WAKE FOREST, N.C. -- Producing a morning newspaper seven days a week while satisfying the printing needs of commercial customers requires 3,900 plates a month at the Salina Journal. Accurate registration is critical for the many color pages printed on the Salina, Kan.-based company's Goss Urbanite press. Dave Atkinson, production director, attributes the absence of register problems to the prepress department's highly automated computer-to-plate (CtP) workflow. "Southern Lithoplate put the CtP workflow package together for us as part of its CtP Alliance," Atkinson said. "The first thing we noticed was the improved registration. There is no film movement to cause problems." Southern Lithoplate's CtP Alliance Solution provides improved computer-to-plate (CtP) solutions of the newspaper industry. The complete solution includes bulletproof consumables, self-serviceable platesetters that offer built-in redundancy and the lowest cost of ownership available, and workflow management software options that cover any newspaper's needs. The participating prepress workflow partners are Polkadots Software Inc., Presteligence, ProImage America and Screen. NELA's proven Benchmark series of three-point and Vision punch registration equipment complete the Alliance CtP solution. The prepress system at the Salina Journal is configured with VIPER 830(r) thermal lithoplates, the Screen PlateRite News 2000 thermal CtP platesetter and Polkadots Software's Newsflo 2.0 Lite workflow system. The NELA Benchmark 900S punch/bender provides automated plate punching and bending. The Salina Journal also opted for a NELA conveyor. "The service and support from Southern Lithoplate were very impressive," Atkinson said. "They jumped to our assistance, providing all the technical support and training needed." Though founded in 1871 as a weekly newspaper serving the then-young city of Salina, the Salina Journal has published daily for most of its existence. Today, the newspaper has a staff of 135 employees and a daily circulation of 30,000. Its coverage area spans 31 counties. The Salina Journal runs two plate sizes (23 x 26 inches and 23 x 35 inches) to print the Salina paper, along with seven area weeklies, shoppers and the Kansas State University daily Collegian. "The PlateRite gives us plenty of speed for the production we need on a daily basis," Atkinson said. "The punched plates fit perfectly on press. We get up to register very fast. Waste has gone way down because of the precise registration." Customers benefit from the greater accuracy resulting from CtP production, which enhances print quality. "We are seeing a much sharper dot and much cleaner color," Atkinson said. The Salina Journal's prepress system has had a significant impact on the pressroom as well. "I consider our press people an accurate barometer of equipment," Atkinson explained. "They think CtP is the greatest thing to happen for the pressroom. We have been able to rededicate hours that previously were allocated to the plate room to preventive maintenance and other press-related tasks. If I told them we were going back to outputting film, I think I'd have a mutiny on my hands."