Four colours, pagination throughout, and a structure comprising six sections are the visible new features of the 13 local editions of the Mittelbayerischen Zeitung.
Up to 70 newspaper editions a day
In the mailroom, up to ten supplements are routed to the main product, which has a maximum 72 pages. In 2010, the number of supplements was in excess of 120 million. The full-blown automation and high speed of the new installation enables the level of equipment to be reduced from a previous two production lines down to one. The new facility can thus handle the same volumes as in 2009 with fewer machines and personnel – and still have spare capacity left over.
The total circulation of the publisher’s own newspapers amounts to 130,000 copies daily and 150,000 at the weekends. Thanks to a mix of supplements that varies greatly from region to region, there are in fact between 60 and 70 supplements, not just the 13 printed editions. Each week, some 500,000 of the publisher’s own advertising titles are also produced. Weekly contract jobs make up a third pillar, with circulations ranging between 0.1 and 1, 6 million copies on newsprint.
Innovative technology and decades of satisfactory operations on the previous lines played its part in the decision favouring Ferag. The new line is controlled by Linemaster and brings flexibility. Supplements are largely prepared and assigned for night production on the eight JetFeeders on RollStream and the two MultiDisc unwinding stations during the day.
One MSD2-C inserting drum and one DiscPool for two folder deliveries are part of the set-up. Special customer and publisher products can be stitched and trimmed on the inline StreamStitch and SNT-U systems. The line also has five MultiStack units for creating the most varied bundle sizes. Conveyor belts take the newspaper bundles directly to the distribution trucks. In the contract printing area, almost all the bundles are placed on palettes by two Segbert automatic palletisers.
The Regensburg printing and logistics centre works for the printed medium and believes in the future of the newspaper: “We make for a fine breakfast.”