Siliguri plant of Uttarbanga Sambad upgraded with five new Naph Koncept towers
Growth story of the Indian newspaper industry is more than just a fairy tale. It’s a visible truth as newspaper houses keep upgrading their production plants with new presses and equipments. In this, Uttarbanga Sambad has recently installed 5 new Naph Koncept towers equipped with fully-automated QIPC register control system at its Siliguri plant.
Naph Koncept web offset presses from Naph Graphics are perfectly designed to meet the need of Indian regional newspapers. The recently installed 5 Naph Koncept towers at the Siliguri plant of Uttarbanga Sambad run at the speed of 35,000 cph, suitable for regional newspapers engaging in mid-level production. The press is equipped with QIPC mRC-3D camera for colour register and cut-off control.
Biggest saving with QIPC mRC-3D camera is during the start-up, saving extra 150-200 copies with each press start-up, and improvement in cut-off control. The colour register and cut-off control system can achieve better results more quickly and waste can be reduced by between 30 to 40 percent.
The new Koncept towers at Uttarbanga Sambad can churn 20-page newspapers. As the press has unique features, its innovative concept-based sturdy tower is designed to print both sides in four colours with underneath in-built reel stand. Its staggered blanket cylinders achieve optimum stability in colour registration. Blanket cylinders in Koncept have hardened eccentrics with housing eliminating wear and tear of main frames.
All eight plate cylinders’ circumferential and side registers in the press are adjustable from the operator’s side. All cylinders run on bearers for better dot transfer and precise impression setting. Attaining colour registration quickly, Koncept is capable to reduce print wastage and all of its rolling components are dynamically balanced. All the gears on the gear side are enclosed in chamber with continuous oil circulation. The cut-off sizes of Koncept are of 430, 440, 450, 460, 508, 535, 546, 560, 578, 585, 610, 630, 660 and 762 mm. It uses blanket of thickness 2.05-2.07 mm and 0.3 m plate.
Koncept features some optional components such as Motorised Ink Fountain Roller, Motorised Side and Lateral Adjustments, Close Loop Automatic Registration System, Lever and Cam Type Ink Keys, Web In Feed System for Perfect Control On Web Tension, Stainless Steel Cylinders and Chiller for Chilled Dampening Solution Circulation.
The Siliguri plant of Uttarbanga Sambad is the birth place of this Bengali language broadsheet newspaper which was started on May 19, 1980. This largest circulated Bengali daily in North Bengal shares around 80 percent of all other dailies in the region. Today, the daily is printed simultaneously from other plants in Cooch Behar, Malda and Alipurduar. Founded by Suhash Chandra Talukder, former founding editor of Uttarbanga Samabad, the newspaper is currently run by his son Sabyasachi Talukder. According to ABC report (January-June 2017), Uttarbanga Sambad’s circulation is of 1,65,452 copies.
Another recent installation of Koncept press by Naph Graphics has taken place at the production facility of M/s Matrix, a popular printing house known for engaging in all sorts of printing services, in Palakkad, Kerala.