Canadian Printer E-Newsletter

On Friday, March 30th, the U.S. Department of Commerce made a decision to impose duties of 10% to 20% on coated freesheet paper imported from Chinese producers based on what it considers to be unfair subsidies provided to the paper manufacturers.

Already China is objecting to the ruling and this decision against China could have far-reaching effects into many other industries.

The coated paper tariffs are a reaction to a petition launched last October by Ohio-based NewPage Corp. (formerly MeadWestvaco's Papers Group).

From 2005 to 2006, imports of coated free sheet paper products from China have more than doubled in Canada and the U.S., and according to industry sources, the coated paper market along the U.S. West Coast is almost exclusively supplied by Asian imports today.

Imposing tariffs, using either antidumping laws (when products are being sold below the exporter's domestic prices or below cost) or the countervailing-duty laws (which are used when imports are being subsidized unfairly by the exporter's home government) are designed to protect industry at home, and the North American paper manufacturing business has been taking a beating.

Mass consolidation among mills and machine shut downs are the result of low profits in most sectors, due in part to declining demand and low-cost imports.

Some industry analysis has suggested that Canadian printers will now have a competitive advantage over U.S. counterparts since paper imports to Canada will not experience the duty being levied in the U.S.

Politically it could place Canada in a tight position. The fact is there is little if any coated freesheet manufacturing in Canada to protect via levies, so why should Canada go along?

Last night at an Ontario Printing and Imaging Association meeting in Toronto, guest speaker Michael Makin, the Canadian-born president and CEO of the Printing Industries of America/GATF, voiced his opposition to the imposed duties, saying printers should be free to source low-cost materials from wherever they can, and the new tariff is placing American printers at a disadvantage. Makin did acknowledge the advantage for Canadian printers and suggested it would be a good time for shops North of the border to consider partnering with U.S. counterparts to leverage the cost savings on products printed on these papers.

Printers are reading the paper, or are they. According to our poll, 58% of our respondents read the paper daily and another third read the paper at least weekly. Only 8% claimed to never read the paper.

"It astounds me that any printer does not read a newspaper on a consistent basis—you make your money on printing paper yet you do not read the paper!!! Incredible!" noted one reader.

Another replied, "I actually read the paper online, so I guess that means I don't really read the paper. But I do it daily."

Disruptive New Inkjet Technology
Three weeks ago, at the Global Ink Jet Printing Conference in Prague, a new technology announcement by Silverbrook Research raised some eyebrows and set the stage for breaking down inkjet price and performance barriers in the printing industry.
The Memjet technology, comprised of printheads, driver chips and ink, promises to print full-colour pages at 60 ppm. The print heads are 1 x 20-mm silicon chips that can be stitched together. Each chip contains 6,400 nozzles (a four-inch head would have 32,000 nozzles). According to the company, the nozzle density is 17 times higher than current leading printhead designs. The technology prints at 1600 dpi and is scalable from 20mm to more than two meters wide.
Initially the printheads will be incorporated into products targeting the home office, photo-kiosk and label markets. According to the manufacturer, an office-quality 60 ppm Memjet-based printer is expected to retail for under $300, and the ink pricing is expected to be reasonable. www.memjet.com. For more commentary check out this article on Physorg.com http://www.physorg.com/news94216504.html

One Year Print Diploma
In response to industry demand, Algonquin College in Ottawa has compressed its Print Media diploma program from two years to 45 weeks. "Employers told us that they need our graduates, so we have reformatted the program to offer the same skills training and field work, but in less time," notes Linda Cooke, Chair of Design Studies.
Students receve hands-on and theoretical training in graphic design, prepress and offset printing. The new schedule begins this September.
algonquincollege.com

CPIA Happy With Budget Speech
The Canadian Printing Industries Association (CPIA) was pleased with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget speech, lauding faster write downs on machinery and depreciation on computer equipment. Machinery purchased on or after March 19, 2007 and before 2009 will be subject to a two year write off, and the depreciation rate for computer equipment was increased to 55% from 45%. Additionally, printers will benefit from an increase in the capital cost allowance for manufacturing facilities, increased from 4% to 10%.

