The IPMG division has placed an order for a 96pp twin-web Manroland Lithoman, expected to be up and running at the western Sydney site by next August. The company expects to shut up shop in Alexandria by late 2012.
The press investment is part of a strategy that dates back to 2005, and was once expected to lead to the creation of a gravure supersite.
Chief executive Stephen Anstice told ProPrint: “In 2010, we decided to shelve the gravure strategy because run lengths had fallen and were getting shorter and felt we needed a different solution.”
He explained that Hannanprint had renewed its contracts with key customers Fairfax and News Ltd earlier this year. The contracts cover all of Fairfax’s heatset newspaper inserts, such as Good Weekend, and the bulk of the insert work for News Ltd, including the Weekend Australian Magazine.
The new 12.8-hectare Warwick Farm site, which the company bought in early 2007, will eventually house the new 96pp Lithoman along with four of Hannanprint’s six existing web presses, set to be gradually relocated over the next 18 months.
Another web press will be moved to Hannanprint Melbourne to “beef up capacity in Victoria”, while the other will be decommissioned, said Anstice.
The new Warwick Farm site will also take delivery of an extensive range of bindery kit, including a Ferag Unidrum stitcher.
“IPMG is demonstrating its long-term commitment to the print industry and is invigorated by the changing face of the media and marketing industry where our expertise in both printed and digital media will embrace the changing requirements of our clients,” said Anstice.
Manroland Australasia managing director Steve Dunwell explained that the Lithoman’s features included automatic plate loading and the German manufacturer’s Aurosys automated roll and material handling system.
The flipside to all the cutting-edge automation at Warwick Farm will be a program of job cuts, with 140 roles to be phased out over the next 18 months. Hannanprint’s overall headcount will be reduced from the 420-strong roll call currently employed at Alexandria to 280 staff at Warwick Farm.
“Hannanprint will work with its people to ensure that this is done with compassion and care and where possible volunteers will be sought.”
Anstice said the reduction in staff was driven solely by efficiencies. “The numbers that we have quoted are based on us doing similar volumes.”
He conceded that making such a significant investment in printing in the current climate was not without risks, but said: “We have run a number of scenarios for a number of outcomes and they vary between surviving and prospering.”
He said IPMG had taken a hit during the depths of the GFC in 2009-10, but said volumes were now back at 2008 levels, “though not in terms of margin and profitability”.
He pointed out that this major print investment went hand in hand with IPMG’s continued foray into digital channels, including a move in July to take full ownership of creative agency Holler.
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