Heidelberg

Michael H. Bruno, February, 1911 - January, 2005 By Frank Romano "Printing was my vocation for all my working life. Ninety years of my life were spent in the 20th century. I had the good fortune of being where the action was during the most active period since printing was invented. This was the last 64 years of the 20th century." Mike Bruno died peacefully in his sleep this week at the age of 93. He is survived by his wife Gilda, his son J. Michael and daughter Donna Eltoft. Mike will always be considered the father of the American printing industry. In 1925 his mother died at

Finishing Supplier Changes Structure HANOVER PARK, IL—Gämmerler, a supplier of materials handling and in-line finishing equipment, is implementing a new global organizational structure designed to unify the company's resources to improve customer support on a global basis. This includes the formation of a senior level, global management team with collective responsibility for worldwide service, sales, marketing, finance, engineering and order management functions. Open House has Post-Drupa Flavor ROSELAND, NJ—In November, Bobst Group USA held its "Direction '04" open house, the North American launch and domestic premier of the 12 new products announced earlier this year at Drupa in Germany. During the three-day open house, U.S. converters

In the not-so-distant past, it was easy to look at small- and medium-format sheetfed offset presses (29˝ and smaller) as the less-coordinated sibling to large-format units. While small-format machines could print with similar quality, they lacked some of the automated features and bells and whistles of their larger counterparts. Today’s generation of smaller-format presses refuse to be overshadowed—most features offered on large-format presses are now available on smaller machines. “For the past few years, equipment manufacturers of sheetfed presses have been adding the same automation that can be found on their larger 40˝ presses to their mid-size and smaller sheetfed presses,” says Thomas Goecke,

GCIU to Merge with Teamsters WASHINGTON, DC—A majority of the Graphic Communications International Union (GCIU) voted to merge with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). The GCIU became an autonomous conference of the IBT effective January 1. The Teamsters has 1.4 million members, according to GCIU President George Tedeschi, who believes the merger will "breathe new life" into the printing workers union. New Headquarters for RRD CHICAGO—RR Donnelley is preparing to relocate to its new worldwide corporate headquarters in an office tower at 111 South Wacker Drive in the heart of the Windy City. The company will occupy 110,000 square feet. Donnelley, which is currently located at

At Graph Expo, Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) donated a Kodak Approval NX digital color imaging system to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). David Hohman has been appointed vice president and general manager of Rycoline, a manufacturer of printing supplies based in Chicago. Rycoline was recently acquired by Sun Chemical. Hohman has been with Sun Chemical for 13 years, serving in operations management. John Strottner has joined Akiyama International as regional sales manager. He will be based at the company's Cerritos, CA, headquarters. Baldwin Technology announced that Mark Becker and Gerald Nathe were re-elected to the company's board of directors. Also, Takayuki Miyaoku was elected as

The Research & Engineering Council of the National Association for Printing Leadership has named Scott Repa, pressroom operations manager at Brown Printing, East Greenville, PA, its third Pressroom Operations Manager of the Year. Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA, has appointed Kevin Cooper, former executive with RR Donnelley, as an assistant professor in the Graphic Communication Department. Cooper comes to Cal Poly with more than 20 years of executive-level experience in the graphic communication industry. His teaching assignments will include strategic management, human resources, supervision and web printing technologies. Also, Michael Cunningham, founder and former CEO and president of Cunningham Graphic International has joined Cal

arizona PHOENIX—Harte Bindery & Mailing recently added a TD 66 Stahlfolder with continuous feed and a Stahl digital folder. The new postpress systems are being used to finish brochures and other general commercial materials. Since the installation, capacity at Harte Bindery has doubled. california IRVINE—Mini-Mailers has changed its name to MMi. It has also launched its Digital Color Direct Mail department. Using Web-to-print technology, MMi will offer integrated services from design to mailing in one process. MMi began as a one-man operation in 1986. It now employs 150 at two locations. LOS ANGELES—Cenveo Anderson Lithograph has purchased a six-unit Mitsubishi Diamond 16 MAX commercial

by chris bauer Managing Editor Merger and acquisition activity. Monster trade shows. New faces in high places. The luck of the draw. It all adds up to just another year in the commercial printing industry. Let's take a look back at how the year 2004 played out, and who made headlines during the past 12 months. The year started out on shaky ground for the industry, with rumors that Heidelberg planned to sell off its web systems business and digital printing division, as well as reduce its worldwide work force by up to 1,000 employees. Eventually, the whispers became a reality as the other players in these

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor Those pundits who, a year ago, predicted that an improved economy would translate to a trickle-down effect for the commercial printing industry were eventually right. After a three-year funk, many observers impatiently watched as 2004 jumped into gear like a lazy teenager preparing for his final spring in high school. But as the second half of the year garnered steam, so did the industry. Graph Expo & Converting Expo produced solid foot traffic and sales volume, and a number of printers announced substantial capital investment initiatives. By year's end, the confidence in improving numbers was no longer wistfully forced. As you look at

NILES, IL—In an effort to better meet its direct mail customer demands, Specialty Printing has installed a new Goss Sunday M-2000 web press. The press, which features a 231⁄4˝ Vits sheeter, is the centerpiece of a $10 million-plus capital investment initiative. Specialty Printing also debuted a new digital division, with its first piece—a Kodak NexPress 2100 color digital press—heading the effort. Also on tap to start up this month is a six-color Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 102 sheetfed perfector with an aqueous coating tower. Three 26˝ MBO Perfection folders and a Heidelberg Polar cutter are also among the ancillary equipment that have been acquired recently. Specialty Printing,