Gannett Offset’s Springfield, Va., plant cut its under-the-floor lead paster waste by more than half after completing a digital upgrade on its static belt reel tension paster controls.

The plant, which prints USA Today, The New York Times and many other publications, late last year tapped Brock Solutions to install new components on nine RTPs across three Goss International Corp. presses, said Jim Jones, director of operations.

As part of the upgrade, Brock installed diagnostic screens and replaced the RTPs’ cabinets, controls and auxiliary sensors. Each of the presses - two Metros and one Metroliner - sports three refurbished RTPs, Jones said.



Brock Solutions’ cabinet containing one of nine upgraded RTPs at Gannett Offset in Springfield, Va.
Photo: Brock Solutions

The primary goal, Jones said, was to reduce paster waste caused by inadequate tension in the legacy RTPs feeding the presses used during USA Today and commercial press runs. Jones also wanted to reduce registration defects that could potentially reach customers, he said.  

 “We are the only site printing USA Today with under-the-floor leads on a daily basis,” some of which extend for more than 116 feet, Jones said. Because the aging RTPs were losing tension control, Gannett Offset had to toss out as many as 175 USA Today copies after each paster fire. After the upgrade, completed in January, under-the-floor lead waste was cut to fewer than 75 copies per paste. Standard process color and back-to-back lead waste, meantime, have been cut by 20 copies and 50 copies per paste, respectively.

“We have an oncoming obsolescence issue” with the analog RTPs, Jones said, “but this project was quality and ROI-driven. We examined putting in some half decks to get the color placement needed to eliminate the under-the-floor leads, but it was more cost-effective to go with the digital upgrades.”

The RTP project is the latest upgrade for Gannett Offset. The plant converted three of its four Goss presses from DC to AC drives and has plans to retrofit the fourth, a Colorliner, next year, Jones said.

The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., meantime, also selected Brock to upgrade 18 RTPs on its Koenig & Bauer AG flexographic presses to increase runnability and decrease rolls per break, said Richard Rinehart, vice president of operations. The project was completed last fall and increased uptime and press speeds, Rinehart said.