October 30, 2007
Transcontinental first to offer MetalFX on web press
MONTREAL—Transcontinental is now offering MetalFX service on a web press at its RBW plant in Owen Sound, Ont., the company announced last week. According to Transcontinental, it is the first Canadian printer to be certified to do this. MetalFX on a web press can be used for a variety of long-run jobs, including magazines and catalogues, which opens the door to possible new clients and offers magazine publishers additional advertising revenue opportunities, according to a statement by Transcontinental. Through the use of metallic inks, MetalFX can simulate the look of highly polished chrome, metal and diamonds on a printed surface. Transcontinental already offers MetalFX at its sheetfed plants in Montreal and Toronto, and at book printer Transcontinental Interglobe in Beauceville, Que.

New Envelopemaster 4000 for Mississauga shop
Mississauga, ON—The Envelope Express Limited has just installed a new Envelopemaster 4000 four-colour offset press from Halm Industries. The Mississauga, Ont., -based company, which has been in business since 1989, specializes in high-quality printed envelopes and offers custom markings. The EM4000 allows for speeds of up to 30,000 impressions per hour, and documents up to 9” x 15 3/4” in size. Pictured from left are, operator Wayne McCabe and production manager James Beaton.

October 25, 2007
Pazzaz acquires 50% interest in Montreal’s Laminatek
MONTREAL—Independent printers Pazzaz has acquired a 50% interest in large-format digital printer Laminatek, which specializes in murals, displays and banners, the company announced this week. According to Pazzaz, the fact that Laminatek uses eco-friendly inks was a factor in the acquisition, as well as the potential to bring its all-encompassing label and printing services together with Laminatek’s lamination and digital capabilities. Both companies are based in Montreal.

ICGQ obtains U.S. patent to develop tool for controlling ink performance
MONTREAL-The Quebec Institute of Graphic Communications (ICGQ) has acquired a U.S. patent for a process to control ink performance using infrared spectrophotometry, the company announced last week. Developed in conjunction with the chemistry department at Collège Ahuntsic, and funded by Quebecor World, the tool is based on medium infrared spectrophotometry. It enables printers to determine whether ink meets their standards by analyzing a single drop in about one minute, and guarantees that ink consumption will remain constant throughout numerous print runs. There are already five spectrophotometers in use among North American ink manufacturers.

VistaPrint orders four automated Label Systems from Polar
TORONTO—VistaPrint has purchased four new fully automated label systems from Polar for its plants in Canada and Europe, the company reported last week. VistaPrint, which already owns five Polar LabelSystems SC-21, will now be able to cut and band up to 1,500 jobs per hour, depending on the size of the product. The system will also process the jobs from the raw sheet to finished product in one shot. VistaPrint is an online supplier of customized printing to small businesses and consumers, and serves more than 120 countries around the world. It employs more than 1,000 people.

October 23, 2007
Transcontinental adopts green paper purchasing policy
MONTREAL—Transcontinental has implemented a paper purchasing policy prompting its customers to use environmentally friendly paper, the company announced last week. A classification process has been employed, allowing clients to make an informed choice about the paper they choose for publishing and printing. The policy endorses paper with maximized post-consumer and de-inked recycled fibre, and paper made with alternative or pre-consumer recovered fibre, instead of paper made with virgin wood. When virgin wood fibre is called for, the policy states a preference for that from forests that are certified by a recognized organization and have high conservation values. According to Transcontinental, this is the first time a major North American print-media company has implemented a policy like this. For more information about Transcontinental’s new paper purchasing policy, please visit, www.transcontinental.com

August imports drop 9%
The latest trade figures from Industry Canada show that for the first eight months of the year, exports to all our trading partners fell 6.4%. Exports to the U.S. fell 6.8% to $792.4 million, down from $850.4 million during the same time period in 2006.

On the import side, someone in France must have scored a contract here because imports from that country rose 46.6% for the eight-month period. The value of shipments coming into Canada from the U.S. for the Jan.-August period rose 3.4% over the same period last year to $640.7 million. Imports from China climbed 21.6% to $140.2 million, up from $115.3 million in 2006.

October 18, 2007
Transcontinental successfully acquires PLM Group
MONTREAL and TORONTO—Transcontinental and PLM Group announced yesterday that holders of the outstanding shares of PLM had tendered them, giving Transcontinental the go-ahead to purchase all PLM’s common shares for $3.50 each. With all the conditions of its offer fulfilled, Transcontinental today instructed the depositary to take up and pay for all the PLM common shares deposited under the offer. It will then de-list PLM’s common shares and, after it applies to the securities regulator, PLM will cease to be a reporting issuer. Transcontinental announced in August that it intended to acquire PLM to become the largest printer in the country. PLM reported revenues of $126 million in 2006, while Transcontinental earned more than $1.7 billion, according to Graphic Monthly Canada’s annual Gold List.

Agreement reached in B.C. woodworker strike
VANCOUVER—The B.C. forestry strike, which dragged on for more than 12 weeks is over following an agreement Monday between Forest Industrial Relations (FIR) and the United Steelworkers Union (USW.) The agreement will give employees an eventual 5% pay hike, and more input on shift schedules. The three-year contract, which expires June 14, 2010, also includes better safety and health benefits. About 7,000 sawmilling and logging workers walked off the job on July 21, affecting more than 34 companies. Many mills were forced to temporarily shut down, including Catalyst Papers’ Vancouver Island mill, which curtailed production at the end of August. The agreement is subject to ratification by FIR and USW member companies and if approved, employees would return to work as early as October 22.

