Printing World articles from March 2003

Printing World archives from March 2003

Belcher quits Color Company.(UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Kevin Belcher has quit as managing director of The Color Company after 18 months in the job, as the copyshop chain sells off a third of its branches to focus on the London market. The group has either completed, or is about to complete, the...

Fernedge re-emerges.(acquired by Image Litho, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Fernedge Printers, an award winning printer in West London, has been bought from the receivers by Image Litho, an independent repro house that has been run from the Fernedge building for 18 years. All 17 jobs at the company have been...

Heidelberg's fee is on hold for six months.(UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... George Clarke managing director of Heidelberg UK has come out fighting following the row over plans to charge for service information (Printing World, Feb 24). He says: "For other equipment suppliers to comment on the changes made to our...

API in CRM spend.(API Foils implements customer relationship management system, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Customers are key to all businesses but API Foils has given the concept an extra emphasis with the formation of a Customer Relationship Management system, integrated throughout its business. This allows it to fast track any issue that has a...

Fulmar tidies up.(sells Tamworth property, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Fulmar the south London printer has sold its Tamworth property, Ventura House for #2.1m, which will result in a small profit, with net proceedings being used to reduce debt. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Kingsmead helps out.(prints Christmas cards for charities, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Various charities have benefited to the tune of #206,000 thanks to Kingsmead Publications' charity Christmas cards. Kingsmead, Great Bookham, believes its success in spite of it being a difficult trading year is down to its ability to print the...

Ballot paper dialogue.(British Printing Industries Federation to consult with government on ballot papers)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... BPIF has been asked by the Government to help in a consultation process on user friendly design elements to be incorporated into ballot papers. Size of paper, numbering colours and copy placing are all part of the consultation process. ...

EfI takes the lead on the home straight.(Printcafe agrees to takeover by Electronics for Imaging, but Creo could make a new offer, US)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Printcafe has agreed a $27.3m takeover by Electronics for Imaging, but the door remains ajar for Creo to return with a new offer. The Canadian company, best known for its platesetters, withdrew an all paper $4 a share bid last week, but...

Encore picks up Wade.(changes name to CT Wade Envelope Overprinters, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The Wade name has disappeared from Leeds after 70 years following a spell in receivership from which only the assets and client list was bought by Encore Direct. PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed to Wade 2000, formerly Wade & Son, at...

Cornish cut back.(Pryntya cuts staff, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Pryntya has been forced to make 12 redundancies and bring forward plans to operate under one roof. The company resulted from a merger last year between Cornwall Lithographic and Temprint. Alan Sperring, chairman and managing director, says:...

GPMU slams rights plans.(Graphical Paper and Media Union reviews the Employment Relations Act 1999)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The Government last week rejected union pressure to extend recognition rights to workers in small companies. In its consultation paper on the review of the Employment Relations Act 1999, published last Thursday, the DTI did not propose to...

Debbie signs up.
March 3, 2003... Debbie Hughes is one of the first trainees signed up for the NVQ Gravure qualification, organised by the Welsh Printing Consortium and the University of Wales Swansea. She works for Viscose Closures and says: `I wanted a challenge and I wanted...

Big win for Tharstern.(Newey Print buys computer equipment and software, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... West Midlands printer Newey Print has bought a new MIS system from Tharstern, including PC and server equipment along with estimating and costing modules and a Sage accounting package. Also installed are production scheduling and shop floor...

Fruity flavours.(BP Labels contract from Marks & Spencer, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The Cardiff label printer BP Labels, has made a hit with Marks & Spencer thanks to the impact its efforts have achieved on a rebranding exercise. The M&S line of Fabulous Fruits Swirly body cream and bubble bath have been printed both screen...

De La Rue takeover.(Bank of England's banknote printing operation )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The Department of Trade and Industry has cleared De La Rue's takeover of the Bank of England's banknote printing operation in Debden, Essex. De La Rue is taking on 250 of the building's 450 staff but the building itself, part of which is...

Printing Techniques under Agfa's roof.(UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Agfa has taken over Printing Techniques, the Northampton company which has held the UK distribution rights to the Hoechst plate range. This has remained in place despite Agfa's acquisition of Hoechst in 1996, with both sides happy to...

Pomeroy prepared for K+E.(printing inks distribution agreement, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Pomeroy Pressroom Products is ready to pick up where National Printing Inks has left off with BASF's K+E Inks brand, which Derek Pomeroy declares "the finest brand of ink that our industry knows". The Gloucstershire company sees the K+E...

