Drive and Integrated Safety Control System Upgrade
Kialla, VIC
TO ensure the morning tabloid contains the most up-to-the-minute information and still lands in households at the crack of dawn, Shepparton Newspap-ers must despatch the first 30 per cent of newspapers to the streets in just an hour-and-a-half from the moment the last electronic file is received at 11pm.
Due to ongoing maintenance issues and escalating demand for full-colour offset printing, Shepparton decided to upgrade its entire system. Three new full-colour units, as well as an additional folding machine, were added to the press alongside the existing model, requiring an innovative clutching system to mechanically link the lineshafts of the ‘new’ and ‘old’ presses, allowing them to operate together, depending on production demands.
Shepparton Newspapers also decided to address reliability issues with the legacy DC drive system associated with the existing press at the same time, and chose Rockwell Automation to redesign and overhaul the drive and control system as a whole.