IFRA

The following proposals were sent to us (in most cases) by suppliers (listed alphabetically by company name). If you wish to contribute further tips, please e-mail them to: editor@wan-ifra.org Subject: Cost reductions in newspaper production.

Stephen Kirk, Head of Marketing - Business Unit Printing Plants,
ABB Schweiz

The last twenty years have seen countless developments that have improved the efficiency on the press. There will undoubtedly be further developments, but so much has been achieved in the past that giant leaps are unlikely in the furture. In the mailroom, however, there is considerable potential for improving efficiency and saving money by improving the planning workflow and, in particular, integrating this with the management and planning of the rest of the production process, Similarly there is a lot of optimization potential in the distribution process, particularly when the delivery management is better integrated with the production.

In many countries there is also a lot of new business potential in exploiting the logistical infrastructure that newspaper publishers have for their distribution. There is no reason why this infrastructure should be restricted to the distribution of newspapers. Other goods could also be distributed. Depending on the regulations in the individual countries, this could even include post. The capability is already there, it is just a matter of adding the management systems that make it practical.

Jürg Möckli, CEO, Ferag

Cost reductions in newspaper production can be achieved at three levels:

1. Process integration
Ferag integrated solutions combine several functions in one inline processing system. The top level process integration combines collecting, inserting, folding, stitching, trimming and "Polybagging" to one system. The efficiency of this concept lies in its manifold applications for newspapers, semi-commercial operations and direct advertising distribution, offering as it does short throughput times, low waste and an economical use of resources.
The open concept allows the integration of new functions and simple expansion of capacities. Thus Ferag guarantees users the ability to use invested capital efficiently in the long term.

2. Control concepts
Modern process control concepts support newspaper producers in the organisation, scheduling and controlling of their capacities. In this connection, it is the degree of user friendliness that determines quality. The more a user interface is designed to work intuitively, the higher the level of efficiency will be that is achieved. With Navigator, based on Flying Frame technology with multitouch screen, Ferag shows the way forward.

3. Preventive maintenance
Cost-saving production is directly dependent on how a production system is serviced. Systematic plant upkeep with regular preventive maintenance reveals the general condition of a system and helps avoid unforeseen production downtimes. Maintaining productivity and avoiding the need to have recourse to high-cost technical personnel lead to clearly quantifiable cost savings.
WRH Marketing and Ferag offer Domino, a flexible service package that provides tailored solutions for every need.

Eric Bell, Director of Marketing Services, Goss International

New technology has created very significant opportunities to reduce costs, and the argument in favour of investing in new equipment or enhancing an existing platform is very compelling when publishers or printers take a thorough, longer-term look at the ROI.

Paper consumption has offered the greatest potential for savings in newspaper production for a number of years now but with newsprint prices set to rise significantly, it is an area that publishers cannot afford to ignore. Greater production efficiency is the solution to minimizing paper consumption. Improved automation, intelligent systems architecture and quality controls will secure more square centimetres of quality print per reel used, while also generating savings through more efficient energy consumption, reduced manpower and more press uptime. With its presetting capabilities and electronically pulsed ink flow, an inking system such as Goss DigiRail ensures that the job reaches optimal quality within the shortest space of time, and therefore with minimal waste copies.

Of course, for some publishers the ideal way to reduce paper costs might be to rethink product formats altogether. A simple, cost-effective press modification such as Goss Triliner, for example, which can achieve 33 percent paper savings from an existing double-circumference press, could be the wisest decision in the long-run.

Horst-Walter Hauer, General Manager, IBH Ingenieure für Druck-und Projekttechnologie

As an engineering company, depending on the structure of the printing plant, we see the areas of workflow, energy, operating materials and naturally the technical equipment itself offering potential for cost reductions. In part, savings can be achieved by changing established working methods. For example, process optimisation: workflow analyses to optimise processes or unconventional organisation of part-processes for integrated production management.

