Printing World articles from September 2000

Printing World archives from September 2000

Glassbook adds muscle to Adobe's e-book arm.
September 4, 2000... Adobe Systems has strengthened its arm in the e-book market by buying the US firm Glassbook, a leader in developing consumer and commercial software for electronic commerce. Glassbook's technology allows users to automate the supply chain...

Industry holds its breath over Mackays.
September 4, 2000... The UK book manufacturing sector was braced for another sea-change as Printing World closed for press. The sale of respected book printer and binder Mackays of Chatham was expected to be announced at any time with three major purchasers having...

Butler & Tanner hosts Viscount's first printer visit.
September 4, 2000... The Queen's nephew, Viscount Linley, visited Butler & Tanner in Frome to see his new book, Design & Detail in the Home come hot off the presses. Joint managing director Adrian Huett says "This was David's (as he prefers to be known) first visit...

E-com without the Net from PrintPak.
September 4, 2000... Users of MIS will watch with interest the market reaction to a new service being offered by PrintPak. The Hampton, Middlesex software manufacturer can arrange for a free trial of a system that will enable printers to provide their customers...

Packaging for Print from Antalis of Arjo fame.
September 4, 2000... Antalis, the new name for Arjo Wiggins' merchanting division, has set up a packaging division to supply printers with adhesive tape, strapping and cardboard boxes as well as paper. Called Packaging for Print, the range can be delivered next day...

H&R saves Progressive Print.
September 4, 2000... Progressive Print, the Leigh on Sea greetings card printer, has been purchased from the receiver (Printing World, last week) by packaging specialist H&R Corrugated of Rochford in Essex. Harry Hoy, chairman of H&R told Printing World he...

New chairman for Pira International.
September 4, 2000... Pira International, Leatherhead, has a new chairman: John Durston, chief executive of Danisco Flexible and formerly at Sidlaw and Lawson Mardon. Mr Durston replaces Macmillan Publishing director Mike Barnard, who has stepped down as Pira...

Direct mailing the dead - industry fights for control.
September 4, 2000... The direct mail industry sends more than 65.6 million pieces of mail to dead people in Britain every year, according to the organisation set up to administer the newly formed Bereavement Register. The REaD Group in Sevenoaks started the...

That's Life presenter joins print recruitment consultant Harrison Scott.
September 4, 2000... Former That's Life presenter Kevin Devine has joined recruitment company Harrison Scott Associates. As special projects consultant, Mr Devine will handle appointments in print and packaging. Harrison Scott Associates, with offices in London,...

Newbold buy-back is York Direct's saviour.
September 4, 2000... The former owner of York Direct has stepped in as a last minute saviour for the troubled company. Mike Newbold, who sold the business two years ago, took his old firm back last Monday, just days before the receiver was due to pull the plug. ...

New look Inprint creates fresh identity for global push.
September 4, 2000... Inprint Systems, the world leading proponent of the extended text label for the pharmaceutical industry, has created a new identity. Based at Ashford, Kent, and led by founder and chairman David Instance, Inprint is branding its six global...

Bowne expands with new Milan office.
September 4, 2000... Bowne, the global management solutions provider and financial printer, has extended its print coverage in Europe. The establishment of a full- service financial printing office in Milan, home to the fourth largest Stock Exchange, has the...

Kelvinside picks up Pace Digital.
September 4, 2000... Kelvinside, the acquisitive Irish print group, has bought Pace Digital, the small format digital print company in Bristol. The acquisition is the latest in a string of similar buys around the country which have been part of Kelvinside's...

Four combine for outdoor durability guarantee.
September 4, 2000... Four digital graphics companies have made an alliance to deliver an outdoor durable clearcoat solution. Avery Dennison, Hunt Corporation, Vutek and Valspar have joined forces to deliver the five-year warranty. Stephane Moreau, sales...

Static figures from Rexam.
September 4, 2000... After finally fulfilling its strategy to exit the print sector, Rexam has seen margins decline in its results for the six months to June 30, 2000. Operating profit remained static, despite a #48m increase in sales. However, thanks to lower...

Print Factory saddles up for second contract.
September 4, 2000... Watford facilities management group, The Print Factory, is to continue to supply Ladbrokes with its commercial and print management requirements in a new two-year contract. The Print Factory will provide window and point of sale material to all...

Destiny in our own hands says Smurfit.
September 4, 2000... The paper industry continues to make significant strides towards a long term recovery, according to Jefferson Smurfit joint deputy chairman Dermot Smurfit, with the sector now ranked 58th in the league table of the most profitable industries,...

Second QM 46 for Imperial.
September 4, 2000... Imperial Printers plans to buy a second Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46 after replacing a single-colour GTO 46 with a Printmaster earlier this year. Warren Vokes, managing director of the company, established in Twickenham, London, in 1958, claims...

Solar king Swan joins the Karran Group nest.
September 4, 2000... Swan Packaging, the Corby company which hit the headlines last year with the solar eclipse viewers it produced, has been bought by the Karran Group. Swan says the deal gives it much needed backing to allow it to expand over the next five years,...

Alden Press opts to beta test Purup's Dicon ctp.
September 4, 2000... Specialist academic book and journal printer Alden Press agreed to become the first UK beta site for Purup-Eskofot's computer to plate Dicon system. The Dicon beta site is expected to be launched in two years' time, with a customer reference...

Muller Trendbinder completes Ashford move.
September 4, 2000... Ashford Colour Press has invested in a Muller Martini 21 station Trendbinder for its new 43,500 sq ft site near Fareham. Set up in 1980 to print leaflets and brochures, the company has now established itself in the educational and computer...

CreoScitex and Purup settle out of court.
September 4, 2000... The patent infringement dispute between CreoScitex and Purup-Eskofot has been resolved in an out of court settlement, the terms of which see each company agree to license certain patents to the other. The charge was brought about by...

New production chief for Omnia Books.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Danny Martin has joined Omnia Books, Glasgow, as production director to strengthen its senior management team. Mr Martin, who has been appointed after a recent mbo, has worked at management level with several manufacturing companies in Ireland...

Heidelberg stays top 100 company.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Heidelberg has been voted one of the top 100 well managed companies in the world by US publication IndustryWeek. The annual list spans 21 industries in 13 countries. Along with companies such as L'Oreal and Hewlett-Packard, Heidelberg has...

Agfa celebrates first solo year with profits up 97%.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Agfa has recorded some outstanding financial results for the first half of this year, thus marking a successful climax to the first year of independence for the Agfa-Gevaert Group. That year began on June 1 1999 when the group went public and...

HP shoehorns benefits into new Designjet.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 4, 2000... Hewlett Packard has launched a major revamp of its Designjet range of thermally driven inkjet printers. In doing so, the US manufacturer has given the graphics art industry some printing devices with a quality that rivals or are superior to...

Maps and your back garden shed.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Last week we published a story about a Conservative Party call for the privatisation of the Ordnance Survey. Privatised and under strong commercial management, it was argued, the OS could transform itself from an #82m turnover but lacklustre...

German youngsters rush to print education.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Our industry educators are often bemoaning that print does not attract the best of our young people and that printing is not perceived as the career for the top graduates to follow. From Germany I hear that the 284 study places at the...

Paper can now manage itself much better.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Paper and packaging giant Jefferson Smurfit revealed some good first half figures last week and gave joint deputy chairman Dermot Smurfit the chance to talk publicly about the paper industry. He spoke of the current turmoil in the paper sector,...

Keeping lists up to date.
September 4, 2000... Our story this week about the distress caused by direct mail arriving on the front doormat years after a person has died, illustrates the most vital point about direct mail. Creating a list is one thing, maintaining it is the other...

Letter: Do not be swayed by euro campaign.
September 4, 2000... I wish to take issue with your article on the euro (Printing World, August 28) and in particular your assessment "that most printers hope and expect the UK to join". The idea that one currency and consequently one interest rate policy is...

Letter: Not quite so dead Linotype.
September 4, 2000... Further to your report, The Linotype goes live on BBC Radio 4 (Printing World, August 28), if the producer had visited the premises of D Boden Typesetting in Tiptree, he could have recorded the sounds of two linecasting machines in commercial...

Cork Examiner opts out of Ir#1m contract.
September 4, 2000... A national newspaper company in the Irish Republic, which has been printing the Irish editions of The Times and sections of the Sunday Times, has now ended its contract with Rupert Murdoch's News International. The print deal had been worth...

Top Cornish course tests Printing World golf finalists.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Cornwall opened its arms to welcome this year's 32 Printing World Golf Masters finalists with a challenging par 72 Jack Nicklaus-designed championship course at St Mellion near Saltash and a day of blazing sunshine. Printing World linked...

