Goss has sold its first M-600 Folia web-to-sheet press to one of Germany’s largest sheetfed printers, W. Kohlhammer Druckerei in Stuttgart. Installation is underway and should be finished by the end of next month (April). Kohlhammer has chosen a four-unit press with a 965 mm web width and 625 mm cut-off. The system includes DigiRail digital inking, Autoplate automatic platechanging, a Contiweb SH40 splicer with integrated infeed and Goss Web Center controls. Provision has also been made for a varnish coater. The Folia is capable of up to 30,000 full-colour perfected sheets anhour, and the new press will be used mostly for magazine and commercial work. General manager Ralph Gumbel says Kohlhammer remains committed to sheetfed but “could not deny the logic” of the Goss Folia technology: “Our key reason for the investment was to optimise our productivity for the A4 magazine and commercial market. “The capacity of the Folia is massive compared to a regular sheetfed press, but this wasn’t our main incentive. Primarily, we are pursuing a better cost benefit ratio for our A4 products, combined with a consistently high-quality output. “What is more, this press has a unique ecological appeal – it’s green like sheetfed but cost-effective like web.” Gumbel says tests performed with Goss convinced them that there would be no compromise, “in fact the results are likely to be even better. “The whole experience has been very positive and very encouraging for the future – much more of a true partnership than a supplier/customer relationship. Both sides have joined together, pooling technical and practical know-how with the common goal of bringing the press into production as swiftly as possible. “And we’ve even had a lot of fun along the way.” Part of a larger print and publishing group founded in 1866, Kohlhammer employs about 200 people and with a sister company, it operates more than 83 sheetfed print units.