The Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch is upgrading reels on its Mitsubishi Heavy Industries presses in a project that will be completed in 2008.

The paper (daily, 186,214; Sunday, 214,971) tapped Brock Solutions, ABB and Masthead International to 30 reels supporting its three MHI presses.

Crews are upgrading 10 reels at a time in an effort to minimize disruption on regular production, according to Greg Estep, operations manager.

Photo: Brock Solutions
Refurbished reels at The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune are enabling the paper to improve production and keep track of the system’s performance.
 

The 17-year-old reels were plagued by problems associated with obsolete equipment, sensors and actuators. Crews are swapping out the components as well as installing a main control panel with two ABB drives, ABB accelerator motors and a host of interfacing and control components.

The new controls also sport a panel-mounted touchscreen and a folder console interface for monitoring key information on the RTPs. The paper is also installing Brock’s Advanced Press Reporting Package software to enable crews to monitor the reels’ performance.

Earlier this year, The Times-Dispatch also used ABB’s MPS PlateWorkflow software to link its Hanover County print site with the paper’s downtown editorial offices.

Meantime, The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune capped off its two-month project to upgrade its RTPs.

The paper (daily, 226,290; Sunday, 298,674) also used Brock and Masthead to perform the work, according to William Barker, vice president of operations.

The upgrade included mechanical components and associated equipment to replace parts on 16 obsolete Goss RTPs. The work eliminated the RTPs’ brake, clutch and magnetic pick-up designs, among other modifications aimed at improving tension control.

The paper has a mix of Goss and TKS (USA) RTPs supporting its four TKS presses. Two of the machines were majority equipped with Goss RTPs while the other two presses sport TKS equipment.

Making the upgrade more urgent was the fact that the Goss units had previously been retrofitted with a control system whose parts were no longer supported. As part of the retrofit, Masthead crews moved the control boxes from a wall mount to a Y-column placement in order to reduce the long cable runs and separate and shorten the length of the low-voltage signal wires.

“We’re pleased with the results of our reel control modification control project,” Barker said. “Results have exceeded our expectations.”

Pressroom Manager Buddy Kerr said the rebuilt RTPs now equal the performance of the TKS reelstands. “Prior to the upgrade the webs fed by the Goss RTPs were responsible for 78 percent of the paster breaks,” he said. Now, the number of breaks attributable to the upgraded RTPs has been almost cut in half.

Monitor performance

In addition to the RTPs’ new components, Brock installed its APRP software to enable press crews to monitor the units’ performance.

Among the metrics tracked is a paste log for the last 256 pastes, including such information as press speed in and out of cycle, reel arm, paper width and other performance metrics.

The reels are networked together to let Brock remotely provide assistance on any reel or multiple reels simultaneously.

Finally, Brock installed folder console touchscreens on the upgraded TKS presses. The screens let press-level crews keep tabs on the RTPs, located a floor below the presses.

Kerr and Barker said the upgrade has helped the paper improve its runnability and print quality. The Tribune is now evaluating whether to use Brock to retrofit its existing TKS RTPs, Brock said.