August 8th, 2007 – Schumann Printers will be the latest company to add the unique 2x8 Goss Sunday 3000/32 web press.
The publication printing specialist will install the new four-unit press at its Fall River, Wisconsin facility in December of 2007. Goss International also completed a comprehensive enhancement of an M-1000 press for Schumann Printers earlier this year, and the company installed a Goss Pacesetter saddlestitcher in July, 2007.
“We continue to make major investments to better serve our customers and we continue to count on Goss International for the highest levels of innovation and support,” confirms Jack Schumann, chairman, who founded the company in 1963 and now shares management responsibility with his sons Daniel Schumann, president, and Mark Schumann, vice president. The company installed a Goss Sunday 2000 press with Autoplate technology in 2004.
The new Sunday 3000/32 press at Schumann Printers will include a Goss Contiweb FD flying paster, Ecocool dryer with integrated chill rolls and a PFF-3 pinless former folder. The M-1000 press project followed a formal audit and included inker and control enhancements as well as the addition of a UV coater. The Pacesetter saddlestitcher will be equipped for selective binding and ink-jet personalization. The company offers extensive finishing capabilities, including co-mailing with as many as 27 other magazine titles to reduce postage costs.
Schumann Printers specializes in short- to medium-run publication printing, producing approximately 300 magazine titles regularly. Daniel Schumann says innovation and responsiveness are differentiating factors. “We are large enough to bring the advantages of the newest technology to our customers, but we are also a family business where the owners know every job and can be contacted by any customer, at any time,” he contends.
Innovative technology is essential
Run lengths for publications produced by Schumann Printers average 35,000 copies, a job mix that requires makereadies every 30 to 60 minutes and the technology to do them quickly and efficiently.
“We were the first company in the world to have closed-loop control on all of its web presses and we take pride in maintaining what we feel is the most sophisticated plant in the publication printing industry,” says Jack Schumann. “You have to invest in the automation, digital presetting and closed-loop technologies to squeeze every bit of waste and inefficiency out of the makeready process.”
Schumann says the company has brought the M-1000 press up to the same presetting standards as the new Sunday 3000/32 press to stay in synch with the advanced digital workflows its customers rely on and to hold makeready averages to under ten minutes and 1,500 impressions.
2x8: The next logical step
Investing in the wider 2x8 format Goss press represents what Jack Schumann calls the next logical step for his company. “For us, getting 32 pages from a single-web press is preferable to 32 pages from a traditional two-web press,” he explains. “We will have half as many units, pasters and splicers to deal with, and we will reduce our labor.” Schumann Printers expects to operate the new Sunday press with a three-person crew, with a fourth person covering the delivery duties on both the new press and the existing Sunday 2000 press.
The eight-pages-across Sunday 3000/32 press was introduced in 2003, with gapless blanket technology providing the cylinder stability for high-quality, high-speed printing with the wider, single-circumference format. Sunday 3000/32 presses print at up to 100,000 impressions per hour, delivering as many as 3.2 million magazine pages per hour in a single-web configuration.
According to Jack Schumann, “The 32-page format complements our existing 16-page presses, giving us the ultimate versatility in pagination options. The smaller non-print area with a gapless Sunday press also translates into a shorter cut-off and a significant paper savings advantage.”
Extending the competitive life of an M-1000
Along with ordering the new Sunday 3000/32 press, Schumann Printers also chose Goss International for a comprehensive overhaul and upgrade of a five-unit M-1000 press installed in 1995. A formal press audit by Goss International provided the blueprint for the project, and the press is now used primarily for printing publication covers.
“Instead of rebuilding to original capabilities, we upgraded the press with innovations that keep it competitive and make it compatible with newer presses,” explains Mark Schumann. He claims that the specific experience of Goss International with the M-1000 press model was beneficial in meeting performance expectations and a tight schedule.
“We have never seen such a professional and well prepared group,” Mark Schumann says. “When they hit the floor in our shop, everyone from the coordinator to the person cleaning parts knew exactly what had to be done. We feel that the original documentation backup that the technicians had was key to the success and an advantage we would not have had with a third-party rebuilder.”
Far-reaching confidence in Goss International
Choosing a single supplier for a new press, an audit, an enhancement and a finishing system is unusual but logical, according to Daniel Schumann. He calls Goss press and finishing technology the most innovative available and says a single vendor streamlines installation, support and compatibility issues.
Experience and a strong relationship also give the company confidence. “Far beyond routine warranties and parts agreements, we know that Goss International provides a commitment to our success that we have not seen from other suppliers,” Daniel Schumann says. “We have never had an issue with their responsiveness to our needs and we continue to be impressed with their proactive, collaborative approach to helping us improve our business and create new opportunities.”