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Short-run newspaper printing: Inkjet competes with offset and vice versa

Offset and inkjet are drawing closer also in the short-run newspaper segment. The thresholds within which a production process can be used efficiently are shifting: upwards in the case of inkjet, downwards for offset. At the point where these thresholds intersect, a short-run range is emerging in which certain press categories for both processes compete.

by WAN-IFRA Staff executivenews@wan-ifra.org | June 4, 2013

In May, Goss International added a new single-width press – the Magnum Compact – to its already broad portfolio of newspaper presses. Does the market need another single-width press? What is special about it?

According to Eric Bell, Director Marketing Services for Goss, “the Magnum Compact makes offset cost-competitive in extremely short runs and in multi-product production environments”.

Instead of ceding the field to inkjet presses that are preparing to conquer the short-run newspaper market segment, offset is preparing to defend its territory. It is not any longer defined as a production process for long-run, mass productions only.

“Despite recent advances,” Bell says, “inkjet still results in a higher cost per copy than can be justified in many market segments. Our vision with the Magnum Compact is to lower the break-even point for offset to under 1,000 copies by applying targetted automation to dramatically reduce makeready times.”

The new presses for short-run newspaper productions – whether they be injket or offset presses – reflect the serious intentions of the manufacturers to provide the market with products offering sufficient flexibility to meet the changing needs of newspaper printers.

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