SPECIAL REPORT -- Web Offset - Weird Windings Of the Web

The War on Waste, launched years ago by the Web Offset Association, has been won by the warlocks running the really big webs. Returns-on-sales at Donnelley-Moore-Wallace and Quebecor-World are identical to the percentages of paper they don't waste.

The stupefying decline in the U.S. dollar, caused by trade deficits that include past purchases of printing presses, is precluding additional installations. So, we have over 865 plants in de facto gradual liquidation resulting from non-investment. Quick fixes in prepress are false security, because the old presses can't print consistently no matter what's done in prep. JDF and CIM aside, there is a life before death elixir for independent web printers: Marketing.