Sun Chemical

PARSIPPANY, NJ—July 20, 2007—Gordon MacQuaker, a leader who played an integral role in Sun Chemical’s rise to its position as the world’s foremost ink and pigments manufacturer died on Monday, July 16 in Boynton Beach, Florida. He was 93. MacQuaker, known as ‘Mac’ in the industry, last served as Executive Vice President for Sun Chemical, retiring from that role in 1996, but staying on as a consultant until 1998. Sun Chemical enjoyed tremendous growth during MacQuaker’s tenure, during most of which he oversaw operations for General Printing Ink (GPI, now known as Sun Chemical’s North American Inks business unit). He won many industry awards during

SEWICKLEY, PA—March 13, 2007—PIA/GATF’s Presidents Conference welcomed its largest number of newcomers last week. In addition to our overwhelming number of newcomers, we had over 300 registrants and guests who gathered to discuss Printing Industry at the Crossroads. Solid 2007 economic forecasts from Dr. Ronnie Davis coupled with results of the postal reform legislative victories kicked-off the association highlights. The Presidents Conference was the venue for the prestigious recognition of the Lewis Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award; this year’s recipient was Thomas A. Quadracci in recognition of his service to the industry. PrintPAC inaugurated the first silent auction entitled Road Rally to raise funds for the

SEWICKLEY, PA—PIA/GATF will be taking its Mission:Possible seminar back on the road this spring to help designers and printers learn what they can do together to make the production process more efficient. Mission:Possible—A Mutual Strategy for Creatives and Printers addresses the issues between creative and prepress teams that can result in frustration and unsatisfactory performance. The seminars cover everything from design considerations for print and color communication to soft proofing. The eight-city tour starts May 22 in Charlotte, and continues to Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, Vancouver, and New York, ending on June 28 in Atlanta. Information on dates and meeting

SEWICKLEY, PA—February 16, 2007— Excitement builds for the 2007 Presidents Conference scheduled for March 4–8 in Arizona. The great program and winter chill have heated up registrations as the deadline nears. In addition to the quality speaker line-up including Michael Brandwein (Leadership in the Crossroads) and Marcus Nicolls (Creating Accountability in Organizations), PIA/GATF announced additional value-added elements. With 21 sessions and 8 roundtables planned, the attendees can customize their educational experience to their company needs. With mergers and acquisitions in the headline each week, attendees can catch a rare first-hand account of the issues playing out with private equity partners in the printing industry. Also,

Ryobi Plans Third Press Manufacturing Facility HIROSHIMA, JAPAN—Driven by strong U.S. and worldwide demand for mid-size offset printing presses, Ryobi Graphic Systems began construction on a new press manufacturing facility this month. The new facility will be the third at Ryobi’s Hiroshima East central production center. Ryobi officials said the newest facility, Hiroshima East Plant 3, will be at full-scale operations in September 2007. It will add another 99,000 square feet of manufacturing space and represents a total expected investment of $27 million. When the third facility is completed, Ryobi will have 314,000 square feet at its Hiroshima East operations, more than double

NORTHLAKE, IL—Sun Chemical is implementing an eight percent price increase for its commercial and screen inks sold in North America, effective January 1, 2007. According to Mark Levin, president of Sun’s Commercial Group, the company cannot continue to absorb increases in raw materials and operating costs. “During these challenging times, we have taken many steps to reduce our operating costs in an effort to offset these increases,” Levin said. “We recognize the impact this has on our customers but must take this action to protect the long-term viability of our business.” Levin said one factor behind increased costs is suppliers of key materials abandoning the printing

NORTHLAKE, IL—December 1, 2006—Faced with continued increases in raw materials and operating costs, the Sun Chemical Commercial Group has announced an 8 percent price increase on its commercial and screen inks sold in North America, effective Jan. 1, 2007. “During these challenging times we have taken many steps to reduce our operating costs in an effort to offset these increases. Sun Chemical cannot continue to absorb these increases, and therefore must pass along a portion of the actual increases taken,” said Mark J. Levin, president of the Commercial Group. “We recognize the impact this has on our customers but must take this action to

PARSIPPANY, NJ—Sun Chemical has named Greg Lawson to lead its publication and commercial ink businesses in North America, in addition to his role as president of US Ink, Sun’s news ink division.Lawson replaces Michael Griem, who finished a two-year assignment. Griem will return to Sun Chemical’s European Inks business unit in January, where he will…

SEWICKLEY, PA—November 17, 2006—The officers of Printing Industries of America, Inc./Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) for the next year were installed in office November 12, 2006 at PIA/GATF’s Fall Administrative meetings. The ceremony took place following the nomination and election of the officers slate by the Board of Directors. Dave DeLana, President of Heritage Press, Oklahoma City, OK, was elected Chairman of the Board. A PIA/GATF board member since 1996, DeLana has spent six years on the Budget and Finance Committee as well as previously serving as chair of the Presidents Conference Committee. Also active in his affiliate, PIA MidAmerica, he served eight years

BITS AND PIECES THE B&P mailbag has been overflowing with cards and letters from kind readers who write to tell me how much they enjoy the feature. So I figured I’d grab the first letter I found and share it with you. OK, so I’m a rotten liar. Bits and Pieces barely nudged out the masthead in a recent reader poll. They used to let me write the calendar of events, but the editors felt it lacked pizazz. Put yourself into it, they said. And now, I’m saddled with this feature, and getting no love from it. No one calls, no one writes...not