Record Details
An economic comparison of hot metal and cold type composition of display advertising
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | An economic comparison of hot metal and cold type composition of display advertising |
| Names |
Vincent, Julie Latham
(creator) Engesser, William (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1968-05-29 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1969 |
| Abstract | The objective of this thesis is to examine and compare hot metal and cold type production of display advertising for newspapers. The classical hot metal system uses a lead alloy as its basic building material while modern cold type production uses photographic means. Some advantages of using cold type are the improved quality of the final product, increased versatility in ad composition, possibilities for major labor savings, the lower skills required for the compositor and less production space required for the machinery. Some disadvantages of cold type production are the major investment required for new equipment, higher materials costs, difficulty in producing proofs, labor relations and retraining difficulties, and the durability of the press plates. The data for the hot metal method consisted of a sample of 195 ads. The eight major operations studied were Markup Time, Type Slips Time, Stereotype Time, Typesetting Time, Composing Time, Proof Pulling Time, and Correction Time. Thirty-seven factors, such as the size of the ad and the number of lines of type, were hypothesized to effect the operation times. These operation times and factors were analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis to formulate a mathematical model of the hot metal system. For this cold type system, circumstances prevented making a complete model but data for a sample of 15 ads was collected. The data for the sample of cold type ads was used in the hot metal regression model to determine comparable times for production of the ads by both systems. Experimental results showed that it would take three times as long to compose the ads by hot metal. When combined labor and materials costs are considered, hot metal costs 1.6 to 2.8 times as much as cold type depending on the wage rates considered and the relative productive efficiency of both plants. Administrative and most overhead costs were considered to remain constant no matter what production system was used. The depreciation rate for the cold type operations is 3.06 times that of the hot metal system studied. Recommendations for further study include: 1. Reevaluate hot metal regression model using transformations in order to reduce non-linearities. 2. Reformulate the cold type system so that equivalent production work can be measured to produce a cold type regression model. 3. Extend the study of cold type and hot metal into news and classified production. 4, Use the complex regression models to determine major variables so that simplified models could easily be prepared by any interested newspaper. 5, Determine realistic cost comparisons including the effects of unequal depreciation rates, taxes, and interest. 6. Produce a companion study of the social effects of a transition from hot metal to cold type in order to be able to project actual benefits derived from the transition. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Advertising layout and typography |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/46491 |
