Open for business!

We officially started production on our new 81" press in December. After undergoing several print tests and significant crew training, we felt very comfortable with the results we were seeing. The press prints beautifully of course. The truly amazing part of this production device is to see such a large machine respond quickly to minute adjustments.

This press represents another step in our development as a leader in the production of large format printing. Everyone in the company has been excited about the changes we have gone through to get to this point.

If you are ever interested in learning more about our company, please drop me a note!

First sheets off of the press!

It was a very exciting time this week as we pulled the first sheets with ink on our new press. Our press crews have started the training process with the instructor from KBA. Due to its large size, even a simple task like pulling a 60" x 80" sheet from the press requires learning new skills and a few tricks. We are rapidly coming to a day when we can start production on this press!

The cylinders are turning

We have the press powered up, and the cylinders actually turn! Progress has been rapid over the past two weeks as the control consoles were installed and our press came to life. Our expectation is that we will start to pull sheets of paper through the press in the next 5-7 days. This is an important milestone for us, and a big step towards print testing the press.

As you might expect, the control console and sheet scanner for this press are quite large. The scanner is a very helpful tool for managing the efficiency of the press and the consistency of the final product. The scanner measures both ink film density and ink color.

Moving along!

It has been about three weeks since my last post about the big press installation. The biggest change you will notice is the location of many large white cabinets along one side of the press and the appearance of some of the cat walk platform.



The cabinets hold a variety of electronic controls and pumps for the air system on the press. Air pressure and air flow are very important in today's presses. Moving air is used to cushion the paper as it travels through the press at high speed, giving us the ability to produce printed sheets without scratches in the paper or smearing of the ink.

The technicians have also been running the various cables and flexible hoses the connect the press. I have not been able to get an accurate estimate of how many feet of wire are used on our big press, but it seems like it would be enough to stretch from Chicago to Milwaukee.

First Stage Ends

We have come to the end of the first major stage of our press installation with the placement of the feeder and delivery units. All of the really big heavy pieces are now in place and bolted together, and today the crew disassembled the red gantry.

But there is still a lot of work to do. The electrical connections of a modern press are incredibly complicated and time consuming to prepare and test. Over the next several weeks the technicians will be installing the peripheral units that contain the controls for the air movement systems, power systems, and dryer systems.

Inkers on Top

The installation has progressed to the placement of the inking units on top of the base cylinders. Here we are positioning the 6th inker unit over the press. Once again, we are dealing with precise alignment of big heavy objects.



Special care is taken as the inker is lowered into place to make sure the gears are correctly aligned with the gear of the impression cylinder.


The top gear in the next photo is the inker gear, and the bottom gear is the impression cylinder gear. If you look closely, you will see a red mark at the teeth of each gear (about "6 o'clock" on the top gear). This is the alignment point. Matching these points is critical to having correct gear timing throughout the press.


Note also the blue overalls worn by the KBA technician in the photo above. On my recent visits to Germany, I noticed that these are the fashionable workclothes for many of the tradesmen in Germany. I do not have a good explanation for why the blue color is universal, so if you know the story, let me hear it!

Tight Tolerances

With all the wonderful computer technology on our equipment, we could overlook the physical precision that is part of building a world class printing press. This picture is an attempt to convey some of the manufacturing and assembly skills at work.

What you see here is the joint between two of the six impression cylinder units that make up our new 81" press. Each unit weighs over 36,000 lbs, yet they must fit together exactly.

The picture below shows the start of placing the next unit in sequence. Using a gantry, big wrenches and some elbow grease, the technicians nudge and adjust the pieces until there is an exact fit. As you can tell from the size of the cylinder, moving these pieces around is a little more difficult than moving the sofa in the living room!