Printing World articles from November 2004

Printing World archives from November 2004

Waterston CVA fails as true debt revealed.(George Waterston Security Printers company voluntary arrangement)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The meeting in Glasgow on October 27 to attempt to set up a Company Voluntary Arrangement for George Waterston Security Printers turned into what one creditor has described as "a farce". The company had hoped to persuade creditors to back...

Fuji shines.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The rapid adoption of violet ctp systems has lifted sales in the first half of the year at Fujifilm Graphic Systems in the UK. The prepress company says that consumable sales are up 20% year on year, correlating to an equivalent growth in...

Central in MetalFX status.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Central Colour, Nottingham, has become MetalFX licensed since early October and has produced its first MetalFX job packaging for the Easy Clean roller set and cleaner. The packaging contains a variety of metallic blues and silvers that can...

Chairman of Stephens and George has died.(Obituary)
November 4, 2004... Gareth Jones, chairman of Stephens and George Print Group, has died. He passed away last Saturday after a short illness. Mr Jones, who joined Stephens and George in 1955 and whose father ran the company before him, was a well respected member...

Isle of Man first.(Dupont Cromalin B2 installed)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The Isle of Man has received its first Dupont Cromalin B2. Bridson and Horrox bought the Cromalin to upgrade its prepress division with a quality proofer, and further enhanced the department with an Agfa Sherpa. The Cromalin will be used for...

Antalis selector guide.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Antalis has produced its second coated and uncoated paper selector guide. The selector allows customers to quickly and easily identify the product best suited to a specific job by providing an overview of the characteristics of each paper,...

Compact implications.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The Times' switch to compact format this week may have a number of implications for the newspaper's advertisers, according to the Financial Times. Issues arising from the move could include whether the cost of full page advertising should...

Butler and Tanner project.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Butler and Tanner has launched a project which allows people to create and order personalised calendars online. At www.heritageinprint.com, customers can choose images for each month from different collections. Copyright: CMP Information...

Polestar unveils finishing spend details.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Polestar has revealed details of a #20m spend in finishing equipment at its Polestar gravure site. By January 2005, installation will begin on three Ferag Unidrum systems and four Rollstream polybagging lines all ordered at Drupa. A...

Printers to feel pinch as IPA price doubles.(Iso Propyl Alcohol)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Printers face a further huge hike in the price of Iso Propyl Alcohol, as they are hit by a double whammy of increasing demand and reduced supply. The wholesale price of IPA has more than doubled in the last four months and further rises...

Street secures capital.(Streetbroadcast)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Streetbroadcast has secured a capital investment of #3m through funds advised by media venture capitalists Apax Partners and Consensus Business Group. Streetbroadcast will use the money to install 4,000 StreetLites, the advertising medium...

Astron BA double deal.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Astron is more than doubling the size of its contract with BA in a new three-year deal worth #45m to the print management firm over the period. This boosts a contract that had been worth #7m a year to the Huntingdon company to one worth...

Harlands appointment.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Harlands has appointed a new assistant accountant on the back of recent successes at awards ceremonies and increasing order books. Katrina Taylor joins the company to work alongside finance director Emma Dutton, carrying out financial duties,...

Digital Print World hailed a success.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... This year's Digital Print World has been hailed a major success by exhibitors and visitors alike. The trade fair saw visitor numbers up 19% from last year, with 49% from print and production companies and 22% corporate print buyers, marketing...

RPC acquires factories.(Rival Nampak)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Packaging company RPC has bought the general plastics packaging division of South African rival Nampak, the parent company of MY Holdings. RPC acquired three UK factories and four in Belgium, France and the Netherlands in the #23m transaction,...

Optional loading feature.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Heidelberg's violet ctp Prosetter now has an optional loading feature. The Prosetter, of which the 100th unit is to be delivered at the end of this year, is now available with either a single or multi-cassette loader. The MCL holds up to 600...

Fresh Media Group debates.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Fresh Media Group is putting on a number of round table debates focusing on current issues in pre-media, workflow and production. Industry professionals are invited to attend the free executive round tables, the first of which will take place...

