Padgett Printing

BY CAROLINE MILLER As a weak U.S. economy continues to batter the printing industry, several pulp and paper producers have announced that they are either closing mills or cutting production. In a flurry of first quarter earning statements, companies such as International Paper, Weyerhaeuser and Sappi Fine Paper North America, among others, have announced plans to cut production in response to a softening economy. In its first quarter earning report, Weyerhaeuser says that it expects the slowing global economy to result in a weaker demand for production in all its major pulp, paper and packaging product lines. This resulted in Weyerhaeuser's decision to

Sara Lindsey is the new marketing coordinator for Visual Systems, Milwaukee. Loretta Nichols has been named chairwomen of Printing Industries Association of the Heartland. Nichols is president and owner of L&J Sharpgraphics, Kansas City, MO. She is the first woman to lead the association in its 114-year history. Other individuals elected to officer positions include: Eddy Watkins, owner of Watkins Lithographic, as vice chairman; Rick Seymour, general manager of Nationwide Papers, as treasurer; and Bill Carroll, owner of ArtCraft Printing, as secretary. Michael S. Wurst, president of Henry Wurst Inc., is immediate past chairman. Those elected to serve a three-year term on the board of

CAMBRIDGE, MA—Pageflex Inc. and Xerox Corp. have entered into an agreement that gives Xerox the right to resell Pageflex's Mpower and Persona variable-data software on a non-exclusive, worldwide basis. Pageflex software also will be incorporated into a soon-to-be-announced solution from Xerox for the personalized and customized printing market. (www.pageflexinc.com and www.xerox.com) FAYETTEVILLE, AR—University of Arkansas Printing Services has added a new digital Xerox 6180 Book Factory system to its facility. Consisting of a digital printer and several binding units, the system was chosen by Rich Bundsgaard, director of printing services, after he researched a variety of alternatives. The university is

If you know the name of a printing company that you think appears on the Printing Impressions 400 list, but you're not sure of its ranking, here's an easy way to locate that firm. Simply find the company in the alphabetical listings on this page. In addition to each company's name and headquarters location, a corresponding number appears indicating that firm's ranking on the Printing Impressions 400. ABS Graphics (Addison, IL) 400 Action Printing (Fond du Lac, WI) 353 Adams Business Forms (Topeka, KS) 96 AdPlex Inc. (Houston, TX) 102 Advance Business Graphics (Mira Loma, CA) 153 AFL Web Printing (Voorhees, NJ)

Editor's note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2000. Therefore, companies that revised their 1999 revenues may have changed their '99 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 500. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties: Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:301268Midland Press, Davenport, IA$21.70$22.88-5Gene M. Blanc249SPEC 43% (Technology, educational);CAT 30%; DIR 20%; COM 5%12312Private 3  2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:302303California Offset Printers, Glendale, CA$21.50$20.00+8William

Robert Hart has joined Mail-Well, Englewood, CO, as CEO and president of Mail-Well Envelope. Prior to joining Mail-Well, Hart spent more than 30 years with Atlanta-based Riverwood International. He most recently served as senior vice president of the $600 million paperboard operation. Mark P. Correia, vice president of manufacturing for Target Graphics, Boonton, NJ, has earned the designation of Certified Production Management Executive from the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) Management Institute. The NAPL Management Institute conducts industry-specific management certification courses taught by graduate-level university professors and industry experts at Northwestern University. Randolph W. Camp has been elected as the 101st chairman of Printing Industries

BY CAROLINE MILLER Digital Prinitng is poised to become one of the most powerful tools available to marketers. However, there's one problem. Many of your clients don't fully understand how digital printing can be beneficial to their businesses. It's a hurdle that any digital print provider needs to clear before it can become profitable. But an effective digital print marketing strategy can go a long way to clearing the profitability obstacle. Still, marketing digital printing services requires you to take a different approach than you might with traditional offset printing. Marketing your digital capabilities requires educating your clients about the benefits of digital and also

In the rapidly evolving digital prepress and printing markets, technology suppliers are now technology consultants, systems integrators and digital workflow evaluators. Do digital press manufacturers care what happens after the digital press is installed? Do high-tech prepress providers make the commitment to introduce a traditional printer to a digital workflow? Put it this way: They better. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The migration from conventional prepress and printing technologies to new, digital prepress and on-demand printing processes calls for a concentrated alliance between technology providers and commercial printers. After all, commercial printers, by and large, don't conceptualize the next digital prepress or printing