Enviro Packaging Course
As a sign of pressure on packagers to go green, this past September Wal-Mart announced plans to measure its 60,000 worldwide suppliers on their ability to develop sustainable packaging and conserve natural resources.
In response to changes like this, the Packaging Association of Canada (PAC) is partnering with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) in the U.S. to develop a new program of study. "PAC has endorsed the SPC vision and approach as a process by which the Canadian packaging community can contribute to the green movement," says Jim Downham, CEO of PAC.
PAC has contracted Walter Soroka Associates of Brantford, Ontario to work with SPC and PAC in developing the curriculum.

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The ideal candidate for the Sales Support Specialist Digital Printing role will have 3-5 years of sales experience in a digital printing environment, with exposure to a mixed offset/digital printing plant or been involved in the transition of a business from a pure offset to an offset/digital printing business. An individual with digital printing equipment sales experience will also be considered.

The ideal candidate for the Technical Service Support Specialist Digital Printing role will have either production experience in a digital printing environment (including variable data marketing tools and digital store fronts) or have a tremendous aptitude for the digital printing environment and how it differs from offset printing. This role will involve pre-sales demonstration, sample preparation and post sales professional services training at customer sites.

The ideal candidate for the Technical Service Support Specialist Inkjet will have production experience in a display printing environment (including media handling and colour management). Attitude and ability to work closely with the Sales Support Specialist Inkjet is essential. This role will involve pre-sales demonstration, product/media/ink testing, field support of customer ink/media issues and post sales professional services training at customer sites.

Paragraph Meets Goliath

The Montreal print market has experienced another major merger following the March 18th announcement that Impression Paragraph and Imprimerie Goliath (a division of Groupe Com2) have joined forces.

The two printing companies, with combined sales of over $15 million, bring together digital and offset printing capabilities. "Our development plan allowed for this growth phase," said Martin Lépine, president of Impression Paragraph and the newly merged company.

"Our strategic growth plan has enabled us to envisage a number of scenarios," added Alain David, president of Groupe Com2 and executive vice president of the new printing plant. "For close to two years now, we have put a lot of energy into repositioning the company after a new focus on added value at our printing plant started to bear fruit."

A Rhino in Stampede City

Richmond, B.C.'s Rhino Print Solutions has extended its expansion plans out of province with the acquisition of Calgary's Ideal Printing Company.
In the January/February issue of Canadian Printer David Allan, president and CEO of Rhino Print Solutions, laid out the company's intentions to double the size of its Richmond printing plant and install a new 12-colour 40-inch Heidelberg press. It appears now that added capacity could be needed to accommodate work generated at its new location in booming Alberta.
Rhino has maintained a sales presence in the province of Alberta, but the new acquisition now positions the company permanently in Calgary with manufacturing capability.
Allan acquired Ideal Printing from Glen and Dawn Evans, the husband and wife team that owned the business for 16 years.
Ideal is a small-format offset shop, with digital colour and recently acquired high-speed monochrome printers. Rhino did not have digital capacity before.
"Their capabilities today very nicely complement what we're doing," Allan told Canadian Printer, adding, "Within the next couple of months we're going to dramatically improve their short-run offset printing technology.
"Our vision, at least initially, is that the Calgary operation will be our digital and offset short-run colour operation," said Allan. "We'll be producing work for our B.C., U.S. and Calgary clients."
Ideal's Bruce Kenworthy will serve as director of operations in Calgary, where over the next few weeks the company will transition the name of the business to Rhino Print Solutions.

Last night the Ontario Printing and Imaging Association hosted its annual Technology Forecast dinner meeting in Toronto. Over 120 people were in attendance to hear Michael Makin, president and CEO of PIA/GATF (above right) and Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president of technology and research with PIA/GATF share their insights into the latest trends and developments in the industry. Their talk hit upon key themes (colour standards, Web-to-print, soft proofing, Lean manufacturing, the environment and JDF) that were taken from the latest version of the GATF World Technology Forecast available from the PIA/GATFPress.

