In an effort to streamline how it ferries newsprint to press and avoid being stranded with obsolete technology, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News flipped the switch on a new $3 million roll-handling system.

The system, engineered by AGV Products Inc., consists of 10 automated guided vehicles used to feed the Mercury News’ Goss Metro and Headliner offset presses, according to Joe Boessenecker, the daily’s director of operations.

The AGVs eliminated manual accounting and tracking procedures formerly in place to monitor newsprint shipment.

“We used to have to hand-tally. Now we can scan the roll, get its net weight and account for every roll,” Boessenecker said. If the News (daily, 272,882; Sunday, 305,080) receives rolls with transit or wet damage, the system automatically pinpoints where specific damage may have occurred, thus laying the evidence trail needed to obtain credit from suppliers.

Tracking software built into the system, meanwhile, automatically transmits newsprint inventory data to the Mercury News’ AbitRol inventory system, allowing the daily to share information with parent Knight Ridder Inc.

The newspaper is also using the system to track web performance and press configuration changes. In the event of a paster or running break, the system’s Trace operating software keeps tabs on why and when the break occurred, allowing data to be directly input into the newspaper’s reporting database.

The Mercury News first began investigating upgrading its roll-handling capabilities in 2001, in part because legacy AGVs were nearing the end of their useful life, Boessenecker said.

“This project was justified by cost-avoidance,” he said, explaining that the Mercury News would have had to revert to manual material handling unless a new system was installed.

More important, “It was about having a system that could track waste and prove where damage might have occurred,” Boessenecker said.

AGV Products replaced the Mercury News’ entire legacy fleet. The replacement vehicles boasted new controls as well as an open, Windows-based operating system. The Mercury News also installed a new laydown conveyor, stripping station and downenders, Boessenecker said.

The Mercury News did not, however, modify the AGVs’ existing wire-guided control path. “We did not want to interrupt operations and I don’t think laser guidance was the right choice for our application,” said Boessenecker.

The AGVs deliver newsprint from a rack-equipped warehouse to 40 reelstands. The vehicles are also used to shuttle pressroom and mailroom waste to appropriate dumpsters.

“Now we can account for every type of waste,” Boessenecker said.