Print Week articles from February 2007

Print Week archives from February 2007

Gamble pays off as FSP claims its first home pack contracts.(Company overview)
February 1, 2007... First Sellers Pack's audacious ambition to become the UK's biggest provider of home information packs (HIPs) has taken a step closer to becoming reality after it bagged three contracts worth a massive pounds 45m over three years. The...

Prinovis brings Borton on board at Liverpool.(Prinovis appoints Ross Borton )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Prinovis has swooped to hire Southernprint sales director Ross Borton to the team at its Liverpool gravure supersite. Borton, who joined Southernprint in 2004, will leave the growing Poole-based web printer at the end of March. ...

St Ives reveals dip in H1 sales.(sales of St. Ives PLC.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... St Ives is to report worse first-half figures than last year, but is expecting a rebound in the second half of the year. The pounds 400m-turnover group said in a trading statement that it expected results for the six months to this Friday...

Stop press.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... News International has pulled the plug on Inside Out, its monthly interior decorating magazine... RR Donnelley is to cut 89 jobs at the headquarters of Perry Judd's, the US-based printer it bought for around pounds 85m in December... ...

Report reveals waste of outsourcing print.
February 1, 2007... UK firms waste more than pounds 1bn a year outsourcing print, according to a new report. The report released on Monday, titled 'Outsourced printing - a waste of paper?', was commissioned by print products supplier OKI Printing Solutions...

Bemrose consulting over job cuts.
February 1, 2007... Security printer Bemrose-Booth is to lay off around 50 staff next month as part of a cost-cutting effort. The company has begun consultations over the redundancies, most of which will come in Derby. According to sales and marketing...

Sittingbourne ceases production.(closures of M-real Corp.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... M-real's Sittingbourne site has finally closed its doors, as all paper production stopped yesterday (31 January) resulting in the loss of 300 jobs. M-real company secretary David Scudder said that 230 staff had left by yesterday and a...

TJ International promotes Steve Opie.
February 1, 2007... TJ International has promoted operations manager Steve Opie to a role on the board. Opie will become operations director for the Padstow-based book printer and will assume responsibility for the company's pre-press, press, post-press and...

Tailored Solutions makes inroads into UK.(Label Traxx and Hamilton Adhesive Labels order for Label Traxx MIS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Tailored Solutions in the US has made its first inroads into the UK market after two label printers ordered its Label Traxx MIS. Label Traxx has gone into Hamilton Adhesive Labels in Leicester and CV Labels in Irvine. It marks the first move by...

Richard Edward becomes accredited supplier of MetalFX technology.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Richard Edward, the London-based printer, has become the first company specialising in games and playing cards to become an accredited supplier of MetalFX technology. The move follows a trial of the MetalFX version two last year. Louisa Moger,...

Xerox promotes Peter Taylor.(Xerox UK)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Xerox has promoted Peter Taylor to director and general manager for graphic arts and Ireland. Taylor was already director of graphic arts, but will now be responsible for Xerox's business in the Republic and Northern Ireland. His role will...

Apex Digital Graphics parts company with Mick Carr.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Apex Digital Graphics in Hemel Hempstead has parted company with sales director for large-format presses Mick Carr, after it made his role redundant. 'He brought a lot of large press experience to our company, he was like a consultant and the...

Harlands Labels, Harlands Poland and Ditone Labels will exhibit at Easyfairs.
February 1, 2007... Harlands Labels, Harlands Poland and Ditone Labels have said that they will be exhibiting at the Easyfairs. Packaging companies will be highlighting how brand owners can gain maximum effect from packaging.

In-house finishing blamed as Scorpio enlists financial help.(Scorpio Print Finishing )
February 1, 2007... Scorpio Print Finishers has laid off almost a quarter of its workforce and brought in management consultants in an effort to solve serious financial problems. The Leeds-based firm has called in accountants KPMG and Sterling Corporate...

Industry veteran and ex-Ipex chief to retire.(Martin Rickards retires)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Martin Rickards, Komori UK chairman and former managing director, is to retire at the end of March. 'I will greatly miss the industry, which has provided me with such an interesting and rewarding career,' he said. Rickards, 59, who has...

Pole Position.(contracts)(Polestar)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Polestar has won a contract to print The Independent's Saturday Magazine and Sunday Review. Account director David Gray said: 'We have been working with Independent Newspapers since 1999 and the success of this relationship has undoubtedly...

EC studies print competition.
February 1, 2007... The European Commission has ordered a study on the competitiveness of the European print industry. According to the Commission, the objective of the study is to set up an agenda to ensure the continued existence of a competitive graphic...

Tullis seeks funding for Scottish biomass plant.(Tullis Russell )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Papermaker Tullis Russell is in talks with the Scottish Executive and the DTI as it seeks public funds to help build a pounds 100m biomass energy plant at its Fife mill. The firm has already secured planning permission for the plant, which...

Stehlin to raise prices of inks.(Stehlin Hostag Ink UK)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Stehlin Hostag Ink UK is to increase its inks and consumables prices by around 6-8% from 1 March. The firm said that the rises were 'unavoidable due to the relentless increase in the cost of raw materials', reporting that pigment and resin...

Field Bradford staff in deal over pay as Newcastle strikes go on.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Chesapeake's two-month pay dispute at its Field Packaging Bradford site has finally been resolved after a pay deal was agreed. Industrial action stemmed from a disagreement over new pay and conditions in November. Stoppages were taking...

Green guide.(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Green Guide - The Daily Telegraph has published its first 'green' magazine - a guide to buying property in Spain, Turkey, Cyprus and Portugal. Brighton-based print management firm Four Corners, in conjunction with London advertising agency...

API arm targets short-run jobs.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Packaging manufacturer API Group has launched a new business out of its base in Poynton, Cheshire. Sheetxpress will concentrate solely on the sheetfed lamination market for carton printers in the UK and near continental markets. ...

Contract news printers face capacity overload.
February 1, 2007... Overcapacity could hit contract newspaper printing next year as a number of major publishers bring their massive new plants on stream. Management at both Associated Newspapers' Harmsworth Quays Printing and the Guardian Print Centre have...

Northprint set to be sell-out.(Event overview)
February 1, 2007... Northprint's organisers have revealed that the show's exhibition space is 90% sold out with just over two months to go before it takes place. IIR Exhibitions said more than 100 firms will exhibit at the event, including Heidelberg, MAN...

Reader reaction: Do you support the independent's war on packaging?(Industry overview)
February 1, 2007... INDUSTRY BODY: Jane Bickerstaffe, director, Incpen (Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment) 'The Independent articles on packaging show how confused the public and media are about environmental issues and how convenient...

Mitsubishi coup as AHP orders B1 perfector.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Mitsubishi has scored a long-perfector coup with a pounds 2m order to install a 12-colour press at Ipswich printer Ancient House Press (AHP). The huge B1 Diamond 3000 Tandem Perfector, which is capable of printing six-back-six without...

Galloways shifts from packaging with XL 105.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Packaging printer Galloways has taken a step towards commercial print with the installation of a five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 with coater. The Poynton-based firm has claimed that the press, the centrepiece of a pounds 1.4m...

Solopress buys kit and upsizes.(Solopress)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Southend-based leaflet printer Solopress has invested around pounds 350,000 in machinery following an increase in its site space. The firm has recently increased its staff to 38 after signing up eight employees. Solopress brought in...

Legal notices.(Case overview)
February 1, 2007... This information is extracted from the print- and publishing-related notices that appear in the London Gazette. Further Information is available from its website at www.london-gazette.co.uk WINDING UP ORDERS Direct Mail Advertising &...

Fresh Media rejig puts Berg and Brin on top.(appointments of Simon Berg and David Brin)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Fresh Media Group (FMG), the London-based pre-media firm, has named Simon Berg and David Brin as joint managing directors as part of a management restructure. Also included in the reshuffle are promotions for Dean Agamabar, Brett Grange...

Zebra adds top consumer title to client list in new mag repro deal.(Which? Online )
February 1, 2007... London pre-media house Zebra has sealed a lucrative deal to handle the repro for new-launch title Which? Money, the latest from consumer champion Which?. The first issue of the magazine, which will be printed sheetfed at Wyndeham Westway...

Positive Focus launches a web store.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Positive Focus, the Shepperton-based software distributor, has launched a web store at www.software4 print.co.uk. Positive Focus managing director Ivor Dixon said: 'This will supplement the efforts of our resellers and provide a convenient...

Modern Press installs a Heidelberg Topsetter 74.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Modern Press, the Maidstone-based commercial printer, has overhauled its pre-press department with the installation of a Heidelberg Topsetter 74. It will produce around 400 Kodak processless plates per month. Managing director Peter Baggott...

Websitesforprinters.com has introduced the possibility ..
February 1, 2007... Websitesforprinters.com has introduced the possibility to add Enfocus PitStop Preflighting to websites it develops. It will allow customers to pre-flight PDFs produced using Jaws PDF Courier, the website's virtual printer driver. For more...

Highwater Designs appoints Andy Hardy as support manager.
February 1, 2007... HighWater Designs has appointed former Litho Supplies customer services manager Andy Hardy (pictured) as support manager. HighWater finance director Andy Ellis said: 'We are very pleased that Andy will be managing our support team. He has a...

Extensis launches Suitcase foe Windows.
February 1, 2007... Extensis has launched Suitcase for Windows: Professional Font Management, in response to a growing need for professional windows-based font management. It is available for both workgroups and single users running Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

Ghent PDF Workgroup launches new specs.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) has launched new specifications aimed specifically at the packaging industry. The specifications are the result of two years' work by GWG's packaging subcommittee, which includes members from more than 30 countries. It...

IBM to exit digital sector after deal to sell division to Ricoh.
February 1, 2007... IBM is set to leave the commercial digital market after agreeing to sell its printing division to Ricoh in a multi-million pound deal. Both firms have formed a joint venture, called Infoprint Solutions Company, with Ricoh holding a 51%...

DPI installs Canon 7105 with inline binder to take on new contracts.(Digital Printed Image)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Dorset-based Digital Printed Image (DPI) has invested in a pounds 100,000 Canon 7105 press. The machine, which is fitted with an inline perfect binder and three knife trimmer, has allowed the company to take on a new contract with a City...

Repropoint ups digital division.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Woking-based printer Repropoint has invested pounds 300,000 to double its digital printing capacity. The firm has bought its second HP Indigo 5000 Digital Colour Press and claimed it is now the largest digital printer in the south of...

Punch Graphix refutes claims of poor results.(Company overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Punch Graphix has rebutted claims that the company is performing badly, as the battle for control continues. The company, which owns Xeikon, Strobbe and basysPrint has been stung by criticisms from Punch International, which has upped its...

JWB streamlines plant to remain competitive.(JWB Finishers )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Wolverhampton-based JWB Finishers is downsizing its premises as part of a pounds 200,000 investment to keep the company competitive. But the company has decided against a long distance move in order to keep its workforce in Wolverhampton. A...

Goodman Baylis adds Acoro binder.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Worcester-based printer Goodman Baylis has invested in its post-press department with an Acoro A7 perfect binder from Muller Martini. The investment follows on from a pounds 1.5m spend last August which enabled the firm to bring finishing...

Encore Machinery will exhibit at Northprint.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Encore Machinery has announced that it will be exhibiting a range of MB high-speed, heavy-duty folders and Pit Stop digital creasers/perforators, as well as a range of laminators from D&K at Northprint. The MB 38 B3 folder operates at 8,000 sph...

Pitney Bowes introduces its latest piece of kit.(DM300C Digital Mailing System launched)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Pitney Bowes has introduced its latest piece of kit for mailing, the DM300C Digital Mailing System. The machine is geared towards small and medium businesses and can process up to 65 letters per minute. The system uses Pitney Bowes' IntelliLink...

Valuumatic will show at Northprint.(Event overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Vacuumatic, the paper counting technology provider, has announced that it will have several products on show at this April's Northprint show in Harrogate. The company will be displaying the Viscount Disc, Viscount E, Vacuumatic Universal Tab...

GBC Commercial Laminating will demonstrate at Northprint.
February 1, 2007... GBC Commercial Laminating Solutions Group will use Northprint to demonstrate its Delta 7052 laminator and its newly introduced GBC Digital Lay-Flat Gloss and Matt film. The Delta 7052 is targeted at the digital print market. and is designed for...

Team Impression completes investment programme.(B1 Autobond Mini 76 TH laminator installed)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Team Impression in Leeds has completed an ongoing investment programme with the installation of a B1 Autobond Mini 76 TH laminator. Mark Whitby, operations director for Team Impressions, said: 'A lot of our work is printed, finished and...

Antalis restructures its international offering.
February 1, 2007... Paper merchant Antalis is to strengthen its global offering after signing a cross-Atlantic alliance with Xpedx, the US's biggest print industry supplier. Antalis has also signed two letters of intent with PaperCo parent group PaperlinX in...

Patersons secures eco standards.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Commercial and financial printer Patersons has achieved FSC and PEFC chain of custody standards following an assessment from the Soil Association. Clients of the Kent-based print firm will now be able to take advantage of the increasing...

Jumbo Jamboree.(Event overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Jumbo Jamboree - PaperCo has proved that it is always prepared after helping the Scout Association's print efforts in the organisation's centenary year. The organisation has adopted recycled grade 9lives 80 for its publications work and 9lives...

Mondi Business Paper claims to be first to use nano-hybrid technology.
February 1, 2007... Mondi Business Paper has claimed to be the first company to use nano-hybrid technology in paper production. The firm has begun manufacturing its Neox paper at a mill in Austria, and has said that the paper combines the advantages of coated and...

