HISTORY

Otago Daily Times Print has its origins in the gold rush days of the 1860s when the Stevens' family founded The Dunstan Times and The Alexandra Herald. Central Otago News Ltd was consequently formed in 1948 and managed by Geoff Stevens. In those days the commercial printing division was but an offshoot of the newspaper with only the printing of local programmes, tickets and small booklets being the main fare.

The Otago Daily Times Ltd of Dunedin has owned and published NZ's oldest daily newspaper since 1861, and with their involvement in community papers and commercial printing, it was a natural process for them to show interest in Central Otago News Ltd They became a major shareholder in 1955 and purchased the remaining shares in 1987.

The division grew to such an extent that it was necessary to divide it away from the newspaper and have it achieve an entity of its own, with Kerry Stevens becoming manager of Central Otago News Print in the late 1980s. Steven Morait was appointed manager in 1998.

The natural progression of a name change to Otago Daily Times Print took place in 1999.

Machinery & Production
Otago Daily Times Print has a diverse range of machinery for the printing and binding of all products.

We replaced the Heidelberg KORD64 with a 662 PFH Ryobi press in 1999, the only one of its type in New Zealand, enabling the handling of large-scale work on a fast turn-around and cost effective basis. The Ryobi prints both sides at once up to A2 size, enabling, for example, process colour work for brochures, etc: to be completed very quickly.

We also replaced the Heidelberg GT046 with a Heidelberg GTO52 in 1999. A one colour press it handles all smaller sheet size commercial printing and is most reliable.

The A4 Heidelberg Platen has been replaced with an A3 Heidelberg Platen and is used for creasing, die cutting, perforating, numbering and some small size printing.

An Eskotot 1656 Photo-Direct Platemaker makes the plates for all presses and was installed in 1996.

The two Guillotines, one Maxima and one Polar, are kept in constant use for cutting and trimming. We also run a Rollem perforating and creasing machine, a Stahl folder for high speed folding, a Duplo Collater for collating, and have two stitchers to finish off production.

We have installed a Laminator that is able to laminate up to A1 size.

In the art room we use the latest in computerised equipment, running both PCs and Macs. These can be used to run a Xerox Docucolor 1250 digital printer for all colour proofs and short run colour production. The 1250 also doubles as a colour copying machine with excellent results. There is an in-house graphic designer available for all design and logo work.

Staff turnover is extremely low with the longest-serving employee being 30 years. Four new members have joined the staff in the last three years bringing the total to twelve.

Press Reference

Quotations
Competitive quotations are offered promptly for all work.

Delivery
We have an excellent working relationship with couriers and freighting companies for a quick and reliable delivery service. Our customers' requests are always accommodated to the best of our ability.

Printing
A full range of printing work is able to be done right here in Alexandra.