Printing World articles from November 2000

Printing World archives from November 2000

Home and work is a question of balance.
November 6, 2000... TERRY ULRICK steps back a pace to look at the way we work, whether it be at home or from the factory or office Those of you who have had a spell working on your own at home will, I suggest, remember the period with mixed feelings. The...

PEOPLE NEWS.
November 6, 2000... * Olympus Labels, Leeds, has recruited Andrew Bullingham as sales manager to hold responsibility for developing new business. Mr Bullingham has 13 years' experience in label sales of which seven were with Polestar Hannibal. He will focus on the...

Pokemon film stars for Kay in The Sun.
November 6, 2000... Of course, if you are a Printing World reader it is highly unlikely you will ever have read anything as intellectually downmarket as certain red tops, but a company called Kay Premium Marking Films is rather pleased it has made the front page...

GETTING THERE... Clive Martin, chairman of MPG.
November 6, 2000... Alderman Clive Martin is the chairman of MPG and started work printing maps for the Army. For the past year he has been Lord Mayor of the City of London. His term of office ends on November 11. How and why did you start your career in...

Working wonders.
November 6, 2000... What does a printer want from a Management Information System, and what is being achieved with them? MARION WILSON reports Ask a printing company what it wants from its MIS right now and e- commerce is likely to come around third on the...

Setting goals.
November 6, 2000... Management Information Systems are all very well, says ROD HAYES, but corporate planning in the broader sense should be the starting point Most of us are so familiar with computers that we take them for granted. So much so that there is a...

Booked for stardom.
November 6, 2000... The book sector continues to have its boundaries challenged, thanks to digital on-demand publishing. And it will not be the last, says Pira's JOHN BIRKENSHAW Commercial on-demand book production services based on digital printing...

A tiny paper from Hungary.
November 6, 2000... Three weeks ago, we ran a story on this page about the largest newspaper ever printed, measuring 5x3m. Well now, we present to you what is claimed to be the smallest ever newspaper which is a miniscule 21x31mm. It arrived in the post from...

Cardiff printer gives its promotion the Full Monty.
November 6, 2000... You quite often discover people so enthusiastic about printing they will describe a press as a "sexy machine". However, when people start using terms like "willowy lines", "kinky" and "a press fantasies are made of" about a lump of metal, it...

Imagedirect 665 will give `outstanding image quality' says Heidelberg.
November 6, 2000... Heidelberg Digital has announced that its new production document scanner will be available early next year. The Heidelberg Imagedirect 665 production scanner has been designed for integration with the Digimaster 9110 network imaging system and...

Slow but sure?
November 6, 2000... Are printers grasping the opportunities that Internet MIS systems can offer? CATHERINE CARTER investigates, and finds out what is available It is not surprising that the development in Internet and e-mail MIS systems was hot news at this...

Schawk looks ahead.
November 6, 2000... Schawk, the US digital imaging group which tried to buy Wace last year, has achieved a 7.3% increase in third-quarter sales to $50.6m, but only a slight rise in profits from $3.5m to $3.6m. The company says it is looking ahead to a continually...

HP unveils LaserJet network range.
November 6, 2000... Hewlett Packard has unveiled its new LaserJet 8150 family of monochrome printers for network configurations. The four Internet-enabled printers have been designed for workgroups in business environments and allow for distance online management....

Entry level digital duplicator from Ricoh.
November 6, 2000... Businesses that require high volume, low cost document duplication are the target for a new entry level Priport digital duplicator from Ricoh UK. Priced at #3,115, the JP1210 is said to produce 130 prints a minute at a copy cost that can work...

Quebecor rules World.
November 6, 2000... Quebecor World has widened it lead over its rival RR Donnelley, with Donnelley's profits remaining stagnant while Quebecor World increased its earnings by some 60%. Announcing their third quarter results simultaneously on October 26, Quebecor...

Avery Dennison busts $1bn.
November 6, 2000... Avery Dennison, global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and self- adhesive labels has announced third quarter sales have exceeded $1bn for the first time. Revenues increased by 4.2% from $961m in the third quarter of 1999, and from...

No more loss at Goss.
November 6, 2000... Goss is continuing its bounce-back, announcing a 212% increase in new press orders and a $21.2m increase in profits, bringing the company out of the red and firmly into the black. Orders have come from as far afield as El Mundo in Madrid,...

