Good business is a matter of trust
The Augsburger Allgemeine as a newspaper has always stood the test of time and therewith has always been up-to-date. Established in 1945 as „Schwäbische Landeszeitung“ the newspaper was one of the first dailies after World War II. It was established by Curt Frenzel and a small journalistic team. The first edition was a fundamental journalistic restart, a newspaper above party lines after a time of depression and destruction during the national socialists’ dictatorship. Since that time the paper has proven itself during times of change above decades and generations: name, font and design as well as content changed – at last in 2007 when the paper got a new fresh face. What always remained was the proven form as a family business.
Newspaper as a media has a future – although at these times we experience the greatest media revolution since the invention of letterpress printing: New technologies and communication tools impact men and markets. Much information that formerly only appeared in newspapers now reaches media users via many new channels and ways. All this has early been recognized by the company. For every media subject new sectors have been established consequently: broadcast, TV, internet. All this is rounded by a call center Dialog-Factory, the sales provider Logistic-Factory, the vmm Wirtschaftsverlag (economical publishing house) the letter supply by Logistic-Mail-Factory and the direct advertising distributor Direktwerbung Bayern (direct mail).
Thereon you can count - for more than 60 years now
How Mediengruppe Pressedruck was established. A service provider that offers all possibilities for information out of one hand and links them to an overall cross media service. Mediengruppe Pressedruck today is one of the leading information providers in Germany with one of the most modern printing houses of all. What makes the company so successful is using its experiences as a traditional newspaper publisher. Like the readers can count on the comprehensibility of the Augsburger Allgemeine, confidence and reliability have to be carried to all the other new media subjects of the company.
Flagship of the company has always been and will always be the daily newspaper. The Augsburger Allgemeine is one of the biggest Bavarian subscription newspapers. Together with its partner the Allgäuer Zeitung the paper today reaches a circulation of about 350,000 copies and more than 900,000 readers a day. Main distribution areas are Bavarian Swabia and the close-by parts of Upper Bavaria.
The Augsburger Allgemeine can be proud of its high reader loyalty: More than 90 percent of daily circulation is sold via subscription. Responsible for reader satisfaction and first class information are also the professional local and regional coverage as well as a network of international correspondents. That means at the same time regional and international news, a modern and clear
appearance and a high reader value with special customer promotion campaigns.
Besides the Augsburger Allgemeine offers appealing special publications out of an ambitious editorial environment as well as a strong networking with its online service at www.augsburger-allgemeine.de.
Additionally the publishing house produces the weekly advertising paper Extra. Every week the well-known freesheet is published with a circulation of more than 512,000 copies. Extra is a free weekly with overall household coverage. The paper includes classified markets with small advertisements and special publications for interesting topics.
Turning XXL
In 2006 in Augsburg the signs for the media future have been set: The Presse-Druck- und Verlags-GmbH renewed its whole web machinery. This ambitious project with an investment of more than 30 Million euros was realized by manroland and its Augsburg newspaper press manufacturing headquarters.
The philosophy of the new COLORMAN press technology by manroland has convinced the decision makers at Presse-Druck. What was most decisive: Compared to a conventional 4-2 press the XXL-press shows considerably more capacity at the same speed as well as a ten percent higher productivity. A specially designed turner bar and folder superstructure with three formers in a row and up to two former levels enables a high production flexibility. At a maximum speed of 90,000 copies per hour in double production the nine cylinder satellite printing unit guarantees highest printing quality due to the short ways of the paper web. With almost one third less press components the COLORMAN, XXL shows a very high savings capacity. Presse-Druck today works with five presses of the 24-page press COLORMAN that are six plates wide meaning a web width of 2,10 meters.
Every working press at Presse-Druck consists of two reel splicers, two eight-couple-towers with nine cylinder printing units and one folder. The presses in the XXL format are therefore equipped for a 48-page production. In addition, there is one press equipped with one reel splicer, one eight-couple tower and one folder. So the whole press line consists of nine reel splicers, nine eight
couple towers and five folders.
The production system at Presse-Druck provides the latest technological components – as well at the press itself as at the periphery. All plate cylinders at the satellite printing units work with PPL, the semi-automatic plate changing system of manroland which ensures an especially secure change of all plates. The reel splicers as well are at the latest generation (CD Paster 15 XXL) and capable for a 1,500 millimeters reel diameter.
Coup the main at changing two newspaper presses
The management at Mediengruppe Pressedruck was highly convinced by the superior technology of the COLORMAN, XXL. At the end of 2003 they decided to renew their whole web machinery. The new press was supposed to be built at the same building where a 1979/80 installed competitor’s press had been producing Bavaria’s largest subscription newspaper.
Horse rotation at tantivy – this scene is well known out of old Hollywood western movies. Without an amazed audience something similar happened at Medienhaus Pressedruck in Augsburg. But the main actors this time were two full newspaper presses which doesn’t mean less daringness than the cowboy shows at the movies. The script said: The old press had to disappear off the printing factory of the Presse-Druck- und Verlags-GmbH Augsburg while at the same time the new press had to be installed. And: Readers and advertising customers should not be bothered by this. This meant: The newspapers had to be produced – no matter how. A modern wonder? No, nothing else but professional teamwork by all involved companies and persons.
Puzzle in high format. hooks and loops included: The whole old press had been built on a concrete base above the reel splicer level. The tonnage capacity was ensured by concrete bridges with a weight of 70 tonnes across the factory hall. That meant that also the concrete bridges had to be changed to master the new weight of the COLORMAN, XXL. The installation of the concrete bridges with a length of 10,50 meters at an overall hall lengths of 10,80 meters exacted a high grade of technical creativity. This turns out more clear when a printing unit with 55 tonnes has to be carried 4,50 meters with only ten millimeters range to the factory wall on the one side and another printing unit on the other side. To solve the problem, the team worked with a flexible „living planning“. Weekly and during main activities even daily meetings joined the whole project. Approaches and different options were discussed, short-term decisions were made. And at the end this model showed the success. Today the Augsburger Allgemeine is more successful than ever before and is produced on the new presses by manroland.