ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — One of the
best-kept secrets in the Chicago area is the press remanufacturing company
Freidel’s Manufacturing Inc.
FMI has been rebuilding and
customizing Heidelberg Harris M1000 web presses for almost 20 years. They have
now moved their rebuilding expertise into the newspaper press area. Dan Freidel,
FMI’s president, feels that one of the company’s strengths lies in its
ability to study and determine clients’ needs. FMI will do a study of all the
products that clients want to produce. A client may not have to go and purchase
a new press or another piece of equipment.
FMI strips and replaces all parts for
Heidelberg
M1000 presses.
Photo by Mary L. Van Meter
“We might suggest that they revamp
one of their existing machines to alter or customize its applications,” said
Freidel. “We have the knowledge and ability to help production facilities with
their changing needs. In addition, we can extend the life of the existing press
or build a new one.”
All engineering is done at FMI,
which has approximately 30 employees. They design, engineer and build presses,
folders and production parts at their Romeoville, Ill., facility. They have
their own trucks and rigging equipment, which they feel makes them very
responsive to clients needs and not dependent on anyone else.
Brian Scully, vice president of
electrical operations, feels that strong electrical capabilities are necessary
to any press manufacturer.
“FMI’s controls are designed by
pressmen for pressmen. We design our own control systems, utilizing
off-the-shelf components,” Scully said.
FMI’s “One Button Start”
allows the operator to select unit timing and sequencing of press speed and unit
functions, allowing time to adjust color and registration. Controls are equipped
with custom count and waste measurement panels.
“With a one-button start the
pressmen selects the running parameters, and when done, the system starts and it
ramps up,” Scully said. “Our controls can go on any press. We intend to
offer them as stand-alone controls for the newspaper industry.”
“We have the capability to build
new add-on towers; we just haven’t sold them yet,” said Phil Egner, director
of sales for FMI. “We are going to offer a true shaftless press, one motor per
couple. Some manufacturers have one motor per unit, and we don’t think that’s
the way to go.
“Our guys came out of the
maintenance and engineering end of the business, so they know how to maintain
and operate a press, and (they) designed the control software around that. In
addition to being operator friendly, it’s auto-diagnostic and it will tell you
where to find the problem, i.e., which web-break detector has fired, which door
is open, and so on, so that you can go and fix the problem.”
Moving forward
FMI recently completed a press
rebuild project for a Lee Enterprises newspaper in Helena, Mont. The
1970-vintage Goss Community units were brought into the FMI facility where some
of the units were “whacked and stacked,” i.e. the unit rollstands were
removed and the units were stacked into three four-high towers. The units are
referred to as “ground pounders” because of the common trait of strong
vibrations associated with older units, which could occasionally even move the
units out of proper alignment.
The press itself was originally
rated at 16,000 copies per hour. The drive shafts were badly worn and other
components needed to be replaced. All the cylinders, rollers and gears were
replaced and reinstalled by FMI. The units have been upgraded to include
motorized sidelay, circumferential and unit-to-unit register, pneumatic
throwoffs and lever-style drop-down ink fountains.
Brian Scully (left), vice president of
electrical operation, and Phil Egner (right), director of sales for FMI,
demonstrate the ease of “One Button Start” on an FMI control console.
Photo by Mary L. Van Meter
The folders were upgraded
mechanically to a rated speed of 25,000 copies per hour, and retrofitted with
pneumatic nip trollies and a tape delivery quarter-folder provided by Central
Graphics Inc. All unit function controls and adjustments are made from two
free-standing consoles equipped with touchscreens.
The press is equipped with twin 125
HP PLC/digital drives, ProFibus and data highway communication for unit function
controls. The whole system is self-diagnostic and to aid in servicing the press
system FMI can incorporate a system for remote troubleshooting of electrical
problems from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day.
Dan Freidel explained how the
rebuild was accomplished: “We looked at these units to determine what we could
save and we then created an ‘ExoFrame’ for the old units to fit into, thus
eliminating the vibration problems and creating a much sturdier press. In
addition, we dynamically balanced all the cylinders and rollers, so along with
the added rigidity provided by the ExoFrame there is no vibration,” he said.
The Lee Enterprise press now can
mechanically run at 35,000 cph.
All control cabinets for the press
and in the units are outfitted with vortex cooling. The cooler takes compressed
house air, which by nature is cold, and creates a positive pressure inside each
of the control consoles and all of the other electronic cabinets. Consequently,
dust and contaminates never get a chance to get into the systems. And all
electronic components are kept cool, which increases their reliability and
longevity.
The newspaper in Helena hopes to
bring in some commercial work with their new press and begin to produce in-house
some of the work, such as their inserts, which has previously been sent
elsewhere.