Senator and Scorpio are set to join forces.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Scorpio Print Finishing, Pudsey, has completed its acquisition of Senator Print Finishers, Leicester, following a day of meetings at Scorpio's Pudsey offices on Tuesday. It has taken around two months to cement a deal to bring two of the...

Potts buys second CD74.(Pottsprinters)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Pottsprinters, North Shields, has continued its investment programme with the purchase of a Speedmaster CD74-6L just six months after installing its first. Pottsprinters has also bought a further two Polar 115 guillotines and a TH66...

CIP4 starts next version.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... CIP4 is beginning work on the next version of the JDF format, just months after the release of V1.2. The next version will extend JDF's scope to meet the needs of publishers as much as print production operations. It will also improve the...

Magazine Month promotion.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... 200,000 Home Delivery Catalogues were delivered last week as part of the Magazine Month promotion, helping independent retailers across the country to boost magazine sales. The HDC seeks to raise customer awareness of the range of magazines...

New grayscale printing solutions.(Impika )(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Impika and Xaar have introduced a new grayscale printing solution, the IPS C-9000. The solution is targeted at personalisation system manufacturers servicing the plastic card and security document industries. The two firms say that the IPS...

Tesco preflighting tool.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Tesco UK print centre has recently adopted PrintSure, a web based preflighting tool from Filetransfer.co.uk, the portal for file transfer products. Tesco is using the tool to simplify the preflighting process among the large number of designers...

Transparent toner.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Xeikon is launching a transparent toner for a satin finish and five additional spot colours to expand the colour range even further. The toners can be installed in the fifth colour station of any Xeikon press, such as Xeikon 5000 and the Xeikon...

Amicus targets office staff in print sector.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The GPMU, now a division of Amicus, is beginning to target white collar workers in printing businesses, buoyed by success at Quebecor where its recruiting efforts have led to recognition for the union among administrative staff. Tony...

Hillprint adds power of four to relaunch.(Hillprint Media)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Hillprint Media, Newton Aycliffe, has made four new appointments to its team in its latest move in a five-year relaunch strategy. The company has also just installed a Speedmaster SM74 ten-colour with perfector and is awaiting delivery of a...

MGS gets to Level 3.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... MGS has introduced a PostScript Level 3 Rip for the Screen FlatRite 1050 platesetter. It is based on Founder's Eagle Rip and gives the FlatRite the ability to accept PDF files. The Hemel Hempstead company says that it was not possible to...

Factory gains DMTB yield.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The Print Factory, Northampton, has reaped the rewards of its Direct Mail and Transactional Billing unit, with sales worth #1.4m placed since its launch in May 2004. The company says that the unit was launched to provide additional...

Digital print world news: Hewlett Packard.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Hewlett Packard is bringing out a new large format printing system before the end of the year. Although HP is giving nothing away, UK and Ireland business manager for large format Mark Ellis (above) insists it will have heightened speed and...

Digital print world news: AB Dick.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... AB Dick demonstrated three new products at DPW, the improved 46Karat press, the Dimension Excel platesetter and the AB Dick TX52 Vector ctp system. Raymond Hillhouse, UK general manager, says AB Dick took one provisional order for the Karat and...

Digital print world news: Babs International.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... A combination creasing unit and knife folder running at over 20,000 sheets per hour attracted more than just the idle passer-by to the Babs International stand. The creasing unit embodies TechniFold technology while the blade folder uses servo...

Digital print world news: Ashgate Automation.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... It seemed as if almost every stand had some form of stand alone digital creasing. The problems of cracking are now well established and Ashgate Automation, the Watford manufacturer of digital printing finishing equipment launched a classy...

Digital print world news: Renaddress.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Many exhibitors pushed the boat out at DPW and Renaddress certainly set an example for others to follow with its Rena DA 620. This unit is designed for continuous operation at speeds of up to 30,000 per hour and to achieve this the Waltham...

1st Byte uses show to invest in finishing.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Digital printer 1st Byte took advantage of Digital Print World to invest in finishing equipment from fellow exhibitors Renz and Encore Machinery. The City firm, which stood out as an end user among a sea of suppliers at last week's...

