The Sunday 5000 extends Goss’s gapless blanket Sunday press platform and has a 2,860mm web width. Tubular press blankets eliminate the vibrations associated with blanket gaps, providing the stability needed for wider cylinder configuration, the firm says.

European marketing manager Eric Bell said: “The machine is aimed at printers of bigger publications. We have seen a trend towards wider web widths and the Sunday 5000 combines added high-pagination productivity with short-run efficiency.”

The Sunday 5000 is targeted at producers of magazines, catalogues and direct mail and builds on the pioneering technology that has seen nearly 2,000 Sunday printing units sold worldwide since 1993, he said.

“The gapless technology ensures the machine is more dynamically stable compared to a conventional press with gaps,” said Bell. “It therefore allows us to go wider but maintain speed and quality.

“The Sunday 5000 opens up new opportunities for high print quality, productivity and efficiency. We are starting to see a bridging of the gap between gravure and web offset applications. Web offset won’t replace gravure, but there is a blurring of the lines between different sections of the market.”

The first machine is due to be shipped late next year to Grafiche Mazzucchelli, which has used Goss 48pp and 64pp Sunday presses with pinless folders to manufacture high-quality print from its base at Seriate near Bergamo in Lombardy.

Jacques Navarre, senior vice president of sales for Goss International, said: “Our original gapless and pinless Sunday presses revolutionised web printing. They allowed higher quality at higher speeds on wider webs. The Sunday 5000 is the latest development.”

Specifications

World’s first 96pp web offset press

4x12 pagination format with 2,860mm web width

Gapless technology offers more stability

Price: Undisclosed

Contact: www.gossinternational.com