TOI to modernise printing press in Sahibabad with EAE retrofit kit

In a bid to modernise its printing presses in Sahibabad plant The Times of India has invested in EAE (Engineering Automation Electronics) retrofit kit. This new retrofit project represents EAE’s biggest direct order to date from India.

09 Aug 2017 | By Sriraam Selvam

(l-r) Bernhard Schmiedeberg (EAE sales manager), Snehasis Roy (BCCL technical director), Mohit Jain (BCCL executive president supply chain), Menno Jansen (QIPC-EAE chairman), Shyam Shanker (BCCL director - business and commercial), Werner Ringel (EAE managing director), Raj Nargis (chairman Krause India and agent QIPC-EAE), Heiko Küttner (EAE managing director)

According to QIPC-EAE, The Times of India had already been thinking about modernising a Manroland Geoman web press in Sahibabad. “The situation became more urgent when technical defects and production stops started to become a regular occurrence at a time when several components of the control electronics were discontinued and it grew more difficult to get hold of spare parts. After sounding out the options in considerable depth, the newspaper company elected to cooperate with EAE,” the company said in a press release.

EAE’s retrofit experts will upgrade the web press, which has five four-high towers, one double-folder and eight reel stands.

“We opted for EAE, or rather QIPC-EAE India, because they’re a supplier with enormous experience in press retrofits. They were able to offer us a solution that is very much geared to standards and based on hardware which is freely available in the market. The decision to equip the press with the most advanced control, drive and preset technology possible will profit us not only with higher availability but also with a leap in productivity,” said Snehasis Roy, the Times of India’s technical director. “We were also persuaded by the fact that EAE presented themselves as a partner interested in long-term collaboration on a local level who would adopt a flexible approach to our specific needs.”

EAE will exchange the entire press and drive controls, all the important drives and the obsolete Interbus loop system. The existing PECOM system will be superseded by a modern EAE solution plus an EAE print production planning and preset system. Three control consoles belonging to the EAE Desk 7 generation will simultaneously replace the present PECOM press control consoles.

EAE in Ahrensburg (Germany) will take care of the planning, software development and project-related coordination while the operational implementation on the field will be in the hands of QIPC-EAE India. QIPC’s Indian subsidiary will source the necessary hardware from the local market, carry out the essential preassembly and testing and finally the installation.

“We’re delighted that the Times of India has put its trust in EAE’s retrofit expertise and standards based solutions by entering into a partnership with us,” said Vijay Pandya, managing director and CEO of QIPC-EAE India. “This key order will help us demonstrate our retrofit capabilities to the whole of the Indian newspaper market. It’s also further proof that QIPC and EAE’s seamless cooperation is working in a global context.”