Production strategies for newspaper press layout configurations

Abstract

In recent years, the use of colour newspaper production has increased considerably. Newspaper readers and advertisers expect more extensive use of colour in the illustration of papers.

A newspaper printing press consists of many components that contribute to the newspaper attributes: paper size, number of sections, section sizes, and the position of colours pages. The way these components are set up for a particular production is called a newspaper press layout configuration. The number of possible newspaper press layout configurations is very large and to create a specific press layout configuration to match a specific newspaper requirement is very complex. The configurations are usually generated manually by an experienced printer. This implies that the configurations available are limited by those the printer can devise, not the press resources themselves.

In this thesis, two applications, Threading and Layout, are developed as decision support tools to determine all possible newspaper layout configurations, which meet specified criteria in a manageable way. The input required is a description of the printing units and physical constraints and there is no need for expert knowledge in the process of generating possible newspaper press layout configurations.

These tools can be used to determine a newspaper press layout configuration to meet an unusual production requirement, to determine an alternative configuration in the event a component of the printing press fails and, with some extension, they could be used to determine the additional newspaper attributes that could be achieved by purchasing additional components and adding them to the printing press.