Mailroom automation trends
in newspaper productions
A move into a secure future investment
Constant increase in circulations of regional dailies and titles in the
Indian newspaper market has fuelled a momentum of growth that has
been forecasting to be sustainable. But rationalisation is called for – and
that means process automation. When it comes to counting on process
automation, it’s worth taking a closer look at the modern mailroom
technology. All About Newspapers captures here ‘automation’ paving its
way for all innovative operations between the press and loading dock.
Mailroom majors like globally acclaimed Ferag as well as Newstech,
Technicon along with some leading newspaper houses, such as
DB Corp, Anand Bazaar Patrika (ABP) and Mathrubhumi articulate
the opportunities, advancements and news functions
of automated mailroom systems.
As technology grows with requirements, modular mailroom
systems meet the needs of newspaper printers of all sizes. An
entry-level solution with newspaper transport and bundling
can undergo a gradual upgrade with new production steps. Such
upgraded technology offers a high level of investment security.
A big ‘thumps up’ to sensible increments of global mailroom
majors like Ferag and Muller Martini as well as those in the lead
at domestic level, such as Newstech, Technicon whose process
automations in mailrooms provide right tracks to many newspaper
production houses viz. DB Corp, ABP, Mathrubhumi, etc.
Ferag a synonym of mailroom system
Ferag’s conveyor and bundling system is
the start point for a promising future.
By opting for UTR conveyor technology
and MultiStack compensating stackers, most
of the major newspaper printing houses in
India have placed themselves on a footing
that enables industrial-scale processes.
The new conveying and bundling
combination incorporating the High
Performance Conveyor (HPC) and the High
Performance Stacker (HPS) is based on the
proven UTR/MultiStack concept. The new
technology unites Swiss engineering quality
with a favourable price/performance ratio
and forms the ideal entry-point to mailroom
automation.
Entry level & value creation: For
programmed bundle production and inline
topsheet printing, Navigator Light is
available as an entry-level version of
Ferag’s Multitouch control. The modular
design allows functions to be activated
when required in the future (the zoned
inserting process, single-copy addressing,
etc). One upgrade with far-reaching potential
is the inserting process. It gives newspaper
publishers a chance to access new revenue
sources by integrating into the mailroom the
insertion of advertising supplements into
the newspaper. Today in India, supplement
inserting is often seen as direct competition to
print advertising. Publishers are apprehensive
about lower advertising income and reduced
paginations. Business with supplements,
however, should be seen as complementary
advertising and as such constitutes an
additional revenue source.
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Ferag’s inserting technology matches
the performance/requirements pyramid
in newspaper production precisely. The
solutions extend from small-scale, standalone
installations for offline production
(MiniSert) through EasySert and RollSert
technology for the mid-range to highperformance
MultiSert-series inserting
drums for the integrated online inserting
process.
MiniSert for smaller circulation: On the
baseline is MiniSert for processing smaller
newspaper circulations. When making the
move from manual to automatic inserting,
Ferag's smallest inserting line will be the right
choice. The line operates independently at a
speed of 20,000 copies an hour. On the one
hand, it can be integrated as an independent
solution into mailrooms of all sizes; and on
the other side, this offline inserting line is
the perfect addition to Ferag’s conveying
and bundling technology incorporating the
High Performance Conveyor and High
Performance Stacker. MiniSert grows as
requirements grow: from the entry-level
configuration with two supplements it can
be expanded to twelve inserting stations
in paired steps.
EasySert and RollSert for mid-field:
The mid-field of the performance pyramid
is covered by the EasySert and RollSert
concepts. These inserting systems operate in
combination with a modular gathering line
that can be upgraded in pairs to total 40
hoppers. With such a big range, in addition
to applications in newspaper production,
EasySert and RollSert are equally suited
to assembling advertising packages with
selected contents. EasySert runs at up to
30,000 copies an hour while RollSert at up
to 36,000 copies an hour. Both machines
can be operated as independent systems
offline, or online, connected to the press.