Located in a historic building in Toronto's downtown west end, the recent installation of a new five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 at Moveable Inc. required some nifty manouvering. Because of narrow doorways in the basement, doors at a main entrance along—with the lobby—were removed to accommodate the move, lowering the press units and a new CtP system into the basement.

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Resources:

Podcasts Offer Print Business Strategy
The NAPL has released a couple new Podcasts on its website, including an interview with Bill Gilmer, president and co-owner of Wordsprint, Inc. in Virginia discussing how specializing in vertical markets has strengthened his small print company's competitive positioning and expanded its geographical reach. The podcast was recorded at NAPL's Top Management Conference 2007 (March 7-11).
NAPL podcasts are available at no charge, visit http://www.napl.org/Marketing/NAPLPodcasts.htm.

Simplifying Website Design
If your company offers Web design, here's a handy reference. The Principles of Beautiful Web Design, published by SitePoint from Australia, is a design guide for those without design talent. Printed in full colour, the 180-page book has five chapters covering layout and design, colour, texture, typography and imagery, and it's loaded with real-world examples. The book is priced at $51.95. For info: http://www.sitepoint.com/books/design1/

The Future of the Magazine Business
A total of 1,370 new magazine titles were issued in the U.S. and Canada in 2006, leading to an all time high of 26,140 titles, according to a the latest Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR) study, Magazine Printing and Publishing 2006-2011. Conducted by PrintCom Consulting Group, the study is based on industry analysis and nearly 100 interviews.
Although the total number of pages in all North American magazines is anticipated to decline by about 9% between 2006 and 2011, the number of magazine titles is expected to increase almost 8% over that same period. For more information visit: http://www.primir.org

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AWARDS

Stand Alone Print Awards
Applied Arts magazine is launching a separate awards competition for printing this year. Full details on the print awards can be found at http://www.appliedartsmag.com/printing
The deadline for entry is May 18. The winners will be featured in an Applied Arts supplement published in January 2008.

Green With Envy
Domtar is encouraging graphic designers, art directors, creative directors and corporate end-users to submit entries into its first ever Envy Awards. The printed work must be on Domtar papers. Eligible material must have been printed between November 2006 and December 2007. Contest participation is free. Entries can be submitted until December 31, 2007. The contest entry form is available at www.domtardesignercorner.com .

Call For Labels
The XSYS Print Awards 2007 is calling for entries. Label converters around the world are invited to submit labels for evaluation. Judging criteria include registration, smoothness of dot/vignette, overall print quality and degree of difficulty. Entries must be printed using inks from XSYS Print Solutions. Entry deadline is August 10, 2007.
Winners will receive awards at Labelexpo in Brussels, September 29th. Visit http://www.xsys-printsolutions.com.

Mohawk Show 8
Mohawk Paper is holding accepting entries for Mohawk Show 8. The program invites designs produced in whole or in part on Mohawk papers. The entry deadline is May 31, 2007. There is no entry fee, and the prizes include US$500 cash for finalists and US$5,000 cash for the five Best of Show winners. For details visit http://www.mohawkpaper.com

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Events

2007

The Association for Graphic Arts Training (AGAT) in partnership with the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation will co-present the 2007 PIA/GATF Continuous Improvement Network Conference. The event is scheduled for April 15–18 in Jacksonville, Florida. The theme is increase your productivity through efficient education and training. http://www.gain.net

ON DEMAND 2007 moves to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center for the dates of April 16-19. This annual expo and conference features the latest in digital printing technology and software solutions. http://www.ondemandexpo.com

The Craftsmen Club of Montreal (Les Artisans des Arts Graphiques de Montreal) is holding its 25th Gutenberg Gala on Tuesday, April 17th at the Casino de Montreal. http://www.artisansgraphiques.qc.ca

The Toronto Club of Printing House Craftsmen is celebrating its 86th birthday with a dinner meeting on Wednesday, April 25th at the Columbus Centre. The guest speaker is Maia Becker, manager of communications with the Forestry Stewardship Council of Canada (FSC) . The cost is $40 for members ($50 for non-members). To register visit http://www.iaphc-toronto.com

The Digital Imaging Association in Toronto is holding a variable data printing seminar Wednesday, April 18 at the Xerox Research Centre in Mississauga. The session will feature customer case studies along with new Web-to-print and digital printing technologies. For registration information contact marg@digitalimagingassoc.ca or call 416-696-0151.

