Offset Printing
Mediengruppe Oberfranken opts for COLORMAN e:line 50 with autoprint configuration from manroland web systems
Wednesday 09. April 2014 - Full automation, highest efficiency, flexibility and productivity are no longer dreams of the future in Bamberg, Germany. The installation of the new COLORMAN e:line 50 with autoprint configuration from manroland web systems is already planned for April 2015. The newspaper press for Mediengruppe Oberfranken offers all latest technologies and automation solutions one can imagine. Beginning in April 2015, the 32 page press replaces the two previous presses from Koenig & Bauer.
With its numerous business fields, the Mediengruppe Oberfranken offers a unique cross media potential to their customers and partners. While newspapers and advertising journals as well as some online media are tailored to their home base Franconia, some printers, specialist publishers and the in-house venture capital company act throughout the German and partly even the European market. For their printing site in Bamberg, where eight different daily newspaper editions of Mediengruppe Oberfranken are produced, the company now decided to invest in the future. From April 2015 they will be produced on the fully equipped COLORMAN e:line 50 from manroland web systems.
Fully automated to the future
The COLORMAN e:line 50 for the Mediengruppe Oberfranken offers everything about latest equipment and technology. The 32 page press consists of two eight couple towers, one folder and two reel splicers and runs with 50,000 cylinder circulations per hour – precondition for the approximately 150,000 copies the printer plans to produce every day. Due to the different editions, there are a lot of job changes – that is where the manroland web systems autoprint features will help to reduce makeready times and waste rates in the future. The core function of the numerous automation features is APL – the fully automatic robotic plate change system. The autoprint configuration furthermore allows a parallel makeready. Due to this, plate changes and webbing up can be handled at the same time. Highest flexibility at the production can be achieved due to the possibility for an automatic circumferential change.
The press will also be equipped with the new manroland web systems ControlCenter. The ultra modern operation system is part of the “One Touch” philosophy. All relevant information can be caught at a glimpse and the operator can act intuitively with one finger touch – at any place, at any time, as the system will be equipped with a MobilPad.
Groundbreaking technology for highest quality
And the list of automation solutions can be continued: For highest quality and lowest waste rates, the COLORMAN e:line 50 will feature well-tried and completely new manroland web systems InlineControl systems. The press at Mediengruppe Oberfranken is also supposed to be a pilot project for the new manroland web systems ink density control for newspaper presses. The technical basis for the system that works with a moving head camera and micro marks originates from manroland web systems’ experience at the field of ink density control for commercial presses.
Ergonomics and awarded design
The COLORMAN e:line autoprint 50 only needs three operators what is also enabled by the numerous automation features. Besides automation, the Mediengruppe Oberfranken also sets high value on ergonomics: for this reason the plate delivery for the APL robots takes place at the level of the ControlCenter. The plates for the cylinders of the upper H-unit will be put into working position via an elevator. For minimizing acoustic emissions, the printing units are equipped with movable acoustic protective elements that are placed automatically in front of the cylinder groups when the press is running.
Moreover, the new press will be delivered in e:line design that has been awarded with the “Red Dot” design award in 2013.
Perfect reference
The COLORMAN e:line 50 with autoprint configuration for the Mediengruppe Oberfranken turned out to be a perfect reference for manroland web systems. “For our printing site in Bamberg, we decided to invest to the future. The ultra modern COLORMAN e:line 50 from manroland web systems was the best option for us. The press offers everything we require to further strengthen our successful business concept”, says Joerg Schild-Mueller, Managing Director Business Unit Print at Mediengruppe Oberfranken. “The short project duration and the fast decision from our side show how strongly we are convinced by the concept of manroland web systems.” Markus Bader, Area Sales Manager at manroland web systems, adds: “We are very happy about the decision of the Mediengruppe Oberfranken and furthermore we are proud that we could convince by our solutions and technologies. Beneath several commercial presses, the COLORMAN e:line 50 is the first newspaper press from manroland web systems for this customer – it is supposed to replace even two presses from Koenig & Bauer and it is a perfect reference for us due to its extensive configuration. A huge success for our company.”
The COLORMAN e:line 50 will already be installed in November 2014. Therefore construction works will soon be started in Bamberg. The new press gets an own annex to the existing building – a rotunda with glass façade that symbolizes two piled paper rolls.