Dallas, Texas — The MAN Roland exhibit at NEXPO 2005 — Booth #3138 — showcases how newspapers can connect with greater productivity through a variety of integrated innovations. . . •The newest generation of MAN Roland’s PECOM press operating and automation system is linking with ppi Media’s printnet workflow management system to show how the two combine to seamlessly integrate editorial, advertising and printing functions. •Showgoers are being informed on how they can get details on MAN Roland’s new 6 X 2 solution — the COLORMAN XXL — the first edition of which is cutting production costs by 20% at a busy German publisher. •Showgoers also will learn how they can connect new MAN Roland tower add-ons to their existing presses to significantly increase their color capacity, flexibility and quality. “North American newspapers have many goals in 2005, and two major goals can conflict with each other — delivering more color and high quality printing to readers and advertisers, while reducing production costs,” says Vincent Lapinski, COO of Web Operations. “At our NEXPO exhibit this year MAN Roland has solutions to achieve both objectives simultaneously.” printnet Connects with PECOM Over the past decade, MAN Roland’s PECOM system continues to reset the benchmark for pressroom automation in the newspaper industry. At this year’s NEXPO it teams with ppi Media’s printnet to raise the bar higher again. In operation, PECOM works as the press control module of printnet. It gets the specifics for the next edition directly from printnet’s page planning module, PlanPag. Critical elements such as pagination, color placement, section structure, and imposition are transferred automatically. PECOM’s PressManager uses the data to automatically makeready the press. That speeds production and eliminates the possibility of entry errors. The PECOM module generates imposition layouts, provides production suggestions, and most importantly pre-sets all system adjustments from the reel stand to the folder. Once the edition hits the mail room, PECOM uses operating data from the shift to evaluate pressroom and press crew performance, and provide ongoing analysis. By utilizing PECOM’s recommendations, a newspaper can consistently maintain reduced production costs. COLORMAN XXL Excels in Germany The production advantages of running a six-page wide by two-page around newspaper press are no longer the subject of speculation. Installation and start-up of a COLORMAN XXL at A. Beig Druckerei and Verlag GmbH & Co in Pinneberg, Germany proved the extra wide concept to be more cost effective than narrower machines. The new system in Pinneberg consists of two towers utilizing a common impression cylinder (CIC) arrangement, two reel stands, three formers place in series, and a folder. The compact 24-page configuration is the perfect size for the mid-size publisher, which produces the daily Pinneberger Tageblatt as well as a variety of commercial work. The COLORMAN XXL offers 50% higher output compared to a 4/2 press, but more importantly, it lowers production costs by more than 20%. The savings are the result of a combination of factors some of which include: reduced floor space requirements, less maintenance and cleaning, and less personnel because fewer printing units need to be manned. The Murdoch Group’s News International Supply Company Limited in London has taken notice. It signed for the delivery of 22 COLORMAN XXL press lines to be installed over the next four years. Showgoers at NEXPO can get the complete XXL story at MAN Roland’s booth #3138. Add-On Opportunities Expand MAN Roland’s ability to expand the color capabilities of existing presses by integrating tower add-ons into their existing configuration is helping newspapers across the country exceed their readers’ and advertisers’ demands for more color pages. Example: The Tribune Company is upgrading Goss presses at three key papers. The Los Angeles Times has connected ten COLORMAN tower add-ons to its presses. The Chicago Tribune is expanding with 19 eight-couple COLORMAN towers. And the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale is more than doubling its color capacity with eight new COLORMAN towers. “Since announcing our tower add-on solution at NEXPO two years ago, MAN Roland has become the industry leader in helping North American newspapers to affordably and productively satisfy their markets’ demand for more color,” notes Lapinski. “At MAN Roland our key focus is newspaper as the major media, today and in the future.” Lapinski sees 2005 as a turning point for the newspaper industry, “MAN Roland is continually moving forward by embracing new technology to provide a more compelling and cost-effective media solution. Our team looks forward to sharing this and other MAN Roland leading technology with showgoers this year at our NEXPO exhibit.”