by: E&P Staff

The Sequoyah County Times, a member of the PAGE co-op located in Sallisaw, Okla., purchased an ECRM Mako News violet platesetter to image Replica HSV plates from Southern Lithoplate for the family owned company’s new web-offset Goss Community SSC press. After a long absence from printing newspapers in-house — the Times sold its four-unit Goss Community press in 2004 — the company plans to inject higher quality into the pages of the twice-weekly newspaper, while growing its printing business. “We are excited about the opportunity to improve our quality and increase our speed in getting papers on the street,” said Jeff Mayo, associate publisher and general manager. Seeking to streamline production, the Times decided that the violet system offered a better solution than thermal technology.

“We were accustomed to light-sensitive plates,” Mayo said. “Southern Lithoplate has a strong reputation down here. The Mako News is highly regarded by other newspaper publishers. It doesn’t quit. We are small enough that we can’t afford to have the platesetter go down. The quality of the imaging and of the plates themselves has been outstanding.” The Community SSC press has three mono units, an SSC folder, and a DGM 430 four-high. In addition to printing the Sequoyah County Times and an internally owned sister publication, the company produces four weeklies for print clients. “For a while, we were printing at three locations, inserting in four, and mailing to six post offices,” Mayo said. “There was a lot of logistical complexity. Now we should be able to become the fastest newspaper printer around that can also generate high-quality color reproduction.”

Separately, the Shelby (Ohio) Daily Globe, another PAGE co-op member, also has migrated from conventional prepress production to violet technology with an Esprit violet platesetter from alfaQuest Technologies and Replica HSV plates.

New Plates Yield Speed, Profits
The Starkville (Miss.) Daily News (circ.: 10,000), has installed the Esprit violet platesetter from alfaQuest and Replica HSV plates from Southern Lithoplate. The conversion to a totally digital plate-making workflow is part of an organization-wide upgrade by parent company Horizon Publications. “Production speed was the main reason for the change,” said publisher Don Norman. “The old process of working with negatives to burn plates took way too long.”

A longtime user of Southern Lithoplate analog plates, the newspaper operates an eight-unit Goss Community press. “The registration of the Replica violet plates on press is excellent,” Norman said. “The image quality has also improved as a result of the direct-to-plate technology.” The increased productivity associated with CTP has helped the paper expand its outside printing business. “Previously, we printed four newspapers for customers in the area, and we wanted to attract additional printing business,” Norman said. “Our speed and efficiency have increased to the point where we already have added eight more newspapers.”

The Wapakoneta Daily News, a PAGE co-op member in Wapakoneta, Ohio, also opted for alfaQuest Esprit and Replica HSV plates. Published Monday through Saturday, its circulation is 13,250. Owner Daily News Printing Co. prints the weekly Shelby County Review and Auglaize County Merchandiser and caters to commercial customers as well, producing everything from business cards to books.