Flexibility-tailored MultiSertDrum:
At the tip of Ferag’s inserting system
performance are the inserting drums in the
MSD high-performance class. The three
MultiSertDrum models (MSD2-C, MSD-M
and MSD-H) differ in size, the number of
infeeds, and production output. The Ferag
concept allows production on MSD inserting
Apart from improved value creation, a
new publishing quality and the potential
for higher advertising revenue, there will
be greater utilisation of printing capacity,
and invested capital will be used more
profitably.
The add-on functions come into their own
specially when linked to the inserting process
in the inserting drum, content produced on
the newspaper press is combined with a
cover printed in sheet fed offset or heatset,
before being stitched and trimmed inline.
Print products created in this way unite the
exterior image of a glossy magazine with
the up-to-date content pages of a newspaper.
Right tools: Differences are born out of
the right tools. The modular concept allows
as much automation as required at a given
time, within budget. A simple solution
for the conveyor process and bundling
can be upgraded in stages to become
highly integrated and productive postpress
processing technology. It is this intelligent,
technology to be run online and offline.
All three models from the MSD series can
be operated manually via a pre-collecting
line with hopper stations, or connected to
a fully automatic storage and buffer system
incorporating MultiDisc winding technology.
More than 500 of Ferag’s state-of-the-art
inserting lines are in use across the
world. In India, current operators of MSD
inserting technology from Ferag are at The
Times of India (two MSD-M 2:1 units in
Mumbai) and The Mathrubhumi Printing
and Publishing Co (12 MSD lines – partly
2:1 – in Kerala).
Add-on functions: The modular Ferag
system allows the structuring of print
products extending far beyond classical
newspaper production. Add-on functions
like trimming, folding and stitching permit
publishers and printers to expand their
offering to include semi-commercials.
open system that allows a host of options
and gives printers the certainty of making
a secure investment in the future. The print
market in India is developing and changing.
Whoever has the right tool at hand will be
among the winners.
MemoStick boosts ad business: Next
to advertising inserts, several newspaper
publishers and printers are using the
MemoStick advertising format as an
attractive revenue source. The self-adhesive
labels are applied to the front page of the
newspaper and generate a lot of attention.
They are easy to remove from the print
medium and remain in the possession of the
reader, regardless of where the newspaper
ends up. MemoStick is especially suited
as a coupon for sales campaigns to get
more potential customers to a point of
sales, raise the profile of a product and
boost turnover.
Swinging of ABP into automation move
In the early 1980s, in order to capture
advertisers who had no desire to
create gray-scale versions of colour ads,
they could place with ease in colour
publications, forced newspapers in India
to migrate from black & white era to
colour printing. Almost during the same
time, it was also felt that manual counting
– bundling of finished product not only
entails delay in market reach but also
possibilities of error and huge dependence
on large number of workforce.
“Slowly some automation in the mailroom
was coming mostly in the form of simple belt
conveyor and stacker located adjacent to the
printing press. Where there was a shortage of
space 90 degree conveyors were used. Still
for most of the small to medium printing
centres with low speed presses, this was
the most cost effective and simple solution.
Earlier generation stackers could only form
standard fixed bundles of desired quantity,”
explicates Somnath Guha,
associate vice presidentengineering,
ABP Pvt Ltd.
But Somnath perceives
that the presses with
higher speed, to achieve
accuracy, different bundle size requirement
and complicated work flow, that technology
became irrelevant. “In most modern
presses, following automation both in
terms of hardware and software is gaining
popularity,” he observes.
Gripper conveyor system: There has
been a remarkable improvement in gripper
technology. Modern grippers have minimum
contact area along with special material to
reduce marks on the paper. “Of course, the
system is integrated to the press control
desk for single point operation. Splice,
Skew Copy Detection is inbuilt in the
system, which automatically recognises
and redirects defective copies to a
different waste station,”
explains Somnath.
To economise, he
says some innovative
metallurgy has also
been developed to
replace steel tracks
and a separate delivery
station is connected to
the conveyor to take out
defective copies in bundle form.
Pick-up station: From earlier days of
pneumatically controlled pick up station
with lots of mechanical drives in the
form of gears, belts, today’s equipment is
operating on ‘direct drive’ technology with
synchronised control system. According to
Somnath, nowadays alignment of pick-up
station with respect to folder delivery can
be done within few seconds. With all
these technologies pick-up of very low
paginations are also perfect.