New Horizons in Walsall and Newcastle.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Newcastle's Priory Printers and Walsall Metropolitan Council may not sound like they have much in common, but they have both recently installed Horizon PowerCollating systems. For Priory Printers, the equipment replaces a Duplo line, while for...

Duncan plans second big MAN Roland press.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Duncan Web Offset is reporting a 60% rise in forward orders since it ordered its 48pp MAN Lithoman press last year. The press, which can print 2 million A4 colour pages an hour, first arrived in April along with a Barco ctp system. It was...

Cromwell Press spirals into 6,000 books per hour.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, has installed a new Ethos spiral conveyor system in its 30,000 sq ft factory to boost production. The paperback, loose leaf and casebound product manufacturer has opted for the compact spiral system to move books...

Global Graphics swallows up Jaws.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Cambridge software supplier Global Graphics has bought the complete digital software division of 5D Solutions for E24.7m, which includes the Jaws Rip and PDF Creator software product lines. Global Graphics has now formed Jaws Systems as a...

Market Link Publishing dives on Pilot magazine.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2000... Celebration was in the air when Alan Lewis, managing director of Market Link Publishing, paid a flying visit to Pilot Publishing having acquired its Pilot magazine following the retirement of editor and owner James Gilbert. Mr Lewis got a...

Keane promotion.
September 4, 2000... Keane Graphic Products in Ashford, has launched a promotional offer of a free five-litre sample of Ecosolv Keane 60 wash with new orders in September and October. The Ecosolv product range is one of the Kent company's environmentally friendly...

Gietz new shine on spirit labels.
September 4, 2000... As part of a #1.2m investment programme, Glasgow Laminators has taken over an 11,000sq ft factory beside its existing premises at Cambuslang and installed a Trumax SC 102 DX varnisher and a Gietz FSA 790/EFF foiling machine. "Foiling is a new...

ABC spotlights the magazines to go for.
September 4, 2000... According to the latest ABC figures, consumer magazines are enjoying healthy sales. The Periodical Publishers' Association found that only 22 out of 71 different sectors declined in sales. The top 20 paid-for magazines table remained...

Kodak Pro signs up Northamber Group.
September 4, 2000... Kodak Professional, which sells rebadged wide-format inkjet printers and consumables, has signed a new distribution deal with Northamber Group, the #300m IT distribution company. The deal does not mean that resellers will be bypassed entirely,...

Drupa: more is less for Heidelberg.
September 4, 2000... While Heidelberg's press orders have risen 69% to record levels on the back of Drupa, profits have plummetted by 40% because of the high costs of running Heidelberg's two vast halls at the show. In the three months to June 30, Heidelberg...

Bunzl bonanza.
September 4, 2000... Yet another paper and packaging company is benefiting from higher paper prices. Bunzl has announced interim pretax profits of #81.2m, 15% higher than the #70.7m it made in 1999. "First half average prices were above the comparable period last...

Private Wolstenholme.
September 4, 2000... Wolstenholme Rink is now certain to go private now its takeover by institutional investor the Rutland Trust is all but complete. Bidco, the company set up by the Trust to acquire Wolstenholme Rink, now owns 91% of its shares and its offer has...

Johnston Press boost.
September 4, 2000... Johnston Press has recorded a near-50% increase in turnover and operating profits in the first six months of 2000, on the back of cost savings achieved through its takeover of Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers last year. However, some print...

Small `not beautiful'.
September 4, 2000... The gulf between Britain's successful and not-so-successful small companies is larger than expected, according to figures from the Small Business Service, a new branch of the DTI. SBS data shows that the bottom 25% of small firms generate #700...

UPM Kymmene mags No 1.
September 4, 2000... After its failed bid for Champion Paper, UPM Kymmene has finally succeeded in expanding into the North American market with the acquisition of Repap in Canada, giving it a 20% market share in North America and making it the world's largest...

More woes for Quebecor.
September 4, 2000... Quebecor has failed in its bid to take over Videotron, a Canadian cable company, even though Quebecor had made a larger bid than cable operator Rogers Communications which now looks set to take Videotron over. The news is a setback to Quebecor...

