Autologic has developed a PDF-based file transfer system for Express Newspapers, which sends files to its remote print sites, to reduce bottlenecks.


Autologic upgraded the newspapers APS RIP hardware with Dell PowerEdge servers, and installed its Output Manager to provide load balancing and a feedback loop to the Express production control.


Autologic European managing director Ray Box said: "They were getting a bottleneck of files at their remote sites. They were using bitmapped files, but it is now a PDF-based workflow."


The new system, which was initially tested on The Daily Star, has made the Express tailor-made system for spooling and managing file queues redundant.


The firm predicts savings of 150,000 because of the 50% reduction in transmission bandwidth.


At Newstec, Autologic announced that Mortons Print of Horncastle had ordered a second APS-3850 Wide/180 CTP system, six months after its first line went into production.


Mortons Print production director Jim Lee said: "We aimed to be producing 65% to 70% of our throughput digitally within six months. This figure is in fact 95%. We needed to buy another system six months earlier than forecast."


Story by John Davies