Encapital orders Proteus.(Encapital Finishing )(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Encapital Finishing has ordered a Proteus B2 thermal laminator from D&K to manage digital media. The trade encapsulating house decided to make the investment after receiving a number of referrals from laminators that had difficulty with...

Canon fires mono salvo.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Canon showed at Olympia how well placed it is to capture a major share of digital printing in the commercial sector. It gave demonstrations on the two latest additions to its monochrome printing range, the IR125VP and the IR150VP. These...

Odystar eliminates human error.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Automated workflow is now flowering into a must have product and Artwork Systems showed with its Odystar that it is well placed with a significant share of a fast growing sector. Designing out areas where there is a potential to introduce...

DPW success.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Speaking for the show's organisers, IIR event manager Richard Gayle says: `The success of DPW can be put down to the right combination of focus, format and timing and this has attracted serious buyers from all over the country.' A feature of...

Exclusive UK agency.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Terry Cooper Services announced at Digital Print World that it now has the exclusive UK agency for CP Bourg the finishing equipment firm. Chris Cooper, managing director of Terry Cooper Services says: `We are very pleased to be responsible for...

Combination unit.(Newfoil Machines)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Newfoil Machines presented an extremely effective combination colour printer, foil embosser and die cutting unit at Olympia. Working from fanfold or continuous reel stock up to 250mm wide the unit was producing extremely complex short run...

Software solutions attract interest.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Positive Focus says its range of software solutions attracted a great deal of interest at Digital Print World, with particular attention being paid to version three of Serendipity's Blackmagic proofing program. Director Ivor Dixon also says...

First in the UK for Creo.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... It was a first in the UK for Creo. Across a number of stands the company exhibited new developments in its Spire Color Server Technology. The CPX8000 has been set up to bring out many of the advanced features found on the Xerox 8000, designed...

KPG ties knot with Canon on digital deal.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... KPG is to distribute Canon's digital presses to the commercial printing market in the UK following on from a similar arrangement in the US. The agreement was confirmed at DPW with Neil Yeomans and Canon's professional solutions marketing...

Watkiss Mini BookMaker is big hit.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... One production device that created a lot of interest was the new Mini BookMaker from Watkiss Automation. Launched at Olympia Watkiss had its new baby centre stage of its stand. Simplicity itself, the Mini BookMaker consists of a three-bin...

Duplo's DCM45 creates a stir as it opens up flexibility.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... If the DCM45 high speed creasing machine on Duplo's stand was not a pre- production model, it could have sold it many times over at Digital Print World. "We have had quite a few disappointed people who wanted to buy it there and then,"...

Creo Award.(FlexoTech Award)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Creo's ThermoFlex sleeve imaging device has won the 2004 FlexoTech Award for innovation in prepress. The accolade for the device, which allows flexographic printers to use a digital plate-on-sleeve manufacturing process, was awarded at last...

UK distributor for film extruders.(Dolci brand)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Polygraphica Equipment has been appointed as the sole UK and Ireland distributor for Dolci's Blown and Cast film extruders. Polygraphica already has the agency for Tresu and Bielloni products and the Dolci brand will complement these services...

Esko-Graphics highly commended.(Label Industry Global Awards Ceremony)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Esko-Graphics was highly commended at the Label Industry Global Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner at Label Expo in Chicago. In the category of continuous innovation, Esko-Graphics was recognised as `making a major contribution to the way that...

Pro Sign survey.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Exhibitors at this year's Pro Sign reported a significant improvement in the investment climate according to an independent survey carried out, with 60% of companies expecting increased orders in the coming year. The exhibition, which took...

NexPress partnership.(Etronixx)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... NexPress and Etronixx have entered a partnership to promote digital print as a leading technology for the production of marketing communications across Europe. NexPress, a Kodak subsidiary, and Frankfurt brand management agency Etronixx will...

Receiver at Karran as creditors reject CVA.(creditors voluntary arrangement)
November 4, 2004... Karran has gone into receivership, after creditors refused to support a proposed creditors voluntary arrangement. A stormy creditors meeting in London last week heard creditors declare they had lost trust in the directors. As a consequence...

