Koenig & Bauer sells 28th Commander CL since its market launch

• Capacity expansion to handle new jobs
• Successful partnership
• Highly automated newspaper press
• Investment in newspapers

New Commander CL for Druckhaus Delmenhorst. The floor-mounted Commander CL comprises three four-high towers, two KF 5 jaw folders and three Pastomat reelstands with a stripping station and Patras A paper-reel transport system. It is scheduled to come on stream in the fourth quarter of 2020. “Our existing Commander CT is already very well utilised, and so we needed to expand our production capacities ready for a series of new jobs which we will be printing from December 2020 onwards. Given our longstanding partnership and cooperation with Koenig & Bauer over the past decades, it was soon clear that we would once again be choosing a press from Würzburg,” said Gerhard Tapken, the owner of Druckhaus Delmenhorst. Starting at the end of the year to come, the new press will be responsible for production of the newspapers Weser-Kurier, Bremer Nachrichten and Verdener Nachrichten, among others. Günter Noll, head of sales at Koenig & Bauer Digital & Webfed: “We at Koenig & Bauer are delighted that Druckhaus Delmenhorst has followed up the installation of its CT 6/2 in 2013 with a renewed expression of confidence in our products. With a total of four state-of-the-art folder deliveries, Delmenhorst will then become one of the major newspaper printing locations in northern Germany.” Since its initial market launch just a few years ago, Koenig & Bauer has now sold 28 presses of this type to clients in Germany, France, China and the USA, and it is currently the most frequently ordered newspaper press.

From managing director to owner

Established as DruckHaus Rieck in 1822, the company was bought out by managing director Gerhard Tapken in 2018 and renamed Druckhaus Delmenhorst. With prudent investments and innovative ideas, Gerhard Tapken has since guided the company out of its financial difficulties and returned it to a solid footing. “Many people thought I was crazy at the time. But when I look back now, I can definitely say that it was the right decision.” Aside from the aforementioned new jobs, the company is already kept busy printing numerous supplements and weekly titles as contract production, amounting to several million copies every week.

Flexible, automated and reliable printing of high-quality products

Engineered for a maximum web width of 1,400 mm and a cylinder circumference of 1,000 mm, the new Commander CL can print up to 100,000 four-colour newspapers per hour. Like the existing Commander CT, it incorporates a whole host of automation features. RollerTronic roller locks, inking unit and cylinder washing, fan-out control, colour measuring and control systems, colour and cut-off register controls and fully automatic plate changes combine to simplify operation and reduce job makeready times, waste and maintenance requirements to a minimum. The Commander CL is controlled by means of an ErgoTronic console with EasyTronic for optimised press start-up.