Printing World articles from March 1999

Printing World archives from March 1999

2001 Census will give a #4m print slice to Polestar plants.
March 1, 1999... Polestar has won a #4m slice of a #50m contract to produce the forms for the UK's 2001 Census. Described as this country's biggest ever UK bespoke printing contract, the deal involves the completion of 32 million personalised forms. ...

Carbonless drags down hopeful Arjo Wiggins.
March 1, 1999... Arjo Wiggins Appleton announced last week that continued price pressure and lower volumes have contributed to a decline in overall profits and turnover - a statement all too familiar from papermakers. The company's 1998 results revealed a...

69 UK firms sign up for Fespa 99.
March 1, 1999... Fespa 99, to be held in Munich on June 2-6, promises to be a world- class event for the screenprinting and digital imaging sectors - and has even prompted film coating company Autotype International to desert larger exhibitions such as Ipex and...

Eddie makes print friends on Tyneside.
March 1, 1999... Newcastle may not have got an apology from Eddie George, the Bank of England's controversial governor on an official visit last week, but he did find some friends in the north at Tyneside food packaging printer Label-Select. The company...

Thyne talks under way.
March 1, 1999... GPMU officials and senior managers of First Carton Thyne were locked in discussions as Printing World went to press, in an attempt to resolve the wages and hours dispute between the Edinburgh company and its staff. GPMU national officer...

Optimistic Inveresk is lean and fit.
March 1, 1999... The strength of sterling and the slow down of the UK economy, plus the non-materialisation of an anticipated busy second quarter resulted in disappointing year end results for papermaker Inveresk. Operating profits slid from #6.8m in 1997...

Axe hangs over Jarvis Porter plants and staff.
March 1, 1999... Faced with worsening conditions in the labels market, particularly in the drinks and beverages sector, Jarvis Porter has announced stringent cuts. Factories in the UK and in Europe will close with the loss of 250-300 jobs. As Printing...

Sidlaw accepts #106m bid from Danish packagers.
March 1, 1999... Sidlaw Packaging, following hot on the heels of Field in the search for a suitable takeover offer, has accepted a bid from the Danish flexible packaging and food company Danisco. The #106.4m cash offer - 155p per share - follows...

Waddington warns on 10% profits drop.
March 1, 1999... Waddington, the Leeds print and packaging group, saw its share price slump last week after warning that its profits would be 10% below market expectations. The company, which recently sold its carton division to Low & Bonar, which itself...

Access cross-sells well.
March 1, 1999... Access Plus, Bristol, a printer and provider of print management, has cited its ability to cross-sell its services as the reason behind a 21% increase in turnover and a 31% increase in pretax profit for 1998. Turnover rose from #16.2m in...

High speed, low cost and 40 pages per min.
March 1, 1999... The ability to complete large print jobs quickly with minimal operator intervention is the promise from IBM at the launch of its Infoprint 40. The high speed low cost 40ppm printer has an estimated street price of #2,122 and a supplies...

CMCS set to sort out its press mix.
March 1, 1999... Dartford company CMCS Print & Colour has embarked on an ambitious programme of rationalising its press configurations. The GPMU is actively involved in discussions, and is participating in a 30 day consultation period, but it is likely that...

Bostitch UK agency.
March 1, 1999... Smyth-Horne, the north London finishing equipment distributor, has been appointed the sole UK distributor of the Bostitch range of spare parts for Muller wire stitchers, and it believes it can offer savings of up to 50% over Oem parts. ...

AGT bid muddies Schawk's Wace waters.
March 1, 1999... Another US prepress services company is poised to enter the battle for Wace. Applied Graphics Technologies revealed last week that it is considering bidding for Wace, prompting Wace to issue a statement calling on AGT to clarify its...

Cheshire labels are `primitive technology'.
March 1, 1999... Cheshire labels - the address labels commonly found on the outer wrapping of subscription magazines - represent "primitive technology" that publishers badly need to replace with personalised inkjet label sheets, it was argued last week. ...

Xeikon record results.
March 1, 1999... Xeikon has announced record annual results showing a 45% rise in turnover and a 75% jump in profits. Profits are up to $15.2m in the fourth quarter of 1998 from $8.7m in the same period in 1997, with revenues up to $40.6m from $28m....

Brier Press creates its digital imaging centre.
March 1, 1999... As part of its 30 year birthday celebrations, Brier Press, High Wycombe, has invested in its future with a digital imaging centre following the purchase of a six-colour Indigo TurboStream supplied by Litho Supplies' electronics division. ...

