Erik Cagle

As offset printing gives way to high-speed digital printing, your operators may need time to adjust and accept the changes. By Erik Cagle When Georgia Perimeter College installed an HP Indigo digital color press a year ago, a special training challenge lay ahead for Barbara Lindsay, assistant director of Printing Services. Among the offset press operators who needed to learn how to use the digital device was a 65-year-old man with limited computer experience. "Other than surfing the Web, he was not a computer user," Lindsay relates. "But he was courageous enough and interested in learning a new technology. Plus, he thought it would

As the IPMA conference pulls into Philadelphia this month, Jim Leake will be there to introduce people to the city he loves. By Erik Cagle The International Publishing Management Association (IPMA) conference visits Philadelphia this month, and Jim Leake is in heaven. The president of the Philadelphia chapter of IPMA and a 10-year member, Leake loves to interact with people. The association and the conference provide the opportunity to both teach and learn, and herein lies the value for Leake, senior graphic services specialist for the National Board of Medical Examiners. "The IPMA is an invaluable resource in learning about this trade, and a

While the price of collators remains relatively constant, manufacturers recommend considering a few things before buying. By Erik Cagle You don't have to tell Aldridge Free about the benefits of having a new collator. For years he ran an old, second-hand model at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Central Printing and put up with a host of difficulties. "We had a lot of trouble feeding certain kinds of paper," he remarks. Sometimes he would have to stop the machine after it put together two or three books and adjust it. Other times the collator wouldn't run the paper at all, and the in-plant's four

Consolidation is back in the commercial printing industry. This could impact in-plants, who rely on these firms to handle a portion of their work. by ERIK CAGLE Who can forget 1998 and 1999? Those were easily the salad days of merger and acquisition activity in the commercial printing industry. The dotcom craze was sweeping the nation, with venture capitalists seeking new avenues into printing. Wall Street coveted the printing industry, and a wave of consolidators embarked on the IPO-and-roll-up philosophy. When Quebecor merged with World Color, eyes bulged as if witnessing the finale of a fireworks display. An omen, perhaps...

Production powders on the pages of magazines used to be no big deal. In the age of Anthrax, though, that's no longer the case. by ERIK CAGLE In the weeks and months following the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, what was once ignored during the routine of daily life is now sending up red flags. Unfortunately, many white powders or fine substances commonly found just about anywhere are being interpreted, in the interest of public safety, as possible Anthrax contaminations when they unexpectedly appear. A seemingly harmless powder that has long been a part of the production process for

Today's folding equipment must do more than simply fold paper. In-plants want additional features to help them keep pace. by ERIK CAGLE ACCESSORIES ARE to folding machines what cherries are to cheesecake—sweet. Printers still want folders that are easy to operate, with short setup times, but auxiliary equipment for scoring, slitting, perforating, gluing and plow folding can greatly augment the humble folder. The aforementioned features are among the most requested by customers, according to Wayne Pagel, president and owner of KEPES. He believes a vacuum table that allows product sampling, and plow folds with gluing to close the product are also sought after.