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Bismarck
Tribune first to use
3-by-2
MAN Roland design
Staff Report
The
Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune purchased a 3-by-2 Uniset 75 press from MAN Roland Inc.,
making it the first newspaper to buy the new press configuration.
The
daily and its parent company, Lee Enterprises, will spend more than $7 million
to buy the press and expand its printing plant, said Tribune Publisher Julie
Bechtel.
The
Tribune (daily, 26,618; Sunday, 30,534) said the expansion project would begin
this month with papers rolling off the press in early 2005. The single-wide
Uniset will replace a Goss Urbanite more than 30 years old. The new press will
enable The Tribune to boost color and print quality, according to Roman Dymerski,
production manager.
“We
can only do 12 pages of process color now,” from a 36-page folio, he said.
“With the new press, we’ll be able to have process color on every page.”
Once
the new press is operational, The Tribune will reduce its web width to 46 inches
with a 21-inch cutoff.
Dymerski
said the 37,500 copy-per-hour Uniset will be arranged vertically, with units
stacked one on top of another. The press will be configured as three four-high
towers.
In
addition to the new press, The Tribune also plans to install an upgraded
Heidelberg inserter, which it’s getting from another Lee unit.
At
this year’s Nexpo/SuperConference, MAN Roland said it would begin selling
3-by-2 versions of its single-wide presses.
The
design lets users print pages three wide, using two plates on a cylinder.
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