LIVE FROM IPEX briefing in Birmingham UK – Goss eyes sheetfed market

The combined turnover of Goss and HWS pre-merger was around $US$700 million and today it is over $1,000 million.. European ceo Jochen Meissner outlined a raft of innovations that visitors to IPEX will see in April 2006 – the first time Goss has exhibited at IPEX.

Most interesting of these is the AutoTransfer option for Sunday 2000/3000/4000 heatset presses. Put simply, this enables jobs to be changed almost ‘on the fly,’ making short web-runs a reality as multiple jobs can be run on the same reel. This is achieved by having double CMYK printing units that can lift off the web when one print run is completed and the next job ‘drops down’ from the second unit that is already plated and ready. The plates for the previous job are removed and the next set of plates mounted ready for another seamless transfer when the running job is completed.

Combined with other innovation in blankets, speed, servo motors and even personalization in the bindery, Goss believes it can now achieve sheetfed quality on web presses and aims to encourage its customers to attack the ‘long perfector’ sector that has been so successful. A dozen and more job changes a shift are now achievable with AutoPlate and AutoTransfer.

At IPEX, visitors to the Goss stand will see a Sunday 2000 24pp web running with both AutoTransfer and AutoPlate change. A Gapless Sunday 4000 64pp press will also be shown along with the trusty former Harris M600. The Goss Flexible Printing System will be ready for market by April 2006 also.

Meissner indicated a two-way assault for heatset web offset – one direction pulling high volume work from gravure and the other pulling work from sheetfed offset due to the lower costs of printing on an automated heatset web press.

“Goss is moving closer to a totally automated web offset future, ”Meissner noted; identifying IPEX 06 as the time when this would be achieved.

The innovation does not stop there; Goss has WebCentre, a total JDF workflow that takes press controls to the next level. Through OmniLink, it communicates with a variety of MIS for almost ‘lights-out’ web printing.

The bindery has not been overlooked and mass personalization of web offset-printed publications is being achieved now using selective inkjet heads. Brown Printing in the USA is already personalizing 500,000 computer magazines a month with messages specific to each customer and a US construction industry magazine goes out in 800 different versions.

Goss PaceSetter saddle stitching will also be shown and a Technology Theatre will present regular programmes of web offset intelligence including reel logistics – Goss is the first to introduce extra wide 1524mm (60”) reels and reel handling. This alone saves hours of splicing and reel-changes and improves warehousing and inventory control.

European Marketing Manager Eric Bell enthused; “IPEX is the most important global trade show for us since the HWS acquisition.”

It looks like Goss is blurring the lines between sheetfed and web offset with its many innovations. Many publishers and print buyers may find the economics of moving jobs to heatset web hard to resist when compared with sheetfed.

With about half of the world’s 160 million tones of printing paper used running through web presses, technology advances in this area have a major impact and Goss has definitely not been sitting on its hands since the HWS acquisition.

Whether you are already a web printer or a B1 ‘long’ press operator, the Goss booth at IPEX is well worth the visit.