ND

BISMARCK, ND—Image Printing, based here, and Knight Printing of Fargo, ND, have combined their workforce and technology, according to The Bismarck Tribune. The move also sees the closing of Richtman's Printing office. Knight Printing had acquired Richtman's Printing on March 1; about 80 percent of its employees will be absorbed into Image Printing.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) plans to close its regional printing plant here this month and contract the printing of its newspaper, along with the weekly Barron’s, to The Des Moines Register, that paper reported. The current WSJ plant, which employs 25 people, produced editions for a four-state area.

BY CHRIS BAUER Just ask a manufacturer of spiral wire or plastic coil binding equipment the advantages that their products have over other finishing techniques, and you will get a laundry list of answers. Sure, some of the benefits they will give you will be self-promoting marketing speak, but this kind of horn tooting has to be expected. But, on the other hand, some of the attributes spiral wire and plastic coil binding gear give to a finishing specialist certainly are practical for some applications. "Undoubtedly, the greatest advantage of spiral binding is that when opened, the book lays flat," explains David Spiel of Long