Tamil-language newspaper Daily Thanthi has expanded available presstime at five sites following an upgrade including automatic colour registration.

QuadTech’s MultiCam technology has been installed on presses in Cuddalore, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu in southern India, following four years’ experience of two systems at the headquarters in Chennai.

With the gear in place, the company is claiming a 20 per cent reduction in time to register and ten per cent waste saving. Oh, and improved print quality is contributing to increased circulation and readership.

Director S. Balasubramanian Adityan says previously colour and colour register were measured manually: “The biggest challenge came when the number of colour pages increased,” he says. “It was very difficult for operators to control register on our high-speed, double width and double circumference presses.”

Benefits have included shorter makeready times, reduced startup waste, consistent colour, and optimised labour and press usage.

Adityan says the company “used to face a challenge” with register variation after each auto-pasting cycle, but this has been eliminated. The colour register and ribbon control systems are operated from QuadTech’s ICON platform, which integrates with downstream equipment such as UV coaters, perforators and rotary cutters.

Established in 1942 with a mission to educate and create awareness among all sections of the Tamil community, Daily Thanthi is now an all-colour broadsheet printed in 16 locations and with a circulation of more than 1.5 million.

Pictured at a press inauguration are (from left) Vinodhkumar Balakrishnan QuadTech regional sales manager), R. Chandrasekaran (Daily Thanthi chief general manager), S. Balasubramanian Adityan, Sabarish Subrmanian (QuadTech service engineer) and D. Ranganathan (assistant general manager, production & IT).