Komori's 38S11 promises new productivity highs.
March 1, 1999... The newly launched Komori 38S11 was the centre of attraction at Komori UK's headquarters last week, when Leeds was the venue for a forum on heatset web printing. Ably supported by Sun Chemical, the inkmaker, Megtec, which supplied the...

Liberfabrica ponders private ownership.
March 1, 1999... Liberfabrica, the leading book manufacturer with factories in the UK, Belgium and Holland, is investigating the possibility of returning to being a private company. This, says the group, may lead to an offer for the company, but the...

Two #1m deals for Xerox.
March 1, 1999... Xerox has announced two deals each worth #1m. One involving three DocuTech 180 LPS units, the other three DocuTech 6180s. MR Microrite, a digital and fulfilment house, is purchasing the three DocuPrint 180 LPS units for its Maidenhead and...

Magnadata says its new combo Arsoma is just the ticket.
March 1, 1999... Magnadata, the ticket printing company in Boston, deep in the Lincolnshire flatlands, has become the first European company to install an Arsoma EMO 410 combination press. The press, which cost the best part of #1m, features eight flexo...

Mawers' boys get an inside loo!
March 1, 1999... Mawers Talbot Print, Darlington, is investing #500,000 in new equipment and premises as part of a five year expansion plan. The company, which has occupied the same High Northgate premises for 66 years, has upgraded its Apple Mac portfolio...

Printmaster - the new name for Heidelberg's small presses.
March 1, 1999... Heidelberg is rebranding all its small format sheetfed presses under a new name - Printmaster. The new product range brings together all GTO and conventional Quickmaster presses under one common identity, which Heidelberg hopes will...

MAN Roland 700 joins Boxmore's two Komoris.
March 1, 1999... MAN Roland has secured a landmark order for its Roland 700 series press from Boxmore Healthcare Packaging of Belfast. Apart from the press incorporating the 8,000th 700 printing unit, winning the order from a traditional Komori house was...

Wood is sd at Peter Scott.
March 1, 1999... Paul Wood has joined the new management team at Peter Scott Printers in Burnley as sales director. He joins from Polestar Corporate Print in Bradford, where he was sales director. Prior to that he was sales director at Litho-Tech Colour...

Paper snippets.
March 1, 1999... MoDo Paper has introduced office paper DataCopy Colours in A3 in see- through packaging. The new packs are available in three weights, 80, 120 and 160gsm, with a choice of 21, 14 and 16 different colours respectively. The Pulp, Paper &...

Bunzl's `clear signal' with Reel Paper Co.
March 1, 1999... Bunzl Fine Paper has grouped together all of its continuous stationery and carbonless supply arms under one management and one unified name - the Reel Paper Company. The four previously separately named units that have comprised the Bunzl...

Lunnons' World Cup goal.
March 1, 1999... Southeast paper merchant Lunnons has given further support to England's bid to host the 2006 World Cup by supplying seven tonnes of Pure Impression for a calendar commissioned by the Football Association for sports councils and embassies...

Paine's paper honour.
March 1, 1999... The 1999 Paper Industry Gold Medal is to be awarded to John Paine, managing director of Macmillan Bloedel Pulp & Paper Sales, the company he joined in 1975 as sales service supervisor. Mr Paine is chairman of the Pulp & Paper Information...

UK agency.
March 1, 1999... StoraEnso has awarded the UK distributorship for the sheet grades of LumiSilk and LumiArt multi-coated woodfree brands to Bunzl Fine Paper. Chris Diacon, StoraEnso's UK sales director says: "With its 26 centres and extensive sales and...

Merchant in paper switch.
March 1, 1999... Independent paper merchant Elliott Baxter, with branches at Heathrow (above), Croydon, Charlton, Watford and Wokingham, has switched its carbonless offering from Sappi Transcript to Stora's Giroform. Tim Elliott, managing director, says:...

Crisis in Croatia.
March 1, 1999... A three-way circle of debt between a printer, distributor and various publishers is driving Croatian newspapers to the brink of closure. The Croatian state-owned printer, Hrvatska Tiskara, had its bank account blocked by the Finance...

KPG is given a prize foothold in Japan.
March 1, 1999... Eastman Kodak and Dainippon Ink & Chemicals have combined portions of their graphic arts businesses to form Kodak Polychrome Graphics Japan. This move is a substantial addition to Kodak Polychrome Graphics worldwide operations formed in...

Harland Simon makes strong Stateside appeal.
March 1, 1999... The decision by Harland Simon to establish a strong marketing and support presence in the US is proving to be an excellent move. Two recent orders span the broad width of the services it offers and how neatly its products interface with...

