One of Canada's largest independent printing companies will be the first in North America to install a Goss Sunday 3000 web press with a 75-inch width, DigiRail digital inking technology, an advanced Goss Ecoset dryer and dual folders.

Solisco Printers, which was founded in 1991 and provides complete publication, commercial and book printing services for customers in Canada and the United States, will add the gapless-blanket Sunday press capable of producing more than three million magazine-size pages per hour at its facility in Scott, Quebec later this year. The width of the 2x8 press, along with pinless former and combination folders, will allow production of multiple product formats and page counts, including finished magazine-format products that are up to nine inches wide. The Ecoset dryer with integrated chill rolls includes innovative technology which reduces energy consumption considerably.

Alain Jacques, co-owner of Solisco Printers, says lower waste, faster job changes and the opportunity to triple productivity with the same crew size make it easy to justify replacing less efficient capacity with an advanced Sunday press system.

"We can't stand still in terms of innovation if we want to stay competitive and continue to exceed the expectations of our customers," Jacques adds. "Goss shares that philosophy and has provided us with exceptional support and increasingly advanced press technology for two decades."

Two Goss pinless folders will expand the versatility of the new Sunday press, allowing magazine, tabloid and digest product formats. The PFF-3 former folder will be capable of producing more than 190,000 16-page signatures per hour in dual-delivery mode. The PCF-1 SQF high-speed combination folder will produce a full range of product formats and will feature new Goss innovations for quarter folding and signature control.

"The productivity and versatility of the 2x8 Sunday press format, along with the nine-inch product capability, create valuable competitive advantages that we look forward to passing on to our customers," explains Jean Gregoire, who founded the company along with Jacques.

Goss International will equip the Sunday press at Solisco Printers with its exclusive DigiRail digital inking system. DigiRail technology replaces analog, open-fountain ink delivery with pumps that deliver pulses of ink directly to the ink train through individual valves. Digital control of the pumps and ink flow complements digital workflow and presetting capabilities.

"The precision of DigiRail inking improves presetting, cuts start-up time and waste, and makes it easier to sustain ink density and color quality through the run," according to Jacques. "The technology is highly proven in newspaper and insert applications, and it represents an important new breakthrough for the North American commercial printing market."

Additional features of the Sunday 3000 press at Solisco Printers will include a Goss Contiweb FD paster, Omnicon controls and the automated Goss Web Center workflow system.