Optimising Productivity in
Newspaper Production Lines
Ifra Special Report
3.33
02
Introduction and Imprint
Ifra Special Report 3.33
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Introduction
In competition with other media, newspapers have
become more colourful with more editions and more
inserting. This means increasing complexity in production
of the newspaper. At the same time, a lot of attention is
being paid to the economic aspect. A large printing press,
together with a functional mailroom, is a big investment.
High levels of productivity of both personnel and machinery
are the key elements in order to pay back the investment.
Press and mailroom suppliers develop and manufacture
solutions for different purposes. Two printers may have
similar production lines but their productivity is different.
Of course, their run lengths and pagination of the products
may vary. But by collecting and analysing the information
the printer with "lower“ productivity could benefit by
learning about the working procedures and systems used
elsewhere.
It was the task of this project to present guidelines for
the make-ready procedure of a newspaper press – including
presetting, reel and web handling, start-up of the press,
waste analysis and down-times – for the purpose of optimising productivity in newspaper production. The study is
based on collected experience and new data from newspapers, interpreted in co-operation with the Working
Group.
A practical approach was taken, namely gathering the
experiences of printers and manufacturers of press and
mailroom systems in relation to productivity in newspaper
printing plants. The Working Group held a brain-storming
session to focus on factors related to people, the environment, equipment and materials, which may influence productivity at first start-up, at edition changes, at constant
run (after the first good copy emerges from the folder), and
in the mailroom. This classification was also used in the
questionnaire study. Some newspapers were visited and
factors related to productivity were studied more thoroughly in practice. After analysing the results, general
conclusions and recommendations were noted.
The project has been carried out at the VTT Information Technology, Printed Communications on behalf
of Ifra. Project leader was Ulf Lindqvist (D.Tech.). Olli
Nurmi (M.Sc.), Pertti Moilanen (M.Sc.) and Tatu Lindberg
(M.Sc.) were responsible for the survey on technology and
experience from printers.
The project was conducted by a Working Group, at the
same time acting as an expert panel for the scientists. The
members of the Working Group were:
Ove Borndalen, IDAB Wamac Int. AB, S
Robert Carlén, Solna Offset AB, S
Jo van Croonenborch, V.U.M., B
Bo Dyrén, DNEX Tryckeriet AB, S
Gerd Faedrich, Frankfurter Sozietätsdruck., D
Anton Hamm, MAN Roland, D
Denys Kissling, Ostravské tiskarny a.s., CZ
Hans Jörg Laubscher, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, D
Risto Letho Helsingin Sanomat, FIN
Jean-Claude Pautrat, Heidelberg Web Montataire, F
Kurt Sandberg, A/S Dagbladet Politiken, DK
Claes Schönander, Göteborgs Posten, S
Jacques Valembois, Imprimerie Rossel, B
Wolfgang Heil, Ifra, D
Uwe Junglas, Ifra, D
Manfred Werfel, Ifra, D, Moderator
Ifra thanks all the members of the Working Group and
the companies listed above for their valuable contribution
to the project.
September 2001
Imprint
Ifra Special Reports, research reports, technical study reports and documents for the standardisation of newspaper
production techniques. Published by: Ifra, Washingtonplatz, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany; www.ifra.com; Tel. +49.6151.
733-6; Fax +49.6151.733-800. Chief Executive Officer: Günther W. Böttcher. Director of Research and Consulting:
Manfred Werfel. Research Manager: Uwe Junglas. Republishing - also of excerpts - only with express permission of Ifra
and acknowledgement of origin. Price: Ifra Special Reports are sold at the price of 130 EUR* per copy. For Ifra members,
the price is covered by the membership fee that entitles them to an allotted number of copies. Ifra members may order additional copies at 13 EUR* per copy.
* plus 7% in Germany and for companies and persons in the European Union that do not have a VAT number.
Table of contents
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
Table of contents
1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 03
1.1
The definition of productivity ................................................................................................................................... 04
2
Measuring productivity ........................................................................................................................................ 05
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
Factors affecting productivity in newspaper production ................................................................................
Waste and Disturbances ...........................................................................................................................................
Press Preparation .....................................................................................................................................................
Automation ..............................................................................................................................................................
Quality ......................................................................................................................................................................
Constant run .............................................................................................................................................................
Maintenance ............................................................................................................................................................
Information flow .......................................................................................................................................................
4
Productivity questionnaire .................................................................................................................................. 09
4.1
4.1.1
4.1.2
4.1.3
4.1.4
4.1.5
4.1.6
4.2
Printing houses ........................................................................................................................................................
Factors related to People ..........................................................................................................................................
Factors related to the Environment ..........................................................................................................................
Factors related to Equipment ...................................................................................................................................
Factors related to Materials ......................................................................................................................................
Mailroom ..................................................................................................................................................................
Actions and restrictions ............................................................................................................................................
Press/mailroom manufacturers ................................................................................................................................
5
Newspaper case studies ............................................................................................................................................... 17
5.1
5.1.1
5.1.2
5.1.3
5.1.4
5.2
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
5.2.4
Alprint OY, Tampere, Finland .....................................................................................................................................
People ......................................................................................................................................................................
Environment .............................................................................................................................................................
Equipment ................................................................................................................................................................
Materials ..................................................................................................................................................................
Ringier Print, Adligenswil, Switzerland ....................................................................................................................
People ......................................................................................................................................................................
Environment .............................................................................................................................................................
Equipment ................................................................................................................................................................
Materials ..................................................................................................................................................................
6
Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................... 21
7
Recommendations ................................................................................................................................................ 22
06
07
07
07
08
08
08
08
09
09
10
12
13
13
15
16
17
17
17
18
18
18
19
19
20
20
Appendix: The numbers of the questions refer to the bars in the figures ............................................................ 23
03
04
1.1 The definition of productivity
Ifra Special Report 3.33
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
1.1 The definition of productivity
copies/time
planned
production
actual
production
productivity
lost
late copies
maximum
production
time
Figure 1. Productivity in newspaper production. In an ideal case, the production machinery including press and post-press operations operates at planned
capacity (which is normally lower than the maximum capacity of individual machines). However, actual production often requires more time than planned,
which reduces the productivity and results in late copies and distribution problems.
The definition of productivity can be expressed as an
amount of production compared to the input made to
produce it. The amount of production can be time, number
of copies, money or anything which is comparable to the
amount of production.
copies
lost time
planned
production
actual
production
time
Figure 2. Cumulative production. Every delay in the set-up or in the production causes time lost, which usually is impossible to catch up later. The result is
late copies and distribution problems.
2 Measuring productivity
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
2 Measuring productivity
Measuring productivity is not an easy task. There are
no variables that measure productivity purely and simply.
Therefore the measurement has to be made indirectly with
variables that measure other features in production. These
variables alone are insignificant for productivity, so that
the measurement should be done while observing several
different variables at the same time.
Another problem is to benchmark or find a correct
reference for productivity. There are no correct values for
different variables. The variables depend on the production
machinery and the production concerned. In practice the
most effective way is to record the production variables
continuously. The current situation can then be compared
and production history and trends and peaks identified.
