Quebecor World

Konica Eyes American Litho GLEN COVE, NY—Konica Minolta Graphic Imaging USA has signed a letter of intent to acquire American Litho, based in Grand Rapids, MI. American Litho manufactures analog and digital offset printing plates for the newspaper and commercial printing markets. American Litho recently opened a new plate manufacturing facility that tripled the plant capacity. American Litho will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Graphic Imaging USA. Quebecor World Nets Extension MONTREAL—Quebecor World has reached a $900 million deal with Yellow Book USA to produce said publisher's yellow pages directories through the year 2017. It will encompass the printing of more than

PITTSBURGH—In celebration of the final stage of the consolidation of Printing Industries of America and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation into one organization, a dedication of the newly renovated world headquarters was held recently. Chairman of the Board James Mayes Jr. and Michael Makin, president and CEO, cut the ribbon marking the entrance to the newly refurbished building. Another highlight of the event was the naming of the Ray Roper boardroom, in honor of the late PIA president. CHICAGO—Jesse Williamson has been named the 2005 Sheetfed Executive of the Year by NAPL and PIA/GATF. Williamson, president of Williamson Printing in Dallas, received the award

Stitcher Installation a First in the States HARTFORD, WI—This month, Quad/Graphics will become the first printer in the United States to install a high-performance Muller Martini Supra saddlestitching system. The Supra will be located at the Quad/Graphics printing center located here. Featuring a newly developed and highly advanced pocket wheel feeder, the new Supra stitcher, shown to the public for the first time at Drupa 2004, offers production speeds of up to 30,000 cycles per hour. Quad's Supra is rated at 25,000 cycles with the new 416 feeder. "Our finishing operations are characterized not just by speed, but by flexibility and efficiency," explains Thomas Quadracci, Quad/Graphics

By Warren Chiara Mergers and acquisitions in the printing industry over the past year resulted in some changes at the top of BookTech Magazine's annual Top Book Manufacturing listing—ranked by book manufacturing sales. One change concerns the perennial Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the list. When RR Donnelley acquired Moore Wallace last year, it changed the way the $8 billion company breaks down its revenues. It used to report the performance of individual units, but now casts revenues into two major business components: publishing and retail services, and integrated print communications and global solutions business. The latter category accounts for 40.2 percent

Rank Company Name, Book Revenue Compared 2004 2004 Book % from Address, Phone, Website, CEO to 2003 Revenue Revenue Books 1 Visant Corp.* N/A $1,462,000,000 $731,000,000 50% St. Louis, 314-966-0909, VonHoffmann.com, Jostens.com, Robert S. Mathews, CEO 2 RR Donnelley** s $7,200,000,000 $698,400,000 9.7% Chicago, 800-742-4455, RRDonnelley.com, Mark A. Angelson, CEO 3 Quebecor World Inc. t $6,622,000,000 $695,310,000 10.5% Montreal, 514-877-5317, QuebecorWorld.com, Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO 4 Banta Corp. s $1,523,252,000 $289,417,880 19% Menasha, WI, 920-751-7221, Banta.com, Stephanie A. Streeter, President & CEO 5 Arvato Print USA (Bertelsmann) s $293,000,000 $266,630,000 91% Dallas, PA, 570-675-5261, ArvatoUSA.com, Michael Gallagher, Dave Liess, Presidents 6 Courier Corp. t $211,000,000 $177,240,000 84% N. Chelmsford, MA, 978-251-6000, Courier.com, James F. Conway III, CEO 7 Transcontinental Inc. t $1,677,000,000 $144,222,000 8.6% Montreal, 514-954-4000, Transcontinental-GTC.com, Luc DesJardins, CEO 8 Phoenix Color t $128,000,000 $128,000,000 100% Hagerstown, MD, 301-733-0018, PhoenixColor.com, Louis LaSorsa, CEO 9 Walsworth Publishing s $110,000,000 $104,500,000 95% Marceline, MO, 800-369-2646, WalsworthPrinting.com,

QUEBEC CITY—Dramatic Cirque du Soleil performers and acrobats provided visual stimulation matching the masterful winning entries of the Sappi Fine Paper North America 2005 North American Printer of the Year Gold Awards at an ceremony held at Quebec's historic Military Drill Hall. A select group of North America's premier printers were named winners in the competition's eight categories. The eight winners were chosen from the 47 Silver Award winners in this year's field of more than 2,100 entries. The Sappi Printer of the Year awards competition recognizes printer excellence and innovation for work done on Sappi coated papers. "The importance of the quality of print

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

MONTREAL—North America's second largest printer is going through some changes. Quebecor World recently announced it had come to an agreement with the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on the protocol regarding the possible union organization at the printer's facilities in the United States. Under the agreement, Quebecor World employees at non-union U.S. plants will be able to decide, through secret ballot, the question of whether to have union representation. Both sides have vowed to allow for an unhampered, non-adversarial determination process, free of mutual disparagement. In other company news, Quebecor World revealed it was in the negotiating process to sell off certain

The top companies in the commercial printing industry must have chosen their moniker for a good reason. To those not familiar with the giants of the graphic arts world, the names RR Donnelley, Quebecor World, Vertis and Banta could just as easily be leaders in any field. The fact is, they don't exactly scream "printing." Today, printers do so much more than just put ink on paper, that having "print" in a company's name doesn't tell the whole story. In fact, it could pigeon-hole a company from getting work not traditionally thought of as done by "printers." The most recent big-name printing company

Pair Plead Guilty to Mail Fraud CHESTERFIELD, MO—A printing broker and a manager for a printing company each pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to a kickback scheme, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Aristotle Kumpis pled guilty to two felony counts of mail fraud and Louis Drago pled guilty to one count of mail fraud. Each reportedly faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine per count, with mandatory restitution. A third participant in the kickback scheme, Elizabeth Richard, is awaiting sentencing on related charges. Kodak Names Leadership Team ROCHESTER, NY—Kodak's Graphic Communications Group (GCG) has announced its senior leadership