Advantages of Rotogravure vs. Web Offset

By Jack Graber
2nd in a 3-part series
(See Part 1, "Rotogravure: A Missed -- and Misunderstood -- Opportunity for Publishers".)

Rotogravure has a variety of advantages over heatset web offset (HSWO), which is the usual method for printing magazines and catalogs:

• Lower running (per M) costs, especially when filling the entire press.

• Having no intermediate blanket, ink-water balance problems, or printing of wet ink on wet ink, rotogravure can lay down a greater proportion of ink with more consistency than HSWO. That leads to superior detail and depth of color even on the lightest of papers, which means publishers can reduce their paper and postage costs without sacrificing quality

• Rotogravure is better suited to lightweight uncoated papers. When HSWO printers use lightweight supercalendered papers, the low surface strength often leads to slower press speeds, linting, and high ink usage. Not so with roto. Rotogravure printing on a good SCA can actually achieve print quality equal to that of HSWO on a more expensive lightweight coated #5 paper.

• The variable cutoff leads to less trim waste because you can tailor the cylinder size and web width. HSWO presses have a fixed cutoff.

• The ability to print large signatures, such as 96-page forms, enables some publishers to save on bindery costs by using fewer hoppers.
  
  
• The ability to print large numbers of pages on one press also can reduce cycle time.

Next: Part 3, "Combining Roto and Web Offset on the Same Product"

Summer Sale Approved With Flying Colors

The Postal Regulatory Commission approved the U.S. Postal Service's "Summer Sale" today and predicted it will be profitable for the agency.

"The Postal Service is to be commended for its response to current market conditions," the PRC said in its order. It is, however, requiring USPS to report results of the sale in detail, including information regarding whether it causes customers to shift mail from First Class to Standard class.

"Development and use of appropriate metrics in evaluating the program are critical in determining whether the program is successful, and also for assessing the long-term implications of such an approach," the PRC wrote in approving the "short-term pricing experiment."

Based on the Postal Service's projections and its own analysis, "the Commission concludes that a positive contribution from the program is likely."

Formal comments filed with the PRC about the proposal were overwhelmingly supportive, with expected opposition from rural letter carriers never materializing. In addition to the formal documents, the PRC said it had "received nearly 300 letters, expressing nearly unanimous support for the program."

The Summer Sale will provide rebates of 30% on incremental Standard flats and letters sent by large mailers during the months of July, August, and September this year. The Postal Service has indicated that it might repeat this sort of incentive to boost volume during generally slow periods.

Rotogravure: A Missed -- and Misunderstood -- Opportunity for Publishers

By Jack Graber

(Dead Tree Edition is pleased to welcome guest author Jack Graber, a member of Production Executive's Hall of Fame and most recently Director of Production and Corporate Paper for Redcats, a leading multi-catalog company. Although he's a catalog guy, even magazine people recognize him as the best in the business when it comes to figuring out whether rotogravure or offset, or both, are best for a particular print job. You can reach Jack at jlg500@aol.com. This is the first of a three-part series.)

Many publishers are overlooking a great opportunity to save money and improve print quality on the current crop of lightweight papers. That opportunity is rotogravure, one of the most misunderstood of the major printing processes.

Roto competes head to head with the more popular web-offset process for the production of high-volume catalogs and magazines. But previous rules of thumb about roto have misled many people, especially in North America, regarding how much volume you need to make rotogravure competitive with web-offset.

The popular rule of thumb is that it takes a print order of 1 million for roto to break even with offset, but in many cases it may make sense for much smaller press runs.

To understand the advantages of the process, we must first grasp the basics of rotogravure production. It’s an intaglio process, which means the image area is separated from the non image areas by being engraved below the surface – in this case into a smooth copper cylinder. Digital data for text and images feeds a machine known as a Helioklischograph, which does the engraving with diamond heads. The entire cylinder rotates in a bath of ink. As the cylinder turns, the excess ink is wiped off by a flexible steel doctor blade.

The paper is printed directly as it passes between the printing cylinder and the impression cylinder, with the impression cylinder containing an electric charge that causes the ink to be removed completely from the engraved cells.

The publication gravure press has the web going through the first four units, where only one side of the paper is printed at a time. Each color is dry before the next color is printed. The paper then travels up to be turned over and to have the second side printed. (In contrast, web offset prints both sides at the same time and does not dry one color completely before another is applied.)

The web of paper then goes through two folders – an upper folder to slit the larger web into what are known as ribbons and the lower folder to make the final signatures.

