ACROSS the nation

Four MAN Presses Star at Newspaper

INDIANAPOLIS—The Indianapolis Star has begun putting its new $72 million production facility to work, producing advertising sections on the first of four MAN Roland Geoman presses that are scheduled to print both daily and Sunday editions of the paper by mid-July. The new press hall encompasses more than 30,672 square feet on two levels. It is at the heart of a 260,000-square-foot complex, called the Pulliam Production Center (PPC) after the publishing family who led the Star over the past five decades.

Stitcher Added to Handle Sales Boom

QUINCY, IL—JK Creative Printers has purchased an Osako saddlestitcher from Best Graphics. President Mike Nobis says he needed to add capacity to keep up with the rapid sales growth the company has experienced recently.

CALIFORNIA

OXNARD—Custom Printing has acquired a two-color, 40˝ Heidelberg press and a 40˝ Stahl continuous-feed folder. The machines represent a $250,000 investment. The company also announced it was selected to produce posters for the City of Santa Paula's centennial celebration. Custom officials report they gave the city a special discount so that celebration funding could be used in other ways.

SAN FRANCISCO—Full-service printing firm DPI has installed a six-color, 51˝ Mitsubishi Model 5F sheetfed press. DPI offers services such as digital photography, sheetfed offset printing, digital printing and signage manufacturing. It employs a staff of 55.

SANTA ROSA—After nine months of researching CTP products, Chromagraphics has decided on the Fujifilm PictroProof digital color proofer and Dart Luxel T-6000 CTP thermal platesetter.

FLORIDA

ORLANDO—Florida Imaging, a regional provider of prepress, Web development, and multimedia services and design, has established a new commercial photography division. Scott Major, a principal and COO at Florida Imaging, says the new division was established to meet growing demand for commercial photography, especially utilizing digital techniques. Bill Peck has been tapped to head the division.

ILLINOIS

DOWNERS GROVE—Ace Reprographics, the in-plant printing division of Ace Hardware, has added a new five-color, 201⁄2x283⁄8˝ Sakurai 572EDII press, purchased through Fuller Graphix. Also delivered was a new Screen PlateRite 4000 thermal platesetter equipped with the Screen TrueFlow workflow system, a new Epson 7000 color proofer and a Western Lithotech plate processor.

WHEELING—Rollem International has installed its TR high-speed die scoring system at Allstate Print & Communications Center, the in-plant printing operation for Allstate Insurance.

KANSAS

PITTSBURG—For the recent Kansas City Chiefs annual banquet, where NFL Players of the Year received their awards, the program was printed by Pittcraft Printing, the official printer of the Chiefs. The 24-page program, containing bios and photos of the winners and presenters, was produced on Pittcraft's new computer-to-plate system, which features a Fujifilm Javelin Luxel T-9000 CTP thermal platesetter, a PictroProof digital color proofer and a C-550 Sprint scanner. As a banquet sponsor, two tables are reserved in the company's name. This year, Michael Strahan, NFC Defensive Player of the Year, sat at the Pittcraft table.

KENTUCKY

FLORENCE—Nielsen, a Moore company based here, was awarded best of show honors in PIANKO's Print Excellence Awards for an envelope stuffer it produced for Roche Diagnostics.

MARYLAND

LARGO—Chroma Graphics has purchased a Screen Mark II CTP device, as well as a new Spin-Jet digital proofer and a new DuPont Digital Cromalin. With these new additions, the company now has a totally digital workflow, says Rusty Coolidge, president. Chroma Graphics has an open house set for mid-June, where it expects about 400 customers to attend. A paper show is also planned, at which Washington Redskins star Darrell Green will sign limited-edition posters.

ROCKVILLE—EU Services has purchased a new high-speed, four- to six-station Flowmaster inserter from Sure-Feed Engineering. With the addition, EU now has a total of 40 inserters.

MASSACHUSETTS

AGAWAM—Millennium Press has installed a six-color Komori Lithrone 28 press.

ALLSTON—Servigraphics, based here, has agreed to donate profits over a six-month period to the Dianne DeVanna Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in Braintree.

WOBURN—Trade finishing and bindery services provider Seaboard Bindery has installed a new Brandtjen & Kluge in-line folder/gluer.

MICHIGAN

ROSEVILLE—Colortech Graphics was honored with the best of show award at the 2002 Gallery of Superb Printing, sponsored by the Detroit Club of Printing House Craftsmen, for its contribution of the "Pontiac Firebird 35th Anniversary" advertising campaign.

MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS—Park Printing has become the site of the 100th installation of the Agfa Xcalibur Very Large Format (VLF) platesetter.

SAINT PAUL—GML Inc., a diversified printing and converting firm, has acquired the specialty converting division of Advanced Converting Technologies. Advanced Converting specializes in slitting and rewinding films and foils, laminating and diecutting.

MISSOURI

SAINT LOUIS—Color Associates has launched its own creative group. It will support Color Associates' packaging, catalog, publishing and corporate direct groups, and specializes in packaging design, catalog design, publishing multimedia development and digital photography.

John Stark Printing, based in Saint Louis, has opened a sales office in Chicago. James Cosgrove has been named accounts manager of the new office.

NEVADA

LAS VEGAS—At the Web Offset Association's (WOA) 50th annual conference, held here in May, Thomas Brinkman Sr., founder of Metroweb Corp. of Erlanger, KY, and Edward Barr, chairman of Fort Lee, NJ-based Sun Chemical, were presented with the Vision Award.

Craig Miller, Sue Miller and Christy Jeppeson, owners of Las Vegas-based Pictographics, have been named Las Vegas' Small Business Persons of the Year. Pictographics is a large-format digital printing and graphics service bureau. The company plans to move into a newly constructed, 20,000-square-foot facility in October.

NEW JERSEY

LAKEWOOD—Eagle Graphics has purchased a five-color Sakurai 572EDII automated half-size press.

SOMERSET—Toppan America has expanded its prepress capability by adding two Screen PlateRite 8000 (PT-R8000) eight-page thermal platesetters. The installations were part of several recent prepress updates the company has performed.

NEW YORK

WILLIAMSON—Century Printing & Graphics has installed a four-color, 17 3⁄4 x 22 3⁄4˝ Sakurai 458EII automated four-up machine.

OHIO

CINCINNATI—Consumer packaging company C.W. Zumbiel has signed a deal with CRC Information Systems to implement the latest version of its business management software, called "THE System."

COLDWATER—Mercer Color Corp. has installed a fully automated, five-color, 28˝ Sakurai 572EDII press. It is the company's second Sakurai press.

COLUMBUS—A six-color Komori Lithrone 40 has been installed at Fine Line Graphics.

OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA CITY—Globe Color Press has installed two new Komori presses: a four-color Lithrone 40 perfector and a six-color Lithrone 40 with in-line coater.

PENNSYLVANIA

EASTON—Harmony Press has purchased a new five-color Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 press. All major functions will be monitored and controlled digitally by Heidelberg's CP Tronic press operating system. The press is equipped for perfecting, and Harmony Press opted for an in-line coating unit.

SOUTH DAKOTA

PIERRE—State Publishing has invested in a new Fujifilm CTP system, which features a Dart Luxel T6000 thermal platesetter, a PictroProof digital color proofer and a C-550 Sprint flatbed scanner. From business cards to perfect-bound books, with direct-to-plate, everything State Publishing prints can now be turned around faster and more cost-effectively.

VIRGINIA

SPRINGFIELD—NELA Ternes Register Group has completed a major installation at Springfield Offset. The equipment includes two in-line vision control positioning (VCP) punch/benders, two standalone punch/benders and a fully automatic plate punch handling 12 different plate sizes. Springfield Offset (Gannett) prints about 60 publications.

WASHINGTON

OAK HARBOR—A Heidelberg Printmaster QM46-2 press equipped with an IR drying system has been installed at Whidbey Printers. Other recent equipment additions include a new Baumcut 26 cutter and a Baum air-feed collator married to an ISP booklet-maker, reports Eric King, company vice president.

WISCONSIN

HARTLAND—Commercial Communications Inc. (CCI), a provider of printing, fulfillment and distribution, has licensed all of CRC Information Systems' nearly 100 computer management system modules. According to CCI President and Founder Bob Hegwood, the software should assist in streamlining workflow, especially in the specifying, estimating and ordering processes. CCI employs 250 and has additional sales and production facilities in Phoenix and Chicago.

LITTLE CHUTE—JP Graphics, a quick commercial printer, announced it has acquired Mastercraft Printing of Appleton. The former Mastercraft production facility has been closed.

MILWAUKEE—Visual Systems has announced it now offers PANTONE Hexachrome printing. To help educate its customers about the benefits of Hexachrome printing, Visual Systems has created an educational road show, which will be making scheduled stops through the end of the year. The integration of Hexachrome printing is part of the company's ongoing color management initiative.

Industry News
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