A new machine at the premises of Progress Press under development in Mrieħel will be capable of handling jobs that have so far only been available abroad.
Yesterday, a trailer dropped off a container with the first parts of the machine, which will take around four months to be up and running.
The Global Web Systems G-145 Printline will be made up of eight printing towers, and will be capable of pumping out 64 newspaper-sized pages simultaneously, at a rate of 40,000 an hour.
"This equipment will give us the possibility to print new products with increased pagination at faster rates and shorter delivery times for our customers," Progress Press chief operations manager Noel Galea said, adding the project represented a "significant investment" for the company.
Since the machine can also print on glossy and matte paper, it can be used to print publications such as the popular door-to-door magazines, which due to the large print runs involved - 160,000 copies per edition - are not feasible on different kinds of machines, such as those used for magazines issued with newspapers.
Currently, similar magazines for the local market are being printed in Italy, Alex Falzon from Progress Press said.
Having spent the best part of 90 years operating from Valletta, last November Progress announced it was investing €26 million in a new plant in order to streamline its operations, which cater for local and international markets.
Originally intended for use as a supermarket, the 10,000 square-metre Mrieħel plant had to be modified to accommodate the 150-tonne behemoth, which when installed will stand two storeys high.
The architects had to decide beforehand where the machine would be installed, and following that, the area was dug up to the bedrock and new foundations were laid, with a layer of expanded polystyrene. This was done to ensure that external vibration would not affect the machine's operation.
An integral part of the project is the new mailroom, which will streamline the folding, stitching and trimming of products, opening up further opportunities for large runs of publications - shortening the distance between the press and its clients.