October 16, 2007
Komunik terminates contract for Globel Direct
MONTREAL—Komunik Corporation has terminated the agreement to acquire Globel Direct, the company announced yesterday. The plan to acquire Globel, which was made public on September 7, was scrapped in accordance with terms of the agreement. Komunik says it continues to look for other ways in which to expand into Western Canada.

Ryerson University receives software donation from GMG
TORONTO—GMG, a specialist in high-end color management systems has donated software to the School of Graphic Communications Management at Ryerson University, for research in proofing and development. The company supplied the school with its flagship product, GMG ColorProof, as well as GMG’s DotProof, to generate halftone proofs and FlexoProof, designed for the packaging industry. Ryerson’s Graphic Communications School is housed in downtown Toronto, and is the only school in Canada to offer a four-year graphic arts degree. The 400 undergraduate students enrolled in the program earn a BTech in graphic communications management.

October 11, 2007
Dean Baxendale buys J.F. Moore Lithographers
TORONTO—Dean Baxendale has purchased J.F Moore Lithographers, a commercial printer with more than 50 employees and $19 million in annual sales. The deal closed on October 5. The three founders of J.F. Moore, Frank Pantaleo, Steve Moore and Joe Dattolico, all plan to remain with the company indefinitely as vice presidents and members of the management team looking after specific strategic areas. In an interview with PrintCan, Baxendale said he plans to make significant capital investment over the next three to six months in the areas of digital colour and black-and-white printing, 1:1 marketing and direct mail, database management, wide-format printing, and online ordering services, with the goal of creating an integrated print services provider. Baxendale did not disclose the financial arrangements of the transaction, but did say that he has no investors. Until June, Baxendale was vice president of strategic sales at C.J. Digital. Prior to that he owned First Impressions Graphics.

Agfa opens competence centre, expands capabilities in plate manufacturing plant
BRANCHBURG, NJ—Agfa Graphics has just opened a new inkjet demo centre in its Branchburg, NJ facility. The Agfa Competence Center is equipped with Agfa’s  :Anapurna M and :Anapurna XL printing systems, and the company says it expects to see a lot of growth as a result. Agfa has also announced that its plate manufacturing plant in Branchburg will now be able to produce the new no-bake :Energy Elite plate and give the company the ability to manufacture more of the plates used in North America, like the popular ThermoFuse-based, chemistry-free :Azura and low-chemistry :Amigo plates.

October 9, 2007
Accell Graphics wins environmental recognition from Agfa

Warner Tenkate, owner of Accell Graphics, right, receives the Agfa Environmental Recognition Award from Tom Saggiomo, president of Agfa North America

Owner Warner Tenkate picked up the award last week during the official opening of Agfa’s new inkjet competence centre in Branchburg, NJ. Accell, a 35-person shop, is a commercial printer with a specialty in postcards, greeting cards and calendars. In addition to using chemistry free plates, Tenkate says they recycle 99% of all production materials, are fully FSC certified, and use wind and low-impact hydro-generated power from Bullfrog.

Federal government confirms Sector Council funding
OTTAWA—The Federal government has officially confirmed operating and project funding for the Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council. The funding amounts to $2 million and includes core funding until March 2009, and money for four projects the council had identified, including national skill standards and occupational profiles; a review of education and training programs; establishing a databank of labour market information; and developing a skills and technology roadmap for the industry. The projects range from one to two years to complete.

October 4, 2007
Gord Griffiths named CEO of Grafikom
TORONTO-Industry veteran Gord Griffiths has been named CEO of Grafikom, effective Oct. 1. Aivars Beikmanis will continue serving as president. “I’m excited. It’s a great company and hopefully I can make it better,” Griffiths said. Working with Beikmanis and taking the company to the next level is what Griffiths said he’s looking forward to most. “It all happened so quickly,” he said. “We were both very happy. There’s that saying, ‘It’s lonely at the top’, we now have each other. It’s a happy event for everybody.” Griffiths, who has more than 40 years experience in the printing and graphic communications industry, is the former president of Quebecor’s Canadian Printing operations, and president of St. Joseph’s printing. Most recently he co-founded marketing services company Pareto. Grafikom is one of the biggest networked printing companies in the country, and employs more than 700 people.

WOA calls for submissions for annual print awards
SEWICKLEY, PA-The Web Offset Association (WOA) is calling for entries for its 2008 WOA Annual Print Awards competition. A special interest group of PIA/GATF, the WOA honours the best in the web offset print arena. First place winners receive free registration to WOA’s annual conference, and one night’s accommodation at the host hotel. The entry fee is $25 for Canadian and U.S. companies, and $100 for international entries. A company can win one award per category, but can send an unlimited number of submissions. All winning entries will be on display during the conference in late April in Illinois and the deadline for submissions is January 11, 2008.
For more information visit, www.woaprintcompetition.org

October 2, 2007
Ownership of Scabrini Group changes hands
MONTREAL-In August several employees of the Scabrini Group completed a management buyout, acquiring the company’s two printing subsidiaries Marquis Book Printing and Infoscan Collette, a prepress facility. The all cash transaction saw Serge Loubier take on the role of president, as well as VP of sales, marketing and development
The Scabrini Group still exists but it no longer has any printing facilities under its control. The company was launched in the 1930s, and went through many incarnations before finally becoming the Scabrini Group in 1995.