The Paducah (Ky.) Sun April 23 formally opened its new production plant.

The 25,000-square-foot facility is anchored by a Manugraph DGM Inc. Advantage II press that gives the paper double the color capacity of its former machine, said Jesse Rogers, pressroom manager.

 

The 50,000-copy-per-hour press is part of a significant $10 million investment made by the family-owned Paxton Media Group to upgrade the paper’s production capabilities.

In addition to the two-around singlewide press, configured as four, four-high towers with a 1240 jaw folder, The Sun installed a 17:1 Titan G60 inserter from K&M Newspaper Services Inc. equipped with inserter software from Miracom Computer Corp. It also installed a Packman wrapper/stacker from Quipp Systems Inc. and a paper roll track system from ASTI.

Photos: Paducah Sun
Press operators and crew read copies of editions of The Sun produced
on the new press, a Manugraph DGM Inc. Advantage II.

The CTP Alliance supplied a computer-to-plate platform consisting of a Screen (USA) platesetter, Presteligence workflow software, Southern Lithoplate plates and punch bending equipment from Nela.

The press was equipped with an Icon registration system from QuadTech Inc., spraybar dampeners from technotrans and ink control technology from Perretta Graphics.

Upon going on-edition with the press, The Sun trimmed its size from 22.75 inches tall and 48 inches wide to 21 inches tall and 46 inches wide, Rogers said. The publisher hopes to reduce its newsprint consumption by 9 percent as a result of the shift.

Rogers said the new plant will allow The Sun to grow its commercial work and enable the paper to produce niche products.

To that end, The Sun announced it would begin publishing a business publication covering southern Illinois and northern Kentucky.

The magazine, the Four River Business Journal, “will help business owners avoid pitfalls and keep the entire community up to date on trends in the marketplace,” the paper said in an editorial.

Local architectural firm Peck Flannery Gream Warren Inc. designed the plant, located in downtown Paducah.