The leading mailroom supplier IDAB WAMAC, a company of the Heidelberg group, has received a major order from the French publishing house Delaroche. The contract value is approximately ten Million Euros. Delaroche S.A is the Holding Company controlling the newspaper publishing operations of the Socpresse group in the Rhone-Alpe-Bourgogne region. The new mailroom systems will modernize capabilities according to market requirements at plants in Saint Etienne, Grenoble and Chassieu, near Lyon where the company produces the large daily newspapers Le Progrès and Le Dauphiné Libéré. The IDAB WAMAC postpress systems will be integrated with a total of five new Heidelberg Mainstream presses scheduled to be in production by the end of 2004. Two of these presses with a total of 64 printing couples will be installed in Chassieu, while a single press with 26 couples is slated for Saint-Etienne. The other two Mainstreams will be installed in Grenoble at Le Dauphiné Libéré. With the multi-plant installation by a single vendor, Delaroche will get integrated presses and mailroom equipment of the latest technology. Mailroom configuration at Le Progrès in Lyon/ChassieuThe plant in Chassieu, near Lyon is printing approximately 300 000 copies of Le Progrès per day. Two press deliveries will be equipped with single copy IDAB WAMAC PCC 903 gripper conveyors. Each gripper clamp will be coded, enabling control of each printed copy and resulting in a minimum of overprints. With this technology, the copies can be released one by one, and bundles with different counts down to one single copy can be produced automatically at full press speed. Each gripper conveyor will release copies to two stack/packaging lines. The IDAB WAMAC TS 800 stackers will produce programmed bundles from one copy and upwards. The bundles will be addressed on-line, protected by plastic film and strapped before they are conveyed to the distribution trucks. The sorting and loading system will direct each bundle to the correct loading position by scanning the bar code on the bundle label. The driver will be able to read on a display how many bundles are received and how many bundles are to be produced before the loading is completed. The complete mailroom process will be controlled by IDAB WAMAC's WNC v5 control and information system. The WNC v5 uses a Window 2000 platform, has an open architecture, and allows flexible production planning and order handling. A production order can be changed up to the very moment the bundle is produced. In addition the production can be monitored remotely via an internet/intranet connection. IDAB WAMAC will supply a Müller Martini Flexiroll system for feeding of two subscriber machines. IDAB WAMAC's design concept allows for the integration of components from other suppliers, giving the customer flexibility in the system configuration. The mailroom system will be up and running in April of 2004. Mailroom configuration at Le Progrès in St Etienne The plant in St Etienne is printing approximately 100 000 copies of Le Progrès per day. The mailroom system configuration will be similar to the one in the Lyon/Chassieu plant, but with one press delivery and one subscriber machine instead of two. The mailroom system will be up and running in December of 2003. Mailroom configuration at Le Dauphiné Libéré in Grenoble The plant in Grenoble is printing approximately 280 000 copies of Le Dauphiné Libéré per day. The mailroom system configuration will be the same as for the Lyon plant, except that the Flexiroll system will not be included. It will be up and running in November of 2004. IDAB WAMAC International AB With effect from September 1st 2002 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) took over the Swedish company IDAB WAMAC International AB (IDAB WAMAC). This company was founded in 1958. Today, IDAB WAMAC is a world leader in the supply of mailroom systems for newspaper printing industry. It delivers automated systems and in-house developed software to control processes for newspaper flow, inserting, storing, bundle production, and sorting & loading. IDAB WAMAC's registered office is in Sweden, and it has subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Hamburg and London. The company operates globally, its most important markets being Europe, and the industrialised regions of Asia.