One advantage of gravure is the many options for sizes and page counts because both the cylinder circumference (or cutoff) and the web width can vary. For some of the high page-count magazine and catalog formats, you can print as many as 144 publication-size pages on the same press.

It costs more to start up a rotogravure press than an offset press, and it takes somewhat longer to make cylinders than offset plates. However the greater press capacity allows for less overall production time and the printing of less total forms for the bindery.

Next: Part 2, "Advantages of Rotogravure vs. Web Offset"

Q&A on the Donnelley-Quebecor World Deal

For the latest on Donnelley's effort to buy Quebecor World, see "After 3 Swings at Quebecor, Has Donnelley Struck Out?"

R.R. Donnelley’s proposal to take over Quebecor World has been the talk lately of almost everyone involved in producing real books, magazines, and catalogs. (By “real” I mean ink-on-paper publications, as opposed to the kind that can only be read on petrochemical-containing, electricity-burning devices. You know, “dead tree editions”, as opposed to “dead dinosaur editions.”)

There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about what is going on, including some notable goofs by the mainstream media. To clear up the confusion, Dead Tree Edition (with the help of some anonymous correspondents) offers this Q&A guide:

Q: The big question: Can the deal win government approval? A: Adam Dewitz of PrintCeo says, "I don't see anything stopping this deal from going through," and Frank Romano chips in with a video commentary at the same site noting there are thousands of printers in the U.S. The problem with that view is that there is not one printing market but many; small sheetfed shops are irrelevant to the RRD-QW discussions. Some major print-buying organizations are already planning anti-trust challenges to RRD's proposal. Although Donnelley will probably end up buying QW, it seems likely that some plants will have to be divested -- especially in markets like rotogravure printing that are already oligopolies. (Because rotogravure printing is such an important part of the discussion and yet not widely understood, Dead Tree Edition has invited industry expert Jack Graber to explain the ins and outs of rotogravure from a buyer’s perspective and how it can be used in conjunction with offset. Look for Jack’s three-part series starting tomorrow.)

Q: Is it a good deal for Quebecor? A: First of all, we have to define what is meant by “Quebecor”. If you mean the stockholders of Quebecor World, the proposal would not change anything: As with QW’s proposed bankruptcy-exit plan, they would get nothing. If you mean the banks, bondholders, and other creditors who control and essentially own QW, then the answer seems to be yes as long as a couple of kinks can be worked out. (See "Time May Not Be on Donnelley's Side" and "Donnelley Makes Another Pass at Quebecor World".) If you mean the company called “Quebecor” that is headed by P. K. Peladeau, it’s irrelevant; that company is no longer affiliated with QW and in fact has filed litigation to force QW to drop “Quebecor” from its name.

Q: You mean the Wall Street Journal goofed when its story about the proposal included that goofy photo of Quebecor’s annual meeting? And other mainstream reporters were off base when they referred to the acquisition target’s Canadian newspapers? A: Yep. RRD’s press release did not explain that QW and Quebecor are unrelated. For business reporters at newspapers these days, if it’s not in the press release, it’s not news; consulting sources who actually know something about an industry is so Twentieth Century.

Q: Why is Donnelley’s proposal so good for the QW creditors? A: RRD is offering to give the creditors everything they would get from the bankruptcy reorganization, plus some Donnelley stock. And it’s not even asking QW to close the deal, it’s just asking to be named the stalking horse. That means the creditors would be free to seek better offers for parts or all of the company. If Donnelley presents a formal proposal that matches what it has outlined, it’s hard to see why the Quebecor creditors wouldn’t accept it.

Q: Did Donnelley make a good move? A: Most folks I’ve talked with think so. Its proposal will prevent the emergence of a rejuvenated, debt-free Quebecor World into an already troubled marketplace. Even if it doesn’t get all of QW, it will have a big say in what happens to the company’s assets.

Q: And what will it do with those assets? A: Shut down the least competitive ones, along with some plants it already owns, to stem the impact of overcapacity on printing prices and to eliminate redundancies. It’s hard to see Donnelley continuing to operate two large rotogravure plants in Nevada that are only 46 miles apart. One commenter noted a parallel with NewPage, which became the market leader in coated papers after buying StoraEnso’s North American mills and then undertook shutdowns to prop up paper prices amidst declining demand.

Q: What about competitors? A:Some think the new Donnelley would be large enough to crush the competition, but most people see RRD’s move as a real gift to competitors like Quad/Graphics, Brown, and Transcontinental. As someone noted, you can question how well NewPage’s strategy has worked for NewPage, but there’s no question it has been good for rival Verso Paper.

Q: And what about customers? A: I'm told that one discussion among publishing executives reached this consensus: “We’re screwed.”