Roanoke Still Experiencing Color Register Problems

By: Jim Rosenberg Misregistered color isn't limited to older offset at smaller papers. After much fanfare, The Roanoke (Va.) Times' new Heidelberg Mainstream 80 was brought into live production six weeks ago, then reported that waste was running high and pressruns were finishing late owing to color-register problems. The paper hoped to have register under control within a week, but two weeks later a Times story acknowledged continuing difficulties.

Heidelberg Newspaper Project Management Director David J. Sarazen told E&P that drives manufacturer Siemens' "top players from Germany" were "camped out there," and that "they believe they know" the cause and expect to have it fixed. But, he added, the Times' full production schedule allows technicians to work on the press only between 3 and 7 a.m. each day. Calling it a "register issue with the phasing of the cylinder," he said, "It's just a parameter in the drive."

Advertisers were said to be understanding, but customer-service lines were busy with complaints about late deliveries -- though not every late delivery has been press-related.

Press foreman Barry Coon told his paper that pressmen were progressing quickly, given the steep learning curve. Practice time on the new press was limited by the need to move off an old press and by staffing limitations, said Publisher Wendy Zomparelli. At the same time, she said, the Times' experience with the Mainstream has proved the press capable of proper register and operation at 80,000 copies per hour. Often, however, that was accomplished in training while running advance sections, not a full edition under deadline pressure.

But it does happen in live production too. In late November, Sarazen said, "We had an outstanding run down there last night. Their operators are becoming more comfortable."

Coon and Zomparelli noted pressroom staffers' weariness last month after much overtime work. "It's tough on people all over the company, and clearly it can't go on indefinitely," the publisher said. The frustration was shared by carriers left waiting for their copies to arrive. Seven of the 400 independent contractors quit their jobs owing to late deliveries, and "about 10 have given notice," Circulation Director Dan Wheeler said in the Times' account.