February 2002 Issue
CORNERING THE SHEETFED MARKET
Sheetfed offset press manufacturers key in on efficiency, larger formats, and specialty needs, and wave off flexo competition. by Susan Friedman, Editor One of the best competitive edges carton converters can develop these days is the capability to get product out the door faster than the other guys. "Our customers are focusing strictly on productivity," says Bob McKinney, director of marketing for KBA North America, Sheetfed Division. "Converters want to increase margins through efficiency." Sheetfed offset press manufacturers are well aware of this fact, and each is ready with a game plan. "With run length continuing to drop, faster, more accurate makeready with less
DIEMAKERS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS
Steel rule die manufacturers must confront the challenges of price pressures and technology investments. A two-part industry survey, developed and conducted by the International Association of Diecutting and Diemaking (IADD) and packagePRINTING, gathered diemakers' perspectives on the business climate as of June 2001, and then reassessed the landscape after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Who are today's diemakers? In tallying the results of the survey, the expected profile emerged of an industry of small, established, family-owned companies. The highest percentage (46 percent) of responding die shops has 25 employees or less, and has been in business an average of 27 years. Seventy-seven
NARROW-WEB PRESS PURCHASE PAINS?
Fiscal anxiety may lead converters to delay press investments and additions. See below for a guide to narrow-web press series and their respective levels of investment. by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor THE "WAIT AND SEE" mentality has descended upon the narrow-web print set and its purse strings. While press manufacturers continued to heighten the graphic sophistication level of narrow-web presses in 2001 with improved press models, many converters may not consider capitalizing on those technology gains until the economic picture comes into focus. Relatively, the narrow-web market is in a much better boat than many other printer segments. Printing Industries of America's (PIA)
REINING IN ACCURACY FOR COLOR MANAGEMENT
Effective color management may require thinking outside the lines. by Terri McConnell, Prepress Editor One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Remember that Seuss classic? Numbers, colors, and shapes are our first adjectives; the first ways in which we are taught to differentiate the objects of our world. A perusal of the World Book reveals color to be a remarkable physical phenomenon. Light is made up of multiple colors. When a light wave is refracted, or bent, it separates into distinct color wavelengths. Light-sensing cells in the human eye are each tuned to react to different wavelengths between 400 to 700 nanometers.
SPIRITED COMPETITORS OF GCI CONVERTING (COVER STORY)
Expansion and equipment purchases have readied General Converting, Inc. to provide strong value-added services in 2002. by Susan Friedman, Editor Carton converters and equipment manufacturers alike have steadily touted the need for converters to implement more complete services; develop value-added products; and establish strong market niches in order to avoid commoditization and achieve higher margins. General Converting, Inc. (GCI), based in Bolingbrook, Ill., is more than a textbook example of these carton production strategies at work. In addition to continually building the value of its printing and converting services with new equipment investments, the company has established unique service philosophies to maximize customers'
