Pressgrannar Upgrades To Baldwin Litho Spray Maxima System
2/7/2007
Trials of four Litho Spray Maxima spray bars at the Linköping plant of Swedish newspaper group Pressgrannar have gone so well that the company has installed a further 12 Litho Spray Maxima systems from Baldwin. The spray bars, which incorporate Baldwin’s unique Constant C technology, have been fitted to four 4+0 MAN Colorman satellite units, which have the capacity to print two webs in full colour. Pressgrannar is also using Baldwin’s spray bar upgrade programme to test Litho Spray Maxima systems on the newspaper press at its Norrköping site.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in the demand for colour within the titles we produce and almost every newspaper today contains four-colour throughout,” says Peter Lantz, who is technical manager at the Linköping site. “This has required precise control of the web and the final printed product, which in turn has led to upgrading our original Jimek/Baldwin spray bars to the Litho Spray Maxima systems containing Baldwin’s Constant C technology.
“The new Maxima spray bars provide constant, even coverage of dampening solution on the plate during the production run, with no problems caused by blocked nozzles. This has resulted in greater dampening/ink control as well as better web tension/fan out control and therefore significantly better print quality. The installation of the Litho Spray Maxima system was very straightforward, while maintenance of the equipment has proved to be minimal. We’ve dealt with Baldwin and Jimek for many years and they have an excellent reputation in Scandinavia for their products and service. We’ve certainly not been disappointed in this latest investment.”
Baldwin’s spray bar upgrade programme is available to all customers operating older Baldwin spray bar systems and provides a means of helping to maintain top quality print from ageing press lines. Baldwin reports that many customers are investing in state-of-the-art dampening facilities in order to extend the effective working life of the press. Replacing spray bars is generally very straightforward. Customers with Jet 150 models can update to a Baldwin World with Constant C technology and still retain their existing control system, which brings down the installation cost of the new equipment considerably, while the Litho Spray Maxima system can match the speed of the fastest web offset press.
Pressgrannar operates its Linköping plant on a two shift system over six days, producing a wide range of titles. These include local, national and international newspapers with circulations of up to 200,000 copies. Trails of the Litho Spray Maxima system at the Norrköping site are going extremely well, as Benny Lindström, production manager at Pressgrannar in Norrköping reports.
“Our original press was a Nohab, which we’ve extended over the years with WIFAG units and more recently with two MAN Colorman satellite units,” says Mr Lindström. “All of these different units have been equipped at varying stages with spray dampening from Baldwin/Jimek, so we have a great deal of knowledge of the company and its systems. At the end of 2006 we installed Maxima spray dampening on one of our MAN units and this has worked perfectly.
“The Maxima system allows us to regulate the volume of dampening solution applied to the plate precisely and this level is very easy to regulate so we can always run with the minimum amount, while the air current created by the system keeps the nozzles free of dust and dirt. We’ve only operated the Maxima system for a few months and it has required no maintenance or cleaning during this period. We believe Baldwin’s Maxima system is an ideal way to improve the print quality and wastage levels on an ageing press. These initial trials have gone so well that we expect to install Maxima on the second MAN satellite unit soon.”
---