Quebecor World

BY ERIK CAGLE Chris Scarano took a quick drag from his cigarette, cased the warehouse and shook his head with just a hint of disgust. It was unusually quiet for a Tuesday morning at American Bindery Depot in Edison, NJ, not at all indicative of the activity that buzzes through the plant on a daily basis. Scarano wanted to show his crew in action at full throttle to a group of visitors, but a large order had yet to arrive, so the pace was more subdued. Still, Scarano didn't like the timing. "It's hardly ever like this," Scarano confides, bursting out a

BY CAROLINE MILLER Two years ago, it seemed as if everyone in the paper industry was switching dance partners. Among the major acquisitions was International Paper's purchase of Champion—a deal worth nearly $7.3 billion, excluding net debt. Then came the almost soap-opera-like saga, the Weyerhaeuser hostile takeover of Willamette Industries that dragged on for 14 months and finally ended with an agreement that called for $6.1 billion in cash, or $55.50 per share, including the assumption of $1.7 billion of Willamette debt. At $19 billion in combined sales, the deal created one of the larger companies in the paper industry. And of recent

Akiyama Back in Business TOKYO—Shanghai Electric Group (SEC) and Morningside Group (MS) jointly announced the companies have purchased the business rights of Akiyama Printing Machinery Manufacturing through each subsidiary companies in both groups.The new company will be called Akiyama International (AIC) and will succeed all business of Akiyama Printing Machinery. SEC manufactures heavy equipment while MS is a global investment company. The acquisition includes properties, buildings, facilities and patents. AIC commenced operation on January 28 after hiring back a large portion of the employees from the former company. AIC will promote and market the J Print perfector presses and the Bestech model presses. Presses Highlight

BY CAROLINE MILLER Brenda Slacum, COO of Specialties Bindery, has a favorite saying: "We are a brand new company with a 30-year history." It's a statement that might leave you scratching your head if you're not familiar with this trade bindery, which specializes in mechanical (Wire-O, spiral wire, plastic coil and plastic comb) binding, perfect binding, as well as folding, rotary scoring, collating, fulfillment and related services. But this $6.5 million, 85-employee trade services company, which is located in a 108,000-square-foot facility just outside of Washington, DC, in Hyattsville, MD, has a bit of a Cinderella story to tell—thanks in part to its COO.

Susan Roberts has been hired as a sales representative for Padgett Press, Dallas. She covers the San Antonio and Houston areas. She joins the company from Quebecor World Printing. Karl Saionz has been appointed plant manager at Chicago-based Falcon Communications, a member of the Segerdahl Group. Prior to joining the company, he was the manufacturing manager at Booklet Binding. Rich de Senglau now heads K/P Corp.'s Northern California mailing and fulfillment division. A K/P employee since 1981, de Senglau is a veteran of the mailing industry. In other company news, Orlando Boleda will oversee K/P's Washington division, which includes printing, mailing and fulfillment operations. Boleda

BY CHRIS BAUER Although the year 2001 has caused history books to be rewritten, it will go down, in the minds of many, as a year we would like to forget. Top 10 -- Book Printers   Company SegmentSales(millions) TotalSales (millions) 1 R.R. Donnelley & SonsChicago $788 $5,254 2 Quebecor WorldMontreal $780 $6,500 3 Banta Corp.Menasha, WI $384 $1,538 4 Von Hoffmann Corp.Saint Louis $318 $425 5 Courier Corp.N. Chelmsford, MA $208 $208 6 Bertelsmann ArvatoBerryville, VA $195 $315 7 Phoenix ColorHagerstown, MD $155 $155 8 Taylor PublishingDallas $110 $110 9 Hess ManagementAustin, TX $90 $180 10 Maple-Vail Book Mfg.York, PA $89 $89

BY ERIK CAGLE Without a doubt, 2001 was both a forgettable year and a year that won't soon be forgotten. Printers spent most of the year lamenting a poor economy that seemed to be trying to outdo itself in finding new lows with each passing month. Their customers, print buyers, were feeling the pinch: ad pages and folios dwindled, print orders declined and traditional commercial work seemed to be taking a beating. Others blamed the Internet and Web-based technologies for muscling in on the already-thinning turf, but the poster child of 1999 and 2000 was crying in its own beer. Industry dotcoms found venture capitalists weren't venturing

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: 11Quebecor World, Montréal, Canada$6,500.00$5,000.00+30Charles G. Cavell44,000PUB 29%; ADV 20%; CAT 17%; DM 13%3,156985808Public160  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: 21R.R. Donnelley & Sons,

Now in its 18th year, the Printing Impressions 400 (in this special pull-out section) provides the industry's most comprehensive ranking of the leading printing companies in the United States and Canada. The listings include company name and headquarters location; parent company, if applicable; current and previous year's rankings; most recent and previous year's fiscal sales; percentage change; primary specialties; principal officer(s); and number of employees, manufacturing plants and total press units. Each year, we continue to refine our list. As was done in several past years, we eliminated greeting card companies and several paper converters because they do not really compete in the

BY MARK SMITH It has been the best of times and the worst of times for the publication industry, with all do apologies to Charles Dickens ("Tale of Two Cities"). Top 10 -- Publication Printers   Company SegmentSales(millions) TotalSales (millions) 1 Quebecor WorldMontreal $1,885 $6,500 2 R.R. Donnelley & SonsChicago $1,208 $5,254 3 Quad/GraphicsPewaukee, WI $684 $1,800 4 Cadmus CommunicationsRichmond, VA $416 $526 5 Brown PrintingWaseca, MN $304 $376 6 Perry Judd's Inc.Waterloo, WI $206 $343 7 Banta Corp.Menasha, WI $200 $1,538 8 Vertis Inc.Baltimore $199 $1,986 9 Publishers Printing/Publishers PressShepherdsville, KY $186 $186 10 IKON Office SolutionsMalvern, PA $135 $900 Sales figures