Union Printing orders Goss Universal XL press

Italian commercial printer Union Printing of Viterbo has taken a new strategic direction with an order for a Goss Universal press.

The Goss press will fulfil current customer requirements by providing coldset capabilities for producing supermarket flyers and inserts at lower costs, said the company.

The Universal XL press is the latest version of the Universal press series.

Featuring a double-width, single-around cylinder format, the model has been developed to meet demand for smaller circulations of high-pagination products, explained Goss.

The wider format will allow Union Printing to meet its output requirements with fewer webs and towers, while maintaining the efficiency and versatility of single-around production.

With a combination of sheetfed, web and digital press equipment, Union Printing is an exclusively commercial printer, producing a range of products, from brochures and art books to heatset inserts and flyers.

According to owner and managing director Roberto Pepponi, the company's decision to investigate alternative coldset configurations was driven by a desire to achieve a lower price point offering for customers struggling to maintain standards with reduced budgets.

The Universal XL press for Union Printing will consist of two towers, 1,700mm wide with a 578mm cut-off.

Equipped with two 1:3:3 folders, each with one former and a quarterfold, it is claimed that it will run at 40,000 copies per hour, printing multiple paginations in production modes of four-16 full-colour tabloid pages straight and 16-32 full-colour tabloid pages collect.

Further features will include blanket wash and colour and register controls, as well as additional turner bars above the four-high towers to cut the web in up to four ribbons prior to entering the folder.

The press will be configured in a T90 layout, with reel stands at right angles to the press.

Although Goss International has not been an established current supplier to Union Printing, according to Roberto Pepponi, initial meetings indicated a positive, open approach to the printer's challenge and led to positive, creative discussions of a wide range of options.

The objectives for Union Printing were to achieve a lower-cost, high-productivity production option that would be acceptable to its customers for high-volume supermarket and retail inserts, as well as editorial publications.

Union Printing chose the Universal XL after a review of all options and print testing on different stocks.

Pepponi said: 'We were very pleased with the compact size of the double-width Universal, which allows for only two towers instead of four single-width towers.

'But quality was the decisive factor in choosing this press.

'Going from heatset to coldset, we needed to ensure a clean print and maintain colour impact and consistency.

'We were more than satisfied with the results of the tests, and more importantly our customers were happy too,' he added.

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