MHI-PPM Receives Orders for 5 Units of "DIAMONDSPIRIT-SA," Newspaper Offset Press Newly Developed for Asia's Emerging Economies
-- Orders Placed by Malayala Manorama of Kerala, India --

The DIAMONDSPIRIT-SA incorporates numerous technologies already proven with the DIAMONDSPIRIT, a very reputed press model launched in 2003 with increasing number of installations in recent years by its high-speed, high-print quality and significant savings in operating costs. The DIAMONDSPIRIT-SA has been designed for higher return on investment in line with the rapidly changing business circumstances surrounding media in the emerging nations.

The DIAMONDSPIRIT-SA for The Malayala Manorama is capable of printing 40-page newspaper up to 75,000 copies per hour. In contrast with the DIAMONDSPIRIT which features two-page around blanket cylinders that transfer the print image to paper, the DIAMONDSPIRIT-SA features one-page around blanket cylinders which enable to reduce the height of the printing unit by 20% and the weight of the printing unit by 30%. The compact press design realizes 20% savings as well in power consumption.

The "Soft Stop" function, which stops the press during a power outage without any web breaks, has already been proven in numerous presses in Japan. When the sensor in the press detects a halt in the power supply, the regenerative energy from the printing unit's drive motors keeps running the other motors on the folders and the superstructure until the press stop. The "Soft Stop" function leads to substantial saving in lifetime cost compared with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which requires periodical replacement of the batteries.

The Malayala Manorama is a newspaper company based in Kerala state, in the south of India, founded in 1888. Today it publishes approximately 2.3 million newspapers per day in the local Malayalam language at eleven printing plants throughout the state. The newly ordered five press lines of the DIAMONDSPIRIT-SA are to be delivered to three major printing plants. Kerala is presently marking robust growth in its manufacturing and information technology (IT) industries, and The Malayala Manorama's decision to invest in the new equipment at this time is based on its expectation of continuing expansion in its newspaper publication volume and advertising revenues going forward.

In recent years the media industries, including newspaper publishing, in many emerging economies - especially those of Asia - have been undergoing brisk changes as these economies achieve sustained growth, and higher return on investment is required to keep pace with these changes. MHI-PPM intends to market the new DIAMONDSPIRIT-SA vigorously as a strategic newspaper press matching the needs of these newly arising markets.