There have been rumblings for well over two years that American-based graphic arts supplier xpedx was trying to set up in the Canadian market. Unable to acquire an existing national supplier (they are rumoured to have passed on Cascades Resources before PaperlinX finally swooped in and made that deal), in late June xpdex announced it has established a Canadian national headquarters, complete with a 150,000 sq. ft. distribution facility, and two paper and graphics stores in Toronto, all set to open in August.
"Wanting to be in Canada has been in the works for a long time," confirms Jeff Higgins, director of marketing services with xpedx. "We were just never able to get the right deal, so we decided to greenfield it."
When I spoke with Higgins at the end of June he noted that the organization was days away from hiring a general manager. "It will be Canadian run with Canadian personnel," says Higgins.
The Canadian operation will not be a division of xpedx USA, it will be a direct subsidiary of International Paper, the same way xpedx in the U.S. operates.
While the company provides a broad range of graphic arts products in the States, to start it will be distributing only paper in Canada. "We pride ourselves on being a full line provider to printers, so we will move to additional products," assures Higgins.
The company's initial plans include rolling out more locations in the Greater Toronto Area and across Canada in 2008.
What does this all mean for printers in Canada? More choice for sure, and it could present another challenge to all remaining small suppliers still serving the industry. It's not quite like having a new Wal-Mart moving into your community, but it will serve to keep existing suppliers at the top of their game.
Last time we asked readers: Do you have a digital camera?
Of the 75 votes we received, 88% indicated Yes! There remain nine percent who admit they still have a film camera and three percent indicated they don't even have a camera. What does this tell us? In case you didn't already know, film is dead.
Taste Bud Tempting
Adding taste to a marketing message is the goal of U.S.-based First Flavor Inc. The company has introduced Peel 'n Taste, strips of edible film that allow consumers to taste-sample products before buying them. The company wants to add the samplers to direct mail, magazine ads, point of purchase displays and more.
"Peel 'n Taste is easy for marketers to deliver and fun for consumers to use," says Jay Minkoff, president and CEO of First Flavor. "It turns a one-dimensional advertising message into an interactive and entertaining taste experience." http://www.firstflavor.com
Good Gas
Fujifilm's primary U.S. manufacturing complex, a 500-acre centre located in Greenwood, South Carolina, will begin using methane gas extracted from a local community landfill to power approximately 40 percent of the its operations. The Greenwood facilities manufacture digital and conventional printing plates, disposable cameras, photographic paper, medical imaging products and projection screens.
Full Colour E-paper
South Korea based LG.Philips LCD Co. claims to have developed the world's first flexible colour e-paper. The sheet, with a 300 micron thickness, is a 14.1-inch display using a metal foil and plastic substrate.
Battle for Osprey Media After being faced with competing bids and litigation proceedings, the Board of Trustees of newspaper publisher/printer Osprey Media Income Fund has approved a $414 million offer ($8.45 per unit) from Quebecor Media Inc. (QMI), for now.
Four weeks after accepting an initial take-over offer from QMI for $7.25 per unit (announced on May 31), Osprey was approached by Victoria, B.C.'s Black Press with a sweeter offer of $8.25 cash per unit.
As per the initial QMI agreement, Osprey Media could pay a $15 million termination fee to accept a higher offer. Quebecor, concerned that Black Press part-owner TorStar was funding the competing bid, cited a potential breech of the initial agreement and pursued litigation. Their case was overruled, leading QMI to top its original bid.
Osprey Media, with Michael Sifton as president and CEO (featured in the April/May 2006 issue of Canadian Printer), was formed in 2001 around the acquisition of newspaper properties sold off from Conrad Black's Hollinger. Instantly, with the Ontario Teacher's Pension and Scotia Merchant Capital as significant investors, Osprey became a leading publisher/printer of community newspapers and specialty publications in Ontario.
Osprey became an Income Fund in April 2004. For 2006 the company reported a net loss of $113.4 million on revenues of $229.7 million. In early March this year Osprey announced it was undertaking a strategic review, which led to the take-over offers.
QMI controls Sun Media and Bowes Publishers Ltd., publishing around 200 community papers across the country. Black Press, with David Black as president, is the largest private newspaper publisher in Canada with 150 community papers and 15 web press operations primarily in Western Canada, with revenues of $500 million. The Black family owns 80.6 percent of the shares and Torstar Corp. owns the remainder.