Comparisons to other printing houses can be made, but the
production and production machinery are seldom similar
in both printing houses.
How production control systems
measure productivity
The most suitable variables that can be taken to measure
productivity are:
Production speed: The most obvious way to measure
productivity is to compare the amount of produced copies
and pages to spent time or to spent man-hours. This gives
a failry accurate picture of a single production run. The
production speed depends on the complexity of the
edition. In daily newspaper production this is a good way
to measure productivity.
Waste: The amount of waste compared to produced
copies. This is a good meter to indicate run-time problems.
An increased amount of waste indicates that there has
been some kind of problem in production and more time
has been taken to produce the required number of good
copies. The amount of waste in relation to the run length
(circulation) has to be considered.
Timetable accuracy: One way is to compare actual
production time to planned production time and find out
how many of the jobs were delayed and by how long. This
is also a meter for run-time problems if recorded.
Number of disturbances: The number of disturbances
that occur during printing can be recorded by modern
control systems. The disturbances can be analysed by
categorising them and establishing their frequency and the
time required to solve the problem.
Number of complaints: The number of customer (subscriber, reader and advertiser) complaints about, for
example print quality and late arrival in the letterbox, is a
practical measure of the quality of the production from the
customer's point of view. The number of complaints should
be recorded.
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06
3 Factors affecting productivity in newspaper production
Ifra Special Report 3.33
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
3 Factors affecting productivity in newspaper production
The most obvious way to increase productivity is to
reduce the number of man-hours per production. However,
it is seldom possible to reduce the number of personnel.
This is why economies have to be found in the area of
material costs and production time.
Production time can be reduced in two different ways.
Either the printing speed can be increased or the downtime of the press can be reduced. Increasing printing speed
is often impossible, or only to a very limited degree.
Edition volumes are decreasing which means that run
times are decreasing, too. Therefore the benefits that are
possible to gain by increasing speed are decreasing. Also,
motivating operators to print at consistently higher speeds
than they are used to is often difficult and short-lived.
Therefore usually the only effective way to improve
productivity is to reduce the time the press is not running.
This can be done in two ways: by faster press preparations
and avoiding run time disturbances.
One way to reduce production stops and speed
decreases is to have a buffer between press and mailroom.
There are two kinds of buffers: the dynamic buffer and the
overflow buffer. Whereas the dynamic buffer acts as a
continuous buffer, the overflow buffer is only used in a
case of emergency.
This allows the press to run at full speed in case of
disturbances in the mailroom. Copies are stored in the
buffer if problems occur in the mailroom. When an edition
is finished and the press is prepared for the next job, the
copies from the buffer can be processed in the mailroom.
One of the biggest problems is to find out the correct
number of printed copies in the buffer. Another problem is
when there is a large number of copies in the buffer, the
time of edition change in the press is not long enough for
the mailroom to process the copies from the buffer. In that
case the press has to wait for the mailroom to finish before
they can start a new job.
Category
Findings
General
> activities were continuously improved
> all production personnel were involved in waste control efforts
> product quality remained a high priority
> formal quality programs facilitated waste control
Newsprint
and delivery
(of newsprint)
> newsprint requirements were specified and monitored
> web break statistics and paper runnability were tracked and communicated
> long-term relationships with newsprint suppliers were maintained
> newsprint reels were handled with care
Production
waste control
> a minimum amount of paper was stripped from reels
> paper consumption was accurately measured, reported and used to identify trends
> the press was pre-run before actual production (pre-inking without paper)
> best operating practices were documented and followed
Equipment
and materials
> web break statistics were used to evaluate equipment and materials
> preventive maintenance was carried out systematically
> materials were optimised for press configurations
> having older equipment did not preclude attainment of low waste figures
Personnel and
management
factors
> personnel routines and habits were modified
> management was committed to waste control objectives
> clear objectives were established and communicated
> public recognition was used to motivate personnel more commonly than financial incentives
Table 1. Findings from Ifra Special Report 1.14. ”Newsprint Waste Control: A Study of Leading U.S. and European Newspapers“.
3 Factors affecting productivity in newspaper production
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
3.1 Waste and disturbances
3.2 Press preparation
Waste has a direct effect on productivity. Waste
increases the material costs, the production time and the
amount of man-hours needed. Waste reduction increases
the productivity. There are several benefits of waste
reduction. First, every bad copy is a lost good copy. More
waste requires longer production time to get the edition
done. Second, many of the waste copies are caused by
disturbances, which often necessitates decreasing the speed
or even stopping the press. Thirdly, waste copies also
engage labour and other resources. With successful waste
reduction it is possible to increase the amount of good
copies and shorten the run time of the press. Reducing
waste should not be done by reducing the print quality.
Examples and guidelines for waste reduction in newspaper
production are explained in the Ifra Special Report 1.14.
Disturbances effect productivity in two ways: by
consuming production time and increasing waste.
Incidences can be divided into three groups. Sudden
disturbances, cumulative disturbances and disturbances
that reduce production speed or print quality.
Sudden disturbances are unpredictable and the real
cause is not always known. Web breaks are examples of
sudden disturbances. The only way to avoid sudden
disturbances is to prevent them with careful actions. Web
break statistics should be kept on a regular basis. The
printing conditions should be recorded at every web break.
Collected information should include date, paper manufacturer, press unit, shift, product, position of the web
break and if possible, the reason for it and other matters
that can have an influence on web breaks. These statistics
can be used to find out and to eliminate the most common
reasons for web breaks. Other sudden disturbances are for
instance broken parts and electronic failures.
Dusting and linting are examples of cumulative
disturbances. Cumulative disturbances are problems that
increase during production. Cumulative disturbances can
cause stopping of the press but the printer can choose the
time to stop. Reasons for cumulative disturbances are often
related to materials.
Colour and fold register errors and wrinkles are examples of disturbances that reduce the printing speed or print
quality.
One of the reasons that affect productivity is production delay. Production delays that are caused at the
beginning of the process are often impossible to catch-up
later. A small delay in the prepress process can cause the
whole edition to be delayed (see figures 1 and 2).
Hurry and disturbances have a connection. When the
production is late compared to the timetable, attempts are
made to catch up. This can cause more disturbances and
interruptions because of careless actions.
With efficient actions on edition changes and set-ups it
is possible to reduce the press down-time. This includes the
efficiency and timing of every action. Ways to improve
effectiveness are listed below.
Pre-set-up: Pre-set-up is preferred to operations that
are made before the actual set-up. All operations, which
are possible to do while the previous edition is still on
press, should be done. This includes the preparation of
reels and plating of units, which are not in use.
Pre-run before actual production: Pre-run before
actual production can be used to check the condition of
blankets and plates and to verify correct web leads before
all plates arrive.
Effective maintenance of work routines: Best operating
practices can be documented in checklists which personnel
have to follow and sign when executing their tasks.
Checklists should be established to standardise and
improve personnel performance, create efficient press
start-ups and minimise newsprint waste and production
down-time.
Print job scheduling: The print job schedule should be
optimised to reduce adjustments needed between editions.
The optimisation is not a simple task. The most efficient
result will be achieved when the whole production is taken
into account.