The Grafik Art trade show returns to Montreal, April 19- 21, being hosted at Place Bonaventure. For more information visit www.grafikart.ca

North America's largest newspaper conference and trade show, NEXPO 07, will be held April 21-24 in Orlando, Florida. http://www.nexpo.com

NAPL is partnering with the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association
(MFSA), to present The Fulfillment Conference. Scheduled for April 25-28 in Louisville, Kentucky, this year's conference will show attendees "How to Win the Race with Fulfillment Services" through a comprehensive program that includes sessions on all aspects of running a successful and profitable fulfillment operation. http://www.napl.org

Offset and Beyond 2007, brings together the best of the heatset, coldest and sheetfed communities in one super conference hosted by the Web Offset Association and PIA/GATF. The event is being held at the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto, April 29-May 2. Keynote speakers include: Right Honourable Brian Mulroney; Luc Desjardins, CEO Transcontinental; and Tony Gagliano, CEO St. Joseph Communications. This is a don't miss event. For details: http:// www.weboffsetassociation.org

ITWorld Expo Canada will be holding the IT360° Conference & Expo from April 30 to May 2 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This event provides business professionals a complete view of the changing information technology arena. For information visit http://www.it360.ca

Presstek, Inc. will be hosting an open house event in Vancouver May 1-3 featuring technology demonstrations. The event is part of a North America-wide series of open house events the company is holding. www.presstek.com/events

The International Association of Diecutting and Diemaking (IADD) and the Foil Stamping and Embossing Association (FSEA) will host 2007 IADD/FSEA Odyssey – May 2-4 at the Midwest Airlines Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For more information visit www.iadd.org/odyssey.

The 2007 Canadian RFID Conference is being held May 8 and 9, at the Delta Markham Hotel in Markham, Ontario. The event will cover a range of topics including manufacturing, and current uses of RFID and electronic tagging. Registration is $295/person + GST. For information visit http://www.rfidcanada.com

Canada's national packaging, food process, material handling and logistic show, PACex International, will be held at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto from May 8 to 10. For information visit: http://www.pacexinternational.com

The Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) National Convention will be held in conjunction with the Canadian Newspapers Association (CNA) Convention in Winnipeg, from May 9 - 11. The events are being be co-hosted by the Manitoba Community Newspapers Association (MCNA). http://www.ccna.ca/convention/2007

PIA/GATF is taking its Mission: Possible Seminar on the road this spring helping designers and printers work better together. Mission: Possible—A Mutual Strategy for Creatives and Printers covers topics including considerations for print and colour communication to soft proofing. The tour stops in Vancouver on June 21. More information is available at http://www.missionpossible07.com

The Supply Side, a marketplace for the latest in packaging products for the stationery, giftware and graphics arts industries, will run from May 22-23 at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The event is sponsored by the Greeting Card Association (GCA). http://www.thesupplyside.com

The Toronto Club of Printing House Craftsmen is holding its annual golf tournament on Wednesday, May 23rd at the Cardinal Golf Course. Tee off is at 10:00 am. The cost for golf and dinner is $150/person, ($175 if you take part in all challenges) Cost for dinner alone is $65. To register visit http://www.iaphc-toronto.com/golf

The key technology suppliers and players in the ink jet industry will converge in Barcelona, Spain at the Hotel Fira Palace for IMI Europe's Ink Jet Technology Suppliers Showcase 2007 on May 30 - June 1. This conference is open to anyone who wants to learn more about ink jet technology and its growing applications. Attendees will see, hear and meet the leading printhead manufacturers, ink jet ink manufacturers, chemical & materials suppliers, technology integrators and other specialists who will be exhibiting and presenting at the conference. www.imieurope.com

For those interested in the book business, check out BookExpo America being held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City from June 1- 3. For more information visit: http://bookexpo.reedexpo.com

CMM International 2007, a showcase and educational forum for the converting and package printing industries, will take place June 4th - 7th in Rosemont, Illinois. For more information contact Andrea Flaherty at (603) 891-9477 or andreaf@pennwell.com.

