Heidelberg

Meridian Printing Wins Gold NEW YORK CITY—Meridian Printing won the coveted 2003 Sappi North American Printer of the Year award at an elegant, black-tie awards gala held here recently. The East Greenwich, RI-based printer was acclaimed for excellence of printing craftsmanship in its production of the "100 years of Harley Davidson" book, which was printed on 100-lb. Sappi Porcelain Dull Text paper. The 275,000-copy run, for publisher Melcher Media, was printed four-color process with varnish at 250 line screen on Meridian's Heidelberg CD sheetfed press. As the Sappi North American Printer of the Year winner, Meridian received a trophy and a handcrafted gold medallion. A Real Fancy Affair The

BY chris Bauer Managing Editor The year 2003 can be summed up as a period that had its ups and downs as far as the commercial printing industry is concerned. For every plant closing, there seemed to be a plant expansion project. For every poor financial report, there was a major capital equipment expenditure. Some big names left the industry, making way for a new generation of leaders. And the industry's biggest annual trade show left attendees and exhibitors with a feeling of hope. Let's take a look back. The beginning of the year brought with it changes to the top spots at several

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor The whispers that point toward an improving economy are becoming louder and louder. And 2004—some observers are confident—will show a marked improvement in the fortunes of commercial printers across the country, ending a downward cycle that traces to the fall of 2000. Of course, anything above the 2001 and 2002 performances would constitute an improvement. Still, among the ranks of our annual Top 400, tucked in between the masses of companies that experienced flat or negative growth from the previous campaign, are some establishments that have actually soared. We've provided a capsulated look at 13 companies randomly selected from

DOVER, NH—Heidelberg Web Systems recently completed a $5 million modernization of its Customer Training and Technology Center, located here. Begun last November, the new training center now includes a static lab for hands-on training on freestanding printing units; a folder lab equipped with three fully operational folders and a Contiweb splicer; and, most notably, a new wing with a fully operational printing tower from a Heidelberg Mainstream newspaper web press. Additional teaching assets include an XCalibur VLF thermal platesetter consigned by Agfa; and related equipment and materials from Agfa, QTI, Baldwin, Böttcher, Sun Chemical, AWS, Rima and Heidelberg postpress. As a result of the

In May 1998, William Davis, then new chairman and CEO of RR Donnelley—one of the largest printing companies in the world—said, "In this game, manufacturing discipline will win. The craftsman who has to leave his thumbprint on every page will lose." He continued: "We are a decade behind in manufacturing best practices." His comments reflect the modern challenge of the graphic arts. Traditionally the manufacture of print has been craft-oriented, from design through to print. Designers made their reputations by creating unusual print pieces, with beautiful typography, tough-to-match colors, and unusual trim and bind requirements. Printers made their reputations by dealing under deadline with these

PIA/GATF Chooses New Home SAN ANTONIO, TX—After an 18 month review, the boards of directors of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) and Printing Industries of America (PIA) have selected Sewickley, PA, (over Waukesha, WI) as the new site for its consolidated headquarters. While GATF/PIA will maintain a small office in Washington, DC, for public policy purposes, the majority of PIA operations will move to the current headquarters of GATF, located just outside of Pittsburgh.The timing for the move is the fall of 2004. Mail-Well Creates New Group ENGLEWOOD, CO—Mail-Well has formed its new 360° Enterprise Solutions Group for the direct marketing industry. The 360° Enterprise Solutions

Komori Hosts Screening Seminar ROLLING MEADOWS, IL—Komori America recently hosted an educational seminar on screening technologies at its demonstration facility here. The second in the press manufacturer's series of "Survivor" seminars saw printers from around the U.S. learning about screening applications. Representatives from Creo, Enovation Graphic Systems and Screen (USA) were also on hand to present their screening technologies, Staccato, Co-Res and Spekta, respectively MBO/Muller Martini Co-host Second Open House WESTAMPTON, NJ—Building on the success of its previous joint open house, MBO America and Muller Martini held a second, even larger event recently that also featured running equipment and product information from Creo, hhs

Don Gecks has joined Hi-Liter Graphics, Burlington, WI, as vice president of operations. Gecks was formally an executive in charge of operations at S. Rosenthal & Co., Cincinnati. Gary Stafford has been promoted to executive vice president for Lazer Inc., Rochester, NY. In his most recent position, he served as senior vice president, managed the sales team, served as CTO and led the company's recent expansions. Dave Moser has been promoted to vice president of sales for Perfect Plastic Printing, St. Charles, IL. Moser has spent the past three years with the company as director of world sales. Julie Metzger has joined the sales

New England Printer Makes First Move FITCHBURG, MA—Boutwell, Owens & Co., a 116-year-old manufacturer of custom-printed paperboard packaging, has ordered the first Mitsubishi Diamond 3000TP Tandem Perfector in the United States. The company expects to take delivery of the 10-color, 40˝ machine in March 2004 and have it operational by the following month. It features a unique streamlined Translink unit that neither turns the sheet over nor changes the gripper edge from the front of the sheet to the tail. The front side of the sheet is printed after the reverse side, with accurate registration maintained on both sides. california SAN LUIS

Meridian Printing Wins Gold Award NEW YORK CITY—Meridian Printing won the coveted 2003 Sappi North American Printer of the Year award at an elegant, black-tie awards gala held here on October 10. The East Greenwich, RI-based printer was acclaimed for excellence of printing craftsmanship in its production of the "100 years of Harley Davidson" book, which was printed on 100-lb. Sappi Porcelain Dull Text paper. The 275,000-copy run—for publisher Melcher Media—was printed four-color process with varnish at 250 line screen on Meridian's Heidelberg CD sheetfed press. As the Sappi North American Printer of the Year winner, Meridian received a trophy and a handcrafted gold medallion. The event, appropriately