YM Group has successfully installed the Sunday 5000 short grain press it paid £2 million for after the collapse of Polestar last year.
The machine was the third and youngest of the Goss presses that Polestar had installed in its Sheffield site and the only one in a short grain configuration. It has been installed at the Chantry Press site in Bradford and gives YM four short grain presses across the group.
This is similar to the press installed at Pindar in Scarborough, but offers 64pp rather than 48pp production, says Goss UK sales director John Chambers. YM managing director Peter Greaves adds: “The Sunday 5000 adds 64pp short grain capacity to our existing facilities for printing high quality commercial and periodical products and has increased the capacity at YM Chantry by around 40%.
“Short grain is more cost effective for printing as it delivers higher output, especially for sub A4 formats where paper savings are made against the standard long grain formats.”
Short grain products are especially popular in retail, an area of high volume web offset that continues to be in demand in contrast to the decline in publication printing.
The press was in use at Polestar for less than a year, says Chambers. It was also lightly used as the plant had concentrated on magazine work needing long grain printing but had one contract requiring the short grain configuration.
By the time of its installation in Sheffield earlier problems with the QI press controls that Polestar had specified had been sorted out and the press at Chantry retains the original specification for printing and delivering folded sections. YM has not taken all Polestar’s finishing equipment, which had also proved troublesome. The company has also recruited much of the team that ran the press while at Polestar.
The Sunday 5000 will deliver 120,000 64pp sections an hour through the Goss SG-3 jaw folder leading to a twin delivery. A balloon former section and ribbon stitching heads enable it to produce finished 24pp products at 240,000cph.
The press was sold quickly after the demise of Polestar. “It was the one that everyone wanted to buy,” says Chambers. The remaining two machines have also been sold to an unnamed buyer in mainland Europe which is creating a press hall for the machines.
Goss has also been called in to sort out problems with the 48pp Sunday Press at GD Print in Rotherham. The purchase and installation of this machine was part of the problem that led to the collapse of that company. Under new ownership led by Paul Mursell, Goss has been commissioned to ensure that the press is correctly aligned and set up to provide a reliable production platform.
YM Chantry has commissioned the short grain Sunday 5000 it bought at the end of last year from the wreckage of Polestar. Goss acted as agent for the sale and has also sold the two other Sunday presses in the Sheffield line up.
