Axel Springer, the largest publishing and printing group in Germany is in the process to install Kodak Prosper inkjet heads in each of their printing sites. This investment is estimated to cost millions of euro. This investment happens shortly after they expanded their current hybrid setup following a successful pilot period.
The company's plan is to add hybrid printing capability to all their plants by next May, and they want to be ready for the start of the new Bundesliga season in August 2013. The goal is to massively increase the quality of printing of their flagship newspaper, "Bild", which was recently released.
According to – printweek.com, the existing heads at Axel Springer have been integrated on Manroland Web Systems Colorman presses, with Manroland and Kodak partnering on the integration aspects. However, other sites involved in the project use KBA presses but Manroland vice president said they would still be handling the integration and they expect to handle the engineering issues.
They strongly feel they can meet the "Bild" deadline, as one of their biggest advantages is the fact that it’s a modular system.
Axel Springer Group Is Planning A Major Inkjet Investment