The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch has boosted its pressroom productivity with an Oxy-Dry Cylinder Select blanket washer system.

Four 10-unit, double-wide TKS M-72 presses with 128 printing couples each were equipped with the custom-made system in April 1999. Cylinder Select allows one washer unit to automatically position itself and clean up to two blankets and one impression cylinder with the same mechanical cleaning head.

The Cylinder Select installation at The Columbus Dispatch (daily, 244,204; Sunday, 367,546) was done at a time when only 5 percent of U.S. newspapers were using automatic blanket washer systems, according to Oxy-Dry.

Quality and pressroom productivity at 
The Columbus Dispatch increased using the 
automatic Oxy-Dry blanket washer systems.
Photos courtesy of Oxy-Dry

The pressroom productivity increased because Cylinder Select reduces downtime and wash-up time through the elimination of hand washing of blankets and common impression cylinders. Because of the system's ability to wash at crawl speed, paper waste is also dramatically reduced.

“The reduction of washing time and waste, which dropped from 15 minutes per cylinder to approximately three minutes for a complete press, wasn’t the only argument,” said Bill Kohl, print operations manager at The Columbus Dispatch. “We wanted to free up and care for the health of our printing staff. Manual blanket washing with aggressive solvents isn’t such an easy job.”

With the system’s automatic retracting makeready carriage feature, the washer unit automatically moves out of the way, allowing better access to blankets or plates. The problem of rag waste and hand exposure is eliminated.

Rick Hausfeld, vice president of sales for Oxy-Dry; Bill Kohl, print operations manager at The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch; and Diego Uribe, vice president of operations at Oxy-Dry, stand in front of one of the four TKS M-72 presses.
Photos courtesy of Oxy-Dry

“As Oxy-Dry already had reference installations on TKS presses and a strong reputation equipping newspaper presses of the leading manufacturers, we made the right decision,” Kohl said. “The system is engineered very well and gives an easy access to the blankets and printing units. Compared to competing manufacturers, the systems works with a minimum amount of solvents and without additional expensive consumables like towels.”

Individualized software programs are available to maximize pressroom production schedule and also the various demands of a production run. The operator interface provides a high performance integrated color touchscreen in a compact flat-panel design. The control systems give complete control of the blanket washer system directly from the press console.

“We are doing a lot of maintenance on our 12-year-old presses to keep them on a high level. The Oxy-Dry systems have met our high expectations because they are easy to handle and don’t need much service. The only activity is to clean the brush housings every six months. Because of the smooth function of the brushes, blankets can be changed on a four-month basis,” said Thomas Larry, assistant pressroom manager. “The fully computerized console of the presses give us the chance to choose between different washing programs. We only use three different settings to reach a constant quality, even if we’re using difficult papers and high ink coverage.”

U.S. installations growing rapidly

The installation at The Columbus Dispatch has already has been accompanied by even larger orders from other U.S. newspapers, including one from The Washington Post. The Post’s Mitsubishi presses will be equipped with 384 blanket washers. A KBA Commander project at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with 108 blanket washers will follow.

The Oxy-Dry brush technology removes paper and ink piling without damage to the blankets and impressions cylinders. The brush system has high cleaning efficiency with only solvents as a consumable. Capable of single-, dual- and multiple-position configurations, Cylinder Select gives flexibility in designing a complete press cylinder washing system. Print quality is improved, blanket life extended and reduced VOCs result from using automatic blanket washing systems.

The units on the four presses at The Columbus Dispatch consist of one stand-alone unit, two satellite units, one tower unit, five BB units and four three-color units. The presses have a production speed of 72,000 copies per hour and are able to print 112 pages of black and 64 pages four-color running collect. The Columbus Dispatch also produces advertising preprints, a couple of weekly comics and a real estate magazine.

“The Oxy-Dry service people have not been back since the installation of the systems. The blanket washers are durable and built like a tank,” said Tim Bader, quality assurance manager at The Columbus Dispatch. “They give a reliable performance with constant high washing quality even when using different papers in the presses.”