Oosterhout, April 2016
– The US
newspaper Spokesman-Review is to invest in a further round of automation for
its printing press. Q.I. Press Controls (QIPC) is set to install the IDS-3D
system on its TKS press with two towers in Spokane, Washington. QIPC, the Dutch
specialist in measurement and control systems for the printing industry, will
be installing 4 IDS-3D register control cameras at its plant in the United
States.
Extensive
investigation
Before closing the deal
with QIPC, Spokesman-Review carried out a thorough investigation into the
possibilities and alternatives. In fact, the first contacts between QIPC and
Spokesman-Review took place about 3 years ago. “We talked to several
suppliers”, says Steve Heidal, Pressroom Manager at Spokesman-Review,
explaining how the business arrived at its decision. “We approached quite a few
of the references our suppliers had given us and asked them about their
experiences. Everyone, of course, seemed to be positive, but much more so about
QIPC.” The performance of the systems supplied by the Dutch specialist came out
better than the competition’s. “QIPC is competitive priced and more reliable”,
Steve Heidal concludes. “What’s more, the camera is more compact. The so-called
brains of the system are in the camera itself, which is what we like the most.”
QIPC has also responded
positively to the order from Spokesman-Review, which Print2Finish agent Juan
Echavarria played an important role in. “It took some time to complete the
deal, not least because of the lengthy investigations”, Ronald Reedijk,
managing director of QIPC-EAE Americas confirms. “They even looked into whether
one of the options was to install a new printing press. Ultimately, it was
decided to keep the current press, which was in a perfect state of repair and
as good as new, and - not without reason - the organization came out in favor
of QIPC because the client was convinced of our in-depth know-how.”
Looking
towards the future
With the
IDS-3D, Spokesman-Review is not only opting to use automatic register control,
in the future it will also be possible to expand the system to include
closed-loop color control. “And that’s definitely part of our plans”, explains
Steve Heidal. “This is a long-term investment. In the first instance we will
have the register control installed, then the color control, and the goal next
year is to expand it to two other webs.”
Thanks to the IDS-3D,
Spokesman-Review will be able to make significant savings in waste whilst at
the same time improving the quality of the final product. Furthermore, the
paper had a shortage of personnel on the production floor, so this round of
automation will now meet these shortcomings. The IDS-3D cameras will be
equipped with AIMS for the automatic cleaning of the lenses.
