A move to new premises later this year marks a chapter in the history of Shanghai-built newspaper presses and the 21-year cooperation with Goss.
A relationship which began with a joint venture in 1993 led to the acquisition of US-headquartered Goss International by the state-owned Shanghai Electric through its SPPM division in 2009.
It's been a story of cautious market acceptance: A few Community SSC units first, then more until all production of the ubiquitous single-width press was moved there, and by the time of the Chinese buyout, 6500 press units and 680 folders had been delivered. Currently about 1000 a year are produced there.
Press demonstrations in March of the highly automated Magnum Compact - a Community, but with fully automatic plate changing and compact slide-apart units, not as you know it - is in many respects a climax of that relationship. The first press will be running in New York's Staten Island in October.
But it's by no means the end of the story. Production of the Universal 75 press range is currently being introduced to Shanghai, and another new system is under wraps for introduction at the end of the year. The site also builds Magnum and Magnum HPS presses, plus a book press for local markets, a range which makes Goss China (with an 80 per cent share) the country's largest exporter of printing equipment.
My preview of the Magnum Compact earlier this year was a good opportunity to see the partnership of skills and cultures at work. French engineering director Jean Claude Pautrat (left) presides over a predominantly Chinese team, but with input from Goss's other sites around the world. Two engineers from Preston, England - one a software specialist - were on hand for the Magnum Compact project, and as the Universal project progressed, I witnessed Pautrat translating drawing detail from French to English, so that a Chinese engineer could translate it again.
The site in Shanghai's Puxi (west side) is vast, but has gradually been eclipsed, first by the growth of retail and residential development - the Marriott hotel and a major shopping centre are close by - and by the government's desire to get heavy industry out of this massive sprawling city of 26 million people.
Although honoured in the past as a 'Shanghai Civilized Unit', it no longer has a place so close to the centre of the modern city.
The foundry was closed three years back - as part of city measures to reduce air pollution ahead of a major sporting event - and is not likely to be part of the new facility. Parts are outsourced under strict quality control, with only “rough” machining.
Inhouse, there is a longstanding tradition of quality which has challenged popular misconceptions. Touring the factory I saw sheetfed press parts from a long-expired license arrangement with KBA, and Pautrat emphasises that Goss has always ensured its own standards of quality are maintained, regardless of where in the world a press is made or assembled.
As his name suggests, Jean Claude Pautrat himself is part of the French tradition which is now part of Goss's history: He joined Marinoni - which some credit with being the pioneer of rotary printing, ahead of Hoe - in Montataire, and saw the company owned by Harris, Heidelberg and then Goss.
With retirement now in prospect - for which he will return to France, but not until after a monumental excursion to Antarctica - realisation of the Magnum Compact has been a significant achievement: “It's simple, but with a lot of technology behind it,” he says.
And the technology continues to emerge: While the small press with its M-600 derived plate automation, positions Goss to challenge the economics of inkjet digital printing, an interesting side development is a folder which addresses one of the key challenges facing inkjet webs.
With Goss, Pautrat holds a patent enabling a digital folder to 'store' the flying sheets which are a feature of broadsheet newspapers. It's another example of the lively partnership of global knowledge and culture which exploits strengths of its Shanghai Electric parent and ensures the press maker will be able to face the challenges of a continually changing market.
Peter Coleman
