Goss Announces Plate-change, 60" Roll Options

By: E&P Staff Goss International, Bolingbrook, Ill., has announced a Semi-Automatic Plate Change feature for its Flexible Printing System press. Separately, the company said it will offer as an option on some presses the Goss Contiweb FD pasters, capable of handling 60-inch-diameter paper rolls to increase efficiency and productivity.

This customer-selectable semi-automatic plate-change option, available immediately on all new orders, can change printing plates in approximately half the time of a manual plate change on a conventional press, according to Goss. From the manual placing of the leading edge of new plates onto the FPS printing unit, the process to tuck the trailing edge and complete the plate change cycle is automatic.

Once plates are in position on the cylinder, they are automatically loaded in about 30 seconds, well within the time it takes to automatically close the Goss FPS printing unit.

Demounting of used printing plates occurs automatically in about 40 seconds as the unit slides apart. Only the plates to be changed are removed from the cylinder for an edition change, these plates being identified by the control system and the workflow data sent to the press console. As the press comes to a stop for the edition change, only those units with plates to be changed are automatically opened, with the identified plates removed as the units slide apart. New-edition plates are then added semi-automatically.

By cutting in half the time required for labor-intensive plate changes, the Semi-Automatic Plate Changing feature allows manning on Goss Flexible Printing System presses of as few as two multitasking staffers.

Time saved can be used to increase the number of editions, to start production later to include more news and sports, or to allow additional contract printing within the work day.

Goss will offer Semi-Automatic Plate Changing as well as the Fully Automated Plate Change "cassette" system first presented at Drupa and being developed through 2006. The fully automated system will link the computer-to-plate room with the Goss FPS to automate plate delivery. It also will provide the delivery path for future Goss on-press imaging.

To increase press efficiency and productivity, Goss is enabling its Contiweb FD pasters to handle 60-inch-diameter paper reels as an option on a variety of its presses.

Chuck Irons, Americas Sales Director for Goss International Splicers and Dryers, explained that "aggregate data from commercial printers, running Goss presses at various speeds, show that increasing the paper roll diameters to 60 inches extends the average time between splices by almost 50%, from 32 minutes to 48 minutes. In addition, the number of overall splices as well as roll handling, is cut by 30%."

Every splice, he added, incurs labor costs and the chance for a web break and paper waste. Increasing the splice interval adds to printers' flexibility in handling roll preparation.

Goss said it eliminated potential difficulties in larger-diameter rolls' greater weight on traditional three-inch roll cores. Goss Contiweb FD Pasters can now accommodate both three- and six-inch cores. The latter caters to the heavier weights of the bigger diameter rolls used across the range of web widths offered by Goss commercial and newspaper presses.

On the commercial side, Goss already has equipped more than 30 new Goss Sunday presses with its Contiweb FD pasters to handle the larger rolls. For newspaper printers adopting the 60-inch roll capability, the logistics benefit of handling 30% fewer rolls per day in an 8-, 10- or 12-web press can be significant. Goss also offers total paper roll logistics solutions with its Contiweb FD pasters, for fully integrated and automated reelroom operation.

Goss offers the option of selecting the 60-inch-diameter roll on a number of its presses, including the Mainstream, 4-by-2 and 6-by-2 versions of the Goss Flexible Printing System, and Sunday press.