Graphic Arts

IPA, the Association of Graphic Solutions Providers, has elected Bob Childs, COO of Digital Color Image, Pennsauken, NJ, to serve as its chairman of the board. The following officers were also elected: 1st vice chair, Gail Ludewig, president and CEO, TotalWorks, Chicago; and 2nd vice chair, Chip Harding, vice president and COO, Harper House, Dallas. David Schawk, Schawk Inc., Des Plaines, IL, is past chairman, Roni Buczynski, managing director, Vertis, North Haven, CT, serves as IPA treasurer; and Kent Hatterick, Beck: Premedia Workflow Compression, Atlanta, is secretary. Hess Print Solutions, a Wellspring Capital Management company, announced that Daniel Bach has assumed the new position of

SEWICKLEY, PA—February 16, 2007— Excitement builds for the 2007 Presidents Conference scheduled for March 4–8 in Arizona. The great program and winter chill have heated up registrations as the deadline nears. In addition to the quality speaker line-up including Michael Brandwein (Leadership in the Crossroads) and Marcus Nicolls (Creating Accountability in Organizations), PIA/GATF announced additional value-added elements. With 21 sessions and 8 roundtables planned, the attendees can customize their educational experience to their company needs. With mergers and acquisitions in the headline each week, attendees can catch a rare first-hand account of the issues playing out with private equity partners in the printing industry. Also,

NEW YORK—02/14/07—Printing and Imaging Association of New York State has announced that it is expanding its operations into the New York City, Long Island and Northern New Jersey area. Jurisdiction in this territory was awarded to PIA of New York State by its national affiliate, Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF). Tim Freeman, President of PIA of New York State, said that his organization welcomes the opportunity to serve members in the newly acquired area. “The Metro New York/Northern New Jersey/Long Island area has long been recognized as home to an extensive and world class print community. Individually, we are

RESTON,VA—02/06/07—With eight months remaining before opening day, approximately 85 percent of the exhibit space at GRAPH EXPO® has been sold, positioning this year’s show to exceed the size of its 2006 predecessor.  But that’s only part of the story. This year’s show will take place September 9-12 in the South Building of the McCormick Place Complex in Chicago, IL.  Complete information is available at: www.graphexpo.com. As of late January, GRAPH EXPO is already tracking ahead in exhibit space sales over last year.  This is a significant trend since the 2006 show was the largest GRAPH EXPO since 2000.   Based on the increasing momentum,

SEWICKLEY, PA—February 2, 2007—Following the recent announcement by the Association of Graphic Communications (AGC) that it will enter Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, the Board of Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) has announced that PIA/GATF members in the metropolitan New York and Northern New Jersey jurisdiction are now eligible for membership in the Printing and Imaging Association of New York State (PIA of NYS), which has established a presence in the region. PIA of NYS has served upstate New York and northwestern Pennsylvania since the 1930’s and is ideally suited to be recognized as PIA/GATF’s official affiliate in the territory. This organization

Printers Attend Lenticular Seminar Williston, VT—KBA North America recently offered a comprehensive five-day seminar on lenticular printing. The professional development seminar, held at KBA’s headquarters here, brought together KBA’s lenticular, printing and marketing experts with owners and press operators of the KBA Genius 52 UV press. Lenticular printing is a special technique that involves printing an image on the back side of lenticular plastic, allowing the eye to simultaneously view alternating sections of multiple images to give the impression of 3-D, flip, or motion. KBA reports it is planning several repeat seminars this year. Graphic Systems Group in New York City announced the appointment

SEWICKLEY, PA­—January 30, 2007—The Association for Graphic Arts Training (AGAT) announced a partnership with the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation to co-present the 2007 PIA/GATF Continuous Improvement Network Conference. The event, now in its 17th year, is scheduled for April 15–18 in Jacksonville, Florida. AGAT will present a seminar track at the conference designed to help companies increase their productivity through efficient education and training. Sessions already scheduled include connecting employee training and development with continuous improvement, creating effective training sessions, building and energizing teams, partnering with vendors, and locating resources for continuing education programs. A special Train-the-Trainer workshop immediately precedes the

SEWICKLEY, PA— January 16, 2007—”Office processes are ripe for improvement with Lean Manufacturing concepts,” asserts Beau Keyte, keynote speaker for the PIA/GATF Continuous Improvement Network Annual Conference, April 15–18 in Jacksonville, FL. Keyte, co-author of the award-winning book, “The Complete Lean Enterprise”, believes that while printers often begin their Lean journey on the production floor, they only realize the full benefits of Lean when they pay attention to the high costs and lead times of non-production office activities. “It may surprise some people, but all of the lean concepts typically applied to production processes also apply to non-production and administrative processes. I show companies how to

PITTSBURGH, PA—January 5, 2007—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) proudly announces a new Employee Recognition Calendar for the printing industry. “Employee recognition comes in many forms, and management professionals agree that it is an important component to a thriving company and committed workforce,” says Jim Kyger, HR Director of Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF). “It doesn’t matter if you have a formal or informal employee recognition program; the important thing is that you acknowledge good work by employees.” Some companies have a mix of informal and formal employee recognition programs, while others struggle with the implementation of formal programs.

Lifetime Memories For Hall Of Famer Dear Editor: Thank you so much for the photographs from my recent induction into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame. I really do appreciate the honor you bestowed on me. It is something I will cherish the rest of my life. Please thank everyone on your staff for making this a special evening. I hope that if you are ever in Dallas, you will let me show you our Texas hospitality. Jesse Williamson President Williamson Printing Dallas Award Brings Many Kind Words Dear Editor: It seems it was only yesterday that I was in Chicago at the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall