Printing World articles from February 2004

Printing World archives from February 2004

44 jobs go and gear for sale as Berry closes.
February 5, 2004... Shipley web printer WE Berry, is being closed down by administrator KPMG, with 44 staff now made redundant and most of the equipment expected to finish its life in New Zealand. Five of the staff are being retained to complete work in...

Win some Premiership action with the UK's premier printing publication.
February 5, 2004... After the huge success of our Pixel Player competition during the rugby world cup Printing World - the nation's top choice for the UK print industry - is switching its attention to Premiership action for the rest of the season and into Euro...

Print Production Week.
February 5, 2004... Pira is to run a second Print Production Week on April 19-23 following the success of last week's inaugural event. The week comprised five modules covering everything from an introduction to printing to colour management and the complexities of...

Ronnie Conway appointed.
February 5, 2004... Ronnie Conway has been appointed general manager for Xerox Scotland. Mr Conway will take responsibility for all of Xerox business divisions in Scotland, including Xerox production, Xerox office and Xerox's services business. Mr Conway...

Haynes interim results.
February 5, 2004... Haynes Publishing Group has released interim results for the last six months of 2003. Turnover was down on 2002's figure of #19.9m to #19.7m but profits before tax were up 13% from #3.3m in 2002 to #3.7m in 2003. The company is the worldwide...

Sudden death of Aidan McElroy.
February 5, 2004... Ultrachem has announced the sudden death of marketing manager Aidan McElroy. Mr McElroy had worked at Ultrachem for 15 years and is described by colleagues as an exceptionally talented individual. He leaves a wife and a week-old baby daughter....

Etrinsic appointed.
February 5, 2004... Retailer Topps Tiles has appointed Etrinsic to manage its entire marketing and direct mail print and logistics. Topps Tiles is growing fast and is set to double the number of retail stores to more than 300 by 2005. A key element in the print...

Hunter part of group buying J Howitt & Son.
February 5, 2004... J Howitt and Son, the Nottingham printer taken over by South African entrepreneur James Elliott two years ago, has called in administrative receivers KPMG and found a buyer within just three days. Three former Colorgraphic executives - Nick...

Renault carries load.
February 5, 2004... Renault Print in Birmingham is taking on most of the customers and half the staff of failed print broker Four Colour, which went under last month owing the printer #130,000. Renault was Four Colour's exclusive printer, and Four Colour...

Doughnut disturb.
February 5, 2004... This is National Doughnut Week and Komori, which has a network offering called DoNet, decided to use the occasion to kick off its Drupa promotion initiatives. Staff gathered in the DoNet room in its Leeds showroom to eat doughnuts and in the...

Joint Review Body makes steady gains towards aims.
February 5, 2004... The Joint Review Body, charged with drawing up 21st century terms and conditions for the printing industry, is making steady progress. A full meeting has been held for the second time while sub groups are beginning to work on working time,...

Investments in six print machines.
February 5, 2004... Emery Colours in Stoke-on-Trent is benefiting from the result of its investments in six automated roll to roll print machines supplied by Autotype International. Emery Colour is using Capillex CP from Autotype in combination with Sericol's...

Vat mitigation programme.
February 5, 2004... Adare Group's Vat mitigation programme has meant cost savings that amount to a total figure in excess of 10% on a #7m plus marketing spend for a top ten financial institution. Having undertaken a thorough review of the customer's marketing...

Pelikon joins forces with Universal Electronics.
February 5, 2004... Pelikon in the UK has joined forces with US company Universal Electronics to work as partners in the development of Kameleon technology and range of products. Pelikon is a world leading company in the field of development and application of...

500th violet engine sold.
February 5, 2004... Fujifilm has sold its 500th violet engine within 18 months of the Ipex 2002 launch of the Luxel Vx-9600 ctp and Luxel V-6000ctp platesetters. The Luxel Vxp9600 and the Luxel V-6000 platesetters are the first engines to make use of the violet...

Polestar margins reap benefit of efficiencies.
February 5, 2004... Polestar has increased operating profits by #2.5m to #40m for the 2003 financial year as a result of continuing efficiency programmes and a strong performance from its Continental operations, which were helped by the strengthening euro. ...

Polestar makes #2m MIS investment in systems from Technique and Exel.
February 5, 2004... Polestar Group has taken the decision to make an investment of more than #2m in a group wide management information system. The project's installation combines both specialised complete print commercial life cycle products from Technique...

