Nine-Tower Press Will Be One Of Africa's Biggest

A purpose-built printing plant near Lagos (Nigeria) will be home to a new nine-tower Goss Universal 75 press, one of the largest single-width presses that will be seen on the African continent.

The Punch (Nigeria) of Lagos is to increase its overall print capacity and to open up new business opportunities with the press, which will be installed in the last quarter of this year.

The shaftless Goss Universal 75 press will be configured as nine towers, one J2:3:3 jaw folder and 12 reelstands with a cut-off of 578mm.

The press will also feature a Quadtech colour register control and a Goss OPCS control system with four desks.

A conveyor and stacker system will also be included.

The Universal 75 is the latest Goss press to be purchased by The Punch.

Following the installation in 1999 of a Community press with one tower and four mono units, the Punch extended that machine each year up to 2005, resulting in a Community press installation with a final configuration of eight towers and two folders.

Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, chairman of The Punch, commented: "We have led the way in recent years in strategic investments that have enabled us to expand the business and attract greater advertising revenue.

We are very proud of our leading position in the Nigerian marketplace and, to ensure our daily title remains one of the highest circulation tabloids in the region, we must continue to invest in the future." He continued: "By utilising the flexibility of this latest investment we also intend to look at new business opportunities as well as satisfy the demand from our customers for higher pagination." Ademola Osinubi, managing director and editor in chief at The Punch, added: "The single-width two-plate-around format of the Goss Universal 75 press will provide a perfect platform from which we can grow the business.

In straight production the press will deliver a maximum tabloid product of 96-pages, of which 64 will be in full colour.

We have also made provision for a second folder to be added in the future." Paul Feeney, Goss International area sales manager, explained: "We have a wide range of market leading single-width products covering the full spectrum of customer and production needs.

The productivity and flexibility of the Universal 75 press system has recently led to an increase in orders, helping Goss International maintain a market leading position in the single-width sector." He added: "The Goss brand is synonymous in this region with quality and reliability and more than 140 new Goss single-width printing units have been sold in Nigeria in the last 10 years.

It is an absolute honour to have been selected by The Punch and to provide them with what will be one of the largest single-width installations on the continent of Africa".

The Goss Universal 75 press is available with a range of standard and optional features.

Close to 1,600 Universal 75 printing units have been installed in 25 countries around the world.

Established in 1972 The Punch is based in Ikeja on the outskirts of Lagos and prints the leading daily tabloid newspaper as well Saturday Punch and Sunday Punch.

Back to top