Disclaimer.
November 6, 2000... Prismacolour Offset Ltd Unit 3, Block 2, Woolwich Dockyard Industrial Estate, Woolwich Church Street, Woolwich SE18 wishes to make it known that it has no connection financial or otherwise with Prismacolour Direct Ltd as mentioned in this...

Profits grow, gearing up at Wyndeham.
November 6, 2000... Wyndeham Press Group has achieved a 13% growth in interim profits, despite its #15.2m takeover of direct mail printer Print Direct in July and a string of press orders totalling #14m this year. Profits have increased from #6.7m to #7.6m in the...

Notices to creditors.
November 6, 2000... Prismacolour Direct Ltd Creditors to send claims to M Levy, Berley, 76 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 9TB by December 31 Copyright: United Business Media Ltd.

Final Meetings.
November 6, 2000... The Digital Publishing Co Ltd at AH Tomlinson & Co, St John's Court, 72 Gartside Street, Manchester M3 3EL on November 24 at 10am for members and at 10.30am for creditors Press Room Ltd at 314 Regents Park Road, Finchley, London N3 2LX on...

Designers the digital niggle in the middle.
November 6, 2000... A confused scene in which ctp represents a magnificent investment for some printers and a fearful step forward for others was revealed at a discussion luncheon themed Go Digital or Die at London's Browns Hotel. Hosted by Agfa UK and Printing...

Compulsory winding up.
November 6, 2000... * The following case is due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, Companies Court, Strand, London WC2 Guiltpack Packaging Ltd Fryern House, 127 Winchester Road, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO53 2DR on November 8 at 10.30am....

Appointment of liquidators.
November 6, 2000... Thatcher Ltd Previous company name: Tellfull Printers Ltd Printer. Liquidator: MR Fry, Begbies Traynor, The Old Exchange, 234 Southchurch Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS1 2EG Fit 2 Drop Ltd Trading name: PFG Suppliers Office supplies and...

Appointment of receivers.
November 6, 2000... Traditional Print & Display Ltd Printing business. Administrative receivers: A Murphy, c/o Smith & Williamson, Bridge Street, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4RA and IJ Allan, c/o Smith & Williamson, 1 Riding House Street, London W1A 3AS Copyright:...

Meetings of creditors.
November 6, 2000... Printcobra Ltd at Nottingham Gateway Hotel, Nuthall Road, Nottingham NG8 6AZ on November 8 at 11am Far Hill Publishing Ltd at Jacksons Corporate Recovery & Insolvency, Norwest Court, Guildhall Street, Preston PR1 3NU on November 7 at 11am...

Three mills merger for Swedish giants.
November 6, 2000... Swedish paper giants StoraEnso and AssiDoman have agreed to form a new joint company comprising three of their papermills - Gruvon, Karlsborg and Skarblacka. The StoraEnso mill and two AssiDoman mills will merge formally next January under the...

Volumes and prices help Sodra.
November 6, 2000... Swedish forest industry group Sodra has announced profits of Skr1.8bn for the first nine months of the year, compared with Skr40m for the same period last year. The group claims that larger volumes and increased bleached softwood pulp prices...

New spirit in Thomson label operation.
November 6, 2000... Less than 30 months after buying the business and after investing some #350,000 in new equipment, including #750,000 on a B3 Komori Lithrone 20, Jim Thomson, managing director of Thomson Print & Packaging in Portobello, Edinburgh, is about to...

The gang of THREE.
November 6, 2000... After ten years of expansion Jarvis Porter has suddenly gone through a rapid period of downsizing and restructuring. TONY BROWN meets the three new directors On the board of Jarvis Porter are the three appointees, Michael Maher, Gary...

Women queue for non-inky digital training at South Nottingham.
November 6, 2000... South Nottingham College has announced a five-fold increase in the number of women enrolled on print programmes for the new academic year. Although the number of students on print courses had increased overall since last year, it was female...

PAPER NEWS.
November 6, 2000... Free Naturalis notebooks To promote Tullis Russell's uncoated Naturalis smooth and matt paper, Premier Paper and Classic Papers are giving away notebooks to demonstrate the range's printability. The pocket notebook comes in smooth soft...

Sun for Rod's back.
November 6, 2000... While many of us have been paddling around in great lakes of muddy water, my friend and colleague Rod Hayes, editor of British Printer and technical editor of this magazine, has been swanning around in Miami under clear blue skies and in...

