Coordination is a word that gets thrown around a lot during a big project. Design has to be coordinated. Deliveries have to be coordinated. Installation has to be coordinated. However, when you stuff a bunch of equipment from different manufacturers in a small area, that’s when the rubber hits the road for coordination.

The arrival of installation teams from Ferag and Heidelberg to The Courier-Journal’s downtown Louisville, Ky., facility signaled the beginning of the most critical test of coordination in the production facility project. 

The Courier-Journal’s mailroom already looks full, although more stackers and tie lines are coming.
Photos: The Courier-Journal

At the same time, and in roughly the same space, crews from Alvey Systems began the initial testing of the bundle distribution system, which they tied into a new cart loader from Cannon Equipment Co.

Ferag, supplying the gripper conveyors from the Koenig & Bauer press to the mailroom, arrived in early January and immediately installed the first five stacker infeed assemblies.

Although only three SIAs were needed for the first press, two additional SIAs were required to tie in both lines of Heidelberg’s NP632 inserter on schedule.

First gripper

The first gripper track to go in was for press 3 (the first press being installed), and was color-coded red. Although the schedule didn’t call for hanging the track on press 2, Ferag’s installation manager proceeded to hang the track to check for interference.

This turned out to be a wise decision, as one piece of the yellow press 2 track will have to be slightly modified to fit its spot. Additionally, a minor adjustment had to be made to the height of some of the SIAs to allow a Quipp Systems Inc. 401 stacker to pass under them. Although the plans showed a full quarter inch of clearance, field modifications are at times necessary.

Heidelberg mobilized at the beginning of February, immediately setting the NP632 inserter in place. To the casual observer, the inserter was nearly installed after only a few days, but mechanical and electrical connections still needed to be made and the delivery gripper had to be installed.

Once the NP632 and its associated conveyors are installed, Heidelberg will move to the north end of the mailroom and install the remanufactured 1472.

Although all of the gripper conveyor going in is very interesting, the real star of the month was Alvey. Its bundle distribution system started on schedule and test bundles began flowing up the spirals to the overhead accumulation conveyors.

High speeds

After the sorter at the cart loaders was tied into Cannon cart loader No. 5, bundles could flow throughout the system at a rate that is significantly faster than the theoretical top speed of all three KBA presses running simultaneously.

This high processing speed, combined with Alvey’s patented accumulation belt system, effectively creates an internal buffer system, should any downstream equipment cause delays in processing.

On the pressroom side of the plant, BG Industrial’s ink system was completed and successfully tested, and technotrans followed along closely to install the reverse osmosis and dampening systems.

KBA topped off press 2 during February, although a broom had to stand in for the traditional tree until an appropriate celebration could be worked into the schedule.

KBA’s progress in the pressroom can now be followed via The Courier-Journal’s webcam at http://webcam.courier-journal.com.