3.3 Automation
There are several technical accessories, which can help
to gain productivity. Automatic plate change, automatic
webbing-up, blanket washer and automatic colour and
fold register controls are such features. These accessories
save time during set-up and edition changes.
Edition changes on the run: Set-up time can be
reduced by using edition changes on the run. Automatic
edition change requires extra units, split arms, shaftless
drive and a modern press control system. Run time edition
change is practical when the number of plate changes
needed is small.
Presetting: Presetting the ink screws and colour registers are effective ways to reduce start-up time and waste
produced in start-up.
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08
3 Factors affecting productivity in newspaper production
Ifra Special Report 3.33
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
3.4 Quality
3.6 Maintenance
The influence of quality on productivity can be twofold. Quality is not only the quality of the print but also
the quality of working procedures. Productivity cannot be
increased by reducing quality in any circumstances.
Therefore the influence of quality should be seen in the
opposite way. With increased quality it is possible to increase productivity by reducing complaints and improving
working procedures.
Quality programs: Implementation of quality programs
can assist in controlling waste. Programs, organised
according to standards like ISO 9000 or Ifra Special
Reports, may reduce the possibility of miscommunication
or misunderstanding procedures. Good quality can also
reduce complaints and therefore reduce possible reprints.
Maintenance: Time and resources should be allocated
for cleaning, repair and preventive maintenance, which
should be carried out systematically using checklists and
actions taken should be recorded in service logs.
Material optimisation: Production materials should be
optimised according to press configuration and quality
requirements. Changes in materials should be avoided
unless new materials are proven to give significant
improvement. New materials should be used only if they
successfully demonstrated these improvements during
rigorous testing and only one material should be tested at
a time.
3.5 Constant run
Many of the productivity improvements require investments in automation or in other equipment. But new press
or equipment are not the only way to improve productivity.
Productivity improvements can be gained with training of
the personnel and optimisation of production features.
Checklists: Best operation practices should be documented in checklists, which the crew has to follow to complete their tasks. In this way the best possible operation
practices are implemented by every employer.
Page positions and web leads: Choosing of the right
page positions and web leads are one way to improve
productivity. Choosing can be done in several different
ways. One is to do it in co-operation with advertising and
editorial departments by keeping four-colour page positions as constant as possible. Those jobs, which require
difficult web leads, should be reduced or eliminated when
possible. When choosing the best possible page positions
and web leads the whole production should be taken into
consideration. The page positions and web leads of the
following production runs should be chosen in such a way
that the edition changes are as easy as possible.
3.7 Information flow
Correct information, both before and dureing the
production process, is crucial factor in the procedure to
avoid press stops. Information about additional changes,
colour changes, and availability of proofs at the press are
some of the topics to be considered.
4 Productivity questionnaire
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
4 Productivity questionnaire
A questionnaire – concerning the productivity of
newspaper production lines – was sent to printing houses
and press/mailroom manufacturers. The purpose of the
questionnaire was to find out what were the most important factors that have an effect on productivity, what kind
of actions were taken to improve productivity and what
were the biggest restrictions that prevent maximum productivity. The ten-page questionnaire was sent to a total of
34 printing houses and press/mailroom manufacturers. The
press/mailroom manufacturers were asked to answer only
the two last questions about actions that effect productivity and restrictions that still exists. The questions of the
questionnaire are listed in the appendix. The detailed questionnaire can be downloaded from the homepage of Ifra
(http://www.ifra.com).
4.1.1 Factors related to People
According to the questionnaire, the influence of people
was the most important factor in every part of the process.
This was predictable at start-up and edition change but at
constant run and mailroom the result was a surprise. This
shows that despite the growing automation, people are still
considered to be the most important factor in the production processes.
4.1 Printing houses
The questionnaire was sent to a total of 20 printing
companies. Ten completed the form and returned it which
gives the answering percentage of 50%.
The total amount of 76 factors that effect productivity
were listed and divided into four different categories. The
categories were factors related to people, the environment,
equipment and materials. The questions are shown in
appendix A. Printers were asked to specify the importance
of different factors and their effect on start-up, edition
change, constant run and on the mailroom in scale of zero
to five. Different categories and their overall importance
are illustrated in Figure 3. A high bar in the figure means
great importance of the factor in order to maximise
productivity.
Figure 3. The importance of factors in different categories.
Figure 4. Is work organised in teams?
The number of printers and mailroom operators varied
depending on the size of the press and the complexity of
the mailroom. The number of printers varied from two to
seven per printing press and the number of mailroom
operators varied from two to seven. Even the variation was
the same in printing press and mailroom the common
situation was that the number of mailroom operators was
lower than the number of employees at the printing press.
Training played a great part in every company. On-site
training was practised in almost every company according
to the questionnaire. To the question about the qualification level of the crew, the most common answer was medium and several printing houses informed that it is high.
Training was reported to be one of the most important factors in the printing process. Despite the qualification level
of the crew, lack of training was reported to be one of the
restrictions that prevented productivity improvement.
One third of the companies replied that there are differences between day and night shifts. One reason for the
differences is that in some companies more personnel is
used in the night shift. With an increased number of operators and printers the production of the main newspapers
is done more smoothly. Day time is reserved for outside
jobs where the schedule is not so tight as for the daily
newspapers.
Half of the companies informed that shift change
during run effected productivity. A reason for this was not
reported. It is clear that the press should not be stopped
during the shift change. Shift changes should be arranged
so that the working time of the different shifts overlap by
several minutes. This time should be used to the briefing of
the second shift and to guarantee a smooth shift change.
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4 Productivity questionnaire
Ifra Special Report 3.33
There are several things that can affect productivity if they
happen during a shift change. Such things can be reel
changes, edition changes and several problems during the
run like register errors, toning etc. With overlapped shifts
these problems can be reduced.
Work was organised in teams at every second company. Use of teams was more common in the mailroom than
in the press. The teams were reported to be most important
in the mailroom but also during constant run the teams
were important.
Only one company informed that there was no productivity feedback given to operators. Instead several companies informed that feedback was given but the amount of
feedback was insufficient.
Time pressure was stated to cause problems in almost
every company. Only two informed that it does not cause
problems. The most common problems were considered to
be mistakes that occurred when trying to catch up the lost
production time.
Only one company informed that the task descriptions
were not always clear to all. Even though task descriptions
were reported to be clear to all, it was considered to be one
of the most important factors in every part of the process.
The number of humans in different actions in the
printing process varied depending on the type of press
units and production. The number of people changing
plates was reported to vary from two to seven. The number
of peolpe changing ink varied from zero to three. Automatic ink change was in use in two of the companies and
several companies informed that no ink changes were ever
made. In some cases frequent change of spot colours needs
a lot of time. According to comments from the industry
there is a clear trend towards reducing the number of spot
colours and some newspapers have even banned spot
colours totally.
The number of peolpe changing web leads varied from
zero to five. Some companies informed that the web lead
was never changed. The number of people per folder
varied from zero to three but the most common answer
was one operator. In companies where the production was
highly standardised there was no need for ink and web
lead changes.
A typical number of waste in reel change is around 10
copies. Answers varied from 8 to 30 copies. The amount is
so small that its influence on total productivity is quite
marginal.
