Installation over the past year of a new press from Maschinfabrik WIFAG of Bern, Switzerland, has not only meant a massive remodeling of the physical plant, but it has also redefined how the entire operation does business.

“From the newsroom to advertising to every aspect of pre-press and production, this is changing how and what we do,” says World Publishing Co. President and Chief Operating Officer Ken Fleming.

The 169,000-circulation daily is midway through a conversion that will replace its two 24-year-old letterpresses with two driveshaft-free WIFAG OF370 GTD presses, the first of their kind in the United States and only the seventh and eighth in the world.

Installation of the first of the 795-ton units, hauled in on 48 tractor trailers, began in late 1997. After several months of debugging, the World printed the first pages on the new press in early May, running three sections in about 57,000 copies of the Sunday World. Since then, it has quietly continued to work out press problems, printing various sections on the new presses at different times, so all readers may get a taste of the improved product that is to come.

Dismantling of the first of the old letterpresses is expected to start early in 1999, and Fleming expects both WIFAGs to be running at full speed before next Christmas.

Managers are “extremely enthusiastic” about the results they are seeing so far. “The color, registration and overall image quality improvements are fantastic. Fan-out is minimal,” Fleming says. “What we are able to print is comparable to a fine magazine.” In addition to better color reproduction, the new press allows more of it—up to 95 percent of pages will be printed in full four-color splendor.

Good Impressions

Unlike traditional presses, the World’s WIFAG presses do not use a central shaft to drive their printing units, instead relying on dozens of individual motors controlled by one of three computer consoles. Each printing nip has its own drive motor, as does each folder, reel-top-of-form, nipping roller, infeed unit and drive roller. Optical readouts fed through a fiber-optic cable—designed by the company that handles electrical systems for trains in Europe—replace the common driveshaft in synchronizing all the cylinders involved in a press run. The angular position of the cylinder is registered opto-electronically and processed in real time by computer.

Because each impression is driven individually, functions such as startup, plate changing, pre-inking, pre-damping and washing blankets are totally independent. Each couple can be stopped, started and synchronized with extreme precision. An optional flying plate-changing unit permits plate changes for any reason, such as zoning or edition changes, without stopping the press. Similarly, a problem in one tower can be dealt with while others continue to operate without slowing (see “The Advance Word on Advanced Presses,” November/December 1998, p. 6).

Other benefits: astoundingly faster preparation and start-up times. Getting the World’s letterpresses ready to run takes five hours, while preparation for the new press is about 30 minutes, says Steve Dickerson, lead operator for the new press. And once started, the WIFAG

	Overall view of the Tulsa World's shaftless WIFAG 03F70 GTD press.

press produces salable copies within a very short time period, notes Bobby Lorton, vice president for administration and operations. The increased efficiency is expected to cut paper waste by more than half, he says.

Opening a leg on one of the press’ five towers reveals a maze of wires and electronic components, demonstrating the sophisticated computer technology responsible for the WIFAG’s high level of flexibility and efficiency. Director of Production and Operations Steve Barlow laughingly refers to the WIFAG OF370 GTD as “a computer that also happens to print newspapers.”

Unlike older conventional-offset presses, the shaftless units also are able to keep pace with the letterpress models they replace. The World’s two letterpresses typically crank out more than 60,000 copies an hour to produce each day’s newspaper. The WIFAGs can produce as many as 72,000 copies an hour. The ability to move at that speed will allow the newspaper to provide last-second coverage of breaking news and late sporting events, Fleming says.

Although the new press has been used only sporadically so far, accolades already are pouring in from readers, as well as advertisers excited about the prospects for more color, according to Fleming.

“That’s been one of the big surprises, the number of unsolicited comments we have gotten from people,” he says. “There’s no question readers seem to like what they are seeing. And what we are hearing from advertisers is that once everything is in place, we will see an increase in run-of-paper advertising and more opportunity for national co-op accounts.”

Newsroom staffers are also excited at the prospect of better-looking photographs and graphics, expanded color availability and the later deadlines allowed by the quick-starting press.

Overcoming Challenges

Despite their ready praise for the new system, World execs acknowledge that the transition has not been without challenges, including the language barrier inherent in buying from a company headquartered in Switzerland.

But most challenging has been the difficulty posed by installing a new press alongside the two letterpresses, and training personnel—all without ever slowing production of the daily newspaper.

“It’s been a lot like living in a house while it is being completely remodeled around you,” Fleming says.

Extensive physical renovation of the downtown Tulsa facility was completed even before the first WIFAG units arrived. To create room for the behemoth press, some 500 cubic yards of concrete had to be removed, and a 1,000-ton-capacity pad installed. A custom-designed electrical vault housing four mammoth transformers was built to meet electrical needs. The WIFAG units require 400-volt current, common in Europe but an oddity in the 480-volt United States.

The WIFAG line is shoehorned into the existing press bay, sitting just a few yards away from the old letterpresses. Although the ceiling above the three-level new press is about 6 inches higher than the rest of the area to accommodate its height, the press still had to be modified slightly before it would fit, Barlow says. A monorail runs along the ceiling to transport heavy equipment.

A plywood and plastic-sheeting barrier, originally constructed to protect the existing equipment from the mess of the new installation, now protects the WIFAG press—which requires a much cleaner environment—from the ink mist and paper dust generated by the old letterpresses.

The three adjacent control consoles provide data about every aspect of printing from paper tension to registration, and allow immediate, minute adjustments with the click of a mouse. Even a photographer’s request for muted lighting is answered with the touch of a console button that dims the offending bulbs. And alarm screens give immediate notice of problems that had to be caught manually on the old presses.

One floor below, in the reel room, Barlow points with pride to the new reel stands. They work pretty much like any other, he says, except that the apparatus is so simple, one person can run two stands at the same time, instead of one per stand with the old system.

The presses are just part of a larger $60 million expansion of the World’s printing plant, including a new loading dock, larger customer-service areas and other upgrades. Across a hallway is a new, pristine platemaking area, housing a new, fully automated Western Lithotech system built for the new presses. Another automated platemaking system will be added when the second shaftless press is installed, but for now, the old engraving room still serves the two letterpresses.

Here, as in the pressroom, staffers are expected to move back and forth from old to new equipment with equal skill and aplomb. Fleming says that extensive training before the new press arrived has helped employees “from the newsroom to the pressroom make the transition much more smoothly than we could have expected.”

Looking Ahead

As much as the World has changed over the past year, Fleming says he expects even more transformation over the next 12 months. Surveys are planned to determine additional ways to use the new technology to meet reader and advertiser needs. To take full advantage of the new printing capabilities, the newsroom is looking at a new pagination system and a complete editorial redesign.

Fleming says he doesn’t expect the World’s shaftless press to be the only one of its kind in North America for long. The Dallas Morning News has already announced plans to purchase a shaft-free press, he says, and he gets calls regularly from others interested in following suit. [For others going shaftless, see “A Wave of Shaftless Installs,” November/December 1998, p. 5.]

While he doesn’t particularly relish being the one to work out the kinks in the new technology, he believes the entire industry will benefit in the long run.

“Eventually, all newspapers will be here. The benefits are astronomical, and readers and advertisers will demand it,” he says. “This is tomorrow for the industry.”

Anna America is a Tulsa, Okla., free-lance writer. E-mail, aamerica@webzone.net; phone, (918) 596-2426.