Kirk-Rudy

Landmark Stacker Installed at Vertis BALTIMORE—Vertis Inc., owner of more than 50 stackers from RIMA-SYSTEM, has ordered an RS 36 compensating stacker—the 8,000th such machine installed worldwide. Shown here celebrating the landmark purchase are, from the left, Pat Frey and Linda McClure from Vertis Inc. with Horst Steinhart, president of RIMA-SYSTEM. Mailing System Is a Match at Jersey Firm SWEDESBORO, NJ—Direct Group, a provider in the high-volume, time-sensitive segment of the direct mail industry, has added Lake Image Systems' IntegraVision and IntegraJet systems for document matching and in-line envelope personalization on its new high-speed mail inserting equipment for its new Direct Match mail matching capability. IntegraVision ensures

Flint Ink, XSYS Print Merge ANN ARBOR, MI—Flint Ink and XSYS Print Solutions of Stuttgart, Germany, have agreed to merge. The combination creates a global ink supplier with revenues of roughly $2.6 billion and with about 8,000 employees. Pending regulatory approval, the deal is slated to be finalized around September 30. XSYS was created by the 2004 merger of BASF Printing Systems and ANI Printing Inks. Finnish Paper Lockout Ends HELSINKI, FINLAND—Finland's major paper manufacturers and unions representing more than one million forest industry workers finally reached a labor agreement after being urged to return to the negotiating table by Finland Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. The

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor As the war continues to rage between the supporters for freedom in telemarketing and the U.S. government's national Do-Not-Call (DNC) list, the world of direct mail can be heard off in the distance, quietly giggling in glee. Should the DNC list ultimately prevail, direct mail supporters will be uttering the old farewell line after a partygoer departs: "More beer for us!" Some will suggest that direct mail remains a far more effective tool for promoting one's products and services as opposed to telemarketers delaying tuna casserole gratification. It is safe to say that personalization via ink-jet imaging in the finishing department hasn't