The aim was to build up a picture of current procedures and opinions regarding standards and conformance monitoring within the newspaper printing sector.
The information was gathered using both interviews and questionnaires. The main focus was on finding out how newspaper printing organisations deal with the issues of quality and consistency regarding the newsink and newsprint that they purchase.
The key issues were the use and origins of standard specifications for paper and ink and the way in which conformance to the specifications is monitored.
The investigation also looked at whether or not the ISO 9000 quality management standards have a part to play in the UK newspaper printing sector. This was included to gain some insight into how the industry deals with general quality management.