Its remote location - an island in the Indian Ocean and an outpost of the French empire - lends strength to La Réunion's argument for technical innovation.

An inkjet digital press has been delivering timely and colour daily newspapers in the second-biggest city of what's called Overseas France'.

Now commissioning of a waterless Koenig & Bauer Cortina press has again put the island at the leading edge of web-offset technology. Newspaper and commercial printer ICP-Roto Industrie Graphique has celebrated the start-up with an official launch attended by 300 guests.

Proud managing director and owner Alfred Chane-Pane describes the press as "the centrepiece of our printing house".

"Our whole team is incredibly proud - once again, Koenig & Bauer and our team worked together perfectly on its installation and commissioning."

Chane-Pane says environmental protection is "a matter dear to our hearts", emphasising the importance management attaches to ecological concerns on an island where the tourism industry dominates.

"Given that it eliminates the need for dampening units and all the associated additives, Cortina technology is ideal for the eco-friendly production of many very sophisticated products," he says.

Installed in a new modern press hall, the heatset Cortina - of one compact tower and two semicommercial jaw folders - has already taken over a large proportion of the company's overall production.

The configuration includes one automatic reelstand, a hot-air dryer, and a flexible superstructure. Among automation features are a Patras A reel-loading system, automatic plate and circumference change, CleanTronic washing systems and RollerTronic roller locks, as well as colour and cut-off register controls.

Provision has also been made for expansion with a second coldset tower.

"The Cortina is definitely much easier to operate than conventional offset presses," says technical director Philippe Van Damme.

He credits the waterless technology not only with sharper print and finer screen rulings, but also hybrid production options and seamless switchovers between heatset and coldset production.

With the elimination of dampening units and ink keys, the technology lends itself to applications involving variable web widths, enabling production of a broad varierty of work including magazines, brochures and supplements in a standard magazine format, as well as flyers in special formats, and traditional tabloid-format newspapers. The two folders allow high-capacity four-up and even eight-up production in special formats.

Noted for its 2,632-metre-high climbable active volcano, Réunion Island is a holiday destination popular for its rainforested interior, coral reefs and beaches. Its biggest towns are Saint-Denis (population 200,000 at most recent count), Saint-Pierre (150,000) and Saint-Paul (104,000).

Pictured: The ICP-Roto Industrie Graphique team with the new Cortina
Below: At the official start-up (from left) KBA-Digital & Web sales manager Bernd Hillebrand, Pierre Pommier (KBA-France), Alfred Chane-Pane, Georg Zitterbart (KBA printing instructor), Philippe Van Damme, KBA-Digital & Web commissioning engineer Gerold Dornbusch and project manager Peter Benz