Stacker: “Probably major automation
and upgrade was incorporated in this
section. Earlier days multiple stackers
used to be in operation due to high cycle
time. Also the operation was entirely
pneumatic. In new generation stackers the
drive technology is purely servomotor
driven. This ensures lowest cycle time
including pressing to move trapped air
out and forming brick like bundles,”
asserts Somnath. From earlier days
microprocessor-based control system
has upgraded to industrial PC-based
system. Adjustment of bucket with
respect to product size is now just
pressing a button. From earlier days
pusher system the bundle is now guided
by a belt for gentle exit.
In addition to above basic items following
items are gaining popularity in India for
faster & automated operation.
Programmable control system: To define
bundle size and routes for distribution along
with storing of production data as well
as configuration this becomes a part of
automated mail room system. “Production
progress gets continuously updated and
production time for respective routes/
agents is recorded. There is a seamless
integration of machine control with the
corporate ERP system which helps getting
data directly from distribution department,”
explains Somnath.
Top sheet printing system with in-line
printer: Top sheet for the specific route
as programmed are printed and applied
on the bundle automatically. This specific
automation reduces manpower involvement
with zero error.
Plastic wrapping & strapping: After
top sheet is applied, automatic plastic
wrapping and strapping is done to form
the final bundle.
Bundle conveyor to truck loading: “For
newspaper printing plants with high
circulation along with multiple zones/
routes this system becomes equally
popular even in Indian context,” mentions
Somnath. After that the bundles are
automatically loaded to the respective
vehicles through some conveyors whose
height and length can be adjusted. A
laser scanner reads the bar code of top
sheet and directs them accordingly.
Inserter: Somnath says, "Mostly due to
external pressure and time required for
manual insertion of pre-printed sections
publishers are going for inserters. Various
choices are available depending upon
production volume, cost, etc. From semi
automatic to full range of automated
inserters with storage provision for pre
prints exist in the market."
In his final word, Somnath remarks that
for semi commercial use further folding
(quarter fold) and stitching system can
now be integrated to the mailroom system.
This can be followed by a trimmer to
form a magazine like product.
Newstech anticipates need of automation
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The automation and functions available
from the mailroom system suppliers are
single copy conveying/belt conveying of the
newspaper stream coming from the press
folder; individual copy addressing; online
inserting of supplements/advertisement
materials; exact counting and counter
stacking in bundle sizes as required
for distribution;
bundle addressing;
under wrapping or
plastic wrapping
the bundles; shrink
wrapping or cross
strapping bundles
the product is finally packed and sent to
various distributors, for getting newspaper
copies to individual houses/vendors, in time.”
Bare necessities: The basic mailroom
systems consist of newspaper copy conveying
using belt conveyors, counting & counter
stacking in good quality stackers to
make standard bundles or variable size
bundles as per distribution requirements,
plastic wrapping or under-wrapping and
cross strapping and bundle conveyors to
take bundles for delivery up to the vans,
for distribution. “The stacker could be
programmable to make the bundles as
required by distributors of odd sizes, to
Newstech anticipates need of automation
and finally truck loading, as per distribution
requirements.
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Most critical department: Updates on these
functionalities, Roy Alex, MD, Newstech
India mentions that there is a growing
need for automation in the mailroom area,
as the presses have become faster, with
more colour and therefore the production
demands less manual handling but more
automation. “The mailroom area is the
most critical department in the production
process, because it is in the mailroom that
reduce the ‘return’ of unsold products, i.e.
distributors only order the quantity they
can sell,” Roy points out.
Sophisticated system: The more
sophisticated mailrooms include single
newspaper copy conveyors; advertisement/
memo sticker applicators; single copy
addressing; inserting of ‘editorial
supplements and advertising ‘handbills’;
counting and counter stacking to make
newspaper bundles—programmed to make
‘variable size’ or standard (50/100/200
copies) bundles; bundle address application;
single copy or bundle under wrapping or
plastic wrapping; cross
strapping and/or shrink
wrapping, as the need
many be, based on the
size of the bundle.
