Heidelberg

Phototype Updates Facility CINCINNATI—Queen City printer Phototype has taken the wraps off its newly renovated, 40,000-square-foot facility that will house its headquarters and creative imaging center. The existing facility, a historic building, received a multimillion dollar facelift that included a two-story addition. Phototype also operates an imaging center in Columbus, OH, and a high-end creative art studio in Chicago. Quad Names Quadracci Sr. VP SUSSEX, WI—Joel Quadracci has been promoted to senior vice president of sales and administration by Quad/Graphics, and has been named a member of the board of directors. Quadracci served as the company's vice president of print sales for the previous four years. Quad/Graphics

Day International Group has acquired Network Distribution International (NDI). NDI is a national converter of offset blankets and a reseller of ancillary consumable products. In addition to Day's line of offset printing blankets, sleeves and pressroom chemistry, Rockland, MA-based NDI will continue to sell products manufactured by other companies.  Heidelberg hosted its second annual "Brats & Dots" open house recently at its corporate headquarters in Kennesaw, GA. More than 325 attendees were on hand to experience the latest in prepress, press, direct imaging, postpress and digital workflows from Heidelberg, including new systems unveiled at last fall's Graph Expo. The event lets guests inspect and talk to

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor The size of a shop's presses used to be seen as saying something about the sophistication of its operations. Today, half-size and smaller presses are just as likely as full-size machines to boast sophisticated computer controls, digital interfaces and other automation features. While the trend toward shorter runs may play to the strengths of these presses, print buyers don't want to make any compromises in color, quality or service. Therefore, small- to mid-size printers have come under increased pressure to be technologically competitive throughout their shops. For a growing number, a critical step has been adopting computer-to-plate production with

I saw the future in a play and it wasn't on Broadway. Actually it was four short plays in the Xerox booth at the recent Direct Marketing Association event in Orlando. The plays, complete with professional actors, dramatically delivered an insight into how one-to-one marketing can work from the customer to the printer. The impresario behind the plays was my old friend Larry Zusman, manager of VI Solutions Marketing at Xerox. Larry, together with Bob Wagner, Xerox's vice president of creative services, gave the audience a very clever and entertaining way of demonstrating one-to-one solutions. Applause and rave reviews aside, I thought that these plays

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor You might say that only the equipment is new at Pictorial Offset, as the company's philosophy hasn't changed a bit as it celebrates its 65th anniversary. But there's just an old-fashioned charm to the Carlstadt, NJ, sheetfed and web printer's mantra that is both simple and all encompassing: deliver quality product that exceeds client expectations, on time every time. "That's a phrase known by every employee under this roof," states Gary Samuels, who heads the manufacturing component at Pictorial Offset. "Some of our customers have seen other shops, where corners are cut in the wrong places. When client work

by chris bauer Managing Editor It's no longer necessary to buy a behemoth press to get all of the big automated features that come along with them. Small- and medium-format (up to 23x29˝) sheetfed presses also boast a bevy of bells and whistles. "The main features required by today's press buyer (are based on) automation," notes Mike Dighton, vice president of Hamada of America. "Auto plate loading, blanket washers, color consoles, including CIP3/4, are almost always asked for by our customers. The automation carries into prepress, as well." Hamada's new Impulse 452P is a 14x20˝ perfector. The Impulse runs at 13,000 iph and will

FedEx Buys Kinko's Franchise MEMPHIS, TN—FedEx Corp. and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) have announced an agreement for FedEx to acquire Kinko's for $2.4 billion in cash. Kinko's operates approximately 1,200 stores worldwide, generating annual sales of about $2 billion. Funds managed by CD&R, a private equity investment firm, currently owns about 75 percent of Kinko's outstanding shares. Once the transaction is completed, all Kinko's locations will offer new or expanded FedEx shipping options to small- to medium-size businesses and to large corporate customers. FedEx has been Kinko's exclusive shipping provider since 1988. Scitex Selling Digital Printing TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—Scitex Corp. and Eastman Kodak have signed a

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—As part of its traditional year-end press conference in early December, Heidelberg senior executives used the occasion to better explain its recent announcements. Those announcements had included the impending sale of its web systems business, an additional worldwide work force reduction of up to 1,000 employees (primarily in Europe) and the repositioning of its digital division. Instead, the company will concentrate on the more profitable sheetfed offset printing market and its related value chain. Heidelberg Chairman Bernhard Schreier revealed that, by the end of Heidelberg's fiscal year in March of 2004, he expects the web division to be sold and a determination made public

Pantone Extends Brand Into Ink-jet Consumables CARLSTADT, NJ—Pantone Inc. is making a bid to expand the application of its color expertise by launching the PANTONE ColorVantage family of premium ink-jet inks, papers and specially developed profiles. The company initially intends to focus on the wide-format printing segment, and piezo-electric engines specifically, informs Andrew Hatkoff, vice president, Electronic Color Systems. Working in partnership with a third-party supplier, Pantone has developed a pigmented ink set (specially formulated CMYK plus light cyan and magenta) with a significantly larger color gamut than that offered by standard OEM inks, Hatkoff claims. Anticipating a potential concern, he adds that the

california CERRITOS—National Card, Label and Affixing Inc. (NCLA) has purchased a Duplo DC-545HC slitter/cutter/creaser. The company is printing personalized marketing materials on an HP Indigo digital press, and then finishing on the DC-545HC. CITY OF INDUSTRY—K-1 Packaging Group, a privately held package printer located here, has installed a six-color, 41˝ KBA Rapida 105 sheetfed press featuring KBA's Logotronic system and a 12 ft. extended delivery. SANTA ANA—Q2 Inc. has purchased a new six-color Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 press, marking the company's expansion into a full-service, seamless provider of digital photography, prepress and printing services. colorado GRAND JUNCTION—Colorado Printing is now using EFI's Printcafe