New printing process.(MetalFX markets new products, offers training services, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... A training academy has been opened to meet the demand for interest in a new printing process. Guiseley company MetalFX was set up last year by Andrew Ainge to market the process which allows printers to produce up to 104 million different...

More woe for packaging print.(Box-Carton goes into receivership, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Box-Carton in West Bromwich became the latest victim of overcapacity in packaging printing when receivers were called in last Monday. The appointment of administrative receivers from KPMG came exactly a week after tough trading conditions...

How to profit from uv.(Calendar)
March 3, 2003... UV - Safely into Profit is a seminar to be held at the National Motorcycle Museum Birmingham March 28. Twenty sponsors including Heidelberg, KBA and Komori are supporting the event which is being organised by UCB and Radtech International....

Manuscript saved.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... A project between Oce and The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge is using colour scanning and printing technology to digitise 22 illuminated manuscripts. The manuscript folios were individually digitised and processed as archive images. From...

Potts parts company with last print unit.(UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Thomas Potts' sell-off of all its production and prepress units is virtually complete. The digital print side of G&E2000, the former Goodfellow and Egan that Potts acquired in November 1999, has just been sold to managers Murray Allan and Chris...

Field Boxmore grows Lithrone army.(installs new printing press, Leicester, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Field Boxmore in Leicester has replaced its Roland Favorit with a new six-colour plus coater Komori Lithrone 628 press. The new press will enable the factory to meet increasing demands for greater colour on the range of high quality...

Printing.com trades Old Trafford for new.(moves presses to plant in Trafford Park, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Printing.com, the AIM-listed print franchise chain, is moving its presses to new premises in Trafford Park, three miles from its current base in Salford. The 29,000 sq ft plant is considerably larger than the current factory and will...

Fashion Statement.(Printhaus installs Creo Lotem 800 platesetter, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Tim Houghton, production director, and Trevor Perkins, repro manager, at Northampton's Printhaus have switched to Creo's Lotem 800 platesetter and upgraded its Prinergy workflow. Producing high quality sheetfed print, the company is now...

Ready for ISO.(Halcyon Business Solutions works toward ISO 14001 accreditation, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Halcyon Business Solutions has employed an environmental consultant, tasked with assessing the current environmental impact of site activity in preparation for ISO 14001 accreditation. The Huddersfield print solutions provider has set an end of...

Lotem for APS.(APS Group installes color printer from Creo, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Cheshire colour printer the APS Group has installed a Lotem 800 Quantum from Creo, which will enable it to use Staccato Screening to improve print quality. `We have just come to the end of our trial period with Staccato and are more than happy...

LabelExpo support.
March 3, 2003... Trade Partners UK (part of British Trade International) has confirmed its third consecutive award to Picon of up to #120,000 in support of Picon members and non-members exhibiting at LabelExpo in Brussels in September. Eligible companies...

Boxfoldia finishes up without presses.(Redditch, England)
March 3, 2003... Nearly 150 jobs have been lost in the last two months at Boxfoldia's plant in Redditch, after a rescue of the finishing side of the business has turned out to be far smaller than originally planned. The Booth family, owners of the...

Optimus optimism.(Tekprint buys Optimus e-business package from Optichrome Computer Systems, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Tekprint has invested in an Optimus e-business package from Optichrome Computer Systems, which comprises the Optimus B2B customer service module, Stock Fulfilment module and PDF workflow. Sales director Adrian Rowe says: "At Tekprint it's...

Xerox beats congestion.(engineers walk and take public transportation to reach customers in central London, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Xerox is one step ahead of the congestion charge in London and has been for 20 years, since it abandoned vehicles for mobile support teams. Its 100 walking engineers serve 8,000 customers in central London are based at three main offices...

Goss restructures customer support.(UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Goss has reorganised its UK sales and support structure ahead of new upgrade and service packages to be announced to customers at Newstec. The press supplier has recently introduced a number of new initiatives such as fitting digital...

Managing safely.
March 3, 2003... Eleven BPIF staff have passed the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Managing Safely course. The course, provided by Cotswold Training, will run again in May and BPIF member companies can receive a 30% discount on published prices. For...

Xerox trial.(Mail Solutions rents Xerox 4635 printer from Technologic, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Technologic has supplied Telford mailing house Mail Solutions with a Xerox 4635 on a three month rental and maintenance agreement. Chris Sherman, managing director of Mail Solutions Mailing Division, says: `Technologic was quick to respond to...

Scanner price drops.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Screen has reduced the price of the Cezanne Elite professional A3 desktop flatbed colour scanner to #9,950 while upgrading its ColorGenius EX driver software to add Macintosh OS X compatibility along with new scanning and colour management...

