How the Product Influences Productivity in Newspaper Printing - Summarising Key Figures from a Pre-study Phase of a Larger Project

Productivity in print production is an elusive concept. Earlier studies have shown that the structure of a newspaper has an influence on stops and stop frequency and thereby on the total productivity. This paper reports some partial results from a project with the objective to find more exact ways of relating the structure of a printed product to the overall productivity. Its focus is on identification and analyses of stops in pressroom and mailroom in newspaper production. The press stops have been categorised. Each category represents a specific area, for example the folder, or a specific event, such as a reel change. This is made in order to identify problem areas in the pressroom and mailroom. Statistics from newspaper printing plants underlie the categorisation and are used to predict the downtime and the number of stops that are likely to occur during a print run. It is also possible to analyse the influence of mailroom disturbances on down time in the pressroom. The correlation between different stop categories and the number of webs and inserts in the newspaper is tied out. The study has been carried out at two companies that have provided detailed production data. The products studied are standard newspapers, in broadsheet as well as in tabloid format.