In a recent large-scale project in Northern Europe, we analysed the start-up processes in multi-web production: it was identified that complicated adjustment possibilities at the ribbon register of the folder caused an unnecessarily large amount of waste. Our retrofitting to three independently adjustable register possibilities reduced waste considerably and nearly halved start-up time. Parallel to this, the installation had web tension measuring devices retrofit along the complete length of web travel. This combination permits a repeatable safe start-up, stable production run and, important for multi-web operation, a good emergency stop behaviour.
As a result of a further analysis carried out on changeover times, the existing turner bars were modified and arranged in such a way that no changing of position was necessary any longer for the different production runs. Together with a clever extension of the webbing-up system, this resulted in a significant reduction of the changeover times, though also much reduced downtimes in the event of a web break: an example of enhanced efficiency accompanied by a significant lightening of the operator workload. 

In the case of service contracts (for cleaning, maintenance and upkeep tasks), we see first and foremost the cost benefits, combined with the high degree of planning safety, more flexibility in use, and last but not least access to the latest outside expert know-how.
 

Klaus Schmidt, Director Marketing & Corporate Communications, KBA

Besides modern technology in the prepress, press and finishing areas, there continues to be major potential for process and workflow optimisation, with corresponding time and personnel savings, at newspaper companies. The reasons for this are manifold, ranging from a general reluctance to invest to an absence of willingness to innovate as well as operational reasons  (lack of qualified personnel, poorly defined objectives). In part, the production costs are not recorded with the necessary care and the savings potential of modern installations for waste, manning levels, consumables and energy not used to the full. Thus, for example, it is possible to influence ink consumption already at the prepress stage. In this connection there continue to be major differences in the industry from one company to the next, largely depending on the business and management philosophy concerned in each case. Furthermore, regular maintenance can increase the productivity and reliability of the production installations as well as avoid costly downtimes and repairs.

Ingo Wölk, Corporate Marketing & Communications, manroland

manroland see potential savings in newspaper production in the following areas:
• Workflow optimisation (see ppi Media below)
• Process automatision with autoprint or Inline Control systems (InlineRegistration Control, InlineCutoff Control, InlineTension Control, InlineTemperature Control and InlineDensity Control ),
• More efficient energy management/sustainability (EcoLogic with ecometer) and
• Service: greater production stability can be achieved with manroland Store (replacement parts) and print services to maximise the press performance.

Norbert Ohl, CEO, ppi Media

With Automatic Plate Loading, manroland has made possible "one-touch printing". The preceding production steps can be even more highly automated. For example, the printnet OM output management system enables "touchless" plate production and is in addition designed to optimally satisfy all the requirements of APL technology.
printnet OM automates work processes - from the plate management to dummy plate exposure, colour consistency and automatic plate production. For several reasons: besides rationalisation possibilities, the shorter production and changeover times can bring about significant improvements in the product quality. An important factor for this is the drop in human error due to automation.

In addition to a flexible prepress workflow with optimised utilisation of resources, self-service tools or application services can offer potential savings in newspaper production. Customer portals, e.g. the AdX module that allows ad customers to themselves book and create digital ads (e.g. online or mobile banners) or campaigns, relieve the workload of the advertising department in the publishing company. Important preconditions for self service tools are an easy to understand user interface and simple pay models.

Application service providers permit publishing companies to concentrate fully on their core business – producing newspapers. Application services, such as those offered by ppi Media, are a profitable prospect for media houses on the basis of economies of scale. Whereas every publishing company needs a team of experts for the maintenance and upkeep of its IT infrastructure, ppi Media can offer a service for several publishing companies simultneously. With many advantages: Besidest he fact that no internal service provider knows the software as thoroughly as the manufacturer itself, additional positive effects of the application services are felt in the operation and monitoring of the application platforms. Furthermore, regular analyses of the system structure and resulting workflow optimisations can be carried out. The 24/7 support is always best informed as to the status of the installationen and in addition, as a "power user" a qualified partner for all questions concerning the in-house IT processes. The expertise of the ppi team for application services was developed in more than 100 national and international installations and can be called upon by customers at all times. This is therefore a service that ensures the IT infrastructure runs perfectly at all times with practically no personnel input on the part of the publishing house.