LEYKAM Let`s Print project with four LITHOMAN and one ROTOMANMAN Roland AG of Augsburg, Germany, has placed an order with technotrans AG, the leading offset printing system provider worldwide, to equip the web offset printing presses ordered by LEYKAM Let`s Print with a central ink supply system. This project will feature an integrated system solution as technotrans dampening solution circulation and cleaning systems complete the presses.
LEYKAM Let´s Print is the number one in web offset printing in Austria and counts among the top 10 printers using this process in Europe. The company has four production facilities with a total of 16 presses offering a capacity from 16 to 80 pages. The product range is focused on advertising products with a high print run as well as magazines. Whilst the company’s head office is in Graz, production sites include Neudörfl, Müllendorf and one branch facility abroad in Hoce/Maribor, Slovenia. This printers’ Group is completed by a marketing company in Stuttgart as well as sales offices in Malmö (Sweden) and Zagreb (Croatia). The decision to invest in another five web offset printing presses for the sites in Neudörfl (4) and Hoce (1) was taken in December 2006.
Neudörfl is the largest production facility in the LEYKAM Let´s Print Group: Currently, one 64-page press and one 48-page MAN LITHOMAN are operated there, with further high-speed printing presses due for commissioning before the end of 2007. Here as well, the production is focussed on high-quality catalogues, magazines and extensive-content brochures.
Central ink.supply systems from technotrans are supplied as turnkey concepts – from project planning and engineering to installation.When it came to equipping the four LITHOMAN and one ROTOMAN units with important peripheral equipment, MAN Roland relied on the wide product range of technotrans AG of Sassenberg in Northwest Germany. „All from a single source“ was the key deciding factory, both for the individual components, and for the service before, during and after the installation. From their dampening solution circulators range, technotrans supply one delta.d unit per press, as well as a spinclean.d auto dampening solution cleaning unit.
The central ink supply comprises four ink tanks each for two different types of process inks: 15,000 l each of black, cyan and magenta, 25,000l of yellow. The system is filled exclusively from tank lorries. In addition, the installation package comprises 16 of the most powerful ink pumps available worldwide, i.e. the TCP 200/16 pump, along with a 2” piping system as a feed line into the ink units and a B/C ink-type changeover on every press. The ink supply is completed by level monitoring in each ink duct and an integrated flow measurement; with messages fed back to the press control station.
The delta.d from technotrans is a robust and user-friendly system with particularly high-capacity components for dampening solution circulation in web offset and newspaper printing.And as per the other peripheral units supplied by technotrans, these components stand out for their high operational safety. „We have been offering our customers solutions for recording and evaluation of operational data for quite some time“ says Helmut Kurfer, regional sales manager in the Gersthofen branch office of technotrans AG, „and as a matter of fact, the integration into the press control station offers the printer a particularly high level of user-friendliness.“
Using the technotrans information system, customer-authorised ink suppliers to LEYKAM can obtain information online and prepare a new ink delivery within a very short time. The tanks can hold up to 25,000l of ink which is not a quantity you can just take from the shelves. „The online connection with the ink suppliers is a major component of system availability and production safety“ explains Helmut Kurfer.
A simple bypass connection to the spinclean.d auto offers an efficient filtration of the dampening solution without using expensive consumables.The spinclean.d cleaning system used for filtering the dampening solution is installed in the bypass line of the circulator and eliminates dirt from the dampening solution circuit, thus contributing substantially to stabilising the production process. At LEYKAM Let`s Print, as at all high-quality printers, it is essential to maintain the optimum condition of the dampening solution for as long as possible to keep the presses running as continuously as possible.
Paper residues (dust, fibres, etc.) and ink residues considerably pollute the dampening solution during the printing process. Sludge forms in the dampening trays and tanks and quickly contaminates the entire dampening solution circuit. The press operator is then forced to stop the printing press at regular intervals to empty and clean the circuit. Usually, the used dampening solution is replaced by fresh solution, but the contamination continues at varying speeds, depending upon the materials used. The spinclean.d dampening solution filtration considerably reduces this pollution and the cleaning processes required in this context, and does that at low operating costs.
Technology