König & Bauer AG - Two heatset KBA Comets for Brazil

Longstanding KBA web press user Oceano in Brazil is expanding capacity with two heatset Comet presses for semi-commercial production. Oceano, which is part of Brazilian print media major Grupo Escala, already runs two 16pp Compacta 215 and two 48pp Compacta 618 press lines at its facility in Cajamar, near São Paulo, while Oceano Sul down south in Criciúma has a further two 16pp Compactas in operation.

Group founder Hercilio de Lourenzi says: “We have always been 100 per cent satisfied with the superb print quality, reliability and flexibility of the Compactas, and also with KBA’s customer service. Comets are in operation the world over and have an outstanding reputation in the trade. So to power future growth we have opted for proven technology from a proven provider. KBA’s invaluable support has contributed in no small part to our present success.”

Dynamic media enterprise
Since Hercilio de Lourenzi established Escala as a publishing house in 1992 it has evolved into one of the biggest media majors in Brazil. At about the same time he purchased a small printing company equipped with just one secondhand offset press in São Paulo city centre. From 1996 onwards he rapidly expanded the print business with a succession of new KBA web and sheetfed presses. Today Oceano employs around 500 staff and prints over 200 magazine titles a month. It also prints telephone directories, a salmon-pink business publication, Brasil Economico, and numerous advertising supplements for chain stores such as Walmart, Pão de Açucar and Carrefour. More than 3,000 tonnes (3,300 US tons) of paper and over 70 tonnes (77 tons) of ink are consumed each month. Magazine titles include the Brazilian edition of Vogue and Vogue Homme, a hugely popular Brazilian title, Corpo a Corpo, a lifestyle magazine, Tempo, plus diverse special-interest titles and comics. The press fleet can handle virtually any type and weight of paper. Magazine covers and short runs are printed on two KBA Rapida medium-format sheetfed presses.

High quality standards right from the start
The two identical, highly automated 75,000cph Comets, which will be installed at Oceano’s Cajamar and Criciúma production plants, will mainly print Brasil Economico, supplements and flyers. Both floor-mounted presses will have a cylinder circumference of 1156mm (45.5in) and the ability to handle any web width between 630 and 1000mm (24.8 - 39.37in). Each will be configured with a Pastoline reelstand linked to a Patras M manual reel-handling system, and will comprise one four-high tower for 4/4 with bustle wheels, colour-register controls and automatic cylinder washing. In addition to the heatset package with hot-air dryer and chill-roller stand, press specifications include a double turner bar with one former in the superstructure, a KF 3 jaw folder with semi-commercial capability, a quarterfold facility and gluing, perforating and stitching devices for greater product versatility. Cut-off register, web-edge and web-centre controls will ensure a high standard of quality and productivity. The press lines will be controlled from high-tech consoles with production scheduling software and RIP interface.

The Koenig & Bauer Group is one of the largest press manufacturers worldwide and has the broadest press range in the industry. The parent company is Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) with facilities in Würzburg, Radebeul, Frankenthal and Trennfeld (all in Germany).

The other core members of the Group are Maschinenfabrik KBA-Mödling AG in Mödling, near Vienna (Austria), KBA-Grafitec s.r.o. in Dobruška (Czech Republic), KBA-Metronic AG in Veitshöchheim, near Würzburg (Germany), KBA-MetalPrint GmbH in Stuttgart (also Germany) and KBA-GIORI S.A. in Lausanne (Switzerland). KBA North America Inc. in Dallas, Texas (USA), is our sales and service subsidiary for the US and Canada. In addition we have sales and service outlets in the UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Russia, Poland, Australia, China, Malaysia and Singapore, plus a global network of dealers. The core companies in the Group employ some 7,500 people.