Video: B&B President Discusses $35M Book Printing Investment, What He’s Advising Clients About Paper Shortage (piworld.com)

PRINT 17’s return to Chicago was a resounding success as 20,000 people from the graphic communications industry gathered at McCormick Place for five days of education, networking and an up-close look at the latest innovations and technologies. Industry professionals from around the world came to see new products from more than 450 exhibitors. PRINT 17 highlights included the new “Distinguished Leader” speaker series, with top marketing experts sharing their unique perspectives on how technology is changing our world and exploring the integration of print and digital. In addition, more than 50 seminars and panels throughout the show demonstrated NPES’ commitment to developing a relevant learning experience based on the pressing topics that can lead to business success for PRINT 17 attendees. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Sun Chemical will increase prices across its entire portfolio of publication, packaging and commercial sheetfed inks, coatings, and adhesives in North America, effective immediately. The inflationary cost trends in raw materials used within the ink industry have continued to accelerate throughout the course of the year. In addition to the raw material pressures, significant cost increases have been instituted in steel drums, pails, and other packaging components. Availability of skilled labor remains a challenge and in order to attract and retain a committed team, labor costs and benefits have risen exponentially. International and domestic logistics costs have continued their steady climb and forecasts show no change in these trends in the near term. “Sun Chemical’s top priority throughout 2021 has been to maintain the supply of our products to our customers. We have absorbed the higher costs of expedited freight, raw materials and other key inputs in order to achieve that objective,” said Chris Parrilli, President of North American Inks.

Ennis, Inc. announced Jeff Monarch as the new General Manager of PrintXcel, located in Fairhope, Alabama. PrintXcel has more than 50 years of experience in printing products and services including checks and forms, direct mail, label form products, multipart mailers, online ordering and print procurement solutions and more. Jeff has been at the PrintXcel facility in Fairhope, Alabama for 31 years. He started in 1990 as a bailer, then became a press operator, and in 2006, he was promoted to Production Manager. In his new role, he will utilize his experience to continue to evolve and grow the business.