Trends and Topics Case Studies In-depth training from Bosch Rexroth reduces downtime, improves efficiency for Louisville Courier-Journal press technicians Challenge: Reduce troubleshooting and downtime and increase efficiency when web offset press indicates errors during a print run Expand knowledge of maintenance staff regarding Rexroth’s hardware and software Provide standardized training solution that can easily be repeated and expanded to multiple printing industry sites within the customer’s user group Rexroth Solution: Developed customized maintenance and troubleshooting training solution for the customer and its national user’s group Conducted intensive classroom and hands-on training on Rexroth hardware, SYNAX firmware and Syntop software to diagnose and analyze errors. Rexroth Results: Identify potential failures before they occur Reduced downtime by six percent Increased on-time to 98 percent Cut troubleshooting time in half Reduced in external service support and expenses Download the complete case study (PDF - 859 KB) Louisville Courier-Journal Improves Efficiency The Courier-Journal, owned by the Gannett Corporation, is the single largest daily newspaper in Kentucky, with a daily circulation of 150,000 and a Sunday circulation of 250,000. The newspaper, based in Louisville, commissioned a state-of-the-art KBA Colora web offset press in 2004. “The press department was accustomed to older, manually operated equipment and they had to become familiar with new, state-of-the-art press controls and technology,” said Tom Letto, production director at the Courier-Journal. The Courier-Journal has three editions that print each night. “We used to run our full circulation on two presses and if one of these presses went down, we were losing half our production. To be more efficient, we’ve been running everything on one press for about two years,” Letto said. “If that one press goes down, it results in 100 percent downtime; Any downtime now is extremely critical.” The KBA press includes a Rexroth digital intelligent drives system comprised of electronic drives, motors and controllers utilizing SYNAX firmware to provide Electronic Line Shaft capabilities (ELS). Instead of a mechanical main shaft with couplings, drives and cams, the SYNAX system uses synchronized electric drives and motors to implement the press functionality. Rexroth’s Syntop software is used to interface with the electronic control system. Rexroth's advanced training course covered communications systems, capability of controls and information accessed via Syntop software SYNAX system uses synchronized electronic drives and motors to implement press functionality and interfaces with Syntop software “Electronic Line Shafting has been around for a long time—the benefits over mechanical presses are tried and true,” said Mark Schwab, Bosch Rexroth service engineer. “At the same time, it’s versatile and can integrate with all sorts of controls.” The Courier-Journal technicians use a personal computer in the building that accesses electronic control cards on the printing press, but they were not experienced with using Rexroth’s Syntop software to retrieve and analyze diagnostic information from the control system. Several years after the installation the press began to experience more frequent errors. “When our press broke down, we wouldn’t have any advance warning,” said Letto. “In addition, our technicians didn’t have a clear indication on what areas to begin troubleshooting.” Schwab says the Rexroth system is designed to monitor a multitude of parameters throughout the press and displays an array of warning and error codes when anomalies in the overall application are identified, such as a loose cable, bad grounding point, improper parameter setting, temperature, mechanical jam, incoming power issue. While these warnings and errors do not necessarily indicate that the Rexroth equipment or hardware is the root of the failure, they are vital in the troubleshooting process and help lead to the root cause from where the faults are being generated. Without the insight from the warning and error diagnostics to help pinpoint the root cause, technicians would often mistakenly swap out the Rexroth components, frustrating the maintenance staff and causing extended downtime. Download the complete case study (PDF - 859 KB)