Engraving gets a boost.(UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The trade association representing the handful of British businesses who continue to operate the oldest form of mechanical printing has launched a campaign to make designers more aware of the possibilities in engraving. On March 6 the...

Watson strips down for new SM.(to install new 6-color press, Glasgow, UK)
March 3, 2003... John Watson, chief executive of his family's 152-year-old printing business in Glasgow, has never been afraid to get his hands dirty to advance his business, nor does he take himself too seriously. Hence the postcard, sent to 100 or so...

Ultrachem beefs up chemistry manufacturing.(UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Ultrachem has upgraded and extended its blending facilities in order to offer a faster supply of pressroom chemistry to its customers. The solvent-based facility now has four new blending tanks, increased capacity and a more automated and...

It's a question of networks.(Printcafe ownership)
March 3, 2003... The tussle for ownership of Printcafe has had one welcome side effect: nobody talks of it as a print dotcom any longer. Otherwise the fight has been entertaining, no more so than this week when Creo rapidly withdrew the offer it had just...

Letter: On the sauce.(Letter to the Editor)
March 3, 2003... Having read your article on the death of B3 litho (Printing World, February 17), please would you send me a dozen bottles of whatever it was that you had been drinking just before you wrote the article. Whatever the price is - it will be worth...

Letter: Cry for help.(Letter to the Editor)
March 3, 2003... We are located on Waiheke Island, Auckland, New Zealand and we use a 1897 Phoenix Press on a day to day basis to produce both personalised and promotional jigsaw puzzles. I am seeking history of this machine and thought I'd give you a try...

Quarterly reports.(European Commission wants to force all EU public companies to make financial reports quarterly)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Brussels is pressing ahead with plans to compel all public companies in the EU to report financially every quarter. European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein told an accountants' conference last October: `Some have claimed that quarterly reporting...

Washington values people.(financial data, 2002, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Washington Envelopes, the privately owned envelope printer on Tyneside, increased its sales from #12m to #15m last year on the back of `our investment in people and equipment', says sales director Julia Corkhill. Washington Envelopes suffered a...

Le Monde is not enough.
March 3, 2003... French broadsheet Le Monde has been accused of hypocrisy over its response to the launch of a Metro style freesheet on the streets of Paris. Le Monde editor Jean-Marie Colombani wrote a column criticising the morality of the 20 minutes paper,...

BPIF gets its way over supermarkets.(British Printing Industries Federation's criticism of Office of Fair Trading regulation)
March 3, 2003... The Office of Fair Trading has finally started a review of the code of practice for supermarkets and their suppliers, which has long been criticised by the BPIF and the Packaging Federation for its loopholes. Specifically, the federations...

Safeway on the shelf.(subject of 3-way bidding war, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Safeway is currently subject to a three-way bidding war between Asda Wal-Mart, Tesco, William Morrison, Sainsbury's and retail mogul Philip Green. Venture capital house Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had declared an interest but has since backed out...

Presstek back in the black.(financial results, 2002)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Presstek has managed to reverse a loss of $2.1m in the fourth quarter of 2001 and achieve a profit of $1.4m for the same period in 2002. Even though sales were down from $8.3m to $7.2m because of product discontinuation, an improvement in...

HP sales down and profits up.(Hewlett Packard financial results, 1st quarter 2003, US)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Hewlett Packard is still digesting its takeover of Compaq, first quarter figures show. HP saw sales fall to $17.9bn in the three months to January 31, down from $18bn last quarter. But operating profit was up 107% to $879m compared to the...

Customark has new owner.(acquired by IntelLabel, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Manufacturer of bar-code, tag and labelling systems Customark has been bought by IntelLabel, a new company set up by former Customark md George Davis and Greg Lerigo, formerly at label printer Stampiton, with backing from the Bank of Scotland....

Clondalkin up for sale.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Clondalkin, the Irish print group, is up for sale by its owner Candover Investments for E700m (#472m), according to press reports. Clondalkin owns Chadwicks in Bury, Cavendish Press in Whetstone, Cahills and Wilkes in Dublin, AP Burt in...

Compulsory winding up.(Public Notice)
March 3, 2003... The following case is due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL * Digital Imaging (UK) Ltd Level 10, Terminus House, Terminus Street, Harlow, Essex CM20 1AZ on March 12 at 10.30am. Petition by Customs and...

Appointment of liquidators.(Public Notice)
March 3, 2003... * Triangle Litho Ltd Printers. Liquidator: JS French, Redhead French, 43-45 Butts Green Road, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 2JX * Ashton Stationery & Office Equipment Ltd Stationery and office suppliers. Liquidator: RW Keating, RW Keating & Co, 20...

Appointment of receivers.(Public Notice)
March 3, 2003... * Fernedge Printers Ltd Printers. Receivers: AG Stoneman and PJ Clark, Menzies Corporate Restructuring, 17-19 Foley Street, London W1W 6DW * Gordian Print Ltd Printers. Receivers: N Matthews and WS Martin, Ernst & Young, Citygate, St James...

Meetings of creditors.(Public Notice)
March 3, 2003... * Marshall Offset Ltd at Gable House, 239 Regents Park Road, Finchley, London N3 3LF on March 6 at 11am * Beambay Ltd (t/a Rays Repro) at David Rubin & Partners, Pearl Assurance House, 319 Ballards Lane, London N12 8LY on March 5 at 11am...

Final meetings.(Public Notice)
March 3, 2003... * Essex Telegraph Press (East Anglia) Ltd at Moore Stephens, 1 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2EN on March 21 at 10am for members and at 10.15am for creditors * Print Manufacturing Ltd at Fergusson House, 124-128 City Road, London EC1V 2NJ on...

Cambridge Quads.(QuadGraphics installs another 20 Domino Bitjet 212 printers for address labels, US)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... QuadGraphics is now using 79 Domino Bitjet 212 printers for addressing purposes across its plants in the US, having taken delivery of a further 20 systems. All have been bought in the last two years. The Bitjets store more than 1,000 graphics...

KMS adds ctp.(installs new platesetter, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... KMS Litho is running its B3 presses with plates produced on a Prosetter 52, having upgraded from a first generation platesetter. The new machine runs with a violet diode imaging head and is expected to overcome the calibration niggles that the...

Dynagram unveils InPosition Lite.(new software, Canada)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Dynagram, Canadian software house that owns InPosition software, has released a version called InPosition Lite aimed at Quark users wanting a simple to use, fast to operate imposition application. The application can work with native Quark...

Committee sets new standard for digital.(W3C publishes first draft of SGV for Print)
March 3, 2003... There is a new print format on the block, one that promises to cross the boundaries between the Internet and printed page. The W3C organisation which oversees and develops the standards used on the Internet has published a first draft of...

Driftgate celebrates.(buys Presstek Dimension 400 platesetter, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Aylesbury printer Driftgate Press has continued its seven-year association with Presstek, buying a Dimension 400 platesetter from UK agent AB Dick. The company was the first to buy the original Presstek platesetter, upgrading to a...

Dramatic investment at ACT.(buys printing machinery with government aid, Cardiff, Wales)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... ACT Reprographics, Cardiff, claims to have joined an elite band of large format digital printers thanks to a Government-supported #500,000 expansion. "This investment has put ACT at the forefront of digital output in the UK," says director...

Lightning strikes twice in Milton Keynes.(installs IBM digital book printing line, UK)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Lightning Source, Milton Keynes, has commissioned its second IBM digital book printing line, this time the Infoprint4100, which is more productive than the original Infoprint 4000 the company has, so increases capacity by more than 50%. ...

Match of the century.
March 3, 2003... Looking for a paper with the `pure tones of a Stradivarius violin' or the `luminosity of Caravaggio's paintings'? Fedrigoni's latest presentation pack will help designers and specifiers pick out grades such as classic Cotton Laid or Tintoretto...

Sodra ups pulp prices.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... A month after a round of price increases, the cost of pulp is on the move again. Following the improved market balance and decreasing pulp inventories, Sodra is raising prices of both softwood and hardwood pulp from March 1. Softwood is up $40...

Code breaker.(Premier Paper's Crack the Code competition)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Buxton Press's Ellie Spencer is to enjoy an all expenses paid weekend for two in London after winning Premier Paper's Crack the Code competition held to launch its multifunctional grade Cypher. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Industry needs to tackle negative impression.(Pulp and paper industry )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The pulp and paper industry is suffering from a bad public image and needs to communicate hard facts on its environmental friendliness to improve the public's perception. That is according to Daniel Debomy, director of French consultancy...

Safety first for Curtis.(Curtis Fine Papers)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... More than four years of hard work has resulted in Curtis Fine Papers' Guardbridge Mill becoming the first UK paper mill to achieve safety standard Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001. OHSAS 18001 confirms that safety...

