About 100 kilometers south of Perth rests the city of Mandurah, famous not only as a resort town but also as the home of the westernmost Fairfax Media printing plant. Mandurah residents accustomed to receiving the many printed products of the plant were surprised recently to see the roof come off the building and much activity of the crane variety commence. Fairfax Media has invested in a major upgrade in pagination capacity by expanding the existing manroland UNISET press.

Hot stuff: UNISET now a heatset printer
Stage one commences with the installation of two new eight-couple towers, two additional reel splicers and a further folder. The completion of stage one will see the plant with six towers and two folders providing the increase in capacity sought, plus a major increase in flexibility for the coldset plant. Stage two will see the introduction of heatset capacity. An additional eight-couple tower with a dedicated reel splicer and a MEGTEC dryer will be installed. This will enable the production of glossy publications or inserts and an ability to mix heatset and coldset production. In addition to a daily newspaper the plant produces many tabloid products for the real estate and the tourism markets requiring 24/6 operation.

Bob Lockley, Chief Executive Print & Distribution of Fairfax Media Limited, says: "This is a major investment in our Western Australia business. This investment indicates our confidence in the future, both of the West Australian market and the continuing demand for mass produced printed products and publications. We will be able to provide a much wider variety of products both coldset and heatset with a great deal of flexibility within the plant."

The Managing Director of manroland Australasia, Steve Dunwell, explains: "Fairfax Media is one of our great customers. We very much appreciate their continued confidence in our technology, our products, and in the future of our industry. When completed this installation will be a major leap forward for web printing in Western Australia".