Head to head in Europe.
March 1, 1999... Unions and employers' associations in Europe are going head-to-head over wage demands and working hours. BVD, the German employers' federation, has rejected IG Media's demand for a 6.5% rise. It calls the union's demand irresponsible and...

A trio of Combis.
March 1, 1999... NV Tools, Brentwood, has supplied three Envetron silicone applicators for Cleanair Combi drying systems newly installed in newspaper presses in Egypt, Holland and Norway. The Cleanair dryers, made by Tivox are priced around #500,000 each,...

Oslo praise for StingRay.
March 1, 1999... ECRM has sold a StingRay 6300 imagesetter to Norwegian company Prepress, and the Oslo firm says it has increased production by 35% as a result. Prepress specialises in typography, repro and plates and serves NKI, Norway's biggest private...

QTI moves to meet web control demand.
March 1, 1999... QTI, the US maker of auxiliary press equipment, has embarked on an 87,500sq ft extension to its headquarters in Sussex, Wisconsin, in order to meet increased demand for web controls. Its factory was opened in 1990, and according to Chuck...

Artfoil creates cylinder press foiling module.
March 1, 1999... Artfoil Graphic Machinery is breathing new life into the productivity of cylinder presses being used for foilblocking and hologram applications as a result of introducing digital technologies - and a considerable amount of lateral thinking. ...

Sharp focus loupe.
March 1, 1999... The Rodenstock family of high quality professional loupes has been extended with the addition of a powerful 35mm x6 unit. The loupes have been finely crafted to avoid all aberrations and the use of aspheric surfaces ensures that the image...

Peelability blanket advantage.
March 1, 1999... Duco International of Slough, has introduced a range of three specialised offset blankets for online stencil coating applications, the fruits of over three years of research. They are sold under the banner of Superstrip 2 and 3 and Polyprint....

Very specialist security from Pinshield.
March 1, 1999... Pinshield a new security solution for printing personal identification numbers for the banking industry has been launched on the market. It is the result of a three-way collaboration between Domino, supplier of commercial printing systems...

New inks from Reflec.
March 1, 1999... Reflec, a group which produces reflective textile products, is to bring out a new range of reflective, aqueous inks. The group claims to have made major advances such as availability as a one-pack system, extended shelf-life, enhanced...

PlateStream versatility impresses early buyers.
March 1, 1999... The first dual cassette version of the AMI Technology's PlateStream ctp system has now been installed at E Pilling (Printers), Manchester, and is to be used to produce film and plates for a broad range of forms, printing and general commercial...

Calne firm `at ease' with its new Lotem.
March 1, 1999... Scitex seems to be on a winner with the structure of the Lotem 800V, the platesetter version of the Dolev 800V. A recent sale of a thermal version of this successful platesetter has gone into an all-Heidelberg house (at least presswise) -...

Two option Lanovia.
March 1, 1999... There are a range of quite stunning flatbed scanning options now available, and fighting for its share of the high end market for flatbed X/Y based technology ccd devices is the C-550 Lanovia from Fujifilm Graphic Systems. The Bedford...

A brace of 800Vs for Planet Repro.
March 1, 1999... Selling two BI imagesetters in one hit has got to be a remarkable effort, even for NCS Prepress, a Scitex VAR of Newcastle. Roger Stockdale, its managing director says: "We have sold 19 B1 Scitex imagesetters in the past two years, and in...

Polestar Petty's steps on the (LPG) gas.
March 1, 1999... Forklift truck drivers at Polestar Petty's in Leeds are stepping on the gas - literally! The company has switched its trucks from electric battery driven to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) which it says is a better and more environmentally...

Daewoos chosen for the job.
March 1, 1999... Ken Wilkins Print Group, the Nottingham packaging specialist, has an eight-strong forklift truck fleet and has purchased both LPG powered and electric models. The Daewoo G15S gas truck is perfectly suited to the Wilkins requirements...

Watch those filters says truck supplier.
March 1, 1999... Filters, says forklift truck supplier Grant Handling, are the key to keeping trucks in good working order. "Filters are a key component in preventative maintenance," says the company which takes great trouble to fit the correct filter for...

`We needed a pile turner'.
March 1, 1999... Wiltshire printer Midway Clark has installed a new Rachner pile turner to improve the efficiency of its sheetfed operation. Managing director Peter Clark, seen with the Rachner, says: "We needed a pile turner to offer faster turnrounds on...

Intech innovation.
March 1, 1999... One of the most backbreaking challenges within the industry is turning over and knocking up B1 sheets ready for reverse side printing. An extremely innovative pile turner made by Intech and supplied by Weko, Kingston upon Thames, addresses...