By Charlotte Janischewski and Dean Roper
IFRA

The upcoming International Newspaper Color Quality Club 2002-2004, run jointly for the second time by Ifra, the Newspaper Association of America and supported also by the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers’ Association, will be the fifth.

During the competition’s history, aiming to raise day-to-day quality in reproduction and printing worldwide since 1994, 465 entrants have striven for membership. And yet, how many newspapers have made the winners’ roster every time? Just three — the St. Galler Tagblatt in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Main-Echo in Aschaffenburg, Germany, and Het Belang van Limburg in Hasselt, Belgium.

Members of the Ifra/NAA International Newspaper Color Quality Club 2000-2002 celebrate with champagne.
Photo courtesy of Ifra

So just why have these skilled color practitioners elected to take up long-term residency of the INCQC? And what qualities have persuaded the judges to prolong their membership every time and make them envied members of the INCQC pantheon?

St. Galler Tagblatt, Switzerland

For the Swiss newspaper St. Galler Tagblatt, INCQC participation serves as a barometer for the newspaper’s quality and an opportunity to improve its production process.

Walter Schmidt, head of quality management, says: “The greatest expected benefit was a better control of the production process. That was our objective and we have undoubtedly attained it.”

The initial precondition for St. Galler Tagblatt participation was to become fully aware of the measurable process variables and to define the fluctuation ranges. “It was a matter of establishing where the greatest fluctuations occurred and what their causes were. We proceeded in a highly systematic way and achieved very good effects with this approach,” Schmidt reports.

He considers it a matter of course that this is followed by the calibration of the instruments used in the process.

For Schmidt, achieving the defined objective — process control — is the result of team work. The experiences gained in the course of the project were made by the personnel attached to the individual working groups — prepress, platemaking, printing — which is why, according to Schmidt, everyone benefited.

The Swiss newspaper uses the Ifra-recommended MiniTarget as a print control element. In addition, a print control wedge developed by the newspaper itself is also used, if space allows, adds Schmidt.

The will to win is clearly not the only reason for taking part in the INCQC. There is also an economic reason — fewer mistakes mean more profits. By guaranteeing its advertisers a consistently high standard of color quality, the newspaper pleasingly registers a clear drop in the number of complaints from ad customers.

At the St. Galler Tagblatt, there is a feeling of pride to have made the winners’ roster in each and every INCQC. The fact that its WIFAG press is a grand old soldier dating back to 1987 makes this an even more outstanding achievement, going to prove that one does not obtain good color printing solely by means of the latest technology. Despite this, or perhaps precisely because of this sterling consistent output, the INCQC 2002-2004 will be the final test for the “veteran” press, as it is up for replacement with a new 10-cylinder WIFAG OF 470 GTD in 2002. Meanwhile, Schmidt is enthusiastic about the new rule in the next round of the INCQC that lays down considerably more measurements and stricter specifications for the printed copies submitted for judging.

Main-Echo, Germany

Main-Echo’s motivation for INCQC participation can be summed up with one word — benchmarking.

According to the paper’s technical director, Herbert Hirsch, Main-Echo hoped that participation would make it better able to judge its quality standards compared with its competitors. As the only newspaper in Germany to have returned scores high enough for INCQC membership four consecutive times, the Main-Echo can be well satisfied. Despite this outstanding record, Hirsch emphasizes that each competition represents a new challenge for all involved at the company.

Hirsch explains that, for the first competition (1994-1996), several proof prints were produced, using different image-processing methods. The newspaper had no major difficulties in achieving the quality specifications, as it had vast experience with color newspaper printing, dating back to 1977.

In 1999, a new MAN Roland ColorMAN rotary press was commissioned that had a further positive influence. Main-Echo takes a systematic approach to quality: all departments are encouraged to constantly check their systems and processes, and ICC profiles are used in the repro department for scanners and monitors. In the platemaking department, control plates including measuring elements are produced daily for each plate line. Print control elements as such are not used, but with some page headers carrying several different colors, comparative measurements can be carried out.

To further improve quality, Main-Echo scours the evaluations that are made available to every participant at the conclusion of the competition. Naturally, this also helps the staff prepare for the next quality test.

At a time when advertisers’ demands are becoming increasingly exacting, Hirsch insists newspapers must never relax in their efforts to improve printing results. Hirsch has no doubts that Main-Echo will be lining up to take part in the 2002-2004 round.

Het Belang van Limburg, Belgium

Back in 1973, Het Belang van Limburg was the first newspaper in Belgium to hit the streets with four-color printing. Today, this pioneering newspaper is on the eve of vying for a fifth straight Color Quality Club award.

“Our company has a healthy craving for quality and innovation,” said Fons Put, the newspaper’s technical director. “Therefore we were very interested when Ifra introduced the Color Quality Club in 1994.”

Put says the newspaper, in common with its peers, had transformed its production processes to a “desktop model,” introducing CCD scanners, Postscript raster image processors, linotronics, etc., and he knew that the competition would serve as a gauge on progress.

The newspaper has taken advantage of each competition, revising its production processes every step of the way. Put says after the competitions, his staff scours the evaluation reports to try to resolve the minus points.

“In 1994, we concentrated on improving highlight details; in 1996, better sharpness; in 1998, tonal gradation; and in 2000, skin tone reproduction. In this context the Quality Club caused an impulse that raised the general quality level and gave our staff quality awareness,” he stated.

There is no doubt about the degree of prestige that comes with being a Color Quality Club member, and it can be parlayed into added business, Put said.

“Every award achieved encouraged us to build up an image of technical leadership and helped us attract new customers. Today we print 20 titles besides our daily newspaper.”

So what about entering your newspaper for INCQC 2002-2004? Participation benefits include:

• International recognition of your high standards.

• Meeting and exceeding your advertising customers’ print quality expectations.

• Benchmarking your color quality to well-defined ISO and SNAP standards.

• Detailed audit highlighting areas of strength as well as areas of potential improvement.

• Motivation and justification for the introduction of necessary in-house changes.

• Registration deadline is Jan. 1, 2002.s

For further details contact Andy Williams, an Ifra research engineer, at williams@ifra.com.