Keep the Presses Rolling

Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Wendy Revell

The Denver Newspaper Agency watches over its presses.

Every day, more than a million Denver-area readers count on the latest issue of the Rocky Mountain News or the Denver Post for news and information. When Dave Ebaugh of Denver's Fire Alarm Services picks up one of the two newspapers now produced by the Denver Newspaper Agency, he does so fully aware that cameras from Pelco, Clovis, Calif., are integral to the printing of every single issue. Ebaugh is the large project and security manager for Fire Alarm Services. A 20-year security industry expert, he oversaw the more than $500,000 security installation that was completed last September.

The creation of the Denver Newspaper Agency in 2000 brought together the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post in a Joint Operating Agreement. The agency sought to create operating efficiencies by consolidating the production of both newspapers at one facility.

Upgrading to the latest high-tech printing presses also involved incorporating cameras in the production process of the newspaper for the first time. The foundation of the system is a Pelco CM9760 matrix system operating with Spectra IV Day/Night Integrated Dome Positioning Systems and ICS110 fixed cameras. The matrix loops to 14 different DX8100 DVRs to archive the recordings.

“The entire project to upgrade the facility represents an investment of more than $140 million,” Ebaugh says. “Part of the upgrade included installing Pelco cameras that are now facilitating the production process of the papers.”

The installation increased the number of cameras onsite by approximately twenty-fold. While some of the newly installed cameras provide general plant security, most are positioned to ensure the safety of the company's production workers and to enhance the automation process. According to Ken Perry, director of operations for the Denver Newspaper Agency, the few cameras that were in place prior to this installation ended up revolutionizing the team's understanding of how video could be used to identify production bottlenecks.

“We were having some production issues in non-manned areas,” Perry says. “When we realized the cameras that were positioned in those areas would allow us to view problems live and then review the issues that we were having with our production equipment, it led us to enhance the system.”

With the new system, for example, Pelco cameras capture real-time images as 1-ton paper rolls are loaded onto the high-speed presses. The entire process can now be viewed from a safe vantage point and the determination can be made as to whether the paper is feeding properly without personnel risking injury. The forklifts that deliver the giant paper rolls within the plant are unmanned, laser-guided vehicles that follow a pre-defined path without any rails.

Pelco cameras constantly monitor the automated paper carriers, ensuring worker safety and facilitating the production process. If there is a jam, the images can be reviewed to determine why the jam occurred and how a recurrence can be avoided.

In addition to the presses and insert machines, Pelco cameras are set up to view building entrances, parking lots, loading docks and the train tracks entrance. During the busy holiday season, when daily truckloads of inbound product increase by 20 or more trucks a day, the cameras allow security to manage the traffic flow more easily and to re-route trucks as necessary. “Everything is so much more efficient,” Ebaugh says. “And so much safer for the employees.”

Bob Fruchey of Pelco Manufacturer's Representatives Intermountain Marketing, provided Fire Alarm Services with the selection of Pelco cameras. They also provided expertise in designing the fiber backbone, including CAD work and custom drawings. Altogether, the design represented weeks of investment before the contract was even awarded.

“We created a custom configuration from the ground up for them,” Fruchey says, of the work Intermountain Marketing invested in designing the entire installation at Denver News Agency. “To see it all come off without a hitch is just great.”

To win the contract, Fire Alarm Services participated in a bidding process that included multiple meetings, facility walkthroughs and interviews, along with four other bidders. Founded in 1997 by Shannon and Connie Smith, Fire Alarm Services now has 90 employees and provides fire alarm and suppression systems, electrical services, pressurization testing systems and complete design build commercial security installation. Part of the contract involved completing the installation within a six-month time line. Work began in March 2007, and the project was completed in September, on schedule.

Perry, of the Denver Newspaper Agency, especially appreciated how Fire Alarm Services stuck to the timeline even as the scope of the project evolved.

“Initially, we were undersized on the DVRs,” Perry says. “Fire Alarm Services knew that Pelco had a new 32-channel system that allowed for expansion and remedied the situation. We also needed additional coverage areas outside, and they still met the timelines with the additions, and all within budget.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been reprinted with permission from Pelco Press. Wendy Revell is a freelance business writer based in Clovis, Calif.

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