Australian newspaper giants, News Limited and Fairfax Media are updating several of their printing sites across the country.

News Limited sites in Sydney, Brisbane and Townsville will add new systems to its existing manroland equipment.

All four of News Limited’s Newsman (Colorman) lines at the Brisbane production site will now be upgraded with a number of innovative automation and reporting features.

While Fairfax Media will see its sites in North Richmond and Ballarat take on new manroland technology which will enable its existing manroland equipment in the facilities take on the company’s metropolitan newspaper printing capacity overflow as by 2014 the print sites in Chullora and Tullamarine will close.

The manroland Uniset in Ballarat will be complemented by a new reel splicer and one new Uniset tower. In a manroland first a further Geoman tower will be converted to print headset products and added to the Ballarat installation, while manroland will also deliver a new dryer, chill roller, turning bar unit, and a folder for the production of both newspapers and commercial products.

Bob Locley, chief executive for print and distribution, Fairfax Media says, “We decided in favour of these fundamental changes to cope with the topical demands of newspaper production. Thus we can ensure that our papers keep their leading position and remain an important voice in our markets.”

Steve Dunwell, managing director, manroland Australasia says, “It is a great task to assist one of our key accounts in reducing his newspaper production costs and at the same time upgrade quality and performance of his equipment. We are looking forward to providing our first-class printing technology on the one hand and our project management skills on the other hand by managing this project’s logistical and organisational challenges.”