Maniraju Bora, sales and technical director for the South West Asia region, Trelleborg, said, “Newspaper groups need suppliers that are true partners, who understand the challenges and issues they face and are able to provide innovative solutions. Trelleborg manufactures the industry’s best known brands, with Vulcan 202, Vulcan Royal Web and Rollin Graffity Plus, being household names amongst newspaper printers.”

Over the last few years, a great deal of work has been carried out at Trelleborg’s extensive R&D facilities in Italy to create offset blanket solutions that match the specific needs of the Indian newspaper market. “Printers need the flexibility to customise blankets according to the type of stock they are handling, the press being used and other relevant factors such as press age,” Bora said.

At Wan-Ifra 2017, Trelleborg will explain to visitors about the enhancements that have been made to our metal-backed blanket range. “We are increasingly involved in helping newspaper groups use blanket technology to reduce cost-per-copy. Our experts provide training on selecting the correct blanket, settings on the press, as well as the maintenance and storage of metal-backed products,” Bora added.

Meanwhile, Trelleborg has developed several easy-to-use, downloadable software tools, including a ‘configuration’ product that lets users select the correct blanket by entering the application sector, such as web coldset, web heatset, single-width, double-width, combi or UV. There is also a dealer locator app, which provides a simple way of locating the nearest dealer.

“A sound knowledge of the issues is becoming even more important because of the changes taking place in the industry. The increasing use of different stocks that have their own surface characteristics, the implementation of UV, the interest in low migration inks and high-density pigment inks, plus FM screening; all of these things have a major impact on the printing press and the blankets fitted to it,” Bora concluded.