The Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper inaugurated its new rotary newspaper press – a Koenig & Bauer Commander CL 4/2 – on Monday. Since the project’s launch in September 2024, a completely new production infrastructure has been created, ranking among the most efficient and advanced systems on the market.
In addition to a welcoming address by the Bavarian state minister for Federal Affairs and Media, Dr Florian Herrmann, the ceremony was blessed by the Bishop of Augsburg, Dr Bertram Meier and the Protestant City dean, Frank Kreiselmeier.
In front of around 100 invited guests, those responsible emphasized the strategic significance of the project. The investment ensures high quality standards and strengthens the company’s role as a major regional employer, making a sustainable investment in the region’s economic strength.
Future-proof technology and a true partnership
The installed Commander CL combines maximum flexibility and reliability with intelligent features for minimal setup times and excellent print quality. Equipped with two folders and a complete QI standard system, the press boasts advanced automation functions – from automatic plate changing to precise colour density control and future-proof predictive maintenance.
This high degree of automation sustainably reduces waste, downtime, and outages, and efficiently optimizes the entire printing process. The new press enables the switch from the Rhenish to the more compact Berlin format. The Augsburger Allgemeine is thus consistently following an industry-wide trend of recent years and optimising its appearance for its readers.
Integrating the new press into the existing infrastructure required the utmost precision. Thanks to the excellent collaboration between the in-house technical team and Koenig & Bauer, the project was a resounding success – fully on time and within budget, and meeting the highest quality standards. Mr. Andreas Ullmann, head of Technology, added, “The progress achieved is impressive, and the collaboration with the Koenig & Bauer team was absolutely first-class. We are now delighted to be able to deliver all our print runs to our readers on time and in top quality using the new press.”
A particular highlight of the teamwork was the visit of 40 employees from the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper to Koenig & Bauer’s headquarters in Würzburg. The group toured the production facilities – including the Customer Technology Center and the printing press assembly area. The focus was on getting to know each other personally, which was ceremoniously sealed with the presentation of a large, framed team photo.
Dr. Alexander Blum, CFO of Koenig & Bauer AG, emphasized at the inauguration, “For the first time, our two long-established companies have successfully completed a project of this magnitude together. In this day and age, a major project like this is far from a guaranteed success and demands total commitment from everyone involved. I am delighted that our collaboration over the past 24 months or so has run so smoothly, and that we have reached our goal together, right on target.”
Following the official ceremony in the media center, guests were able to experience the impressive new production speed and groundbreaking ergonomics of the Commander CL firsthand during exclusive tours of the press.
