The new Colorman XXL autoprint is the country’s first, and prints a range of newspapers and supplements including ‘Wiener Zeitung’, ‘Die Presse’ and ‘Heute’ under contract.

It will operate in parallel to the existing double-width press, where an extra satellite tower with integrated inert UV curing was added three years ago partly because insufficient space was available for both the tower and conventional dryers.

The new line (also in satellite design) is the latest in a 17 year partnership with the German press manufacturer: Chief executive Leopold Kurz says the installation – a “fully customised start to 2011” – further bolstered confidence.

On-site training courses meant many more staff could learn about the project than would have been possible through external training.

APL plate logistics and other features of the ‘autoprint’ package will deliver greater production speed and pricing competitiveness. “As a contract printer without an internal publishing house, we need to distinguish ourselves in the market on performance features,” Kurz says. “We will be able to process up to three daily newspapers on a single machine, to the satisfaction of all our customers. That was simply inconceivable with the old machine configurations.”

The complex installation required two or three daily newspapers to be printed while the installation went ahead at facility near Vienna Central Station.

The new Colorman XXL autoprint has two printing towers and extensive autoprint equipment including robot APL plate loading and QuickStart pre-inking, plus automatic cut-off, web tension and dampening solution temperature controls.

Provision for future expansion includes continuous automation of the production workflow, from customer data input to press proofing, with ppi Media’s printnet OM output control which was ordered last October. Two extra towers and a folder can be added to the line, as well as APL plate conveying and Aurosys material logistics.

During 2011, Herold will commission a reel store with an automated crane system handling up to 600 tons of paper in the site’s very limited space, with fully automatic supply to the presses.

Pictured are director Hans Pfleiderer, Leopold Kurz, operations director Thomas Unterberger, and Alexander Gailer of manroland