Acme Printing

alabama TUSCALOOSA—Printing Services at the University of Alabama has purchased a Presto saddle stitching system from Muller Martini to expand its full-service finishing capabilities. florida HIALEAH—Franklin/Trade Graphics recently held an open house to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the merger of Franklin Graphics, Trade Litho and Little River Press. About 200 guests got a look at the company's two new six-color, 40˝ sheetfed presses—a Mitsubishi 3F-13 and Mitsubishi Diamond 3000LS. Among the special guests at the open house were Stanley C. Panther, mascot of the Florida Panthers hockey team, and Billy the Marlin, mascot of the Florida Marlins baseball team. MIAMI—Solo Printing has

By Erik Cagle Here's a look at the latest manufacturer offerings for small- and medium-size sheetfed offset presses in up to 23 x 29˝ formats: The A.B.Dick 4995A-ICS with ink control system offers the benefits of a four-tower portrait press for printers looking to step up to four-color process work. Digitally compatible with CTP systems (such as A.B.Dick's DPM line), this automated press with a maximum sheet size of 13.4 x 17.75˝ increases short- and long-run productivity, provides consistent and repeatable quality and accommodates polyester or metal plates. Features include the ink control system, which delivers consistent ink balance while reducing labor setup

MAN Roland Technicians Get Golden ToolsOFFENBACH, GERMANY—Two American technicians were honored recently for completing the 1,000th MAN Roland mechanical systems course at the company's training center here. As a result of the hands-on coursework, the technicians, Warren Collins and Greg Voigt, received their gold wrenches and are certified to install and get U.S. customers up-and-running on Roland 700 presses. Heidelberg USA has realigned its operations into four business segments: Digital, Postpress, Sheetfed and Web. Niels M. Winther, a 34-year veteran with the organization, has assumed responsibility as head of Heidelberg's Market Center North America (U.S. and Canada). Appointed to head the four U.S. groups

BY MOLLY JOSS In a little more than five years, computer-to-plate (CTP) technology has moved past the early experimenter phase and has moved into the later stages of the early adopter stage. Some might even argue it's moved into the early stages of the mainstream phase. However you measure it, it's difficult to argue that CTP is a flash-in-the-pan technology. Still, it hasn't yet found its way into every print shop in the nation and around the world. Widespread acceptance to that degree is yet to come. Wanting to get an inside look at how CTP is coming along, Printing Impressions recently spoke

By Erik Cagle When Francis Canzano Jr. wasn't looking for technology, it seems technology went looking for Canzano. It all started in the mid-1960s, when Canzano was walking the floor of a trade show in Chicago. He had been looking for a conventional camera and had visited a separation house for a demonstration. The camera was fine; nothing extraordinary. So it was back to the show. Ironically, it took a trip to Hell to land Canzano, president of Acme Printing/World Color New England, in technology heaven and ultimately a place in the 1999 Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame. "I'm roaming around

In the early '70s, Marty Anson had a dream: Build a better bindery. Now, 25 years later, the $15 million bindery "kingpin" is at it again. This time, he's expanding with new satellite facilities. BY CHERYL ADAMS He wasn't sitting in the middle of a corn field, like Kevin Costner's character in a "Field of Dreams," but F. Martin "Marty" Anson had a vision just the same 25 years ago: "Build it and they will come." Anson wanted to build a better trade bindery—one that would be a solid performer, a state-of-the-art operation that could weather the fierce storm of competition—a storm that

ENFIELD, CT—Greenwich, CT-based World Color Press has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Infiniti Graphics, a leading Connecticut-based commercial printer. Infiniti had revenues of more than $20 million in 1998. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is World Color's 22nd since 1993 and its second in as many months. Operating from a 72,000-square-foot facility here, Infiniti competes in the commercial, direct response and publication markets. The 115-person company currently produces more than 1 billion pieces of printed material per year, including brochures, booklets, inserts, reply cards and magazine reprints, according to Infiniti officials. Clients include Advo, American Express Publishing,

BY CHRISTOPHER CORNELL If you spent any time at all in 1998 reading the quarterly reports issued by publicly traded printing companies, you are probably up to your Y2K-compatible eyeballs with the term "record-breaking." But as the year draws to an end, it's clear that the phrase will be remembered as the one that most describes it. In previous years, consolidation was an interesting sidelight to other major events in the graphic arts industry. In 1998, it was all about consolidation. More than $3 billion was spent by larger fish swallowing up smaller ones, and while a few big names led the charge, they