Heidelberg

Pair of Machines Head Down South Marietta, GA—Color Spectrum Network (CSN) has added two new multi-function machines—a Bobst SPanthera 106-LER embossing diecutter with blanking and a Bobst Mistral 110 A-2 CS folder/gluer equipped with the latest source tagging and CD insertion devices. This marks the first time both of these new generation machines have been installed together in a single U.S. plant. After Fire, Bindery Is Thriving Again Lancaster, PA—It was among the largest and most intense fires that the local fire department could ever remember, and it caused more than $4 million in damage to Bindery Associates last year. "One-third of our facility was completely destroyed,"

Sturtevant, WI--Nov. 9, 2005--The Garvey Group, a network of facilities providing integrated services for the design, printing, internet applications and supply chain management of printed materials located throughout the Midwest, is announcing that its Sturtevant, WI location will soon have additional capabilities to handle long-run, high-quality, multicolor work after the installation of a new KBA Rapida 105 41-inch 10-color perfector sheetfed press with UV and hybrid ink capabilities in early 2006.  "We wanted to respond to the needs of our corporate customers who expect us to apply the latest technology available to efficiently produce their jobs resulting in lower costs through reduced material costs,

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor Getting customers to stop by their booth was the No. 1 challenge facing manufacturers, suppliers and distributors during PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 in Chicago. Be it food, beverages, magicians or professional pool players, those exhibiting knew that getting one's attention was as critical as spreading their company's gospel. This is particularly true for those purveyors of binding and finishing equipment, which offer such a vast array of products and services that it's easy for attentions to get divided. The key was in seeing those attentions get conquered. For example, Standard Finishing Systems and Horizon International made a

Quad Bindery Crew Cranks Out Jobs LOMIRA, WI—In today's competitive, "must have it yesterday" stitched catalog market, speed and overall output capabilities are the keys to success. At the Quad/Graphics facility here, the production crew is setting the pace for stitching speed and output utilizing a Tempo saddlestitcher from Muller Martini. The Quad Tempo is capable of running at 20,000 cycles per hour and the crew was recently recognized with an "Excellence in Finishing" award as the highest producing saddlestitching team among Quad's arsenal of more than 100 machines. Quad/Graphics' LHT-132 team relies on its 36-pocket Tempo saddlestitcher for production output that enables Quad to

By Mark Michelson Editor-in-Chief Growing interest in digital press offerings notwithstanding, the estimated 62,000 attendees at PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 surely didn't go home with the impression that the traditional sheetfed offset market has lost its luster, especially given all of the big iron dominating the show floor during the seven-day-long exhibition last month. Sealing the deal for nine new Komori six-color, 40˝ Lithrone presses at various Consolidated Graphics facilities are, front row from the left: Robert Birmingham, Consolidated Graphics; John Marotta, Komori America; back row: Yoshiharu Komori, Komori Corp.; George Abboud, Consolidated Graphics; Stephan Carter, Komori America; and Satoshi Mochida, Komori

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor Deep down, E.R. Spada must wonder if he has angered the bowling gods. How else can you explain some of the unfortunate circumstances that have befell his Digital Page since converting an old bowling alley into a printing shop in 2002? A little background first. Digital Page was formed by the entrepreneurial Spada in 1996 as a prepress house located in Albany, NY. Only two years earlier, he had debuted a company called Media Wizard, a graphic design/print brokerage. Spada decided to pursue commercial printing work to complement his prepress/design expertise, so he added a Heidelberg Quickmaster DI 46

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Industry vendors continue to weave a convoluted web of interconnecting technologies and business relationships. Imagine, for a moment, if all of such connections between exhibitors at PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 had been represented physically by running strings between their booths. The result likely would have rivaled the work of even the most industrious spider. Quiet a few new strands would have been added just at the show, particularly in the areas of interfacing offset and digital workflows and marketing of new plate technologies. Though not expressly sold as JDF (Job Definition Format) solutions, that technology generally

Pulling a Winner Out Of Its Digital Press Xerox Corp. has named Lorraine Press, a Salt Lake City-based commercial printing operation, as "Best of Show" winner in its Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging Awards. An independent panel of experts awarded Lorraine Press the highest combined ratings for its winning piece, the "Marvello Flipbook Invitation." Printed on a Xerox DocuColor 8000 digital press using a Creo color server, QuarkXPress software and Darwin design tools, the innovative direct mail piece invited potential customers to the printer's open house. Four different versions were created—each with a colorful magic theme—and each copy was personalized

Midwestern Printer Garners High Honor WASHINGTON, DC—The International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) announced the first winner of the CIP4 International Print Production Innovation (CIPPI) award. In the category of "best cost/benefit realization as a result of process automation implementation," the application of Action Printing of Fond du Lac, WI, was selected by the CIP4's advisory board. california BURBANK—Merisel Inc., a graphic solutions provider, has acquired Los Angeles-based Crush Creative, a provider of digital imaging solutions. The acquisition partners Crush with ColorEdge Visual, a New York City-based commercial graphics and imaging center, and Comp24, a comp production

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Printers in growing numbers are having second thoughts about their computer-to-plate (CTP) systems. First-time buyers are still the dominant force in the market today, but the aging installed base is rapidly driving up the percentage of shops looking to invest in a second, or even third, generation of technology. By the end of 2004, the installed base of CTP devices in North America had reached nearly 12,000 units, including metal and non-metal systems, according to a new plate market study recently published by PRIMIR (the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization). Completed by State Street Consultants in