KBA supervised the installation of a Commander press at the Jordan Press Foundation (Al Rai). The investment was made to help the foundation produce printed works at international standards. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around 11 million dinars (US$ 15.5 million), and aims to fulfil the future needs of the Jordan Press Foundation.
It is worth mentioning that complex press projects are set up as a rehabilitation process for news organizations, to be in line with the technical developments that occur in the world of print. The new ‘KBA Commander’ installed at Al Rai has the capacity to print 80,000 copies per hour, and produce 96 colour pages including 16 colour pages in polished glossy paper.
According to Al Rai, the project is estimated to serve the needs of the cultural and journalistic institution during the next twenty years and will bring significant financial returns. The foundation sits on a ten acre compound and houses many publishing titles including the Arabic daily newspaper Al Rai, paper warehouses and other print facilities.
The project is considered to be the biggest investment to date made by the Jordanian media company in newspaper technology. Commenting on the investment, Fahed Fanek said, “With the high-powered KBA Commander we can offer our readers, advertisers and print customers full-colour newspapers, supplements and other print products with greater visual appeal and immediacy.” Amjad Ayesh, JPF technical committee chairman and commercial press manager adds, “The Commander’s heatset capability will allow us to print semi-commercial and hybrid copies on newsprint and improved paper. While we’ll be exploiting these options and the new press line’s productivity for our own titles, we’ll also be accepting contract work to shorten the payback time.”
