Progress Printing

It's not often an industry gets a close look at an $18 billion market worldwide that fits perfectly into its capabilities and skills, but is slipping by, largely uncultivated. This fall's Graph Expo & Converting Expo will give the printing, publishing and converting business just such an opportunity—a comprehensive overview of the untapped large-format digital ink-jet printing market. The show takes place October 6-9 at McCormick Place South in Chicago. It's the foremost U.S. exhibition in 2002, with an expected attendance of more than 40,000 buyers and about 500 exhibitors slated to occupy nearly 365,000 net square feet of booth space. Large-format ink-jet

BY CAROLINE MILLER Over the past few years, the demand for print projects produced "just-in-time" has grown by leaps and bounds. This trend has touched every aspect of the print production process including, and perhaps most importantly, the finishing department. As a result, finishing systems have stepped to the forefront of the discussion. And one important aspect of the entire debate is which finishing solution—in-line or off-line—is the best choice for a particular operation. Each solution offers its own set of benefits and challenges. So which solution is the right one? Or is a combination of both systems the best way to go?

Editor's note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2001. Therefore, companies that revised their 2000 revenues may have changed their '00 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. 2001 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: 10189Cyril-Scott Co., Lancaster, OH$70.00$80.00-13L. Eugene McClelland350ADV 60%; DM 40%7500Private1  2001 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: 101108The Dingley Press, Lisbon, ME$70.00E$64.00+9Christopher A. Pierce400CAT 90%;

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:151148NOSCO Inc.*, Gurnee, IL$47.50E$47.30-Warren Hall425PKG 95%; COM 5%03258Private 3*Parent: CRL Industries, Bannockburn, IL.  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:152156Rohrer Corp., Wadsworth, OH$47.00$43.10+9John P. Rohrer385PKG 100%0720Private

BY MOLLY JOSS In a little more than five years, computer-to-plate (CTP) technology has moved past the early experimenter phase and has moved into the later stages of the early adopter stage. Some might even argue it's moved into the early stages of the mainstream phase. However you measure it, it's difficult to argue that CTP is a flash-in-the-pan technology. Still, it hasn't yet found its way into every print shop in the nation and around the world. Widespread acceptance to that degree is yet to come. Wanting to get an inside look at how CTP is coming along, Printing Impressions recently spoke

There's A dirty little secret among some of the country's largest printers. It's not something they all want their competitors to know. And it has to do with the most overlooked part of the print stream. Their secret? The bindery can sell print jobs. Traditionally, the bindery was seen only as a necessary evil, the unpopular room tucked in a corner of the plant, where the product was finished once all the "real work" of designing and printing was done. Print buyers would look for companies with the most advanced prepress areas and pressrooms, and then expect that the product would be cut, folded

When do you think about your server? Probably not until something goes wrong. When the network is running smoothly, jobs are being routed seamlessly from prepress station to prepress station and performance is consistent— despite the large volume of digital data. The server may be the central player in a prepress environment, but, for all intents and purposes, it's an invisible man—until a network crash demands immediate attention. "Getting the best service from your server inevitably leads to a discussion about performance, because the primary objective in a production environment is to keep the [prep] work moving and the presses running," asserts