In July 2012 its printing division, Yorkshire Web, became the first and so far only UK company to convert a coldset web offset newspaper colour press unit to run UV-cured inks. The aim was to be able to print bright colour on glossy stocks without the huge expense and extra drier space needed for a heatset web offset unit.
The resulting improvement in print quality and paper choice has enabled it to expand the types of work it runs on the news press, ranging from covers for magazines to complete brochures and catalogues. It was a particular factor in winning a new contract to print The Countryman’s Weekly, a 27,000-run national weekly that had previously been printed elsewhere by heatset process. This now has 75gsm gloss covers printed by UV with the inner pages printed by coldset in the same run.
After trying several alternative inks in the first year, Yorkshire Web adopted Hubergroup’s NewV News UN-4000 UV-cured inks. This was Hubergroup’s first UV newspaper ink and so far Yorkshire Web is the only UK customer. If the Hubergroup name isn’t familiar, that’s because it’s only been adopted in recent months. Before that it used the Stehlin Hostag name for its inks, for both newspaper and commercial printing. Yorkshire Web also uses Hubergroup’s Inkredible Good News coldset inks.
“In the UK only Yorkshire Web has taken on this technology, but there are others across Europe,” says Richard Gill, Hubergroup UK’s technical manager (offset). “They were looking to get the effect of heatset for magazines. It lets them print covers on a gloss paper to make it stand out, with the inners still printed coldset on newsprint.”
The privately owed Barnsley Chronicle Group has local newspaper publishing, magazine, book and printing divisions, all grouped close to each other in the South Yorkshire town.
The Yorkshire Web print division is a comparative newcomer having been set up about 1970. “It is in the centre of town, as all the old local newspapers used to be before Johnston Press bought everybody up,” says production manager Adrian Sanger. “There’s not a lot of space so we have to work with what we’ve got.”
The six-tower press is a mix of two Goss Community four-high towers that are 20 and 22 years old, and four Tensor towers between eight and 10 years old. The combination can produce up to 48 tabloid pages, although Yorkshire web also offers broadsheet, quarterfold and smaller formats. The cut-off is 578mm and the company runs web widths between 720mm and 864mm.
One Goss unit, the last inline before the folder, was chosen for the UV conversion. This was handled by Prime UV-IR, a US specialist based in Illinois. “We’ve retrofitted more than 200 four-highs all over the world,” says Erich Midlik, Prime’s executive vice-president who handles global sales. “We started doing this in 2003 with the first two in Europe and the US. We have been promoting UV curing as an alternative to heatset, to enable printing onto coated stocks.
“A lot of the time a customer that converts a single four-high tower, such as Barnsley, may want to start doing semi-commercial work. They may be getting certain inserts or weeklies that they would have outsourced. They can now bring a lot of that printing in-house, so it’s a way to offer both a better quality image, and a variety of new capabilities to their customer base. This will hopefully increase the customer base as a result.”
Converting the tower
“Our four-high tower is configured for magenta, cyan, yellow, black,” says Sanger. “The UV units are at the top. There are two UV lamps, either side of the web. After it’s cured it comes down the path rollers and straight into the folder.”
Prime’s conversion of the Goss tower went smoothly, says Sanger. “Prime did keep it really simple, which is always a help when you’re trying to install something. It works really well and that’s why we liked them. They were very relaxed when they came in. Their technical guy came in before the installation and we were really nervous, but he said ‘yeah, it’s going to work,’ and yes, it did.”
Other than the lamps and ink, there has been minimal adaptation necessary, Sanger says. “Blankets and rollers are all combi, allowing the press to be changed back to coldset inks within two hours if required. The fount solution is standard newspaper fount and works well with both coldset and UV.”
Kodak CTP platesetters and thermal plates are used, with no change needed for the NewV News UV inks. Sanger says that he’s been testing processless plates with some success and is about to run more trials. “I expect to be able to decommission our processors by the end of this year, which will save space and money,” he says.
“As with any new installation we did have teething problems, we retrofitted agitators to help the ink flow, tested different blankets, inks, founts and also papers until we were happy,” Sanger says. “We have very good traditional printers who have worked hard to help achieve the quality we required. I think we ironed out all the ‘grumbles’ when testing different inks; the product works well for us.
“Makeready is similar to the coldset process, the window for the ink-water balance is a lot narrower than coldset but once this has settled down it runs similarly.”
Outdated concerns
In the early years of UV, the inks and lamps had to be treated with caution due to operator health issues. These concerns are now outdated, says Midik. Ozone emissions from the light pressure mercury lamps is minimal and the air cooling system extracts what there is and vents it outside, where it rapidly breaks down to normal O2.
The other old worry was of contact with ink leading to sensitising of skin and breathing passages to give allergic reactions. This has largely been overcome with modern inks, Midik says, a point confirmed by Gill at Hubergroup. Sanger says that ink mist is not a problem with the press, and that operators only need to take the normal precautions of using gloves and eye protection when refilling the ducts.
“UV inks are classed as hazardous whereas conventional inks aren’t,” Gill admits, adding. “It’s more instructive to compare the benefits of this new technology with heatset inks. Heatset uses inks based on mineral oils and the drying process releases VOCs. With UV there are no VOCs. There are CO2 emissions from heatset driers, which again you don’t get with UV curing. Generally the energy consumption of UV is less than heatset – you’ve got lamps and a cooling system, but heatset needs both ovens and chillers.”
The big advantage of the switch to UV inks is the higher quality covers that can be run, Sanger says: “We mainly print on gloss paper, anything from 70gsm to 100gsm. The majority of work we print is coldset inners with a glossy cover. Running these inline saves us time and the customer money when compared to traditionally having to send the cover out to be printed.
“The best thing is the quality, the worst is the price of UV inks. That said it is an insignificant price compared to the whole process of printing.” He estimates that the additional UV ink cost of The Countryman’s Weekly covers is just £40 per week.
The project has paid off, he feels. “The intention was to achieve a good quality gloss cover without big capital investment, and we have. It means we are able to offer a more competitive product versus heatset but still giving the newsagent shelf impact that heatset provides. The Hubergroup inks, both UV and coldset, are an integral part of our business and give us the quality our customers expect.
“The Countryman’s Weekly title we got with a 27,000 weekly run more than covers the investment – I think 10,000 would have covered it. UV has boosted turnover and also allowed us to bring some of our own work back in-house. It certainly hasn’t made life easier – but in business who wants an easy life?”
SPECIFICATIONS
Colours CMYK (clear UV varnish also available)
Paper suitability Coated and uncoated, newsprint, LWC, SC, MFC, VAC
Supporting chemistry NewV sup reducer paste for tack reduction and roller conditioning, NewV sup activator paste, NewV wash-up solution
Container sizes 25kg tub or 200kg drum
Price £12 to £16 per colour/kg depending on volume
Contact Hubergroup UK 0115 9860477 www.hubergroup.com
Company profile
Established in 1858, Barnsley Chronicle Group today handles newspaper, magazine and book publishing, employing a total of about 200 people. Yorkshire Web is its print division, employing 25 people. It is a web offset newspaper printer, handling both in-house and contract work. It offers broadsheet, tabloid and quarterfold coldset printing plus of course the option to add covers, sections or whole small publications on gloss or other higher quality coated paper.
External clients include county councils, health and police authorities, political parties and universities.
The company stresses its environmental credentials, which played a part in its decision to go for the UV process. It uses 100% recycled newsprint and says it reduces waste wherever it can in its processes. The UV printed sheets form less than 1% of the total and UV printed waste can be recycled too, according to production manager Adrian Sanger.
