The Waco (Texas) Tribune-Herald ordered inserting and other postpress equipment from Quipp Systems Inc. as the daily upgrades postproduction.

The newspaper purchased an SLS-1000 24:2 inserter with Quipp’s Newscom 6 insert management control software, according to Norm Huddleston, production director.

Additionally, the Tribune-Herald is getting eight hopper loaders, a Twin-Trak conveyor system, three Quipp stackers and three Viper wrappers with inkjet printing capabilities.

Newscom modules will also be used to oversee stackers, package labeling, circulation data and bundle labeling, Huddleston said.

The systems will be delivered in May and operational in July.

Automation goal

“The goal is to automate as much of our process as possible,” he said. The paper currently has aging inserters that can’t keep up with demand and thus require the paper to run prepacks five days a week. With the new postpress foundation, Huddleston said the  Tribune-Herald will be able to streamline its postproduction and rely on software that will let the paper track and monitor completed packages.

“We’re experiencing significant growth with our inserts,” he said. “In the past we threw more manpower, but with increased demand for accuracy and zoning we realized we have to get more modern equipment and increase our postpress capabilities.”

The Tribune-Herald follows sister paper the Longview (Texas) News-Journal in upgrading its mailroom with equipment from Quipp. The common infrastructure will allow both papers — which are located about 90 miles apart — to back each other up in the event of emergencies, Huddleston said.