Much is heard in the newspaper world about distribute-and-print models: the content of a newspaper being made available online for individual customers to download and print to their own laser printer. But as newspaper publishers look to defend their printed products against the erosions of electronic delivery channels, other powerful business models are increasingly coming to the fore.
One of the most interesting of these is the concept of micro-zoning – printing an ultra-short run of newspapers with advertising content relevant to readers in a relatively small geographic area. The speed, capacity and economic breakeven points of the average coldset web offset newspaper press have, until recently, ruled out the idea of micro-zoning. But this is the age of digital print: step forward inkjet as the technology ideally suited to producing newspaper editions in ‘zones’ as small as just one house.
Kodak is the first company to come up with a digital press specifically for newspaper printing. The first Digital Newspaper Line will be installed at the end of quarter three this year, and by the end of 2007 Kodak hopes to have six working sites across Europe.
Service centres
According to Kodak EAMER marketing director for inkjet, Robert Koeckeis, this first swathe of machines is likely to go into local “service centres”, printing editions of national or regional newspapers for expatriates living abroad. Koeckeis explains the concept: “If you’re a German living in, say, Portugal, you can only get the leading financial German newspaper, Der Handelsblatt, at best a day later than it’s published, rather than on the day of publication. But with this technology, you could get it on the same day. A Portuguese service centre would pick up orders for small runs of several different newspapers from different countries, and it would print and ship those to sales outlets in its region. So it might print 100 of one newspaper, 50 of another, 80 of another, and so on.”
Koeckeis says that micro-zoning is becoming increasingly powerful as newspaper publishers exploit the potential for local advertising: “Clearly the most useful thing for readers in Portugal is advertisements relevant to Portugal. Publishers can have teams of advertising sales people either in the target country or in the country of origin, picking up advertising revenue from local advertisers targeted at local readers. It becomes another revenue stream for the publisher.”
While Kodak’s initial installations will go into this type of local service centre, the company is also looking to highlight different business models with the Digital Newspaper Line, chiefly by targeting newspaper publishers’ existing print operations. “Digitally printed newspapers provide the ability for publishers to zero in on more sharply defined reader demographics to serve smaller communities and suburbs with more focused content and advertising,” said Kodak executive vice president Kazem Samandari at Ifra last year. “It lowers the cost threshold for smaller community advertisers, while better targeting their message and generating higher response rates. This combination can increase advertising revenue and circulation.”
Proven technology
Kodak’s Digital Newspaper Line is essentially one of two models of Versamark – Kodak’s highly successful high-speed variable data printing engine – coupled with some inline web finishing kit from Swiss specialist Hunkeler. The Versamark engines in question are the VX5000 and the VT3000. Both machines are well-proven: launched in 2003, there are 40 installations of the VX5000 in the UK alone. Configured with 16 inkjet printheads, both engines are capable of printing duplex in black, spot colour or CMYK process colour. The difference is in the speed, which for the VX5000 is 152m per minute (mpm), and for the VT3000 is 107mpm. Koeckeis translates: “In broadsheet format, the VX5000’s speed works out at about 1,000 newspapers every hour for a 40pp pagination.”
Both engines have been adapted to print onto ordinary newsprint. In beta trials, and at the Ifra live demos, the Digital Newspaper Line was shown printing onto 48.8gsm newsprint, albeit in smaller-width reels. “It means that publishers can leverage savings on their ordinary paper buying deals,” Koeckeis remarks. “They don’t have to spend a lot more money just to buy the paper.”
At the front end of the Digital Newspaper Line sits a choice of one of Kodak’s Versamark CS system controllers – essentially a set of PDF-based RIPs. The CS controllers automatically handle impositions for the engine, which might include shrinking or enlarging a spread slightly so that it fits the engine’s maximum 455mm cut-off. While the front end is capable of handling 100% variable data on a page-by-page basis, Koeckeis says that at present there is no on-the-fly usage of this facility.
