manroland Inc.

Akiyama Back in Business TOKYO—Shanghai Electric Group (SEC) and Morningside Group (MS) jointly announced the companies have purchased the business rights of Akiyama Printing Machinery Manufacturing through each subsidiary companies in both groups.The new company will be called Akiyama International (AIC) and will succeed all business of Akiyama Printing Machinery. SEC manufactures heavy equipment while MS is a global investment company. The acquisition includes properties, buildings, facilities and patents. AIC commenced operation on January 28 after hiring back a large portion of the employees from the former company. AIC will promote and market the J Print perfector presses and the Bestech model presses. Presses Highlight

BY MARK MICHELSON With its emphasis on attracting graphic arts professionals from both North and Latin America, the 27th annual Graphics of the Americas (GOA) exhibition, held in early February at the Miami Beach Convention Center, bucked current industry trends of weak buying activity and light trade show traffic. All told, 22,101 people attended the event, which featured over 500 exhibitors representing approximately 1,500 different companies and occupying nearly 1,400 booths. The Printing Association of Florida (PAF), the exhibition organizer, points to several key factors to explain the strong showing in light of recent economic turmoil. "As the first major printing, converting and graphic arts show

Custom-built Presses For Package Printer AUSTRIA—At the Alfred Wall package printing plant in Graz, and its sister plant in Oland at Bydgoszzcz, Poland, special versions of KBA Rapida 130 and 105 multi-color sheetfed offset presses with double coaters are now in operation. The plant in Austria received a seven-color Rapida 130 and a six-color Rapida 105; the facility in Poland has installed an identical six-color Rapida 105. All machines also have dryers. Alfred Wall prints cartons and flexible packaging for large export markets stretching mainly in Eastern Europe and the Near East. Sheetfed offset, as well as rotogravure printing and in-line rotary and

BY CAROLINE MILLER It's not the size of the press that matters, but rather how you use it. There was a time when small-format sheetfed offset presses sat in the shadows. A workhorse, but nothing compared to their fast and flashy, 40˝ and larger brothers. Today, small presses are becoming the envy of the larger presses. The small press market has been the subject of intense technological development and, as a result, small presses, ranging in size up to 20x29,˝ now offer the features found on larger presses such as increased press speeds, makeready automation, networked systems and digital controls. In fact, with

BY MARK SMITH Just "to" it. With all due apologies to Nike, this play on its famous slogan seems to similarly capture the mood in the printing industry. Computer-to-plate (CTP) has become the hip, happening thing in the market. All the attention being paid to the technology makes it hard not to get the impression that everybody is to-ing it. The hoopla also makes it easy to understand why film users can sound a bit defensive when asked about their decision to stick with the tried-and-true workflow. For this community, an equally apt anti-slogan could be derived from those paternal words of wisdom, "If

Gämmerler Corp. announced record orders for the second quarter of fiscal year 2001, reporting a 34 percent increase in orders over the same period the previous year. The high order volume was attributed to a number of new orders placed at PRINT 01, including sales to R.R. Donnelley & Sons for four of its plants, as well as to Shuttle Printing and Suttle-Straus. CM Acquisitions, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has agreed to acquire American Roller of Bannockburn, IL. The sale was effective as of December 28. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) is acquiring the business assets of

Folding Carton Plant Buys Jogger-Aerator MEXICO—Offset Imprenta S.A. de C.V., a folding carton plant in Mexico City, has installed a new Woodward Model 4200 jogger-aerator. The printer decided on the machine to increase efficiency and productivity, while reducing manpower, according to Virgilio Botella, company vice president. Pile Turner Speeds Job Turnarounds CANADA—Gandalf Printing, based in Toronto, is now operating a new R1500 AJ Rachner pile turner with aeration and jogging, sold by Colter & Peterson. The unit helps to prepare sheets both prior to printing and afterwards in the bindery operation. Speedmaster 74 Reaches Milestone CZECH REPUBLIC—Heidelberg has delivered the 5,000th Speedmaster 74

Goss Withdraws AppealWESTMONT, IL—The Department of Commerce has determined that MAN Roland followed fair trade practices in the pricing of its newspaper presses. These preliminary findings come in light of a review of MAN Roland's sales to U.S. newspapers in 1999 and 2000. The U.S. Court of International Trade agreed to dismiss an appeal by Goss Graphic Systems, which had challenged the DOC's findings regarding a review of the 1998-1999 period. Goss had charged MAN Roland and several other worldwide manufacturers, including Koenig & Bauer and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with price dumping. Crowson Stone Acquires KohnCOLUMBIA, SC—Crowson Stone Printing has reached an agreement to purchase

BIRMINGHAM, UK—In times like these, it's hard to look beyond day-to-day events and challenges in running a business. But, American printers would be well advised to pause a moment and consider a spring trip to the U.K. for IPEX 2002: the global technology event for print, publishing and media. The event, which only comes around once every four years, is scheduled to take place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) from April 9-17, 2002. In terms of scope and ancillary benefits, national trade shows can't provide the same experience of a major international event. Based on commitments made to date, IPEX 2002 is

ARKANSAS FAYETTEVILLE—The University of Arkansas Printing Services made a number of new additions to its in-plant facility, including Binuscan's Color Pro color correction software, a CreoScitex EverSmart Pro II flatbed scanner, a CreoScitex Brisque 4 RIP, a Dolev 800 filmsetter, a five-color Komori perfector, a Saber cutter from Colter & Peterson and a 40˝ MBO folder. CALIFORNIA SANTA ANA—Westlam, a supplier of trade laminating and UV coating services, has installed a new Autofeeds laminator as part of its plant modernization program. CONNECTICUT NORTH HAVEN—The William J. Mack Co. has ceased operations after being in business for more than 38 years. Bill Mack has joined