Bowne & Co. Sinks $13.5 Million Into New Jersey Facilities

NEW YORK—Bowne & Co., a major player in the financial printing arena, announced its board of directors has approved a $13.5 million capital investment in its New Jersey print production operations.

The world's largest financial printer and a leader in document management, Bowne will use the investment to add space to the Secaucus printing facility and replace presses and related finishing equipment with new, more productive presses and finishing gear.

According to Robert M. Johnson, chairman and CEO of Bowne, the move will allow the company to become more of a one-stop shop.

"This investment of $13.5 million over the next 12 months will dramatically improve our ability to serve the peaks in the market, while significantly reducing our need to outsource throughout the year," Johnson says. "This investment will not increase our planned capital expenditures for the remainder of this year or next year and, in fact, we expect those expenditures to begin to decline."

At least one piece of press hardware is on the way. Bowne has ordered a six-unit Heidelberg M-130, a 16-page web press that will be configured to run four webs in non-heatset production, a natural fit for the financial market.

Kim Freeman, director of corporate communications, notes that following the installation of the new press, Bowne will trade in two older presses for two more M-130s.

"By expanding the plant and installing the new equipment in this order, we will not experience any downtime as we add capacity and efficiency," Freeman says, noting that the company is exploring finishing equipment options at the present.