Prepress

A FOND FAREWELL TO 2010…

Monday 31. January 2011 - As the economic situation appeared to stabilize somewhat the industry appeared to gain confidence in looking to the future, at least for a few years ahead.

This mood was reflected in much improved levels of activity at both the IFRA and GraphExpo shows in October (let’s just hope the relevant organisers can avoid a clash of dates next year).
With that attitude in mind the emphasis has remained upon reinforcing existing installations and maximising returns on them which has paid dividends for Harland Simon’s long term policy to focus on the upgrade and retrofit market within the industry and has resulted in by far our best performance for many years.
NEWS ROUNDUP…
Rounding up new orders for the year saw the second order from the Gannett organization in the US, this time to replace drives on 10 of their 20 Goss CT50 reelstands at The Tennessean in Nashville.
The concept of a partial replacement project which releases further spares for obsolete parts has been gaining ground and should be considered in some cases as an economical solution to extending equipment life and we would be pleased to discuss this type of option if you are interested.
Rounding off a busy year on the drive replacement front was an order from The Times, Huntsville AL to replace their unusual Toyo Denki main press drives on a TKS press. The uniqueness of the project put off many potential providers but Harland Simon’s long history and experience in the drive industry enabled us to provide a range of innovative options from which the customer selected their preferred solution.
As ever the importance of existing customers should never be underestimated and we were very pleased to continue our more than 20 year relationship with Midlands News Association in the UK to enable the installation of a Goss Colorliner tower extension at their Ketley site.
Progress continues on the installation phase for the Goss CT50 controls replacement at Singapore Press Holdings and Rockwell Automation control replacement at Aberdeen Journals with projects completed at Burlington Free Press for main press drive replacement (once again a very quick turnaround) and the extensive Honeywell control replacement and press extension project at The New York Post.
LOOKING AHEAD
We continue to pursue a policy of expanding international coverage through a growing network of agents and representatives and we are pleased to welcome Pressline Oy of Finland on board as agents for the Scandinavian markets. Their background and experience will form a valuable addition to our coverage and we look forward to working closely with them