Site's Fourth Wifag Press is its Second Triplewide

By: Jim Rosenberg Centro Stampa Quotidiani, Erbusco, Italy, has ordered its second triplewide Wifag evolution 373 -- in all, its fourth two-around press from the Swiss manufacturer.

CSQ is jointly owned by L?Eco di Bergamo and Giornale di Brescia. A customer since 2000, when it began operating a doublewide Wifag OF 370, CSQ extended that press and added another several years ago. In late 2006 it ordered its first 373 ? a blanket-to-blanket tower press that also was chosen for its ease of use, affordable print quality, extensible and retrofittable design.

The new order, announced here at this week?s IFRA Expo, is for an identical evolution 373: four full-color towers equipped with Elettra blanket-washing systems, semi-automatic plate changers, and image-data-based cutoff and color-register controls; KF 150 2:7:7 folder with Motter section stiticher; four M50 autopasters; and ABB PlatformPlus control system.

CSQ Technical Director Dario de Cian says OF 370 proved easy to extend and retrofit with blanket-washing and controls options. The 2006 order, he continues, required tabloid and broadsheet (what he calls ?Italian Berliner? of 31cm x 41 cm) flexibility to accommodate work for customers other than its publisher-owners.

That first evolution 373 has been in operation since May of last year. Its twin is scheduled to be in production in one year.

In addition to the importance of holding down waste for the 20 million euros CSQ spends annually on paper, semi-automatic plate changing is valuable in reducing set-up time for so many jobs, according to Carlo Antonio Goia, consultant to CSQ?s owners.

The architecturally striking plant now runs day and night shifts, according to de Cian, who says it represents an investement of 140 million euros ($210 million) since its opening in 2000. Its Muller Martini mailroom includes stitch and trim equipment. ?We are able to produce a magazine with the timing of a newspaper,? he says, thanks to full internal capabilities, from accepting PDF files through stitching printed products. What CSQ does not provide is heatset printing, de Cian adds, owing to the capabilities of other printers in the market, including sheetfed shops.