Big KBA press line storms into action at West Australian

A hybrid press line comprising a double-width coldset KBA Colora alongside a single-width heatset KBA Comet has successfully launched into operation at West Australian Newspapers in Perth. The networked presses boast a total of 24 reelstands, 192 printing couples, six folders and an automated reel handling system with AGVs.

Production flexibility delivers enormous product diversity The ability to insert heatset webs from the Comet into the Colora, to deliver coldset copies with heatset covers or inner sections, is unique in the international marketplace. Says Liam Roche, West Australian Newspapers’ general manager for group operations and information technology: "West Australian Newspapers has introduced several new formats to its stable of products thanks to the versatility of the hybrid configuration of the KBA presses. Stitching on-press (and trimming in the Ferag equipment), quarter-folding, gluing and heatset/coldset combination products are all now common production features from the new presses. The possibility of producing larger pagination heatset/coldset products using our ‘cross-over web lead’ facility is currently in the forefront of the thinking of our publishing customers, the process has been commissioned and tested and works well."

The KBA Colora, which is engineered for web widths from 1,220 to 1,728mm (48 - 68in), has a total capacity of 576 tabloid pages. In collect production it can deliver tabloid copies with as many as 224 pages. The KBA Comet, which has two thermal air dryers, can print 64-page coldset copies, 96-page hybrid coldset/heatset copies or 32-page heatset copies, all tabloid. Its heatset towers have separate ink feed systems to allow heatset inks with different viscosities to be used for smooth or matt paper. The new-generation control technology features EAE’s PRINT job scheduling and press presetting system and a raft of labour-saving extras that include a proofing system.

Up to 600 tabloid pages at weekends
A tight schedule was imposed for the construction of a new printing plant and the commissioning of the networked presses. For the market leader in Western Australia, the production start of the KBA presses was a landmark event: the boost in colour, productivity, print quality, production flexibility and automation opened up new options for The West Australian, 19 regional titles and numerous contract titles. Says Liam Roche: "Some of our unique products here at West Australian Newspapers, such as live tabloid books as large as 192 pages along with added content (preprints and commercial inserts) that can see us publishing finished newspapers in the 600 page tabloid equivalent range, in turn provide some unique challenges for KBA, particularly in terms of folder performance. KBA continue to apply their technical expertise in optimising the presses and folders and as a result of this we have had some outstanding press performances in terms of reliability and quality levels, recently breaking several longstanding production records."