Bavarian newspaper group Straubinger Tagblatt / Landshuter Zeitung has invested in a highly automated Commander CL from Koenig & Bauer for the topical, target-group orientated, high-quality and cost-efficient production of its diverse print media. The Commander CL has proven most popular with the German newspaper market in recent years. Along with printing the Abendzeitung for Munich at the firm’s site in Landshut this 48-page press will come on stream in stages, replacing a KBA Journal delivered in 1993 and extended in 2001.

“I still believe in the printed newspaper and I am convinced that our regional titles and the Abendzeitung, as a strong newspaper for the city of Munich, have a promising future. The new high-tech press will enable us to enhance the immediacy of the Abendzeitung and produce our regional titles in a stunning quality,” says Straubinger media group publisher, professor Martin Balle. “The KBA Commander CL is scheduled to be fired up in autumn 2015. It will deliver significant gains in terms of productivity, cost efficiency and strengthen the long-term competitiveness of our printed products in the regional media market. We shouldn’t simply always complain about the shift in the media market, if you believe in print you have to invest in it. I do this.”

Media group with strong regional anchors

In addition to the Landshuter Zeitung, which first appeared in 1849, and the Straubinger Tagblatt founded in 1860, the group publishes twelve local titles for the south-eastern Bavarian region covering Bogen, Cham, Dingolfing, Freising and Vilsbiburg. It also has a raft of online offerings, an e-paper edition of the printed newspaper and interests in local radio and television stations.

Custom-made cutting-edge technology

The double-width Commander CL will be engineered for the Berliner format (cylinder circumference: 940mm/37in; maximum web width: 1,260mm/49.6in). In straight production it can print up to 84,000 full-colour newspapers per hour. The features include:

• 3 KBA Pastomat reelstands embedded in a KBA Patras A automatic reel handling system with stripping station,
• 3 printing towers with automatic plate changers, automatic colour-register controls, CleanTronic washing systems, automatic inking-unit cleaning and central ink pumping,
• 3 turner bar assemblies with half-cover web leads and spadea production capabilities, a folder superstructure with two formers, a KBA KF 3 jaw folder as well as an additional folder which underwent a general overhaul on site from a previous Journal press,
• Cut-off register, and web-edge and web-centre controls,
• 2 KBA ErgoTronic consoles with EasyTronic for optimal press start-up and automated run-down,
• KBA PressNet for scheduling, presetting and process control including a proofing system and a PRIME interface to the customer’s LMS system.