October 11th, 2004 - Italian printing firm, LitoSud srl, has recently completed the installation of a new shaftless Goss Uniliner double-width press line at its plant in Milan. The installation marks a significant achievement for the Goss facility in Nantes, working in cooperation with Goss International’s Italian agent, New Age Srl, as the press went into production just seven months after the initial order. The design team at Nantes was immediately under pressure, they not only had to prepare site plans, but they also had to make significant modifications to the folders and printing units based on specific format and production requirements requested by LitoSud. During the planning stage, LitoSud decided to have both press lines installed in its Milan plant. This required an in-line installation to allow them to direct all four webs into a single folder. Eric Normand, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Goss Nantes, stated that this challenge only helped demonstrate the skill of the Nantes team. The shaftless Goss Uniliner press ordered for Milan consisted of four four-high towers with 500 mm cut-off and 1400 mm web width, four reelstands and two new Goss 2:5:5 jaw folders. Two mono units and two reelstands were added later, further enabling LitoSud to meet the growing demand of the Italian publishing market. According to Mario Farina, chairman of LitoSud srl, the trend in the Italian daily newspaper market is based on four key factors: continually increasing paginations; the growing demand for the 35 cm x 50 cm format to provide paper savings; the continuing drive towards full color and, especially for the free press, continually increasing print runs. “That’s why we invested in the Uniliner press,” states Farina, “We believe they are the most suitable to meet these important requirements. Furthermore, the success of the Uniliner presses and the speed of installation offered by the Goss team persuaded us, back in April, to extend our installations in Rome and Milan with two new Uniliner identical presses – two towers, one mono unit and three reelstands due at the beginning of next year. LitoSud’s production capacity can still achieve higher output than currently. We are planning similar new and significant investments in the near future.” Part of a group of printing firms controlled by the Farina brothers – Mario, Maurizio and Vittorio – specialized in gravure, heatset web offset and sheet offset with finishing, LitoSud has increased its turnover in just 9 years, from 700 million lira (about 360,000 euro) in its first financial year to 50 million euro in 2004. This is due to excellent management and to LitoSud’s sole focus on the production of dailies and magazines on web presses, which has gained the company a client base of leading Italian publishers. Its three printing plants (in Rome, Milan and Bergamo) have a yearly output of no less than 500 million copies and provide an excellent product and a prompt service to high-profile titles such as La Stampa, Il Tempo, Libero, Il Manifesto, Il Giornale D’Italia, L’Unità, Milano Finanza, Italia Oggi, Mercati Finanziari (Class Editori), Europa, Il Foglio, L’Indipendente, Linea, L’Avanti, Fatti Nuovi, Sportsman, Bloomberg, Totocorriere, Totoscommesse, Lottocorriere, Superlotto, Gruzzolotto, La piazza d’Italia, and many more. They also print the free dailies Leggo (Il Messaggero) and City (Corriere della Sera). The secret of this success is a policy of partnership with the publisher, often anticipating requirements through continuous technological development and by paying special attention to the changes in the national publishing market. According to LitoSud, the continuity of new investments and the reliability of the printing presses, as well as the speed of installation, are of paramount importance.