The order comprises three four-high Magnum Compact towers with one folder for 24-page single-width production with 546mm cut-off. The installation is scheduled to begin in spring 2015.

“The press will give us benefits on many levels,” said Kumar Nadesan, managing director, Express Newspapers. “Apart from providing more page capacity, the new press is highly automated, which will make our daily production more streamlined and efficient.”

In India, Mumbai-based SLKGC is the dealer of Goss products. The US-based Goss International supplies presses and finishing systems, for magazine, newspaper, packaging, catalog, direct mail and other printing applications.  

The Goss Magnum Compact press is the world’s first – and only – 2x1 web offset press with an automatic plate-changer. The Goss Autoplate plate-changing facility will enable Express Newspapers to change a full set of 24 plates in less than five minutes, including ink presets. In addition, the ability to change a single plate in less than one minute will allow Express Newspapers to produce the multiple language editions of the company’s flagship newspaper, Virakesari, with unprecedented speed and efficiency. Full automation with pre-setting, automatic register control, ink filling and automatic reelstands are among the other time and waste-saving features.

Virakesari is a 28-page Tamil daily with a circulation of approximately 65,000 copies; the 72-page Sunday Virakesari has a circulation of around 120,000 copies and is distributed to 15 countries, including the UK, France, Germany, India, the Middle East, the US, New Zealand and Australia. A weekly edition is also published in Doha, Qatar on Thursdays under the title Tamil Times and circulated throughout the Middle East.

The first issue of Virakesari was published on August 6, 1930. Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited was established in 1970. Today the company employs 320 people in 13 branches across Sri Lanka. In addition to the three editions ofVirakesari, Express Newspapers also publishes a raft of newspapers and coldset magazines, including: Metro News(25,000 copies), a daily 24-page tabloid; The Vidivelli (27,000 copies), a weekly 24-page broadsheet, distributed mainly in the Eastern regions of Sri Lanka; The Sooriyakanthi (15,000 copies), a weekly 16-page broadsheet circulated in the central region of Sri Lanka; The Mithiran (40,000 copies), a weekly 44-page family magazine in tabloid; The Genuis(20,000 copies), a fortnightly 32-page tabloid for young adults; The Jothidakesari (10,000 copies), a monthly 100-page astrology magazine; and The Sugavalvu (10,000 copies), a monthly 64-page general health magazine.

As the Goss Magnum Compact press is equally suited to book and semi-commercial work as newspaper printing, Nadesan said, it is an attractive choice for the company. “With the transformation of the newspaper market, we want to be sure that we are able to respond to new circumstances,” Nadesan added.

The fast and automatic plate changes of the Magnum Compact mean that plates can be changed and good copy achieved faster than on any other single-width newspaper press on the market, making it viable for short runs as low as 500 copies, he said.

“We have a long history with Goss,” Nadesan concluded. “We have relied on our existing Goss Community SSC press for many years. Now, the Magnum Compact press will make us the most technologically advanced newspaper publisher in the region.”