MARTINSBURG

MARTINSBURG, WV—Firefighters battled through the night to douse a press fire and clear out thick clouds of smoke at Quad/Graphics' plant here. No injuries were reported, but the smoke caused about $100,000 worth of damage, according to The Journal of Martinsburg, WV.

AS THE largest privately held printer of magazines, catalogs and other commercial products in the Western Hemisphere—and the third-largest printer, public or private, in the nation—Quad/Graphics employs more than 12,000 people worldwide in 10 core domestic printing plants, as well as operations in Poland, Argentina and Brazil. With a resumé like that, it’s no wonder that being “green” is extremely important to this mega printer.

OKLAHOMA CITY—Quad/Graphics has accelerated the timetable for launching its new gravure operations, located here. "We are encouraged by growing client interest in our newest location and confident that the timing is right to pull the trigger on gravure in Oklahoma City," says Tom Quadracci, president and CEO of Quad/Graphics. Two new 108˝ Cerutti gravure presses will be installed and made production-ready in 2004 rather than in 2005, as previously announced. The two gravure presses will complement the two web offset presses that will start up this summer when the company officially opens the facility. Currently, the printer is constructing Phase I to house its initial web offset

Line & Tone, Target MergeNEW YORK—A little more than a year since it acquired Finley Digital Photographics, Line & Tone, based here, announced that it is merging with Target Graphics, of Boonton, NJ. Target Graphics and its art creation subsidiary, MediaLogix, are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Line & Tone. The transaction will see Line & Tone move its Parsippany and Mahwah, NJ, operations into Target's Boonton facility. Quad/Graphics Expanding PlantsPEWAUKEE, WI—Gammerler, a manufacturer of in-line finishing systems, announced it has been chosen by Quad/Graphics, headquartered here, to supply overhead conveying systems for Quad plant expansions in Martinsburg, WV, Saratoga Springs, NY, as well

MARTINSBURG, WV—Fueled in part by a new contract to print National Geographic, Pewaukee, WI-based Quad/Graphics has embarked on a two-year, $600 million expansion program. The contract calls for the monthly production of 9 million copies of the magazine, primarily at Quad's facility here, but with support from the printer's network of plants in Wisconsin, New York and Georgia. In preparation for the new work, Quad will invest in new equipment and hire approximately 700 employees at the West Virginia facility, nearly doubling that plant's employment. Additions at the plant will include an 84,000-square-foot pressroom, bringing total floor space at the facility to nearly 1.1 million