The 176-year-old Springfield (Mass.) Union-News and Sunday Republican is going to install a new MAN Roland 1-by-4 RegioMAN press in the expansion of its downtown production facility.

The Springfield (Mass.) Union-News and Sunday 
Republican is the third newspaper in North America
 to purchase MAN Roland’s 1-by-4 RegioMAN press.
Photo by Kevin Juhász

The press was selected because it will give the newspaper the ability to expand its color and zoning capabilities, according to Larry McDermott, publisher of the Union-News and Sunday Republican (daily, 89,225; Sunday, 136,135). The Union-News also plans to use the press to push its editorial deadlines back, print its own TV book, and begin competing for commercial printing work.

“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 McDermott. “We’ve been publishing in Springfield for 176 years, and we are about to be reborn.”

The newspaper purchased a 40-couple RegioMAN that will be configured into five 8-couple H/H units, three of which will print 4-over-4 color on one web, and two that will print 4-over-4 color on one web or 2-over-2 color on two webs. The press, which has a top speed of 70,000 copies per hour, will be able to print 48 pages in straight mode with 40 pages of process color, or 32 pages of process color and 16 pages of spot color. The press will be laid in a single line but can operate as two separate lines for two-out capability.

The press, which will be set on a steel substructure, will have a 21-inch cutoff and a 50-inch web width.

Along with the RegioMAN, the newspaper purchased two MAN Roland 2:3:3 jaw folders that can handle up to 80-page products to accommodate any future expansion. The jaw folders will have double-wide formers for up to six webs and double-wide balloon formers for up to three webs. The press will also have a four-high angle bar package and a two-high angle bar package. Included with the folders is a MAN Roland Cutcon closed-loop cutoff system for six webs. One of the folders also has provisions for a future quarterfolder.

“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 Jim Foley, production manager at the Union-News. “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,” Foley said. “The 70,000-copies-per-hour 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.”

The entire press will be controlled by a Linux-based Pecom open platform control and networking system.

The Union-News also purchased six core-driven CD 13D reel-tension-pasters, which are fed by a MAN Roland Autoload automatic roll loading system. Two of the rollstands will have web spreaders to allow the Union-News to run variable web widths for commercial work.

The Union-News is the third RegioMAN sale in North America for MAN Roland since the press was introduced last May at Drupa. All three presses are being installed at U.S. newspapers; the other two are headed for The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill., and the Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel.