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…
BY CAROLINE MILLER What do you get when you mix two 23-year-old night shift pressmen, a $15,000 loan, the dream of being your own boss, no sales experience, a little luck and a lot of hard work? Answer: a $22 million company. The story of Charlotte, NC-based Classic Graphics might sound a little unorthodox to most, but owners David Pitts and Bill Gardner have never been ones to hold with tradition. "It was absolute ignorance on our part. We had no idea how hard it would be," remembers Pitts."We were just two pressmen working together at a local printing company. We thought that starting our own print shop
While many industrial companies are feeling the crunch with rising energy prices, Bolger Concept to Print has reduced its energy costs by installing a new dry running combination pressure/vacuum pump on its Heidelberg Speedmaster 102V sheetfed press. As a result, this full-service commercial printer, located in Minneapolis, received a rebate check for more than $900 from its local energy company, Xcel Energy. Bolger Concept to Print was using an oil-recirculating, rotary vane combination pressure/vacuum pump on its Heidelberg press. After several years of operation, the performance of the vane pump was starting to deteriorate due to high temperatures. And, with the constant over-heating, it eventually
MINNEAPOLIS—American Financial Printing (AFPI) has created four dedicated product divisions to complement the acquisition of a fulfillment facility and the addition of new equipment. The four divisions—American Financial Printing, Landmark Colour Communications, AFPI Fulfillment and AFPI Publishing—will allow AFPI to better serve its customers' evolving needs. The base division will continue to produce time-sensitive financial printing, while Landmark addresses the multi-color commercial sector. AFPI Fulfillment also provides warehousing, kit assembly and distribution services, while Publishing prints books, catalogs and various publications. The move comes on the heels of acquiring a 35,000-square-foot fulfillment facility and a number of equipment investments. Among the new equipment purchased: a Heidelberg
BY CAROLINE MILLER Automation has surely found its way into the large-format sheetfed offset press arena. Over the past six years, there has been a virtual explosion in what can now be found in the 40˝ and larger size format—including automated plate changers and washup systems, as well as sophisticated press control stations with touchscreen controls. Printers no longer have to contend with slow and labor-intensive machines, explains Mike Grego, marketing manager for Sakurai USA, which offers the 40˝ Sakurai 2102EPII press. "Automation is a must. With labor costs being one of the largest contributors to the hourly operating cost of a
BY ERIK CAGLE If it is September, this must be Chicago. Change is in the air, and where else but the Windy City is more apropos for taking a reading of this change? It is a special year for the graphic arts industry, as it seems to be in transition. Layoffs have rocked many of the big printers as a swooning economy has touched all. Manufacturers are crossing their fingers in the hope that PRINT 01 is successful; some have gone as far to call this a "make-or-break" show in light of some poorly attended trade shows this year. Manufacturers, suppliers, printers, trade finishers,
BY CAROLINE MILLER When a printer opens up a can of ink, he sees more than just cyan, magenta, yellow, black or a PMS color. He also sees things like trust, quality and technical support, which all help ensure that each batch is as good as the last. It's this combination of product and customer service that is essential for any printer. And the way to develop this winning combination is through a working partnership with an ink supplier. Whether you're a commercial, quick or label printer, a good relationship with an ink supplier helps ensure quality printed products. One true-life example of
For John Zamora, it means being able to launch a new company with $40 million worth of new equipment. BY ERIK CAGLE John Zamora pretty much had it all, but even if he didn't, he surely had enough. At the age of 54, Zamora boasts a happy marriage and three grown children, a stable full of his precious race horses, a reputation as one of the best salesmen in the commercial printing industry and several million dollars in the bank. By most definitions, that stands as a successful career and life—the reward being countless leisure hours at the race track, travel or any
In case you haven't been outside lately, it's August; the temperature is 97° and the humidity is 97 percent. These are the Dog Days of summer. These days are about lethargy, lemonade and lots of air conditioning. Lots of your brother and sister print salespeople just stop working in August. Why not? The boss is at the shore. Some salespeople rationalize that the print buyers seem to have crawled underground. These salespeople say, "Why should I work?" Most of the buyers are backpacking in the mountains or scuba diving in the cool waters of the Caribbean. Well, I aim to do something about all this
Line & Tone, Target MergeNEW YORK—A little more than a year since it acquired Finley Digital Photographics, Line & Tone, based here, announced that it is merging with Target Graphics, of Boonton, NJ. Target Graphics and its art creation subsidiary, MediaLogix, are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Line & Tone. The transaction will see Line & Tone move its Parsippany and Mahwah, NJ, operations into Target's Boonton facility. Quad/Graphics Expanding PlantsPEWAUKEE, WI—Gammerler, a manufacturer of in-line finishing systems, announced it has been chosen by Quad/Graphics, headquartered here, to supply overhead conveying systems for Quad plant expansions in Martinsburg, WV, Saratoga Springs, NY, as well
