Heidelberg

It's been little more than two years since the prepress entity known as Linotype-Hell was swallowed by the German giant, Heidelberg. A pressmaker buying a prepress company? Talk about a visionary move. As 1999 progresses, what is the direction of Heidelberg Prepress? Axel Zoeller, director of prepress marketing for Heidelberg USA, provides some answers—and some speculation. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO AXEL ZOELLER is very meticulous—in the very best sense of the word. He is naturally friendly, but remotely guarded. Zoeller (the very Americanized spelling of the traditional German Zöller) is quite the diplomat. His words are carefully selected, almost dutifully crafted, as Printing

In the early '70s, Marty Anson had a dream: Build a better bindery. Now, 25 years later, the $15 million bindery "kingpin" is at it again. This time, he's expanding with new satellite facilities. BY CHERYL ADAMS He wasn't sitting in the middle of a corn field, like Kevin Costner's character in a "Field of Dreams," but F. Martin "Marty" Anson had a vision just the same 25 years ago: "Build it and they will come." Anson wanted to build a better trade bindery—one that would be a solid performer, a state-of-the-art operation that could weather the fierce storm of competition—a storm that

BY ERIK CAGLE If you think it's not easy making a living in the postpress environment, consider the state of the equipment manufacturers. Finishing trends are causing manufacturers to respond almost as quickly as current turnaround demands. Issues abound: A lack of trained workers beget the call for increased automation. Value-added product enhancements are desired to help break away from a sea of finishing conformity. Commercial printers are being called upon to handle customers' projects in-house—from start to finish. When printers and trade finishers feel the pinch, they pass it on to the manufacturer, whose job it is to make life easier for them.

Top finishing pros reveal their secrets on selecting the right paper cutting tool for the right job. The cutter is often the last machine to touch the printed product before it goes to the customer, so it needs to cut cleanly, be easy to use and keep the work flowing. Though recent advancements in automation and computer control have made working on the machine easier, they've made choosing a cutter more difficult. That complexity can be simplified, however, by deciding on three basic factors right from the start: the size, the type of blade, and how many optional features and types of paper handling

CHEYENNE, WY—Vision Graphics, a 47-year-old commercial printer headquartered here, recently made headlines—twice. The first news was that the 65-employee company grew 41 percent in 1998, generating a total of almost $7 million in annual revenues. Vision Graphics also received publicity when it opened a new, 24,000-square-foot facility (expandable to 42,000 square feet), about 50 miles south of its headquarters, at Colorado's Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport. Officials reveal its increased growth meant the company needed another plant to keep up with its booming Rocky Mountain business. "A second plant will solidify the presence of Vision Graphics in Colorado and the surrounding states," says Mark

Commercial printers, trade shops, publishers and industry suppliers are banding together under the Graphics Century Project (GCP) umbrella to share critical information and find practical solutions concerning common Y2K problems. BY ERIK CAGLE (Editor's Note: This is the second in a year-long series of articles examining the Y2K problem as it applies to the commercial printing industry. This installment takes a look at the Graphics Century Project, an association-led effort to exchange knowledge.) Pat Maher will be one of the first to admit that the commercial printing industry falls short in the

Digital asset management (DAM) solutions are plentiful, ranging wildly in everything from robustness to flexibility to price. But which offering is right for you? That may be the million-dollar question. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The search is on. There are at least 75 DAM technology providers (not a slight on these fine technologists, just a widely tossed about, clever acronym for digital asset management) that are more than happy to visit you, send you materials, access your digital archiving weaknesses, advise you on ways to retool the content management at your operation and probably wash your car if you ask them nice enough. For

As computer-to-plate grows in popularity and application, prepress officials and technology providers trade outlooks on CTP's hottest issues—especially the true commercial availability of thermal plates. What's better—thermal or non-thermal? Warning: They tell it like it is. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Is the jury still out on the long-term merits of thermal imaging—and the consumables considerations any reasonable prepress director must labor over when deliberating which output device to recommend, thermal or non-thermal? For one, Maureen Richards, prepress technical director at United Lithograph, now a Mail-Well company, has her thermal reservations. "The current thermal technology is not 'utopia,' but I am perhaps biased by

San Mateo, CA—High-end sheetfed printing specialists BOFORS, based here, announces it has been joined by Kohnke Printing, of San Francisco. The agreement gives BOFORS control of Kohnke Printing's accounts. Dave Kohnke, president of the Bay Area printer, liquidated its assets. Kohnke wanted to be linked with a printer the quality of employee-owned BOFORS, which generated revenues in excess of $18 million in 1998. "The 90 employee-owners at BOFORS take pride in their company and their work," Kohnke remarks. "We are proud to be associated with the BOFORS name." BOFORS President Vit Eckersdorf feels Kohnke, a general commercial printer, is a perfect fit with

ROCHESTER, NY—In a strategic move to strengthen its position within data processing, variable information printing and lettershop services, commercial offset printer Cohber Press, located here, has acquired Scanforms, also of Rochester. Previously owned by Webcraft, Scanforms provides one- and two-color variable information printing and data processing. As a result of the acquisition, 25 of Scanforms' programmers and management personnel are already in place within the Cohber Press staff, bringing its total number to 160. Management from Scanforms is now reporting to Bill Bachman, vice president of Digital Print Services. As a result of the two companies joining forces, Cohber Press is benefiting through Scanforms'