Licence to double capacity.(LPC Group is to double its paper mill capacity in Sweden )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... LPC Group is to double its paper mill capacity in Sweden and expand its worldwide customer base after being granted an Environmental Licence. Awarded to Swedish Tissue, the European arm of Leicester LPC Group, by the Environmental Court of...

Momenta to remember.( The Paper Company holds prize drawing at the Momenta national conference)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... An all expenses paid weekend in Budapest will give Joanna Jacombs more than a few moments to remember after winning a prize draw at the Momenta national conference staged by The Paper Company. Ms Jacombs, contracts manager of Kwikprint, Oldham,...

Arpeco expands.(Into the U.K. and Ireland)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Arpeco is to sell its Cartonmaster Systems in the UK and Ireland. The narrow web prints process colours with high gloss varnishes and combines printing with rotary embossing, foil transfer, flatbed or rotary die-cutting and pin stripping in one...

On the table.(SCA Hartlepool has installed an Esko-Graphics Kongsberg XL 24 sample table)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... SCA Hartlepool has installed an Esko-Graphics Kongsberg XL 24 sample table. A spokesman says it will improve throughput in the design department and allow more time at the development stage. SCA says the XL is greater than 25% and more...

Harlands high.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Harlands says it scored highly in a recent SA 8000 audit for the social accountability standard for employers and suppliers, and is working towards full compliance when all its supplier base is operating to the same standard. Copyright:...

Support system.(Provided by Mark Andy/Comco)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Mark Andy/Comco have set up an `after market group' to provide ongoing support for its narrow and mid-web flexo presses. The manufacturers can now supply converters with parts and services, such as maintenance, consultation and retrofit for...

MAN uses Offenbach to show press.(An open day event in its Offenbach facility not far from Frankfurt)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... MAN Roland is about to take the wraps off its massive new press the Roland 900XXL. Targeted mainly at packaging, point of sale and E-Flute printers this machine can handle sheets up to 1,800x1,300mm. To celebrate the event MAN is to hold an...

Field Packaging moves to ctp with Luscher XPose.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Field Packaging East Kilbride has taken its first step into ctp with a Luscher XPose 160 VLF platesetter. Repro manager Iain MacKay says: "Just 36 hours out of the box and the Luscher was making plates for production. All out plates are now...

Magazines on the rack.(Sales in the U.K.)
March 3, 2003... Consumer magazines battle on, despite the advertising downturn, and most are reporting growth, according to the latest ABC figures By Sasa Jankovic According to the latest figures from ABC, most magazine sectors have recorded growth in the...

Swiss currency.
March 3, 2003... Across the board the outlook for Swiss print is not good By Franz Wick Once again the economic situation at the beginning of a new year is sombre. When did we last look with hope at a future full of encouraging prospects? Even the in...

First Dicoweb in Berne.(The first Dicoweb for commercial printing is up and running at Stampfli in Berne)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The first Dicoweb for commercial printing is up and running at Stampfli in Berne, alongside other digital and conventional presses. The introduction phase has involved meeting customers and developing concepts to speed and improve the...

Century makers.(Screen notches its 100th UK customer)
March 3, 2003... Ditchling Press has just received a landmark installation for Screen's Trueflow and proves that a PDF workflow is justifiable for all types of print By Gareth Ward Differences between items of capital equipment is fast disappearing. Just...

The battle for Basingstoke.(Basingstoke switches to Hedelberg Digimaster)
March 3, 2003... When one company loses a key customer, the rumours fly. But there was more to the decision to switch to Heidelberg By Gareth Ward Basingstoke Press was among the first UK printers to commit to using Xerox's Docutech family and has always...

Siege mentality.(In the printing industry)
March 3, 2003... When business gets tight the problem isn't someone looking for a free lunch but more a case of a competitor taking yours By Rod Hayes Anyone who has half an eye open can see there is a siege mentality building up within the printing...

Uv: safely and wisely.
March 3, 2003... Uv-Safely Into Profit is a seminar that has been set up to preach the Gospel of modern uv technology and is sponsored by many of the major players within the sector. Topics discussed will be broad, but will emphasise current thinking on best...

Quality is key for foil blockers and embossers.
March 3, 2003... Foil blocking and embossing are two techniques that remain hallmarks of quality print. It is encouraging, therefore, that the industry has a number of strong trade finishers who specialise in these areas. Foil Ribbon & Impact Printing...

Peter Dick calls it a day.(Retires from Bunzl)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... Peter Dick, after a long career in the paper industry, has decided to call it a day following the sale of Bunzl to Paperlinx. Almost all his time has been spent with Bunzl and its founding company Donald Murray Paper. After a succession of...