By: E&P Staff Australia's News Ltd. group has ordered a KBA Comet singlewide, two-around press line for the Mercury, a 51,000-circulation daily (80,000 weekends) in Hobart, Tasmania.
Another News Ltd. title, The Gold Coast Bulletin, near Brisbane, Queensland, installed a Comet in 2004.
To be commissioned early next year, the new press is part of a US$29 million project -- the paper's largest ever, according to Managing Director Tony Yianni -- that includes a new building and Ferag mailroom.
Comprising six Pastoline reelstands at right angles to six printing towers, a KF 3B double jaw folder and various extras, the Comet will be able to print up to 96 full-color tabloid pages and includes facilities for stitching and a quarterfolding. It will have a 22.75-inch cut-off and a maximum rated output of 75,000 copies per hour in straight production. Web width can be varied between 24.75 and 34.25 inches, with 31.75 inches as the standard. Two KBA control consoles will feature EAE's Print PP job scheduling and press presetting software, a RIP interface and a diagnostics PC for remote maintenance.
The Mercury's existing 35-year-old press limits it to 80 pages, with no more than 16 pages in color. Various supplements, including a 76-page real estate section, must be contracted out. Other titles include the statewide, 60,000-circulation Sunday Tasmanian.
"The new press will enable us to take control of our own destiny, bringing back in house the 40% or so of the newspaper that is printed by contractors," Yianni said in a statement. By putting color into the classified ad section, which is not preprinted, "we certainly expect classified to grow," he added.
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