West Australia Newspapers Puts KBA's Huge Hybrid into Production

By: E&P Staff Perth-based West Australian Newspapers has put into production a combined doublewide coldest and singlewide heatset press that manufacturer KBA bills as the world's largest hybrid newspaper press line.

Together, the KBA Colora and KBA Comet units comprise 192 printing couples and six folders, with 24 reelstands and automated reel handling, including AGVs.

The arrangement permits heatset webs from the Comet to pass into the Colora to create coldset copies with heatset covers or inner sections. Production capabilities also include on-press stitching, trimming on Ferag equipment, quarter-folding, and gluing.

"West Australian Newspapers has introduced several new formats to its stable of products thanks to the versatility of the hybrid configuration of the KBA presses," Liam Roche, West Australian Newspapers' general manager for group operations and information technology, said in a statement.

The Colora, engineered for web widths from 48 to 68 inches, can print 576 tabloid pages. In collect mode it can produce tabloid copies with as many as 224 pages. The Comet, which has two thermal air dryers, can print 64-page coldset copies, 96-page hybrid coldset/heatset copies, or 32-page heatset copies, all tabloid. Its heatset towers have their own ink-feed systems to allow inks with different viscosities to be used for smooth or matte paper. Controls include EAE's PRINT job-scheduling and press-presetting system, as well as a proofing system and other labor-saving features.

Besides The West Australian, the company produces 19 regional titles and contract work. Roche said products such as tabloids up to 192 pages that reach the 600-page tabloid-equivalent range when preprints and commercial inserts are included "provide some unique challenges for KBA, particularly in terms of folder performance." With the press maker's "technical expertise in optimizing the presses and folders," he added, "we have had some outstanding press performances in terms of reliability and quality levels, recently breaking several longstanding production records."