Features/Benefits Provided: Provided real-time visibility to newsprint, FSI and ROP inventory Provided complete accountability of inserted ads Supported more refined demographic zoning Increased production window

A long established newspaper in America's heartland was faced with an aging fleet of presses coupled with advertiser's requesting more color and finer zoning. To meet these and other production challenges, their parent company decided it was time to build a new facility. The result was a state-of-the-art $200 million printing and packaging plant near its main building. Their downtown site posed challenges for adequate storage of newsprint and advertisers inserts (FSIs). To maximize the use of the site, the supplier designed an integrated solution that included two high-density Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) working in unison with a material and tracking control software system (MTC).

The supplier's material handling control system (MHCS) communicates with press controls and automated reel loading equipment for newsprint roll requirements. MTC's Newsprint, Insert, and Package modules along with MHCS coordinate and optimize the work for both the AS/RS Systems and fork truck operators. The MTC control layer receives Purchase Order, Production Order, and Distribution Information from the production planning system.

MTC's Package Manager manages pallets of completed packages and ensures each pallet is delivered to the correct dock and trailer. It then confirms delivery at each of Newspaper's 11 distribution facilities. To reap the most benefit from the new press investment, the delivery-to-press solution is fully automated from the AS/RS through roll prep to roll delivery. With two press lines situated in parallel, the supplier provided a unique and redundant solution. Two SRM roll handling machines are located between the two press lines. Each machine services its adjacent press line; however, if necessary each is capable of servicing both presses.

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