Danish newspaper publisher Dansk AvisTryk is purchasing a press from Koenig & Bauer AG that will mesh the capacity of a triplewide format with the flexibility of a singlewide machine.

The 94.5-inch-wide Commander 6-by-2, the first of its kind, will be configured as two parallel lines, with two reelstands, two towers and one folder in each line, KBA said. A singlewide superstructure positioned between the two folders at right angles to the triplewide towers will complete the design.

It will be shipped in mid-2008 and go on-edition in spring 2009 and replace four presses currently used by Dansk AvisTryk.

Dansk AvisTryk prints more than 20 titles a day ranging from eight to 128 pages. The press will produce newspapers ranging in size from 9-7/8 inches to 19-5/8 inches running on web widths from 19-5/8 inches to 94.5 inches with a cutoff of 22 inches, KBA said. The machine can produce more than 195 million pages a day, all in full color.

“Dansk AvisTryk’s production specs not only demanded a new press capable of high quality and output, but also a press that could run more products more efficiently with fewer people in less space than any other press currently being used in the industry,” said project consultant Sam Wagner, principal of Sarasota, Fla.-based Web Offset Services. “In order to accomplish this, a unique design was put together utilizing a wide press with fewer webs in a compact arrangement, coupled with the flexibility of a singlewidth superstructure all operated by an advanced, yet simple, control system.”

4 control consoles

The press will be controlled and monitored from four consoles featuring EAE’s Semi-Commercial press control and presetting software, also including soft proofing. The app will be preprogrammed with more than 500 different job configurations including default settings for all running press adjustments. It’s the same approach Wagner used when he advised Independent Newspapers Inc. in Dover, Del., and its KBA Colora press (see Newspapers & Technology, May 2007).

 “This press is more complex, so the control system was even more critical,” he said, adding that he and Dansk AvisTryk officials made it clear from the very beginning of the process how integral a preprogrammed control system would be.

“Dansk wanted something that was very flexible and a press that could produce high-quality, 4-color products,” he said.

The press will also be outfitted with stitching and gluing systems that will permit Dansk to produce a wide variety of finished products, from independently stitched tabloids to glued magazines and broadsheets.

“Most triplewide presses are dedicated to a certain size paper or project,” Wagner said. “In sitting down with Dansk, they were intrigued with the flexibility (the singlewide component) would bring and what they would be able to do with it.”