Large Goss Uniliner to Replace 3 Goss Gazettes in France

By: E&P Staff Installation of a new-style Goss Uniliner press began recently in a new plant for French newspaper publisher Groupe Hersant Media. The site at Reims will consolidate production now at two plants serving the Northeast of France with three Goss Gazette presses.

The system is the first full Uniliner press line with a one-around format in France. With six four-high towers, eight reelstands and two folders, it can be configured as a single line or as two presses. The Goss T90 arrangement of reelstands and printing towers at right angles on the same level affords production flexibility and reduced job-changeover times.

The company publishes five multi-edition regional dailies and 1.2 million copies of the ParuVendu free paper. "The one-around, doublewidth Uniliner is ideal for this diversity of work," Hersant Industrial Director Fran?ois Chaize said in a statement. "It has the firepower for long runs, but fewer plates are needed, compared with a two-around press, to switch editions or jobs."

The press-purchase decision also figured in changing L'Union from broadsheet to a 64-page tabloid, with 32 color pages.

"We will print 180,000 copies of our daily titles, and then on Saturday and Sunday we will combine the output of the two presses into a single folder," Chaize said. "Then, we will be able to print 80 tabloid pages in full color of ParuVendu. The production of 1.2 million copies will supplement our other freesheet printing plant in Reims, which prints, on average, 4 million copies of several titles on a Goss Universal one-around press."