March 22nd, 2004 – Saudi Arabian printing house Al Madina Printing and Publication Co. has installed three Goss Universal 50 single-width presses for its trio of printing plants across the Kingdom. The installations will ensure its continued success bringing each of the sites in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam from black and white to full colour production. Mr. Abdulhadi Bafakir, General Manager at Al Madina Printing and Publication Co. states, “When we started our search we decided that the most ideal press to suit our needs would be a single width, single circumference press with four-high towers. Goss is considered a pioneer in the single width area with the Universal press range and has vast experience with many Universal presses operating successfully all over the world,” he explained. Al Madina Printing and Publication Co. has a long relationship with Goss spanning over 20 years and previously had a series of Goss Community presses. The decision to go from black and white to full colour production was, as Mr. Bafakir explains, because of the flexibility it offers. “Our decision to buy three new Goss Universal 50 presses was first and foremost because of its colour quality but also and more importantly because of the flexibility it offers us now and into the future as our needs change.” Each Goss Universal press at Al Madina Printing and Publication Co. is configured as 10 four-high towers, three folders and 16 reelstands. The folders are situated in the center of the press and the ten towers are distributed equally on each side. Provision has also been made to allow for subsequent expansion with room for an additional four-high tower on each end and two two-high towers at the center of the press. The center towers on each side of the press will have four webs passing through it specifically to print 16 pages in black and white. They can, however, also produce colour as needs dictate. Mr. Bafakir comments on the new opportunities available to the company, “When we chose to invest in new press equipment we looked at the whole package – from the buildings to pre-press and post-press equipment. We have made considerable investment in the development of our newspaper facilities and now have three brand new fully equipped state-of-the-art facilities. This investment will open up many doors for us as we now have high production capacity and the most up-to-date accessories and facilities giving us the ability to meet any new business needs.” Each Goss Universal 50 is equipped with three folders working simultaneously and has been designed so that the press can produce three newspapers at the same time. Mr. Bafakir explains, “This is a very unique configuration enabling us to produce a variety of products with varying numbers of pages and colour. This design is not standard and Goss has successfully executed and met our expectations for this ten tower press with two of its towers allowing four webs and above all its very special Three Running Folders at the same time. It’s a truly innovative and productive design.” Paul Feeney, Middle Eastern Sales Manager at Goss concludes, “The Universal press range is very popular in the Middle Eastern market. Al Madina Printing and Publication Co. has chosen to upgrade its facilities with a unique and forward thinking design enabling them to make the very best use of the press’ capabilities. Its reliability, flexibility and excellent product quality makes the Universal press the ideal choice for any customer.”