Offset Printing

SG360 using Goss web press to give direct mail a wider appeal

Friday 16. November 2012 - Video of the 75-inch Sunday 4000 direct mail press in production at SG360 and an interview with vice president of manufacturing John Romita now posted on website

A lot of printers produce direct mail products, but there may not be anyone doing it quite like Illinois (USA) based SG360, a Segerdahl company.
Equipped with a Goss Sunday 4000 web press that feeds a 75-inch-wide web into a custom in-line finishing system, the company is delivering efficiency, versatility and value for its customers that are hard to beat, according to vice president of manufacturing John Romita. SG360 is also a pioneer in combining offset and personalized ink jet content in a hybrid production process.
“The best bang for the buck in target marketing is in printed direct mail, and it will continue to be a very viable marketing channel in a world of multiple channels,” according to Romita. “And for direct mail, our Sunday 4000 is unique. You would be hard pressed to find anyone running a 75-inch web with an in-line finishing line that is as long and as versatile as what we have.”
Romita points to a regular monthly job that previously required two traditional 38-inch web presses running in tandem at SG360 as just one example of how the Goss wide-web technology translates into a clear advantage. “Now, with the Sunday press, we run that job faster and far more efficiently with one press – and one press crew – instead of two, and the print quality is out of this world,” he explains.
Romita says integrating ink jet capability directly into the web offset platform at SG360 makes the company more viable and more valuable in supporting the direct mail campaigns of its customers. “A lot of the images and static copy will be printed offset, but addressing and some of the internal messaging can be variable, changing from piece to piece,” he explains. “That is typically what we do in our hybrid printing process.”
SG360 had initial concerns about adding the wider Sunday press format to its extensive portfolio of production options, but Romita says he was “pleasantly surprised” by how smoothly the company was able to install and operate both the press and the integrated in-line finishing system. He attributes the success partly to the Sunday press technology and the Goss International support of that technology.
“First of all, there are not a lot of suppliers that can offer a 75-inch web press,” Romita points out. “There was one other option, and we spent a lot of time looking at the equipment and doing press tests, but apples-to-apples there was no comparison. The Sunday press was head and shoulders above.”
Ongoing support from Goss International has also been exemplary and an important contributor to the success of the Sunday press platform at SG360, according to Romita. He says he is impressed with the wealth of knowledge and information within the Goss team and the ability of such a large, global supplier to also be so responsive.
“I think they’re the best in the business for support,” he adds. “They’ve always done a great job for me, whatever plant I’ve been in, and especially over the past few years and with the Sunday press. The support has been second to none.”