The vast majority of printing presses were designed and installed before the four color printing process was introduced to the advertising industry. Since the presses were designed to print primarily black ink, the manual register mechanisms were equipped with hand wheels that the operator adjusted manually when ever needed.
With the advent of four color printing and with the demand for quality color register, the hand wheels must be adjusted frequently throughout the entire run. With the introduction of color printing, the operators' task of adjusting the many hand wheels has become very difficult, as each four color printed web has up to 16 hand wheels which are in remote locations, requiring climbing ladders and frequently walking many feet to make the adjustments. Thus, there is an urgent need to motorize the hand wheels so that the operator can make adjustments without leaving his operator control station. Additionally, with the pressure to increase the quality of color register, automatic register controls can be justified but motors must first be installed.