“Everything is fixed in PDF format for each page, so there’s no variable data.” But for the second phase of the Digital Newspaper Line, Kodak is currently working on a Czech project to add addresses onto a standard PDF-supplied newspaper, together with postcode-dependent adding or deleting of pages. “It will be the first time you’ll get a newspaper with regional versions in one production run,” Koeckeis says. “This is a revolutionary idea – it changes the whole newspaper publishing proposition.”
Up-to-speed finishing
The Hunkeler kit comprises the latest generation of machines and is capable of matching the Versamark engines’ output of more than 1,000 40pp newspapers per hour. Cross- and length-cutter sheets use information passed via barcode or in UP3i format (the protocol used to communicate between inline processing equipment from different manufacturers in a digital print line), so knives can be repositioned dynamically between products. After the cutter, there’s a twin collator-folder line-up. The first collator-folder collates the sheets into sections, while the second collates the sections into newspapers. A standard shingle conveyor delivery takes the finished newspapers out to pack.
Interestingly, it is possible to uncouple the newspaper finishing equipment, hook up a sheeter and stacker instead, and load up different printing stock (up to 160gsm coated or uncoated). This allows newspaper publishers to produce commercial products such as leaflets, flyers and inserts in the same short runs as the newspapers themselves. This increases the Digital Newspaper Line’s value to the publisher and adds to the value of the short-run newspaper itself.
Eager to encourage newspaper publishers to consider this new concept in printing, Kodak has done some exhaustive research into breakeven points and profitability. “The idea that there’s a cut-off point in terms of run length, as with conventional offset printing of newspapers, is a thing of the past,” says Koeckeis. “The Digital Newspaper Line will print runs of a single copy – the front-end and RIP are capable of handling 100% variable data with no penalty in terms of speed. So it’s not a question of having, say, 40 different titles to print – it’s the cumulative total that matters, and the calculations are more concerned with the numbers of newspapers you must print each day to earn money.”
At present, Kodak’s calculations indicate that printing around 6,000 40pp copies per day will cover costs – around 67p (€1) per newspaper. Any more, and the operation is into profit.
SPECIFICATIONS
Max speed
• Versamark VT3000: 107mpm
• Versamark VX5000: 152mpm (equivalent to 1,000 40pp broadsheet newspapers per hour)
Resolution max 300x600dpi (both engines)
Stock weight range 45–160gsm
Price from £2.35m
Contact Kodak Graphic Communications Group 00 32 2352 2511 www.graphics.kodak.com
THE ALTERNATIVE
OCÉ VARIOSTREAM 7000 NEWSPAPER SYSTEM
The VarioStream is a monochrome press that replaced the DemandStream 8090 NP (newspaper) last year and is described by Océ as a “cost effective” digital newspaper production system. Slightly slower than Kodak’s offering, the 7000 can print just over 1,000 24pp black and white newspapers per hour in 19x12.5” page format. The manufacturer says the machine is perfect for run lengths of 100 to 5,000 copies and newspapers can be printed on the same white or salmon newsprint as a paper’s main offset run with paper weights ranging from 48.8gsm upwards. Finishing starts with a Hunkeler sheeter/collator before a folder and inserter complete the finished paper. As well as offering a fully automated version, Océ offers a range of other finishing solutions, which are more “economical” but require some manual intervention. The VarioStream can also be used as part of Océ’s Digital Newspaper Network (DNN), which was launched commercially in 2001 and has partners in the US, Australia and South Africa, as well as west London-based printer Stroma. The concept is blindingly simple. Publishers who participate in DNN send PDFs of their titles to printers who have signed up to the network through Océ’s International Data Distributor – the newspapers can then be printed and despatched locally.
Max speed 1,000 24pp b&w newspapers per hour
Resolution 600dpi
Stock weight range 48.8-52gsm
Price fully automated system under £1m
Contact Océ UK 0870 600 5544 www.oce.com