Letter: Training - where do we go from here?
November 6, 2000... For far too many years we had a National Agreement that had one of the best training agreements in any industry - unfortunately very few companies and indeed GPMU branches actually took advantage of it. For this reason it was decided to take...

Letter: Retaining a regional presence.
November 6, 2000... Two interesting letters last week from the far corners of the UK, but both variations on a theme of the provision of services outside the main conurbations. Whether it is an engineer you want or a training course, the message is...

LCP launches into the next academic year.
November 6, 2000... The London College of Printing held its annual prospectus launch last week, bringing together industrial and academic visitors to celebrate the coming academic year. Following a number of student awards, the LCP announced the opening of its new...

Top seminars attract 14,000 to Xplor World in Miami.
November 6, 2000... More than 14,000 delegates and 250 exhibitors contributed to making this year's Xplor World conference in Miami the most successful in the 22 years since it first became an annual event. The conference is acknowledged as a "must not miss event"...

Kodak deal with a difference.
November 6, 2000... Kodak Professional has completed a deal with a difference - three LFP 3043s are not to be installed on dry land. HMS Illustrious, a 20,000 ton aircraft carrier, has taken delivery of the new large format printer as part of plan to provide naval...

Thirty betas give Preflight Online the thumbs up.
November 6, 2000... A new preflight checking system from Extensis is the first to run entirely on the Internet and could make corrupted files a thing of the past, its maker claims. Unlike other systems, Preflight Online, devised by Extensis in Portland, Oregon, is...

Ctp - compassion among printers.
November 6, 2000... We enjoyed an excellent lunch the other Friday. Printing World and Agfa teamed up to share the bill and invite a whole load of printers to lunch in a private room at a good London hotel. The subject we picked up for discussion with the pudding...

Ten years and still going!
November 6, 2000... Those of us who were employees of the late Robert Maxwell are unlikely to miss a newspaper headline about Cap'n Bob. Hard to believe the investigation into the collapse of his publishing and printing empire and the theft of company pension...

MoDo celebrates casino-style.
November 6, 2000... MoDo Merchants celebrated the opening of its new Milton Keynes sales office in style, with a champagne reception and a casino. More than 160 guests attended the glitzy event to take a chance on the tables and to try and win a weekend in Monte...

HP rebadged Indigos may order their own spares.
November 6, 2000... Some Indigo presses could be "web-enabled" and rebadged as Hewlett Packard machines next year, now that HP has taken a $100m stake in the Israeli press manufacturer. "We do not yet know how we will go to market," says Rolf Gestner, HP's...

PPA stamps a code on digital mag flows.
November 6, 2000... The Periodical Publishers' Association has proposed a set of standards to make digital workflows for magazines a reality. The new standard described as the digital production conference in London last week is based around PDF and follows a...

Oce pips IBM for digital web contract.
November 6, 2000... The Open University in Milton Keynes has closed its old litho inplant and is now running an Oce DemandStream 8080 producing university support material. The requirement is for a range of documents from eight to 48 pages saddlestitched and...

New patented CD case.
November 6, 2000... A new patented CD case has been launched which is claimed to reduce the cost of packaging a CD by holding it so firmly in place that shrink wrapping is not needed. Called Mediapak, it is being launched by the Insight Division of MY Cartons. The...

European print unions voice unease over euro banknotes.
November 6, 2000... Print unions around Europe are fuming over the possibility that the UK's De La Rue may be enlisted to print more euro banknotes. They believe the work should be spread around only those countries to have signed up for entry to the currency. ...

St Ives remains unbowed to union pressure.
November 6, 2000... St Ives is still refusing to bow to union pressure over pay and redundancies in its web divisions. As industrial action steps up, the company is believed to be losing considerable sums as it farms out work to rival web printers in order to...

End of an era for Quark as Gill retires?
November 6, 2000... Tim Gill, the chairman and chief technology officer of Quark has retired from the company this week to concentrate on the Gill Foundation, a charitable trust he set up that focuses on social justice issues. A new chairman has not been named and...

GPMU backs call on worker rights.
November 6, 2000... The GPMU is one of a number of employee bodies calling for the revision of the European Directive dealing with the rights of people working for multinational corporations. It says many employers are failing in their obligations under the act to...

Trinity Mirror to pay #285m for Southnews.
November 6, 2000... Trinity Mirror has continued the trend of increasing newspaper consolidation by announcing that it has made an agreed cash offer for the London publisher Southnews. Since last month, Trinity Mirror chief executive Philip Graf has increasingly...

