November 2, 2004 -- Coinciding with the opening of the IfraExpo trade exhibition in Amsterdam on 11th October, the installation teams went into action in Italy on a project which most certainly deserves the description "out of the ordinary". Nine KBA Commander satellite presses and two KBA Comet four-high towers, with a total of 312 printing couples, are to be installed at six different locations of the Italian newspaper group Rizzoli Corriere della Sera (RCS). For the initial offloading and erection, the installation engineers from Koenig & Bauer will be working together closely with specialists of the Print & Pack Competence Centre at Scholpp Montage GmbH in Stuttgart. Four Commander presses are to be installed at the RCS site in Pessano near Milan. Each of the four presses comprises essentially three 9-cylinder satellite towers for a cylinder circumference of 1,400 mm and a maximum web width of 2,000 mm, three KBA Pastomat RC reelstands and a KBA KF 5 jaw folder. Two identical configurations will be going to each of the facilities in Rome and Padua, while the ninth overall is to be installed in Bari. The two Comet presses are earmarked for the RCS print centres in Catania and Genoa. Tight schedules leave no room for compromises The specialists from KBA and Scholpp can look forward to some hard work on this eleven-stage marathon, if all the tight deadlines between now and July 2005 are to be met. The deliveries to the individual locations must even be organised concurrently in some cases, as the first two new presses in Pessano are planned to come on stream on 6th and 23rd January 2005, despite the fact that delays in the construction of the new production halls have already used up the original time reserves. Extensive preparations Before the first two Commander presses can be brought in, it is first necessary to separate parts of the existing, 20-year-old Wifag press line, and then to remove the dismantled equipment ready for scrapping. To enable this to be done without interrupting current production, Scholpp has erected a travelling gantry and a heavy-duty outside ramp. A mobile crane with a lifting capacity of up to 200 tonnes has been manoeuvred into position in front of the hall to take away the heavy press components. The handling of the new KBA presses is also no less demanding. After all, a single 9-cylinder satellite printing unit already weighs in at 57 tonnes. Foundation levelling, wood-pillar and titanium stanchions to support the hall ceilings between the reelstand and printing unit levels, and reinforcements to the gantry have been important factors in ensuring smooth completion.