The South African Naval
Publications Unit launched their new printing division
on Thursday, 04 October 2012 at Naval Base Simons Town.
On arrival, Chief Navy,
Vice Admiral J. Mudimu and the VIP’s were given an
explanatory tour of the new printing process by the
Officer Commanding, CDR T.C. Mwelase and the Printing
Press staff. The tour explained the process and the
exact functions of the seven new printing machines. All
the new printing equipment was bought at a German
Company (Heidelberg), at the Cape Town branch.
A group photo of Chief of the SA Navy and all VIP's and
printing staff involved in the opening celebration
The following paragraph is a
paraphrased summary of the XL106 Speedmaster from an
online source:
The XL 1O6 Speedmaster
which is used for printing, is one of the new seven
machines and the only machine of its kind in Africa. The
Speedmaster XL 1O6 offers the best possibilities for
realizing even the most unusual ideas. The machine is
equipped with the innovative inkjet module. The
innovative and ergonomic operation of the machine via
glass touch screen at the feeder and at the printing and
coating units complements the central control at the
Prinect Press Center perfectly. The double coating
technology of the Speedmaster XL 1O6 enables most
extraordinary surface finishing, along with premium
print quality. The press is equipped with logistics and
automatic non-stop system feeder and delivery to ensure
an uninterruptible pile change on the fly. The Autopile
roller conveyor system at the feeder and Heidelberg
Logistics Plus at the delivery achieve an automatic flow
of pallets. The Peak performance of the Speedmaster XL
106 delivers printed products that make emotions
tangible and that can be realized profitable and have a
maximum speed of 18000 sheets per hour.
The seven new printing Machines:
1. Computer to Plate system - creates the
printing plates via the type settings
2. Guillotine - paper cutting machine.
3. Guillotine - paper cutting machine
4. XLO6 Speedmaster - for printing and has a
maximum speed of 18000 sheets per hour.
5. Paper folding machine
6. Gangsticher - collates different sections,
staples and prints the magazines.
7. Unibinder - binds the books by gluing the
covers to the spines of the books.
The Project Manager WO1 Graham Ernest Billimore (ret)
said that it took them almost two and a half years to
complete the whole project and the costs of the new
equipment totalled R19.8 million. Congratulations to NPU
for successfully completing the revamp of their printing
facilities!
