TechNews: TMC Products Return In-House for SavingsFirst Published: May 2008
By LaShell Stratton
 Some newspapers that once outsourced Total-Market-Coverage production to commercial printers are bringing them back in-house to save money.
The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City outsourced its TMC product 18 months ago but brought it back in-house because “it was more cost-efficient to do it ourselves,” says Bryan Robbins, packaging and distribution manager for The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
To handle production, The Oklahoman purchased an additional inserter from the company that once printed its TMCs and added a Scitex ink-jet printer to its Goss International Corp. (www.gossinternational.com) NP-630 inserter for more labeling capability.
Now the newspaper prints its 260,000 TMCs for 47 ZIP codes on Friday, applies ink-jet labels to them on Saturday, and on Monday a U.S. Postal Service representative comes to The Oklahoman’s packaging center to review the TMCs and verify the weight and carrier walking sequence. The TMCs are then delivered to local post offices.
Each Tuesday, 75 percent of TMCs are delivered to homes around the region, and the rest are delivered on Wednesday, something the newspaper could not do when it used a commercial printer. When the TMCs were outsourced, they were delivered on Wednesday and Thursday because of a longer production schedule, Robbins says.
Nearly 10 years ago, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel briefly outsourced its TMC production to a commercial printer. But the newspaper brought production in-house once its equipment was running and the staff was trained to use it, says Carlos Chavira, operations systems manager. It was part of the contractual agreement between the newspaper and the commercial printer, he says.
Printing the TMC in-house allows the Journal Sentinel more flexibility. Last year, the newspaper combined its two TMC products (delivered midweek and on the weekend) into one TMC using the Setup and Monitoring production planning and control system by Muller Martini Mailroom Systems Inc. (www.mullermartinims.com).
The software helps with selective inserting of preprints geared toward midweek and weekend newspaper subscribers and nonsubscribers, Chavira says. “If we’d outsourced, we probably would have had to look for people with this capability,” he adds.
Because the Journal Sentinel flags each household based on whether it subscribes to the paper and is capable of providing selective inserting, advertisers have not had to increase the number of preprints they order to make sure they reach the correct household despite the new TMC schedule, Chavira says.
Since the paper delivers the product once instead of twice a week, it is spending 17 percent less a week on postage, he says. The paper also has reduced its use of consumables such as newsprint and ink. 
A Shade Above the Rest
Newspapers Win International, North America Color Competitions
By LaShell Stratton
 Only one U.S. newspaper—The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press—was among 50 winners in the 2008-2010 International Newspaper Color Quality Club.
The biennial competition, which is sponsored by NAA and Ifra in Darmstadt, Germany, with support from the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association in Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia, recognizes excellence in newspaper printing and color reproduction. Judging took place in Phoenix this year.
In addition to being the only U.S. winner, the Press was a first-time winner, distinguishing itself in a pool of 198 competitors from 39 countries. “We learned from mistakes we made when we did not place during the 2006-2008 INCQC competition,” says Aaron Phipps, assistant production manager. “We had problems with set off, registration and had tinting and toning issues last time around,” he explains.
By improving the ink and water balance on the newspaper’s GEOMAN 75 press by MAN Roland Inc. (www.manroland.us.com), which was installed in 2004, press operators created crisper images, he says. Although MAN Roland helped to train the press operators, they also received guidance from other suppliers, including Central Ink Corp. (www.cicink.com) and Fujifilm Graphic Systems U.S.A. Inc. (www.fujifilmgs.com), says Bob Pierce, operations director.
To qualify for the competition, newspapers must print according to the ISO standard target for newsprint (ISO 12647-3). To compete, newspapers submit sample copies from daily production and two test targets—an editorial image and a digital image. A nine-member international jury evaluates each entry.
The caliber of participants was much higher internationally this year, presenting major challenges for American newspapers that wanted to place in the top 50, says Michael Brady, NAA’s director of production operations.
Some U.S. newspapers that did not earn a spot in the INCQC were honored as regional winners in the North American Color Quality competition. Seven North American newspapers with circulations of more than 100,000 and five U.S. newspapers with circulations of less than 100,000 were recognized.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press won its first North American Color Quality award this year. To prepare for the competition, the Times Free Press improved its color gamut and ink density by meeting the Specification for Newsprint Advertising Production standards (SNAP), says Frank Anthony, vice president of operations. Press operators also made sure the impression settings on the MAN Roland flexo press were set according to equipment specifications, he says.
The Kansas City (Mo.) Star also was a first-time North American Color Quality Club winner. “We didn’t enter last [time] because we never could have done this on our old press, a converted 1960s offset,” says Randy Waters, production manager.