Need of automation:
“The need for
automation is growing
even in the smaller and
medium size national
and regional newspapers as the presses
are becoming faster with more colour and
‘labour’ getting more expensive and often
erratic,” mentions Roy adding, “It also
saves ‘printed waste’ as the exact number
of copies are printed, without the need for
printing extra copies, as per production
requirements, to meet the distributor’s
order.” But most of all, a mailroom system
helps save time, as the last bundle would
be ready for delivery within two min after
the end of printing. But in case of manual
system it takes up to 25 – 30 min.
Now, automation in this area of production
– post printing – is very important in
improving the efficiency and productivity
of the newspaper production system!
Indigenously in Technicon way
India has finally woken up to the importance
of automation in the mailroom. Publishers
have realised the fact that mail room
automation is not only highly cost effective,
but also dependable and results in saving
time and eliminating human errors. Being
one of the pioneers in indigenously producing
mailroom automation equipment since the
year 2000, Technicon India has literally
enabled even small to medium scale
publishers to reap the benefits of mailroom
automation which was earlier the domain of
only the rich and the famous, so to speak!
“We at Technicon India have witnessed the
market evolve exponentially from wanting
to acquire the very basic Automation
Equipment to now wanting completely
unmanned automation equipment starting
from the press folder to loading the product
inside the van,” informs Rajiv Gandotra,
MD, Technicon India.
Cost-effective automation: “Bearing all
the advantages of automation in mailroom
system in mind, we have come to realise
that the mailroom automation has now
acquired the status of not just a money
and time saver but also that of a revenue
generator. We have kept our ears to the
ground and have always moved with the
times, indigenously developing various
machines each year and today we offer
almost all automation equipment required
in the mailroom,” says Rajiv. String of
automation equipments Technicon India
proudly manufactured include: overhead
conveyor systems; programmable counter
stackers (from 20,000 cph - 80,000 cph);
sheet under wrappers; plastic wrappers
for bundles; online strapping machines;
bundle movement automation; van loading
telescopic conveyors (transporting the
bundles right inside the truck).
Two innovations: Technicon has now
developed two first-of-their-kind machines in
India. STREAM Separator with its unique
technology allows the publisher to double
or even triple their production output in
real time, almost like magic, depending on
the number of pages and printing units. “In
layman’s terms, what was being printed in
six hours can be done now in two hours,
which in turn results in tremendous savings
in money and time, giving rise to the
opportunity to take on more work. This
concept is a first-of-its-kind never seen in
India before,” explains Rajiv.
Secondly, INSERTER for inserting
supplements into newspaper (online/
offline). “The Newspaper Big Daddy of
mailroom automation equipment will soon
be launched for the first time in India by
us in the coming
months. This is
one machine
that every
publisher aspires
to have in their
mailroom, but
due to prohibitory
importcosts,
had to stay
away from. The
installation of
this machine
will result in
eliminating the
vast workforce
required for
inserting
supplements into the main newspaper,”
shares Rajiv. Since these operations will
be done in real time, it basically means
that the last copy is dispatched as soon
as the printing is complete. Ensuring
that all the supplements are inserted into
each and every newspaper, leaving no
Indigenously in Technicon way room for human error
and ensuring that the
readers get all of what
they pay for.
New momentum:
“Today, the Indian
publisheris more
aware and demanding,
which has made us
push the envelope, upgrade and develop
new systems, keeping in tune with the
developed western markets, yet being
flexible enough to understand individual
needs and customise equipment to suit the
customer's requirements, at an affordable
price,” observes Rajiv.
Team Technicon India believes that the
forthcoming years are going to be very
exciting for the mailroom industry and they
look forward to seeing publishers across
the board introducing automation in their
mail rooms. In this connection, Rajiv puts
his final word of mutual relationship, “We
want the markets to expect more challenging
and path-breaking solutions from us so that
we strive to rise above and beyond their
expectations.”
Mathrubhumi foresees tailor-made mailroom
It was in the
1980s that
mailroom was
realised as a
necessity in
India. It was
the period of
transformation in print. From hot metal,
dailies were turning to typesetting. All out
awareness in adopting newer technologies
for coldest web was catching up. Quality
was becoming more and more important.
On the question of post press automation,
Bhasi PT, general manager - Production
& Maintenance, Mathrubhumi Printing &
Publishing Co Ltd explains that post press in
those meant packing. “Or packing machine
was the first component of mailroom that
came into field. Even counting used to be
manual. Of course, the batch counting was
done by printing machine. Strapping and
cross strapping were the main modules.