Two printing companies, commercial sheetfed printer, Bowne of Canada based in Toronto, and screen printing specialist, North American Decal of Markham, Ontario were both presented with Pollution Prevention Awards by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment at the group's 11th annual CCME Awards event held mid-June in Winnipeg.
“We are very honored to have been given this recognition,” says Barry Scruton, managing director of Bowne of Canada, Ltd. “Bowne has always been committed to providing good value to our customers while adding social and environmental value to our employees and the community. Our ultimate goal is to not just ensure compliance, but take full advantage of available technologies and best practices.”
North American Decal has put in place initiatives to reduce its use of VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Bowne implemented a broad range of measures to reduce its environmental impact and promote sustainability.
Past CCME Pollution Prevention award winners from the printing industry include: Clean Choice Printers from the Ottawa area, Warren's Imaging from Toronto, Informco Inc. of Toronto and Transcontinental Printing RBW Graphics in Owen Sound, Ontario.
National quick printing outfit, Print Three Franchising Corporation, is rolling out variable data printing solutions to its locations based on software from XMPie (a business unit of Xerox). Enhancing its existing Web-to-print solutions, Toronto-based Print Three purchased XMPie's server-based software for use at its head office and desktop creative software for its franchisee network. The organization's new solution will empower the remote locations to develop variable data campaigns for local clients or to collaborate on national programs through the Toronto office.
The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC), the government-funded initiative dedicated to workforce development, held its first industry forum in Toronto on June 8th. Titled “Workforce Strategies in a Competitive Global Environment,” the event was attended by about 60 people and served to highlight industry employment issues in Canada and abroad. CPISC executive director, Marie Eveline, outlined the group's mandate for the next year, which includes developing a set of national skills standards for the industry and developing a compendium of learning/training facilities in Canada. Those in attendance, many already on the board or associated in some way with the CPISC, applauded the goals of the initiative. Now we all will wait to see what the CPISC will deliver.
Panelists at the CPISC Forum in Toronto (l-r): Duncan Brown national director CEP (Graphical Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union of Canada), Ward Griffin, president/CEO of The Lowe Martin Group; Abhay Sharma, chair of Ryerson University's School of Graphic Communications Management; Don Gain, president of Harmony Printing; and moderator Marie Eveline, executive director CPISC.
In the first three months of the year German press manufacturer KBA posted sales of €414.2 million up 33.9% over the year prior.
Michael Mugavero has re-joined MAN Roland in North America as vice president of sheetfed sales in the East. Mugavero started with MAN Roland in 1992 and stayed for 11 years, at one time general manager responsible for Canada and the northeast U.S. He spent the last four years with KBA North America.
Presstek, Inc. named Jeff Jacobson (47) as president and CEO, replacing Ed Marino. Most recently, Jacobson was the COO of Kodak's Graphic Communications Group.
Canon Canada has finally announced the availability of its production colour imagePRESS C7000VP digital printer in Canada. The 70 letter-sized pages-per-minute machine (handles sheets up to 13 x 19.2 inches and 110lb. cover) will begin shipping in late August, starting at $246,000.
Komori America has increased the size of its 29-inch press with the introduction of the 24 x 29-inch LSX29.
Hostmann-Steinberg has introduced new sheetfed inks under the brand name !NKREDIBLE, formulated to complement small and large format presses and offering reduced VOC levels. The new products are manufactured in Brampton, Ontario.
Quebec's Dynagram has announced inpO2 version 2.0, now supporting Acrobat 8 and Universal Binary, for Mac and PC. The products new templates make imposition layouts fast and simple.
Apple's new Mac OS X Server, version 10.5 Leopard, is scheduled to ship in October for a suggested retail price of US$499 for a 10-client edition and US$999 for an unlimited-client edition.
EFI has launched EFI Colorproof XF for Flexo, a proofing and large-format production solution designed specifically for the packaging industry.
The Sweden-based Trelleborg Group, that acquired the Reeves printing blanket business in October 2006, will gradually transition the Reeves name to Trelleborg. The products will continue to be promoted under the Vulcan brand.
The Spiral Binding Co., Inc. has acquired the James Burn North America division of James Burn International, a leader in wire binding products in North America of the “Wire-O double loop binding wire.” James Burn manufactures wire and coil bindings in Poughkeepsie, NY and Atlanta, GA.
