Why the new Commander CT and why now?

Bolza-Schunemann: Seven years ago, at Drupa 2000, Koenig & Bauer AG unveiled the ultra-compact and highly automated Cortina, a waterless, keyless press for printing newspapers and semicommercials (with and without a heatset dryer). Since then, seven of the nine Cortina press lines sold to date have gone on-line at European newspaper publishing houses printing newspapers, supplements and magazines in a superb quality. The Commander CT is a conventional wet offset press with film inking units incorporating three form rollers and spray dampeners. It is based on the same compact platform (a four-high tower is just over 13 feet high) as the KBA Cortina and has many of the same unique features, among them automatic plate changing, automatic ink-roller adjustment, and new bearing technology for adjusting printing pressure from the console. As a result, it not only dramatically shortens makeready times and job changes but also requires less labor input for operation and maintenance, so it is ideal for printing stronger zoned titles. The first press line at a German newspaper has been in daily operation for some months following rigorous testing, and shows great potential. So we are now ready to offer this high-tech press to U.S. newspaper printers who, like their European counterparts, are looking for new ways of making production more flexible and efficient.

Claus Bolza-Schunemann

What market trends are you watching and how are you shaping your development plans?

Bolza-Schunemann: There is a clear trend in the United States and Europe toward full color throughout and smaller newspaper formats like the compact Berliner format common in Germany. There also is a growing demand for greater flexibility with regard to web width and format, which allows a wider range of products to be printed on the same press and, therefore, increases the level of press utilization. Increasingly, newspaper presses are being equipped with heatset capabilities, and sometimes even UV dryers, so that they can print commercials as well. Recently, for example, we demonstrated high-speed conversion from coldset to heatset production — with no change of ink — on a waterless Cortina press in Belgium. This was a world first that attracted a lot of interest among members of the trade.

What are your biggest concerns for the press manufacturers now and in the future?

Bolza-Schunemann: At present, one of our biggest concerns is the reluctance in the newspaper industry, particularly in the United States, to invest in new press equipment. We attribute this to the wrenching changes that are impacting the industry and to the search by newspaper publishers for new, sustainable cross-media business models as a means of defending their corner against e-media. Although the online media are growing rapidly, albeit from a much lower base, and are tapping advertising revenues, in our view we must not neglect the fact that virtually every newspaper publishing house generates more profit with print than with any other media. And while circulations are shrinking, newspaper publishing is still, in the vast majority of cases, a profitable business. But investment is vital if the benefits of new technologies are to be utilized to the fullest in the editorial office, prepress, the pressroom, finishing and process optimization (production workflow) as a means of slashing production costs and boosting flexibility. In the fiercely competitive media arena, the newspaper industry simply cannot afford to ignore technological advances.

What do you see as the biggest challenges for printers?

Bolza-Schunemann: One of the biggest challenges for newspaper printers lies in standardizing and streamlining the production process to exploit existing cost-cutting potential. Many sequences, particularly in small- and medium-size enterprises, are still too time consuming and labor intensive; they are more of a craft than an industrial process. Here we could learn from other branches of the industry.

In addition, newspapers must enhance their visual impact, color and quality. Unusual ad formats, something seen much more often in Europe and other parts of the world than in the United States, could generate additional advertising revenue. And of course, zoning (“all business is local”), reader participation (citizen journalists), the intelligent networking of content and the expansion of the high-speed online services now offered by virtually every publishing house are potential tools for winning new readers and advertising clients. In the age of globalization it is well worth looking beyond local, regional and national environments. In so doing, it is possible to come across a lot of good and successful ideas for helping the newspaper industry master existing challenges.