Graphic Arts

BY MARK MICHELSON Where else in the graphic arts industry could you find an American Bald Eagle—aptly named "Booker T" after the central Florida city of Booker Town, where he was found six years ago as an injured chick—presiding over an international trade exhibition? That was just one of the attractions that drew more than 25,000 visitors to the 26th annual Graphics of the Americas trade show, which was held last month at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Booker T had an eagle-eye view perched at the Printing Association of Florida (PAF) booth during the three-day event and as the honorary host during the Graphic

IP Contest Winner Headed for VacationMEMPHIS, TN—International Paper Commercial Printing Papers has announced the winners of "The Best Ideas on Paper Sweepstakes," an online contest designed to encourage commercial printers to visit the company's Website, www.ipcommercialprinting.com. After 41 years of service with the Bobst Group, Joe Fuchs, vice president, has retired. Fuchs trained in Switzerland as a diecutter specialist before moving to the U.S. full-time in 1967. He was promoted to vice president in 1978, where he was responsible for directing the service activities for all Bobst products sold here. Georgia-Pacific has announced the appointment of Andrea Day as market manager

BY MARK SMITH Like a pit bull on a mail carrier's ankle, there are some issues that just won't seem to loosen their hold on the graphic arts industry. Font-related issues are the best case in point, having caused problems since the earliest days of desktop publishing and still hindering the processing of many jobs today. Similarly, digital proofing has presented challenges for most of that same time period. There is no solution that is perfect for everyone, so debate has raged about what is the best—or even just an acceptable—approach to digital color proofing. The points of disagreement usually are rooted in the

Robert Hart has joined Mail-Well, Englewood, CO, as CEO and president of Mail-Well Envelope. Prior to joining Mail-Well, Hart spent more than 30 years with Atlanta-based Riverwood International. He most recently served as senior vice president of the $600 million paperboard operation. Mark P. Correia, vice president of manufacturing for Target Graphics, Boonton, NJ, has earned the designation of Certified Production Management Executive from the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) Management Institute. The NAPL Management Institute conducts industry-specific management certification courses taught by graduate-level university professors and industry experts at Northwestern University. Randolph W. Camp has been elected as the 101st chairman of Printing Industries

Creo Increases Investment In printCafeBURNABY, CANADA—Creo Products has completed a $62.5 million investment in printCafe in a private placement. Creo invested $32 million in a combination of cash and stock. The net proceeds from this offering will be used to repay outstanding debt, for working capital and for general corporate purposes. "This is a strategic investment for Creo. We believe that printCafe is the only integrated e-commerce and e-production solution in the printing industry that provides value to print buyers, printers and print industry suppliers," says Mark Dance, executive vice president, Creo Products, and president of CreoScitex. "printCafe's products are an important part of

A Digital Evangelist FRANK SCOTT has managed to become one of the graphic arts industry's recognized authorities on digital ad delivery, while still keeping up with the demands of his work for Time Inc. As director of digital development, Scott was part of the team that converted Time's New York-based magazines to computer-to-plate production and established its partnership program to solicit ads in digital format. After working for more than 20 years on the publishing side of the industry, Scott has moved onto new challenges by joining the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) staff as vice president and director of research. Since this is

If you know the name of a printing company that you think appears on the Printing Impressions 400 list, but you're not sure of its ranking, here's an easy way to locate that firm. Simply find the company in the alphabetical listings on this page. In addition to each company's name and headquarters location, a corresponding number appears indicating that firm's ranking on the Printing Impressions 400. ABS Graphics (Addison, IL) 400 Action Printing (Fond du Lac, WI) 353 Adams Business Forms (Topeka, KS) 96 AdPlex Inc. (Houston, TX) 102 Advance Business Graphics (Mira Loma, CA) 153 AFL Web Printing (Voorhees, NJ)

Editor's note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2000. Therefore, companies that revised their 1999 revenues may have changed their '99 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 500. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:351340Jacob North Printing, Lincoln, NE$16.80$16.25+3David T. Calhoun125COM 50%; PUB 15%; CAT 15%; DM 10%16228Private 2  2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:352376Robin Enterprises, Westerville, OH$16.78$14.60+15Robin Hance126COM

BY CAROLINE MILLER "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." —a Western Union internal memo, circa 1876. Sound vaguely familiar? There are many in the graphic arts industry who have said the same thing about the promise of the Internet. But, in reality, the Internet is becoming intertwined in the commercial printing industry. One area that has seen the most change is the way printers communicate, not only with their customers, but with their employees. By integrating the Internet into their overall business strategies, printers will

BY ERIK CAGLE The following is an industry service announcement, courtesy of Scott McGowan, product manager, supplies marketing for A.B.Dick-Multigraphics. He offers the following definition of a printing blanket: The medium by which the right reading image on the plate is transferred to become a right reading image on the paper or media being printed. Choosing the correct blanket for your offset printing job, he adds, will yield the highest quality results. While not the most heralded gun in the offset printing arsenal, blankets play a critical role in the success (or failure) of a client's job and are, ultimately, a deciding factor in