DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—While exact figures aren’t available, safe sales estimates from exhibitors will easily exceed $15.5 billion for Drupa 2008 when the final orders have been processed. The exhibition, held from May 29 through June 11, drew about 391,000 visitors from 138 countries, excluding the 3,000 journalists that made the pilgrimage here. The international visitor tally…
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—The PrintCity Alliance called Drupa 2008 its most successful show ever. With its 40-plus members and partners exhibiting in Hall 6, show traffic was so great that PrintCity had to reprint its Hall 6 guide midway through the show due to strong demand. Highlights of PrintCity Alliance activities included seven Competence Centers and two…
LAS VEGAS—It was announced during Drupa that catalog, publication and newspaper production specialist Creel Printing will install its third Goss Sunday 2000 web press at its facility here in 2009. The eight-unit, two-web system will have a 57˝ web width and be equipped with a Goss pinless combination folder, allowing the company to produce magazine signatures with up to 48 pages or tabloid signatures with up to 32 pages. Creel Printing installed an eight-unit, two-web Sunday 2000 press with a 38˝ web width in 2003, followed by an identical system in 2005. The company also operates Goss Pacesetter saddlestitchers and installed an eight-tower Goss
FULLERTON, CA—Mailing specialist Advanced Image Direct has obtained six BB700 high-speed envelope inserting systems from Buhrs Americas. The new inserters, ordered during the exhibition, complement five similar Buhrs machines on hand at the company. They will increase capacity at Advanced Image Direct to 80 million pieces per month, according to Frank Verrill, company president.
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—Laminating equipment specialist GBC achieved a new Guinness World Record at Drupa on June 2 by establishing the fastest time to laminate 100 square meters of paper. The GBC team was able to laminate 102.2 square meters of paper in 40.53 seconds at its stand in Hall 11. The new GBC 8500HS Cyclone laminating system and GBC High Bonding Strength (HBS) film, both of which debuted here, were put to the test in the laminating challenge. Gareth Deaves, an adjudicator from the Guinness Book of World Records, confirmed the time of the lamination run and presented an award to the GBC team.
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—On the opening day of Drupa, Maria Manns paid a visit to the Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) booth, and Bernhard Schreier, CEO of Heidelberg, was on hand to welcome Drupa’s most senior visitor. Manns was born in September 1910 in Düsseldorf and was sent to work in the print shop run by her father, Hermann Stapperfenne, at the age of five. The company mostly produced account books for wholesale companies on a Tiegel press from Heidelberg. Over the years, the print shop invested in a Heidelberg four-color press and, in 1945, Manns took over her father’s business, which she continued to run
NEW YORK—Despite garnering a first quarter profit of $71 million on sales of $208.8 million, Bowne & Co. announced a cost reduction initiative that will see the financial printer reduce its workforce by 15 percent. Bowne is targeting $50 million in annualized cost reductions in 2008 as part of a continued focus on improving its cost structure. The result is that about 650 employees will be released, which will account for $21 million in savings. Another $9 million in savings will result from the continuation of savings initiatives from 2007. The final $20 million in savings will be realized from the integration and
Kodak Users Get the Real Deal LAS VEGAS—More than 300 members of the Graphic Users Association (GUA) of Kodak Solutions recently gathered at the Wynn Las Vegas for the North American group’s annual meeting. “This year’s conference was our biggest and best yet,” said current GUA President Tom Clifford, who is also a prepress technology specialist with RR Donnelley. Having “unfiltered access to executives and product specialists from Kodak” is a key benefit of attending the event, Clifford noted. “Most important, the team from Kodak. . .genuinely listens to our feedback and takes it into consideration when developing new products and features.” He also
PHILADELPHIA—Green has quickly become the earth-friendly color of choice for buyers of printing and, hence, their print suppliers. Subsequently, the emphasis on environmental sustainability provided a timely “Greener Than We Think” theme for the 37th annual Neographics Power of Print awards exhibition, ceremony and dinner held here May 1. Hosted by the Graphic Arts Association (GAA), 400 attendees crowded the Crystal Tea Room in the Wanamaker Building to pay tribute to all of the Franklin Award, Best of Category and Power of Print winners, as well as the 2008 individual honorees. Chosen from nearly 400 entries, Pomco Graphic Arts, Philadelphia, took home the 2008
SCHAUMBURG, IL—Building on the decision last year by the PIA/GATF and Web Offset Association (WOA) to merge an annual event geared toward sheetfed offset printers into their venerable WOA conference and rename it Offset and Beyond, the program covered even more topics beyond lithography this year. These included new features for the more than 600 attendees, including a Saturday jump-start series, a “green printers” showcase and a student outreach program. In addition, new all-day targeted sessions were hosted by Tom Quinn, director of fulfillment services at the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association, and by Julie Shaffer, director of the Digital Printing Council, on the
