A tour of Caxton Printers
Getting a newspaper delivered to your door is quite the process...
On 17 October, before the sun had greeted the day, the Caxton North West team were off to Caxton Printers in Industria West to learn all about how our newspapers reach our readers.
Editors and journalists alike were fascinated as newspapers flew up and down on rails overhead; left and right, through all kinds of intricate machinery. Printing, advertising and distribution were discussed as the group were led through the massive print house by Maintenance Manager, Riaan Kruger, discovering what exactly transpires once our papers leave our offices.
Our first stop was the distribution office, where Petra Swart explained the different aspects of how our papers are delivered to every single household in our respective areas. Independent contractors are hired who in turn manage groups of runners that work in a grid formation through our streets. “It is of utmost importance that the runners wear their red Caxton uniforms when doing deliveries,” stated Swart. “This ensures credibility and cultivates trust within our readers.”
After our visit to the distribution office, we were taken into the printing area where Kruger explained the entire printing process from start to finish. It starts when plates made from aluminium, which are imported from China, are etched with a light-sensitive coating. These are the “negatives” which act as overtly large stamps on the printing paper.
Seemingly endless reels of the printed product are then cut and folded mechanically. The workmen who operate these heavy duty machines have to be particularly careful when the machinery is on, as one wrong move can crush fingers, hands and even whole limbs in an instant.
After being folded, papers move through a inserting machine that places advertising inserts in the middle. From there, papers are weighed and specially wrapped in bundles, which are then finally loaded for transport.
Caxton Printers not only print your local newspapers, but The Citizen, the Sunday Times and the ever popular People Magazine. So next time you pick up your favourite local read, bear in the mind the fascinating process and the giant effort that went into producing it.
