The newspaper printer, which runs a 128pp KBA Anilox and a full-colour 64pp KBA Colora press, is to replace a 13-year-old Muller Martini set-up.

Alan Mee, Cambridge Newspapers operations manager, said the StreamStitch, which was launched at Ifra in November, would allow the plant to "look at inline stitching and trimming further down the line".

He said the MultiDisc winding system was the most significant addition to the current set-up.

"It will allow us to increase efficiencies. We had to manually stack bundles of newspapers onto palettes before and then move them to the inserter, but this is far less labour-intensive."

Mee added that the decision to go with Ferag had been made on the footprint of the machines. "But it's not so much what [the Ferag set-up] does but that it does it differently," he said.

"Having only one paper in each gripper on the conveyor, for instance, is a revolution for us, because it means that there's virtually no set-off."

The installation programme at the plant, which prints 1.7m newspapers every week, will be complete by the start of August.
As well as the StreamStitch and MultiDisc, the order includes two conveyors, a MultiSertDrum inserter, three MultiStacker units, three underwrapping units, a RollStream pre-collecting machine and three label printing and application units.

The order at Cambridge Newspapers, which prints the Cambridge Evening News, The Daily Star, The Express and a number of contract titles for Herts & Essex Newspapers, follows a series of major
contract wins for Ferag's UK sales operation, WRH Marketing.

The Harlow, Essex-based firm has recently sealed deals with News International, The Scotsman Publications, Guardian Newspapers and Polestar.

Story by Josh Brooks