(Editor’s note: The following is an edited version of an article submitted to Newspapers & Technology by MAN Roland’s public relations agency.)

Two years after it opened its new production facility, the Honolulu Advertiser said its volume of color advertising and commercial printing have reached new highs.

“Color linage has gone up tremendously,” said William Bogert, the Advertiser’s vice president of production.

Pressman Jerry Naholowaa monitors the Honolulu Advertiser’s RegioMAN operations from his Pecom control console.




The Honolulu Advertiser commissioned its RegioMAN
pressline in August 2004.
Photos: MAN Roland
 

The Gannett Co. Inc. paper (daily, 143,020; Sunday, 158,021) has been able to run color on almost every page of every edition after commissioning two RegioMAN presses from MAN Roland, Bogert said. “There is never a problem with color positioning.”

The Advertiser’s color capabilities have also allowed it to attract new advertising accounts, Bogert said. “In the case of some categories, we are able to pick up business from advertisers who did not advertise previously because we did not provide color,” he said.

The Advertiser opened its $82 million plant in August 2004, in the process switching from a 40-year-old letterpress with limited color capacity.

Picked up USA Today

Meantime, the paper’s commercial and ancillary printing business blossomed.

“We had been printing a number of commercial jobs on our previous press,” Bogert said, “but the much greater speed of the RegioMAN has provided more windows for additional jobs.”

Among the new accounts the Advertiser picked up was the production of USA Today, which it began printing in November 2004. Previously, Gannett had to print the national paper in San Francisco and fly completed copies to the islands.

The Advertiser prints 14,000 copies of USA Today Monday through Friday.

In addition to USA Today, the Advertiser’s commercial roster now includes Sunday inserts for Office Depot, Sports Authority and Kmart. The paper also prints the Pennysaver, Army Weekly and Pacific Business News, for a total weekly production run in excess of 800,000 pieces.

Outside revenues

The paper’s customer publishing group also prints numerous special sections, in addition to a 180,000-copy Island Weekly TMC.

Bogert said the press’ web control system and its 2:3:3 jaw folder enables CPG to offer a range of printed possibilities. “The folder allows us to run light products at very high speeds and large products with little or no set-off,” he said.

The Advertiser’s new plant yielded an additional benefit earlier this summer, when the paper pocketed $640,000 in sales revenues associated with the production of a 120-page commemorative edition marking the paper’s 150th anniversary.