Comprehensive automation for highly efficient planning and optimal resource conservation in newspaper printing

One could easily think that the COLORMAN, XXL autoprint for the WAZ Mediengruppe in Brunswick, Germany, was developed by business administrators. The terminology used there includes life cycle management and production transparency, production plans, and analyses. Still, that’s the language that has to be mastered when one wants to play in the premier league of newspaper printing.

The COLORMAN autoprint itself is not concerned with such topics – it prefers to simply print, and format-variable at that: this enables the newspapers and inserts to be produced in two different formats: with strict adherence to time schedules and meeting exact specifications for materials consumption and reproducibility. The COLORMAN knows: no other newspaper printing system can hold a candle to it in this regard.

This is why the WAZ Mediengruppe is investing a low double-digit million euro sum in two new 48-page COLORMAN, XXL autoprint presses that will be installed in a completely new building with special attention being paid to energy and sustainability aspects. Dr. Klemens Berktold, manager of all printing operations at the WAZ Mediengruppe, says: “With all the savings potential that comes with the new printing center and its key element, the new COLORMAN, XXL autoprint presses, we will have a fast ROI and be well equipped to respond to further market developments. This is a groundbreaking investment for the WAZ Mediengruppe and our avowal of faith in the future of the printed newspaper.”

Automatically calculable
For the COLORMAN, XXL autoprint, job changeovers depend on form on the day. Only with the small difference that it is in the same top form every day. Automatic changing of newspaper products can be relied on to take place in a precision measured in seconds with automatic plate changing on as many printing units as desired: simply one touch. At the same time, all data for the new production is loaded in the press. After completion of the constant job changeover times, the COLORMAN, XXL autoprint is immediately ready for the next job. If a new format is to be produced, this changeover also takes place automatically. Here the press makes life very easy for the operator. Waste is minimized because when production starts all settings are correct: for amazing results time and again and for profits that are not diminished by high waste rates. Furthermore, groundbreaking services enable unplanned downtimes to be avoided to a great extent. Thus one has production and operating costs under control – always.

These days, industrial-scale print production without an optimized material flow is unthinkable. AUROSYS takes care of automated reel transport, centralized reel preparation, and delivers the reels to the reel splicer as needed. Besides these physical transport tasks, AUROSYS also provides complete data logistics where all relevant information concerning paper consumption is recorded and evaluated.

Automatically more economical
Resource conservation in offset printing no longer has anything to do with a green image, but is an economical necessity. After all, over the entire life cycle, a newspaper printing system consumes materials worth around five times the price of the system. In view of the high variable costs for paper, energy, and other process-related components, investment costs for resource-conserving technologies are generally recovered within a few years. With the COLORMAN, XXL autoprint for instance, QuickStart dramatically reduces paper waste. Compared with conventional individual motor drive, the COLORMAN, XXL autoprint with bridge drive consumes less energy. Costs for energy and maintenance can also be considerably reduced through dynamic roller adjustment with IROLOC.