The huge press, which has a maximum web width of 2.64m, has been out of action since early May when a fire broke out on its folder during a night shift.
Assessing the best route forward has proved a complex process, not least because the 64pp Goss International Sunday 5000 is effectively a unique press and the model is not manufactured anymore, which means bespoke replacement parts need to be sourced.
Manroland Web Systems and Goss International merged in 2018. All of the manufacturer’s current web offset presses are based on Manroland tech.
Walstead’s group sales director Jon Hearnden told Printweek that the firm would relocate a smaller 48pp Manroland short-grain to the Oxfordshire site.
“The damage caused by the fire is extensive and any repair will take time,” he explained.
“With this in mind, we have acted quickly to ensure we have the required capacity and are currently in the process of removing the press from the site so it can be fully assessed for repair and meanwhile creating space for a Lithoman 48pp short grain, which the UK has acquired from our Spanish business.”
Hearnden said the 48pp was “currently being prepared for shipment to the UK and will be operational later in the year”.
The 48pp Manroland Goss Lithoman IIIS is coming from Walstead Iberia’s Eurohueco gravure and web offset site near Barcelona, which was shuttered earlier this year.
It’s a high-spec model that was completely refurbished when Walstead bought it from Germany’s liquidated Körner Druck business in 2021. That involved a €4m investment, £3.5m at the time.
The Manroland Goss Lithoman IIIS has a maximum web width of 1,980mm and a cut-off of 890mm.
It’s capable of printing at up to 70,000iph.
The specification includes two formers, four stitchers, 10 gluing heads and two delivery lines.
Printweek understands that the Sunday 5000 could eventually be re-installed at Bicester, or elsewhere in the group, if it proves economical to do so. It had been a key asset for the production of long-run, time-sensitive products such as newspaper supplements.
Walstead also has a mothballed 48pp short-grain Lithoman at the currently closed Walstead York operation, which it hopes to be able to re-open at some point.
Earlier this month the group, which had sales of €582m including paper in 2023, announced that it was effectively up-for-sale, with private equity majority shareholder Rutland Partners planning to exit from its investment after nine years.
