The trend towards newspapers printed on digital inkjet presses continues with two developments from Océ, manufacturers of the world’s best-selling digital inkjet press, the Océ JetStream range.
Océ’s Digital Newspaper Network (DNN) partner in London, Stroma, is now producing full colour editions of the international mastheads, including The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald, printed for travellers to the UK.
Across the channel in France, Interval, a leading French direct marketing company specialising in direct mail and Transpromo printing as well as fulfillment services, has recently installed an Océ JetStream 1400 to produce colour editions of international newspaper for expatriates and visitors to France.
With a speed of 100 m/min the Océ JetStream 1400 produces up to 1,400 36-page tabloid newspapers per hour. During its day shifts Interval will produce direct mail and Transpromo services, the night shift will be filled with newspaper production.
Stroma, which has been a partner in the DNN since 2001, has vastly expanded the range of titles the company now prints through the purchase of an Océ JetStream 1000 digital inkjet colour printer.
Steve Brown, Managing Director of Stroma Germany, said: “Now we’re in colour we’ve expanded our titles from the previous eight black and white to a choice of about 1400 different titles. Currently we run anything between 50 and 60 titles a day.
“The introduction of the Océ JetStream 1000 – printing in excess of 1,000 36-page tabloids per hour – enables longer runs of digitally produced newspapers and further expansion into book publications for Stroma.
“Colour has made a huge difference from an advertising and publishing perspective. In addition, the technology lends itself to adding value to companies like Qantas Airlines for example. We print a couple of Australian titles for them and they go on to the seats of business and first class passengers, usually at the same time as Australians are waking to read them.”
Supplying digital printing services across London and the surrounding area, Stroma is one of five Océ Digital Newspaper Network sites in the world. The others are in Singapore, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney. Around 30 million newspaper copies have been produced globally through this network since 2001, of which a quarter were printed by Stroma.
A pioneer and market leader in digital production, the company prints and distributes international newspaper titles from across the globe to readers in London. These titles include the New York Times, Moscow Times, The Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald, plus numerous financial publications, such as The Wall Street Journal.
Herbert Kieleithner, marketing manager for Production Print, Océ Australia, says: “Newspapers printed digitally in colour provide a steady revenue stream and potential growth opportunity for newspaper publishers and printers looking to capitalise on the round-the-clock usage of an Océ JetStream printer.
“The Océ JetStream inkjet technology is complementary to offset and opens up many new doors for targeted, niche, personalised products, which can be of value to newspaper proprietors.
“Nowadays newspapers published pretty well anywhere in the world can be read on any continent at virtually the touch of a digital button.
“In December 2010, Océ and manroland AG announced a strategic alliance to offer the market total digital printing solutions aimed at the graphic arts industry. With this alliance, Océ's focus in the digital newspaper market is now widening from decentralized production of international newspapers to short-run national markets and micro-zoning workflows, combining offset and digital production.” Kieleithner says.