NEW YORK—Looking for a safe investment for your portfolio? You might want to diversify into printing company stocks. The Associated Press quoted a Longbow Research analyst as saying the commercial printing industry may be a safe sector to invest in amid a general market experiencing volatility. Analyst Piyush Sharma, in a client note, said that commercial printing shipment growth is largely stable, “making the group a strong contender for inclusion in a defensive and moderate-risk portfolio.” He added that the graphic arts industry is “relatively attractive during a lean economic environment,” the AP reported. According to Sharma, commercial printing companies outperformed the broader market during the last
It seems that nobody wants to talk about the bindery. . .except perhaps the many NPES member companies that manufacture and market these solutions to the printing industry. After all, the bindery just isn’t sexy like the pressroom or prepress departments. Talk is one thing, but action is more important. Are printers investing in new bindery and finishing technology? If not, why not? After all, many people claim that the bottleneck in the print workflow is the bindery. Nothing goes out the door and gets billed until it’s cut, folded, perffed, diecut, foil stamped, embossed, stitched or bound, stuffed or mailed or shipped to
NORCROSS, GA—August 30, 2007—Unisource Worldwide, Inc., one of the leading distributors of paper, packaging and facility supplies in North America, has joined The Print Council, a Washington, D.C.-based national business development organization dedicated to promoting greater use of printing and print media. The Print Council Executive Director Ben Cooper welcomed Unisource as a new member of the council, which serves the industry by working to develop, maintain and expand the market for printed materials through education, awareness, market development, advocacy and research. “We fully support The Print Council’s mission and look forward to working with other members to promote the industry,” said Ed Farley, Unisource Vice
UK start up company Polymertronics is developing a new nanotechnology that will allow digital inkjet printing and instant curing of flexible electronic components. One application is embedded organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and touch sensitive interactive panels that can be used to enhance poster advertising campaigns. This unique technology will enable the production of advertising posters containing ‘pre-printed’ light displays, with zero lead time for production as the process utilizes existing printing press technology. An enhanced memorable experience can be created by advertising a product through a flashing interactive poster. Lights can be made to flash in any desired sequence and scrolling text displays
TETERBORO, NJ—August 27, 2007—Superior Printing Ink, Co., Inc., the largest supplier of commercial sheetfed inks in North America, is pleased to announce it has hired two key employees to serve in its sales and technical areas. The company has appointed Daniel C. Maffeo as Vice President, Sales. Maffeo’s responsibilities include managing Superior’s national field sales organization and manufacturer representatives. He works closely with Superior’s regional, district, and branch operations managers. His responsibilities also include overseeing marketing and communications for the company. He reports to James La Rocca, Senior Vice President, Sales & Operations. Maffeo joins Superior after a 20-year career with Fuji Photo Film, where he
DAYTON, OH—August 28, 2007—WorkflowOne announced today that its Goshen, Ind. plant passed a milestone last month, marking one million man-hours - more than four years - without a lost-time accident. The Goshen facility joins over 20 other WorkflowOne plants and warehouses that have gone more than a year without a lost-time accident. WorkflowOne is a leading provider of print and promotional products and supply chain management services across the U.S. The Goshen plant manufactures labels, business forms and other printed items that help organizations operate more efficiently. “Employee safety is a major focus at WorkflowOne,” said Mark Harper, manager of environmental, health, safety and security
One of the fun parts of my job is to reveal what print buyers think. And sometimes their views surprise print suppliers (and therefore provide me with a modicum of job security). This was the case last week when I asked printers and print buyers separately about the value of printers’ equipment lists.
Most printers believe that, on average, print buyers are less educated than they used to be. While that may be the case, it’s also assumed that today’s print buyer doesn’t have much knowledge of print equipment or isn’t as interested in a printer’s equipment list.
According to last week’s Print Buyers
While the amount of information that we digitally process ever increases many people still prefer to read from paper rather than electronic displays even though the cost is greater with printing. Many companies are developing electronic paper, which combine the desirable viewing characteristics of conventional printed paper with the ability to manipulate the displayed information electronically. Electronic paper based on the electrophoretic motion of particles inside small capsules has been demonstrated and commercialized; but the response speed of such a system is rather slow, limited by the velocity of the particles. Electrowetting Philips Research in Eindhoven, the Netherlands have demonstrated that electrowetting is an
Overall, Europe may be losing the race for the huge new business of printed electronics and the rejuvenation of society that it will bring. This is despite having far more academic institutions than East Asia working on the subject, the number being somewhat ahead of North America as well. That is a possible conclusion from the new IDTechEx report Organic and Printed Electronics in Europe which analyses and compares the activities of 248 European organizations in the sector. Consider the patents scene. Analyst Cintelliq has issued a report “Inventors 2003-2005” - an analysis of inventors of organic semiconductor patents. See www.cintelliq.com for further details.
WASHINGTON DC—August 21, 2007—The Print Council announced the launch of Print in the Mix: a Clearinghouse of Research on Print Media Effectiveness, a web-based clearinghouse of information and research on the effectiveness of print in advertising and marketing. Published by the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Printing Industry Center and funded by The Print Council, Print in the Mix (http://printinthemix.rit.edu/) is a collection of statistical information and research on all areas of print including direct mail, magazines, custom publishing, newspapers, etc. “This is a very exciting and useful portal into the world of print for all those who study, design, create, evaluate and use
