MAN Roland technology pays big dividends as Hawai’i’s top newspaper celebrates a century and a half of success Hawai’i’s leading newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser, celebrated its 150th anniversary earlier this summer by producing a 120-page commemorative edition on its new REGIOMAN press. While the MAN Roland production system has only been in operation for two years, it’s already gone a long way toward solidifying the Honolulu Advertiser’s future by helping the Gannett-owned paper increase its advertising sales and grow its commercial printing operations. Color Connection The ability of the REGIOMAN systems to deliver more and better color that advertisers can use to attract customers is the first reason for the press’ success. “Color linage has gone up tremendously,” says William R. Bogert, Vice President/Production for the Advertiser. “Since commissioning our REGIOMAN, we run color on nearly every page of every paper. The only exceptions are the stock listing pages and crossword puzzle page. There is never a problem with color positioning. The advertisers are also very pleased with our color quality.” It’s not only existing advertisers who realize that color ads are more effective and have more impact. The color capabilities of the REGIOMAN are also bringing in new accounts. “In the case of some categories, we are able to pick up business from advertisers who did not advertise previously because we did not provide color,” Bogert adds. “They had been partial to slick full-color magazines. Now they can run their color ads in the Advertiser.” The Advertiser also produces Gannett’s colorful USA Today to serve that national paper’s Hawaiian readership. A total of 14,000 copies are printed on its REGIOMAN every day, five days a week. Commercial Considerations REGIOMAN also has helped the Advertiser go after more commercial print work. “We had been printing a number of commercial jobs on our previous press,” Bogert explains. “But the much greater speed of the REGIOMAN has provided more windows for additional jobs.” The paper’s commercial production roster now includes weekly Sunday inserts for Office Depot (150,000 copies), Sports Authority (185,000) and Kmart (525,000). Each week REGIOMAN also prints such titles as Pennysaver (40,000), Buy & Sell (55,000), Air Force (8,000), Army Weekly (15,000), Navy News (15,000) and Pacific Business News (15,000). “There are many other jobs we do monthly, quarterly and seasonally,” Bogert notes. “Our customer publishing group (CPG) produces six products, which run either on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule.” CPG also prints numerous special sections on the REGIOMAN, in addition to a total market coverage (TMC) product called Island Weekly, which has a 180,000 copy run. No Time to Waste As it adds revenue to the Advertiser’s bottom line, the REGIOMAN is simultaneously subtracting wasted time from the paper’s makeready operations. “MAN Roland’s PECOM operating system allows us to gain faster registration,” Bogert declares. “Being able to optimize settings after key runs gives us more accurate ink presets and that allows us to obtain ink and water balance more quickly.” REGIOMAN automation is also having a positive impact on paper waste at the Advertiser. “Having the ability to control your tensions and gains produces less waste and enables the press crew to reach maximum speeds more quickly,” the production chief reports. “The metal back blankets (MBB) we use on the REGIOMAN are a key to higher quality and less waste as well.” Bogert credits the press’ web control system and its MAN Roland 2:3:3 jaw folder for enabling CPG to offer a range of printed possibilities. “The folder allows us to run light products at very high speed and large products as well with little or no set off,” he says. The heart of a new $82 million, 147,000 square foot production facility, the Advertiser’s REGIOMAN encompasses 12 eight-couple printing towers and 14 core-driven reel stands. It delivers a 21-inch cutoff and produces at a maximum production speed of 70,000 copies per hour. A Profitable Present The MAN Roland press helped the Honolulu Advertiser give itself a valuable birthday present on its 150th anniversary. The historic commemorative issue it produced generated $640,000 in sales revenue. The July 2nd celebration also featured a Community Day party attended by 10,000 people, who nibbled on Hawai'i's Largest Cake. Now the paper is continuing the celebration with a variety of promotional and merchandising initiatives. They include a Ford 150 pickup truck sweepstakes that brought in more than 5,000 entries in one day, a song contest, a sponsor-supported trading card giveaway, and anniversary merchandise ranging from an "Island Plate" cookbook to T-shirts and mouse pads. “So far, the public has bought $14,000 worth of merchandise, while pre-orders for the cookbook total $115,000,” notes Bogert. Through it all, MAN Roland has helped ensure that the Honolulu Advertiser’s REGIOMAN keeps pace with the increased demand for color pages and commercial work. “MAN Roland has been very supportive and understanding to constructive changes to the press,” Bogert says. “I have not reported an issue that was not addressed and corrected in a timely manner.”