North Carolina papers get first Manugraph press in United States

HPE Press. Laura Greene | HPE
HPE Press. Laura Greene | HPE
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Initially, Paxton Media Group was in the market for a used press for its North Carolina production hub as well as a new building to house it. The Herald-Sun in Durham printed the High Point Enterprise, but was using only about half the space in its 110,000-square-foot building.

As often happens with major expenditures, things change during the shopping process. Paxton ended up with not just a new press, but a new press that is the first of its kind in the United States: the India-based Manugraph M360.

The Manugraph Americas subsidiary had established an equipment and service facility in Elizabethville, Penn. "They were very interested in getting their press into the United States. It was a perfect match because they were interested in us and we became very interested in them," said Rick Bean, president of Paxton's North Carolina newspaper division and publisher of both the Durham and High Point papers.

The Enterprise also ended up with new digs in High Point, albeit in an existing building, while the oversized Durham building is up for sale.

Bean said the search for a location relatively central to the multiple papers that would use the new press encompassed the Interstate 85/Interstate 40 corridor. But a building five minutes from downtown High Point proved just right for the press, delivery truck access and the Enterprise offices.

"Getting the right clearance for the height of the press was a huge obstacle," Bean said. "There are just very, very few buildings that had the 22-to-24 foot ceiling clearance that we needed."

Consolidated regional printing and editing hubs have become more common as media companies seek to control costs. Since going into full production during the first week in August, the Manugraph M360 has been printing both the High Point and Durham papers, as well as The Daily Dispatch in Henderson, The Sanford Herald, The Enquirer-Journal in Monroe and some weekly publications associated with High Point and Durham.

One big difference from the previous Goss Metro/Headliner press in Durham is the switch from double web width to single width with a 32-page capacity. Bean said the single width offers more flexibility, and almost everything can be handled in one run.

The M360 has four color high towers with autopasters, and four mono units. Paxton also purchased a used Goss inserter so the mailroom could keep up with the faster press.

A couple of production employees came over from Durham, but the operation is new for everybody. The learning curve has meant some "Please be patient" notes to readers, and at least one case of printing assistance from the  News & Record in Greensboro.

"For the most part it's a new press staff, new press, new mailroom staff, new inserter," Bean said. "It's an awful lot coming together with that many publications all at once. We've had our challenging nights but I do think this has been a very, very good decision and I think it's heading toward a very positive direction."

In any consolidated operation, deadlines are an issue. While cost savings are obvious when five or more newspapers can use one press, some get earlier deadlines than others. In turn, next-day stories from night meetings, high school sports and late-breaking news are affected.

As everyone gets used to the new equipment, print windows have been set at 90 minutes instead of what will eventually be one hour. The first products go on the press at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., Bean said.

"We really do need to rely on the Web component to fill in the holes on what we may be able to provide in the print product for that very next publication," he said.

The newspapers' circulations range from 5,000 to about 20,000. Smaller papers have found that readers appreciate bigger prep spreads on Sunday even if they don't get a print story on Saturday, Bean said.

Bean is already thinking about deadlines on Election Night in November.

"What we'll probably end up doing is looking location by location at a lineup of who we print, how many local races they have, etc., and make a decision going into the Election Night about who's going to be first, second, third, fourth. We also know, pretty much historically, how quickly those communities can turn around results. Election Night will be a big night for us."

Bean said the new press was purchased for the newspapers, not to get more commercial printing business. It represents a focus on local news and community newspapers that persists in a rapidly changing industry.

"For those folks who keep saying, 'Our future is digital, our future is digital,' nobody has been able to show us the revenue stream that indicates that our future truly is digital," Bean said.

"Yet we still have very strong business going in terms of selling print advertising. And we happen to think if you couple that print advertising with a strong local news product, that's still a very powerful combination."  

For more information, contact Rick Bean at rbean@hpe.com.

Jane Nicholes

Jane Nicholes is a freelance writer and editor based in Daphne, Ala., and a former editorial writer for the Press-Register in Mobile. Email her at jbnicholes@att.net.

Paxton, Durham, High Point, Manugraph, Bean, printing press, Henderson, Sanford, Monroe, Goss, Greensboro, digital
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