100 participants from 15 countries

This year’s meeting was already the 15th time that users of the Cortina waterless newspaper press had come together to gather information on technical developments, to discuss practical experiences and to elaborate joint strategies for the future. The event initiated by Koenig & Bauer is held at the location of a different user or supplier industry partner each year. The driving force behind the annual workshop is Peter Benz, project manager Koenig & Bauer Digital & Webfed, who once again took care of the central organisation and also assumed his now traditional role as moderator of the two-day event. The value attached to the get-together was underlined in his opening words: “We are proud that the Cortina User Workshop has proved so successful over so many years, and that it continues to meet with such positive response.” The host for this year’s workshop was Cortina user Coldset Printing Partners from Paal-Beringen in Belgium.

As always, a particular spotlight was placed on daily production practices and the various questions which occupy users and all those involved with the waterless process. It was also in this vein that Paul Huybrechts, general director and CEO of Coldset Printing Partners, presented his own practical experience: “An important key to the success of a Cortina press is the possibility to use significantly less paper and thus to produce much more cost-effectively.” One year on from the commissioning of the first Cortina section at CPP, he confirmed that he was more than satisfied. Experience to date had already shown that the Cortina has reduced energy consumption compared to the Commander press line with which it shares the production hall in Paal-Beringen. Moreover, it delivers an outstanding quality comparable to that of commercial production, while meeting all expectations relating to an ecological printing process.

Almost 100 participants from 15 countries – both Cortina users and supplier industry specialists – attended the workshop in Belgium. Probably the most important benefit of such a meeting is and remains the opportunity to gather detailed first-hand technical information and to discuss arising questions with a broad spectrum of colleagues, especially with regard to the topics of inks and other consumables. Accordingly, the workshop agenda was extremely diverse, and the Cortina users and representatives of the supplier industry were unanimous in their decision to continue the workshop series in its present form.