Inclusion of the additional presses will bring total expenditure on the upgrade to $170 million over four years. Herdsman is currently equipped with three Goss Metroliners and two Headliners. The new presses will be specified with automated reel handling systems.

Purchase of the two new presses and other equipment was announced by managing director Ian Law when the company released its group results for the nine months to March 31 – a profit of $69.4 million, which was a 20 per cent increase over the previous corresponding period. Law also gave details of the progress that is being made in absorbing its Colourpress contract printing subsidiary, located at Victoria Park, into the Herdsman complex.

Announced last year, that move, which involves building changes to house a state-of-the art press that combines heatset and coldset printing, is costing more than $70 million. A WANH statement says, “Agreement has been reached with staff and unions on the changes relating to the operation of the presses – with staff from Colourpress printing and Herdsman printing to have joint access to the new press equipment to print the work now done at Colourpress and some pre-pre-printed section of The West Australian now done at Herdsman.”

The agreement includes provision for 53 full-time workers at Herdsman to become redundant in the first half of 2006-07, with the prospect of further redundancies at Colourpress. The final number would depend on the volume of commercial printing work won by Colourpress with the new equipment.

The initial installation of the new automated publishing system would be operational in the first half of 2006-07 resulting in a further 80 full-time employees becoming redundant. Another 86 would leave in 2007-08 after the first of the two new double-width presses is operating.

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