Major retrofit order goes to ABB

ABB, one of the leading suppliers of automation solutions for the newspaper production industry announced a major order from Le Télégramme de Brest, France, for retrofitting controls, drives and management systems on its two Wifag OF370 presses. Le Télégramme de Brest is one of France’s leading regional newspaper publishing houses. The project represents the third large order for ABB’s modular retrofit solutions for Wifag presses in three months. The first step will involve upgrading the existing ABB management systems MPS Production and MPS PlateWorkflow. The subsequent phases of the project, spreading out over a period of five years, will bring a step-by-step replacement of the obsolete positioning systems on the 10 printing towers and two folders with the new ABB APOS solution. The drives on all these units will also be replaced. In addition, completely new control systems will be provided for the 10 reelstands.

“We investigated various possible solutions and came to the conclusion, that the ABB proposal was the best means to meet our aims. The competence of ABB, the guarantees they offer and reliability were key arguments in our decision,” commented Claude Rozec, technical director at Le Télégramme de Brest. Christian Villiger, worldwide head of ABB’s activities in the printing business, is delighted with the order. We see this as a clear sign that our modular retrofit solutions meet the needs of owners of this generation of presses.”

ABB is a leading automation supplier to the newspaper industry. Its Center of Excellence for Printing (www.abb.com/printing) delivers solutions that provide unique and totally integrated end-to-end control, protect existing investments and provide management information essential to improving profitability.