A 50-Inch Ruler

Following up on its recommended guidelines for narrower pages, NAA has developed a ruler for newspapers that have made the 50-inch switch.

Designed to measure a two-page spread, the ruler matches NAA’s recommended 50-inch page dimensions, based on an 11 5/8-inch-wide page image with six columns and 1/8-inch gutters (TechNews, March/April 2000, p. 7).

While the guidelines are not intended to replace current Standard Advertising Units or endorse the move to 50-inch webs, newspapers continue cutting away. More than half the respondents to an ongoing NAA web-width survey say they either already have made the switch or committed to doing so (see story, p. 30).

The rulers cost $14.95 each for members or $29.95 for nonmembers; quantity discounts are available. To order, call (800) 651-4NAA and request item 10091.

Press Installs Pick Up Pace

Newspaper publishers are entering what could be called the Internet century with a surge of press orders. Four Michigan newspapers selected Magnum presses and Universal folders from Goss Graphic Systems of Westmont, Ill. Advance Publications-owned The Ann Arbor News, The Muskegon Chronicle, The Bay City Times and The Saginaw News all purchased the single-wide, one-plate-around presses; all also will transition to computer-to-plate technology.

Ann Arbor News Publisher David Sharp cited the Magnum’s experience in commercial operations, saying the press-folder combination "provides us with the opportunity to not only print our own paper...but also many of the commercial products we currently job out." The News will print the Detroit edition of The New York Times; The Gaston Gazette of Gastonia, N.C., also selected the Goss Magnum to print its paper and the Carolinas edition of the Times. The five papers follow The St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press, the first to combine Magnum press units with a Universal folder.

The Herald Co. of Syracuse, N.Y., became the third U.S. newspaper company to purchase a shaftless press from Swiss manufacturer WIFAG. Divided into two sections, the 52-couple, eight-web press features a plate-changing unit, allowing nonstop edition changes during production. It is slated to enter production in early 2002.

The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill., became the first North American daily to order a German MAN Roland Regioman press. The two 70,000 copy-per-hour shaftless presses offer 80 pages of straight-run capacity and 44 pages of process color. Publisher Daniel E. Baumann cited "the considerable operational savings using the one-around plate concept." In MAN Roland’s largest U.S. installation to date, The Indianapolis Star purchased four 75,000 cph shaftless Geoman presses. Originally envisioned as a press upgrade, the Star project evolved after staffers realized "the brick-and-mortar costs saved using fewer, more modern space-efficient towers," said Operations Director Bill Bolger.

The Longview (Texas) News-Journal purchased 16 DMG 850 units and two folders from Dauphin Graphic Machines Inc. of Elizabethville, Pa. The press is slated to go online in September.

The Austin American-Statesman purchased a shaftless Colora press from the KBA North America Inc. Web Press Division of York, Pa. Shipment is slated for mid-2001. The new press line will be installed in an existing facility and include 37 couples, two folders, a skip slitter and a section stitcher for commercial work. The Boston Herald purchased a KBA Colormax flexo press and add a Colormax unit to an existing press "to remain competitive in this two-newspaper town," said Patrick J. Purcell, president and publisher.

A Package Deal

In an arrangement common in Europe but rare on this side of the Atlantic, the Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel has purchased a complete packaging-and-distribution system from a single supplier.

GMA Inc. of Bethlehem, Pa., will provide the end-to-end solution for the News-Sentinel’s new production facility. It will encompass all mailroom functions, from press pickup to palletizing, as well as the software needed to coordinate the equipment.

The integrated solution includes two News-Grip single-gripper press conveyors, a FlexiRoll buffer system and a proprietary roll-to-pocket system to transport inserts into two 30-into-1 SLS2000 inserters. The six Bundlers and two GMA palletizers that round out the system will be the first U.S. installations; SAM production planning-and-control software and Lincs production-line control modules will control the equipment.

Capital Expenditures Roar Ahead

According to an annual survey of newspapers’ capital-spending plans, 2000 promises to be a very good year for newspaper-technology staffers and suppliers alike.

Representing nearly 40 percent of total U.S. daily circulation, the 186 participants in NAA’s 2000 capital-expenditures survey plan to spend nearly $800 million on equipment and related services this year. That’s a 43.6 percent increase over the $556.9 million they reported spending last year (see chart, below).

While it cannot track buying projections over time due to its changing sample size, the annual survey provides the industry’s sole snapshot of present and planned expenditures, offering clues to industry and vendor health, as well as buying trends across production areas.

Among the highlights:

• Brick-and-mortar construction among survey participants will more than double, from $123 million in 1999 to $249 million this year. Accordingly, participants earmark increased sums for related heavy-metal expenditures.
• New-press expenditures among survey participants will grow 71.1 percent to $143.2 million, while used-press outlays will rise 35.3 percent to $28 million.
• Mailroom-equipment spending will enjoy similar growth, with new inserter and collator outlays among participants rising 12.2 percent to $21.2 million. Ancillary stacking, conveying and strapping systems will see still greater increases, with participants’ outlays up 82.2 percent to $37.1 million. But used inserting equipment registered the largest spending boost among survey participants, rising 211.4 percent to $5.6 million.
• Computer software outlays among survey participants will jump 39.3 percent to $102 million. Spending on computer hardware, however, will fall 17.6 percent this year to $74.6 million, perhaps a reflection of the fact that most systems were replaced or survived the Y2K transition without incident.
• Several critical components of all-digital work flows also record impressive gains. Image-output-device expenditures among participants will climb 35 percent to $8.6 million, while input-device spending will rise 19.6 percent to $13.9 million, and plate-equipment spending will shoot up 85.2 percent to $7.1 million.

On a per-thousand circulation basis, survey participants’ overall 2000 spending is expected to rise to $35,819, compared with their $24,948 in actual 1999 expenditures.

TechNews Volume 6, Number 5: September/Octpber 2000

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