The folder, a major component of the press, broke down several nights ago and it took a couple of hours to remove it and switch to a spare. Printing was finished at 8.45am instead of 4.30am.
DomPost general manager Paul Elenio says the breakdown was serious because it incurred extra costs such as paying delivery contractors more because they were kept on the job longer. The paper was nearly four hours late.
The press at Petone is 17 years old and Fairfax is buying an additional printing tower from manufacturers Goss in England, which will extend the existing press line and provide greater colour and paging capacity.
Elenio says the extension, plus the conversion of an existing black and white press unit to colour, would meet the increasing demand for greater colour advertising and allow easier handling of bigger papers such as the Weekend Dominion Post.
The extra capacity will also allow parts of the press line to be routinely shut down for maintenance without affecting production.
Work is also to begin shortly on upgrading the electrics on part of the printing press. The extension will be operating by the middle of next year and in the meantime the paper's folder is being repaired.
