Written by – Ed Owen for the 1988 Hall of Fame Inductee – John L. Irvin
The St. Petersburg Times is world renown for the quality of its color printing and John Irvin, operations director, is a key figure in this pursuit.
In fact, reproduction quality is almost an obsession with [Irvin] 1988 Printing Impressions/Rochester Institute of Technology Hall of Fame inductee. “Everyone talks about it – advertisers, readers, ad agency people–and we are determined to achieve it.”
There are many indications the goal goal is well on the way to being reached. His peers recognize that Irvin representsa newspaper that knows how to print color well. He is on call for panels, workshopsand as general sessions’ speaker. The number of color pages in the times continues to rise, now amounting to 25 percent of total pages.
PHOTO: John Irvin
And the paper has captured two first place awards and some honorable mentions in Kodak’s International Run for the Money contest for the best newspaper color.
These are proud achievements for a self-described Indiana farm boy:
“I’ve got 28 years of printing ink in my veins, but I guess the soil never left me because we still own a 50-acre retirement farm back in Indiana.“
After earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and serving a tour as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers, Irvin entered the printing field at R.R. Donnelley & Sons in Crawfordsville, IN. In 1966, he moved to the South and the St. Petersburg Times as a staff engineer. In 1978 he was promoted to printing plant manager. In 1985 Irvin was made operations director and elected to the Times and Modern Graphic Arts boards of directors. Although daily duties have changed, Irvin’s engineering hat is never far away.
There is an intensity in Irvin to ride the wave of technological advancement. Keyless inking, high-rise printing units, automated guided vehicles and wirelss flat belt conveyors are among his repertoire.
Of these, the keyless or anilox inking method is the highest on his current agenda. It’s implications for quality and savings has caught the attention of the newspaper world.
“I feel very optimistic about this inking method,” he says.
Last month a ninth pess, a seven-unit Goss Metro, was added to the Times’ arsenal, but this is equipped with conventional inking keys. Irvin explains, “the press was ordered two years ago, before keyless inking, particularly color inking, became a viable process. I fully anticipate that the next press ordered at my house will be a keyless machine.”
At St. Petersburg, the need for more press capacity is a priority. In season, (the winter months), daily runs are close to 400,000 and Sunday runs approach a half-million copies. Irvin now must oversee 63 printing units, 36 color decks and nine folders.
Of equal importance, a study of the benefits of tower arrangements of offset printing couples is a favorite of Irvins’.
Traditionally, the web passes through a black unit, across compensating rollers, and into the three-color or deck units. The distance from the first ink inpression to the last color printed could be as much as 35 feet. The paper is dampened 10 times in that journey, which results in cross web growth, web stretch, wrinkles and erratic steering. “The scenario makes registration and optimum dot reproduction a never-ending struggle for operators,” says Irvin.
“Tower presses,” says Irvin, “promise superior color printing while providing the multiple web flexibility of traditional presses. They also will provide more press capacity in a shorter space.”
Such projects have earned irvin the respect of his peers. One of them, William D. Rinehart, vice president /technical of American Newspaper Publishers Association, praises Irvin for his willingness to pioneer new developments.
“He always says ‘yes’ and his work makes things happen,” Rinehart comments. “He has been a good supporter of ANPA’s continuing program to upgrade the quality of newspaper printing.”
Despite a full schedule of projects, Irvin remains a family man and next year will celebrate 30 years of marriage to the former Marsha Malooley. Four offspring appear to follow his technological aspirations: John M. is a mechanical engineer, Mary E. a computer systems salesperson, Daniel a chemical engineer and Mike A., a highschool senior.
“I love to fish and scuba dive with the kids,” he reflects. “I spend my leisure time in my home shop welding, machining and fabricating everything from boat and auto systems to fine furniture. I’m fascinated with design and how to do things better.”
Irvin is active in his church as a Eucharistic minister and council president. he is on the advisory board of the St. Petersburg Salvation Army.
Irvin can look back on a string of successes that have been instrumental in industry advancement. They include testing of offset anilox color, establishing news inck color standards, offset ink waste reclamation and using AGV trains for moving newspaper rolls.
The Times was a leader in the use of flat belt news dispatch conveyors in the mailroom, replacing wire conveyors that caused smearing and chewed up copies.
But there have been some disappointments in Irvin’s multi-projects. One occurred in the early ’80’s when the Times participated in the testing of a new say to insert preprints.
the prototype system, which alterated air pressure and vacuum to accomplish specific steps, literally “fired” inserts into jackets. “The developer ran out of financing,” explains Irvin, “and the project was abandoned before a production model could be perfected.”
“Although we stumble in some of our dreams of what can be, we will continue to pursue change and better ideas. The failure to risk success is failure,” he says.
And change seems to follow Irvin’s footsteps. His actions have brought about a lot of it.
“It’s fun to work in the environment of this newspaper. We are independent, progressive, we trust each other and we may even be a bit cocky. I must share any recognition of industry achievement with the whole Times staff. Only as a team–as a unit–do we forge any successes of substance.”
-Ed Owen