Updates and retrofits are key instruments for ensuring the future viability of large and small newspaper publishers in today’s economic climate. manroland web systems has set a new record and once again convincingly demonstrated its service expertise as the world’s leading manufacturer of web offset presses. In just 18 days, its specialists reconfigured two UNISET printing towers at Malayala Manorama in Thiruvananthapuram, India.

The greater area of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital of Kerala state at the Southern tip of India, has about 1.7 million inhabitants. The city’s importance is not limited to its role as an administrative and educational center with a number of universities. It is also home to a rising software industry and the seat of Kerala State Government. The daily newspaper Malayala Manorama runs a printshop here, which turns out about 235,000 copies of the 24-page morning newspaper on a daily basis – with 16 color and 8 black and white pages.

The production system revolves around a UNISET 60 configuration from manugraph, which has now been expanded by two additional eight-couple towers. This expansion caters to the growing demand for information in the region, as well as reader preferences for more color pages in the paper. With up to 16 four-color and eight B&Wpage newspaper, print volumes can now be expanded.

In addition to erecting and commissioning the printing towers, comprehensive electrical retrofits and software updates as well as the installation of a color control console and a new operator control were among the planned measures. The two  printing towers were integrated in the control system and operating software of the current system. Updates were also carried out on the folder software and control.

After commissioning, a thorough inspection was performed on the add on towers and the entire system, with print tests that extended over three days. All tasks were completed in just 18 days from mid-August to early September 2014. “We are very happy about the impeccable service we received from Manroland web systems,” states Mohan Nair, Head of Production at Malayala Manorama, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) plant, “the services were well-organized, fast, and of a very high quality, which all goes to show that we made the right decision in choosing manroland web systems.”

“With the reconfiguration and software retrofit and update, carried out jointly by manroland web systems and manroland India, Malayala Manorama in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) will now be able to cater to all requirements in terms of color, print runs, and print quality in the foreseeable future. This gives the company the basis for continued growth in  Kerala,” comments Pankaj Bhasin from manroland India.

With a daily circulation of over 2.2 million print copies and about 10 million readers every day, Malayala Manorama, appearing in Malayalam, is one of the five largest daily newspapers in India, ranking eleventh in the world. The newspaper is produced at eleven printing locations in Kerala, 5 locations in India (outside Kerala) and 3 locations in the Gulf region.