Baldwin calls it off.
February 5, 2004... Baldwin has left Technotrans at the altar by pulling out of a deal that would have seen the German company take a majority stake in the US firm. A letter of intent for Technotrans to buy all outstanding Baldwin shares was drawn up last...

Investment continues strongly.
February 5, 2004... Fujifilm Graphic Systems' investment in plate manufacturing facilities continues strongly. It is opening a second plate line in China in April. In October it will inaugurate a new line in the US and next year improvements to its Tilborg...

Upgrading OCSL MIS equipment.
February 5, 2004... London screen printing company Capital Print & Display is upgrading its OCSL MIS equipment, installed in 1996, to the Optimus 2020 system and installing OSCL's e-commerce B2B system. `The Optimus MIS has played a vital part in the steady...

Jelmar Publishing catalogue.
February 5, 2004... Jelmar Publishing in the US has released a catalogue featuring a selection of books to help and support printers. The books are all written by experts in their fields and aim to assist printers, package printers and converters become more...

Pira sequel.
February 5, 2004... Pira has produced the sequel to its successful 1999-2000 European strategic study on the future of printed media. The Future of Print 2 analyses more than 30 end products over five key printed product sectors and covers more than 20 European...

More than 120 students are expected.
February 5, 2004... More than 120 students are expected to enter the 2004 Point-of-Purchase Advertising International Student Design Award. Sponsors Bezier and Coca-Cola Enterprises are looking for new design talent from the awards, which are in their tenth year....

Litho and Toray tie up waterless agreement.
February 5, 2004... Litho Supplies and Toray Europe have signed an agreement in which Litho Supplies is to take over the selling, marketing and technical support for Toray waterless plates throughout the UK. The completed deal follows months of negotiations...

Clegg gets Allergy job.
February 5, 2004... Cooper Clegg is printing a new magazine for the charity Allergy UK. The charity has joined forces with London magazine publisher Ink to produce the first magazine dedicated to allergy sufferers. Entitled A and targeting the nation's 20 million...

Vote war heats up.
February 5, 2004... The GPMU's Merseyside, Central Lancs & North Wales branch has hit back at suggestions that it is behind a campaign to persuade union members to vote in favour of merger with the TGWU rather than Amicus. Police are conducting an...

Walkers of Manchester subject of Herrington mbo.
February 5, 2004... Walkers of Manchester has been bought out from over 100 years of family ownership in an mbo led by managing director Gary Herrington. The company, which employs 80 people, is a point-of-sale specialist. Mr Herrington heads a management team...

Start up package.
February 5, 2004... All new MAN Roland sheetfed presses are now being supplied with a start up package including wash up liquid, fount solution, fount control and cleaners from Fuji-Hunt chemistry. The kit helps the MAN Roland installation engineers, as they...

Image Data Group investment programme.
February 5, 2004... Image Data Group's current #5m investment programme includes the installation of a four-colour Inca Columbia wide format digital flatbed printer at its specialist large format screen and digital printing company, GK Serigraphics in Leeds. GK...

Increasing the number of user group meetings.
February 5, 2004... Tharstem is increasing the number of user group meetings it hosts this year to six. The meetings will be held across England, Scotland and Ireland and give more access to customers. The first meeting will take place in Leeds, Brighouse followed...

Celebrating successful January seminar.
February 5, 2004... Positive Focus is celebrating a successful January seminar on `Bringing Production planning into the Print Workflow' to 30 print providers. Creo's production planning tool, UpFront, was highlighted in a survey in the US as a component that...

Doors close for good at St Ives' Case - Hoyt.
February 5, 2004... St Ives is to close its Case-Hoyt plant in Rochester, New York, after failing to renegotiate terms and conditions with the 290 staff. Hopes in the US that the closure notice was a last ditch negotiating ploy have been dashed by St Ives...

Kingston joins Wyndeham.
February 5, 2004... Roy Kingston, manufacturing director of the St Ives Web Division, is to join Wyndeham Group as group operations director. This is a new role to Wyndeham and follows the appointment of Paul Utting, who was once sales director at St Ives, as...

