Swiss daily newspaper Walliser Bote is in a hurry to be the first in the world printed entirely using inkjet web technology.

Publisher Mengis in Visp, Switzerland, will team HP's T400 colour inkjet web with manroland's FoldLine finishing and Müller Martini mailroom technology when it switches production to digital in July.

Contracts were signed last month and team members are certainly in a hurry to be the first newspaper publisher to rely on fully digital production of its daily.

In addition to its variable format and cut-off folding system, manroland will also supply software for finishing and overall workflow integration. MasterQ software - which sorts the job data for job processing - will be integrated with provides Mengis' MIS system, while WorkflowBridge functions as an intelligent finishing controller.

The 22,000-circulation six-day daily Walliser Bote serves the Upper Valais region of Switzerland, renowned for Zermatt and the Matterhorn. With circulation decreasing and its existing 32 year-old press outdated, the publisher had looked for a new approach.

Digital printing will enable increased regionalisation for the newspaper and opportunities for other contract work for its printer, managing director Martin Seematter says.

These include production of book blocks, mailings, signatures and print products for personalised advertising. The folding technology "opens up never before imagined possibilities" with the entire press system strengthening Mengis' position and securing jobs.

The "beacon project" will see Mengis offer batch sizes of one and create new business models for readers and customers.