Heidelberg

Pressing Ahead By Mark Michelson Editor-in-Chief It's no secret that the stagnant U.S. economy has wrecked havoc on graphic arts industry suppliers the past three years. And, with many printers hesitant to make major capital equipment expenditures, sheetfed, and especially web, offset press manufacturers may have suffered the most of any industry segment. But—partly based on exhibitor reports from the recently completed GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO exhibition—interest in upgrading pressrooms and in the computer-integrated manufacturing concept (CIM) seem to be building. New press sales levels are still a far cry from the go-go '90s, but press suppliers at the show generally reported

ROCHESTER, NY—Following the conclusion of an extensive testing process, NexPress Solutions and Pantone Inc. jointly announced that the NexPress 2100 digital production color press has become the first digital press in its class to be Pantone licensed. The licensing process involved mapping out the correct values for colors, measuring printed targets and testing to create the best representations of PANTONE colors. (www.nexpress.com/www.pantone.com) BOSTON—Copy Cop, a printing and imaging services company, has purchased a Xerox DocuColor iGen3 digital production press. It expects the new press to help increase overall revenues by at least 15 percent. (www.copycop.com/www.xerox.com) IRVINE, CA—Orange County Printing

alabama TUSCALOOSA—Printing Services at the University of Alabama has purchased a Presto saddle stitching system from Muller Martini to expand its full-service finishing capabilities. florida HIALEAH—Franklin/Trade Graphics recently held an open house to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the merger of Franklin Graphics, Trade Litho and Little River Press. About 200 guests got a look at the company's two new six-color, 40˝ sheetfed presses—a Mitsubishi 3F-13 and Mitsubishi Diamond 3000LS. Among the special guests at the open house were Stanley C. Panther, mascot of the Florida Panthers hockey team, and Billy the Marlin, mascot of the Florida Marlins baseball team. MIAMI—Solo Printing has

california GARDENA—Southwest Offset Printers has purchased a 28-unit DGM 430 press. The purchase also includes two DGM 1035 folders. IRVINE—The Graphics Industry Council held its third annual "Shoot for the Cure" golf tournament in August. Over 125 executives from regional graphic arts industry-related firms teed off to help raise $40,000 for the City of Hope Cancer Center. LA VERNE—Layton Printing, an 18-year-old, family owned firm, has purchased a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000LS sheetfed press. The four-color, 40˝ machine is Layton Printing's first Mitsubishi press. The company specializes in the design and printing of unique, full-color business cards, notepads and postcards. florida CLERMONT—Sprint is remaking printed

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor There are enough headaches encountered between the time a customer's files are uploaded to your FTP site and when the truck rolls away from the back dock with finished product. But, while certain aspects of the workflow are tedious and time consuming, your perfect binder shouldn't be an attention, or time, burglar. Most manufacturers of floor-model adhesive binders agree that time is of the essence. And the position of bindery operator often sees high turnover, making it imperative that a quality machine is easy to makeready, simple to operate, and equally user-friendly and fast on changeovers. Shrinking Setup As run lengths

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor The goal is basically the same regardless of what name is given to the technology—no-process, process-free or non-process plates. Since computer-to-plate production is all about taking steps, variables and labor out of the workflow, it naturally follows that people would look to eliminate the chemistry-based plate processor. The leading plate manufacturers have very similar takes on the future of this development, even if they differ on what to call it. This shared vision begins with a focus on non-ablative switchable polymer and/or on-press development systems as promising technologies. That is, with the exception of Presstek Inc. in Hudson, NH.

ST. LOUIS—Nies/Artcraft Printing Companies has completed a new, 40,000-square-foot graphic arts facility, located here. It will house their Valcour Printing and Digital Ink Systems divisions and a newly created division, Lion Promotional Solutions. "By combining these operating units under one roof, we have been able to improve workflow and maximize operating efficiencies to better take care of our customers' needs," notes James W. Finger II, president and CEO. Lion Promotional Solutions is responsible for the planning and creation of promotional coupons, games and sweepstakes, and point-of-purchase displays for consumer product companies, convenience store groups and promotional/advertising agencies. The plant will employ 55 employees and house

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor With all the talk of excess capacity and declining sales, why would any printer consider buying a new press? First, the obvious reason. Capacity on an industry-wide level doesn't necessarily mirror the situation in a local market or any given company. There also is a more subtle rational that has grown in importance with the changes in business conditions. The pressures of a highly competitive market make it even more critical for a shop to have the right kind of capacity. Production efficiency and flexibility are more important than gross capacity. Sheetfed offset presses used to break down fairly

LOS ALAMITOS, CA—The addition of new Heidelberg M-600 and V-30 web presses for Trend Offset Printing's headquarters facility will put the company in the unique position of reportedly running not only the greatest number of M-600 printing units in North America, but also the highest number of V-30 printing units worldwide. "By having similar, versatile press equipment at each of our [three] locations, we have significantly increased our ability to adapt to what our customers need," explains Bill Martin, Trend Offset's national vice president for manufacturing and procurement. "The common platforms create a consistency in quality and efficiency that our customers can rely on." Trend

By Erik CagleSenior Editor Although the company itself is 179 years old, Courier Corp. has the vitality of a teenager. The North Chelmsford, MA-based book printer found the fountain of youth courtesy of a comprehensive strategic planning process that began in 1990 and provided Courier with a sleek, sexy and, most of all, fiscally lucrative overhaul. The publicly held printer shed a number of markets, and the company that once published newspapers and dabbled in commercial work narrowed its focus to three book manufacturing segments—education, religious and specialty trade. The results have been outstanding. Through the first nine months of 2003, Courier has enjoyed