Only two companies informed that overrun was not
monitored. The most common reasons for overrun was
reported to be the lack of or unreliable mailroom control
system, mailroom waste and distribution overrun.
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Figure 5. The importance of factors related to people in start-up, in edition
change and in constant run. The numbers refer to the questions shown in
the appendix.
The most important factors in the start-up procedure
that were listed were the qualification level of the crew,
number of printers and the clearness of task descriptions.
The overall differences between different factors were
small. All the factors were given values above four in scale
of zero to five.
The variation between factors in edition change were
greater. The most important factors were the number of
printers, number of people changing plates, number of
people changing web lead, the clearness of task description
and qualification level of the crew. All these factors scored
the average of four or higher. This is shown in Figure 5.
At constant run the most important factors according
to the answers in the questionnaire were the effect of the
mailroom on the printing speed, the clearness of task
descriptions, feedback to operators and the working in
teams.
4.1.2 Factors related to the Environment
The number of webs in average production varied from
one to five. The variation of other factors related to
production also varied greatly. The number of formers varied from one to four. The most common were two or four.
The number of turner bars varied from two to thirteen. The
Figure 6. Is humidity controlled in the press room?
4 Productivity questionnaire
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
most common number was four. The web lead length
varied from 20 to 40 meters. Verification of these factors
was impossible because of the variation.
Four companies informed that they had no humidity
control at their press facilities. Humidity was reported to
be one of the most important factors during a constant
run. Its influence in the mailroom was also reported to be
above average. Those companies that had humidity control
reported higher importance values than companies that did
not have the humidity control.
Most of the newspapers have one quality level for the
whole product range. Only one company mentioned that
they have different quality levels for different products.
E.g. when working as a contract printer the printing house
is following the very strict quality tolerances of the customer. When printing other products the printer follows
less stringent rules concerning quality.
Every company informed that they have last minute
changes. Last minute changes are something that probably
never can be avoided completely. They seem to be something that just belong to the system but this does not mean
that last minute changes should be approved. Last minute
Ifra Special Report 3.33
Answers to the questions how often web lead, ink,
folder and paper type were changed varied from never to
almost every edition. It was only to the question about
folder settings that every company replied they were never
changed.
Figure 8. The web break recovery time.
The most common reason for web breaks was reel
change. Also paper quality and machine-related reasons
were mentioned. The average web break time varied from
10 to 30 minutes with an average of 15 minutes. The
average cost per break varied from 130 to 240 Euros.
Figure 7. Are grey bars used in the print?
changes is a factor that influences productivity so much
that they cannot be ignored.
One third of the companies informed that they are
using grey bars for quality control. The grey bars in the
print are used for density and grey balance control.
Only two companies informed that they do not use
panorama plates (double truck pages, two pages or one
one 2-page-large image on one plate) at all. The use in
those companies that use panorama plates was rather
small. The amount of use varied from less than one
percent to five percent.
Every company reported that their plate identification
system is clear to all. It was considered to be one of the
most important factors in start-up and in edition change.
The influence of wrong plating is evident. To stop the press
means waste and lost time and removing the plate can
cause plate damage which means that new plates have to
be made.
Figure 9. The importance of factors related to the environment at start-up.
The numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
Figure 10. The importance of factors related to environment in edition
change. The numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
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Ifra Special Report 3.33
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Figure 11. The importance of factors related to environment in constant
run. The numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
The average share of delayed copies was around 10%.
The individual values varied from zero to 50%.
There were many answers to the question: "Who
decides when an edition is printed?“ The most common
answer was that the decision was the printer's but also
mailroom and editorial was mentioned. The decision was
not always made by the printer. In some companies the
decision was taken by managers.
Figure 12. Are 4-high/satellite units suitable for your production?
Figure 13. Is presetting in use?
4.1.3 Factors related to Equipment
The suitability of the two most common press types,
satellite units and 4-high units, was asked in the questionnaire. 89% of the companies informed that the satellite
units were suitable for their production. The same number
for 4-high units was 44%. More than half of the companies stated that the 4-high units were not suitable for their
production.
According to the questionnaire the most important
factor in start-up and in edition change was presetting.
Presetting was given the value five by every company
regardless of whether the company had it or not. The
influence of presetting on productivity is evident. Good
presetting reduces the start-up waste and shortens the
start-up time and therefore directly affects productivity.
Three operating consoles per press was used on average. The number of operating consoles was reported to be
one of the most important factors in start-up and edition
change.
Distance between plate room and press varied from 10
to 50 meters. The average was 15 meters. The variation
can be considered rather small so the influence of plate
room distance is small.
Many press accessories are meant to help maintenance
and therefore they can help to increase productivity. In the
questionnaire, the level of automation and the number of
special accessories were asked. According to the questionnaire only one company stated that they have a guide
roller cleaning system. Two companies informed that they
have a colour register control system. Cut-off control was
reported to be used in three of the companies. Fan-out
compensators and blanket washers were both used in two
of the companies. These accessories were not reported to
be extremely important. The values that were given to
them were around the average among the factors related to
equipment.
4 Productivity questionnaire
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
In every company the press was reported to be 2
around and 4 wide. Two-thirds of the companies informed
that they have infeed for every web. A web-up system is
used in every company with the exception of one. Split
reel arms were reported from two of the companies. None
of the companies had a dynamic plate change in use. The
automation level of the folder was informed to be medium
or high. Only one of the companies said that it is low.
Ifra Special Report 3.33
4.1.4 Factors related to Materials
The most important factors in the start-up and edition
change were blankets and inks. In constant run the plate
durability was also considered to be important. The
runnability characteristics of newsprint are also important
at constant run when reels are changed at full speed. Some
companies also reported that newsprint properties have an
effect on the inserting process.
A variation of tap water quality was reported from four
of the companies. In the conditioned water variation was
reported from two of the companies.
Blankets were changed every two to six months.
Figure 14. The importance of factors related to equipment in start-up. The
numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
Figure 17. What is the average plate durability?
Plate durability varied from 80 000 to 300 000 copies.
One company informed that the durability of conventional
plates was 900 000 when current CTP plates last only
150 000 revs.
Figure 15. The importance of factors related to equipment in edition
change. The numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
Figure 18. The factors related to materials. The numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
Figure 16. The importance of factors related to equipment at constant run.
The numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
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Ifra Special Report 3.33
4.1.5 Mailroom
In almost every answer it was stated that the mailroom
had an effect on the printing speed in one way or the
other. Only one company announced that mailroom does
not effect the printing speed at all. In some companies the
influence was restricted to inserting. Inserting was reported
to be one of the main bottlenecks in production.
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Two third of the companies reported that printing personnel help mailroom and vice versa in case of problems.
These companies reported this as a more important factor
than companies where help between departments was not
used.
Figure 22. The importance of factors related to humans in mailroom.
The numbers refer to the questions shown in appendix.
Figure 19. The amount of inserting.
In mailroom operations the most important factors
were working in teams, feedback to operators, problems
caused by time pressure and the clarity of the task descriptions.