In 2006, the Star installed four KBA Commander presses. Although press operators received extensive training with KBA instructors, Waters says he recognizes places where their operations fell short. “We’re asking a few of this year’s judges to come in and look over our processes to make sure we will be in the top 50 next time,” he says.
To hear a podcast related to this story, go to www.naa.org/podcasts.
Naples Daily News Invests in New Facility, Equipment
By LaShell Stratton
Next spring, the Naples (Fla.) Daily News (average daily circulation, 44,014) plans to go live with its new WIFAG (www.wifag.ch) evolution 371 press and a new integrated post-press packaging system by Goss International Corp. (www.gossinternational.com) and FERAG (www.ferag.com).
The equipment will be housed in the Daily News’ new 186,000-square-foot headquarters designed by Dario Designs Inc. (www.dariodesigns.com). The facility, which will include office and warehouse space in addition to production space, is still being constructed.
“We needed the additional space because we have outgrown our old building on the business side of operations,” says Thomas J. Sewall, director of operations at the Daily News. Sewall declined to say how much the new equipment and facility would cost.
The WIFAG press, which will be configured in two lines, will replace the newspaper’s 1976 Goss Metro press, Sewall says, and give the newspaper full-color capability. “The current press is 32 pages full color in an 80-page product and the WIFAG is 96 pages of full color in a 96-page product,” he says.
The WIFAG also will be equipped with six reelstands, two jaw folders with balloon formers and image-based, closed-loop controls for cutoff and color register. The new press will have a 21-inch cutoff and a variable web width between 18 inches and 36 inches, allowing the Daily News to save money potentially by printing its own niche products, Sewall says. The Daily News currently outsources its 20 weekly and monthly niche products to a commercial printer.
Press operators will begin training in preparation for the new press by December, Sewall says.
The Daily News’ upgraded post-press system will include two FERAG UTR press gripper conveyors, three Goss NP400 gripper-to-hopper online in-feed units and two servo-drive Goss Magnapak packaging machines. The corresponding control systems include FERAG IMS press delivery monitoring, Goss Omnizone packaging supervisory controls, Goss Omnicon automatic inserter controls, Goss DSC bulk and key bundling and bundle labeling controls.
Newspapers Are Buying
Newspapers Continue to invest in technology and operations upgrades. Recent purchasing decisions include:
Advertising
Atex (www.atex.com) sold a 250-seat Atex Mactive advertising system to The Dispatch Printing Co. in Columbus, Ohio. The system will support The Columbus Dispatch, Dispatch.com and more than 30 other publications.
The Telegraph in Nashua, N.H., will install adQ Premium from Creative Circle Advertising Solutions Inc. (www.adqic.com) for classified Web entry.
The Oregonian in Portland, The Saginaw (Mich.) News and The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal have selected Presteligence’s (www.presteligence.com) Adinfinitum as their electronic tearsheet and invoice delivery solution.
Circulation
Publishers Circulation Fulfillment Inc. (www.pcfcorp.com) will be the sole subscription distribution partner of the New Haven Register. The Press in Atlantic City chose PCF to distribute 5,000 daily copies to subscribers in Ocean County, N.J., and selected areas in Burlington County, N.J.
Editorial
The E.W. Scripps Co. in Cincinnati purchased Caspio Bridge from Caspio Inc. (www.caspio.com) to produce local, interactive content for its daily and community newspapers in 15 markets.
CanWest in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, will install SAXOTECH’s (www.saxotech.com) Mediaware CenterTM across its News Service, online sites and 13 daily newspapers including the Calgary (Alberta) Herald, The Ottawa Citizen and The Vancouver (British Columbia) Sun, as well as across the company’s community daily and weekly papers.
The Victoria (Texas) Advocate purchased a Tera Digital Publishing (www.teradp.com) GN3 editorial system.
Pre-Press
The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader will install Newsway, a browser-based digital workflow management solution by ProImage Ltd. (www.newsway.com).
The Repository in Canton, Ohio, purchased NewsXtreme, Xtreme Inking and several other applications from Presteligence (www.presteligence.com) to help with its computer-to-plate transition.
Press
Al Taber and Associates (www.altagraphics.com) sold a pre-owned Urbanite unit to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald in Hilo as part of the newspaper’s pressline rearrangement that will reduce its web width, allow triple-wide production and significantly increase page count and process color in the paper.
Post-Press
Burt Technologies Inc. (www.burtmountain.com) will install PackagingManager, LineManager, DistributionManager, PostalManager and the Burt OpenInterface at the St. Petersburg Times this year.
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