Goss CEO: 'We're Alive'

By: Mark Fitzgerald Reflecting on his first 100 days on the job, CEO Robert A. Brown said Goss International doesn't look so bad off. "We're just trying to get the message out that we're alive," he added. "We're kicking."

The way he figures it, Goss still has the leading share among printing-press manufacturers worldwide, demand is beginning to pick up in its Asia/Pacific markets, and the company's past troubles -- so widely publicized in the United States and Canada -- rate barely a mention among overseas customers.

"Look, I'm not naive," Brown said. "In the U.S., absolutely, we've struggled. From a customer perspective, that image is a big challenge for us going forward. But all stakeholders in North America have been impacted by the issues Goss faced -- and what I hear from North America customers is, they are fairly supportive of Goss continuing to be a player in this market."

As Brown spoke with E&P in Goss' Westmont, Ill., headquarters, the empty offices and sparsely used parking lot echoed the company's troubles. (Next month, it moves to cozier quarters in the nearby Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook.) Goss emerged in February from its second Chapter 11 reorganization in as many years with a new owner: Matlin Patterson Asset Management LLC (MPAM), whose $2.2-billion investment fund specializes in distressed companies. In the past two years, it closed its last U.S. manufacturing plant and alienated some big customers, most notably the Chicago Sun-Times, which complained of service problems.

Brown said MPAM's cash infusion has helped Goss slowly rebuild its parts inventory as the first step towards gaining customer acceptance of its service. "It won't change overnight," he said. "In the U.S., I think we'll take some small steps first, (A) to get parts [to papers] and (B) to get competent people there to get the job done."

Goss is also taking some baby steps in product development -- with the North American market in mind. It used the IfraExpo equipment show in Barcelona, Spain, last week to announce that its Colorliner press now will be available in a 50-inch web width, the new broadsheet standard in North America. It also announced that its digital inking system, which uses digital page packs, will be available as options on its singlewide presses, including the Universal 70.

Brown is even breathing a little life into Adopt, the suite of digital-printing technologies that generated industry excitement in the mid-1990s -- only to be left for dead during the company's financial troubles. In the years since Adopt was mothballed, competitors led by MAN Roland have jumped well ahead in the race to develop a digital press that can work under newspaper conditions. Brown said a former manager in the Adopt project has been retained to assess the potential.