The frequency of mailroom disturbances varied from
less than one hour to several months. The recovery time
was more consistent and it varied from 10 to 30 minutes.
Figure 20. Is addressing in use.
Figure 23. The importance of factors related to environment in mailroom.
The numbers refern to the questions shown in appendix.
Figure 21. The use of buffers between press and mailroom.
Almost every company reported that there are reasons
when the press has to wait because of the mailroom. In
most of the cases the reason was said to be disturbances in
the mailroom. Only one company said that the press never
had to wait because of the mailroom under any circumstances.
The amount of inserting varied from zero to 60% of
the total number of print jobs at a given printing plant. In
this case the main product was considered to be printed
with the existing newspaper press.
4 Productivity questionnaire
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Examples of inserts are newspaper sections, brochures
on uncoated or coated paper, special trimmed an stitched
heat-set supplements, maps, CDs, etc.
Inserts could be printed either on the newspaper press
or on a commercial press. The most common answer was
that no inserting was used. In many of the answers where
inserting was in use, it was reported that inserting was one
of the bottlenecks of the production. The speed of inserting
was lower than the speed of the press.
Eight answered to the question "Is the addressing in
use?“ Addressing here means the capability to address an
individual newspaper. Only 2 out of these 8 informed that
they had no individual addressing system in use in their
production.
Half of the companies informed that they have buffers
between press and mailroom.
The mailroom waste varied from 5% to 25% of the
total waste. The amount of mailroom waste varied from
0.5% to 1.5% of the total paper consumption. The most
common reasons that cause mailroom waste were reported
to be inserting, overrun and disturbances.
4.1.6 Actions and restrictions
The last two questions of the questionnaire requested
the most powerful actions which had improved productivity and the restrictions that prevent maximum productivity. Most of the improvements and restrictions were
technical and installed in the plants. If the accessory was
in use it was listed as an improvement. If a printing house
did not have it, it was listed as a restriction. This indicates
that the printing houses have great expectations of new
technology. It also indicates the difficulty of improving
productivity. The printers answered that the easiest way to
improve productivity is to upgrade the press (invest in new
equipment and instrumentation). It is more difficult to get
the same effect by optimising the production and the
workflow and to take other actions. The lists about actions
and restrictions doesnot give the subject in order of priority.
Technical accessories that are mentioned in actions or
in restrictions are listed below:
> pre-setting
> register control
> web tension control system
> automation level of the press
> blanket cleaning system
> guide roll cleaning system
> cut-off control
> automated fan-out control
> automatic reel feeding & transportation system
> buffer system
> CTP
> plate transport to presses
> use of grey bars
> spray dampening
> dynamic plate change
> inserting is not working
> waterless offset printing
Ifra Special Report 3.33
The reasons why technical accessories play such a big
part in the printer's actions are difficult to know. One
reason could be that printing houses do not have enough
personnel to investigate all possible actions and to implement them. Of course, it is possible that printing houses
feel that everything that can be done is already done.
The following actions were carried out to improve productivity:
> the number of operators was reduced
> the waste was monitored per title
> the crew was trained
> total quality management philosophy
> productivity targets
> minimisation of plate errors
> well organised prepress department
> standard web leads
> feedback to printers
> no ink- or web changes between editions
> complete planning of the product
> sufficient capacity in mailroom
> separation of the printing and the mailroom by an
offline production process, including a dynamic buffer
system
> simplification of the distribution structure and therefore
an easier production process in the mailroom
> quality-oriented newsprint selection towards the runability
> constant consultation between the production and the
editorial staff about the complexity of the product
> reducing start-up waste
> reducing changes during printing
To the question about the restrictions that prevent the
maximum productivity the answers were:
> delayed pre-production, deliveries of film etc.
> under-dimensioned mailroom
> uneven production or variation of production volumes
> missing instructions and checklists in production
> missing production tracking system – all-over
co-ordination
> shortage of higher qualified staff in production
> misregister during reel change
> ink/water balance
> inaccuracy of the plate pre-register system in the
pre-press area
> inaccuracy of the colour register system in the press
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Ifra Special Report 3.33
4.2 Press/mailroom manufacturers
Seven out of 14 press and mailroom manufacturers answered the questionnaire. The answers were very similar to
the answers of the printing houses. Technical features have
been the main issue in actions that improve productivity.
In restrictions the answers pointed to other problems. The
subjects are in no order of priority.
The following actions are press/mailroom manufacturers' answers to the question of what actions were the most
powerful in order to maximise the production.
> analysing of all workflows and procedures
> development of standard procedures
> feedback and benchmarking
> standard consumables to be used
> continuous training and motivation
> production planning assimilated to existing production
equipment
> automatic splicers integrated in the printing units
> increasing the speed to the highest possible production
speed
> well prepared splices
> preventive maintenance
> careful inspection of paper reels before loading
> efficient pre-press department
> fully automatic reel logistic
> pre-setting systems of different kinds
> automatic colour register systems
> shaftless technology
> improved web tension control in the press – closed loop
control
> improved folders with cylinder ratio 2:5:5
> automatic blanket washing
> automatic web up
> flying edition change with 5/5 tower, possible with independent A/C drives
> plating-up time dramatically reduced thanks to multidrive technology allowing for simultaneous plating on
both sides of a unit
> paper lead settings / memorisation
> CTP
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
The biggest restrictions according to press and mailroom manufacturers were:
> bad reels that prevent full production speed
> manual adjustments and settings and format changes
> mailroom problems
> printer attitudes – do not dare to run full speed
> lack of personnel
> press-stop for manual plate change
> incorrect water-ink balance
> influence of water in register (fan out)
> manual ink change – use of spot colours instead of
process colours
> reliability of electronic control systems
> not enough co-operation between offset process participants
> not enough research activities in keyless systems
Other factors pointed out were:
> Computer to Press could be a key step in terms of productivity for the whole system but still faces technical
& economical barriers. Our opinion is that it will become possible and viable when the technology of
platemaking will allow for plates to be isolated on a
"tubed plate“, and we could therefore imagine that
plates can be mounted on the press like a tubular gapless blanket.
> Computer to Plate when you run non-collect on 16
page press with two times the same plate around the
cylinder, it is more viable when used on 1 around
presses or on 2 around presses running collect.
> Short inkers appear to be an attractive option in theory
– reduced make-ready waste and more simple technology – nevertheless it has not yet proven its advantages
in an industrial environment, plus for the 2 around
presses with different pages around the colour compromise seems difficult to achieve.
> Technically a lot of automation features and production possibilities have been implemented and can be
justified. Webbing-up, press make-ready, printing and
adjustments and the maintaining of the press have
been improved remarkably. The human factor is an important parameter to increase productivity on state of
the art equipment.
5 Newspaper case studies
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
5 Newspaper case studies
5.1 Alprint Oy, Tampere, Finland
Alprint Oy is part of the Alma Media group, which is a
large newspaper publisher in Finland. The Alprint Oy
prints more than 350 newspapers and magazines and it
has a total of 11 printing houses throughout Finland.
