The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune this summer will begin its transition to computer-to-plate, marking the end of nearly three decades producing pages with film.

The installation will consist of Agfa platesetters and workflow software, and plate equipment from Nela.

“Two of our systems were DOS-based and one was Microsoft Windows 95, and it was getting hard to support the Windows, let alone the DOS,” said Matt Theiler, director of printing operations for the Star Tribune.

 

The paper (daily, 322,362; Sunday, 534,750) this month will install Arkitex workflow, Autoplan page pairing and Afirma process control software and next month will bring up three Advantage CLS units to replace its four Western Lithotech LithXpozer units. Plate bending and sortation equipment installation will be completed in September, and the paper plans to be 100 percent live at the end of September, Theiler said.

Operators will carry the plates to the paper’s five Goss International Corp. Headliner Offset presses, encompassing 140 couples.

Waiting pays off

Theiler said the Star Tribune’s somewhat late adoption of CTP is the result of waiting for the technology to become more dependable and until enough papers had deployed the technology to ensure it was fully supported.

“Even as recently as four to five years ago I talked to people who said it wasn’t as dependable as it could be and (we) wanted to wait until we were comfortable,” he said. “Plus, we were getting to the end of the supportable life of our equipment, so it was a combination of both of those things.”

In selecting vendors, Theiler and members of his staff set up a matrix system with a 10-point scale rating for various items.

“We put together questions that we asked all of them and then we talked to two of each of their users and asked them the same questions and them compared what they said,” Theiler explained.

During that tedious evaluation process, Theiler said the decision eventually came down to less of a financial one and more of a judgment based on how users rated the systems.

Tough assessment

Theiler said choosing between violet and thermal was the toughest decision.

“The lean toward violet was based on cost and the fact that there was more competition among plate manufacturers,” Theiler said. “We were more comfortable with that.”

In addition to the daily, the Star Tribune produces a small amount of commercial work, including inserts.

Theiler said the new workflow will eliminate a number of production steps, which now include frequent quality checks.

Because of the loss of these quality checks, upfront quality and accountability is key, he said.

“Now, a button will be pushed in the newsroom and it won’t be touched again until the sortation system,” Theiler said. “It will go through newsroom to platemaking and come out of the sortation system.”

That automation will result in “significant labor savings,” Theiler said.

Aside from the anticipated ROI expected from the shift to CTP, Theiler anticipates the migration will yield better deadline control as well as improved quality and system maintenance.

Boston makes move

The New York Times Co.’s Boston Globe, meantime, purchased two Polaris XCV-S units from Agfa. The move is part of NYT’s commitment outlined in 2005, to transition all of its papers to Agfa violet CTP (see Newspapers & Technology, December 2005).

The Globe (daily, 350,605; Sunday, 525,969) will also retain four of its six existing Western Lithotech DiamondSetters.

“The goal is to run the Polarises 100 percent in the Boston plant and the DiamondSetters in the Billerica (Mass.) plant,” said Bob Burns, vice president of production.

In addition to the majority of the work for the daily, the Boston plant produces the The Enterprise in Brockton, The Patriot Ledger in Quincy and the New York Post. The Billerica plant produces the balance of the work for the daily as well as the regional edition of The New York Times.

Like Theiler, Burns said the decision to shift more of its work to violet CTP was in part based on the fact that The Globe’s existing units were approaching the end of their useful life.

The Globe chose the Polaris model based on throughput and reputation and Burns said the publisher will look to replace the units in Billerica as well within the next two years.

“The Polarises are fast, accurate and reliable,” Burns said. “What we used to do with three machines (at the Boston plant) we now do with two.”

Other NYT papers rolling out Agfa’s CTP technology through the 2005 initiative include the company’s Regional Media Group, which encompasses 16 smaller, regional papers, and the International Herald Tribune.

Upon completion of the project, NYT will have installed 20 Agfa platesetters at print sites across North America, including those in the Boston area, and sites in College Point, N.Y.; Lakeland, Fla.; Denver and Phoenix.