Quad/Graphics

MARTINSBURG, WV—Fueled in part by a new contract to print National Geographic, Pewaukee, WI-based Quad/Graphics has embarked on a two-year, $600 million expansion program. The contract calls for the monthly production of 9 million copies of the magazine, primarily at Quad's facility here, but with support from the printer's network of plants in Wisconsin, New York and Georgia. In preparation for the new work, Quad will invest in new equipment and hire approximately 700 employees at the West Virginia facility, nearly doubling that plant's employment. Additions at the plant will include an 84,000-square-foot pressroom, bringing total floor space at the facility to nearly 1.1 million

BY ERIK CAGLE Aretha Franklin herself would have a tough time drumming up a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the coldset web offset press. While its heatset counterpart struts on by, wearing UV Ray Bans and leading the way as the prime choice for high-end, multi-color commercial work, the dryer-less stepchild ekes out a living churning out newspapers, direct mailers, promotional graphics and other types of printed communications, primarily on uncoated stocks. Even manufacturers and distributors of open-web presses believe the market for this type of machine has been declining in recent years, but it remains a viable, strong option in several print communications segments. Like

The role of printer is today the role of content manager. Print buyers are turning to printers for more than one-stop services of an ink-and-paper nature. How do your services measure up? BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Do your customers have instant access to their files over the Web? As soon as you have scanned or copied their images onto your server, are they available through a secure Website for your clients? Do your clients come to you for scanning, image distribution—and printing? What's more, do you want to do all of this stuff? Unfortunately, you may not have a choice. Today's truly progressive commercial

CHICAGO—In what could be the beginning of a serious struggle for control of their customers' access, four of the top commercial printing conglomerates in the U.S. have joined forces in an effort that could leave the new crop of dotcom print facilitators on the outside looking in. R.R. Donnelley & Sons, based here, along with Banta Corp., Quad/Graphics and Quebecor World, have announced that they are "working together to create supply-chain efficiencies for industry participants worldwide by establishing standards and leveraging enabling technologies." According to a joint statement, "by building a foundation for industry standards, the four companies will enable customers who frequently work

Digital output devices didn't capture all the headlines. Manufacturers of traditional sheetfed and web presses also demonstrated cutting-edge models. BY MARK MICHELSON Even the12,000 gallons of flame-retardant water, which came gushing down from sprinklers onto a MAN Roland web press in the 250,000-square-foot PrintCity hall the afternoon before the exhibition was to open, couldn't dampen the DRUPA spirits of this press manufacturer. The flooding resulted from a pipe burst, and MAN technicians had to work through the night to ready the press for opening day. And, while other printing press exhibitors didn't have to face such an 11th-hour, potential disaster, their enthusiasm was

Digital output devices didn't capture all the headlines. Manufacturers of traditional sheetfed and web presses also demonstrated cutting-edge models. BY MARK MICHELSON Even the12,000 gallons of flame-retardant water, which came gushing down from sprinklers onto a MAN Roland web press in the 250,000-square-foot PrintCity hall the afternoon before the exhibition was to open, couldn't dampen the DRUPA spirits of this press manufacturer. The flooding resulted from a pipe burst, and MAN technicians had to work through the night to ready the press for opening day. And, while other printing press exhibitors didn't have to face such an 11th-hour, potential disaster, their enthusiasm was

DRUPA 1995 was the beginning of the thermal computer-to-plate frenzy. Leading the charge: Creo and Kodak. Five years later, new platesetting initiatives are poised for DRUPA 2000. What digital platesetters will be announced at DRUPA 2000? Dusseldorf, Germany, holds the answers. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO At DRUPA 1995, a tiny Creo Products—tiny compared with the CTP giants Linotype-Hell, Gerber and Scitex— touted the production and workflow merits of thermal CTP for commercial printing. Creo's message was all thermal. Kodak consumables were Creo's enabling technology, bridging Creo's thermal output engines with the digital plate production demands of the average commercial printer. Who didn't take

LOMIRA, WI—Ferag Americas has installed its latest design in gathering/stitching/trimming systems in Quad/Graphics' plant here, marking the third such installation for Quad. The new system includes six log-fed feeders, which transport signatures to a rotary gathering drum, then to a shear cut trimmer. The high-speed Ferag gatherer/stitcher/trimmer was introduced to the North American market several years ago, with the installation of two 10-pocket units in Quad/Graphics facilities. Since then, Quad and Ferag have worked together to customize the system to meet Quad's needs. As a result, the existing units, as well as the new installation, will make it possible to change format sizes in a

Publication printers are rising to meet the demands of rapid technological change, competition from the Internet and the changing whims of publishers. Will 2000 carry a darker dawn for this segment? Yes and no. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO As 1998 came to a close, the outlook for the publications segment was bright, despite the consolidation of titles that impacted the market's major players. Overall, the minds of the publications market called for continued growth for the segment throughout 1999, with particular emphasis on the hearty performance of the special-interest title. In total, while the projection for the publications market going into 1999 was conservative,

BY ERIK CAGLE In an age when the Internet may seem to be slowly eroding the print-on-paper medium, evidence suggests that a complementary relationship is being forged between the pair. This definitely appears to be the case with the catalog industry. According to a study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), catalog retailers were expected to generate 5 percent of their sales from the Internet this year, more than double the figure for 1998. This was among the findings made by "The DMA State of the Catalog Industry Report: 1999." "This report contains significant information about how catalogers are turning their direct marketing