Alprint Tampere is the largest of the Aamulehti group's
printing houses and is located in Tampere, 200 km north
of Helsinki. In the Alprint Tampere plant the total production is 2,500,000 newspaper copies per week. The main
products are the morning newspaper ‘Aamulehti' and the
evening newspaper ‘Iltalehti'. Alprint Tampere has two
MAN Colorman A newspaper presses with a total of eight
4-high printing units. The printing units use keyless anilox
inking systems. The mailroom consists of three lines. Two
lines for mailing and addressing and one for bundles
which are piled to pallets automatically.
5.1.1 Personnel
One of the most effective ways that has increased
productivity has been to increase the flexibility of the
personnel. In Alprint Tampere the amount of printing
personnel varies from three to six per printing press,
depending on the job. On a day shift the normal manning
level is three printers and in a night shift six printers. The
flexibility is gained with careful production planning and
the use of part-time workers. Extra personnel can be
reached in a day or two. With careful production planning
it is possible to find out when extra man-power is needed.
To gain further flexibility, the use of rented personnel has
been studied.
In Alprint training has proven to be an efficient way to
improve productivity. Training of the personnel is mainly
done inside the house but also training companies have
been used. The influence of training is greatest in press
and in set-up and edition changes, but the benefits are
great in other areas as in mailroom. At the moment the
qualification level of the personnel is the following: one
third of the personnel is considered to be highly qualified
and the qualification level of another third is considered to
be low. The rest of the personnel is something in between.
One effective action has been the decision to give some
of the maintenance work to a subcontractor. The subcontractor is responsible for taking care of some of the
maintenance work while the press is not running. These
maintenance tasks were done before by the printers but
now it belongs to the same company that is responsible for
the cleaning. Now the printers' time can be used for more
productive tasks.
Clear task descriptions and effective communication
are considered as very important in order to keep the tight
schedules. Every printing job has a time schedule where
the following target times are set: last file/film in the press,
beginning of the printing and end of the mailroom operations. The productivity is easily seen with help of graphics
where the true length of the selected printing jobs can be
seen against the target times. This information may also be
used when feedback is given to the printers. The reasons
for exceeding the target times are analysed together with
the printers.
5.1.2 Environment
One of the actions that has had a great effect on
productivity has been sorting of the paper reels. Alprint
Tampere has several printing jobs where the print quality
demands are very high. Because of these requirements,
Alprint has been forced to find ways to improve printing
quality. The biggest problem was the colour register variation after reel changes. When printing on four webs, the
register variation caused a large amount of waste after
every reel change. The solution to this problem was in the
sorting of the paper reels. Paper reels are sorted in the
paper store according to their position markings. The position means the position of the reel in a set of the big
machine reel (the so called "tambour“) in the paper mill. In
one printing job only reels from one position are used at
one reel stand. This has reduced the waste during the print
run to one sixth of the waste before sorting.
In some cases small improvements can effect productivity. One used at Alprint is paper change on the run.
When an edition shall be changed and the paper quality
needs to be changed, the new paper grade is put to the reel
stands on the run. When the edition is finished the new
paper is spliced and run through the press before the press
is stopped. This causes a few hundred extra waste copies in
the edition but the time saved for the next edition is
greater. Alprint Tampere does not have split reel arms so
the operation is possible only when the width of the reels
is the same. Also the diameter of the old reel must be small
enough to perform the operation.
One of the problems reported to decrease productivity
at Alprint is the reliability of the reel changes. When an
increasing amount of reel changes has failed, it has caused
the printers to decrease speed at every reel change to avoid
web breaks. Printers do not want to take the risk of web
breaks in production. These kinds of problems are difficult
to solve. The lower speed during the reel change is only a
temporary solution before the particular reel stand is
repaired. The reliability of the reel changes should be
increased, which is not an easy job. And even if the
reliability has improved the working habits of the printers
have to be changed. And that is not done over night. The
average total web break rate is approximately 1.7 % and
some 1.4 % of all breaks occur at the reel change. The Ifra
recommendation for web breaks is less than one per cent
according to Special Report 3.16.2.
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Ifra Special Report 3.33
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
5.1.3 Equipment
5.1.4 Materials
Alprint has made two investments that has effected the
productivity greatly. One was an investment in CTP and
the other was a new bundle palletiser in the mailroom. The
investment in CTP caused the amount of prepress personnel to drop by one person per shift. The total production of
the prepress department is still the same but the costs were
reduced. CTP plates do not have the same durability as
traditional plates but at Alprint most of the production
jobs are not too long for CTP and the old film production
line still exists and is in use.
When compared with a conventional offset press, the
anilox press has certain specific areas as anilox cylinders
and doctor blades. A lot of work is needed when the anilox
cylinders are renewed. The properties of the surface of the
cylinder must be fitted to the existing process. Fortunately
this happens quite seldom – normally one cylinder is in
use for approximately five years. In order to maintain a
constant print quality a uniform cooling of the anilox
cylinders is also important. The wearing of the doctor
blades is a feature of everyday life with the anilox press
and the change is made after appr. 800,000 impressions.
A register control system is mounted to the press to
maintain good register in circumferential direction.
Increasing the automation level in the mailroom has
been one major productivity improvement. An automatic
bundle palletiser has been one of the most important individual investments. The palletiser released two to three
employees to other jobs. The palletiser can be used for
outside jobs and for one of Alprint's main jobs.
One of the biggest restrictions that exist at Alprint is
the mailroom operating lines. The production speed in the
mailroom is not high enough. This causes the printing
speed to be chosen according to mailroom operations. The
capacity of the mailing systems is lower than the maximum printing speed of the press. The only solution is to
integrate more modules into the mailing system because
faster modules are not available. Especially the inserting
capacity is too small.
One of the basic things that effects productivity is the
right printing materials. To find the right ink, water and
newsprint is important. At Alprint, continuous efforts have
been made to find better printing materials. The influence
of materials has been proven to be strong. The company
has a close cooperation with the material suppliers and
new materials are tested in trial runs.
Because there are no adjustable ink zones in the anilox
press, the only possible change across the pages is to
adjust the water feed. This puts great demands on the
quality of the damping water. It has been noted that the
quality of the conditioned water may vary because the
quality of the tap water occasionally varies.
Since the paper reels are sorted according to the position in a set, the paper manufacturers are required to
include clear markings of the position on the wrapper of
the reels.
5.2 Ringier Print, Adligenswil, Switzerland
Ringier Print Adligenswil AG is a newspaper printing
plant situated near the town of Lucerne, Switzerland. The
parent company is Ringier AG, which has several printing
plants in different European countries. The Ringier AG
employees 4477 people (year 1999) while 2800 of them
work in Switzerland. The Adligenswil plant has 471 employees. The presses in Adligenswil print over 9,200,000
newspaper copies per week corresponding to 95 different
printing jobs per week. The main products are the newspaper 'Blick', Sunday newspaper 'SonntagsBlick' and the
morning newspaper 'Neue Luzerner Zeitung'. The printing
capacity consists of a total of seven newspaper presses.
Two Wifag OF 790 presses are equipped with satellite
printing units and two Wifag OF 370 presses with 4-high
printing units. An older MAN Uniman press with Y-type
units is also in use. The mailroom consists of seven lines
with a high inserting capacity.
