The Western Australian plant has traditionally received hand-me-downs from the group’s east coast sites, but this time round, “the economics of new 48pp Manroland duplex press were outstanding”, said chief executive Richard Allely.
A year ago, Allely told ProPrint that PMP was likely to opt for a secondhand 64pp press for Perth.
The new Manroland Lithoman is the world’s first fully duplexed, twin-fold, 96pp press configuration. It is expected to be fully operational in September 2012, when it will replace two 30-year-old presses that were “running off the smell of an oily rag”.
The Perth plant, which is led by general manager Clinton Willis, sees it main competition from local newspaper plants, such as West Australian Newspapers, which has heatset web equipment and bids for work on the commercial market.
Allely signalled his respect to PMP’s competitors, particularly Melbourne-based catalogue printer Franklin Web and IPMG’s Hannanprint business, which is relocating its Sydney operation and has recently renewed contacts to produce glossy newspaper-inserted magazines for Fairfax and News Ltd.
Allely said: “We do have a market where there is a lot of competition for the big end of town, the big retailers and publishers. But the reality is that no one printer can do it all.
“You need two strong players in the magazine space, with IPMG and PMP. In the retail catalogue sector, you have more players, like Franklin Web in Melbourne.”
Both these rivals have recently revealed similarly large investments in Manroland heatset web presses, but Allely said PMP’s decision shouldn’t be seen as an attempt to play catch-up.
“Five years ago, PMP spent $120m on the latest duplex kit in Moorebank and Wacol so we were five years ahead in terms of Manroland capabilities in our plants, and to some extent, our competitors are catching us.”
It is clear that the new web presses will drive a reduction in staffing, though Allely would not give any specific details on this.
“There is no doubt that in our operation, as in our competitors’, the more you can do with less, the better. It keeps the industry alive and competitive against alternative products and services that advertisers have to choose from.
“It is not our primary [objective] to simply put in technology and take out labour but where technology lets you produce at a lower cost of labour, such as less overtime and different shift patterns, we do pursue those opportunities,” he added.
Manroland Australasia managing director Steve Dunwell said: “We employ 35 specialist web technicians in Australasia so orders like this make our own investments worthwhile.
“This is one of several orders for very large commercial heatset presses placed in Australasia in recent times and that level of investment can only mean a great future for the industry as a whole.”
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