KBA Commander 3/2 for Italian publishing group Caltagirone

After almost 35 years, Centro Stampa Veneto has decided to retire its old flexo newspaper press and to switch to offset. The Commander 3/2 which is to be installed by KBA-Digital & Web Solutions will be coming on stream in Mestre near Venice in summer 2017. The new press is able to print up to 80,000 four-colour tabloid newspapers per hour (format: 440 x 300 mm / 17.3 x 11.8 in). For the president of the Caltagirone publishing group, Dr. Azzurra Caltagirone, the decision to work with Koenig & Bauer was only logical: “We were looking for a partner we could rely on also in the future. Koenig & Bauer was here the obvious choice.”

Market leader in Northeast Italy 

The Caltagirone group owns and publishes a total of six newspapers, and views itself as the market leader in Northeast Italy. Alongside the regular titles Messagero di Roma, Mattino di Napoli, Corriere Adriatico di Ancona, Quotidiano di Puglia di Bari/Brindisi/Lecce and the free newspaper Leggo, the KBA Commander will be assigned primarily to printing of the Gazettino di Venezia. Some 90,000 newspapers will then be produced in seven different editions.   

Unusual configuration with the latest hardware and software 

The KBA Commander 3/2 for Caltagirone comprises five four-high towers with H-type printing units and was engineered for a web width of 1320 mm (52 in). It is to be installed as an inline floor-mounted press with the operator side to the right. The five KBA Pastomat RC reelstands are arranged alongside the printing towers and supplied via the automatic KBA Patras A reel logistics system. When the web ribbons emerge from the printing towers, they are turned by 90° for forwarding to the folder. The turner-bar decks, the folder superstructure with its two balloon formers and the KF 5 jaw folder are placed centrally behind the printing units. The press also incorporates automatic roller locks (KBA RollerTronic), colour and cut-off register controls, blanket washing systems and pneumatic plate clamping.   

The two EAE consoles and the production planning and preset system are equipped with the latest hardware and software.