5 Newspaper case studies
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
5.2.1 Personnel
5.2.2 Environment
Two to three printers run each press with two helpers
while the number of mailroom operators varies depending
on the printing job and the inserts. The company has
continuous training and the qualification level of the
employees is assumed to be very high. The work is organized in teams and every team has a team leader. After a
night shift the printing can be continued with an early day
shift and a late day shift. No difference exists between the
day and the night shifts. The feedback from the work is
very important and it is given continuously. Both the
pressroom and the mailroom are equipped with big
bulletin boards. Information about production plans and
schedules for the different presses is attached to the board.
Key figures about production are plotted on colourful
charts. With the help of these charts the employees can
easily compare the trends in productivity between different
time periods. Comparison can also be made against the
productivity targets.
The clarity of the task description is of utmost importance. Simplicity is an asset: the humans know how to
perform their everyday jobs. Therefore, only the most
important jobs are included in the checklist (of a certain
job). The checklists are located in visible places in the
production environment. If more instructions are needed,
they can be found in a folder on the wall of the control
room.
Nowadays the personnel in the pressroom and in the
mailroom are separated which means that in case of problems they cannot help each other. The capacity of the
buffer between the press and mailroom is 140,000 copies
per line. This buffer is used every now and then but the
target is to avoid problems and run the production online
– straight from the press to the mailroom. If the buffer is
in use, a certain time is needed to empty the buffer system.
This may delay the scheduled mailroom operations, and
hence the start of the next job.
The company has long traditions of implementing
quality principles in production. Today the total quality
management philosophy (TQM) covers all the production
departments. There are plans to move from the bulletin
boards to an intranet-based production planning and management system. Meetings are also arranged on a regular
basis. The main productivity key figures of each production run are the average speed of the press, the speed of
the mailroom and the waste figures in different categories.
To reach a total quality management the whole personnel must be committed to the principles of the system.
The system requires continuous improvement. The ISO
9000 is not enough as such, because it only defines that
work is carried out according to documented principles.
An advanced system is to use the EFQM Excellence Model
because it covers both “enablers” (what an organisation
does) and “results” (what it achieves). More information
about the principles of this model is available in
www.efqm.org.
Generally the factors related to environment were not
considered as important as the factors related to humans
in the chase of maximum productivity. Nevertheless, the
clarity of the plate identification system was ranked as
very important. All page information comes from Zurich.
The main workflow goes through four CTP lines, but the
old system with films is also still in use. In the CTP system
the name of the job, the job number, the process colour
together with the plate cylinder identification in the press
and the plate position on the cylinder are written to the
plate, no bar code is used.
Earlier a plate conveyor was in use between the plate
room and the pressroom, but the present system is to lift
the plates to a pallet on small wheels. In a normal
situation the printer pushes the plate pallet to the pressroom and the plates are mounted to the press. Usually one
printer waits in the plate room until the last couple of
plates are ready and then carries the last plates straight to
the printing unit.
One important local feature is a back-up power system
to guarantee a continuous plate production. There are often
thunder and lightning storms in the mountain areas of
Switzerland. The UPS (uninterruptable power supply) system also allows a controlled stop (without a web break) of
the printing press in case the power supply is cut during a
thunderstorm.
In the basement area all the reel stands are equipped
with separate splice preparing stands and automatic conveyor systems. With the help of the system one reel man is
able to prepare the splice patterns for four reels per reelstand. During the press run the reels are changed automatically. After the reel has been changed the reelstand drops
the empty core to a carriage, which then moves back to its
waiting position. Thereafter a new reel – with a readymade splice on top of it – moves into the arm of the reelstand. The whole procedure is carried out automatically.
This enables a high level of flexibility and the manning
can be optimised.
Web breaks occur randomly and the most common
reason is “unknown”. The total amount of web breaks is
1.5 % but the target is below 1 % which corresponds to the
Ifra demands.
For constant recording of print quality, a mini-target
system is in use. The mini-target is located on the newspaper page and copies are gathered after each 5000 or
10,000 impressions. Next day the print is analysed with the
help of a CCD camera-based system. The output is print
densities and register errors.
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Ifra Special Report 3.33
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
5.2.3 Equipment
5.2.4 Materials
In the platemaking department the most important
change was the implementation of the CTP lines. After this
the number of prepress personnel decreased significantly.
The film system is still needed for some jobs. FM screening
is not used in the CTP production, because the plate durability is not good enough with very small dots. Also two
different plate formats are in use which sometimes makes
it hard to utilise the capacity of the different plate producing lines.
Earlier there was a conveyor system between the reel
storage and the reel preparing area. The system needed a
lot of maintenance and, in the worst case, the system
could be down exactly when more paper was needed. In
order to minimise the amount of special maintenance work
(especially in the night shift) the system was closed down.
Now the reels are moved with standard trucks to the reel
preparing area.
Both satellites and 4-high printing units are in use at
Ringier. Both types are assumed to be suitable for the
present production. The machines are equipped with infeed
units for each web and brush-type damping systems. The
folders are highly automated. Afterwards, blanket washer
systems were installed in both machine types. In the
4-high press one big brush cleans two blankets at a time
and in the satellite press the system is a little bit more
complex.
No automatic colour and cut-off register control system exists. The drive system of the 4-high press is shaftless, which enables good circumferential register. In the
lateral direction, the placement of the plates compensates
for the average fan-out of the paper.
Three operating consoles per press secure fast start-ups
and allow continuous monitoring of the print quality during the run.
About 20 % of the production goes through inserting.
The inserts have been printed in advance either on the
newspaper press or by a commercial press (in another
location). The mailroom is quite advanced and, therefore,
one person controls the production flow between different
mailroom modules. Thanks to the buffer system the pressroom never stops because of the mailroom.
The dimension tolerances of the plates are important to
measure and document, since problems otherwise could
occur in the plate register. A batch number is needed on
the back of the plate to clarify problems. Ringier has
entered into a close cooperation with the plate manufacturer and new tolerances have been set for both printing
press types.
In the reel storage there is a reserve of reels for 3-5
days of production. One paper mill is located very close to
the printing plant, so new reels are available at short
notice. In practice the differences between the newsprint
grades are shown in the lateral register behaviour. If a new
newsprint grade is coming into production, it must first be
carefully tested with a small number of reels. After acceptance, a greater amount could be ordered and printed.
In normal production standard newsprint, ink and
fountain solution are used and do not radically alter the
productivity. The type of blanket and the plate durability
are more important factors.
6 Conclusions
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
6 Conclusions
Optimising productivity in newspaper production is
not an easy task. Newspaper production is not a continuous
process but involves steps that need many personnel. For
some phases, like constant run, less manpower is required.
However, the timetable accuracy of the entire process and
the reliability of the equipment are not high enough for a
full optimisation of the resources. Also the last-minute
changes can cause optimisation to fail.
Despite the fact that the automation level has increased, the human influence is still great. Equipment is
becoming more complex and both the machines and the
operating systems require more knowledge from the operator. The role of training is becoming more important in the
future. On the other side more user-friendly machines are
needed, not just skilled people.
