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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE Newspapers (Zimpapers) yesterday commissioned a high-tech digital printing press at its Bulawayo branch as the integrated media house continues to consolidate its market share in the cut throat industry.
The unveiling of the new machine at the company’s Typocrafters building in the city’s Belmont Industrial site has increased Zimpapers’ capacity threshold to higher levels of quality and efficiency.
The printing press has a capacity to print 40 000 newspaper copies in an hour for both broadsheet and tabloid sections in full colour.
Speaking during the official opening ceremony of the printing press, Zimpapers chairman Dr Tommy Sithole said the new facility, the Manugraph Cityline Express, brings the latest third generation offset litho web printing to the country’s Southern region.
“We are giving Bulawayo and surrounding areas access to the most modern printing technology,” he said.
Zimpapers will be able to print all its four titles published in Bulawayo on the new press and these are: Chronicle, Sunday News, uMthunywa and B-Metro.
Dr Sithole said the state-of-the-art printing machine would drastically cut costs, improve efficiency and colour positions thereby attracting increased advertising volumes.
“Obviously the first customers of this new press will be our four titles written and published in Bulawayo: Chronicle, Sunday News, uMthunywa and B-Metro. They will now be modernised in appearance and be able to offer advertisers more flexibility. But we at Zimpapers are also keen on simultaneous printing of our national and specialised titles in both big cities. We do not see why readers in the South and West should wait for ever while a delivery van negotiates an ever-busier highway and half a dozen toll gates when modern communication technology allows us to squirt the pages down a cable to be printed for pre-dawn delivery,” he said.
The company last modernised its printing centres in Bulawayo and Harare in the early 1980s with the first-generation web litho presses, bringing colour printing to the newspaper business in Zimbabwe.
Dr Sithole said in its 125 years of existence when The Chronicle ox-wagon brought the first printing press into Bulawayo, the company has continued to maintain that both halves of Zimbabwe should have equal access to the best printing technology available.
“Our commitment to this principle can be seen from the fact that this project was first mooted a little over a year ago. The intervening period has seen economic turmoil and severe fluctuations, as we reform our economy. This might well have daunted us, but Zimpapers, from long experience in dominating markets and serving communities, has learned that the only way to ride out an economic storm is to be the best and not to be frightened about the necessary investment,” he said.
“Centralising in Zimbabwe carries a severe economic cost. It takes time to move anything between our largest two cities. Highly perishable products like a newspaper do not benefit from a six-hour journey in the back of a van. This is why we at Zimpapers have always ensured that we do have a double printing capacity in both halves of Zimbabwe.”
Dr Sithole said while readers might well appreciate good content, they still enjoy having that presented in decent modern wrapping hence the switch in the second decade of the 21st century to third generation full colour litho technology.
“Our advertisers have become ever more demanding wanting not just full colour everywhere but also innovative products such as jackets, flappers, spreads and the like. We are not limiting our press to ourselves. We are serious that this facility is here to serve the southern region, and even to serve our competitors. Anyone needing fast modern printing in the south is welcome to talk to us,” he said.
Dr Sithole said Zimpapers is already eyeing the foreign market in neighbouring Botswana’s Francistown where potential customers have already worked out that Bulawayo is a lot closer than the second nearest press in Gaborone.
“Technically, with two towers and four mono units, we have installed a very flexible press. It can on one hand print 12-page broadsheet sections, or 24-page tabloid sections, in full colour but the unit mix means it can do a lot of other jobs as well, more than most web presses. In fact, there are some potential Harare customers interested in that flexibility, bringing more work to Bulawayo,” he said.
The investment in the printing press by Zimpapers is the second major venture the company has made in a year in Bulawayo.
Last year, the country’s largest multi-media company commissioned an exercise book press and opened a new line of business for its commercial printing division.
“This double investment shows our commitment to ensuring that we need to be in all parts of Zimbabwe, and in all parts in full force, not just a token presence. For us, words and phrases like devolution, geographically equitable investment and other fancy terms are not just words on a sheet of paper.
“They are numbers on our balance sheet, in our bank accounts and, perhaps most importantly, on our employment rolls,” said Dr Sithole.
He said in its new expanded multi-media business, Zimpapers is committed to being first and being everywhere.
Cognisant of the migration of the growing number of readers from print to digital media, the company has also developed its digital platforms that are compatible with mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets and android devices.
The group has also introduced on-line advertising and platforms that suit various economic sectors including the informal sector.
Despite increased competition in the newspaper industry, Zimpapers’ titles such as The Chronicle, Herald, Sunday Mail, B-Metro and H-Metro continue to maintain leadership in their respective markets countrywide as evidenced by independent surveys on readership and circulation figures.
Zimpapers is the leading integrated media, commercial printing and packaging company in Zimbabwe.
It is the country’s oldest newspaper publisher and commercial printer, as well as being the largest publisher of newspapers, having been in the industry since 1891. — @mashnets
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