Photo: Newspapers & Technology

NEWRY, Northern Ireland — Independent News & Media last month put the finishing touches on commissioning two heatset-equipped Goss International Corp. FPS towers at its plant here.

The 5-by-2 towers, the world’s first, join three 4-by-2 coldset FPS presses INM commissioned earlier this year. The Irish printer is the first publisher to purchase the FPS press, introduced in 2004.

The heatset towers are equipped with Goss’ Ecocool dryers with integrated chill rolls. They’re engineered with a 22.75-inch cutoff and a 75-inch (five-page) web width. Once on-edition, the towers will feed both heatset and coldset printing into a 2:5:5 jaw folder, equipped with a Tolerans stitcher and quarter-folder.

INM renovated a 60,000-square-foot warehouse to house the compact FPS press, which is being used to print the Herald AM and other products. The pressroom, mailroom and reelstands — located at a 90-degree angle to the press — are all located on a single floor, saving space and construction costs. All told the press can print up to 176 full-color tab pages and up to 96 pages coldset and 80 pages heatset in combination.