Korber in bid for W+D.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Korber AG, the parent company of Korber Paperlink, has proposed a voluntary takeover bid for German envelope machinery manufacturer Winkler + Dunnebier AG. Korber has offered German shareholders E9.75 per share to amalgamate Winkler +...

UK books on the up.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... British book publishers, designers and manufacturers are performing increasingly better according to the BPIF. The British Book Design and Production Awards are to be held at The Brewery, London on November 9 and "It certainly seems as...

HM harnesses power of Valore.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... HM Printers, London, has invested over #80,000 in a six-station Muller Martini Valore saddlestitcher, after increased demand from its customers. The machine, which was installed in September, replaces a 20-year-old Muller stitcher, and...

BasysPrint and Strobbe Graphics at Graph Expo.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... BasysPrint and Strobbe Graphics joined together at Graph Expo to exhibit on the same stand. This partnering of technologies allowed customers to choose between violet or conventional plates. Strobbe showcased its Varibend plate bender, Optibend...

Board Envelopes moves to new premises.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Board Envelopes, which manufactures heavy duty and promotional mailers and envelopes, has moved from Sidcup to new 20,000sq ft premises after being bought by John Fuchs. Mr Fuchs bought the company four months ago and the new premises will...

ITV book.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... ITV is publishing a book which aims to prove that television is the most effective advertising medium. The 120-page coffee table book is part of the broadcaster's Values of Fame campaign, which seeks to show that television is the best way to...

Expert accreditation.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Apple has appointed IT solutions supplier Silicon Systems, Wokingham, as an Expert for print and publishing. Expert accreditation is awarded to companies whom Apple believes show exceptional insight into the IT demands of the print and...

MAN on brink of hours accord at Offenbach.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... MAN Roland is on the brink of reaching an agreement with union representatives to increase working hours at its loss making Offenbach sheetfed plant and save costs. As Printing World went to press talks were ongoing between the press...

Sakurai takes wraps off OL575.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Sakurai will show its new OL575SDC B2 press with inline coater for the first time in the UK at its open house on November 16-18, which will be attended by the company's executive director Ryuta Sakurai. The company's Hounslow showroom and...

Davies on mid market.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Colin Davies, ceo of Etrinsic, says medium-sized firms will eventually be squeezed out of the print management market. Mr Davies, returning from the Document Management Industry Association's conference in the US, says that as the market...

Apex and Z-Tech on road.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Apex Digital Graphics, Hemel Hempstead, along with Z-Tech, its dealer for the Republic of Ireland, hosted a roadshow at the Red Cow Moran's Hotel, Dublin this month. The event lasted two days and orders for a 522HE two-colour and a 3304HA...

Terenure issues damages writ.(Agricultural Trust)(Terenure Printers )(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... A subsidiary of Independent News & Media is claiming damages of more than E5m for an alleged breach of a printing contract. Its subsidiary Terenure Printers has issued the damages writ against the Irish Farmer's Journal and its owner, the...

Ritchie caps web buys with Tamarack line.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Having installed two web presses this summer - bringing its total to ten - specialist printer Ritchie (UK) in Kilmarnock has just added the first Tamarack finishing line in Scotland, one of only a handful in the UK. "One of the big...

Three go into one.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Shotton Paper Company, Caledonian Paper and UPM Kymmene Ltd have been amalgamated into a single legal entity called UPM Kymmene (UK) Ltd. The change to the firm's legal structure will officially see the demise of the separate solvent...

Morgana sells well.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Morgana had a particularly successful time at DPW, selling around #100,000 worth of equipment overall and much of that over a four-hour period on the middle day of the exhibition. Morgana launched its Documaster at the show and took an...

Brim Ko case gets hearing.(Brim Ko Holdings)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Kodak reneged on a deal to set up a printing operation in China, a court in London has been told this week. Brim Ko Holdings is suing Eastman Kodak for breach of contract after the US corporation ended an agreement to support a hub and...

