Heidelberg

BY ERIK CAGLE Senior Editor Pity the poor saddle stitcher. It gets no love, no recognition for a job well done. Bindery operators want the stitcher to take care of business, and they certainly don't want to intervene in its appointed rounds. When it comes to their stitchers, notes Darcy Maeda, public relations coordinator for Duplo USA, printers seek the ultimate in automation, in every aspect of the design. "They want the machine's stitcher heads, back jogger, side guides, stitch stopper, fold stopper, size adjustments, fold roller gap and conveyance roller position to adjust automatically," she says. "Automation of this degree

You guessed it, I just saw Momma Mia and "Like a Super Drupa" keeps rolling around in my head. For those of you not familiar with the show Momma Mia, which is based on the music of ABBA, it's a must see. Super Trooper, one of ABBA's huge hits 24 years ago, is one of the show's toe-tapping standouts with the catchy "Like a Super Trooper." Being a printer to the core, I just couldn't help putting my own spin to the tune. A Super Drupa it should be and, by the time you read this, many will be on their way to Germany

by marie alonso Business Development Consultant The three most prominent features of JDF are its ability to carry a print job from concept through completion, its ability to bridge the communication gap between production and management information services, and its ability to do so under nearly any precondition. JDF, JOB Definition Format, is without question the most significant and viable integration initiative targeting print connectivity today. The road to realizing the benefit from JDF integration has been a long one. There have been many milestones along the way—and Drupa 2004 is the biggest one in the ultimate quest for print connectivity. JDF

"On a $1,000-per-hour web press, it's almost unimaginable how expensive it is to not match color on the press," says Michael Graff, senior executive vice president at Sandy Alexander Printing in Clifton, NJ. These days, however, plate remakes due to color issues are down to 20 percent of what they were before, Graff reports. "We've had a perceptible improvement in time of matching proofs, and our makeready time is down considerably." Repeated rounds of color proofing used to be very costly for Que-Net Media, as well, reveals Brian Gaughen, color quality manager of the Quebecor World subsidiary in Los Angeles. But, recently,

Canadian Printer Goes High-Tech EDMONTON, ALBERTA—McCallum Printing Group has launched a technologically advanced printing plant to satisfy its customers' needs. The company was developed from the ground up utilizing Heidelberg's most advanced tools. These include a Prinect workflow, a Heidelberg Topsetter P 102 with Satin screening, two Speedmaster 102-6+LX presses, a Stitchmaster ST100 stitcher and Polar 137ED cutting system. Hi-Liter Graphics, located in Burlington, WI, has promoted Angela Damon to vice president of finance and Lynn Breunig to information systems manager. Digital printer Top Graphics has announced the addition of four new shareholders and named Steve Kodner as company president. Tony Hennrich, Michael Hayes and Michael

Glimpse Into Print Giant's Show Plans HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—It only seems fitting to travel to the birthplace of printing and the home country of the world's largest printing trade show for a pre-Drupa press conference. And when the company you are covering is Heidelberg, the show's biggest exhibitor, there is no better place to be than Germany during the spring season of a Drupa year. The two-day international press event opened at the Heidelberg sheetfed manufacturing facility in Weisloch with a speech from Heidelberg management board member Dr. Klaus Spiegel, who gave an overview of the company's recently announced deals—the selling of the Digital unit

Vendors Time Release Products for Drupa DÜSSELDORF—Drupa 2004 will most likely have begun its run by the time this story is in print, yet it technically is still part of the pre-show coverage. Two companies elected to make their announcements embargoed until now. Presstek previously released information about its next-generation thermal imaging head, ProFire, but details of its application were held back. Formal product launches were being saved for Düsseldorf. The company is teaming up with Ryobi, KBA (Karat) and Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) to introduce an entry-level, lower cost digital offset printing platform based on ProFire. An entry-level version of the yet-to-be- named

connecticut MERIDEN—Sappi Fine Paper has named Miller Johnson Inc. a "Silver Award" winner in the general category for its printing of a 2004 Mercedes Benz dealer calendar. The 66-year-old printing firm has annual sales of $9.5 million. NEWINGTON—Direct mail provider Data Graphics has added its fifth Miyakoshi variable-size offset press to this location. The MVF22K is a six-color model and is configured to run all cassettes and OEM equipment now in use at Data Graphics. florida SARASOTA—The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has placed an order for two Goss Global Newsliner tower additions for its existing Metroliner presses. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune serves one of the largest and

by chris bauer Managing Editor Finally, the rumor mill can go silent concerning the status of industry giant Heidelberg Web Systems. Just days before closing this issue, Heidelberg and Goss International reached an agreement on major issues for the intended transfer of the Heidelberg Web Offset division to Goss International. An outline deal has been agreed upon in principle, but some issues remain to be resolved before definitive documents are expected to be executed over the coming weeks. Heidelberg will still display web presses at the upcoming Drupa trade show in Germany, reports Greg Norris, manager of marketing communications. Its newest

Dallas Printers Agree to Merge DALLAS—Impression Graphics and Ussery Printing have agreed to merge, with the company operating under the name of Ussery Printing. The combined companies have 76 employees and roughly $11.7 million in annual sales. The company will be able to produce small- and large-format printing. Quad/Graphics Signs Extension SUSSEX, WI—Quad/Graphics will become the exclusive printer for U.S. News & World Report in January 2005 after the two parties reached an accord on a contract extension. Quad will print 2.2 million weekly copies of the publication for distribution throughout the United States. The work will be produced entirely at Quad facilities in Saratoga Springs, NY,