New Schneider XT 400 system targets problem dust.
September 4, 2000... Paper dust from the web can be troublesome when printing on high speed presses. The problem of build up on the blankets, piling in the ink and static manifests itself from the moment the parent reel is being fed into the press, but also, in the...

Three options for powerful cleaning.
September 4, 2000... Mykal Industries has developed Myquip, a range of cleaning systems that could be of considerable interest to flexo printers, engineers and those who work on press refurbishing. The range consists of three distinctly different models enabling...

HOME and DRY.
September 4, 2000... The concept is an old one, but the latest developments might just be what are needed for dry imagesetting film to take off. CARYL HOLLAND reports Virtually ever since filmsetting was first introduced, the technology boys have been trying...

Getting it right on FILM FIRST.
September 4, 2000... Imagesetters are old hat, right? Wrong, argues JIM LARKIN, who claims they are still a sensible investment Five years on from ctp's arrival on the world stage, the industry has already moved on to the next big thing. At Drupa, the talk was...

GOING GREEN.
September 4, 2000... Sound green practices have almost become de rigeur. In the first of two reports, CATHERINE CARTER investigates the issues surrounding environmental certification A decade ago, few companies had considered the importance of introducing...

The REGENERATION game.
September 4, 2000... SIMON TURNER profiles Witherbys, the historic London printer that is staking a claim in the dotcom revolution Thomas Witherby established Witherbys, a family-owned company, in London in the 1740s. Working out of a rented corner of a coffee...

Simpson Stams tall with a giant Red Devil of a job.
September 4, 2000... As Manchester United fans are fond of pointing out, defender "Jip" Jaap Stam is indeed a big Dutchman (opposing fans make a similar remark but cast aspersions as to the legitimacy of his birth). And few know this better than the Simpson...

The right pill in the right container.
September 4, 2000... It is always nice to see a young chap happy in his work, and this picture shows a cheery worker - one Steven Boyd - delighted by the intricacies of some new barcode scanning equipment at Simpson Label in Dalkeith, Midlothian. Apparently, it is...

Just how much is your car worth?
September 4, 2000... Display printers are in for a bright future when the latest trend from California reaches these shores - as it surely must. The idea is thus: adverts have been seen on the side of lorries for ages, then taxis got in on the act and now agencies...

GETTING THERE... Bob Holt, md of Production Link.
September 4, 2000... BOB HOLT is managing director and chief executive of Production Link International in Sevenoaks, a consultant to the advertising print and television production business, and also chairman of the Association of Print & Packaging Buyers ...

Sales lessons from across the Pond.
September 4, 2000... GEORGE THOMPSON files his last report in this series from his trip to the US, where print recruitment consultants have to tread a careful line It has become part of the British character to think the Yanks have the edge in most commercial...

PEOPLE NEWS.
September 4, 2000... * Yale Press has promoted Mark Warrington to production manager at its south-east London site after nearly six years with the company. Mr Warrington, 28, says: "Modern printing is a complex and challenging business," and he hopes to help Yale...

Howitts goes under the knife for the third time.
September 11, 2000... Howitts, the Nottingham commercial and direct mail printer, is to be sold for the third time in 18 months and faces 85 job cuts as its parent company Communisis opts to focus more on personalised print. Communisis revealed its plans to sell...

US print booms but skills are scarce.
September 11, 2000... The US printing industry is booming and growing faster than at any time in the past four years, but increasing demand for print means that printers are being constrained by their ability to recruit qualified staff. In a survey conducted for the...

US backers queue to support Tracker.
September 11, 2000... London prepress operation TAG took a web-based job management system to Seybold in San Francisco and found itself overwhelmed by interest from all quarters. The company, formerly just known as Adplates, developed Tracker, a global advertising...

Stockport Repro investment.
September 11, 2000... Stockport repro and print company Qualitech is the first UK company to have invested #275,000 in the new Luscher Xpose 160 ctp system. It produces plates directly from a high-end system and can image plates up to 1,350x1,650mm through an...

ECB directs faulty euros back on press.
September 11, 2000... Faulty euro banknotes are going back on press. Officials claim that the printing problem, which rendered 325 million E100 notes useless, is being rectified. According to the European Central Bank, which controls monetary policy in the 11...

Edotech flushed with Cleanaway success.
September 11, 2000... Edotech, the old Barclays in house printer that went solo with a management buyout four months ago, has signed a new deal with Cleanaway, the waste services company, and says that several more big contracts with outside customers are in the...

