A packaged control upgrade for Goss's M-600 heatset press will support its competitive edge in colour control and eliminate potential obsolescence issues, the company says.

Omnicolor II press controls - which are now standard on all new M-600s - help cut start-up waste by "anything from 20-50 per cent" as well as significant reductions in turnaround time.

Features of the upgrade include the ability to automate press setting direct from CIP3 data in a single step. Significant waste reduction is enabled by a range of system improvements, including:

-Accurate pre-setting of the ink keys via the pre-press interface (CIP3 file)

-Quicker reaction of the ink keys and repetitive positioning

-Ability to move all ink keys simultaneously;

-Ink and paper selection - up to ten papers and inks, to optimise presetting

-New functionality such as ink tracking and 'colour boost', speeds the process to achieve good copies.

-Auto learning - by saving all running job settings, the Omnicolor will, job after job, fine tune the presetting by taking into account ink, paper and coverage specifications for optimum results.

Goss says it needs a one-day press audit and full press access for between two and four days to install the upgrade on existing M-600 systems. Omnicolor II shares technology benefits from latest measures in preventative obsolescence, hard disk reliability and wide-ranging connectivity, such as via VPN. Operation via a large touchscreen display and HMI software is easier, with systems architecture and connectivity designed specifically for modern, industrialised production. Goss is offering an ROI calculator to help users measure expected savings from the upgrade.

Goss Europe head of customer service Rutger Jansen says customers can see the potential pay-off, whatever their current production model may be: "Together, we plot in their average number of jobs and current makeready figures against the investment cost and the new figures they can reliably expect.

"I can't claim that the calculation methodology is groundbreaking, but it certainly helps convince our customers that the Omnicolor II upgrade is."