Installation in the printing industry: Web-offset press

Expertise is the most important factor: Web-offset presses are complex systems comprising countless components extending over multiple levels. Installing these machines correctly and in an economically efficient manner requires a high level of expertise. Koenig & Bauer has been working with SCHOLPP for over 20 years. This time, the fitters at the Erfurt site were commissioned to bring in and install a new Commander CL machine at MZ Druckereigesellschaft in Halle/Saale.

The Koenig & Bauer Group is based in Würzburg and is the world’s oldest printing press manufacturer (founded in 1817), and also has the largest product range in the sector: Sheet-fed, web-fed and security presses. The company’s core competence is the development and production of technologically innovative and economical printing systems and the associated peripheral equipment. The company MZ Druckereigesellschaft from Halle/Saale, which was part of the DuMont Group in Cologne up until 31 March 2020, had ordered a new Commander CL web-offset rotary printing press. In addition to 195,000 copies of the “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” newspaper each day, MZ also produces various advertising journals and customer magazines, as well as brochures and supplements, using coldset printing.

Large components weighing up to 25 metric tons

The dimensions of the Koenig & Bauer Commander CL make an impression by themselves: 14 meters long, 6 meters wide and 15 meters high, with a total plant weight of approx. 200 metric tons. Large machines are just what the fitters in red love. The transport list of all large components and attachment parts was no fewer than four A4 pages long. It took 18 transport loadings of up to 27 metric tons over several days to take the printing press from Würzburg to Halle: with the semi-trailer truck (nine loads), the low-bed low-loader truck (three loads) and the mega trailer (one load), and finally the heavy-duty jumbo truck (five loads). The heaviest parts were the two printing units, each of which consisted of a top part and a bottom part weighing 25.8 metric tons each, and the folder weighing 15.7 metric tons. All components were delivered by the manufacturer.

Complex installation right through to operational readiness

The SCHOLPP team carried out the unloading with the mobile crane, the bringing in of all components including lateral transportation in the hall, as well as basic positioning and alignment. There were no particular restrictions caused by spatial conditions or entry points in this project. There was, however, a challenge posed by the structure of the building. The basement and reel splicer levels needed to be braced in order to provide downward support for the loads from the gantry crane including the press. In the basement, the fitters installed tailor-made supports from a renowned manufacturer, and proven timber supports were used on the reel splicer level.

The mechanical and electrical installation of the plants was performed in collaboration with Koenig & Bauer, with a supervisor on hand at all times as a contact partner. The SCHOLPP electricians then carried out an electrical installation test in preparation for commissioning by the manufacturer. The project took nine weeks from the moment a mechanic first set foot in the construction site to the moment the last electrician left the hall.