Paarl Web

Paarl Web produce over 60 magazine titles, with a staff of over 200. Part of the Paarl Post Group, Paarl Web is based in the town of Paarl, which is 60km from Cape Town, South Africa.

Apart from quality, other factors that effect the satisfaction of customers include speed of turnaround and cost. To be at peak efficiency in both areas the printer needs to be able to schedule each job as it arrives at the factory in order that everyone is aware of when it is needed and what is needed to print it, and monitor press and paper performance whilst jobs are running. Paarl saw QTMS as the system to provide such answers.

Paarl Web began in 1993 with the installation of a Heidelberg Harris M300 16-page press. Since then it has added a new press every two years, though this even spacing is somewhat coincidental, as the company will only grow according to demand, and not merely for the sake of getting bigger.

The second press - a 32-page Goss Baker Perkins G16 - arrived from new. Third to come on stream in 1997 was the first of the company’s 16-page MAN Roland Rotoman N presses. The second followed in 1999, which came on stream in the June of that year. To complete the picture, and break the two year cycle, a fifth press - a MAN Roland Polyman - was installed early in 2000.

The QTMS systems at Paarl are controlled and monitored by production manager Hentie Olwage. He can access any information from any computer terminal in the building, or, indeed from his home computer by means of a modem and password. As production manager he is able, via passwords, to change the priority of jobs going to press, and even change the stock to be used.

As well as allowing management to keep track of work in progress, the QTMS system allows a range of additional functions. For example, the system has sensors built into the various sections of the presses which keep track of the status of both the press and the paper. If the press stops for any reason the specific sensor sends a message through to the terminals situated both at the press and, via a server, to the various departments of the business, indicating the time of the stoppage and the reason. Accurate records are maintained in the QTMS database regarding the amount of down time for any given press, as well as time spent on make-ready, and copies run to waste. Information on the operator terminal also details press speed, copies printed, copies remaining and time required to complete the job.

QTMS also records an accurate measurement of the weight of the paper stock as it is passed through the press. Olwage comments, “The QTMS system measures every metre of the web and records the weight and it will also show any imperfections in the paper caused during the making. It is quite common for paper labelled as 90gsm to be anywhere between 86 and 94gsm. We can take the report produced by the QTMS system to the paper manufacturers and they will refund us because the QTMS system is internationally recognised. They don’t even argue with us - they just accept the results of the report.”

In addition to this the system also allows an accurate and up-to-date stock check to be maintained. When paper is withdrawn from stock, details are entered into QTMS.