Westmont, Illinois -- July 26, 2002 -- The MAN Roland eight-page REGIOMAN has a lot going for it. Its four-across, one-around configuration lets users cut their plate consumption in half, while they expand their color and pagination opportunities. Its PECOM controls and high level of automation speed changeover between jobs. Now, REGIOMAN has a lot of friends on its side as well, as newspapers throughout the world have begun selecting the innovative press as their print production engine of the future. The current count shows that 13 REGIOMAN presses comprising 819 printing couples have been sold worldwide. Contributing significantly to that global total is the fact that eight U.S. major newspapers have signed up for REGIOMAN presses over the last 12 months. That adds up to 482 REGIOMAN press couples, 75 reel splicers and 15 folders. Accounting for 96 of those couples, 14 of those reels and two of those folders are the two REGIOMAN presses that are currently being installed in Knoxville, Tennessee for The Knoxville News-Sentinel. The 70,000 copy per hour systems will provide the printing power for the paper’s new 180,000 sq ft downtown headquarters, which will house editorial, administration and a 100,000 sq ft production facility. The News-Sentinel is currently running a 1964 Hoe Colormatic that was converted to flexography in the late ‘80s. "I’m sure the REGIOMAN will correct all of the problems we’re having with our old system -- wrinkles, registration problems, lack of speed and flexibility," says Ted Milligan, the paper’s Operations Director. "I’m looking to improve in all of these areas by taking advantage of the technology on the new presses." Featuring a 50-inch web width and a 21-inch cutoff, the presses will give the News-Sentinel a variety of pagination and color options to serve a daily circulation of 125,000 and a Sunday tally of 175,000. When running independently, the presses will provide two-out capacity for up to 48 pages straight with full color on every page, or up to 56 pages with 40 in full color and 16 with spot color. When working as a single press, the system will be able to output 80 pages -- 48 in process color and 32 in spot color. Press one is scheduled to go into production in January, while the second system is set to be up and running the following month. "Our advertisers are going to absolutely love our product based on the quality that I’ve seen the REGIOMAN produce," Milligan notes. "And we’re going to really appreciate the consistency of this new system." The News-Sentinel is also upgrading its prepress capabilities by going computer-to-plate and is automating its new mailroom with systems from GMA. In the pressroom, MAN Roland’s Aurosys material handling system will automate all aspects of reel transport, handling and loading. "We’re going from archaic to totally automated," Milligan declares. When asked why the Scripps newspaper selected MAN Roland as its press supplier, Milligan replies: "At Drupa 2000, we spent a lot of time with the REGIOMAN they had running there. We also talked through the concept of the press and its one-around, four-across format. It was there we found out how well REGIOMAN would fit into our operation. It was everything we were looking for in a press." In Kalamazoo, Michigan the Kalamazoo Gazette will be installing a REGIOMAN system next May, for an October 2003 launch. The paper is going from letterpress to offset, replacing 1968 Goss Mark IIs. The Kalamazoo press will total 40 couples, 6 reel splicers and 2 folders, and be housed in a 52,000 sq ft extension that the paper is adding to its current facility to consolidate plate making, printing, packaging and distribution. Consolidation and high technology were also at the core of The Honolulu Advertiser’s decision to print with two MAN Roland REGIOMAN systems. The presses will power the paper’s new 147,000 sq ft production and distribution facility, which is scheduled for completion in 2004. The Advertiser’s REGIOMAN systems are scheduled to be delivered next May. Each will be equipped with seven reel splicers, and six eight-couple towers. One will integrate a single folder, while the second will feature a double folder in a 2:3:3 configuration. "We're very excited about signing the contract to purchase these new presses, and we're equally excited about moving forward with this important construction and expansion project," says Mike Fisch, president and publisher of The Honolulu Advertiser. "We're committed to Hawaii for the long term, and this is just another example of our belief in the long-term viability of Hawaii as a place to do business." With 152,000 daily and 173,000 Sunday readers, The Advertiser is Hawaii’s leading newspaper. It plans to simultaneously print two editions of up to 56 pages each with 40 pages in full color on the new presses. The configuration is also