Precision goes large with Agfa.
February 5, 2004... Precision Colour Printing has announced that it is to spend over #600,000 with Agfa to boost its prepress capacity. This investment follows hard on the heals of its decision to install a ten-colour, 16- page dual web Rotoman due to be up and...

TSO plant focus of Hutton probe.
February 5, 2004... The Parliamentary Press printing operation on Mandela Way in south London is at the centre of the enquiry into the leaking of the Hutton report last week. The Stationery Office plant printed the 706-page report ahead of its publication on...

Adare talks up third party route.
February 5, 2004... Printers face a brighter future if they learn to deal with print management companies, Adare controversially claims, as it posts positive results on the back of a strong push into facilities management. Development of its print management...

Watford redundancy vote.
February 5, 2004... Union members employed at Polestar Watford are voting on whether to accept a redundancy package negotiated between GPMU and the company's management. This would allow the orderly run down on the plant, which is expected in May. Staff at...

Docutech gets positive reception.
February 5, 2004... Xerox customers have reacted warmly to the new monochrome Docutech platform, launched last week in a blaze of publicity that demonstrates how important the black and white market still is to Xerox. "A great deal has been said about Xerox...

Adverset premises.
February 5, 2004... Adverset has moved premises in Scarborough and invested in new equipment including a Prosetter ctp system and Speedmaster SM52 five- colour press from Heidelberg. Managing director John Easby says the move to ctp was well researched and the...

Pindar win.
February 5, 2004... Pindar has won PricewaterhouseCoopers' competition for annual report awards in Yorkshire in the best corporate reporting category in the region for privately owned companies including state owned, cooperatives and mutual societies. The awards...

Spare parts availability and dispatch.
February 5, 2004... Heidelberg has increased its same day spare parts availability and dispatch from 90% to 95% thereby keeping its position as number one for serving more customers in more places faster than any competitor. Heidelberg's World Logistics Centre...

Apex Digital Graphics open house.
February 5, 2004... Apex Digital Graphics, UK and Ireland, distributors for Ryobi presses, Screen PlateRite Micra metal ctp and Esko-Graphics polyester platesetters, is holding an open house at its Hemel Hempstead headquarters on February 11. The event will also...

Government indication.
February 5, 2004... Tony Dubbins, chair of the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation, and general secretary of the Graphical, Paper and Media Union, has welcomed the Prime Minister's indication that the government will promote better discussion and...

Scottish groups look at youth view of print.
February 5, 2004... The Print Education Forum, the Glasgow College of Building and Printing and the Scottish Print Employers Federation have commissioned a 30-day survey among schools north of the Border to try to gain a measure of young people's attitudes to...

Clondalkin sale made.
February 5, 2004... Private equity house Candover has sold packaging giant Clondalkin to venture capital firm Warburg Pincus for E630m, making it a successful exit from the company it bought for E550 in 1999. Clondalkin has 40 subsidiaries in the UK and...

CFC changes hands.
February 5, 2004... Commercial Finance Capital, the asset finance house specialising in the printing industry, has been sold by owners Citigroup which has decided to back out of print. CFC was first sold to the American Avco Trust 12 years ago and then sold...

Enfocus sees out end of year on the crest of a wave.
February 5, 2004... Enfocus Software has closed 2003 with buoyant results. Sales are up 40%, to E2,074,883 compared with the same period last year. This is in spite of increasing competition from Adobe, which has incorporated similar PDF creating software in...

X-Rite's colour collection.
February 5, 2004... X-rite the colour measurement specialist is putting together a line up of products and applications under the banner of streamlined colour management. It will position these products at points in the print production line from the creative...

Inca entices with its Spyder inkjet offering.
February 5, 2004... Cambridge company Inca is extending its range of inkjet presses away from the flatbed Columbia and Eagle models. It is ready to launch a 60x40in flatbed model, the Spyder 150 at the PMA show in Las Vegas this month before bringing it to...

Canon aim.
February 5, 2004... Canon is coming to Drupa with a renewed focus on the printing industry. It has undergone intensive internal reorganisation with the aim of producing streamlined units focused on specific business areas, including printing. This is...

Agfa has packaging and newspaper aim for Dotrix.
February 5, 2004... Agfa has a number of applications in mind for Dotrix, the innovative inkjet company it purchased last month. Etienne van Damme says that Agfa returned to digital printing after learning some lessons with its previous experience as partner...