Markzware has released a Universal Binary version of its InDesign to QuarkXPress 7 (ID2Q7) conversion tool taking advantage of the Intel processor-based Macintosh.
German press maker KBA celebrates its 190th jubilee
Screen USA marked its 40 anniversary in June. The company will be celebrating at Graph Expo (Sept. 9-12, Chicago). Screen will be introducing the Truepress Jet2500UV a continuous feed single-pass UV inkjet engine for print on demand.
Yupo Corporation America, manufacturer of synthetic paper, celebrated 10 years in North America in June.
Quick Printer Wages Report The National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP) has published its 2007-2008 Wage & Benefits Study. Based on responses from over 300 quick and small commercial printing companies from across the U.S., the study provides information on sales rep compensation as well as wage and benefit data on 18 other positions. The report is US$155 for members of The NAPL Network and US$225 for non-members. For information visit www.napl.org/store (Product Code: NQ1017).
Understanding Paper For Digital Printing Keeping up to date with the latest changes to paper suited to digital printing technology is easier with The Guide to Paper and Digital Printing: What You Should Know (Third Edition), published by INTERQUEST Ltd. The guide examines technology and substrate issues relating to inkjet, black-and-white and colour electrophotography and other printing technologies. It also provides an analysis of the trends and issues for pre- and post-processing/finishing, and examines the future of paper.
The 210-page report is US$59.95. For more information visit http://www.inter-quest.com
Instant Flexo Education For anyone interested in learning more, or brushing up on what they already know, about flexography, Common-Sense Flexography by David J. Lanska (published by PIA/GATF Press), offers an in-depth look at flexographic printing, including process controls and techniques, equipment adjustments and maintenance, environmental and safety concerns, the future of the industry, and more. Common-Sense Flexography is available for US$99 (US$75 for PIA/GATF members). For more information visit www.gain.net
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.
Is Your Workplace the Best? The Printing Industries of America/GATF is once again holding its annual Best Workplace in the Americas Awards. This program is open to any printing company or supplier to the industry that can demonstrate its commitment to employee satisfaction and retention among other qualities. The deadline for entries is September 14, 2007.
For more details visit http://www.bestworkplace.net
KBA North America is holding a two-day in-depth seminar on UV Curing Inks and Coatings on July 24-25 at its headquarters and customer center in Williston, Vermont. The topics being covered include drying systems, hybrid presses, combination printing rollers, prepress adjustment for UV, finishing requirements and the future outlook for this area. For more information contact Crystal Flutur, KBA Training Manager at 802-764-6140 or cflutur@kba-usa.com
The next SGIA Color Management for Specialty Imaging workshop will be held August 6-7 at the Digital Lab in Fairfax, Virginia. Students explore the concept of colour for digital imaging under the guidance of SGIA Digital Printing Specialist Jeff Burton. Visit http://www.sgia.org/training_and_education/digital_lab/index.cfm
The 2007 NAPL Management Institute is scheduled for August 11-14 at George Washington University in Washington, DC. This year's intense printing management session offers three concurrent courses on Financial, Production, and Sales Management. These courses go beyond theory to offer practical management strategies to improve a company's performance. Tuition is US$1,995 for NAPL members (non-members: US$2995). For information www.napl.org.
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
Xplor International Conference and Expo is co-locating with the ON DEMAND Expo in 2008, taking place March 3-6 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. For more information visit http://www.xplor.org and http://www.ondemandexpo.com
Offset & Beyond 2008 will be held April 27-30 at the Renaissance Hotel just outside of Chicago in Schaumburg, Illinois. A co-production of the Web Offset Association and the Printing Industries of America/GATF. For more information contact 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
For information on travel packages to DRUPA offered exclusively through Canadian Printer call 1-888-DRUPA-08 (1-888-378-7208).
For more events in your area, here are links to regional associations:
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).
xpdex Rolling into Canada
After being faced with competing bids and litigation proceedings, the Board of Trustees of newspaper publisher/printer Osprey Media Income Fund has approved a $414 million offer ($8.45 per unit) from Quebecor Media Inc. (QMI), for now. 
Understanding Paper For Digital Printing 
Graph Expo will be located at McCormick Place in Chicago from September 9-12. Visit 
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 
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. 
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 
Graphics Canada will be held at the International Centre in Toronto from November 8-10. For details visit 
PIA/GATF's Presidents Conference will be held March 2–6 in Cancun, Mexico. 
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.