Printing Impressions January 2014 Edition
2014 Hot Markets: Packaging, Pharma Head List
This year (2014) will bring our industry back to 2005, but not sentimentally. Sales will decline 4 percent to the level of nine years ago, but smart printers chasing hot markets should experience positive growth. The losers will be lazy competitors who wait for a recovery that will not occur.
Across the Nation
Commercial printer equipment installations and other news from Printing Impressions’ January 2014 edition, featuring Impress/DC Media, GLS Cos., Japs-Olson Co., Creel Printing
Betty Ewens Quadracci, 75, Co-Founded Quad/Graphics
Quad/Graphics Inc. announced that company co-founder and long-time board member Betty Ewens Quadracci died Dec. 9 at her home in Wisconsin. Recognized as the matriarch of Quad/Graphics, Mrs. Quadracci co-founded the company in 1971 with her late husband, Harry V. Quadracci.
Bits and Pieces: Printers Can Rise to Occasion
As the pressman leans into a Heidelberg sheetfed machine, the voiceover intones, "You've reached the age where you've learned a thing or two." Sadly, getting the Heidelberg moving may be among our hero's core competencies, but getting the 'ol Evinrude cranking, apparently, is quite another matter.
Canada Post to Phase Out Home Delivery, Raise Postage
Canada Post has unveiled a five-point action plan designed to help the agency save as much as C$900 million per year and regain financial stability by 2019. As part of the plan, home delivery will be phased out and the cost of postage stamps will increase at least 35 percent.
Digital Digest: Konica Minolta Helps Shape The Future at Dealer Event
With the tagline "Shape the Future. Strategy. Passion. Leadership," Konica Minolta hosted roughly 1,100 attendees representing 334 dealerships at its 2013 Konica Minolta Business Conference and Product Expo, which was held at the posh Venetian/Palazzo Resort in Las Vegas from Nov. 17-20. The 2013 event also happened to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the merger bewteen Konica and Minolta.
Edwards Brothers Malloy: Making Change Their Friend
For those printers that ply their craft in the book manufacturing industry, change has become a fact of life. "Our company is 120 years old, but we've probably seen more changes in the last five years than we had in the previous 115," observes John Edwards, president and CEO of Edwards Brothers Malloy, a book and journal printing specialist based in Ann Arbor, MI.
Farquharson/Tedesco on Business Development: Do/Don't Leave That Voicemail
A good voicemail message can deliver value and exhibit professionalism. You can be memorable and remarkable. You can also be deleted faster than one of Dr. Evil's henchmen. Perhaps this is a generational issue. Many twentysomethings will tell you that they have no time or interest in voicemail messages, either leaving them or listening to them.
Imagine! Print Solutions Acquires Pair of NC Firms
Imagine! Print Solutions of Minneapolis, has strengthened its holdings with the acquisition of two Charlotte, NC-based providers of print and marketing solutions, including renown firm Classic Graphics. All combined, Imagine! Print Solutions will approach $300 million in annual sales.
On-Demand Printing Is Shifting to Inkjet –Michelson
Wondering whether inkjet printing capabilities make sense for your business today, or perhaps further down the road? Then be sure to check out our production inkjet printing special report, which begins on page 30 in this issue. There, several of today’s leading digital printing thought leaders discuss the current state of the market and what a printer should consider before taking the plunge into the inkjet pool.
Printer News
Commercial printer company and personnel news from Printing Impressions’ January 2014 edition, featuring CCG Marketing Solutions, Universal Wilde, Copy Craft Printers, Bookmasters, GLS Cos.,
Production Inkjet Printing: Ready for Prime-Time for Commercial, Package Printers?
The current prevailing theory is that direct mail, books and transactional work are the holy trinity of the production inkjet digital printing church, and you won't get any arguments. Those three sectors have been transformed by production inkjet technology. But there are murmurs, rumblings of a fertile ground beyond the big three that will open the door for commercial printing, package printing and beyond.
RIT: Top Bidder for Historic Albion Hand Printing Press
The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has added a historic piece of iron to its collection of antique printing machines after notching the winning bid of $233,000 at auction for a Kelmscott/Goudy Albion iron hand press, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Supplier News
Commercial printing industry supplier company and personnel news from Printing Impressions’ January 2014 edition, featuring William B. Rudow Inc. and Star Packing & Supply, PriscoDigital, Bell and Howell, Rochester Software Associates,
The Survey Says...Next 'Big Things' in 2014
As business plans for 2014 are put into action, the key challenge for print service providers will be to find the right combination of "new" and traditional services to better serve customers and grow business. Printing companies need to take action to find that balance and pursue new growth opportunities. 2014 promises to be a year of innovation in core, ancillary and new services, as providers look to harvest and profit from the "next big thing."
Upfront
Commercial Printing Industry News Briefs from Printing Impressions’ January 2014 edition, including North American Publishing Co., Harland Clarke Holdings (HCH) and Valassis, NAPL and AMSP, Bang Printing, IWCO Direct, RR Donnelley and Consolidated Graphics,
