Business Management - Operations

WHEN JOHN Sandstrom passed away in 1990, his eight children were suddenly left in charge of his printing operation. Having grown up in the graphic arts business, the Sandstrom siblings took the reins of their family’s Milwaukee-based business, HM Graphics.

WHAT IS there not to love about the state of Pennsylvania? “This is the land of Ben Franklin, and his most conspicuous craft is printing,” notes Eric Roberts, director of sales for Philadelphia-based Bartash Printing. Roberts echoes his fellow Philadelphia-area and eastern Pennsylvania printers when it comes to the chief advantage they enjoy as businesses: the ability to reach as far north as New England and as far south as the Carolinas.

Printing Impressions' Commercial Printer News for May 2009

Make sure your heaters are on only when you need them.

NORTH HAVEN, CT—Martin Printing has shut its doors, leaving more than 30 employees out of work, according to the Hartford Courant. The company's 150,000-square-foot facility and three presses will be auctioned online April 30. The printer lost business from one of its largest clients, ING Direct, which opted to halt all printing until 2010.

MONTREAL—Quebecor World's continuing journey to emerge from bankruptcy protection is certainly not without pain. The struggling printer has notified Tennessee state officials that it will close its Memphis facility, leaving 111 people out of work, the Memphis Daily News reported.

EAST LONGMEADOW, MA—A small fire prompted the evacuation of 50 third-shift employees at a Hasbro Inc. printing plant early Tuesday morning, according to The Republican. There were no reported injuries. The fire broke out around 1:30 in the electrical panel of a press. Employees were able to extinguish the fire before firefighters could arrive, but heavy smoke prompted the evacuation. The facility here is home to the company's games division, according to the paper.

MIAMISBURG, OH—NewPage Corp. announced that it plans to take approximately 150,000 tons of market-related downtime on its paper machines at various mill locations during the second quarter of 2009. The move was based on estimates of market demand and inventory levels. Specific operating and curtailment plans, as well as timing, will be developed across NewPage mills to best satisfy customer commitments.

Printing Impressions' Upfront Commercial Printing News for April 2009

Brown Printing will eliminate about 200 jobs across its network of plants, accounting for roughly 8 percent of its workforce, according to the Business Journal of McHenry County (IL). A representative of the printer told the newspaper that the move was prompted by dwindling orders from its customers.