Business Management - Government/Governmental

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—March 20, 2008—Optomec today announced that the company has received a one-year development contract from the U.S. Display Consortium (USDC) to further develop its M3D Aerosol Jet System, enabling finer resolution line widths and faster, more efficient production capabilities for printed electronics. The $750,000 cost-shared award will provide Optomec the opportunity to extend its proprietary additive manufacturing technology to a level that has not been possible before through more traditional printing techniques. The USDC, headquartered in San Jose California, is a public/private partnership chartered with developing the flexible electronics and displays industry supply chain. Under the USDC agreement, Optomec will focus on

WASHINGTON, DC—Coated free sheet (CFS) paper imports from China, Korea and Indonesia will not be subject to anti-dumping and counter-veiling duties following a 5-1 decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that concluded the year-long investigation. The determination was that CFS imports were not injuring or threatening to injure the domestic paper industry. Thus, the previously announced duties leveled against the Asian sources by the U.S. Department of Commerce will not stand. It was good news for printers and a blow to the U.S. paper manufacturing sector, the latter of which appeared to be benefitting from the complaint originally levied by NewPage Corp. From the

WASHINGTON, DC—June 8, 2007—The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced its affirmative preliminary determination in the ongoing anti-dumping (AD) investigation of imported Coated Free Sheet (CFS) paper, setting rates ranging from 23 to 99 percent in China, 0 to 30 percent in South Korea, and 10.85 percent in Indonesia. Following the March announcement of affirmative preliminary determinations of tariffs in the concurrent Countervailing Duties investigation, this is yet one more blow to domestic printers sure to be impacted by pricing and supply dynamics of the CFS paper market. The investigation was initiated by one U.S.-based paper supplier, NewPage Corporation; the industry as a whole

Request Reconsideration for Some Mail Classes; Approve Shape-Based Pricing Board of Governors Set May 14 for New Prices WASHINGTON, DC—03/19/07—The Governors of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) today approved an increase in the price of a First-Class stamp to 41 cents, authorized the issuance of the Forever Stamp, approved shape-based pricing, and set May 14 as the date for implementation of these changes. (See chart below.) However, they delayed implementation of new prices for periodicals and requested reconsideration for some mail classes. USPS proposed new rates on May 3, 2006, and the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) issued its recommendation on Feb. 26, 2007. The Governors spent considerable

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI—January 18, 2007 —United Steel Workers (USW Locals 2-94, 2-116, 2-187, 359 and 1306) voted yesterday to ratify a five-year labor agreement with Stora Enso. The favorable vote came after 22 months of negotiations between the union and the company which began in March of 2005. “We are pleased that our USW-represented employees have ratified a five-year labor agreement that provides employment security and competitive wages and benefits. This contract positions Stora Enso to become a much tougher competitor in a challenging business environment with the goal of helping to secure jobs in central Wisconsin,” said Bill Smith, director of employee relations.

WASHINGTON, DC—Commercial printers who thrive on mailing must hope that the Senate and House of Representatives can quickly find common ground in order to send meaningful postal reform to President Bush. Other-wise, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has proposed an 8.5 percent rate increase that would likely take effect next May. Still, it might be too late to head off this most recent postal rise, which comes on the heels of a 5.4 percent increase that took effect in January. The recent USPS request would cost mailers just over 11 percent more to mail a magazine, while package services and special services would see

MAILING HAS been rapidly evolving from being seen as an opportunity for diversification and differentiation to a standard offering of full-service print providers. This is particularly true for shops that have moved into digital printing and variable data marketing services. Variable data and mailing are a natural fit for obvious reasons. For one, the same database that drives the variable content of a direct marketing piece is also used for the mailing information. Controlling both stages of the process gives the printer advantages in terms of on-time delivery of mailed pieces. Being able to apply mailing expertise at the production stages also puts a

IT’S HARD not to think that elements of the DME strategy sound like clichés—customer focused, team approach, people are its biggest asset, and so on. There’s no doubting the results, though. The organization has grown from a small traditional print/direct mail shop (Direct Mail Express started in 1982 with seven employees) into a direct marketing powerhouse with more than $100 million in annual sales and 650 team members. Management definitely walks its talk. Focusing on customers’ needs, for example, led DME to install three Xerox iGen3 digital color production presses in 2004 and add a fourth in 2005. It also has taken the

WASHINGTON, DC—Postal reform cleared another hurdle last month when the U.S. Senate passed its version of the bill by a voice vote. A conference committee will work to hammer out the differences between this bill and the House of Representatives version that passed last July. Michael Makin, president of the PIA/GATF, hailed lawmakers for taking a major step towards modernizing the U.S. postal system. “Senate passage of postal reform is a huge victory in the printing industry’s long quest for a major legislative overhaul of this country’s postal laws,” Makin said in a statement. “Large corporations and small, family firms, along with printing employees, customers and

The prospects for passage of postal reform legislation in 2006 have been clouded by three issues. First is the pressure on the federal budget. Although the USPS is funded entirely by postage, it is still part of the unified federal budget. Thus, pension and retiree medical insurance obligations of the postal service are obligations of the federal treasury. Secondly, the USPS has serious misgivings about key provisions of the legislation. Third, the Senate is caught in a disagreement between large-volume mailers and small-volume (and single-piece) mailers over a proposed amendment. Failing to pass the legislation may mean that no bill would pass for years. If