capable of printing a 64-page newspaper, providing full color on each and every page. The new presses also will deliver higher-quality resolution so images in the newspaper will be clearer and sharper. "We believe the REGIOMAN will offer the next advanced level of printing speed and quality," notes Dennis Francis, general manager of The Advertiser. "Its state-of-the-art technology will also allow for an easier learning curve for our press operators." Michigan’s Flint Journal will be the home of a 32 couple, 4 reel REGIOMAN with one folder. The press will bring the news to a daily circulation of 91,725 and a Sunday count of 108,111. it is scheduled for a September 2003 delivery and a February 2004 commissioning. In suburban Chicago, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald will soon begin installation of two REGIOMAN presses composed of 66 couples, 12 reels and two folders. "REGIOMAN will improve our production capabilities in a number of ways," says Bob Finch, Vice President, Process at the Daily Herald. "By changing from 4-by-2 to a 4-by-1 press we’ll be using, roughly, half the plates that we are now. We’re also looking forward to improved color, and faster make-readies and startups with less waste." But quality is job one on Finch’s list: "Anything we can do to improve on the quality of our newspaper, combined with more and better color, will benefit our customers and our advertisers, and that will help grow our circulation." Currently the Daily Herald runs two 32-page KBA Commander 60 presses, each capable of producing 12 full color pages. "With the REGIOMAN, we will run two 48 page presses on our final, and we’ll have 20 pages of color on one and 24 on the other," Finch says. The December installation and March start-up of the Daily Herald’s new REGIOMAN presses will end months of technology research at the paper. "We spent several years investigating presses here and in Europe before we selected REGIOMAN," Finch says. "We think MAN Roland is really ahead in technology. We like their press software. We like the four by one concept, and we think very highly of their project management and training." The Bay City Times and the Saginaw News in Michigan will begin installing a new REGIOMAN system in a joint production operation in 2003. This off-site joint production facility, under the moniker Valley Publishing, will feature a REGIOMAN system consisting of 32 couples, five reels and two folders. Valley Publishing will serve markets with combined daily and Sunday circulations of 90,000 and 110,000 respectively. In Stuart, Florida, Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing has blueprinted a $42 million production facility that will feature two REGIOMAN presses, scheduled for start-up by mid-2004. The company publishes three dailies in addition to a wide range of community, senior and business newspapers in one of the most affluent markets in the U.S. "The main advantage of the new presses is that they will enable us to print and package all of our newspapers from one centralized location," says Becky Freeman, Treasure Coast’s General Manager. "Currently each of our three dailies has its own production facility, which obviously is not the most cost effective way to get papers printed and distributed." Zoning flexibility is a big requirement. Treasure Coast’s market spans some of the most affluent communities in the world, from Sebastian in the north down to West Palm Beach, creating a geographic and demographic profile that’s ideal for REGIOMAN’s zoning capabilities. Treasure Coast had decades of operational experience on which it based its choice of a press supplier. Its three dailies currently use a Goss Urbanite, a Heidelberg Harris 435 and a MAN Roland Uniman. "We selected MAN Roland because we have experience with them," Freeman states. "The UNIMAN press in our Stuart plant has been producing the Stuart News since 1984. Of course, the speed of the REGIOMAN and the quality of the color it produces were also important factors." The Union-News and the Sunday Republican in Springfield, Massachusetts will be home to one new REGIOMAN press, with installation slated for July and live production set for December. The system will total 40 couples, 6 reels and two folders. The presses will replace a 13-unit Hoe Colormatic di-litho press that was installed in 1968. Vince Lapinski, Senior Vice President of Web Operations for MAN Roland Inc., comments: "Newspapers realize they need to be more colorful, more flexible and provide more value added than ever before to win mindshare on an increasingly crowded media landscape. The REGIOMAN -- with its four-across, one-around design -- lets them achieve all three of those goals, while reducing the cost of production. And as our growing sales indicate, an increasing number of newspapers are taking advantage of that capability."