Express bidding battle hots up.
November 6, 2000... The heat is on in the battle for the Express Newspapers as an increased bid from the Hinduja brothers followed that of the Daily Mail & General Trust. The Indian brothers, with cable tv and oil interests in Europe, are thought to have offered...

RIM split likely after DTI edict.
November 6, 2000... Regional Independent Media could be split three ways now that the DTI has given the green light to all three bidders wanting to buy the publisher. Trade & Industry secretary Stephen Byers has ruled that Newsquest, Trinity Mirror and Johnston...

New finance chief for Polestar Group.
November 6, 2000... Polestar Group has appointed a new group finance director to replace Jim Brown, now chief executive. Malcolm Robertson joined the group last week from Thorn Lighting Group where he was a key figure in the flotation of the company on the London...

Adobe rolls out new `third-wave' strategy.
November 6, 2000... Adobe Systems rolled out its "third-wave" publishing strategy last week to capitalise on a market it describes as being worth more than $64bn a year by 2004. The move is part of a partnership with Hewlett Packard, Interwoven, the Art Technology...

HSE names and shames over safety.
November 6, 2000... The Health & Safety Executive has published its first enforcement report in a "name and shame" exercise to spotlight companies and organisations which have been convicted of health and safety crimes during 1999/2000. And the director general of...

Queen knights the Barclay twins.
November 6, 2000... Media tycoons the Barclay brothers have been awarded knighthoods by the Queen. Despite business interests in The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and Sunday Business, twins Frederick and David are well known for keeping their business affairs...

BPIF offers e-com savings to its own.
November 6, 2000... The BPIF has made its first foray into the world of e-commerce with a deal struck with httprint.com, PrintRepublic and Group Trade. The three partners aim to lower the cost of buying consumables and goods over the Internet at no extra cost to...

Cutbacks follow EfI/Splash deal.
November 6, 2000... The first fallout from Electronics for Imaging's takeover of rival company Splash has been reported, with staff being made redundant from offices across the world. As Printing World went to press no figures had been released but EfI admitted...

Xante printer sales top 1,000.
November 6, 2000... Xante's UK distributor Info-Tec Distribution has managed to sell over 1,000 Xante dtf and dtp printers since Ipex. In the last two years, Info-Tec Distribution in Bournemouth has boosted its Xante and Agfa Laserlink film and plates sales. ...

John Chambers takes Heidelberg's top web job.
November 6, 2000... Following Jim Todd's promotion to sales director, John Chambers has become the new web divisional manager for Heidelberg UK. His experience comprises seven years with Goss and a career in flexo press sales with Cobden Chadwick. Mr Todd...

Printing.com moves south.
November 6, 2000... Rapidly expanding high street bureau Printing.com is moving south by opening five new sites. The stores, anticipated to open by January 2001, will be sited in London on Baker Street and in Ealing, and also in Southend and Bristol. Another...

Washington Web gives NE a boost.
November 6, 2000... Sixty-four jobs were created when new company Washington Web opened its web printing works in Tyne & Wear. Thanks to a DTI grant and investments totalling #2m, the start-up company has installed modern design and printing equipment including...

First T-Wave ctp for Black Cat.
November 6, 2000... The UK's first T-Wave based ctp system has been purchased by Black Cat Imaging in Bristol. The B1 PlateJet Emerald 8 from Gretag professional imaging division distributor Avon Graphics, can produce up to 15 520mm plates per hour and 10 A1...

Raw material rises push up ink prices.
November 6, 2000... The UK's ink giants have had enough. All of them have been complaining for years about ink's lack of margins and its poor return on investment and now, it seems, recent heavy rises in costs have proved the final straw. UK market leader Sun...

Sappi pride in highest returns in its history.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 13, 2000... EUGENE VAN AS, executive chairman of Sappi, last week declared: "We are proud of our results." And the pride was understandable as the South African, turned international, world leading manufacturer of coated fine paper unveiled superb results...

TSO moves to boost its e-publishing potential.(The Stationery Office acquires Abbey Information Systems)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... The Stationery Office, the UK's largest publisher issuing more than 11,000 books and CD-Roms each year, has moved to strengthen its e- publishing potential. Since its privatisation in 1996, TSO has invested #20m-plus in e-publishing including,...