Efl name reflects company's change of image.
February 5, 2004... EfI has changed its name from Electronics for Imaging to EfI to reflect the increasing spread of its interests away from purely imaging. All products from Fiery through to the Micropress systems will be prefaced by EfI then the brand name....

Testing the waters.
February 5, 2004... Kodak Polychrome Graphics will bring the 5034DI press it sells in North America to Drupa to test the waters about its viability in Europe. The machine is based on Ryobi's 3404DI press which is sold by KBA as the 46Karat. One problem might be...

Screen's stand.
February 5, 2004... Screen's stand attraction for Drupa will be Cirque du Soleil and Las Vegas performing duo, the Golden Boys. The acrobatic act is about elegance, power and performance, says European marketing manager, Phil Eaves, likening the gold paint covered...

Mnemo introduced.
February 5, 2004... Artwork Systems is introducing its own digital asset management application, Mnemo. This runs on Mac OS X, based on a MySQL database structure to track assets across a network. It manages, stores, searches and archives files, the Belgian...

Working on a system.
February 5, 2004... Baldwin is working on a system to bring spray dampening systems to commercial web offset presses. Spray dampening is common among newspapers, but many feel that it does not deliver enough power nor enough sensitivity to cope with the demands of...

Exhibitors stands.
February 5, 2004... Building regulations and a general tightening of belts will reduce the extravagance of many exhibitors' stands. Stairways have to be increased in width and where there is a double deck, a sprinkler system has to be fitted into the ceiling as a...

Worst line of week.
February 5, 2004... The worst line of a week of more than 20 presentations went to Agfa's Etienne Van Damme, there to explain why the company had bought Dotrix and its single pass (Spice) inkjet technology used in the Dotfactory digital press. `I'm convinced that...

Baldwin claims it is back on track.
February 5, 2004... Baldwin is claiming to be back in shape, even though a takeover offer from Technotrans is being awaited. The company has reorganised over the last two years and says that the impact of this remedial action, the sell offs and concentration on...

MLP to display unique variable web press.
February 5, 2004... Mitsubishi Litho Presses is to show a web press with a variable print and cut off length with an innovative reusable plate. The press on display will only have a single print unit, though it is intended as a flexible machine capable of A4...

PrintCity's JDF shows.
February 5, 2004... PrintCity is planning to run five factories inside the vast hall six to show any combination of production workflow, printing and finishing is possible using JDF. The centre of the space is dominated by the production centre, which will...

Wraps off Fujifilm plate.
February 5, 2004... Fujifilm Graphic Systems will preview a no process plate which will go to trial customers before the end of the year. The plate will match existing platesetters and is intended to match the performance of more conventional digital plates,...

COMMENT: Act now for true enterprise.
February 5, 2004... Over four months we have charted the blight caused by phoenix companies to our trade. Last week we capped this through an interview with Gerry Sutcliffe, the government minister in charge and who defended the 2002 Enterprise Act. According...

Letter: The need to review.(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... I read with interest the comments of the minister regarding the benefits of the government's reforms of Insolvency Law over the last two years through the Insolvency Act 2000 (enacted January 1, 2002) and the Enterprise Act 2002 (enacted...

Letter: Further reform.(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... Further to the views of insolvency minister Gerry Sutcliffe, I agree that it may be too soon to be calling for further reform. Although creditors have some reservations about the new `rules', particularly those related to `director...

Manufacturing downturn may finally be over for good.
February 5, 2004... The manufacturing downturn may finally be over for good, says the CBI's latest quarterly industrial trends survey. Of 828 manufacturers surveyed between December 11 and January 14, two thirds were still working below capacity but confidence was...

Cutting another 60 jobs.
February 5, 2004... MacFarlane, the packaging group, is cutting another 60 jobs as a result of an operational review by new chief executive Peter Atkinson. The review follows delays to its slimming down from 45 to 15 depots under former ceo Iain Duffin. MacFarlane...

A further setback.
February 5, 2004... The Barclay Brothers, whose takeover bid for Hollinger International is being resisted by its board, have suffered a further setback now that the Mail on Sunday has scrapped a bundling deal with the Business. The Business's circulation more...

Dow Jones growth.
February 5, 2004... Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times has reported growth in both in advertising revenue in the last few months of 2003. Annual revenues for the New York Times Company rose 4.8% in 2003 and advertising at the...

