World Association of News Publishers


WAN-IFRA's first Standardised Printing certification in South Asia

WAN-IFRA's first Standardised Printing certification in South Asia

Article ID:

22625

WAN-IFRA's first standardised printing certificate, in the South Asian region, was awarded to Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., Sri Lanka.

(From Left) Lisa Macleod, Head of Digital at Tiso Blackstar Group and Vice President of WAN-IFRA; Janaka Rathnakumara, COO of Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. 

 

WAN-IFRA's first standardised printing certificate in the South Asian region was awarded to Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., Sri Lanka at the WAN-IFRA India 2019 Annual Conference in September 2019.

WAN-IFRA Research Engineer Prabhu Natrajan carried out a successful audit after a site visit and correspondence with Janaka Rathnakumara, COO of Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. Rathnakumara and Natrajan discussed project milestones, post which WNL created a dedicated team to run the project and achieve certification.

The certification process involved two on-site audits to ensure proper implementation of standards, in addition to colour correction, optimising the pre-press workflow and standardising materials.

Wijeya ISo 2Wijeya ISo 2

Wijeya Newspaper Pvt Ltd, Sri Lanka, decided to opt for an ISo 12647-3 Certification for their Colombo printing plant with an objective to optimise the reproduction process at the pre-press and press of a newspaper printing. The groundwork began in mid-2018.

 

Pre-audit: Natrajan carried out printing test forms to check the quality assurance mechanism. He analysed the pre-press and press set-ups, and standard operating procedures to ensure the proper handling of instruments. Changes, upon observation, were recommended and implemented to align with ISO 12647-3 specification.

 

Based on the evaluation of the printed test forms, points were awarded for the technical criteria specified under ISO 12647-3 standards. Points were also awarded for adherence to the standard operating procedure, level of implementation of colour management systems, and the daily practice and documentation in the production system. Natrajan also shared feedback for improvement.

 

Six-month validation phase: During the ISO 12647-3 validation phase, WAN-IFRA requested WNL to print the WAN-IFRA cuboid in their main publication for a period of  six months to evaluate the consistency conformance to ISO 12647-3.

 

Post-Audit: WNL qualified the validation phase, which was backed up by WAN-IFRA’s post audit visit to re-print test forms and re-validate that WNL  was producing the newspaper as per ISO 12647-3 and other supporting standards. The print samples were found to be in accordance with the standard and tolerance specified. WNL also addressed the deviations recommended during the pre-audit. 

 

After verifying the ISO checks and documentation, WNL was awarded the ISO 12647-3 Certification at WII 2019 Conference in September, 2019, in New Delhi.

Author

Jaiganesh M's picture

Jaiganesh M

Date

2019-10-09 06:47

Author information

25 years of reporting the news publishing business in Asia. Read more ...

Since 2005, WAN-IFRA has certified several newspaper printing plants based on ISO 12647-3. Use the certification to improve production workflows, quality level, staff know-how, and market position. Read more ...

WAN-IFRA South Asia, headquartered in Chennai, started its operation in 2001 as a private limited company registered under the Indian Companies Act. But the origin of IFRA in India dates back to 1992 when the services of IFRA, with only an Annual Conference, were offered in this country through a representative office. From this modest beginning, it today stands as a separate company catering to the needs of the Indian news publishing industry. Read more ...

Publishers and printers around the world have come to expect WAN-IFRA to provide the most up-to-date know-how about production processes, whether it be in prepress, printing, workflow or postpress. Its range of advisory services, trainings, reports and events are unparalleled. Read more ...