With an order for two new double-width KBA Cortina presses and a comprehensive retrofit programme for its existing KBA Commander line, newspaper printer Coldset Printing Partners from Belgium has committed to a major investment in print capabilities. “It was especially important for us, that we can obtain everything we need from a single source. The biggest challenge will be to coordinate the extensive retrofit measures perfectly with the installation of the new presses. But given our longstanding partnership, we are convinced that Koenig & Bauer will accomplish this task in admirable fashion,” says CPP managing director Paul Huybrechts. The first of six retrofit phases will begin in the middle of next year, and the two KBA Cortinas are scheduled to go live at the CPP print centre in Paal-Beringen in 2018 and 2019. With their flexible web width (1200-1620mm/47.2-63.8in), the Cortinas are able to produce the most varied formats. 

KBA Cortina: Excellent quality and minimised waste 

The waterless coldset process realised on the Cortina guarantees excellent print quality for newspapers, magazines and a range of other special publications, while at the same time reducing waste to a minimum.  The elimination of dampening units is good for the environment, and the compact design and extensive automation of the press make work easier for the operator. The two Cortinas each comprise two reelstands, two printing towers and a folder. Wide-ranging automation features, such as automatic plate and format changing, CleanTronic washing systems, RollerTronic roller locks, and colour and cut-off register controls, shorten makeready times and reduce maintenance outlay.   

Both presses are able to print newspapers with up to 64 pages in tabloid format. The variable web width and an optional coating unit – a facility which no other coldset press can offer – enable the production of high-quality semi-commercials for external target groups in addition to daily newspaper production. Other Cortina users are already very successful with such products. Further coating units and hot-air dryers can be retrofitted as and when required.   

Commander line fit for the future 

The reelstands, printing towers, folders, controllers and consoles of the existing KBA Commander are to be brought into line with the latest state of technology. The quarter-width ink ducts are to be replaced with full-width ducts, for example, and the entire scope of mechanical, pneumatic, control and drive elements is to be overhauled or renewed.   

To accommodate future production demands, five of the twelve towers of the KBA Commander are to be dismantled and a folder is to be relocated. The impact on daily production will be minimised by spreading the work over six integrated retrofit phases lasting until mid-2019.  

CPP is the largest newspaper printer in Belgium 

Coldset Printing Partners was founded by the two Belgian media houses Corelio and Concentra in 2010, and is today the largest newspaper printer in the country. Alongside the nightly production of De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad, De Gentenaar, L´Avenir, Gazet van Antwerpen, Het Belang van Limburg, De Limburger and Metro, a diversity of “daytime products” are already being printed. And with the two new Cortina sections, CPP is acquiring uniquely efficient and flexible equipment engineered to deliver print products of the highest quality.