Newspaper printers choose Goss service option

Goss International has announced that its bankable hours approach to service contracts, launched in mid-2009, has been chosen by several newspaper printers in the UK and Nordic regions.

The company claims that its bankable hours concept provides reduced labour rates, depending on the block of hours a publisher or printer books in advance and the length of the contract.

The plan also provides flexibility in the use of those hours for electrical, mechanical and controls maintenance, as well as training and routine or emergency service.

This allows Goss customers to plan work throughout the year, with known costs.

Several newspapers in the region have chosen this Goss service option, including the Shropshire Star in the UK, Schibsted Trykk and Faedrelandsvennen in Norway and Highland Web Offset in Inverness, Scotland.

Goss said that, in most cases, conversion to the new plans has not only optimised service and maintenance expenditure but also targeted specific plant requirements.

In addition, the company offers similar service plans in other regions of the world.

Goss said that the targeting of specific requirements is exemplified by the Shropshire Star, a publisher that looked to Goss for an objective view on how to return its presses to commissioning status, according to works and technical director Graeme Clifford.

Clifford signed up for a bank of hours that can be used, on demand, for a variety of jobs.

'The bank approach is ideal, not only to keep the presses running efficiently but to carry out specialist investigations to ensure long-term optimum productivity and print quality,' he said.

The Shropshire Star has three sites in the UK's Midlands region - Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Telford - all of which have Goss Colorliner presses that were upgraded in 2003.

Clifford continued: 'Keeping these presses printing as if they are new is our top goal.

'There are plenty of resources available to help us with this task, but a one-stop shop at a fixed price is attractive in itself.

'After achieving a significant reduction in start-up waste at each location, our next target will probably be to develop better training programmes for our in-house teams to support continued improvements,' he added.

David Tootle, Goss's customer services manager, believes that a service plan with bankable hours is the best approach at any time and especially in a difficult economic environment.

He said: 'In difficult times, a budget squeeze is a double negative for printers.

'With capital investment restrictions, there are pressures to optimise all existing equipment, but maintenance budgets are also under severe scrutiny.

'Some minor problems get left unfixed and longer-term upgrade projects are put on the back-burner.

'The bankable hours system gives printers the ability to improve the management of the problems, while giving flexibility to still carry out specific projects within the overall hours allocation and a fixed labour cost,' added Tootle.

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