LEIPZIG, Germany - IfraExpo ignited a flurry of announcements, including Agfa’s five-year agreement to supply The New York Times Co. with violet computer-to-plate systems and press sales by MAN Roland and Goss International Corp., including a major installation at the Belfast Telegraph that Goss hadn’t previously disclosed.

MAN Roland and Koenig &  Bauer each rolled out 4-by-1 9-satellite printing presses while KBA also introduced a new cylinder pressure measurement system, the NipTronic. KBA maintains the system will enable users to precisely set the pressure between plate and blanket cylinders, or between blanket cylinders on four-high tower presses.

Ifra said its 2005 IfraExpo attracted about 9,000 attendees, up slightly from the 8,600 who traveled to Amsterdam for last year’s show.

The number of exhibitors, meantime, rose 13 percent, to 313, of which 60 were first-time participants, Ifra said.

Sixty companies, meantime, debuted new products at the four-day meeting, the association said.  

During the show, Ifra members elected Horst Pirker, chief executive officer and president of Styria Medien in Graz, Austria, to serve as Ifra’s president, succeeding Willem O. Kok, former managing director of De Telegraaf in Amsterdam.

Tore Stangebye of Orkla Media AS in Oslo was elected treasurer and Michael J. Coleman, president and publisher of Florida Today in Melbourne, continues as Ifra vice president.

A wrap-up (in alphabetical order):

NYT going with Agfa

Agfa’s Graphic Systems unit said it signed a five-year agreement with The New York Times Co. to supply the publisher with violet computer-to-plate systems and related software for all of the company’s newspapers, including the International Herald Tribune.

As part of the contract, The Times is replacing its current page transmission technology with Courier, Agfa’s communications app. The vendor is also supplying 20 Advantage CTP systems to be placed at various NYT locations within the United States. Of the 20, four of the systems will be Agfa’s Advantage X violet system, which the vendor introduced at Ifra Expo. The remaining installation will be a combination of automatic and semi-automatic Advantage machines, Agfa said.

The Advantage X units come in two models: Xm and Xs, for manual and semi-automatic, respectively. Each can process 85 plates per hour and offers multiple resolutions from 1,000 dots per inch to 2,540 dpi, Agfa said. They work with Lithostar silver based or N91v photpolymer plates.

Meantime, Agfa said it extended its manufacturing alliance with Punch Graphix. Punch will continue to make the Polaris and Advantage CTP platforms while Agfa will retain the exclusive right to market the machines.

Additionally, Agfa beefed up its Arkitex workflow app and rolled out Arkitex IntellTrack, enterprise production tracking software. The app lets users automate how they monitor their production workflow. Finally, Agfa said it would make a PC version of its IntelliTune image management software available next spring. An upgraded version of the software, 3.5, for Macintosh users, will be available this month, Agfa said.

Atex buys stake in Mediaspectrum

Atex Group Ltd. said it has taken an equity stake in ad management software vendor Mediaspectrum Inc. Atex invested $25 million in the firm as it rounds out it technology portfolio. Meantime, Atex said one of its largest customers, Dutch-based media and marketing group Wegener NV, placed an order for Mediaspectrum’s ad software.

FujiFilm snares plate pacts

FujiFilm Graphic Systems (UK) Ltd. said it will supply all of Trinity Mirror’s computer-to-plate printing plates in a “long-term” agreement. The pact covers national and regional titles at all print sites within the group.  Swedish newspaper publisher Bold/DN.EX, meantime, said it will use FujiFilm’s Brillia LH.MN thermal plates to anchor its CTP production.

Goss sells 4 presses in China, 2 in Belfast go on-edition

Goss International Corp. said it sold four Newsliner 90 presses to Shenzhen Press Group in China. The order consists of four presses with 12 four-high towers, five 2:5:5 jaw folders and 16 reelstands. The presses will be equipped with DigiRail digital inking and will be installed in 2007 in a new printing facility in suburban Shenzhen City.

Goss also added a semi-automatic plate changing option to its Flexible Printing System press. The vendor said the system lets users change plates in about half the time it would take on a conventional press. The option will be offered in conjunction with the automated plate changing system introduced when the FPS debuted in 2004.

Finally, Goss said the Belfast Telegraph in Ireland went on-edition with two Colorliner presses in July. The presses, configured as eight four-high towers and two folders, gives the Telegraph a capacity to print 160 broadsheet color pages. Goss had not previously disclosed the Belfast project, which also included digital inking and upgrading the paper’s existing Metroliner press.

Hubei picks Idab

Idab Wamac said it will supply The Hubei Daily Group in Wuhan, China, with postpress equipment for its new print site in Chutian. The publisher prints the 1.2 million circulation Chutian Metro Daily as well as other periodicals, producing more than 500 million copies annually.

KBA debuts cylinder pressure unit

Koenig & Bauer debuted the NipTronic bearing unit, designed to allow users to precisely set the pressure between plate and blanket cylinders, or between blanket cylinders on four-high tower presses. The unit, designed jointly by KBA, Bosch Rexroth and bearing manufacturer Ina, is seated in a sealed, oiltight housing.

KBA claims the system eliminates cylinder play without requiring multiring bearings or cams. It also eliminates maintenance-intensive bearing rings, the company said. For now, the NipTronic will be available on KBA’s Cortina waterless press, but it will be later added to the vendor’s other web offset presses that are equipped with oil-free printing units.

Additionally, KBA took the wraps off a 4-by-1 Commander nine-satellite press capable of printing eight broadsheet pages per tower, a 59-inch Pastomat reelstand and a new jaw folder, the KF7, capable of processing 144 broadsheet pages and a maximum output of 90,000 copies per hour.

New MAN ColorMAN slated for 2 sites

MAN Roland said El Mundo in Spain and Verlagsgruppe Passau in Germany are the first two publishers to install its 9-satellite 4-by-1 ColorMAN press, which made its formal debut at IfraExpo.

Fabripress S.A., which prints El Mundo, is building a new print facility in Madrid to house two presses, each with five folders and reel splicers, MAN Roland said.

Verlagsgruppe Passau, meantime, is installing a five-tower, two-folder ColorMAN at its Katowice, Poland, plant, where it will be used to produce Dziennik Zachodni. Passau is also installing 4-by-2 ColorMANs at print sites in Germany and the Czech Republic. The 9-satellite model is capable of producing 86,000 copies per hour and sports an optional Power Plate Loading feature to reduce make-ready time.