Cromoman Site Expands in South Africa

By: Jim Rosenberg The pressroom of the weekly Paarl Post, which circulates in South Africa's Western Cape region and handles a growing commercial printing business, will boost page and color capacity when its third MAN Roland Cromoman tower with MEG reel splicer is taken into production by early spring.

The operation began three years ago with installation of a Cromoman tower with reelstand and folder, moved from MAN's Malaysian training center, according to MAN corporate spokesperson Sigrid Brust. A second tower, new from MAN's plant in Plauen, Germany, was installed with a used MAN folder and a used MEG reelstand supplied by Holland's Graphic Web Systems, MAN's partner for used equipment.

"We are already running at full capacity," General Manager Christoff Botha told his newspaper earlier this month, adding that the company, 100-years old this month and part of the greater Paarl Media group, has "positioned itself as a high-quality commercial printer to excel against its large-volume, low-quality competitors."

Paarl Post prints 14 weekly and 23 monthly newspapers, which account for approximately 40% of its current capacity. It plans to expand its market share in the balance of its work -- large retailers' catalogues and advertising leaflets.