The company has installed a four-colour Manroland Geoman, which it expects to be in full production mode by the end of next month.

An annexe has been built onto the existing production facility to accommodate the new press. The existing factory was built in 1997.

Its finishing operations have also been upgraded, with Ferag supplying two new mailing lines. The upgraded mailroom is expected to be commissioned by May 2011.

The media giant first announced plans to build the new plant in August 2008, saying at the time that the upgraded facility would be the largest in the state.

News Limited group technical manager Barry Johnson told ProPrint that the new press, which comes with a quarterfolder and 160pp capacity, ties in with the company’s other production capabilities. News Limited installed two Geoman presses at its site in the Sydney suburb of Chullora in 2008.

“We’re in the double-width arena,” Johnson said. “It’s essentially a sister press to those recently installed in Chullora, so we can utilise the synergies of having like presses in the group.”

The plant currently produces the Townsville Bulletin, The Australian and the Courier-Mail, and Johnson added that there was potential to branch into the commercial print space.

“We always look at that as an opportunity, but that’s not the reason for the expansion,” he said. “But if someone knocks on our door, we’ll [do the work].”

Johnson said Townsville’s place in the north Queensland tourist economy could make for hotels and travel company work.

“With the quarterfolder and trimming capabilities, we could do reasonable A4 products. There’s a lot of business out there for one-off A4-size work,” he said.

The Geoman replaces a Manroland Uniman 4/2 press, which was previously housed at News Limited’s Bowen Hills site.

Johnson said that the new press would also allow the Townsville plant to produce full-colour versions of the Courier-Mail and The Australian, which had previously been constrained by the capabilities of the Uniman machine.

The upgraded mailroom will take the place of the Uniman on the production floor. It comprises two mailing lines centred on a MultiSertDrum, fed by a RollStream pre-collecting system and a MultiDisc winding system.

The upgraded mailroom is configured for processing a main product plus a pre-print off the winding system and four supplements. The finished products are bundled on a total of four MultiStack units, foil-wrapped, and then strapped using Smart Strap, before evacuation on a PKT plate chain conveyor.

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