Pressman John Boland Jr. repairs a web break.

Philadelphia is one of America's oldest and most historical cities, so it's no surprise that it has the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper – The Philadelphia Inquirer.

But there's nothing antiquated about the Inquirer's Schuylkill production plant in Conshohocken, Pa., about 18 miles west of the paper's downtown headquarters. Fiber optic cables connect the plant to the downtown headquarters building. The work by reporters, photographers, and graphic artists downtown is digitally transmitted via the cables to the Conshohocken plant to be made into plates, printed, and distributed.

Members of one of GCIU's oldest local unions, Philadelphia 16N, work in press and paper production, while Philadelphia 14M represents members in the plateroom.

James Brown, director of printing at Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.'s (PNI) Conshohocken plant, said the Inquirer had been printed downtown on letterpresses until 1992, when the new plant opened. The company then converted to offset.

Now, the nearly 700,000-square-foot plant on 46 acres has nine Goss Colorliner presses with 10 units each.

As large as the pressroom is to hold these multi-story presses, the area holding the mailing and distribution operations is even larger, with a state-of-the-art GMA SLS inserting system.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, which was founded in 1829, has a circulation of about 400,000 daily and 775,000 on Sunday. PNI also prints the tabloid Daily News of Philadelphia, which was founded in 1925. The Daily News' circulation is about 140,000 daily. Both Pulitzer prize winning papers have been owned by Knight Ridder since 1969.

The plant, which operates 24/7 in three shifts with some 1,500 employees, also does a lot of commercial work, according to shift manager Les Wiseley.

Other publications printed at the plant include the Los Angeles Times national edition, Philadelphia City Paper, Philadelphia Weekly, El Dia, and the publications of the Journal Trend Newspaper Group, which is owned by a PNI subsidiary, Consumer and Community Publishing Inc. Trend publishes 16 Trends and The Journal of Camden County.

To adapt to the new technology as it evolves, Brown said, PNI management and Local 16N established a joint training committee that determines apprenticeship and training standards. Local 16N Pres. Charles Carvin Jr. chairs the committee.

Brown said the "next big challenge in technology is computer-to-plate," but in the meantime, the company uses fast phone lines to transmit photos and text, said plateroom manager Scott McPartland, a third generation Inquirer employee. The digital information is received using Windows 2000 workstations.

Although in some ways new technology has made jobs less physically demanding – such as automatic paper handling systems – PNI's large presses and plant and busy schedule require workers to keep in shape. To help, the company offers a fitness center that workers can use for a small monthly fee.

Pressmen John Boland and Ron Pell determine the problem during a run.

In the plateroom, Philadelphia 14M member Shain Meeink operates an Anocoil plate processor.

Philadelphia 14M member Deb Dougherty exposes film on a Western Lithotech Lith 10.

In the pressroom, reel tender Charlie Deal prepares to splice a web.

Plateroom manager Scott McPartland explains the digital delivery of text and art.

Pressman Ron Pell checks color registration.

The robotic Jervis Webb roll handling system responds to the reel tender's call.