MILFORD — Located in the northern Indiana town of Milford, The Papers Incorporated has been a family owned and operated business founded in 1939 when Arch Baumgartner took over the reins of The Milford Mail. The Papers has evolved into a diverse combination of newspaper, magazine publications and commercial printing now run by Arch’s son, Ron Baumgartner, who joined the company in 1966.

In September 2018, The Papers contracted with DCOS Automation Sweden for a press automation upgrade, which includes automatic register, ink density and cut-off control cameras and associated control and integration equipment for the 16-unit MAN Cromoman press.

The Cromoman press configuration is four towers and one folder. The existing QTI register system was replaced by eight CRC4 closed-loop density/register control cameras. The folder was equipped with four PCT4 cut-off cameras. For ink density control, DCOS integrated the CRC4 cameras with the existing MAN Roland remote ink system.

According to Todd Clark, plant manager for The Papers, the project evaluation took place in 2018 and after initial meetings with DCOS, “We contacted several DCOS users who shared positive feedback on the ease of use and how the system has exceeded their performance expectations in terms of quality and waste control.”

Clark visited DCOS customers in Norway as part of the evaluation. “The Norway site visits really demonstrated the savings the DCOS systems can provide. The startup waste numbers were amazingly low. The other interest in the visits was reviewing the press controls upgrades offered by DCOS. This is an area of future interest for us as we consider options in keeping ahead of electronic obsolescence,” said Clark.

The equipment was installed in February and according to Clark, “The system has been operational for only a few weeks and we are already seeing improved waste reduction. We have also received compliments from customers regarding print quality achieved from the closed-loop color control.”

Ron Ehrhardt, DCOS sales director for the Americas, adds an interesting “second generation” link of this project to a past project at The Papers. “In 1968, my dad sold Arch and Ron Baumgartner a three-unit Goss Community press and 50 years later I was able to sell Ron this automation upgrade. I think that’s pretty cool.”