-wide Commander CT will sport a raft of features including two Pastomat reelstands with 7/8 and 3/8 ribbons for spadia production; Patras A automated reel logistics; cut-off register and sidelay controls; a pre-former web guidance system; and a skip slitter, a half-cover capability, ZipnBuy and a ribbon stitcher. The ErgoTronic console will be linked to an EAE Print production scheduling and press presetting system that is currently being upgraded.
Lothar Prehn, managing director of Nordost-Druck, can hardly wait for the press to be up and running: “Even though the KBA Commander CT has only half the page capacity of its predecessor, its practical automation features, higher productivity and fast job changes will enable us to give the local editions of the Nordkurier an even tighter focus, and expand our print portfolio. Extensive pre-investment research produced some compellingly arguments in favour of the Commander CTs innovative concept and technology.”
Broad appeal in northeast Germany
The Nordkurier has a circulation of around 95,000 copies and is distributed in east Mecklenburg, the southern regions of West Pomerania and in Uckermark, north Brandenburg. The media house is also the leading private postal service in the outer reaches of northeast Germany.