Newspaper Printing: The times, they are changing - Faktum

Newspaper Printing: The times, they are changing
It is believed that 2005 is the 400 th anniversary of the printed newspaper following
the unearthing of ‘Relation’ in the town archives of Strasbourg in France.
Published by Johann Carolus, this highly priced newsletter, available by
subscription, contained news sent to him by a network of paid correspondents
and was originally handwritten. Having bought a print shop in 1605, Carolus
started printing Relation to speed up production. He had also calculated that he
could benefit from economies of scale by producing more newspapers and selling
them at a lower price. In other words, the basic philosophy of newspaper
publishers has changed little in the last 400 years.
When it comes to technical innovation, newspapers have tended in recent years to trail
behind other sectors in the printing industry, probably due to the size of the operation
and the large investment involved. However, this could change dramatically over the
next decade. Changes are already happening in newspaper design and function in
response to competition from non-print media such as radio and television and more
recently from the Internet and mobile phones.
Innovation will be the central theme at the Ipex show to be held in April 2006 at the NEC,
Birmingham, UK, and all the key players in newspaper printing will be there to show their
latest technologies. They will include Agfa, Kodak, Oce, Ferag, Muller Martini, KBA,
MAN Roland, Goss International, Koenig & Bauer, Wifag, Xsys, Michael Huber,
Siegwerk, SunChemical, Grafitec Web, Grafitek International and Global Web Services.
Of course, newspaper trends differ from continent to continent and even country to
country but production facilities everywhere are being geared up to enable full colour to
be printed throughout the newspaper, as well as to improve print quality. In addition,
newspaper formats are being reduced in recognition that people are becoming more
mobile. There is also an increasing demand for specific sections for different reader
groups and for higher quality magazine style supplements.
As a result, we are seeing significant investment in production facilities. For instance, in
the UK alone, investment has totalled over £1 billion in the last couple of years. Not all

the investment is in offset printing. As well as expanding its KBA flexographic presses at
Harmsworth Quays in London, Associated Newspapers is also building a second £80
million Greenfield site flexo plant to enable it to print full colour throughout its national
newspapers.
By the time this happens, it is also expected that a flexographic computer-to-plate
system capable of output speeds suitable for newspaper production will also be
commercially available: it is understood that MacDermid Printing Solutions will have an
automated machine available early next year. However, the news that the majority of
newspapers are waiting for is the launch of a processless offset plate suitable for
newspaper production. Although such plates are already available for some other print
sectors, it is known that Agfa, Kodak and Fuji are all working on products which will not
only be able to cope with newsprint but will also provide the necessary long runs. They
will also have to be economically viable, again something which will not be easy to
achieve.
The world-wide newspaper industry is still going strong. According to the World
Association of Newspapers, more than a billion people a day around the world read a
printed newspaper, a figure which has risen nearly five per cent in the last five years.
Perhaps even more impressive, newspapers account for around 25 per cent of global
print sales, putting it well ahead of magazines or books. In fact, globally, sales are up 2.1
per cent taking them to a new daily high of 395 million, while the number of daily titles is
up two per cent. The growth is not only being driven by gains in developing countries but
there have also been increases in sales in many mature markets.
Although there is increasing competition from other media, particularly electronic, both
publishers and equipment manufacturers have realised this and are coming up with
numerous innovative ideas. A number of these could in turn be applied to other sectors
of the printing industry as will be seen at Ipex 2006. There has, for example, been a
complete rethink about newspaper press design. As a result, we have seen the
introduction of the Flexible Printing System from Goss International, the Cortina press
from Koenig & Bauer and the Evolution press from Wifag. Although each press is
different, the fundamental thinking is that newspaper production in the future will have to
change and presses being installed now will have to be able to meet new challenges.

For many newspapers it will be more viable to distribute and print rather than the
traditional print and distribute concept. In addition, there will be an increasing demand for
finer zoning of newspaper editions making runs that much shorter. The FPS and the
Cortina, with their compact size and slide apart printing towers have been designed so
that they can easily be installed in an existing building and require the minimum of press
crews.
Interestingly, the Cortina uses keyless waterless printing, again to improve ease of
operation as well as print higher quality. Admittedly, it has taken some while to achieve
this, the most difficult part being the development of suitable plates and inks. However,
all the major manufacturers of conventional coldset inks including Xsys, Michael Huber,
Siegwerk and SunChemical have been developing suitable products that are now being
moved out of the laboratory into commercial production.
The first Cortina (at Rodi Rotatiedruk in Holland) went into production early this year and
KBA has orders for seven more presses. As they come on stream, it is expected that
consumable costs will come down due to economy of scale, which could make waterless
web-offset printing an interesting prospect for other sectors of the printing industry.
Other developments include the ability to print coldset and heatset with the same inks
and the use of ultraviolet drying, something which was previously not viable for
newspaper production due to press speed limitations and the high costs involved. This
will enable coldset presses to be used to print parts of the newspaper on glossy coated
stock, thus giving the higher print quality and bright colours being demanded by
advertisers and the later deadlines provided by newspaper production. It will also
broaden newspaper printers’ existing capabilities and increase press utilisation.
Newspaper press manufacturers involved in UV trials include Wifag which with its
evolution series of presses is also working on computer-to-press technology, as is MAN
Roland with its DICOweb press. This technology has been used by small sheet-fed
printers for some years but not for large web-fed presses and again the newspaper
industry is leading the way.

Digital printing is also a key development in newspaper production. Currently, it is mainly
being used to enable people who are away from home to read their favourite newspaper
on Day A rather than B or C. This is achieved by web-fed digital presses printing a few
hundred copies in main cities around the world, as is possible with Oce’s Digital
Newspaper Network, or sheet-fed printing one-off copies on-demand such as the
services offered by NewspaperDirect and Satellite Newspapers. Digital presses that
can print in full colour on newsprint and at acceptable speeds are now becoming
available. For example, Kodak Versamark is now offering an inkjet system that can print
over 1,000 40-page colour newspapers an hour and other companies are expected to
launch machines with similar or higher capabilities at Ipex 2006, if not before.
With so many new technologies being developed for the newspaper industry it will be
interesting to see what innovations will be highlighted at Ipex 2006. The philosophy of
newspaper publishers may not have changed that much since Johann Carolus, but the
technology they have access to, definitely has and will continue to do so over the next
few years.
- ends -