Advance Central Services Pennsylvania Is Investing $3.6M to Expand Its Commercial Printing Business
MECHANICSBURG, PA—February 19, 2015—Advance Central Services Pennsylvania is investing $3.6 million to expand its print-production facility to meet the demands of its growing commercial print business.
The facility expansion includes the installation of a four-story Goss Metrocolor tower, a 64-page Colorliner folder and enhanced press controls and additional conveyor for the second folder. The project, which is expected to be completed in May, has already resulted in the transition of The Patriot-News, which is printed at the facility on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, to a variable web width. Britton services did the web width change– a move that also better positions the Company to attract a wider variety of commercial print jobs.
In January, Advance Central Services Pennsylvania contracted with Lancaster, PA-based LNP Media Group to print its daily newspaper, LNP—an agreement that will add as many as 20 positions at the Mechanicsburg facility. Beginning in May, Advance Central Services Pennsylvania will print 60,000 copies of LNP daily and some 80,000 copies on Sunday.
In addition to printing The Patriot-News and LNP, Advance Central Services Pennsylvania prints six weekly regional publications and serves several retail customers, including Kohl’s and Boscov’s.
Harland Simon to upgrade press controls
As part of the expansion project, Advance Central Services Pennsylvania selected Harland Simon to upgrade the Honeywell Press Controls on its Goss Colorliner press and add an additional folder, full-color tower and reelstand to the press line. The folder and tower will be completely upgraded to use off-the-shelf Allen-Bradley PLC hardware. Harland Simon will also deliver two new 250HP AC PowerFlex drive modules to control the new folder and tower, and replace PLC/5 master drive PLCs with ControlLogix PLCs configured to support bi-directional units for maximum flexibility. A new Harland Simon system based on off-the-shelf Allen-Bradley PLC hardware will replace a Honeywell folder and on-unit controls on the original press line. All console-to-unit proprietary communications will be replaced with an Ethernet/IP network.
Britton Services adding four-high tower and folder
Britton Services was chosen to add the four-high tower and folder. The company previously completed a multi-web modification at the facility to allow for 48” and 43” web widths. This modification gives Advance Central Services Pennsylvania the ability to print two products simultaneously.
The additional conveyor and delivery from the additional folder is being supplied by LW Graphics. The new conveyor system designed by LW Graphics consists of a factory rebuilt pickup station along with new conveyor track. LW Graphics is also replacing the existing Aragon conveyor controls with nonproprietary PLC based controls upgrade. Web Printing Controls will install their latest CCR+ Closed Loop Color Registration system on the additional press tower, complementing the existing WPC color registration and cutoff controls on the press.
When the work is done Advance Central Services, Pennsylvania will be able to print two products simultaneously.
According to Paul Thomas, Advance Central Services Pennsylvania’s vice president and general manager, the investment in the 177,000-square-foot plant will make it one of central Pennsylvania’s leading print-production facilities.
“We already have tremendous capacity in both volume and color, and this expansion will allow us to better serve commercial print customers by providing additional capacity for even more pages, more copies and greater speed,” Thomas said.
About Advance Central Services Pennsylvania
Advance Central Services Pennsylvania is a shared services company that provides critical support functions for PA Media Group and provides commercial printing services to publishers and retail customers in central Pennsylvania. The company is a member of the IFRA International Newspaper Quality Club and has been the recipient of numerous awards for print quality and distribution.
Source: Advance Central Services Pennsylvania.
