CAROL STREAM, IL—Booklet Binding and Team Services announced the opening of its new production center here. The new facility unites the operations of its two prior locations—Booklet Binding's Broadview, IL, bindery and finishing operation and Team Services' Itasca, IL, data, direct mail production, mailing and expanded packaging operations—into a single plant.The 366,000-square-foot integrated production facility required a capital investment of $21 million.
HAMILTON, BERMUDA—Business-to-consumer online printing specialist VistaPrint and FedEx Office have developed a new application for designing, ordering and printing business stationery and marketing materials. Customers will be able to design and order their customized products online at fedexoffice.com or in-person at any of the 1,600 FedEx Office Print & Ship Centers in the United States.
To eliminate production inefficiencies, Aflac's printing subsidiary, Communicorp, restructured its customer service methodology and installed the latest high-speed equipment.
Make sure your heaters are on only when you need them.
When you think of waste, what comes to mind? Many printers don't think beyond paper—makeready, roll slab, roll damage, running waste and so on. But in the bigger picture, waste encompasses time and material expenses that consume resources without adding value. As we'll see, if you want to minimize waste, you must embrace Process Excellence.
If you're not adding value, you are creating waste. Printers add value when their processes change or convert the form, fit, and/or function (print, cut, fold, collate, stitch, etc.) of materials and items into the final product.
OF THE MANY insights that stand out in Eli Goldratt’s book, “The Goal,” one of the most memorable is the plant manager’s frustration with a machine operator reading a newspaper while on the clock. Like most of us, the plant manager thought that working harder or faster would naturally generate more money for the business. That’s pretty straight forward, right?
CHICAGO—RR Donnelley has opened a new Financial Services office in Calgary, Alberta, to serve businesses and law firms in Western Canada. This facility is positioned to meet the region's needs for transactional and compliance projects, particularly for businesses and institutions focused on oil and gas, services, mining and technology. The service center complements existing Donnelley offices in Toronto and Montreal.
Jobs, business, profits, and a whole lot more! Lean is all about reducing/eliminating waste and improving productivity.
CHICAGO—October 27, 2008—The International Cooperation for the Integration of the Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) Organization today announced the results of it biannual election of Advisory Board representatives and Board of Directors officers.
Industry consolidation, economic uncertainties, soaring costs for raw materials and energy and many other forces are changing our industry at the speed of thought. At NPES’ 75th Annual Conference, November 15-17 in St. Pete Beach, FL, participants will have an opportunity to learn firsthand how one progressive print organization managed to overcome these challenges. Read on for this preview of how, by developing strategic partnerships with industry manufacturers and service providers, the Valpak Manufacturing Center in St. Petersburg, FL has become a showcase of automated print production—and has managed to hold the line on costs for its customers, increased its productivity and morphed its employees into a skilled workforce for tomorrow. Valpak is one of North America’s leading direct marketers with $260 million in annual revenue and about 1,200 employees in Pinellas County. Valpak reaches more than 45 million unique addresses each month in the United States and Canada and is owned by Largo-based Cox Target Media.
