The Yanks are here...

York to Flaxby.

RON GODFREY meets the man who is orchestrating its progress

IT'S UP and roaring into a new future. That's RR Donnelley, York's printing giant still in the process of transferring into its massive new home on Flaxby Moor between York and Knaresborough by the end of March. But with a $55 million investment in the site by its American masters, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

The immense detail of how Donnelley's transition is being achieved in the move to the former ill-fated Samsung factory from its long-established printworks in Boroughbridge Road becomes clear only after a lot of elaborate miming by Roy Houston, vice president and divisional director for facilities in the UK.

Like everyone else there he is earmuffed against the metallic scream of four giant presses which blasts through this massive 390 yards long space - more than twice the length of York Minster - and only when he reaches one of the soundproofed glass-walled areas housing a phalanx of light-flickering control consoles can he stop gesturing and start talking.

The silver-haired executive full of Northern Irish charm says: "There was a rumour that RR Donnelley was no longer interested in Europe because it had been retrenching. Look at it," he points, as thousands of yellow phone directories wheel, swerve and swoop from the presses like roller coaster revellers. "It's patently not true. You can see with your own eyes that talk is cheap.

"We are walking the talk with a state-of-the-art world-class printing capability with a view to the future and we are very excited about it."

Helping to pay for it all - and in complete contrast to the bad, sad, uncertain days 1976 when Chicago HQ considered completely shutting down its Boroughbridge Road plant and pulling out - is a vital £100 million-plus contract signed in 1999 to keep on printing Yellow Pages through to 2006..

Add to that Donnelley's massive deal to print Holland's KPN directories - a total of 45 million books a year between them - and such grand gestures to the future are possible, albeit at some human cost.

It was recognised that the move might mean the loss of between 50 and 70 jobs through voluntary redundancies - but with the goal of creating extra jobs in the medium to long-term if other big directory printing contracts were won in the future from Europe.

For the moment that is not the priority. "We already have a European entity - an operation in Poland which is a sister plant. The object is that we level-load our requirement across Europe.

"It is a bit chauvinistic to assume that you can service the world from the UK. Of course there is nowhere out of bounds in Europe but the issue is one of economics and logistics. You can't teleport directories across a continent. They have to be transported there. We will win European orders by superior efficiency and quality over our rivals.

"So far we have not been aggressively looking for new contracts. We have been aggressively getting this place up and running. But there has been a terrific amount of interest from Europe."

Here's Mr Houston's progress report: Of Donnelley's 380 employees between 80 and 100 have now moved to this monster building set in 47 wooded acres. Once all transfer and the old site is empty it will be sold rather than rented. There was huge interest in buying the site, which has an industrial designation, and matters were now "in the final stages."

Up to 80 have sought voluntary redundancy. "The lower the number who take up the option the fewer we shall have to employ eventually, but even while the redundancies are taking place we are employing in areas where we know there will be a skills shortage."

The decision had been taken to sell, rather than rent the Boroughbridge Road site, which is designated for industrial rather than the more commercially desirable housing use.

"We are in the final stages. Whoever the new owners are, it will be between them and the Council to sort out the planning permission."

Four of the new presses, with a combined value of millions, are in place and either in commercial operation or conducting trial runs to test speed and capability.

A fifth - originally from the York plant - is expected to be installed after extensive refurbishment in France.

Already in place are the huge mini towers of newsprint and ink storage vats electronically linked to suppliers to ensure that they are constantly topped up; the jungle of pallets; the robotic trimming machines; the 50-station binding machines (see-through so you can watch the process all the way from stacking to gluing).

Then there's the engineering workshop reflecting a virtual mania for linking cleanliness and safety standards with quality and just-in-time delivery (note the "5S technique" posters urging - sort, set, shine, standardise and sustain).

New floors are being laid and the pre-press area will be separated with isolating walls but all the careful instructions, labels and painted floor lines restricting movement are in place to prevent an unwitting disaster.

Also established on standby is a bus should workers need transport - one bone of contention when it came to the move all the way from York- "but so far it's not been necessary because everyone tends to car share," says Mr Houston.

The amount of surrounding space was huge but there was no intention to sell off the land or build industrial units in the grounds to rent. "We are printers, not developers or speculators. More to the point is that it will give us great potential to expand."