Heidelberg

BY MARK SMITH Cut, knife, blade, guillotine—the terminology alone explains why safety is a must when it comes to paper cutters. Two-handed cut activation, non-repeat knife cycles and auto-stop infrared light curtains are just some of the safety features that have been mandated by law or become standard due to market demand. Neither the equipment manufacturers nor buyers are willing to compromise much in this area. While safety still is an important factor in the decision to buy a new cutter, it is an advantage more or less shared by all state-of-the-art models compared to older machines. It is in the area of productivity

RICHMOND, VA—Worth Higgins & Associates, a leading general commercial printer in the state of Virginia, has broken ground on a 13,500-square foot addition, doubling its manufacturing space, and the company is adding new equipment and preparing for a shift in ownership. Among the incoming hardware is a new 40˝, six-color Komori sheetfed press, slated to go online next March, as Worth Higgins expands beyond the half-size market niche it has occupied since 1970. Other new arrivals include a CreoScitex platesetter and a TD78 Heidelberg Stahl folder. Retiring Chairman E. Worth Higgins is selling the company he founded to his employees, crediting them with the success the

CALIFORNIABUENA PARK—Ernest A. Lindner, printer, collector and founder of the International Printing Museum, passed away on October 2. BURBANK—Richard Rice, president of Candlelight Press, announced that two long-term employees, Richard Alonzo and James Magdaleno, are the USA National Print Olympics champions. The competition was held during PRINT 01 in Chicago, where the contestants were evaluated on their offset press skills. Alonzo and Magdaleno qualified for the national event after winning the western regional competition. They will contend for an international championship at IPEX, held in Birmingham, England, in April 2002. SAN RAMON—K/P Corp. recently announced a collaboration with Ariba Inc., a business-to-business e-commerce

We are the best at what we do, and we want everyone to know it. Go ahead, say it a few times. Feels good, doesn't it? Isn't that the image you want your customers to have about your company? You want clients to feel that you are the best option for their printing needs—you have the newest, most advanced equipment, the know-how and the dedication to provide a quality product.

MAN Roland Technicians Get Golden ToolsOFFENBACH, GERMANY—Two American technicians were honored recently for completing the 1,000th MAN Roland mechanical systems course at the company's training center here. As a result of the hands-on coursework, the technicians, Warren Collins and Greg Voigt, received their gold wrenches and are certified to install and get U.S. customers up-and-running on Roland 700 presses. Heidelberg USA has realigned its operations into four business segments: Digital, Postpress, Sheetfed and Web. Niels M. Winther, a 34-year veteran with the organization, has assumed responsibility as head of Heidelberg's Market Center North America (U.S. and Canada). Appointed to head the four U.S. groups

The show must go on. The spirit behind that old saying resonated through the halls of McCormick Place during the later days of PRINT 01. The show remained open for its entire scheduled run, even though the level of activity did drop significantly after Tuesday morning. The mood and topics of conversation though, understandably, turned away from graphic arts industry issues to the horror of the terrorist attacks. "Prior to September 11th, in spite of the weak economy, PRINT 01 was attracting good attendance, and exhibitors reported steady and serious buying activity across all product types and sizes," reported Regis J. Delmontagne, president of

PITTSBURGH—The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) has announced its InterTech Technology award recipients for 2001. Nine innovative technologies were chosen from 38 submissions. The award winners, alphabetically by company, include: MediaBridge Solutions, Digimarc Corp.MediaBridge Solutions is a suite of software tools that allows printers and publishers to embed a unique and imperceptible digital watermark into virtually any printed material. Digitally watermarked print materials instantly link readers to online information when held in front of a web camera or other image-capture device enabled with MediaBridge software. The software launches a browser that instantly connects the user to relevant information, applications, offers or opportunities to purchase on the

BY MARK SMITH A first-time buyer recently posted a message on the CTP Production forum seeking recommendations for "CTP systems" to investigate. The quote marks are important because the term itself sparked a divergent thread in which the question of what CTP means was explored. This discussion started with a response suggesting the buyer consider the Rampage solution, since it produces plate-ready files. A rebuff quickly followed, asserting that Rampage was not a "system," meaning a piece of hardware capable of writing an image to a digital plate. That, in turn, led to a series of exchanges about whether CTP refers to any

BY ERIK CAGLE Of all the businesses that are vulnerable to a nocturnal attack by would-be robbers, a commercial printing company seems among the least likely to be targeted. That didn't stop a gang of thieves from conning their way into One Source Digital Solutions and making off with approximately $250,000 in prepress equipment and damaging a press to the tune of $500,000 while trying to steal it. In the process, the robbers bound and gagged the only employee who was on duty, only after asking him specific questions pertaining to the equipment and stealing his pickup truck to aid in the equipment

HAGERSTOWN, MD—Fresh off the installation of a Heidelberg Speedmaster 102-6-P sheetfed press, HBP Inc. has entered the third phase of its multimillion dollar expansion program.HBP has broken ground on a 40,000-square foot addition to its facility here, virtually doubling the company's operating base. The completion of the addition is expected this fall, followed by a…