Print Solutions November 2006
INDUSTRY NEWS
Metro Label, Ambassador Envelope to Close Operations
Metro Label Corp. closed its four locations in Atlanta; Santa Fe Springs,
Calif.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Garland, Texas, on Nov. 3. In April 2005,
MLC Holding Corporation, which owns Metro Label, The Vallis Companies, and
other printing-related subsidiaries, closed three Vallis Form Service plants,
catching several distributors off guard. The plants, located in Baltimore, Md.;
Cherryvale, Kan.; and Chicago, were part of The Vallis Companies led by CEO
Scott Metko.
Ambassador Envelope, a manufacturer in O’Fallon, Mo., also is closing. An employee said that the company informed the
staff of its decision on Nov. 3. Employees weren't expecting the envelope manufacturer to close, said the employee, who didn’t comment on the reason behind the company’s decision. Ambassador Envelope has stopped accepting new orders; jobs received
prior to Nov. 3 will be completed and delivered to customers, the employee
said. CEO David Driscoll could not be reached for comment.
Deluxe to Acquire Commercial Printing Enterprise
Deluxe Corp. purchased the assets of The Johnson Group, a commercial printer,
and its affiliated companies. The Johnson Group is headquartered in Rockford,
Ill., and employs 130 people. Deluxe said that the group's custom, full-color and digital printing services, and emerging web-to-print
technology fit its growth plans. The company paid $16.5 million as part of the
transaction. The Johnson Group will continue to operate under its current names
and will remain headquartered in Rockford.
Document Security Systems to Launch Bar Code Protection Technology
Document Security Systems Inc. introduced a bar code printing method for
consumer products and tickets that protects the bar code from duplication,
forgery and counterfeiting. The system can be printed as part of the normal
package printing process.
NIC Opens Facility in California
National Imprint Corp. (NIC) opened a new facility in Yorba Linda, Calif. NIC
now has four facilities in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and South
Carolina.
“The addition of this new facility will allow us to better service our
distributors' need for envelope and stationery products on the West Coast and provide them
with a manufacturer to handle national programs,
” said Casey Campbell, president and CEO. The facility’s address is: National Imprint Corporation California, 23281 La Palma Ave.,
Yorba Linda, CA 92887. Call (866) 582-8311 or (800) 620-4371 (fax).
Ward/Kraft Announces Winners
Ward/Kraft Inc. announced winners of a drawing held at their WK Coffee Blog
booth at Print Solutions 2006. The company sponsored the contest to promote the
networking theme of the event. If the winner was a DMIA member, then he or she
received free registration for the 2007 Spring Technology Conference, May 2-5
at the La Quinta Resort and Club, Palm Springs, Calif. If the winner was a
non-DMIA member, Ward/Kraft paid for the company's first year of membership dues.
Winners included Mary Schwegman of Acct-Forms Cons, Bobbie Elbert of Vintage Printing, Dinesh Patel of Advance Instant Printing
Co., John Loftis of Innovative Business Products Inc., Karen Bridges of Bank
& Business Solutions, and Shelly Wohler of Quality Resource Group Inc.
USPS Proposes New Mailing Standards
The U.S. Postal Service proposed revised mailing standards to encourage mail
preparation that's compatible with its improved processing capabilities. The standards give
customers more choices in terms of shape, sorting, packaging and containers.
The proposal also increases sharing opportunities for mailers, allows them to
qualify for lower prices by permitting multiple classes of mail to be combined,
and reduces the number of bundles, sacks or trays in a mailing through scheme
sorting for letters, flats and parcels. The standards will accompany the
proposed price changes planned to take effect next spring.
Bernadette Under New Ownership
Bernadette Print Group, formerly Bernadette Business Forms, was purchased by St.
Louis businessman J. Paul Behrens. Brian Curran has been appointed the company's general manager. Barry Korman, former owner of Jet Envelope, is the sales
manager, and Rick Niehaus is the marketing director. Under the new leadership,
the company has invested in equipment such as automatic color control systems
and register units to improve quality, and a turret rewind unit for jumbo
rolls. The manufacturer will soon install an 8-color Mark Andy flexographic
printer.
R.R. Donnelley Buys Printing Operations
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company signed a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian Bank Note
Company's financial printing assets and operations that include service facilities in
Toronto and Montreal. The all-cash deal is expected to close in September.
“This acquisition gives us a strong and immediate geographic presence in Canada’s fast growing business and financial sectors,” the company said. R.R. Donnelley’s Financial Services serves financial centers across 42 countries. The Canadian
Bank Note Company supplies printed products and related issuing and control
systems in lottery, identification, payment and shareholder services.
Standard Register Opens Facility in Mexico
Standard Register opened its new facility in Monterrey, Mexico. The plant is
designed to increase customer support to businesses that have manufacturing
operations in Mexico. Standard Register de Mexico, a wholly-owned international
subsidiary of Standard Register, will have a 30,000-square-foot production and
service facility that will provide labels, warehousing, kitting and on-demand
printing. It will employ 30 employees, including bilingual support staff.
Deluxe Launches Online Check Resource Center
Deluxe Corp. launched an online check resource center to help financial
institutions and small businesses adjust to recent changes to NACHA rules. The
rules can affect the way checks are processed, but don't alter the check-writing experience for individual and business customers.
Effective Sept. 15, 2006, the first change established guidelines for
identifying business checks ineligible for conversion to electronic
transactions, including distinguishing code lines and limits on check value.
Effective March 16, 2007, the second change introduces back-office conversion
(BOC), a new check processing application. BOC allows most consumer and
business checks accepted at registers, lockboxes or manned bill-payment
locations to be processed together in a central back office.
Additionally, the company said it has hired Richard S. Greene to become its CFO,
succeeding Terry Peterson, who has been serving as interim CFO since May 2006.
Georgia-Pacific to Sell 6 Mills
Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Roseburg Forest Products Co. announced that they have
reached an agreement on the sale of six Georgia-Pacific industrial wood
products mills to Roseburg. The mills are located at Eupora, Louisville, Oxford
and Taylorsville, Miss.; Russellville, S.C.; and Vienna, Ga. The acquisition,
scheduled to be complete by Dec. 1, will make Roseburg one of the largest
manufacturers of particleboard products in the country. Approximately 750
employees work at the mills and Roseburg plans to hire the existing workforce.
EFI to Acquire Jetrion
EFI, a supplier of digital controllers, super-wide format ink jet printers and
inks, and print management solutions, signed an agreement to acquire privately
held Jetrion LLC, a subsidiary of Flint Group Incorporated, for approximately
$40 million in cash. Jetrion specializes in digital printing and provides ink
jet systems, custom high-performance integration solutions and specialty inks
to the converting, packaging and direct mail industries. EFI expects the
transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to certain closing
conditions.
