NZME's newspaper printing plant at Ellerslie in Auckland has won repeat entry into the exclusive WAN-IFRA International Newspaper Color Quality Club.
Having become the first and only New Zealand newspaper printer accepted into the biennially-reviewed club in 2014 (when known as APN Print Ellerslie), NZME Ellerslie was the only Australasian firm to enter the 2016-2018 competition cycle.
Its production of the 32-page, four-section and 10,000-copy broadsheet Chinese Herald, which is printed four times per week on a 20-year-old Goss HT70 press, was ranked 30 out of 150 global entrants.
“The WAN-IFRA process is very intensive and demanding -- you either get accepted or you fail,” said NZME Ellerslie operations manager Russell Wieck. “Entrants have to print a product on a set date over three consecutive months. Contained within each copy is the IFRA ‘Cuboid’ which effectively records data relevant to the technical element of the submission.
“Successful entrants must surpass a base score on each monthly assessment of the Cuboid production and NZME Ellerslie did so in flying colours -- achieving 538.21 out of a possible 540 points collectively," Wieck said. “Following this analysis, two random copies are then selected by judges and the first 16 pages of each is scrutinised further for print quality. Successful entrants again need to surpass a base score and NZME Ellerslie ultimately did this with distinction.
“This confirms, even though our press is 20 years old, it is still able to produce world-class quality. And that comes down to the people who are using it -- it is really about harnessing the passion, training and skills of the staff.”
This year also saw NZME win the coveted PrintNZ Training Company of the Year Award as well as five Pride In Print Gold Medals and nine Highly Commended Certificates.