Agfa readies to tackle papers with DGNews digital press

At drupa 2008 Agfa Graphics introduced the Dotrix DGNews, a digital inkjet press for short-run printing. The new press is based on Agfa’s Dotrix Transcolor designed for transactional and transpromotional printing. The technology inside is similar to the Dotrix Modular, which was designed to print on a variety of substrates for industrial applications — folding cartons, packaging, displays, and plastic bags. To construct the DGNews press, Agfa took the duplexing capability from the Dotrix Transcolor and primed it for newsprint, added a sheet cutter, a drum collator and a double folding unit for single and double folds to produce fully finished tabloid or broadsheet newspapers.

Newspapers & Technology talked with Richard Barham, Agfa Graphics’ vice president for inkjet, worldwide about the company’s plans regarding digital printing in the newspaper market.
Photo: Agfa
Agfa’s Richard Barham stands next to an Agfa Modular press at last
month’s drupa.

N&T: What is the market potential for short-run digital printing?

Barham: We see the short-run digital printing taking hold in three phases.

First, we see newspaper distributors as the early adopters of this technology. A system such as the Dotrix DGNews will allow them to distribute precise circulation for large newspapers in remote locations. Already, there are two audiences — professionals who are living abroad and want to see the news from their native country. We call this the roaming market. A French broker, for example, working in New York on Wall Street would be able to get an 8:30 edition of Les Echos instead of having to wait until late afternoon, which is currently the case.

The other audience is tourists. Europeans who may be vacationing in Miami Beach will be able to get the early edition of their home newspaper each morning.

Distributors will be able to print for their newspaper clients locally, so the newspaper can reach those markets on a more timely basis with minimal waste. With the Dotrix DGNews they can print the exact quantity when needed with comparable quality to the original. They can even print the same size; there is no need to shrink the titles since the Dotrix DGNews can handle a full broadsheet.

A major advantage for the newspaper will be the ability to capture local advertisers. So Coppertone will be able to reach a very finely tuned tourist trade as well as its larger mass market. The first installation of the DGNews is taking place this summer at a distributor who caters to this very market — the firm delivers native newspapers to tourists traveling abroad.

We see the second wave of digital printing occurring as the capabilities of the technology increase. With faster speeds newspapers will be able to reach out to secondary markets with shorter, highly efficient editions. They will be able to deliver more targeted audiences to their advertisers. Community papers are a typical example of this case.

In the third wave, those newspapers will be able to personalize newspapers — that is, deliver very specific types of content by demographic. For example, newspapers going to a college campus will include advertising inserts geared specifically to 18 to 21 year olds. They’ll be able to deliver custom titles to markets they are currently unable to reach.

N&T: Are you describing a new business model for newspapers?

Barham: I would describe it more as a new opportunity for distributors where remote delivery is a requirement. Then as the technology moves forward, newspapers will adopt the technology to serve their local markets on a much more targeted basis. It isn’t necessarily changing the model, it is broadening it.

N&T: Can you provide a cost model comparison?

Barham: Newspapers typically use 2,000 or 3,000 tabloid copies, depending on the operation, as the breakeven point for offset printing. With the Dotrix DGNews you can print as few as one to 50 copies and still be competitive. The cost per copy is the same whether you print one or 3000 copies.

We are working on increasing the speed of the DGNews substantially over the course of the next year, with a goal toward bringing the cost per copy down even further.

N&T: If you are selling to distributors, who sells and services the system?

Barham: Agfa handles sales, installation, training and service.

N&T: How is color management handled?

Barham: Agfa integrates our ColorTune color management suite with the Dotrix DGNews. This is the technology we use in our proofing systems that allows us to match any output profile. Color is accurate. UV inks also allow a much wider color gamut for better color matching, especially important for matching special color.

N&T: How does the DGNews integrate into the workflow?

Barham: Very easily with our Apogee X workflow software. The DGNews was designed to integrate easily into any workflow — Agfa or non-Agfa.