As the commercial printing segment absorbs more digital presses, the promise of digital links—such as Agfa's PrintCast—adds profit potential to the on-demand investment. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO One year ago, PrintCast was launched. It was to be a digital link, a worldwide facilitator of distribute-and-print capabilities. Agfa had a vision for PrintCast: a distribute-and-print network with a hub operation based in Agfa's Wilmington, MA, facility that would digitally—via ISDN—link all Chromapress installations. The objective was clear. The PrintCast hub, the nerve center of the distribute-and-print network, would consist of dedicated facilities, personnel and equipment—all connected by high-speed ISDN links to Chromapress customer locations interested
Heidelberg
Many analysts believe that successful businesses go through regular transformations or grow stagnant and die—a philosophy that makes sense to those comprising the array of talent at Steckel Printing. A manufacturer of high-end, six-color commercial work, Steckel has undergone several company-wide changes over the past dozen years. "All of which have made us stronger and more responsive to our clients," says Steckel President Faye Givler, who has been a part of the company for 22 years. "You have to step up and step forward. Hold tight to your strengths, but keep adapting." Company ProfileName: Steckel PrintingLocation: Lancaster, PAEmployees: 100Annual Sales: $12 millionKey Markets:
COMMACK, NY—While some printers are getting into prepress services, Spectragraphic Inc., headquartered here, is expanding beyond prepress services into sheetfed offset printing. "We realized that as the printing industry moved to all-digital workflows, we needed to make decisions on technology—both for now and in the future," comments Geoffrey Gough, co-founder and executive vice president. One such decision included the recent purchase of a new six-color, 40˝ Mitsubishi 3F press and a multimillion-dollar investment in Spectragraphic's imaging studio. This included the installation of fiber optic networks, the latest Silicon Graphics workstations. Currently in its 21st year of operation, Spectragraphic claims to have been among its
BY CHERYL A. ADAMS "Asleep" isn't the typical description of a 42-year-old, $50 million printing operation. But that's how Larry C. King, president and COO of the IntegraColor Group (formerly Horticultural Printers), fondly described his business...until two years ago, that is. "We've been referred to as a sleeping giant—but we're not sleeping anymore," says King, comparing the company's steady growth over the past decade (from $15 million in 1988 to $30 million in 1996) to its explosive 57-percent growth over the past two years. IntegraColor's self-imposed wake-up call came in the form of a "dedicated decision," which was made by the company's management team
BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO In this latest installment in Printing Impressions' yearlong CIP3 focus, BARCO Graphics reports on its company's push to digitize ink key settings—even before Heidelberg's spearheading of CIP3—and the attributes of InkPlanner, an option on BARCO's FASTRIP/B. Cutting costs. During press makereadies, valuable production time and paper are often wasted. Likewise, ink is an important cost factor in any commercial printing environment. Control over paper and control over ink are goals of every printer, especially those printing operations pursuing CIP3. An early member of the CIP3 consortium, BARCO Graphics recognized the need for tighter control over all consumables within the production environment. More specifically,
CTP allows Quad/Graphics to break conventions—and break free from conventional plates. BY JERRY JANDA Quad/Graphics has set its eyes on the future, looking into the next century with 20/20 vision. Make that 20/20/20 vision. The company has vowed to reduce customers' cycle times by 20 percent each year for the next three years. This lofty goal has set Quad on a difficult path leading into the 21st century. Fortunately, the company's commitment to computer-to-plate (CTP) technology promises to make the trip less arduous. Call the journey "2001: A Plate Odyssey." Computer-to-plate meshes well with Quad's three-year plan. By removing steps from the prepress process,
Selling printing has always been a challenge, but never more so than today. Not only is there significant competition in every market segment, but arcane issues such as gamut limitations and color reproduction can make the press sheet seem like a compromise compared to the proof. COMPANY PROFILEName: McCord PrintingLocation: DallasEmployees: 90Annual Sales: $13 millionKey Markets: Advertising agencies, corporate work.One commercial printer has found a solution to this problem: going direct-to-plate. McCord Printing installed an Agfa Galileo computer-to-plate (CTP) system. "We no longer have to sell 'down' from the proof or tell the customer that's as close as we can get to the proof," explains Mickey
BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO As the platesetter market matures, more fully automated and semiautomated devices, perhaps more than the market can sustain, are redefining the role of platemaking to meet the demands of the CTP environment. Thermal imaging technology, functionality to support Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) and PostScript 3 availability now join reliability and throughput as inherent traits of many of today's new platesetter launches. To prepare for new platesetter launches on the horizon later this year, Printing Impressions offers a portfolio of devices and checks in with the technology providers poised to take them to market. Whether plug-and-play platesetting solutions, thermal
IRVINGTON, NJ—Back in business after a merger-gone-wrong, Michael Roesch, president of Stuyvesant Press (SPI), says he's just kicking into high gear, taking advantage of what he considers the opportunity of a lifetime. A nasty split-up almost cost him the 20-year-old, $2 million business he grew from (almost) scratch, but the outcome—SPI's recent successful reopening, after an 18-month hiatus—was worth the tribulations of the tumultuous (business) divorce. As the proud re-owner of a completely renovated, newly equipped commercial printing operation—which includes five presses headed up by a four-color, 40˝ Heidelberg Speedmaster perfector, a full bindery, an Intergraph high-end workstation with a full complement of Macs
In this age of mergers and acquisitions,Spencer Press stands alone. BY JERRY JANDA As companies like Consolidated Graphics and World Color continue to absorb plants across the country, printing purists may wonder what the future holds for the family-run businesses that form the backbone of our industry. Such purists should consider taking a trip to Spencer Press in picturesque Wells, ME. Name: Spencer PressLocation: Wells, MEEmployees: 650Annual Sales: $85 millionKey Markets: Catalogs, books, brochures, inserts and magazines.A family business since opening in 1940, Spencer Press is, and intends to remain, privately owned. So proclaims the company's second-generation leaders: brothers John E. Spenlinhauer III and Stephen P. Spenlinhauer. Chairman
