AAB upgrades control console for a popular French daily

ABB’s newly launched control system (MPS Control Console) on DNA’s Wifag OF7 press was installed when the press was new, almost 30 years ago, and has been running reliably since then. Despite the longevity of the system, the management at the French newspaper has decided that the first steps of modernisation were required, so was the need of the update of the control consoles.

ABB MPS Control Console, which is now running successfully at the Strasbourg site of DNA, features touch-screen operation and the control system is based on the company’s Compact HMI. Not only does the system replace the original consoles that were based on the Procontic DP800 system, but it also eliminates the need for a separate control desk for the Technotrans dampening system used on the Wifag OF7 press.

A flashback of the origin of DNA will date back to November 1877 when the newspaper was first launched as Neueste Nachrichten by German Heinrich Ludwig Kayser. The newspaper is part of East Burgundy group Rhone Alpes (EBRA), formerly France or East Media Group Est Républicain. Main owner of the newspaper company is the press trust of the French banc Crédit Mutuel. Its headquarters is located at 17 rue de la Nuée-Bleue in Strasbourg since July 13, 1871.

DNA employs about 850 staffers and 200 journalists in the Upper Rhine and Lower Rhine. In 1995, the newspaper became the first French daily to have online presence. Its daily circulation in December 2009 was 180,000 copies, in which 85 percent of subscriptions, making it the first newspaper in Alsace with such stature. It includes 18 local editions which is a record for a zone of restricted diffusion.

Upgrading of ABB Control Console at its Strasbourg production site is DNA’s new intensification to a new high for smooth press operation and quality in print production. After the upgrade, the Wifag OF7 press at the site gains a new technical momentum in various aspects as its dampening system is wow fully integrated into the MPS Control Console, which is a significant assistance.

Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalisation with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. In addition, this Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich is a leading automation supplier to the newspaper industry worldwide. ABB delivers solutions that provide unique and totally integrated end-to-end control, protect existing investments and provide management information essential to improving profitability.