manroland Inc.

Paper cutters do not advance as quickly as press and prepress systems, but competition for the cutting-edge is heating up. BY ERIK CAGLE In an age when high-tech gizmos have proliferated the commercial printing landscape, the paper cutter stands as a testament to meat-and-potatoes machinery, joining such luminaries as the internal combustion engine, the hammer and the light bulb. Monitors and computer automation have managed to sneak their way onto the old school tool, but in the end the cutter remains what it was 25 years ago—a cutter. John Porter, division manager of LDR International, the distributor for Itoh in the United States,

The sea of e-commerce companies is expanding; Seybold Boston was wired, so to speak, to the Internet. printCafe, a new Internet endeavor, captured the most attention at the Boston show last month, but so did new digital workflows, color management tools and Adobe's latest—a bridge for PDF. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Walking into Seybold Boston last month it seemed almost unbelievable that the words Internet and startup are still synonymous. Everywhere you looked, it was dotcom this, dotcom that—if you stood still too long, you were at serious risk of finding a dotcom appearing after your last name on your Seybold badge. Then

Sandy Alexander has forged a reputation as an upscale, high-end printer, which continues to grow through present investments and future acquisitions. BY ERIK CAGLE Let's face it, Sandy Alexander may not be for everyone when it comes time to choose a commercial printer. Roy Grossman, president of the company, admits as much. The primary reason is as simple as asking this question: Would you go to a five-star restaurant for a burger, fries and cola? "We operate within the 20 percent of the commercial market that's considered high-end color," notes Grossman of the Clifton, NJ-based company, which has a sister plant in St. Petersburg,

Sioux Falls, SD—In 40 years, Sioux Printing, based here, has seen a lot of changes. Two-color printing was "black and whatever color was in the press," recalls Jon Lewin, Sioux's third-generation owner. In 1959, Sioux employed eight people; now it has 85. And the pressroom, formerly home to a collection of older presses, has been completely remodeled to house two new six-color 40˝ MAN Roland 700 presses, a two-color Heidelberg Speedmaster 52 press and a two-color Quickmaster 46-2 press. "This is an exciting time for us," says Cathy Krueger, a sales representative for Sioux. "This company is really on the cutting edge. And I've

Flawless production of a five-million—that's 5,000,000—dpi poster earned Faust Printing the PIA's first-ever "They Said It Couldn't Be Done" award. But the Rancho Cucamonga, CA-based family business is used to performing miracles. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The story of Faust Printing reads like a great tragedy—and an even greater triumph—of both the limitless potential of the human spirit, as well as the seemingly ageless spirit of the time-honored craft of putting ink on paper. Faust Printing is first and foremost a family business, one that suffered great loss (in the tragic death of its founding father) yet, through determination, has risen above adversity to

Being able to run a 20˝ (or smaller) sheetfed offset press without a broad operator learning curve tops commercial printer demands of press manufacturers. BY ERIK CAGLE Commercial Printers have felt the pinch recently, with the amount of skilled press operators seemingly dwindling each year. Rather than choosing from a long list of prospects to operate their presses, many employers are faced with few options. As a result of the tight employment market, printers seek equipment that doesn't require lengthy operator training sessions—one of several issues facing not only those who buy small-format (20˝ and under) presses, but also those who manufacture them. While

As the new millennium approaches, e-commerce, PDF workflows, thermal CTP, digital proofing, computerized business management, and digitally equipped, automated printing and finishing technologies played starring roles at GRAPH EXPO 99. The rise of competitive e-commerce networks, PDF workflows, thermal computer-to-plate output devices, digital proofing systems, fully automated printing presses, new press control systems and quick-makeready finishing systems were on display by more than 600 exhibitors at GRAPH EXPO 99 in Chicago. What were the show stoppers? * E-commerce solutions—Internet-based, business-to-business solutions such as Noosh, Impresse, Collabria, 58k.com, PrintNation.com, Printable.com, PaperExchange.com and GraphicsResourceCenter.com, targeting the print procurement, supply purchasing and overall industry education needs of commercial printing,

BY ERIK CAGLE One by one, the staff of Printing Impressions paraded past tables of submissions for the magazine's 13th annual Self-Promotion Contest. As the members perused over the quality promotional pieces, the subject of judging criteria was brought up. What exactly makes one submission stand out from another? It's a good question, one marketing departments and creative gurus have long pondered when developing ideas to tout the virtues of their respective companies. Making matters more difficult, the promotions are being created for marketing in the commercial printing industry, the equivalent of chefs being asked to bring a covered dish to a pot luck

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

With automation reaching or nearing its peak, manufacturers look for ways to bring prepress and the pressroom closer together. BY ERIK CAGLE Want to see all of the neat, new sheetfed offset press models that will be unveiled at DRUPA 2000? If the answer is yes, go renew your passport because we're not going to show you. Sorry, we'd show you if we could, but Germany will be the place to be next May, as the printing industry's top manufacturers will use the exhibition to wage a battle of one-upsmanship in the sheetfed press division. Building the better mousetrap is becoming increasingly more difficult;