Good things come in small parcels, and ASEAN Newspaper Printers delivered a range of bite-sized delights during its conference in Manila yesterday.

The one-day format – preceded by a golf tournament and ‘get to know you’ dinner – is an experiment, and board members were meeting today to discuss whether it should be a fixture.

Another option being considered is that of taking a targeted conference to specific countries to increase its southeast Asia accessibility.

As it was, the tight one-day programme worked extremely well, delivering a range of user experiences as well as product updates from vendors.

Senator Paulo Benigno Aquino – nephew of former Philippines president Corazon and younger brother of the assassinated Ninoy – set the theme, urging delegates to work together whatever their competitive backgrounds: “The only way is to find the common ground,” Aquino, who is chairman of the trade and commerce senate committee, said.

Oh, and enjoy yourselves, he added, reprising the country’s “It’s more fun in the Philippines” slogan. That spirit had been apparent in traditional son and dance displays the previous evening, where musicians literally bent over backwards to please.

Technical contributions were many and varied. For platinum sponsor Kodak – of which he is Shanghai-based marketing vice president – Evandro Matteucci talked of publishers’ twin focus on grasping new opportunities and removing costs: “The programme reflects that,” he said.

For Kodak, that meant new business from inkjet imprinting and digital newspaper printing, but also the cost and environmental advantages of processless Sonora plates.

He sees great potential for hybrid systems – inkjet heads delivering variable data on conventional newspaper presses – and had examples from China, Germany and the UK. The question will be whether publishers can be equally successful in countries where in-paper gaming is not widespread.

Inkjet personalization is however, delivering the link between newspaper readers and publishers’ online sites, as well as localised advertising to compete with direct mail, and even copy tracking.

At the Nancheng Daily, lucky numbers had brought fortune for the publisher, helping lift circulation almost tenfold. And Britain’s Sun was using a unique code to encourage readers to share personal information in exchange for a chance to win prizes.

From Australia, Marcus Hooke – recruited from toothpaste-maker Colgate to lead a focus on lean manufacturing at the News Corp subsidiary there – talked of the trade-off which had enabled them to develop a new culture across the group’s print sites.

Conventional structures were :turned upside down” with management levels removed and leaders supported rather than being told what to do: “Leadership was one of our biggest challenges, and we knew we needed a different skill set for the future,” he said. “By investing in people, and helping them gain transferrable skills, they no longer felt trapped.”

A major project included upgrading 20-year-old equipment at Brisbane to allow another plant nearby to be closed (see stories on Brisbane renewal and plans for other sites). “We want to be able to print for another ten or 15 years,” Hooke said.

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Perspectives on productivity were also the theme when Jimmy Oo of Times Printing tackled overall equipment effectiveness and the “reality check” moment when management have to decide whether to restore or replace.

Later, Peter Kirwan updated on Goss’s highly-automated Magnum Compact press – letting a video from Shanghai tell much of the story – while Agfa’s Reinhilde Alaert outlined its developments in both prepress and online publishing, filling in the detail on sustainability with her own company’s manufacturing experience.

Fujifilm’s Mitsuhiro Imaizumi was also to talk about environmental products and the company’s “green policy”.

Automation was a common topic for QuadTech’s Ahmedabad (India) based Vinodhkumar – talking closed-loop colour control – and Marcel Binder explaining the marketing potential of Ferag mailroom developments including systems to attach a variety of self-adhesive products including fragrance samples. He also urged delegates to look closer at inserting commercial inserts, which “can do things the newspaper can’t”.

Mailroom matters were also much in mind for Karthigesu Muniyandi, assistant technical services manager at Star Publications and one of five user delegates to share their experiences.

Muniyandi told of the piece-by-piece replacement of two 30-year-old newspaper conveyors, and the organizational lessons learned along the way.

Back on the press, Star technical services had replaced shaftless drives on its 13-year-old Goss Colorliner 80 presses with a similarly painstaking process. Assistant manager P. Krishnan had the detail.

And Singapore Press Holdings’ process assistant manager Leslie Lim told how the Straits Times publisher had overcome a cylinder offset on its KBA presses to produce super-panoramas and a range of other advertising products with a Planatol glueing system.

Such systems continue to deliver eyeballs for advertisers, and from New Straits Times Press, Ungku Ibrahim took delegates through a five-day campaign for a Japanese canned coffee brand which addressed five senses with ads that popped-up, talked, appeared in 3D and of course, smelled of coffee. More of this later, but a classic example of the things printed newspapers can do, and which differentiate them from digital ads.

Perhaps most importantly, the programme delivered ample opportunity for delegates to make and share contacts with breaks and two evening social events. We’ll be back and encourage others to look our for next year’s dates.

Peter Coleman

Smell it: Marcel Binder with a fragranced stick-on

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