Eastman Kodak

THERE ARE two types of equipment dealers in the printing industry. One has products, the other has solutions. The former has something to sell, the latter wants to find out about your needs and address them. Needless to say, the latter almost always wins the day, the order and future business. Craftline Printing, a commercial printer and direct mailer based in Fort Wayne, IN, knows a little something about partnerships, both with companies that supply it with equipment and customers who rely on the printer to deliver their marketing messages. Craftline has three divisions: commercial, book and C-Point Marketing. The commercial branch produces

PAUL ROTHSTEIN was selling thermal copy paper (remember that stuff?) out of the back of a borrowed car in 1973. In a former life, he had been a business machine salesman, but suddenly realized that the “real” market was in consumable sales. Looking past the obvious (his traveling salesman selling-out-of-the-back-of-a-car routine), Rothstein saw that there was a growing demand for quality, customer-oriented, fast-turnaround printing. Shortly thereafter, Canton, MA-based Copytech was born. In those days, Copytech had a single one-color press and a desktop folder. If the press operator (one of three employees) called in sick, Rothstein had to run the press. Fortunately for him,

Omaha Print Celebrates 150 Years With 150 Trees OMAHA, NE—To celebrate the company’s 150th anniversary, Omaha Print employees recently planted 150 trees here at Fontenelle Forest. As the Conservation Stewardship Sponsor for Fontenelle Nature Association (FNA), Omaha Print plans to continue to add trees to Fontenelle Forest yearly. Together, Omaha Print and FNA aim to preserve the biodiversity and ecological integrity of Nebraska lands for current and future generations. CEO Steve Hayes explains that the gift of trees is being made in honor of all the company’s employees, retirees and customers. “We have been fortunate to receive the support of the community for

Behind the Scenes R&D on New Line of Eco-Friendly Inks CARLSTADT, NJ—At Sun Chemical’s Carlstadt Technical Center, a research and development facility, more than 100 scientists and support staff from around the globe test the analysis, surface characterization, interfacial dynamics and synthesis of new inks. Some new developments at the facility include Earth sheetfed inks, which produce only 2 percent VOCs, and offer sharp lithographic dot fidelity, high-trap efficiency, well-maintained density during press runs and fast color accuracy; and Liberty eco-friendly inks that offer sharp press stability and ultra-fast drying; the WetFlex printing process, which allows converters to print flexible films at high speed

IN APRIL, I attended the Kodak Graphic Users Association (KGUA) as a member of the press. This group is probably one of the longest running user associations in our industry, previously having been associated with Creo and Scitex before all of the acquisitions. This was the first time the group invited the press, and I was pleased to be there with four other colleagues from North America. With 314 members in attendance, it was the largest gathering the group has seen—at least in the past several years, even with the economy in turmoil, Drupa around the corner and the IPA Technical Conference competing for

Standard Acquires Veitch READING, PA—Standard Offset Printing has purchased Veitch Printing and Veitch Digital Partners for an undisclosed amount of cash, according to the Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal. The deal creates a company with a potential for annual sales of $25 to $30 million. NewPage Going Public MIAMISBURG, OH—Coated paper manufacturer NewPage Group is planning an initial public offering, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Associated Press reports that the offering price may be as much as $805 million. Some NewPage stockholders will sell shares as part of the IPO. Impact Obtains ZipSort MINNEAPOLIS—Direct mail marketing specialist Impact

WHILE SERVICE bureaus and data centers will tell you that the concept of TransPromo (putting a marketing message on a statement) has been around for decades, there has been a sudden surge of interest in stepping up its use. During 2006, TransPromo full-color digital output represented only 1.62 billion equivalent images in North America. This is a very small base, but InfoTrends expects this output to experience a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 91 percent to reach 21.72 billion images by 2010. There are four key drivers that make TransPromo an idea whose time has come: The need for better ways to

BIRMINGHAM, U.K.— 29/05/2008—Ipex 2010’s new dates and layout have been greeted enthusiastically by leading industry suppliers, with Heidelberg, Kodak, Canon and HP among the leading industry suppliers already allocated space on the exhibition floorplan. “Industry reaction to our innovations for Ipex 2010 has been extremely positive,” says Ipex 2010 event director Trevor Crawford. “The new, later dates – 18th to 25th May – avoid major international public holidays and should move us into a generally warmer climate. In addition, locating the exhibition solely within the new halls, accessible via a single main entrance, simplifies navigation and makes it much more likely that visitors will

ROCHESTER, NY—May 23—In addition to the broad portfolio of integrated solutions on display at Kodak’s stand D01, in Hall 5, KODAK Products can be found throughout drupa. Vendors will feature Kodak’s prepress, workflow and digital printing solutions on their stands. “Kodak is committed to open architecture, making it possible for more customers to integrate our solutions into their operations and to support connectivity with other vendors’ solutions,” said Kevin Joyce, Chief Marketing Officer, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. “The prevalence of KODAK Solutions is a testament to the innovation and applicability of Kodak Solutions in today’s blended production environments. We

COLCHESTER, UK—May 23, 2008—Continuing a long tradition of participation at the printing industry’s largest exhibition, Prism will once again be demonstrating its newest products for the first time at Drupa in Hall 7a, Stand 12c. Prism released the first Windows-based print management information system (MIS), Prism WIN, in the early nineties and once again is at the forefront of technology in its release of its latest version with true three tier architecture and the Microsoft .NET framework. Prism QTMS, the award winning production management system, continues to build upon its success of dead-on production counts with company-wide tracking of pallets and overall management of