The Single Width Users’ Group (SWUG) conference next week in New Zealand will include a rare tour of the $22 million upgrade at Fairfax Media's printing plant at Petone in Wellington.
Over 130 delegates are expected at Wellington’s Copthorne Hotel on August 3-4 for the 16th annual SWUG conference - the leading forum for newspaper technology - this year titled Printfinity and Beyond.
“We have more informative presentations this year than ever before," says SWUG chairperson Dan Blackbourn. "In addition to keynote speaker Phil Lawrence’s address on the issue of poor power quality, we have Nicky Trevithick speaking on the risks associated with drugs and alcohol in the workplace, Karen Lyttle delivering an address on health and safety matters, an informative men’s health session and Chris Smallwood will outline the use of infrared/thermal imaging technology.
"Great entertainment is lined up for both the Awards Night, which will include the Apprentice of the Year awards, and the following informal evening event."
Another highlight will be a tour of the Fairfax Media Printing Petone site hosted by plant manager Ricky Baker, who says attendees will receive a full rundown on the $22 million investment initiated by Fairfax in September 2014, which saw a Geoman press imported from the Fairfax Media Tullamarine site in Melbourne then upgraded to include the following features:
• four double-width towers
• two folders
• four reelstands
• QI automated registration and cut-off
• Interbus loop communication system upgrade
“The investment and upgrade - which necessitated us having to increase the height of the Petone building by four metres to accommodate the new press - fully reflects Fairfax’s faith in the printed product and our print division,” says Baker. “Additionally, we upgraded the electrical transformers to increase their power and invested in a total revamp of the publication room that included the introduction of Ferag online quarter-folding and automated online poly-bagging of individual copies.
“Our previous press was a hybrid which had been repeatedly upgraded over the years and the publication room also had an old system. Both were no longer supported by manufacturers -- it was hard to get spare parts -- and we also had health and safety issues around machine guarding protocols. The upgrade has provided us with greater flexibility and diversity in the marketplace -- we can now print two jobs at the same time -- as well as the capability to deliver a quality product with quicker turnarounds and the capacity to output production at high speeds.
“I’m confident attendees of the SWUG conference will gain a wealth of information about our journey that may well inform their own future business decisions," says Baker.
Bookings can be made here or directed to Promote Ltd’s Lizzy Tankard or Aimee Watkin on 04 237 0482.