November 3rd, 2004 - La Galiote Prenant of Vitry-sur-Seine, France, has commissioned the first press of the new Goss M-600 D(tm) web press generation. Shown for the first time at Drupa 2004 in Düsseldorf, the new M-600 D was delivered direct from the show to La Galiote Prenant. The Goss M-600 D press at La Galiote Prenant was specified with a 62.5 cm cut-off. Unlike the plant's other web presses, which are all equipped with a folder and a sheeter, product delivery from the new M-600 D is exclusively by way of a VITS sheeter, at speeds of up to 70,000 copies per hour. The new press system is also equipped with Goss Autoplate automatic plate changer, Multidrive, Ecocool dryer with integrated web rehumidification system and a Contiweb(tm) automatic reelstand. In addition, the Goss Web Center with its Omnicon, Omni Reporting, Omni Presetting modules and prepress interface, makes it a truly integrated production system. Laurent Prenant, President of the company comments: "We are currently experiencing an increase in sales of our traditional products such as folders, advertising inserts for periodicals and short-run brochures, but also of newer products like direct marketing and mail order sales material. This growing demand goes hand in hand with ever-increasing quality requirements. In this respect, our web presses compete directly with sheet-fed machines. This is why we were looking for a "web-sheet machine" combining quality, speed, fast makeready, minimum waste and reliability. Additionally, and in order to secure a genuine productivity jump, we needed the new 16-page press to replace an eight-page press while being operated by a similar press crew." With 260 employees, a 2003 turnover of more than EUR41 million (excluding VAT) and an average paper consumption of 174 tons daily, La Galiote Prenant is among the 30 largest printing houses in France. Founded by Jacques and Christian Prenant in 1963, it is a purely family-owned business, managed by Président-Directeur Général Laurent Prenant. Based in the southeast outskirts of Paris, the company has easy access to the largest - and most demanding - graphic arts market in France. This location also facilitates frequent customer visits, encouraged by the company, when customers can watch job progress on the spot. However, as Laurent Prenant insists, "Market proximity is an advantage but only if it is coupled with the ability to react quickly at a very competitive price." La Galiote Prenant covers a wide array of printing applications from posters to folders, including periodicals and catalogs. Printing is done mainly on 80 to 250 gsm stock in four or five colors with varnish. In order to handle this range of jobs, until recently La Galiote Prenant relied on five commercial web presses - including three eight-page presses and one four-unit M-600 press - as well as two 70 x102 cm sheet-fed offset machines. For finishing, the company has 14 folding machines and seven inserter-stitchers and the prepress department operates a totally digitized data handling (CIP4/JDF) system including on-line CTP platemaking. This leading-edge equipment line-up has now been completed with the commissioning of the very first new generation Goss M-600 D(tm). The combination of advanced automation and workflow features makes the Goss M-600 D competitive at short run lengths that were previously the exclusive domain of sheetfed presses, according to Antoine Chevalier, Commercial Web Product Manager at Goss International. "The requirement to be able to combine a web press with sheet delivery is on the increase. The M-600 produces print quality that meets the standards of even the most critical sheet-fed offset print buyers, while printing three to four times faster. I am convinced that with its very low waste levels and its easy operation the M-600 can satisfy the needs of those sheet-fed offset printers who wish to accomplish a real leap in productivity." Dependability and printing quality, as already demonstrated by the company's existing web press in operation for several years, as well as the possibilities of the closed-loop control system carried the decision in favor of the Goss M-600 D(tm) press at La Galiote Prenant. But, according to Laurent Prenant, human factors played an equally important role in the decision process: "The teams in Montataire are close to us - not only geographically; we trust them."