Ahrensburg - QIPC-EAE Americas has just launched the second phase of two demanding retrofit projects for newspaper customers in Costa Rica and the U.S. The company is upgrading the press control and control console technology of a KBA Comet web press with ten four-high towers to the latest generation at Grupo Nación – at home in San José, the capital of Costa Rica – as well as four KBA Commander web presses with a total of 36 towers at the Kansas City Star in Kansas City, Missouri.

The first project phase at Grupo Nación, which prints the daily La Nación and the tabloid La Teja, was completed in the fall of 2015; it comprised the modernization of the PC hardware for various EAE systems and upgrades to newer software versions. In the second phase which has now kicked off, QIPC-EAE Americas will replace the PC hardware for the EAE PRINT systems, section controls, EAE Service system and five EAE control consoles. This phase encompasses the delivery of 15 PCs, including spare units, on which the EAE software runs under Windows 10.

At the Kansas City Star – which belongs to The McClatchy Company, a major newspaper and Internet publisher – phase 1 entailed updating the EAE workflow systems for all four web presses and replacing the PC hardware for the EAE control consoles and other EAE systems of one press. Phase 2 involves new PC hardware for the other three KBA Commander web presses.

Everything on schedule – with flexible adaptation to customer requirements

Phase 1 went according to schedule and was an all-round success in both cases. “There were no disruptions or interruptions in newspaper production due to our retrofit work in either Costa Rica or Kansas City,” said Ronald Reedijk, Managing Director of QIPC-EAE Americas. “Both customers were very satisfied and confirmed how very efficiently the first phase of the modernization project was carried out.”

Whereas Grupo Nación has only just given the go-ahead for phase 2 – one year later than initially planned – Kansas City Star is right on schedule. “Our customers are important partners: we offer them the flexibility they need to adapt priorities to their budget cycles and current business demands,” Reedijk explained. “Aside from that, our retrofits help our clients restore production reliability and bring their systems into line with the latest state of the art. That puts them in a position to take on extra work and improve their business situation, which is a win-win situation for both them and us.”