Fighting Backlash
by Gary Metro
Top-quality printing is expected by readers of The Journal Times. Not only does the Wisconsin daily compete head-to-head with several major metros, but its hometown of Racine also has a proud printing tradition. So when problems arose with the paper's new flexographic press, unhappy readers made their feelings known."This is a town that knows printing—we're headquarters to Golden Books. My phone never stopped ringing with complaints about out-of-register pictures," says Publisher Pete Selkowe. "Every week, my mail included two or three copies of photos with scrawled, uncomplimentary remarks. 'If this is the best you can do,' they would say, 'then go back to black and white.'"
The problem wasn't the new press units, put into service in 1995. The KBA-Motter press, made in York, Pa., was installed above and around the main frame of a 35-year-old Goss letterpress. "Every time we stopped the press, the black printer would move out of register," says Press Foreman Carl Simon.
The search for a solution ultimately led to a nearby firm, Sussex, Wis.-based QTI, which initially supplied a press add-on that led to an unexpected discovery. QTI's PPC 300X "was designed to move the black image back into register with the color images," Selkowe says. "We discovered that on our press, everything is backward—it is the color images that are moving out of register from the black."
The color registration problems, it turned out, resulted from movement in the printing units when the press was slowed and stopped to load new newsprint rolls, according to Mark Gerloff, a QTI engineering technician. QTI developed a system of sensors and scanners that detected gear backlash when the press was slowed, then adjusted the position of the printing units.
While an auto-paster would probably also have prevented registration problems by eliminating press stops, that solution would have been much more costly.
Following the QTI modifications, completed in March, nightly spoils fell from 2,500 copies per 10-stop press run to no more than 400, according to Simon. For QTI, the stubborn problem led to the development of a new system, a possible patent and new avenues for sales at larger printing plants.
"Now that the system is operational on both of our full-color webs, I haven't received a single phone complaint, or a single tear sheet in the mail," Selkowe says.
Gary Metro is city editor of The Journal Times, Racine, Wis. For more information, contact Journal Times Press Foreman Carl Simon. E-mail, carlhs@execpc.com; phone, (414) 634-3322.
50-Inch Update
The following newspapers have either made the move to a 50-inch web width or intend to do so:
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Fiber Alternatives
Based on a yearlong research project, NAA's Alternative Sources for Newsprint explores the state of alternative-fiber sources, including kenaf and grass straws. One copy of the report has been sent to each NAA-member publisher. To order additional copies, call (800) 651-4622, or from overseas, 1 (304) 725-7050, and request item 10059.