NEWRY, Northern Ireland — Now armed with a fully operational press, Irish newspaper publisher Independent News & Media is ready to exploit the machine’s potential as it ramps up operations.

“We don’t think of this as just a newspaper press,” said Alan Lambert, INM’s production director, of the Goss International Corp. FPS press. “This is a commercial-quality press and the quality is second to none.”

INM, the first newspaper publisher to purchase the modular FPS, went on-edition with the first phase of the 5-by-2 press in February, commissioning three coldset towers (see Newspapers & Technology, May 2007).

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
Papers fly off INM’s FPS press in Newry. Production execs expect
automation to pay high dividends.
 

Last month, the three towers were joined by two heatset towers, permitting INM to produce newspapers as well as glossy supplements and other semi-commercial work.

The coldset and heatset towers each feed into a separate 2:5:5 jaw folder, but the press can be configured to allow one jaw folder to accommodate both heatset and coldset products simultaneously.

Both hot and cold

“The press was designed to run both coldset and heatset and it will be,” Lambert said. Goss engineered software to allow the press to quickly switch over from one mode to the next while other systems will scrub ink trains, blankets and associated press components.

Additionally, Goss fully activated the press’ automatic webbing system as well as the machine’s semi-automatic plate changing technology. The latter will significantly reduce the time crews now spend replating the press, and more importantly, eliminate plating errors, Lambert said.

Photo: Newspapers & Technology
The FPS press at Newry, Northern Ireland, will be used to produce both coldset and heatset products that range from daily newspapers to glossy magazines, Independent News & Media officials said.
 

Newry is expected to consume more than 200,000 plates annually. The plant has a plate baking line and two Agfa violet computer-to-plate lines, using the vendor’s N91-v plates for both heatset and coldset work.

The site, which now prints upwards of 1.8 million newspapers each week, will see that number grow to almost 3 million with the addition of the heatset towers.

In addition to Goss Ecocool dryers installed on the heatset towers, the 22.75-inch cutoff press is equipped with Bosch Rexroth Indramat drives, Baldwin Technology Co. Inc. blanket cleaning and spraybar systems, Harland Simon’s Prima management software and a QuadTech Inc. registration and cutoff control system.

“The color reproduction is very good on the coldset and the heatset will be just as good,” Lambert said. “We have essentially a heatset-quality press that prints coldset, and not the other way around.”

Converted warehouse

INM spent more than $40 million to convert a 60,000-square-foot warehouse to house the press, which is used to print the Irish Daily Star, Irish Independent and other titles including the Sunday World.

The pressroom, Ferag-equipped mailroom and the press’ reelstands, located at a 90-degree angle, are located on a single floor, a configuration that contributed to INM purchasing an FPS, which stands only 12.8 feet tall, Lambert said.

“The press’ design gave us the ability to put the machine in an existing building and make it fit,” he said. INM built two extra footprints to accommodate an additional coldset and heatset tower, if needed, Lambert said.

The Newry facility represents INM’s vision of the future of newspaper production, with operators trained to perform various tasks, from press to computer-to-plate.

“Everyone is part of the same team, with multiple responsibilities and the opportunity for them to learn (various jobs),” Lambert said. “Every day it’s something different,” he said of the crew’s duties. “It’s not just coming in to do the same job.”

Once crews get more experience running the FPS, INM will court outside business to fill print slots, Lambert said. “There is a lot of interest among clients who want us to print for them, but that will come later.

Examining market

“For now, we are a new printer, and once things settle down and we get consistent, predictive output, we will” take a close look at attracting semi-commercial clients.

“Commercial printers produce 32-page sections and collect what they have printed. We can do 64 pages, (standard size), stitch everything at once and go out the door; we don’t have to do two or three runs to produce (a magazine). That’s where we are coming from with this press,” Lambert said.

Shane Lancaster, senior vice president and general manager of Goss’ U.K. operations, said the Newry installation reflects the versatility of the FPS, introduced in 2004. “It’s basically worked out of the box,” he said. “We have had to make some changes to accommodate INM, but all in all, they have been very minor.”