COMMENT: Digital bursts through the dam.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Digital Print World left pretty well all involved satisfied last week. There was business all round, the organiser was happy to announce a move to Earl's Court next year and those visiting were serious. After years of pushing to prove that...

Letter: A taxing issue.(Letter to the Editor)
November 4, 2004... I would like to disagree completely with the printer in `An unfair tax on printers?' (Printing World, October 28) who thought that shows are an unfair tax on printers. The cost of a show over the entire budget of any product is probably...

Letter: Good things in small packages.(Letter to the Editor)
November 4, 2004... I read with some interest your article `Good on paper' (Printing World, September 30) on the recent appointment of Henry Cubbon and his thoughts on our industry and more particularly his strategy leading to the resurgence of Antalis "a sleeping...

Konica Minolta news.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Shares in Konica Minolta responded positively to the news that the company is planning to create a subsidiary to manufacture key printhead components for large format inkjet printers. The new business, which will come online in January, is...

RR Donnelley lawsuit.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... RR Donnelley has received preliminary approval of a settlement in a 1994 lawsuit for the alleged unfair treatment of African American employees in connection with the closure of its Chicago manufacturing plant. RR Donnelley will pay $15m to the...

Pages Jaunes revenue.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The French equivalent of the Yellow Pages, Pages Jaunes, exceeded pro forma consolidated revenue targets in the third quarter, registering a 12.6% increase year-on-year. The reference service also outperformed nine-month expectations in France...

Acas service.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) has launched a free, web based service to provide advice for employers and employees on the European Union information and consultation (I&C) directive. It includes details of the...

European Commission clears acquisition.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The European Commission has cleared private equity company CVC's proposed acquisition of the printing inks and pigment manufacturing interests of BASF and ANI Printing Inks. An investigation has shown that the combined entity would have...

Presstek Q3 revenues reach all time pinnacle.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Sales at Presstek continue to bounce back from a dip earlier in the year, with the direct imaging specialist recording its highest ever level of quarterly revenues in Q3. Consolidated revenue for the period ended October 2 was 51% higher...

Drupa sales lift Baldwin.(Drupa)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Printing accessories manufacturer Baldwin Technology says that sales generated at Drupa have helped it to register a 16% yearly increase for its first quarter. The company improved revenues to $40m compared with $34.5m in the same period...

Asbestos fines risk.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Businesses are at risk from heavy fines from tough new regulations on asbestos management, according to the Forum of Private Business. The changes to the Health and Safety law, which came into force earlier in the year, are expected to...

NUR losses lead to loans not being met.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Figures for Q3 show that ongoing losses at NUR Macroprinters have led the company to default on bank loans. Revenues at the wide format inkjet supplier, although 16% higher than the equivalent period in last year, were down from Q2 to...

Sodra's Q3 profits slide.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... Pulp prices were blamed by Swedish forest industry group Sodra for its third-quarter fall in profit after financial income and expenses to SEK871m from last year's SEK1,157m. This was despite strong demand for pulp, sawn timber products,...

Appointment of liquidators.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... * P&P Finishers Ltd Printers. Liquidator: SM Katz, Fisher Partners, Acre House, 11-15 William Road, London NW1 3ER * Jakat Ltd Trading name Riverside Printing Company Printers. Liquidators: SM Draine, Moore Stephens, 3-5 Rickmansworth Road,...

Meetings of creditors.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... * Paragraph Typesetting Ltd at Gable House, 239 Regents Park Road, London N3 3LF on November 2 * Hamtun Press Ltd at 12-14 Carlton Place, Southampton, Hampshire SO15 2EA on October 28 * Mission Print Ltd at Moore Stephens Corporate...

Final meetings.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... * HFD Graphic Affairs Ltd at 67 Butts Green Road, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 2JS on December 2 at 10am for members and at 10.15am for creditors * Anchor Lithographic Ltd at Menzies Corporate Restructuring, 17-19 Foley Street, London W1W 6DW on...

Check out the state of the nation.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2004... The percentage of firms working below capacity fell in the last quarter from 81% to 48%. This is the lowest percentage since 47% was recorded in January 1998. The figure provided the foundations for a positive outlook for the state of the...