Printing Shop Talk
Lisa Cross and Bill Esler offer Letters to Editor, reports on the print industry conferences and tradeshows and miscellaneous musings.
Mulcahy: 'Stay Close to Customers'
How can printing firms drive results in today’s down economy? Do what Xerox does: First and foremost, "stay close to your customers—especially now," advises Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, speaking at a luncheon held yesterday in Chicago. Statistics show that most companies that are able to retain 5% of their customers show a 25% bottom-line profit, she says. By contrast, ...... Read More
Comments (1)Texas Trade Print for 4over
On Friday, I was one of more than 100 people "braving" 75-degree temperatures (above zero!) to attend the grand opening ceremonies of 4over, Inc.’s 50,000-sq.ft. plant in Arlington, TX, near Dallas—the $80-million trade printer’s sixth manufacturing site. Some 25 employees have been hired there, with about 25 more to go. Its two new Komori Lithron ...... Read More
Comments (8)Ascend to the Great White North
If you’re a short-run printer who didn’t make it to Chicago for Graph Expo last month, consider heading north to Toronto next week for North America’s fourth largest print industry trade show. Print World, running at the Direct Energy Centre November 22-24, bills itself as the only show in North America with an exclusive focus on shorter run printing—including large-for ...... Read More
Comments (2)Pay My Mortgage
Home mortgages underwater–what’s that got to do with printing? Something, I would suspect, for the small businesses that predominate in our industry. Houses are pledged, or at the very least, personal finances are assessed, when loans and leases are given. There are 7.2 million mortgage holders in the U.S. who owe more than their homes are worth; there are 2 million m ...... Read More
Comments (1)Inkjet-printing Good Taste
One of the hottest (and most yummy) giveaways at the Graph Expo show last week was a buttery shortbread cookie iced with the October front-cover image from Graphic Arts Monthly magazine. Basically, the baked dough is a rigid substrate that, well, crumbles a bit. Inkjet printheads move over the tasty novelties produced at Freedom Bakery & Confections (FB&C) in Cali ...... Read More
Comments (2)Economic Myths Debunked
A working paper authored by three economists for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis reports that four claims about the nation’s current finanical crisis appear to be myths. The findings of the research paper, based on data up until Oct. 15, report: •Bank lending to corporate America and individuals has not declined. •Lending between banks has not dried up. •Commerc ...... Read More
Comments (0)On the Road Again ...
Only five days after Graph Expo, the team from GFI Innovations packed up its bus and headed west to visit printers in Iowa yesterday—first, the Quad Cities and Des Moines, then it’s on to Omaha, Wichita and Kansas City, pushing westward to the Pacific Coast. (The colorful RV, shown above, made a stop at Graphic Arts Online’s offices in suburban Chicago on its way out of t ...... Read More
Comments (1)Graph Expo: 6 Days and Counting ...
As the Graph Expo countdown continues, there is less than a week left until the print industry’s big North American tradeshow gets under way in Chicago. In the past month, the editorial staff of Graphic Arts Monthly and Graphic Arts Online has been inundated with e-mail and phone calls inviting us to attend the myriad press conferences, luncheon meetings, booth tours and ...... Read More
Comments (0)Ricoh to Launch Digital Press at GraphExpo
Ricoh will launch its 90-ppm Pro C900 color digital press for production printing environments at GraphExpo. The device uses pulverized toner for what Ricoh believes will provide a wider color gamut and improved fusibility, and outputs at 1200-dpi resolution on thick paper (up to 300 gsm) and even coated stock, supporting 12.6×17.7´´ images on sheets up 13×19´´. Showi ...... Read More
Comments (0)Are They Really a Trade Printer?
Bill Shippee of Shawnee (KS) Copy Center, Inc., a concerned printer and reader, e-mailed GAM’s publisher last Friday regarding an ad insert in the September issue. The subject line of the correspondence reads ‘Stooped So Low:’ Says Bill: When I received my recent copy of Graphic Arts Monthly, I noticed an insert for Next Day Flyers. Maybe they have inserted before ...... Read More
Comments (0)GRAPH EXPO: Variable-data Print Done Right
Yesterday, I received 5.5×8.5" full-color postcard promoting digital print at next month’s Graph Expo show. The personalized mailer’s bold text addresses me by first name, and an image of a race car has my company name on the hood. While it’s a nice touch, it’s really no big deal these days.The cool part is how the printed piece is integrated with an offer for ...... Read More
Comments (4)Mailers Open House Appears Bullet-proof
Danbury, CT—Despite a recessionary economy and more severe weather threatening the Eastern seaboard, the number of customers and prospects doubled earlier this week at Pitney Bowes’ fifth annual open house. Only about 150 showed up last year, but 300 people—about 55 of them from commercial printiing and lettershop companies—came to the 2008 two-day event , the ...... Read More
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