Pre-printed labels were manually applied
to bundles,” he asserts.
Bare necessity: Southern part of India
where rain was regular, wrapping with
HDPE film was also needed. So the packing
line included a wrapping module also in
the region. Many newspapers had stream
conveyors and counter stackers as well.
The stream conveyor carried the paper upto
the bundling/despatch areas. Compensating
counter stackers counted the copies in
beautiful bundles and transported them to
the packing lines. “It is in this backdrop
we have to see the present mail room
and its future automation possibilities,”
says Bhasi.
Innovative change: As the changes keep
ushering with time gripper conveyors are
replacing the stream conveyors. Medium
and large newspapers are already witnessing
this shift in their plants. Why? Reasons are
many. In this respect, Bhasi explains, “The
stream conveyor used to result in set off
to a great extent. The ink transfers from
one paper to the adjacent copy results in
marks on images and even on non image
areas. Where manual counting was the
practice, marks - maybe by packers and
finger marks were the defects. Stream
conveyors got rid of these defects but
induced the set off additionally. Gripper
conveyors grip the copies in a much more
decent way – may it be parallel to the
spine or to the second fold.”
Each gripper is indexed and the system
identifies copy in each gripper. Beauty of
indexing is that gripper conveyor can take
copies through unusually complex routes
which is practically impossible with stream
conveyors.
Advent of inserter: Inserter is the module
which is rarely installed even by large
newspapers. As the name indicates it
inserts preprints into main jacket. This
means sending the different bundles of
main paper and preprints independently is
no more there. This job is done within the
premises of the print shop. The preprints
(heatset, cold set or brochures) printed
at convenience is inserted into the hot
run product (main jacket). The properly
inserted bunch of each copy goes to the
counter-stacker.
Bhasi informs that the programmes in
the system ensure that any copy short
of the intended preprints does not go to
the counter stacker. Instead, these go as
overflow to another designated area from
where the main jacket and preprints are
recovered for further processing. With
proper production planning, practically any
number of preprints becomes a possibility.
“At this point, we should not forget that
the storage arrangement for preprints attract
huge investments in the Indian context.
As we talked of indexing each gripper, this
indexing identifies copy in each gripper
individually, this prevents the system
from dropping preprints into the pockets
of inserter where there is no jacket – for
reason what so ever,” he adds.
Labelling module: “Labelling is another
unavoidable module for automation. As per
the data base requirements of distribution,
files provided to the system provides label
addressed to individual distribution agents. In
some systems, we can even print personalised
messages. The designated copies can be
inserted with the needed preprints only.
Further, the indexing can be extended to
support personalised mailing,” says Bhasi.
He further mentions that automation can
be used for memo tagging also and preprinted
tags with adhesive on backside are
precisely possible to be pasted on to the
copy.
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Card gluers may also
attract good attention
in future. These may
be used as reminders
etc or for tear off
coupon purposes.
In addition, online
rotary trimmers also
will be used for
better productivity
in future. In this
context, Bhasi explains, “Along with online
gluing/stitching, the online trimmers will
substantially enhance production capacities
as well as bring down the production cost
of value added print production.”
Auto-loading system: Telescopic systems
for automatic loading in delivery trucks will
find greater applications in the despatch
area in years to come. In nutshell, the near
future will have mailrooms tailor made not
only for available space but also catering
to the exact needs of the production facility
and demographic peculiarities. Mailroom
will showcase models which will redefine
finer details of our vision. Wisdom will play
the vital role to identify the appropriate
ones to enhance the capacity base and
revenue streams.
DB Corp’s node to the innovation in mailroom
Mail room is equally
important as printing press
so as to timely deliver the
newspaper to the market. For DB
Corp or Dainik Bhaskar Group,
timely delivery of the newspaper
is not the only daily challenge of a
newspaper publisher. “In today’s
world of competition and cost
pressure, unit costs have to be
reduced and production quantities
per unit of time have increased.
