The Vindicator in Youngstown, Ohio, is in the midst of a multifaceted press project to upgrade its printing capabilities, picking a computer-to-plate system from alfaQuest Technologies Inc. and using reconditioned machines that will be retrofitted with shaftless unit-level drives.

Northeast Industries Inc. is overseeing the press rebuild project, which will allow the paper to shut down two decades’-old Mark II letterpresses now used to print The Vindicator, said Ted Suffolk, assistant general manager. The project is slated for completion early next year.

NEI is supplying The Vindicator with Goss International Corp. presses and folders formerly used by the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Breeze in Torrance, Calif., and a publisher in Finland. All told, the paper is getting 14 Metroliner units and seven half-decks from the Times’ closed San Fernando Valley plant, a Metrocolor tower from the Daily Breeze and a three-color Metro unit from the Finnish publisher.

NEI is also converting the presses from shafted to unit-level shaftless drives and installing upgraded controls in a companion project managed by Parker Hanifen Corp. unit SSD Drives.

Cutting from 55 inches

Finally, NEI is trimming the width of the 22.75-inch cutoff presses to 48 inches with a provision for 46 inches, dramatically reducing The Vindicator’s current format, which measures 23.563 inches tall by 55 inches wide.

Suffolk said The Vindicator has long been studying how it should upgrade its aging printing infrastructure, but began serious examination of using reconditioned equipment shortly after the Times announced it was shutting its San Fernando Valley plant, which featured retooled Goss Metro units.

“It seemed to us that (buying reconditioned equipment) made the most sense,” Suffolk said. “There is a lot of life left in this equipment, and cutting it down to 48 inches” will further extend the machines’ usefulness.

The Vindicator is configuring the presses as one long line, with two folders, one a double folder, said Jim Davies, printing and packaging manager. The machines will give the paper a 96-page capacity, with 40 pages of color.

Boost registration, color

The shaftless design and configuration will give The Vindicator flexibility to produce more than one job at a time and present additional options to the paper, including the ability to pursue commercial work.

“Nobody wants anything printed on a letterpress,” Suffolk said.

The web offset presses will also shorten makeready and improve registration.

On the CTP project, The Vindicator purchased from alfaQuest hardware and software that includes a FasTrak 150, a NewsXpress platesetter, a TrakMate plate loader and PrintExpress workflow software. The systems are expected to be in production in conjunction with the completion of the press rebuild.