Adare rebrands Pillings into Halcyon.
September 11, 2000... Halcyon, the new name for Waddington Business Forms, is to bring its subsidiary Pillings under the Halcyon brand as parent company the Adare Group seeks to offer customers a "total group offering" under one name. Pillings is to stay at its...

Mann Redfern crashes after 18 years in business.
September 11, 2000... The decline in the forms sector has claimed its latest victim - this time a used machinery dealer in Wakefield. Receiver KPMG was called into Mann Redfern on September 1, with the company blaming a simple downturn in the market for its...

AssiDoman redemption.
September 11, 2000... Following the sale of AssiDoman's Sepap and Dynas papermills and Barrier Coating to Frantschach, AssiDoman's board of directors has announced a proposal to transfer SKr4,500m (#322m) to shareholders through redemption of shares. The proposal...

Giant billboard for Olympics.
September 11, 2000... A giant billboard claimed to be the biggest in the world is hanging from a Sydney central business district building for the duration of the Olympic Games. Featuring star Australian 400m athlete Cathy Freeman and a Nike logo, the billboard is...

New six-colour Lithrone marks PDG's US success.
September 11, 2000... Print Design & Graphics, Newcastle, is currently in the midst of a major period of expansion and has just placed an order for a new six- colour Komori Lithrone L640 press. The press will be extra capacity for the company, which is growing...

New US owner gives SGI, Leeds, phone card fillip.
September 11, 2000... Scientific Games International in Leeds is to expand its phone ticket production to more than 1 billion phone cards a year following the friendly takeover of its US parent company by Autotote, a major rival, in a #308m deal. The UK site...

Field ushers Lithoprint into Chesapeake family.
September 11, 2000... Glasgow label and financial printer Lithoprint Holdings was bought last week by Field Group for an undisclosed sum. Lithoprint is one of the leading printers of bottle labels for the Scotch whisky and other spirits industry. High quality labels...

Komori first for Microprint.
September 11, 2000... Microprint in Dublin has become the first company in Europe to install a four-colour Komori Lithrone 440P press with both perfecting and inline coating. Microprint already had a Timson CM48 web press, a Lithrone 540 and a Roland 705, and opted...

About Face by PaperX.
September 11, 2000... PaperX.com has launched a new Internet service called 1Face, which is a client-tailored solution with a pricing structure based upon an initial fee and quarterly charges. This fee structure is designed to include unlimited trading over the...

Rip upgrade offer on Torrent.
September 11, 2000... HighWater has announced a short-term option for existing Ultre Imagesetter users to update the Harlequin ScriptWorks Rip to the new Torrent Rip. Until December 31, customers can use a program to exchange the dongle and install the latest 5.3r1...

Fast screen preparation in Elland.
September 11, 2000... Multigraphics in Elland has been spending money on its screenprinting operation including this colourful Svecia direct projection camera. The West Yorkshire company has also installed the latest automatic screen coating process plus wash...

Trek supported by Norscreen.
September 11, 2000... Fancy taking a hike in the desert? Then this is the spectacular scenery awaiting those taking part in a trek across the Sahara Desert to raise funds for the Maggie Cancer Caring Centres in Scotland. The hike taking place in April 2001 is being...

Mailcom gains Apacs accreditation.
September 11, 2000... Mailcom, the Milton Keynes print management, direct mail and fulfillment company has gained accreditation under the Apacs MICR cheque printing scheme as a personalisation house. The move will allow Mailcom to extend its personalisation...

Trinity Graphics aims for ISO top accolade.
September 11, 2000... Trinity Graphic, the Hull repro company, is to be one of the first organisations in the UK to achieve the new ISO9001:2000 standard with the support of Yorkshire Quality Alliance. The company achieved ISO9000 in six months and is well on its...

HighWater presents PressMimic - for low-cost digital proofing.
September 11, 2000... A robust, low-cost digital proofing system has been considered something of a holy grail for printers moving to ctp, and HighWater says it has now launched just that. The Cheltenham company has developed PressMimic, which basically combines the...

Confident Clifford Thames celebrates new Chelmsford hq.
September 11, 2000... A grey start to the day and a shaky marquee did not dampen the hearts of the senior management at Clifford Thames Printing last week. The newly relocated premises were officially opened in Dukes Park in Chelmsford as part of a #2m expansion...