Additional upgrade of the 48-page press with A3 and A4 delivery and PECOM connection

The WKS Druckholding GmbH with facilities in Essen and Wassenburg, Germany, has been running eight LITHOMAN presses. Now the 48-page press at the printing site in Essen has been replaced by a second-hand LITHOMAN with also 48 pages from Fetsund/Oslo. As partner and expert for the challenging relocation, WKS intentionally opted for manroland web systems. Main reason was to guarantee a professional and reliable handling. Furthermore, the folding components of the press were upgraded and a PECOM connection with the new manroland web systems PECOM server was realized. This assures the best possible production stability and highest quality. 

Meeting the demands of the future – already today: this request was reached, when the WKS group decided to cooperate with the Westend Druckereibetriebe GmbH in Essen and the Kraft-Schlötels GmbH in Wassenberg. Since then, two quality conscious and high performing printers form one of Europe’s leading web offset printing companies with approximately 335 employees. The company’s core competency is high quality web offest printing. Fast, high performing, absolutely reliable in matters of production and with a maximum of flexibility – this is the guiding principle of the printing company. 

As a company for which future-orientation is on the daily agenda, WKS opts for fully developed technologies and a huge machinery. WKS produces not only with commercial web offset presses ranging from 32 to 80 pages. At the plant in Wassenberg the world’s largest heatset commercial press is installed – a two-web 80-page LITHOMAN with a total of web width of 4.5 meters which is the equivalent of a 160-page press. Therefore they count on manroland web systems. And therefore they invested in a second-hand LITHOMAN with additional service upgrades. 

Old LITHOMAN – New Features
Unlike the old 48-page LITHOMAN that has been replaced by the investment, the new press contains numerous upgrades as e.g. stitchers or a retrofit of the drive system. In Essen it has been additionally retrofitted with components for A3 and A4 delivery. Moreover, the new LITHOMAN was completely connected to the PECOM PressManager (PPM) from manroland web systems. The retrofit secures the availability of the press. New functions like the PressMonitor for an ideal data management, a perfect visual displaying and an in-time reporting, guarantee an easy processing. 

Two Strong Partners
“The complexity of the relocation of the LITHOMAN was subject for an exact planning, a comprehensive preparation and a professional handling“, Frank Kreisel, Area Sales Manager at manroland web systems explains. “As all these components had been given, the installation could be completed very fast. Due to this, the production on the relocated press could start as quickly as possible.” To meet the requirements, the A3 and A4 deliveries for example had been retrofitted before the press was relocated. The upgrade was made directly in Essen. The employees of manroland web systems offered a perfect and professional project management – from the dismantling and the transport from Norway to Essen, via the assembling and the re-commissioning of the press. 

There have been several reasons for the decision of WKS to choose manroland web systems as their partner for this project. Dr. Ralph Dittmann, Managing Director at the WKS Druckholding GmbH, is convinced: “We were thinking for a while about the partner we choose to enter this new territory of installing a second-hand press for the first time. For this project, a second-hand press had to be demounted in Norway, imported to the EU, transported 1,400 km to Essen, equipped with numerous retrofits and upgrades and integrated to the production environment of WKS. And this as quick as possible and without missing deadlines. Against this background, we intentionally decided to opt for manroland web systems. The engineers there are professionals – they now the press and they provided the best solutions for every upcoming problem. They also had a complete access to all necessary data and functions. Two additional and decisive factors were that manroland web systems could show numerous experiences in press relocations and that the company could realize an upgrade with A3 and A4 deliveries. Thanks to this investment, we can now serve our customers optimally. I am certain that we opted for the best partner for our project.“