NAPL

Banta Corp., Mensasha, WI, announced the appointment of David Engelkemeyer to vice president of worldwide operations. He assumes senior executive leadership responsibilities for all of Banta's manufacturing operations, which include the corporation's print, supply-chain management and healthcare facilities. Michael Sullivan has assumed the duties and office of president and general manager of Envelopes & More. He replaces his father, John Sullivan, who led the Bloomfield, CT-based company since its inception in 1990. He will remain with the organization in an advisory capacity. Kevin Rickard, vice president of operations at Rickard Bindery in Chicago, has been elected president of Binding Industries Association International (BIA) for

Misunderstanding surrounds the term "capacity" in our industry. Definition of this word has profound consequences for commercial printing. But I'm not sure that we're all singing from the same hymnal when we use that word. First, we speak of "capacity" in terms of hours of time in production centers. But we don't really mean hours of time—we mean units of throughput. But we don't really mean units of throughput because the length of runs is constantly changing—increasing or decreasing the number and complexity of machine changes. This increases or decreases the units of throughput that we can predict from a production center. It constantly

Canadian Printer Goes High-Tech EDMONTON, ALBERTA—McCallum Printing Group has launched a technologically advanced printing plant to satisfy its customers' needs. The company was developed from the ground up utilizing Heidelberg's most advanced tools. These include a Prinect workflow, a Heidelberg Topsetter P 102 with Satin screening, two Speedmaster 102-6+LX presses, a Stitchmaster ST100 stitcher and Polar 137ED cutting system. Hi-Liter Graphics, located in Burlington, WI, has promoted Angela Damon to vice president of finance and Lynn Breunig to information systems manager. Digital printer Top Graphics has announced the addition of four new shareholders and named Steve Kodner as company president. Tony Hennrich, Michael Hayes and Michael

By Harris DeWese Another wave of merger and acquisition activity is mounting in the printing industry. Soon it will sweep across the industry as never before. It began mid-year 2003 and is likely to continue for several years. This new era of consolidation will be of greater magnitude than previous periods. It will have a different impetus and many new characteristics. This surge is enabled by an improving economy, continuing low interest rates, buyers' pent-up demand for external growth, the difficulty associated with organic growth in printing and the catalytic effect of a handful of recent mega-deals. This new period of consolidation will

By Kristen E. Monte This past January, the Web Offset Association (WOA) concluded its search for a new executive director by naming Mary Garnett to the position. Garnett, who filled the open position created with the retirement of Tom Basore, took over on February 16. Garnett previously served as a vice president with Printing Industries of America (PIA) and, in addition to her duties as the new WOA executive director, she is also serving as GATF/PIA's senior staff member responsible for Special Interest Groups and Sections. In 1994, Garnett joined PIA as a director of education and moved up to vice president of education. She holds

By Erik Cagle At the age of 82, you would think that a day at the office for F. Edward Treis would be a weekly drop-by around 10 a.m. for a cup of coffee and some handshakes with the sales force before returning home shortly after noon. But the chairman of the board for Menomonee Falls, WI-based Arandell Corp. is hardly a figurehead. Sixty years after friends on a sailing holiday convinced him to give commercial printing a try, he is still involved with the day-to-day operations of the company. Suffice to say, the ship has long since sailed on Treis ever retiring. "I

Valentine's Day just passed. I'm a hopeless romantic and I went a little nuts with gifts for all the women in my life; one wife, three daughters and four granddaughters. Some people have said that I'm a "man's man." But, I'm confessin' that as I grow older, I'm getting more and more in touch with what some experts refer to as my "feminine side." It's got something to do with men's testosterone leaking out or evaporating or something. Whew! I'm glad to get that little tidbit off my chest. I have to be careful with the rest of this so as not to be

WESTAMPTON, NJ—MBO America President and CEO Hans Max and Vice President Hartmut Sohn welcomed 11 Chinese visitors for finishing equipment demonstrations and dialog at the MBO America headquarters here recently. Arranged by US-China Enterprises' New York branch, the guests represented five different printing companies and associations from China. COLUMBUS, GA—Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) has dedicated its printing plate manufacturing facility here as the Edward E. Barr Building. Barr was KPG's first chairman and served on the board of the company until 2003. He retired in 2002 as chairman of Sun Chemical Group, following a 40-year career with the company. Quad/Tech has added two sales

Printer Honored by Business Committee DALLAS—Donna Epps, Deloitte National Technology Partner and president of the board of directors of the Dallas Business Committee of the Arts, presented the 2003 Obelisk Award to David Torok, president and CEO of Padgett Printing, at a gala held recently at the new Latino Cultural Center. More than 40 members of the International Printers' Network (IPN) met recently at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) in Germany for three days of programs, including a two-day introduction to the company's latest digital printing and digital finishing technologies. The IPN members, who represented 27 companies from the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Iceland and

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Optimistic is the one word most often used to describe the outlook for commercial printing in 2004. And yet, as the last strains of "Auld Lang Syne" fade away, it's unlikely many printers will feel like breaking into a rousing chorus of "Happy Days Are Here Again." The bursting of the "irrational exuberance" bubble has led to a time of lowered expectations. Also, the recent performance of the printing industry means year-to-year comparisons are being made against a very weak base. If the economy tracks as expected—growing by around 3.5 percent next year—print markets should continue to