Print Communications

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

Attendees Soak Up the Views ORLANDO, FL—In a bid to inject new energy into the event and build attendance, the Vue/Point Conference was relocated to sunny Florida for its recent 2005 run. The results were mixed with regard to those goals, but attendees seemed pleased with the event overall. Judging by a show of hands in the opening session, there clearly was a spike in the percentage of first-time attendees. Also, representation by printers—as opposed to vendors—was said to be up. However, the total attendee number held more or less steady from the 2004 event in Washington, DC. There were several topics of

(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2004. Therefore, companies that revised their 2003 revenues may have changed their 2003 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.) 251 ('03: 245) Fisher Group, Hiawatha, IA Total Sales (Millions): $20.00 Previous Year's Sales (Millions): $20.00 Change (%): - Principal Officer: Martin C. Fisher Employees: 145 Primary Specialties: DM 90%; ADV 6%; CAT 4% Web Offset Press Units: 13 Sheetfed Press Units: 0 Other Press Units: 0

Digital Press Scorecard Xerox Corp. iGen3 digital production press Joseph Merritt & Co., Hartford, CT Gordon Bernard Co., Cincinnati Lancaster Ultra-Graphics, Landisville, PA PrintManagement, Cincinnati Xerographic Digital Printing, Orlando McKay Press, Midland, MI Rapid Solutions Group, Melville, NY HP Indigo HP Indigo 3050 digital printing press Tukaiz LLC, Franklin Park, IL Kodak Versamark VX5000 ink-jet, color printing system Transcontinental CC3, Warminster, PA NexPress Solutions NexPress 2100 digital color press MGF/Consortium Inc., Edison, NJ Océ VarioStream 7000 printing system Offset Paperback Manufacturers, Dallas, PA VarioStream 7650 digital printing system Action Mailers, Aston, PA VarioStream 7650 Twin MICR digital

arizona PHOENIX—Steve Woods Printing opened its doors with a dedication celebration in May. Steve is the son of Frank Woods, formerly of Woods Lithographics. CALIFORNIA SAN MARCOS, CA—Golden State Graphics recently added to its bindery a Vijuk 321-T saddlestitcher. florida DeLEON SPRINGS—E.O. Painter Printing held its 100th annual stockholders and directors meeting recently. The company, which traces its origin to 1873, was purchased and incorporated by Sidney Weller Johnston, the current company president's grandfather. MIAMI—Color K Graphics purchased a KBA 74 Karat digital offset press with coater during Drupa. PENSACOLA—Six Stahl B30 buckle plate folders have been installed at Pensacola Christian College. georgia

CGX Tabs Xerox for Digital Gear HOUSTON—Consolidated Graphics (CGX) announced it has selected Xerox to provide digital color printing technology to its 65 nationwide commercial printing locations. As part of the deal, CGX has installed six DocuColor iGen3 digital production presses and six DocuColor 6060 digital color presses. Xerox will also provide marketing and business development resources to assist CGX in introducing these solutions to current and prospective customers. GPO Seeks $25M for Upgrades WASHINGTON, DC—Telling the Committee on House Administration and the House Legislative Subcommittee that the Government Printing Office had the groundwork in place to move the agency's transformation to the "next

(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2003. Therefore, companies that revised their 2002 revenues may have changed their 2002 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.) 203 ('02: 210) Versa Press, E. Peoria, IL Total Sales (Millions): $27.43 Previous Year's Sales (Millions): $27.12 Change (%): +1 Principal Officer: Steven J. Kennell Employees: 190 Primary Specialties: BKS 100% Web Offset Press Units: 0 Sheetfed Press Units: 18 Other Press Units: 0 Ownership:

By Caroline Miller Associate Editor UV drying technology is continuing to make major in-roads into the web offset printing market as printers are forced to deal with heightened EPA restrictions, a sour economy and the need to further diversify their product offerings. "This year, we've really seen a trend of printers seeking us out. In the past, we've gone to them, but now they are coming to us," reports Elinor Midlik, president of Prime UV Systems. "We've seen a growing interest in UV systems regionally. We're hearing from many companies located in California, Maryland, Ohio and Massachusetts that are under strict EPA restrictions and

On Demand Show to Feature Allied Events NEW YORK CITY—Slated to run April 7-9 at the Jacob K. Javits Center, the 2003 edition of the On Demand Digital Printing and Publishing Conference & Exposition is being held in conjunction with two other events—the AIIM 2003 Conference & Exposition and TeleCon Collaborate 2003 Conference & Exposition. AIIM International is an association for the global enterprise content management (ECDM) industry and focuses on the technologies used to create, capture, customize, deliver and manage enterprise content to support business processes. TeleCon Collaborate showcases solutions that enhance productivity and performance within the enterprise, including videoconferencing, Web conferencing and

(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2002. Therefore, companies that revised their 2001 revenues may have changed their 2001 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.) 201 ('01: 188) Oles Envelope, Baltimore, MD Total Sales (millions): $28.70 Previous Year's (millions): $35.40 Change (%): -19 Principal Officer: John R. Young Employees: 204 Primary Specialties: PKG 100% Web Offset Units: 0 Sheetfed Offset Units: 6 Other: 0 Ownership: Private Plants: 1 202 ('01: 231)