PrintRoll N-290 Buffering and Storage system

The New York Times, flagship newspaper of The New York Times Company, recently signed a contract with Muller Martini to purchase a new post-press system for its College Point facility in Flushing, New York, augmenting its existing Muller Martini solution.

Increased capacity is needed to handle additional production from its new 48-inch web offset press and increased production requirements following a planned consolidation of its Edison production plant with the College Point facility.
Muller Martini will provide The New York Times with a complete integrated system including:, two NewsGrip-A single gripper conveyor lines from the new press folders, four PrintRoll N-290 double wind/unwind stations, nine Newsveyor conveyors from the PrintRoll units to the inserters, three 20:2 SLS2000™ inserters and all machine control software.

The College Point plant had its original Muller Martini system installed in 1996 consisting of: five NewsGrip conveyor lines, an extensive fully automated PrintRoll N-290 Buffering and Storage system, several Newsveyor lines to accompany the roll system and feed automatically eight SLS2000 Inserters. This equipment will remain in operation, and to accommodate the new equipment, Muller Martini will reroute several lines of existing NewsGrip conveyor. The PrintRoll expansion will add additional input and output portals to enable delivery of products from the new presses and to serve the additional inserting systems.

PrintRoll N-290 Buffering and Storage system

The new high-speed presses will deliver in straight mode up to 96 pages Broadsheet with NewsGrip single gripper conveyors to ROP stackers in straight publishing mode or to the existing PrintRoll storage and retrieval system for in-line inserting via buffer. PrintRoll will also enable storage of preprint materials. 
 
Installation of the new equipment is scheduled for completion by the fourth quarter of 2007, ready for live production with the new press in spring 2008. Adding the additional press and production equipment will require expansion of the building by 60,000 square feet.

The New York Times announced in July of 2006 the consolidation of its Edison, New Jersey production facility and all of its metro area printing into the College Point plant to meet strategic long-term business goals. Part of the plan includes changing the layout of its newspaper from traditional broadsheet 54-inch web width to the newly emerging industry trend of 48 inches.