Consumables

ABB to retrofit Wifag OF370 for The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Canada

Monday 02. June 2014 - ABB, one of the leading suppliers of automation solutions for the newspaper industry, has announced that it has been selected by The Chronicle Herald in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to perform a complete retrofit of the controls and management system on their Wifag OF370 press. The Chronicle Herald is Canada's largest family-owned newspaper.

ABB’s scope of supply includes the press management system MPS Production, three control consoles, the complete replacement of the control systems on The Chronicle Herald’s folder and four printing towers, ABB’s APOS positioning system as a replacement for the obsolete systems on the folder and four towers, a complete controls replacement for the five reelstands and, finally, new drives for all units.
For ABB this order is the tenth for a retrofit project on a Wifag press in the last few years and also the eighth for its APOS positioning system.
The main block of the commissioning will begin in early 2015 with further phases covering the reelstands and drives following later. The commissioning will be carried out without taking the press out of service – normal production will be able to carry on in parallel with the commissioning work.
At the contract signing – from left to right: Ian Scott, Vice President Operations, Chronicle Herald; Jeff Gelfand, Sales Director North America, ABB Printing; Mike Murtha, Director, Production, Chronicle Herald.
Jeff Gelfand, ABB’s sales director for North America, comments “of course we are looking forward to working together with the team at the Chronicle Herald. We are also proud of the fact that this order further confirms ABB’s leadership in the retrofitting of Wifag presses.
“This is also our second order in the North American market in the last 12 months for the replacement of EAE controls, the other being a Goss shaftless press that is currently being commissioned at The Monitor in McAllen, Texas.”
Ian Scott, VP Operations for The Chronicle Herald, also sees the importance of the project. “Our customers expect a rich and provocative newspaper, delivered to their homes every day by 6 am. With a single press operation, no one but ABB could demonstrate the capacity to manage our project while ensuring continuous production,” says Ian Scott.
“The Chronicle Herald has been expanding its newspaper titles over the years and ABB provided a future-proofed option that ensured we continued to provide our customers a rich newspaper experience now and long into the future”, continues Scott.
Jeff Gelfand sees the future-proofing as a key issue and adds “we are convinced that only ABB can give a credible contractual assurance against future obsolescence.”