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Smiles abound at first U.S. DIAMONDSTAR contract signing
(Left to Right): Hidetoshi Nobumori (MHI America), Testuyuki Goto & Tak Uchiu (MHI), John Payne & Chuck Lyons (Post-Newsweek Media), Fumio Wakisaka (MHI), Frank Abbott (Post-Newsweek Media), KG Katayama (MLP U.S.A.) |
Hiroshima, Japan - Post-Newsweek Media, Inc.’s Community Newspaper Group and its printing division, Comprint Printing, have reached an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and its U.S. sales and service subsidiary, MLP U.S.A., to purchase Mitsubishi DIAMONDSTAR newspaper offset presses. The agreement, signed last month at Post-Newsweek Media’s headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland, calls for a press line of six tower units, two folders and six reelstands to be installed at a Maryland facility beginning in summer 2006. One folder will be equipped with quarter-fold capability and both folders will have the ability to stitch in line.
Besides the capacity to produce 96-page broadsheet newspapers in collect runs and two 96-page tabloid newspapers in double out collect runs, the DIAMONDSTAR press line will also handle multiple web-width operations, ranging from 47 to 60 inches.
Process color will be available on every page and the press is rated to run at a speed of 90,000 copies per hour. This is the first Mitsubishi DIAMONDSTAR press order in the United States.
In addition to its printing operations, the Community Newspaper Group of Post-Newsweek Media includes The Gazette and Southern Maryland Newspapers, which publish 42 weekly newspapers in seven counties throughout Maryland, reaching 40 percent of the state’s adult population. It also prints newspapers and guides under contract with 12 United States Military bases throughout the greater Washington, D.C., area. Combined, Community Newspaper Group publications have a circulation of over one million. Its newspapers also publish two news and information Web sites, whose traffic has tripled over the last two years. Comprint Printing is one of the largest commercial web printers in the Washington, D.C. region.
Prior to selecting Mitsubishi presses, Post-Newsweek Media CEO Chuck Lyons, Group President Frank Abbott, and Director of Printing John Payne visited DIAMONDSTAR press installations at Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun plants in Kyoto, Japan. The first-hand look at actual high-speed production runs proved instrumental in the final press selection process.
"This is an incredible press that will lift our publishing and printing enterprise to a whole new level of business performance," said Lyons. "The engineering and technology advancements, the simplicity and reliability of operations, the productivity gains from the speed of the press, and the availability of quality process color make this both an attractive investment and a path to innovation and growth in our print future."
"This press is great news for all of our printing customers," added Group President Abbott. "Publishers will have ground-breaking flexibility in the design and production of their publications and will be able to deliver high-quality affordable color to their readers and their advertisers."
In the past two years alone the DIAMONDSTAR press has continued to gain an ever-increasing share of Japan’s domestic market with 18 presses comprising nearly 500 printing couples already installed or on order.
According to Fumio Wakisaka, deputy general manager of MHI’s Printing Machinery Division, "Mitsubishi is extremely excited about the creation of the new partnership with Post-Newsweek Media and welcomes the opportunity to work together with the Maryland-based publisher over the coming years." |
