KBA has sold another of its highly-automated Commander CL newspaper presses, this time to a publishing group in Munster, Germany.

The compact two-tower press for Aschendorff Druckzentrum brings to 13 the number of these presses sold since its market launch four years ago. KBA claims it is the most popular newspaper press in its class, with 45 towers sold to customers in Germany, France, China and the USA.

The 32-page press for Aschendorff enters a stable of three non-KBA presses, and will predominantly print small-circulation newspapers at night, the automated plate changing delivering "significantly shorter" makeready times.

The Commander CL comprises two four-high towers, a KF 5 jaw folder and two Pastomat reelstands with a stripping station and Patras A reel-transport system. An extensive package of automation includes roller locks, inking unit and cylinder washing systems, fan-out compensation, colour measuring and control systems, colour and cut-off register controls, and automatic plate changing. An intelligent quality management system supports a high print quality, and the press is equipped for formats such as superpanoramas, half-covers and spadia, and provision has been made for the addition of further modules.

"Together with our steadily evolving range of digital offerings we believe in the future of printed, appealing daily newspapers and other print products in terms of their visual qualities and contents," says Gerhard Dust, who heads the print business area. The most recent investment is seen as an important step in producing the media house's numerous print titles efficiently and economically, and to meet today's demands for quality.

Technical director Thomas Wenge says they were "bowled over" by key features including automatic plate changers, plate lifts, and roller locks.

The family-run Aschendorff group publishes 20 different local editions including the Westfälische Nachrichten, the region's top-selling daily.

The company is a long standing member of the exclusive WAN-Ifra's International Newspaper Color Quality Club and Star Club.