Heidelberg

Many analysts believe that successful businesses go through regular transformations or grow stagnant and die—a philosophy that makes sense to those comprising the array of talent at Steckel Printing. A manufacturer of high-end, six-color commercial work, Steckel has undergone several company-wide changes over the past dozen years. "All of which have made us stronger and more responsive to our clients," says Steckel President Faye Givler, who has been a part of the company for 22 years. "You have to step up and step forward. Hold tight to your strengths, but keep adapting." Company ProfileName: Steckel PrintingLocation: Lancaster, PAEmployees: 100Annual Sales: $12 millionKey Markets:

COMMACK, NY—While some printers are getting into prepress services, Spectragraphic Inc., headquartered here, is expanding beyond prepress services into sheetfed offset printing. "We realized that as the printing industry moved to all-digital workflows, we needed to make decisions on technology—both for now and in the future," comments Geoffrey Gough, co-founder and executive vice president. One such decision included the recent purchase of a new six-color, 40˝ Mitsubishi 3F press and a multimillion-dollar investment in Spectragraphic's imaging studio. This included the installation of fiber optic networks, the latest Silicon Graphics workstations. Currently in its 21st year of operation, Spectragraphic claims to have been among its

BY CHERYL A. ADAMS "Asleep" isn't the typical description of a 42-year-old, $50 million printing operation. But that's how Larry C. King, president and COO of the IntegraColor Group (formerly Horticultural Printers), fondly described his business...until two years ago, that is. "We've been referred to as a sleeping giant—but we're not sleeping anymore," says King, comparing the company's steady growth over the past decade (from $15 million in 1988 to $30 million in 1996) to its explosive 57-percent growth over the past two years. IntegraColor's self-imposed wake-up call came in the form of a "dedicated decision," which was made by the company's management team

BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO In this latest installment in Printing Impressions' yearlong CIP3 focus, BARCO Graphics reports on its company's push to digitize ink key settings—even before Heidelberg's spearheading of CIP3—and the attributes of InkPlanner, an option on BARCO's FASTRIP/B. Cutting costs. During press makereadies, valuable production time and paper are often wasted. Likewise, ink is an important cost factor in any commercial printing environment. Control over paper and control over ink are goals of every printer, especially those printing operations pursuing CIP3. An early member of the CIP3 consortium, BARCO Graphics recognized the need for tighter control over all consumables within the production environment. More specifically,

IRVINGTON, NJ—Back in business after a merger-gone-wrong, Michael Roesch, president of Stuyvesant Press (SPI), says he's just kicking into high gear, taking advantage of what he considers the opportunity of a lifetime. A nasty split-up almost cost him the 20-year-old, $2 million business he grew from (almost) scratch, but the outcome—SPI's recent successful reopening, after an 18-month hiatus—was worth the tribulations of the tumultuous (business) divorce. As the proud re-owner of a completely renovated, newly equipped commercial printing operation—which includes five presses headed up by a four-color, 40˝ Heidelberg Speedmaster perfector, a full bindery, an Intergraph high-end workstation with a full complement of Macs

In this age of mergers and acquisitions,Spencer Press stands alone. BY JERRY JANDA As companies like Consolidated Graphics and World Color continue to absorb plants across the country, printing purists may wonder what the future holds for the family-run businesses that form the backbone of our industry. Such purists should consider taking a trip to Spencer Press in picturesque Wells, ME. Name: Spencer PressLocation: Wells, MEEmployees: 650Annual Sales: $85 millionKey Markets: Catalogs, books, brochures, inserts and magazines.A family business since opening in 1940, Spencer Press is, and intends to remain, privately owned. So proclaims the company's second-generation leaders: brothers John E. Spenlinhauer III and Stephen P. Spenlinhauer. Chairman

Founded in 1973 with a handful of employees and one of the area's first four-color sheetfed presses, Smith Litho has since grown into a $38 million company servicing national and multinational customers. "We've far exceeded the expectations I had when we started," admits Charlie Smith, company founder and president. Before opening the company with Bill Hodges, co-owner and vice president, Smith had success in the industry. "But I wanted more," he says. "The company I worked with was afraid of color and high-quality work, but I saw the potential." He's been proven right. The Smith Litho staff has multiplied 40 times its original

BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO When it comes to the task of imposition, prepress managers are looking for integrated solutions—tools that can allow the adoption of an all-digital CTP environment. Why? The technological enhancement of digital imposition software, large-format computer-to-film devices and new launches in the CTP market have put greater emphasis on the role electronic imposition plays in moving to an all-digital domain. Factors encouraging new launches of imposition software encompass movements from in-RIP trapping, to the utilization of Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and Adobe PostScript 3, to full-scale automation the likes of CIP3. In more detail, catalysts for imposition software tools include the following

BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The seventh installment of Printing Impressions' ongoing focus on CIP3 visits ScriptWorks RIP manufacturer Harlequin, an early member of the CIP3 consortium. Currently in the final stages of beta testing a plug-in for CIP3's Print Production Format (PPF), Harlequin is working with its team of leading prepress OEMs to navigate the cutting edge of CIP3 developments. FACT: NO longer are components of a prepress environment expected to work as an independent module of a commercial printing operation. Instead, the electronic prepress department is called upon, more and more, to function as the first leg of an advanced digital journey that ends

CTP allows Quad/Graphics to break conventions—and break free from conventional plates. BY JERRY JANDA Quad/Graphics has set its eyes on the future, looking into the next century with 20/20 vision. Make that 20/20/20 vision. The company has vowed to reduce customers' cycle times by 20 percent each year for the next three years. This lofty goal has set Quad on a difficult path leading into the 21st century. Fortunately, the company's commitment to computer-to-plate (CTP) technology promises to make the trip less arduous. Call the journey "2001: A Plate Odyssey." Computer-to-plate meshes well with Quad's three-year plan. By removing steps from the prepress process,