Total retail book sales in the UK.
February 5, 2004... Total retail book sales in the UK rose 8.4% last year to reach #1.04bn, according to Nielsen Bookscan. The year 2003 was the first that total sales broke through the #1bn barrier, helped by the latest Harry Potter novel and Dr Atkins' New Diet...

MeadWestvaco net profits.
February 5, 2004... MeadWestvaco made net profits of $50m in the fourth quarter of 2003, up from $36m the year before. Sales edged up slightly from $1.89bn to $1.95bn. But the fourth quarter was less good for Consolidated Graphics, whose net income is down from...

Xerox and Canon are leagues ahead of Oce.
February 5, 2004... Both Xerox and Canon have recorded big improvements in their 2003 results, leaving Oce in the shade. Xerox's results, announced two days before it unveiled its new Docutech range last week, show that profits in the fourth quarter of 2003...

Pindar increases Alphagraphics stake as top man Witte departs.
February 5, 2004... Pindar has increased its stake in Alphagraphics, the US printing franchise network, by buying the shareholding of chairman and chief executive Mike Witte who is quitting the group. Pindar, which first invested in Alphagraphics 14 years ago,...

Kodak Versamark looks to be safe from cull.
February 5, 2004... Despite Kodak's threatened cull of 15,000 jobs its newest division, the former Scitex Digital Printing, appears to be safe. Scitex Digital Printing's acquisition by Kodak was cleared in early January, and it has already been renamed Kodak...

AVT hails first profit.
February 5, 2004... AVT, the Israeli manufacturer of visual inspection equipment, has made its first ever annual profit since it was founded in 1992. The company made a net profit of $494,000 in 2003, compared with a loss of $2.8m in 2002. The company is...

Cradley stock in surprising upturn.
February 5, 2004... Cradley Press Holdings, the parent company of loss-making magazine and commercial printer Cradley Print, has seen its share price suddenly double after two years of stagnation. The share price, which had hovered below 10p for the last two...

Litho Supplies share price rise.
February 5, 2004... Litho Supplies is another printing stock that has seen its share price rise double lately, albeit over six months rather than one morning. Litho Supplies' share price was normally over 200p in the late 1990s but fell to below 50p in 2001....

Compulsory winding up.
February 5, 2004... The following case is due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL * The Sikh Times Ltd Winston Churchill House, Ethel Street, Birmingham, West Midlands B2 4BG on February 11 at 10.30am. Petition by Newsfax...

Appointment of liquidators.
February 5, 2004... * Michellejana Ltd Previous company names Takeoff 48 Houses Ltd and Ardeal Ltd Publishing. Liquidator: E Arakapiotis, Kallis & Co, Mountview Court, 1148 High Road, Whetstone, London N20 0RA * Lumis Colour Ltd General printers. Liquidator:...

Meetings of creditors.
February 5, 2004... * Print Europa Ltd (t/a Copywise) at 2 Dunstan Place, Dunstan Road, Chesterfield S41 8XA * Creteprint (Midlands) Ltd at 35 Ludgate Hill, Birmingham B3 1EH on February 12 at 11am Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Notices to creditors.
February 5, 2004... * Farnell Publications Ltd Creditors to send claims to RE Duncan, 16 Caring Lane, Maidstone, Kent ME14 4NJ by April 21 * Advent Design & Print Ltd Creditors to send claims to M Arkin, Arkin & Co, Maple House, High Street, Potters Bar,...

Final meetings.
February 5, 2004... * Nuffield Web Offset Ltd at SPW Poppleton & Appleby, Gable House, 239 Regents Park Road, London N3 3LF on February 19 at noon for members and at 12.30pm for creditors * European Publications Ltd (t/a "France Bookshop") at 2 Mountview...

Disclaimer.
February 5, 2004... * Colourwise Ltd Units 1, 5 & 6 Unifax, Woods Way, Goring-By-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex BN12 4QY wishes to make it known that it is in no way connected with Colourwise Litho Ltd as mentioned in Legals of 29 January Copyright: CMP...

Niemala's hasty UPM exit.
February 5, 2004... UPM, the Finnish paper group formerly known as UPM-Kymenne, has suddenly parted company with its chief executive after announcing a big fall in profits in 2003. Pre-tax profits were down from E789m to E559m for the year as a whole, and by...