Last November, I was invited to China by PrintBestBuy, a print management company that represents large Chinese printing companies. I toured about eight printing companies and met with many more printers during conferences held in three cities. I learned a lot. China is on the super-fast track in capitalism. The printing plants I toured were extremely impressive in plant size, tremendous amounts of affordable labor, cutting-edge technology and excellent print quality. Most of these companies have specialized in err, well, specialty printing – hand work, holograms, complex foil stamping, etc. They’ve got it goin’ on in many ways.
Perhaps the fact that I’m even mentioning
WASHINGTON, DC—June 8, 2007—The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced its affirmative preliminary determination in the ongoing anti-dumping (AD) investigation of imported Coated Free Sheet (CFS) paper, setting rates ranging from 23 to 99 percent in China, 0 to 30 percent in South Korea, and 10.85 percent in Indonesia. Following the March announcement of affirmative preliminary determinations of tariffs in the concurrent Countervailing Duties investigation, this is yet one more blow to domestic printers sure to be impacted by pricing and supply dynamics of the CFS paper market. The investigation was initiated by one U.S.-based paper supplier, NewPage Corporation; the industry as a whole
PITTSBURGH—June 7, 2007—The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) announced the formation of a Center for Lean Practices to assist members with the implementation of Lean Manufacturing practices. The Center will provide consulting, training, publications, and a speaker’s bureau. The association reports that printers are increasingly recognizing the power of applying quality systems to their operations in an effort to reduce defects, expose wasted resources, and improve throughput. Lean Manufacturing is one way for members to meet client demands for faster turnaround, and stay cost competitive while protecting profit margins, according to PIA/GATF. Lean’s focus on driving out waste is also seen as
Most of the thousand or more participants in printed electronics are attempting incremental improvements to existing products and missing the big picture. For example, faced with heavy losses on Liquid Crystal Displays LCD displays because of over capacity, many are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Organic Light Emitting Displays (OLEDs) with slightly better performance but still a rigid glass structure and minimal printing. This is rarely profitable either, as these displays are applied to the very price competitive applications such as television and mobile telephones. Startling new capabilities If we look at the big picture, we see that printed and even partially
LUXEMBOURG—June 4, 2007—The acquisition of Day International by Flint Group was completed on 31 May. Day International, a world leader in manufacturing and distributing printing blankets, sleeves, pressroom chemicals and printing supplies will operate as a business unit of Flint Group, the world’s largest privately-owned supplier to the printing, converting and colorant industries. Dennis Wolters, CEO of Day International will remain in that role within the new organization. The Day product portfolio is a strong complement to the existing Flint Group product line, and substantially increases Flint Group’s global position in the non-ink pressroom consumables market. In the combined organization, nearly 8300 employees
TOTOWA, NJ—June 4, 2007—The ownership of Spiral Binding Co., Inc. (“Spiral”), a leader in document finishing equipment and supplies, is proud to announce effective today it has acquired the James Burn North America (“JB”) division of James Burn International, now referred to as James Burn USA, LLC. Since 1907, JB has been a leader in wire products in North America and conceptualized the “Wire-O™ double loop binding wire.” Today James Burn USA, LLC manufactures wire and coil bindings in Poughkeepsie, NY and Atlanta, GA and with Spiral’s broad line of equipment and supplies, James Burn customers will have access to a wider range of
Remember the good old days when life used to be simple and relaxed? I am not talking about farming a few centuries ago, but about the printing industry—and, more specifically, paper. No one questioned your paper choice on an ecological basis 20 years ago. There was virgin paper and virgin paper, and that was that. Then came the recycling wave (not the first surge in the ’70s, when you could hardly print on recycled papers, but the ’90s wave). Then there was a “real” choice—virgin or recycled—and often at a premium price. But, all this still seems like the good old days compared to
In February, I talked a bit about how print service providers could use their color expertise as a marketing tool. Although I am not a color expert or a graphic designer, I do love the way colors work with each (or, hate it when they don’t). In my spare time, when I am not writing columns for Printing Impressions, I am also a fiber artist, weaving, spinning and doing needlework. So, because of my dual interest in the craft of printing and the craft of fiber arts, I like to keep my eye on the latest color trends. You would think that with all of
On the last day of this month, I will be 65. And, dammit, I’m still not grown up. I still don’t know what I wannabe when I grow up.
This is sad. I ask myself: “How am I defined?”
Ever wonder how you are defined? It’s scary to think about.
When I finish this column, I will have written 251 “DeWese on Sales” columns for PRINTING IMPRESSIONS magazine. Does that define me as a columnist?
I owned the Marple Crawdads semi-pro baseball team, coached more than 1,000 baseball games and won nearly 80 percent of the games. That’s better than the win percentages of Connie Mack
If I were to ask you, “what is the fourth most populous nation after China, India and the USA?” you might say Brazil or Russia or Germany, but how many of you would say “Indonesia”? Well, with 225 million people, Indonesia is the fourth largest nation in terms of population. If I were to ask you, “what are the 10 fastest growing print markets in the world”? Most everyone would include the BRIC nations, Brazil, Russia, India and China, but would you pick Indonesia as no. 7 with a growth rate expected to be 56.6% over the 2006-2011 timeframe? Indonesia is growing even faster
