manroland Inc.

Enovation Graphic Systems announced the formation of Arkin Graphics, which will be based in Flushing, NY. The new company was created to acquire the graphic arts products distribution business from Arkin-Medo Inc. As an Enovation company, Arkin Graphics will continue to serve the companies and customers that Arkin-Medo established over the past 80 years. Creo Inc. has appointed Jonathan Agger as product marketing manager for scanning solutions in North America and Latin America. He has held positions with Agfa, Polaroid Graphic Imaging and Sprockets.com. Screen (USA) is marking its 35th anniversary with an assessment of its success in satisfying its customers and providing quality products. Results

BY MARK MICHELSON Given the lingering economic malaise, representatives of sheetfed and web offset press manufacturers exhibiting at Graph Expo & Converting Expo 02 in Chicago last month—understandably—may have felt a bit under the weather leading up to the show. Any salesperson trying to reach his/her quota selling printing presses knows that the past 12 to 24 months have been a real headache. Would customers and prospects even come to the show and, more importantly, would printers there be feeling healthy enough to make capital equipment purchases? To the surprise of many exhibitors, attendee traffic was brisk, especially the opening day and throughout the

By Mark Michelson SEWICKLEY, PA—The weather was warm and the leaves still green on trees blanketing the hills surrounding the headquarters of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF), located just outside of Pittsburgh. But Christmas still came early with the official dedication of its recently donated four-color, 38˝ MAN Roland Rotoman heatset commercial web press equipped with auxiliaries gifted from several manufacturers. Held September 19th, the "Webtoberfest" celebration—complete with German fare, oompah music, and an assortment of German Octoberfest beers and wine—was attended by about 350 industry dignitaries, including GATF board members and staff, industry suppliers, association execs, as well as a special delegation from

BY ERIK CAGLE The way Michael Simon sees it, retirement is not a light at the end of the tunnel. The executive vice president and co-owner of Publishers Press is already there, so to speak. He's 42 years of age, enjoying the best that retirement has to offer without being retired. "I was blessed with the opportunity to do something I love," says Simon, who is one of the youngest executives elected into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame as part of the 2002 class. "When you truly enjoy what you do, work is less a challenge and more like a

The Queen's Award for the overseas sales of book printing presses was presented to Timsons Ltd. at a ceremony at the company's UK headquarters recently. It was attended by all of the company's employees and almost 100 guests. After the reading of the citation, the Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, Lady Juliet Townsend, presented a scroll to Timsons' Managing Director Peter Brown and a commemorative engraved rose bowl to Jane Brown, director and granddaughter of the company founder. Polly USA, previously the independent distributor with the exclusive right to market Polly sheetfed offset presses in the United States and Canada, has been acquired by the

CALIFORNIA CITY OF COMMERCE—Ross Bindery has purchased a Best Osako 368 AutoSet saddle stitcher from Best Graphics. The unit is the company's 13th Osako and the third 368 Ross has installed in the past several months. COSTA MESA—Western Litho has installed a new Rollem TR die-score system. A new addition to the company's bindery department, the TR system is used for scoring, perfing, trimming and right-angle processing. OXNARD—Custom Printing Director of Sales Charles Utts announced that the company plans to expand its plant after acquiring an additional 5,000 square feet of manufacturing floor space and sales offices. SAN CARLOS—A Presstek Dimension 200 thermal

Richard Mascola has been appointed regional sales manager for MAN Roland's commercial web division, overseeing a territory that includes the Midwest and Manitoba, Canada. Mascola will be based in the Chicago area. For the past four years, Mascola served as regional sales manager of American Roller Co. Also, Michael Lake, a 20-year veteran of the graphic arts industry, has joined MAN Roland as a district sales manager in Minnesota and North and South Dakota. Previously, Lake served for 16 years with the Gannett Co. in a variety of executive positions. American Binding Co., based in Miami Beach, recently announced that it has merged with Italian-based

CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE—The County of Riverside has installed a two-color, 173⁄4x223⁄4˝ Sakurai 258EIIZ press. SACRAMENTO—Dome Printing has tripled the speed of its soft cover book binding capabilities with the August installation of a new 21-pocket Muller Martini Corona perfect binding system. The company now has the ability to utilize Polyurethane Reactive (PUR) glues, especially for the production of lay-flat books. SAN FRANCISCO—Flexible packaging company Lithotype has implemented CRC Information Systems' business management software "THE System." COLORADO LOVELAND—Rocky Mountain region sheetfed printer Vision Graphics has successfully implemented the Printcafe Hagen OA print management system. CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT—Millennium Graphics has signed an agreement with CRC Information Systems

BY CHRIS BAUER While production is a major factor for any finishing operation, one place where speed and productivity can take a backseat is in the paper cutting area—here safety comes first. And, according to leading paper cutter manufacturers, safety is their number one priority, as well. "Safety standards for paper cutters have evolved over the years, forcing manufacturers to incorporate many different elements such as photo eyes, redundant circuitry and special guarding," remarks Jeff Marr, vice president of sales for Colter & Peterson. Currently, the largest industry trend, according to Mark Pellman, marketing manager for Baum Corp., indeed is safety related—the recent

BY CHRIS BAUER When operating today's printing gear, especially new, digitally based hardware and software, there are advantages to having contemporaries to bounce ideas off of, or to have someone that you can share information with on best practices. Industry user groups offer just that type of educational and networking opportunity. Several user groups exist in the printing industry, designed to allow users of common equipment or software to network with one another, to receive training, as well as to provide valuable feedback to their vendors. The Heidelberg Digital Imaging Association (HDIA), for example, is an independent organization of printing, publishing and related graphic