German Newspaper Publisher Improves Productivity With Baldwin’s Constant C Technology
3/19/2007
Newspaper publisher Zeitungsverlag Krause in Stade, north Germany, has improved the productivity of its KBA Journal Express by retrofitting Baldwin’s Constant C technology to the Litho Spray World dampening system, which is in use on a four-high tower added to the press line in 2002. Prior to the Constant C upgrade, the 32-page coldest web press had to be stopped about ten times every week, while blocked nozzles in the spray dampening system were cleared. The Constant C system has eliminated this problem completely.
The nozzles incorporated in spray dampening systems, regardless of manufacturer, are prone to clogging by dirt, ink mist and dust during production and this can lead to uneven application of fount solution on the plate and subsequent variations in print quality. Baldwin’s unique Constant C technology, which is standard on Litho Spray Maxima systems and easily retrofitted to Litho Spray World systems, is the only solution on the market for this problem. Constant C eliminates the potential for blocked nozzles by creating a continuous air curtain around the nozzle tips, which keeps away pollutants, debris and ink mist etc. The nozzles on the Krause spray dampening equipment are given an additional ‘blow through’ at the end of each production run, which prevents any remaining fountain solution from drying inside the nozzles.
“Baldwin’s Litho Spray World system allows us to apply fountain solution very finely and transfer it to the dampening rollers and plates evenly,” says Manfred Kriett, head of the printing department. “The ability to adjust the flow from each individual nozzle permits the optimum control of the fountain solution and is a real stroke of genius. Before we installed Baldwin’s spray dampening, we used to experience print quality issues caused by the heat from the gearbox radiating from the drive end towards the cylinder, which resulted in unequal evaporation of the solution. This used to leave us with huge amounts of waste, whereas now the water supply via the nozzles to the affected area is simply increased.”
The addition of Constant C to the Litho Spray World bars has increased quality and productivity even further. “We fitted our Litho Spray World spray bars with Constant C during 2006 and since then the dampening system has worked perfectly. In addition to a significant reduction in downtime, we have noticed a measurable improvement in print quality. Previously, nozzles clogging during production resulted in major variations in the fountain supply, which caused the ink to smear. Constant C has given us effective protection against uneven quality. Not only has the makeready waste, which inevitably occurs after a stoppage, been eradicated but we no longer incur labour costs for cleaning nozzles,” says Mr Kriett.
Baldwin’s engineer took only one day to retrofit Constant C to the eight Litho Spray World spray bars in use on the KBA press and a further day to complete fine adjustments and program the parameters on the control desk. A new interface between the press control desk and the spray bars was fitted during this period. All of the work was carried out without interrupting the production of the five daily newspapers or two weekly freesheets that are produced at the site along with a selection of special inserts.
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