May 9, 2001 The Springfield Union-News, Springfield, Massachusetts, publisher of the 95,000-circulation Union-News and the 150,000-circulation Sunday Republican has placed an order for a 40-couple REGIOMAN press line as part of a multi-million dollar expansion of its printing and distribution operations. The order was the third in North America for a REGIOMAN press system which features four-page-across, one-around cylinder geometry and shaftless motor-per-bridge drive. "This major investment in the finest printing technology available will enable us to give our advertisers and readers what they have been clamoring for," said Publisher Larry A. McDermott. "We've been publishing in Springfield for 176 years and we are about to be reborn." The REGIOMAN press will significantly improve the newspapers' print quality and expand its color and zoning capabilities. The newspaper currently prints six zoned regional editions daily and five on Sunday as well as advanced runs for advertising inserts several days a week. "The REGIOMAN is an excellent fit for the Union-News which requires extensive flexibility for its zoned editions and targeted advertising programs," said Vince Lapinski, vice president, MAN Roland Newspaper Group. "We are very pleased to add the Springfield Union-News to our expanding list of North American REGIOMAN customers which also includes the Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, Illinois; and the Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville, Tennessee." The REGIOMAN equipment is scheduled to begin arriving in the second quarter of 2002 and is planned to go on edition later that year. The new presses will be installed in an expanded pressroom at the company's current downtown Springfield headquarters. They will replace 32-year-old Hoe Colormatic presses which have been maintained by MAN Roland's service organization. According to Brian J. Long, vice president and general manager of the Union-News, the newspapers selected the REGIOMAN because it gave them what they needed the options and flexibility they had dreamed about, but were unable to pursue because of the limitations of the old equipment. The company's favorable experience with MAN Roland from the service arrangement on the old presses was a contributing factor in the decision to purchase REGIOMAN. "The REGIOMAN is just an excellent match for our zoning, color, speed and product requirements," said James C. Foley, production director for the Union-News and project manager for the new press installation. "REGIOMAN with its one-around technology and straight production gives us the capability for rapid changeover between zoned editions by changing a single plate," said Foley. "The split-arm reels allow easy loading of different size paper rolls for fast changes in pagination. The shaftless drive technology will allow multiple plates to be changed simultaneously for rapid transitions from advance runs to main runs. "The five towers will give us the capability for quality process color on every page," said Foley. "The 70,000 cph speed along with the fast changeovers will give us later press starts to include the latest news, sports and advertising and earlier finishes for timely delivery. These capabilities, along with the high degree of automation, make this a very efficient press to run." Foley also noted that the new press line, which is equipped with web spreaders for various ribbon widths, gives the newspaper the flexibility to print their current TV book and to compete in the commercial printing market in the future. The Union-News' new 21-inch cutoff REGIOMAN equipment will be installed in a single press line on a steel substructure furnished by MAN Roland. The press line will include five eight-couple H/H tower units, three for printing 4/4 color on one web and two for printing 4/4 color on one web or 2/2 color on two webs. The press line will be run as a single large press for up to 48 pages straight (no collect mode), with up to 32 pages of process color and 16 of spot color or 40 pages of process color. The press line also can be operated as two separate presses, providing two-out capability with its two highly versatile 2:3:3 jaw folders which have the capability to handle up to 80-page products if future expansion is required. The two jaw folders will have double-wide formers for up to six webs and double-wide balloon formers for up to three webs. Also included is a four-high angle bar package and one two-high angle bar package, both with manual reversing. A MAN Roland CUTCON closed-loop cutoff system for six webs is included and one of the folders has provisions for a future quarter folder. Print quality, flexibility, and automation for productivity The new REGIOMAN is designed for newspapers requiring exceptional print quality and a high degree of flexibility. REGIOMAN capabilities include printing both odd and even numbers of sections and two-page jumps for maximum page count versatility. REGIOMAN prints eight pages per web, blanket-to-blanket, using double circumference blanket cylinders. All plate and blanket cylinders are mounted in three-ring bearings. The plate lockup is a "tool-less" design; a narrow "micro-gap" blanket lockup and shaftless drive are standard. The REGIOMAN will be controlled by MAN Roland's state-of-the-art Linux-based PECOM open platform control and networking system. The system will have four control desks as well as a PPM workstation for production planning and job storage, a CIP3 compliant RIP interface, MAN Roland plate scanner and MAINSYS maintenance software. Webbing will be greatly simplified by MAN Roland's completely automatic web-up package. The Union-News' REGIOMAN press system will be equipped with TECOSYS, MAN Roland's closed-loop tension control system. The press line also will include a total of six core-driven, split-arm 50-inch CD 13D reel tension-pasters (RTPs). Two of the rollstands will include web spreader assemblies to run variable web widths for commercial work. Included in the installation is the AUROLOAD 2.1 automatic roll loading system which uses motorized transport and positioning of the rolls into the RTPs to save time and reduce manual effort.