July 2004 Issue

A Call For Action

The gravure industry spent years just watching flexo improve and promote itself as the printing process of choice. Now, gravure printers and suppliers are preparing to market their process back into the spotlight. GRAVURE'S GOT IT all: unsurpassed quality, affordability, and a committed and passionate industry. So, why is it such an unsung process? There are several theories, but flexo leads the list of culprits. For the past few decades, flexo has successfully worked to upgrade its quality and reliability, and the industry hasn't kept its advances secret. Flexo suppliers dominate the advertising in trade magazines, some of which focus solely on

Catch the Wave

A wave of innovate pouch packaging is sweeping over North America, but will the U.S. flexible packaging industry catch it? VISIT YOUR LOCAL supermarket and you can see a major packaging shift taking place—the use of flexible packaging is prevalent down every store aisle. Cartons and canisters are being replaced or partnered with stand-up pouch packaging that use reclosable zipper features. Retort pouches are being introduced to create a value-added line extension to mature products traditionally marketed in other packaging formats. Things are changing and flexible packaging appears to have the "right stuff" at the "right time." Form and function Just a few short

Doctors Do Lots

While not a headline-catching subject, doctoring systems have a big impact on printing quality and overall production costs. ALTHOUGH NOT A particularly glamorous topic, package printers know that doctoring systems represent a complex challenge. The selection, operation, and maintenance of these systems can have a major impact on consistent print quality, along with longer term cost issues when it comes to roll maintenance and life. When selecting the right doctor blade for your application, there are any number of places to begin and approaches that can be taken. For starters, Perry Lichon, president of Retroflex, lists blade material composition, tip design, thickness, and

Presstek to Acquire Precision Lithograining Corp.

Presstek to Acquire Precision Lithograining Corp. HUDSON, N.H., June 3 -- Presstek, Inc., a leading manufacturer and marketer of environmentally responsible high tech digital imaging solutions for the graphic arts and laser imaging markets, and Precision Lithograining Corporation ("Precision"), the manufacturer of the industry leading Anthem, Freedom and Aurora chemistry-free printing plates, today announced that the companies have signed an agreement for Presstek to acquire Precision in a cash transaction valued at approximately $13 million. Subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2004. The companies are planning to maintain their respective operations, with

Presstek to Acquire Precision Lithograining Corp.

We'll Show Those Commerical Printers

A symbiotic relationship between packaging prepress professionals and their customers can lead to the right prepress environment. TREND OFFSET PRINTING is a full-service, commercial and publication printing company headquartered in Los Alamitos, Calif. The company—innovative in its approach—offers a clear snapshot into the technological movements impacting the offset CTP environment at this time. For example, let's take a look at some of Trend Offset Printing's recent technology upgrades: • To handle an increasing volume of new customers, it has purchased Creo's Trendsetter AL complete with V-head, and has initiated plans to double the capacity of its existing Creo Trendsetter with the addition of

Wired For The Future

Packaging companies reap the benefits from software designed to better manage their business/production processes from start to finish. MOST OF TODAY'S successful packaging converters and printers have one thing in common: a modern business/production software solution. These software applications support companies with one plant or several, making it easy to manage current business and production processes from quotes through shipping, all the while increasing efficiency and adding dollars to the bottomline. To get a better understanding of what today's business/production software can do for packaging companies, packagePRINTING recently spoke to several converters and printers about their success with some of the most popular

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