Training was seen as the most critical factor based on
the questionnaire. The lack of training was mentioned as
one of the major reasons which restricted productivity.
Training also plays an important role in increasing the
flexibility of the use of the labour. Better training makes it
possible for one person to manage several different tasks.
Almost every company reported that the feedback to
operators was organised, but the amount of feedback was
reported to be insufficient. This shows an effort to achieve
a more open environment for working. The existing
reporting is not directed towards the workers but towards
the management.
The investment in a new press is so high that it should
be in use both day and night. A night shift is very different from commercial production in a day shift. Timetables
are tight and there are no possibilities for rescheduling. For
this reason, productivity measurement in day and night
shifts should be different. In night time the best measure
for productivity is timetable accuracy, whereas in day shift
it is the average production speed.
Many things affect productivity. One small error in the
prepress area may bring the whole production back to
scratch. In practise it is impossible to take everything into
account when making timetables. In other words, spare
time must be integrated into the timetables. If an investment to the prepress equipment (for example CTP) changes
the workflow, this could gain an indirect positive effect on
the productivity of the press section.
According to the questionnaire study the production is
often late especially in the night shifts. Therefore, it is
important in edition changes that the tasks are done
efficiently. Each step should be clearly described in order
to continue the production as soon as possible. The most
important features are a clear task description and an easy
recognition of plates.
The influence of web breaks on productivity is important. The time lost for every web break is 15 to 30 minutes
and this loss in time is impossible to catch up later on.
Therefore, actions that are made to prevent web breaks
have a direct impact on productivity.
Inserting has a significant influence on productivity
and it was considered to be one of the most critical bottlenecks in the mailroom. Insert sizes and materials have a
direct impact on inserting speed. It seems that there are
still lots of improvements to be made by the equipment
manufacturers before inserting tasks can be carried out
without risking total productivity. In general, mailroom
capacity should be significantly higher than press capacity.
Replacing the spot colours with process colours and
the use of standard web lead of 4-high towers are some
actions that can reduce the time loss of an edition change.
The effect depends on the production and the press but
when possible it can be significant.
Presetting was listed as one of the most important
technical features. The start-up waste can be reduced with
hundreds of copies and the time saved in each edition
change is several minutes. The influence of presetting
increases with the amount of full colour pages. The data
for presetting comes more and more from the RIP, but it is
still a critical factor from the view of the control system.
The average number of operating consoles was three.
This means that there is not an individual operating
console for every printer. With extra consoles the efficiency
of start-ups could be improved. When technology improves and gets less expensive to purchase the amount of
consoles can be increased.
According to the questionnaire the most common
actions to improve productivity in newspaper production
are to install technical accessories, better organisation and
standardisation of jobs, training of the personnel and more
accurate monitoring.
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22
7 Recommendations
Ifra Special Report 3.33
7 Recommendations
During the project it was found out that maximisation
of productivity depends on very many subjects. In a printing plant the goal is not always to reach maximum speed
or production of a given equipment. More important is to
handle all the factors affecting the production workflow.
The workflow at different stages of production must be
optimised by controlling all the factors needed. As a brief
conclusion of the project a list of recommendations is as
follows:
Recommendations – do's
> Task descriptions must be clear and informative for every
job position.
> The organisation should be changed so that the commitment of the people to their work is increased.
> Immediate feedback to personnel about production data;
each department must be included in the TQM-system.
> Constant and reliable follow-up of waste and web breaks
is a must -> fast actions are needed when the key figures
exceed the target levels.
> The overrun must be monitored and limited.
> Print jobs should be standardised (web leads, inking
units, ...) if possible.
> When printing materials are changed, only one new material should be tested at a time.
> The capacity of the mailroom should be ensured – it
must handle the capacity of the press in different production situations.
Recommendations – don'ts
> Decreasing the amount of waste must not be done by
decreasing the quality of printing.
> The role of training should not be underestimated in
order to keep consistent quality.
> The production speed should be carefully chosen: do not
run lower speed than planned speed (without a clear
reason).
> The number of workers should be optimised, not minimised. Too few workers and a lot of disturbances could
be a risky combination.
> The lack of good maintenance will lead to unreliability
of the equipment, which have a strong effect on productivity.
> Investments in press accessories is not just buying the
equipment – training of the staff and maintaining the
device must not be forgotten.
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Appendix: The numbers of the questions refer to the bars in the figures
© 2001 Ifra, Darmstadt
Ifra Special Report 3.33
Appendix: The numbers of the questions
refer to the bars in the figures
Factors related to humans
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
10
11
12
13
14
15
What is the number of printers/mailroom operators?
What is the qualification level of the crew (low, ..., high)?
Is on-site training used?
Is there difference between day and night shifts?
Is work organized in teams?
Is feedback constantly given to the operators?
Does time pressure cause any troubles?
Is task description of the humans clear?
What is the number of humans changing the plates?
What is the number of humans changing ink?
What is the number of humans changing the web lead?
What is the number of humans on folder?
What is the reelchange waste?
Is overrun monitored?
Does shift change during the press run have an effect on
productivity?
16 Do mailroom operations have an effect on the printing
speed?
17 When problems occur does printing personel help in mailroom and vice versa?
Factors related to environment
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
What is the typical number of webs
What is the typical number of colours?
What is the number of formers?
What is the share between straight and collect runs?
What is the number of turner bars?
What is the average web lead length?
What is the typical number of involved inkers?
Is humidity controlled in the press room?
Are there different quality categories in use?
Do you have last minute changes?
Are greybars used in the print?
Do you use panorama plate? How much?
Is the plate identification system clear to all?
What is the typical number of plates to change?
How often web lead is changed?
How often ink is changed?
How often folder is changed?
How often paper type is changed?
What is the most common reason for web breaks and it's %
share?
What is average time per web break?
What is average cost per break?
How many % of the run are late copies
What are average late copy costs per hour?
Who makes the decision when edition is printed?
What is the average disturbance frequency in mailroom
operations?
What is the average disturbance recovery time in mailroom
operations?
Are there any reason when the press have to wait because
of mailroom?
Factors related to equipment
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
Are 4-high units suitable for your production?
Are satellite units suitable for your production?
What is the type of inking system?
Is presetting in use?
What is the type of dampening unit?
Is post or predampening in use?
Is damping solution chilled?
What is the number of operating consoles?
How far away is plate room located from the press?
Is there a guide roller cleaning system in the press?
Is there an automatic register control system in the press?
Is there an automatic cut-off control system in the press?
Are there any fan-out compensators in use?
Is there a blanket washer system in the press?
Is the press single or double around?
Are there infeed device in each web?
Is there a web up system in the press?
What is the type of folder?
Are there split reel arms in the reel stand?
What is the automation level of the folder (low, ..., high)?
Is dynamic plate change in use?
How much of the production goes through inserting?
Is addressing used?
Are there any buffers between press and mailroom?
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
Does the quality of tap water vary?
Does the quality of conditioned water vary?
Specify your main newsprint grades (gsm, whiteness, etc).
Specify type of ink.
Specify type of plate (negative, positive, CTP).
Specify type of blanket.
How often blankets are changed?
What is the average plate durability?
Factors related to materials
23