Baldwin's Japanese subsidiary has had an extremely successful start to 2006 following the signing of a string of major orders from Japanese newspaper groups. The total value of the orders is approximately $3.5 million and includes a wide range of blanket cleaning and spray dampening systems. Baldwin has won an order from the Yomiuri Newspaper Company for Impact automatic blanket cleaning systems, with a total of 112 cleaning heads. The Impact equipment - sold in Japan under the name of Super Washer - will be fitted to new Mitsubishi presses, which will be installed at the company’s Kyushu plant in the west of Japan during 2006. At the end of last year the Yomiuri Newspaper Company ordered 100 Baldwin spray dampening bars for the new Mitsubishi presses, which are expected to begin production in April 2007. The Yomiuri newspaper has the largest daily circulation in Japan, with more than ten million copies printed each day. Baldwin has just received an order for 125 spray bars from the Asahi Newspaper Company, which prints Japan’s second largest daily newspaper - the Asahi - with a daily circulation of 8.2 million. This latest order for Baldwin spray dampening bars is part of a larger project to supply 225 spray bars to presses at three of Asahi’s printing plants in Osaka, in the west of Japan. Each of the factories has a new press - Mitsubishi, Tokyo Kikai and Goss - and installation of the Baldwin equipment will begin in June, with full production scheduled for October. Other orders won this year by Baldwin in Japan include an agreement to supply 19 spray dampening bars to the Kanagawa Newspaper Company, based near Tokyo, and an order from the Kobe Newspaper Company, which has ordered 22 spray bars for its plant near Osaka. The Kobe agreement is the first with Baldwin and has been placed, according to Kobe, because of Baldwin’s high reputation in the Japanese newspaper market. “Efficiency is everything in modern newspaper production, which is why printers look to Baldwin to supply products and systems to streamline processes as well as lowering cost of ownership,” says Hajime Koyama, director of newspaper sales. “All newspaper printers strive to reduce downtime and wastage, while increasing print quality consistency and productivity and, in addition, environmental issues are also a major concern. Baldwin is dedicated to pioneering technology to tackle these challenges and trends. “Our growing success over the last few years has been due to the concentrated effort we have put into developing solutions to meet these aims. Japan is a dynamic marketplace for Baldwin and will continue to be a main focus for growth. We are successfully establishing a reputation for pioneering press accessories in this region through offering state-of-the-art control equipment, combined with reliability and sound after-sales care.”