BV Rotatiedrukkerij Voorburgwal, printers of the Netherlands’ national daily newspaper - De Telegraaf - is to install its first automatic blanket and impression cylinder cleaning system – a bespoke design by Baldwin Technology Company, Inc., worth over €4 million Euros - to improve efficiency and increase environmental and employee safety. Installation of the bespoke TeleCleaner system, which is based on Baldwin’s IMPACT automatic cleaning technology, will commence on BV Rotatiedrukkerij Voorburgwal’s MAN TeleMan presses in February 2003, and is part of a three year programme to upgrade the 10 presses to 50 per cent full-colour. The colour upgrade gave rise to the 109-year-old company’s need to improve productivity whilst maintaining pressroom safety at the highest level. Having created a shortlist of three cleaning system manufacturers, Rotatiedrukkerij Voorburgwal tested the Baldwin system on the TeleMan presses, running a wide variety of print jobs for over a year. Baldwin’s automatic TeleCleaner was “by far the best system”, according to Rotatiedrukkerij Voorburgwal’s vice president of operations, Harold Tamminga. The efficiency and environmental aspects of the Baldwin system are extremely valuable to Rotatiedrukkerij Voorburgwal. “The high automation of the TeleCleaner system offers an important time saving benefit,” explains Mr Tamminga. “We experienced major improvements in efficiency during the test period and the time saved there allowed us to increase productivity in other areas.” The system is operated using easy-to-use touch screen controls and will be linked to the company’s existing press control system. Press operators simply select the units to be cleaned and then choose the degree of cleaning required. The TeleCleaner system was developed by Baldwin to meet Rotatiedrukkerij Voorburgwal’s weight handling criteria and complement the unique press configuration. The TeleMan presses’ reel stands and printing units stand at 90 degrees in respect to the folder, as opposed to a standard press line configuration, and all reel stands, presses and the mailroom are on one level to increase communication and allow the addition of colour towers. “Furthermore, the non-hazardous nature of the TeleCleaner technology eliminates any environmental concerns we previously had.” The TeleCleaner system uses PREPAC wash cloth rolls that are impregnated with an environmentally-friendly washing agent. With the agent held entirely in the roll and only the required amount of cleaning agent being applied to the blanket, solvent handling is completely eliminated. This process, which includes ink and lint residues being retained after cleaning, equates to yearly VOC emissions per press in a typical pressroom being reduced by 99 per cent compared to manual cleaning. “Another important criteria for us is weight handling,” explains Mr Tamminga. “Dutch laws and our company policy demand that employees are not put under unnecessary physical strain. We print over one million copies of De Telegraaf a night so any way to reduce manual handling is vital.” Rotatiedrukkerij Voorburgwal’s TeleCleaner system, consisting of 299 blanket cleaning heads and 47 impression cylinder cleaning heads, will be installed by the Baldwin Sales and Service Unit based in Arlov, Sweden.