With more web offset technology on display and more at-show web press orders than any other supplier, Goss International asserted its leadership position in the sector at drupa 2012.

Orders for 11 Goss web presses were signed during the show, which ran from May 3-16 in Dusseldorf, Germany. A Packaging Theatre was the centerpiece of the Goss booth, attracting large audiences throughout the show for demonstrations of the all-new Goss Sunday Vpak variable sleeve web offset press units for folding carton, film and label applications. The world’s first 96-page web press – the Goss Sunday 5000 – and the new Goss Colorliner CPS compact newspaper press were also featured on the Goss booth, along with units from the new high-speed single-width Goss Magnum HPS model and the new-generation 16-page M-600 model.

“We accomplished what we set out to do at drupa, which was to introduce our customers to innovative ideas for commercial print, packaging and newspaper production and to demonstrate that we are the strong technology and market leader,” explains Goss International president and CEO Jochen Meissner. “Of course, the proof of this success is in actual new projects. The contracts finalized at the show, the acceleration of projects in the pipeline, and initial discussions about new projects, particularly in packaging, were encouraging endorsements of our technology and our global team.”

Orders reflect diversity
New Goss systems were ordered at drupa by printers in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and ranged from wide-web Sunday presses to single-width newspaper presses.

Posigraf, one of the largest printers in Latin America, invested in a Goss Sunday 3000 press in the early days of drupa. “Stepping up to the wide, 2x8 format will give us far greater productivity and efficiency and it will expand the format and pagination options we can offer to our customers,” explains owner Giem Guimaraes. The company currently operates standard four-pages-across commercial web presses. “We have a lot of confidence in Goss International as both an innovator in wide-web technology and as a partner with very solid support resources.”

Hong Bo in China ordered a pair of Goss M-600 presses – the first Goss presses for the entrepreneurial company.

NEEF + STUMME premium printing in Germany, which currently operates four M-600 systems ordered another one. Andreas Bauer, president and managing partner cited makeready features and print quality as differentiating factors in the decision. “The technical specifications for the leading 16-page models proved to be nearly identical, but our study confirmed that Goss Autoplate, advanced presetting and workflow features continue to give the latest M-600 model a clear edge in job-change speed and efficiency,” according to Bauer.

Packaging: where the action was
“A lot of the action and attention at this drupa was focused on packaging,” claims Meissner. “New press technology introduced by multiple suppliers indicates that requirements are changing rapidly in this sector, and high interest in our Sunday Vpak presses supports our vision of an expanded role for new web offset solutions.”

Sunday Vpak 500 and Vpak 3000 units were featured at drupa. Goss operators demonstrated fast sleeve change capabilities and other features that allow the newGoss web offset models to deliver print quality, cost, time-to-market and environmental advantages over flexo and sheetfed alternatives.

Sunday Vpak 3000 units are available in web widths of up to 1905 mm (75 inches), while Sunday Vpak 500 presses print on webs up to 1051 mm (41 inches) wide. Several film and board samples printed in the Goss International R&D lab were also presented. The first Sunday Vpak press will be installed at Precision Press in Minnesota (USA) in the fall.