May 20th 2008 – The Goss FPS press at industry innovator F.D. Hoekstra Boom in Emmeloord, the Netherlands, started production in mid April and is already having a big impact at the facility.

Hans Emmink, technical director at Hoekstra Boom commented following the first week of production, "Never before to my knowledge has a new press started printing so quickly. No one in the printing industry would take us seriously if we told them what has happened in our facility in the past week."

Emmink continues, "In less than a week the new press went from printing its first test run with the mailroom equipment on Monday to achieving all of its initial production goals on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday."

The new 87,000 copies per hour Goss FPS press comprises two 4x2 four-high towers with 578 mm cut-off and 1680 mm web width, two Goss Contiweb FD pasters and a 2:5:5 modular jaw folder equipped with stitcher, skip slitter and quarterfold capabilities. The press has also been specified with a fully integrated Goss press control system, including extensive presetting capabilities, predictive maintenance and self-learning technologies.

Hoekstra Boom is the first Goss FPS press customer to specify provision for changeable cut-off on the units and the folder at the time of the order. Future addition of a second set of interchangeable cylinders, both for printing units and folder, could allow the publisher to produce alternative formats and therefore the flexibility to accommodate a wider variety of work.

"The dedication and commitment of all involved has been vital to the success of this project. The achievements of all involved have been enormous," concludes Emmink.