M-real negotiates possible layoffs.
February 1, 2007... M-real has started negotiations on possible temporary layoffs at its Kangas mill in Finland. The firm said it was seeking to readjust production capacity to the current market situation and to improve profitability. According to the...

UPM presented its new range at Paperworld 2007.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... UPM has presented its new range of pre-print folio sheets to complement its existing reel paper offer at Paperworld 2007. The products result from the modernisation of two of its fine paper production lines. UPM has added two folio sheet papers...

CEPI and three other paper organisations ..(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... CEPI and three other paper organisations took part in a 'Mobilising Wood Resources' workshop that questioned whether Europe's forests satisfied the increasing demand for raw materials and energy under sustainable forest management. At the...

Robert Horne has completed review of its Revive range.
February 1, 2007... Robert Horne has completed a wide-ranging review of its Revive range, restructuring it and adding some new products. Its premium uncoated grade Imagine has also been chosen for the Pirelli calendar 2007.Imagine is available in 12 weights and is...

Iggesund Paperboard reveals new project.(contracts of Iggesund Paperboard Ltd. and MarquipWardUnited)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Iggesund Paperboard has revealed a new project with producer of precision sheeting, finishing and corrugated machinery MarquipWardUnited. The manufacturer of high quality virgin fibre paperboard for the packaging and graphics industry has...

Contract update.
February 1, 2007... Derbyshire-based Buxton Press has retained the contract to print Living Edge, after the magazine was acquired by publisher Archant Life from Silk Press for an undisclosed sum. The 120pp monthly lifestyle magazine is distributed to parts of...

Client audit: Foxtons.
February 1, 2007... Foxtons, perhaps the UK's best-known estate agent, produces an enormous range of print, from the 10m magazines it turns out each year to the annually redesigned vehicle decals for its London fleet of 600 branded Mini Coopers. Print buyer...

Editorial: Stick with it - print still has big opportunities.(Editorial)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... You could forgive someone for thinking that now would be a good time to get out of print when Harvard reports entitled 'Goodbye Gutenberg' hit their desk. However, even though such a report did hit my desk this week - and even though I am...

Comment: NMN - New Mnemonics Needed.(Brief article)(Column)
February 1, 2007... For six years I had the privilege of working at an international office in Belgium for a pre-press systems manufacturer. It was an instructive episode and involved a fair amount of travel. Most of the flights I took in and out of Brussels...

Comment: A decade in print - how data and digital have changed our industry since 1997.
February 1, 2007... The start of a year is always a good time to look back and reflect, but also to look to the future. Let's go back 10 years and recall what the world was like then. In 1997 people were just beginning to get used to email and the internet. These...

Analysis: Direct mail - New markets poised to give DM a boost.(Industry overview)
February 1, 2007... DM firms with a little imagination may change the sector's rocky course, writes Philip Chadwick. Beleaguered is one word you would associate with the direct mail sector over the past few years. Consolidation has hit the sector hard, with...

Analysis: Pre-press - Repro's indies survive by reinvention.(Industry overview)
February 1, 2007... Pre-press firms are becoming niche specialists or moving to online content, writes Simon Nias. Last week's pre-media news highlighted two separate, but related, trends in the sector. First, publishers' gradual move to in-house repro: we...

Maintenance contracts: Better business - Are you sorted for service?(Industry overview)
February 1, 2007... A maintenance strategy should not be seen as a burden, but as an important way of getting the most out of your resources. Karen Charlesworth explains. 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'; 'I need proof that it pays'; or even 'it's not a...

Technology report: Inline digital finishing - Bring finishing back into line.
February 1, 2007... As pressure grows to reduce turnaround times, inline finishing is proving popular, but it pays to be wary of limitations, says Noli Dinkovski At last year's Digital Print World, one of the most popular attractions was a tie-up between a...

Product Portfolio: Product of the week - Konica Minolta bizhub Pro C6500e.(Product/service evaluation)
February 1, 2007... Previously associated with office kit, Konica has successfully side-stepped into commercial printing, says Simon Eccles. Announced on the eve of Ipex last April, the bizhub Pro C6500e is Konica Minolta's (KM's) first entry into the...

Product portfolio: Me & my ... Autobond Mini 74 TPHS.(Product/service evaluation)
February 1, 2007... Woolwich-based TG Print can think seriously about growing its business on the back of its purchase of Autobond's laminator, says owner David Duhig. What is it? It's a perfecting film laminator Why did you choose this particular...