In order to target specific readers
or group of readers, advertisers
and publishers are placing more
and more emphasis on zoning,
requiring that certain editions
be supplemented with targetspecific
editorial articles and
commercial inserts for such
groups or geographic regions,”
explains Sharad Patil, GM, DB
Corp. Of course, the mailroom
is increasingly becoming a place
where sophisticated marketing
products are created, using
technologies like conveying,
buffering, inserting, building and
routing bundles, and if required
palletizing and controlling,
stitching and trimming.
“Some production houses in
India with large circulations
have already invested in
mailroom automation to be
independent of large and
sometimes unpredictable labour
force required for manual
handling. Smaller centres are
still by and large labour oriented;
where counting and stacking
is automated by stackers from
Indian suppliers like Technicon,”
according to Sharad.
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Conveyor systems: It has
become more common to separate
dispatch area from press, to
enable this belt or gripper
conveyor systems being used
very commonly by production
houses. “High speed presses
at production units use gripper
conveyor systems which have
high degree of automation to
further integrate them to buffering
and storage, inserters, stackers and
loading systems. Sophisticated
conveyor systems pick and
identify copy for further process
till loading system. Such tasks
are often handled by Mailroom
Production Control System from
Muller Martini
or NOVA
Control System
from Schur,”
mentions Sharad. It is always
wise to look at automation
options offered by the suppliers
considering future expansions and
automation up-gradation.
Buffer in gandstorage
system: Nowadays mail room
manufacturers do offer buffering
and storage options by roll
systems. Thus it has now become
easy to preprint sections during
the day, wind them onto rolls,
store them automatically and
take them out of storage for
night insertion run. “True, such
buffering system allows the
press and mailroom to run
independently, at
maximum speeds,
with maximum
e fficiency and
economy,” says
Sharad. And the
high-rack storage
system is where
production houses
can temporarily
and economically
store a wide
range of preprinted sections
and commercial supplements in
smaller area, saving space.
Insertion: Sharad explains that
inserters are used where preprint
sections are stored and need to
be dispatched with main jacket.
There are large varieties these
days with speeds from 20,000 to
75,000 copies per hour. Multiple
preprints or flyers can be inserted
to the main jacket.
Stackers and packing lines:
“Stack-Pack line is the heart of
the mailroom systems where the
complete products are counted,
bundled and packed before
it is finally dispatched to the
market. The packing lines
are nowadays equipped with
programmed bundling facility
and bundle addresser to identify
the destination of the bundle,”
mentions Sharad. The packing
lines are online with facility
to under wrap, plastic wrap
DB Corp’s node to the innovation in mailroom and strap the bundle to prevent
transit damages.
Loading systems: Mailroom
Control System along with
Bundle addresser handles the
automation of loading systems.
“Many newspaper production
houses use automatic loading
system to minimise manual
handling and faster dispatch.
This also makes the dispatch
area vehicle movement smooth,”
asserts Sharad.
Interactive ads: Flexible
or interactive ads play vital
marketing tools. As newspaper
advertising becoming more and
more innovative to make the
advertisement more ‘visible’
add on attachments like card
and sample gluing systems for
MemoStick, sample pouches or
cards are used a unique and
exclusive advertising format for
the print products, whether it’s
through prominent placement
or eye-catching design on
newspapers and magazines.
“Such attachments can be
installed online with gripper
conveying systems or offline
with belt conveyor feed, offline
ones will have speed limitations,”
says Sharad.
Folding and stitching: “So as to
reduce the total production time
of magazines, attachments like
Fold n’Stitch from Ferag and
similar products from Muller
Martini are becoming popular
with high speed presses, which
can take copy from conveyor or
feeder folds, stitches and trims
as per requirements all online,”
mentions Sharad adding that a
particularly useful process for
city guides or event brochures.
The production houses involved
in job work would have an edge
over competitors.
Well, after all well said and seen, what it looms large in a
debatable way is a question on the relevance of automated
mailroom system in the current newspaper market of India,
which is majorly manual labour-oriented in nature. Compared
to any western country, labour cost in India is relatively cheap
and this workforce do manage bundling, stacking, strapping,
insertions and everything manually in the mailrooms or dispatch
divisions of local dailies in various towns. What it needs in the
first place to let them attract to the advantages of automated
mailroom systems – systematic way, accurately, time-saving
and ultra-modern.
