1

CAROL LOLLIS

Al Gormley, Chris Kostek, and Chris LeBeau, from left, employees of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, work to fix the folder on the Cerutti press Tuesday morning.

2

CAROL LOLLIS

Al Gormley, Chris Kostek, and Chris LeBeau, from left, employees of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, work to fix the folder on the Cerutti press Tuesday morning.

NORTHAMPTON - It's a hassle when your computer printer jams. Imagine that happening to a printer 100 times as big.

Repeated jams in the Gazette's printing press led staff here to take the 220-ton machine offline early Tuesday, delaying production of that day's paper by more than 12 hours. Tuesday's paper hit newsstands by mid-afternoon.

After repairs were made, the press was operating normally Tuesday night. Wednesday's paper was printed on time, and both editions will reach home subscribers Wednesday morning. About 12,000 households have the Gazette delivered.

Local radio and TV stations helped get the word out that Tuesday's edition would be late, but the Gazette's circulation department was still swamped with hundreds of calls from readers wondering where their paper was. Publisher Jim Foudy said callers were sympathetic when they heard the explanation.

Meanwhile, all the news that would have been in the paper, plus late-breaking updates, was made available free online on GazetteNET.

Because of the production issues involved, Wednesday's paper went to press about 3 1/2 hours early, at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, which means late sports stories and late-breaking news did not make the print edition of Wednesday's Gazette.

Those stories were posted online Tuesday night and will be published in Thursday's print edition. The content in Wednesday's print edition is also free on GazetteNET.

The cause

Printing presses are "giant mechanical devices with a lot of moving parts that move very quickly, so they're subject to breakdowns," Foudy said.

He said the jams created a "domino effect," damaging other parts of the folder, a part of the press that collates and creases each page of the newspaper. To get the system working again, the Gazette called in help from the Italian manufacturer of the press, as well as one of its competitors, The Republican newspaper of Springfield.

The Gazette began using its 112-foot-long, 33-foot-high Cerutti S-4 flexographic double-width press in August 2008. About 18,000 copies of the Gazette are printed every weekday, a process that usually takes about 45 minutes.

Similar problems cropped up from time to time with the Gazette's previous press, a Goss Urbanite, but over its 46 years of service the press crew had learned well all of its quirks, Foudy said. They're still getting acquainted with the S-4, he said. "It's so new, every breakdown is a new problem," Foudy said.

Trouble brewing

Workers first noticed problems with the press about midnight Monday, while The Recorder of Greenfield was being printed. By the time the Gazette was supposed to be printed, the press would not run fast or for very long without getting jammed, Foudy said.

Contributing to the problems Tuesday was the absence of the Gazette's press foreman, John Raymer, who is recovering from surgery. Luckily, The Republican's press manager, Mike DeLude, drove up to help.

"They offered us assistance and we said that might be the best thing we could do," Foudy said.

The press manufacturer, the Cerutti Group of Casale Monferrato, Italy, provided phone support, and will send a representative soon to inspect the system, Foudy said.

Even after Tuesday's paper was finished printing, the press crew continued to make repairs, replacing belts that may have contributed to the jam problem. It's still unclear why the folder started breaking down in the first place, Foudy said.

James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.