Product portfolio: Tried & tested - Sakurai OL472ED.(Product/service evaluation)
February 1, 2007... It pioneered the seven o'clock configuration for transfer cylinders and in a largely Heidelberg market, the Sakurai can be a bargain. Sakurai's first footsteps into the four-colour B2 market came in 1989 in the shape of its OL472ED press....

CSR What does it mean to you?(Corporate Social Responsibility)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Whether to ease their conscience or attract new customers, most businesses are taking corporate responsibility seriously - if they can afford it. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). What does the phrase mean to you and your business? To...

Product portfolio: Buyers' guide - Film and film processors.(Product/service evaluation)
February 1, 2007... As CTP becomes affordable even for small firms and film processors are taken off the Buyers' Guide tables, Lisa Berwin asks, is film finished? The speed with which CTP has taken over from film in the past decade has been dramatic, and...

Product portfolio: Philip's help line - Sticky problems & price guides.(Industry overview)
February 1, 2007... Philip Chadwick tracks down the solutions to your technical troubles. Q: I'm looking for 1,500 SRA2 sheets of 350gsm self-adhesive coated gloss or matt, with backing paper. Sid Siddiqui, Ideal Printers & Stationers A: The suppliers...

Product portfolio: Diary.
February 1, 2007... FEBRUARY Introduction to Colour Management Date: 7 February Venue: Walsall College, Walsall Price: pounds 95 per person Contact: tonykirk@colourcollective.co.uk, 01902 833800 YMP National Conference Date: 23-25 February Venue:...

Product portfolio: Technical tutorial traceability: The key to increased profits.(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... If printers, particularly packaging printers, want to increase profits by reducing errors, they need to implement a culture of traceability throughout the workflow. It's easy to accept that a percentage of jobs have to go back down the...

Post script: Get lost with the only sheep in the village.(Company overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Post Script hears that a Welsh company is printing maps of a Little Britain location on sheep poo paper. Paper manufacturer Creative Paper Wales (CPW) is producing the maps of Llanddewi Brefi, made famous by the BBC comedy series in which...

Post script: Memory Lane.(Industry overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... 1 YEAR AGO Quebecor World was seeking around pounds 6m worth of cost savings at its Corby site before it would commit any investment from its pounds 140m (dollars 250m) European re-equip... New Jarrold Printing (NJP) hit back at rumours that...

Post script: Print's Past.(Industry overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Nature printing Capturing the exact details of plants by printing directly from the original has been a long-time goal of printers. Eighteenth century attempts failed because the material was too fragile to withstand the traditional...

Post script: Q&A Mary Friel.(dialogue with Mary Friel)(Interview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Mary Friel is a sales and marketing executive at MAN Roland GB. Aged 26, she has been in print for 15 months. She is single but looking. The youngest of seven children, from a very Irish family, she enjoys keeping in touch with friends, family,...

Read scoops prized position as Emap group production chief.(Debbie Read )(Brief article)
February 8, 2007... IPC Media's Debbie Read is to become one of the UK's most powerful print buyers after being named Emap's new group production director. Read replaces Andy Franks, who is currently on a career break after leaving the job late last year to...

Jobs on the line at Polestar site.(Polestar Greaves )(Brief article)
February 8, 2007... New fears have been raised about the future of Polestar Greaves after it was announced that 26 of its staff are to be made redundant. Managing director of the Scarborough-based printer, Andy Reynoldson, said the job losses followed a review...

Massive iGen3 order set to make TPF largest UK digi firm.(TPF Group contracts)(Brief article)
February 8, 2007... TPF Group could become the UK's largest digital printer after placing the biggest-ever order for Xerox's iGen3. The print management group this week signed an order for four of the presses, which will be installed at its Isleworth, west...

Stop press.(Heidelberg financial news)(Financial report)(Brief article)
February 8, 2007... Heidelberg sales for the first nine months of 2006/07 reached pounds 1.7bn (EUR2.6bn), up 6% on last year's figures. The company's operating profit for the period was pounds 133m... Gradual Software will be showing off its complete product...

RR Donnelley mulls 35 job cuts at Flaxby site.
February 8, 2007... RR Donnelley is looking to make 35 redundancies at its UK print site, in Yorkshire, after one of its presses was devastated by fire last November. Management at the directory printer, whose best-known client is the Yellow Pages, are due to...

Weiss leaves GHP for family time.(David Weiss resigned from Garden House Press)(Brief article)
February 8, 2007... Garden House Press operations director David Weiss has resigned from the company. Weiss was part of the five-strong management buy-in team, led by former Howitt chief executive James Elliot, which took control of the west London commercial...