CPI looks for foothold in German book printing.(Chevrillon Philippe Industrie)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Chevrillon Philippe Industrie, the French printing group that now dominates control of the UK book manufacturing sector is seeking a major foothold in Germany. Printing World understands that CPI is in discussions with leading German book...

Clays' 93,000 first run on Booker prizewinner.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Canadian author Margaret Atwood has finally won the Booker Prize after three unsuccessful shortlistings. The #21,000 prize was awarded for her novel The Blind Assassin, printed by Clays and published by Bloomsbury at #16.99. Following an...

GPMU steps up its action across St Ives group.(Graphical, Paper, and Media Union)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... There is still little sign of an end to the dispute at St Ives' web division. Last week, as management refused to offer workers improved pay terms, unions responded by stepping up industrial action. At St Ives Andover, overtime bans...

Southernprint opts for twin M4000s and landmark deal.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Southernprint is to spend #16m on two M4000 Sunday presses backed by a ground-breaking commitment to new working practices agreed and endorsed by the GPMU. The impact of the spend will be to increase Southernprint's capacity from a #30m a year...

EfI buy sparks jobs exodus from Splash.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Almost all of the staff from Splash, the imaging company taken over by EfI earlier this month, have lost their jobs, it was reported last week. EfI put out a statement last week saying "substantial" numbers had gone from the company as a result...

MLP pays #18,000 for software piracy infringement.(MacDonald Lindsay Pindar)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Macdonald Lindsay Pindar, the Scottish subsidiary of the Pindar Group which closed its printing operation near Edinburgh last July but continued with a small repro unit, has paid an out-of-court settlement of #18,000 to the Business Software...

Isis begins business in London SE 16.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... South-east London has a brand new print management company in Isis Business Services based in SE16. Isis Business Services promises the efficient handling and control of print storage, minimising costs, management input and administration....

`Bush wins' was one headline just too soon.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... AMERICAN newspaper publishers were faced with piles of unsellable newspapers last week, after many jumped the gun and announced a victory for Texas governor George W Bush in the Presidential elections. As it happened, the exceptionally...

Spectrographic says it will be light years ahead.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Spectrographic, a start-up company in Derby, has completed installing its printing and finishing equipment after three months of hard work. Four previous members of Harlequin, the digital arm of Millennium Print Group, decided to go it alone...

New Polestar Digital plant puts its faith in Xerox technology.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Polestar Digital has moved to a new direct mail factory near Nottingham with three new Xerox presses and, in a shift away from ink on paper, new "e-billing" software, called BillXchange, which will let Polestar send out bank statements and...

Halcyon beats direct mail forecasts by 100%.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Halcyon has announced an 8% growth in its sales from May to October this year, giving it the best start in its 100-year history. Managing director Robert Whiteside says: "For Halcyon to achieve results such as these at a time when a growing...

Bowne opts for Oce lines at Carlstadt in New Jersey.(Bowne and Co.)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Bowne & Co, America's largest financial printing group, has shrugged off its poor financial results with the installation of Oce DemandStream 8090 DI presses and Ibis DigiStitcher DS2000 machines at its Carlstadt plant. The two new presses...

New #10 banknote.(Bank of England issues new banknote)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... The Bank of England issued its newly designed #10 banknote last week and if there is a smile on the face of the Bank's chief cashier Merlyn Lowther it is because her signature appears again on the new notes now joining the 568 million tenners...

John S Burns gets rid of bottleneck.(printer benefits from investment in ctp system)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Glasgow family printer John S Burns is reaping the rewards from its #200,000 investment in a ctp system. The company has installed an Agfa Galileo driven by an Apogee workflow and an Agfa Sherpa proofing device from Litho Supplies. ...

Imprima, the reborn Oyez Press in De Bussy merger.(forms Imprima Group)(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Oyez Press, which recently modernised its image with the new name Imprima, has merged with De Bussy Amsterdam. Located in London and Birmingham, the Imprima Group serves the domestic and international financial markets. One of the oldest...

Colourgen's large format digital commitment.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Colourgen has announced its strengthened commitment to the development of the large format digital printing market. Following its distribution agreement with Epson for its Stylus Pro systems, it is working hard for the success of the Encad...

Polestar Jowetts Direct #1.1m Domino spend.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2000... Polestar Jowetts Direct, another part of the new Polestar Select division, is to spend #1.1m on adding new Domino inkjet printers to its finishing lines, in what is believed to be the largest such installation ever in the UK. The new Domino...