The Herald-Mail Co. in Hagerstown, Md., last month purchased an Americolor tower from Inland Newspaper Machinery Corp., becoming the first newspaper publisher to buy the press since Inland took over marketing the machine from George R. Hall Contracting.

The publisher will mesh the tower to an existing Goss Cosmo press in a project valued at more than $2 million, said Doug Hoffman, pressroom supervisor. The Herald-Mail prints The Morning Herald, The Daily Mail in the afternoon and a combined Herald-Mail on Saturday and Sunday. Circulation for the newspapers ranges from 13,570 for The Daily Mail to more than 39,000 for the Sunday edition.

Hoffman said the publisher picked the Americolor after evaluating towers from other press vendors. The company didn’t seriously consider replacing its 26-year-old Cosmo press because of cost considerations, Hoffman said.  

“We needed more color,” Hoffman said of the reason to buy the tower. “At this point we’ve had to turn away” requests for color because of the limitations of the Cosmo press. When the project’s complete this October, Hoffman said the Herald-Mail will be able to double its color capacity, from 16 pages to 32.

In addition to adding the tower, the Herald-Mail will also remove an existing Cosmo unit and stack it to provide additional spot color, Hoffman said.

Charleston first users

The 50-inch Americolor tower, introduced in 2002, is manufactured for Inland by Dauphin Graphic Machines Inc. Charleston (W. Va.) Newspapers was the first publisher to purchase an Americolor, commissioning it in late 2003 (see Newspapers & Technology, January 2004). Last year, Hall turned over sales of the tower to Inland (see Newspapers & Technology, July 2004).

“Obviously, this sale is a real boost for us and we’re pleased with our first solid months of operation since taking over (Americolor),” said Rich Kerns, vice president and general manager of Inland’s Americolor division. “(The sale) shows once again how the press can easily mesh with existing technology.”

Kerns said the tower will be configured with a technotrans spraybar and a Graphics Microsystems Inc. open fountain inking system. K&F International will provide the plate lockups.