India’s Malayala Manorama is to install five of Mitsubishi’s flexible new DiamondSpirit SA press.
What is being hailed as the biggest press order of the year will see the five new presslines – each of four colour towers, one mono unit and a 2:2 folder – installed between late next year and mid-2015.
Mitsubishi demonstrated the compact new press design in Hiroshima, Japan in September, and launched it at the World Publishing Expo in Berlin this month. It is based on technologies from the company’s 4x2 and 4x1 presses, but is lower, lighter and uses a one-around blanket cylinder design. Compared to the 4x1 DiamondSpirit, the SA is 1200mm lower at 4400m high, and weighs 30 tonnes instead of 45. As a result, it can be installed in pressrooms built for 2x1 designs.
Designed specifically for the growing Indian and Asian markets, it is claimed to use less power and waste less paper on start-ups, delivering a higher ROI ratio said to have been a consideration in the order.
The largest selling Malayalam-language newspaper, Malayala Manorama began as a four-page weekly newspaper in 1888. It was founded by Kandathil Varghese Mappilai in Kottayam, Kerala, and developed to a biweekly (1901), triweekly (1918) and then a daily (1928).
With a circulation of 2.3 million copies, it is now one of world’s largest daily newspapers. It is published from 18 printing centres – 11 in Kerala, five in Indian cities outside Kerala, and two located outside of India.
The company has expanded its print business into magazines – it now publishes more than 40 magazines in Malayalam and English – and broadcast media with Manorama News TV and Radio Mango.
Its Manorama Online web portal was ranked the world’s third most popular online newspaper by Alexa in 2007, behind the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The new DiamondSpirit-SA presses for Malayala Manorama are rated at 75,000 cph, and have a cutoff of 546 mm and web width of 1400 mm. Press lines will be configured with four 4/4 tower printing units, one 1/1 unit, one 2:2 single rotary folder and five reelstands. Mitsubishi press controls include ink and other presets, automatic webbing up and dual web tension control, and automatic colour register control.
A ‘soft stop’ function addresses unexpected power outages, ensuring the press can be stopped without breaking webs and is more economical than UPS systems.
The first press will be shipped around the northern autumn of 2014, with the remainder in succession by late summer 2015.
Pictured: Represntatives of Malayala Manorama and Mitsubishi pose for commemorative photo (from left) P. P. Prakash, George Verghese, Harsha Mathew, ShibuGeorge, Mammen Mathew, Masami Shimizu, Takashi Uchiu, Mamoru Ito, George Jacob, Siji Joseph, Joseph P. Varghese, Roy Alex, P. K. Philip
On our homepage: Malayala Manorama chief editor and managing director Mammen Mathew (right) and MHI-P&PM president Masami Shimizu seal the deal