Swiss publisher CH Media has completed a comprehensive modernisation and extension of print and mailroom facilities at its Aarau printing centre.
The Koenig & Bauer Commander CT press has been equipped with a third high performance folder, making it possible to run three independent production streams simultaneously. The folder features new drag rollers, advanced paper guiding and improved web run capability, for higher production flexibility and speed.
Installation follows the direct integration of LED-UV curing to the press – a technique already proven with CH Media, and the parallel introduction of a new Ferag mailroom line.
The project boosts capacity, delivering greater scheduling flexibility for customers and necessary additional capacity, a move towards its vision of being ‘the leading centre of competence for the printed newspaper in Switzerland in 2035 and beyond’.
The Aarau site is a central pillar of a network that also includes St Gallen Winkeln and Derendingen.
CH Media Print managing director Heinz Meyer says the ongoing investments in Aarau ensure the highest level of flexibility, efficiency and quality for the future: “The Swiss print market is changing rapidly, and our technologies are evolving with it.
“The modernisation in Aarau proves that continuous innovation in newspaper printing as well as in the automation of finishing and logistics, creates entirely new economic and qualitative perspectives.”
Pictured: the new third folder at Aarau, and (below, contract signing for the project, from left) Peter Rickenmann (Koenig & Bauer CH), Aarau production manager Adrian Hammer, Heinz Meyer, Günter Noll (Koenig & Bauer Digital & Webfed), CH Media chief operating officer Stefan Wabel, and Rolf Steiner (Vogt-Schild Druck), and (seated) Philipp Zimmermann (Koenig & Bauer Digital & Webfed), CH Media publisher and board chairman Peter Wanner, and chief executive Michael Wanner