Mitsubishi DIAMONDSPIRIT to Open New Era of Newspaper Printing in Kochi
Hiroshima, Japan...Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Printing & Packaging Machinery, Ltd. (MHI-P&PM) today announced a June 2010 sales contract signing with the Kochi Shimbun Company, Ltd for two lines of its 4 x 1 newspaper offset press “DIAMONDSPIRIT”, both equipped with the in-line closed-loop print quality control system “DIAMOND EYE” and the productivity enhancing function “PRINTPLEX”.
The Kochi Shimbun Company, headquartered in Kochi City, was established in 1904 in Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island – one of Japan’s main four islands. The corporate vision at the Kochi Shimbun Company is to maintain neutrality and strict fairness while serving as a public institution for residents of Kochi Prefecture.
Through a wide variety of media and public activities, The Kochi Shimbun has become widely popular among local residents with it 230,000-weekday circulation and enjoys a market share of nearly 90% of all newspapers sold within the prefecture.
The Kochi Shimbun Corporation has always been a vanguard in its progressive spirit for newspaper printing technologies. Exemplifying its technological prowess is the fact that Kochi Shimbun Company was one of the very first newspaper publishers to implement color-keyless inking systems. Consequently, when the new press project came about, the Kochi Shimbun Company held in-depth discussions with several different press manufacturers. Through presentations and evaluations of actual production runs conducted at plants with similar press lines, the Kochi Shimbun Company was won over by Mitsubishi’s sophisticated printing technologies and press productivity and opted for “DIAMONDSPIRIT” presses along with “DIAMOND EYE” systems and “PRINTPLEX” functions.
The Mitsubishi 4 x 1 “DIAMONDSPIRIT” presses for the Kochi Shimbun Company are rated at 80,000 cph with a cutoff of 546mm (21.5in) and a web width of 1,626mm (64in). Both press lines with be configured with two 4/4 tower printing units, three 1/1 tower printing units, one 2:2 double rotary folder and five reelstands. The presses will be operated by the Mitsubishi press control system with automated features that include ink presetting with CTP interface, automatic colour register control, dual web tension control, the “DIAMOND EYE” system and the “PRINTPLEX” function.
The “DIAMOND EYE” system, an in-line closed-loop print quality control system for newspaper printing, is the world’s first automatic colour matching process for colour printing and the most successful system in the world with more than fifty installations. This new technology which compares target density data based on plate making data to real-time print density measured by images sensors on the printing press and then adjusts accordingly, has made it possible to perform fully automatic, high quality printing throughout the production run. This automatic capability produces uniform colour printing at all times, thus greatly improving printing quality while saving energy and reducing costs, such as less paper waste.
“PRINTPLEX” was developed for newspaper companies who run multiple print jobs and seek to maximize press utilization. The “PRINTPLEX” function enables one press to be operated as two independent presses. With one double folder serving as two single folders, individual reelstands and printing towers are connected separately to either folder to create more flexible production windows and maximize press production time. The first commercial application of “PRINTPLEX” was on the DIAMONDSPIRIT presses installed at Nikken Sports Printing.
The “DIAMONDSPIRIT” presses with the “DIAMOND EYE” systems and the “PRINTPLEX” functions are scheduled to become operational at the Kochi Shimbun Company’s new printing plant in early 2012.