IPA, The Association of Graphic Solutions Providers, announced details of its 2007 Technical Conference, June 5 - 7 at the Westin O'Hare Hotel, in Rosemount, Illinois. As the industry' s leading premedia workflow conference, attendees will gain the skills and knowledge to integrate their physical and digital workflows.

FESPA, the European-based show for screen and digital sign printers, is being held June 5-9 in Berlin, Germany. The theme for FESPA 2007 is The Power Of Imaging. www.fespa2007.com

The Southwestern Ontario branch of the OPIA (SWOB) is holding its annual golf tournament Wednesday, June 6 at the Doon Valley Golf Club in Kitchener. Shotgun start begins at 1 pm. Lunch, golf and dinner is $120 for members (guests). For more information call Sue at (905) 602-4441.

The trade event for the Canadian book business is BookExpo Canada held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, with a conference: June 8 & 9, and the tradeshow on June 10 & 11. For details visit http://reedexpo.ca/bookexpo

The Digital Imaging Association is holding its annual golf tournament Tuesday, June 12 at the exclusive St. Andrews Golf Club in Aurora. Contact Mary at marg@digitalimagingassoc.ca.

The 12th edition of EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK, the day-long conference held the day before Graph Expo, will take place on Saturday, September 8 at McCormick Place in Chicago. This year's theme is "The Printers' Success Quartet: Economics, Markets, Technology, People". Visit http://www.graphexpo.com

Graph Expo will be located at McCormick Place in Chicago from September 9-12. Visit www.gasc.org for more info.

IGAS (International Graphic Arts Show) is being held at the Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo, Japan from September 21 to 27. Held every four years, last time this week-long expo attracted over 120,000 visitors. For information www.igas-tokyo.jp

The Specialty Printing and Imaging Association Technology Expo will be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from October 24–27. This show will feature the latest in digital wide format printing, screen printing and more.
Visit http://www.sgia.org

PIA/GATF is holding its Variable Data and Personalization Conference, November 4–6, in Phoenix, Arizona, helping printers plan strategy and learn new approaches, applications, and technologies. The conference has three seminar tracks: fundamentals, cross-media, and business. A hands-on Web-to-Print Boot Camp has been added on November 2–3. Visit www.gain.net (under "Events and Training")

Strategy 07 - Expanding Print Opportunities, Canada's conference for the printing industry, will be held November 6-8 at the newly converted Westin Bristol Place Hotel near Pearson International in Toronto. The conference will feature two seminar streams, an owner/CEO track and a technical/operations track. The conference will wrap up with a final session the morning of November 8th, ending just prior to the opening of Graphics Canada. The conference is open to all in the graphic communications world. For more information contact CPIA at belliott@cpia-aci.ca

Graphics Canada will be held at the International Centre in Toronto from November 8-10. For details visit http://www.graphicscanada.com

2008

PIA/GATF's Presidents Conference will be held March 2–6 in Cancun, Mexico. http://www.gain.net

Drupa 2008 will be held from May 29 to June 11, 2008 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf Germany. There will be over 2.4 million square feet of exhibition space with an expected attendance of over 300,000. www.drupa.com
Stay tuned for information on travel packages to DRUPA offered exclusively through Canadian Printer.

For more events in your area, here are links to regional associations:

B.C. http://www.bcpia.org; http://www.vcphc.org/
Southern Alberta http://www.pgia.ca
Saskatchewan http://www.sgaia.org
Ontario http://www.opia.on.ca,

Keep up to date on the big picture of the printing industry in Canada with a voice you can trust in Canadian Printer magazine. The national business publication for printers since 1892, Canadian Printer is recognized for leadership on business issues and editorial integrity.
For more information get in touch with editor Doug Picklyk (phone: (416) 764-1530, email: doug.picklyk@printer.rogers.com).
For advertising and marketing opportunities, contact Susan Ritcey (phone: (416) 764-1509, email: susan.ritcey@printer.rogers.com).