Kolbus America

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 ERIK CAGLE The evolution of book publishing has some parallels with that of the computer. Smaller and quicker are the operative words in this comparison. Before the PC became a household fixture, computers were hulking boxes with reel-to-reel tapes and other round objects that made those cute little concentric circles. And they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, boasting the processing speed of a can opener. Book publishing was also big and scarry—1,000-page megatomes were loaded onto presses to churn out millions of copies. "War and Peace" was followed by hundreds of thousands of 500-page copies of biology books. Obviously, they

NORTH CHELMSFORD, MA—The economy may be slowing, but Courier Corp. shows no signs of such action. As one of the nation's leading book manufacturers with 2000 sales of $188 million, Courier is seeking to enhance that standing with a number of investments in new equipment that have been made over the past year. Courier—which annually produces 150 million books at its five manufacturing facilities—earmarked approximately $16 million toward the acquisition of equipment during 2000, and the company expects to virtually match that standard with its 2001 acquisitions. According to Joe Brennan, vice president of engineering, Courier is being aggressive at a time when many

As Von Hoffmann continues to augment its hold on the educational market, the company takes on new facets that allow it to be a one-stop shop. BY ERIK CAGLE Truth be known, the Von Hoffmann story doesn't begin in 1903, when the printer was founded. Nor does it start in the early 1960s, when the company found a niche in educational book printing. Not even 1990, when the family owned Von Hoffmann was sold, or when it was sold again a few years later. Try 1997, when the St. Louis-based company began to acquire complementary businesses that have helped catapult it to a

BY ERIK CAGLE Whatever fat existed in the adhesive binding portion of the postpress workflow has long since been trimmed away. The days of the long run are long gone. On-demand environments are everywhere, and inventories are kept as low as possible. Makeready times must make a NASCAR pit crew green with envy, and the machines must be easy to use, as quality help, like substance in this year's presidential election, is nowhere to be found. Through it all, customers are still asking for lower prices—frantically waving table-top machine money while standing in front of the floor- model machines. They can't be blamed;

NEW YORK—It took two years for consolidation to transform the commercial printing sector, it has taken two months of consolidation to transform the printing equipment supplier sector, and in a remarkably swift series of moves, it has taken scarcely two weeks for consolidation to transform the paper market. In mid-February, the low share prices of paper companies, as well as the usual quest to expand markets and raw material sources, drove a series of mergers and acquisitions in the paper and forest products industry—moves that will have a broad impact on commercial printers, for whom paper products are a primary cost center. Among the recent moves:

Lieber Vater! In many ways, CIP3 can give thanks to the DRUPA exhibition in Germany. DRUPA 1995 was the event that really brought attention to the CIP3 initiative. DRUPA 2000 will see several conceptual aspects of the initiative realized. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO In late 1993, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen initiated discussions in Germany with the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics. The two organizations, later joined by bindery innovator Polar-Mohr, formed the foundation for the CIP3 cooperative—a study group known as CIP3, the International Cooperation for Integration of Prepress, Press and Postpress. By DRUPA 1995, the CIP3 movement took official form. Its objective: Facilitate data exchange

BY T.J. TEDESCO Different operating circumstances require different business strategies. For example, three trade binderies in three different states each have different plans and methods of doing business. Who's right? Maybe, they all are. In today's rough and tumble graphic arts world, excellent performance is not optional. To successfully compete over the long haul, companies must consistently say what they do, and do what they say. Yesterday's recipe for success—service, quality and fair prices—is just the starting point. Carefully evaluating business factors, such as geographic location, customer attitudes toward outsourcing, management strengths and weaknesses, and company core competencies, is essential. Then, implementing the right game plan

BY T.J. TEDESCO Different operating circumstances require different business strategies. For example, three trade binderies in three different states each have different plans and methods of doing business. Who's right? Maybe, they all are. In today's rough and tumble graphic arts world, excellent performance is not optional. To successfully compete over the long haul, companies must consistently say what they do, and do what they say. Yesterday's recipe for success—service, quality and fair prices—is just the starting point. Carefully evaluating business factors, such as geographic location, customer attitudes toward outsourcing, management strengths and weaknesses, and company core competencies, is essential. Then, implementing the

TOKYO—Smaller than two years ago and with fewer visitors, IGAS 1999 nevertheless managed to attract genuine foreign printer-visitors this year. In previous years, foreign interest was shown primarily by dealers and distributors for Japanese equipment and materials, as well as area managers for overseas suppliers. Now, after many years of persistent efforts, the organizers of IGAS have at long last agreed to fit into the four-year cycle of the major international graphic arts shows: Drupa, Ipex and Print. Business in Japan is only beginning to come out of a severe recession. The buying and investment effects of a renewing confidence, though, will probably