Allen Press, Inc. and The Pitch magazine are pleased to announce a new printing relationship. The Pitch will be printed in Lawrence, Kansas by Allen Press beginning with the June 2018 issue. “As local owners ourselves, we’re really pleased to connect with Allen Press to be our exclusive magazine printing partner,” said Stephanie Carey. Carey and her husband Adam, both natives of Kansas City, purchased The Pitch late last year and restored the alternative publication to local ownership again for the first time in nearly twenty years. “We knew of Allen Press by its reputation for high-quality work in the Kansas City area and the region,” said Adam Carey, chief operating officer for The Pitch. “They share our commitment to the Lawrence and Kansas City communities and we think they’re an ideal fit,” he added. Click Read More below for additional information.

Earlier this month, SG360° announced its first outside board of directors member since It was acquired by private equity firm ICV Partners - Patrick R. Donahoe, former Postmaster General of the United States and CEO of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). “He is really going to help us think differently,” said Schneider. “This is just the first step in a much longer-term strategy to bring a broad array of postal optimization strategies to our customers. We already help clients differentiate themselves in the look, feel, design and impact of their mail pieces. We can now leverage our scale to better drive postal efficiencies.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Due to a potential shortage of photoinitiators as reported earlier this week by the European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA), Sun Chemical customers that receive energy curable inks could experience product delivery delays in the future. Governmental initiatives and regulations geared toward environmental protection have led to many suppliers of photoinitiators to either cease or reduce production for limited periods of time. Additionally, the declaration of a force majeure at a variety of manufacturing plants has led to unplanned maintenance and production outages. Click Read More below for additional information.

Currently, there is a specific global raw material shortage affecting UV curing inks. This impacts supply of a UV photoinitiator commonly known as “TPO.” While supply of TPO comes from several different manufacturers, a key chemical feedstock used in the manufacture of TPO (and other similar photoinitiators) comes from one main upstream source in China. The manufacturing of this feedstock has been temporarily halted while inspections are undertaken due to an unrelated incident in the same industrial zone. This incident comes within the wider context of similar unplanned shut downs of UV raw material capacity in China and a tighter regulatory environment in Europe limiting alternative options. This supply disruption means that the feedstock cannot be produced at present and supplies are now at critically low levels globally, which has impacted the availability and production of TPO itself. We anticipate the situation will be resolved in a matter of weeks but are taking actions to cover our supply in the meantime. Please note that this is an industry-wide shortage affecting all UV ink manufacturers. Click Read More below for additional information.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company followed up on the recent creation of their Marketing Solutions group by adding Maureen Powers to the team as the new President of RRD’s Response Marketing Solutions (RMS) team starting on May 21st. Powers comes from Discover Financial Services where she served in a variety of senior leadership positions, most recently as head of their Rewards program. Powers holds a Bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Scholl of Management. She will be based in RRD’s headquarters in Chicago, IL and reports to Doug Ryan. Powers will succeed Dan Thornton, who announced his retirement after 22 years of successful leadership on the RRD team. Click Read More below for additional information.

Deluxe Corporation announced that it recently acquired 100 percent of privately held LogoMix, a Boston-based provider of logo design and other small business branding and marketing services. Founded in 2006, LogoMix enables businesses and individuals to create and purchase custom marketing products for use online and offline. On LogoMaker.com, users can create a custom logo in minutes and, in one click, print their logo on business cards, signs, pens and other offline marketing products. LogoMix’s other marketing services include websites, business email, domains and Google Apps for Work. Click Read More below for additional information.

The company that invented the copier, laser printing and print-on-demand is announcing another first in the world of print – a high speed, six station color press that combines four-color printing with up to two specialty dry inks in one printing pass. The Xerox Iridesse™ Production Press is the only digital press that can print metallic gold or silver dry ink, CMYK and clear dry ink in a single pass, giving print providers an immediate competitive edge in the growing digital print enhancement market. “Iridesse can do things no other digital production press can do, but it’s what it can do for our customers that’s most important,” said Ragni Mehta, vice president and general manager, Cut Sheet Business, Xerox. “We created the press to produce these special effects and digital enhancements cost effectively and in a simplified workflow so our customers can seize the market opportunity and grow their businesses.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Arandell Corp. announced that James Ford has joined the New Business Development Sales Team. In this position, Ford will be responsible for new client acquisition and client consultation in areas of marketing strategy, quality and color improvements, paper, print production and postal optimization. Ford will report to Stephen Sanfelippo, Arandell’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Jim is a highly reputable sales leader in the print industry with experience in effectively managing customer needs across multiple print facilities,” said Sanfelippo. “He will be instrumental in helping us introduce accounts to the expanded capabilities enabled by our new Kentucky facility and strategic partnerships. I am confident that his passion and abilities will help move Arandell to the next level of success.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Palmer Printing has been the last printer on Printer’s Row since 2007, when Rider Dickerson moved to a different location. But it too has recently made the decision to relocate - a move that President Ed Rossini and his father and former owner Ciro Rossini felt was the next logical step for the company. In December 2017, Ciro Rossini, who owns the building where Palmer Printing is housed, decided to sell it to Chicago residential developer CMK. According to Ed Rossini, the company is in the process of looking for a new location with plans to move this year. In the past 10 years, Ed Rossini says that the Printer’s Row area has evolved into a vibrant, energetic neighborhood with the addition of universities, restaurants, bars and shops. Click Read More below for additional information.

LSC Communications announced a multi-year agreement with Workman Publishing that renews and expands the companies’ relationship. In addition to renewing its printing, warehousing, fulfillment and distribution services, LSC will provide Workman with end-to-end Order-to-Cash (“OTC”) services. LSC’s OTC platform includes customer service, order and credit management, invoicing, cash application, and dispute resolution, as well as sales and inventory analysis reporting. Workman will also join LSC’s digital content management platform Harvest, which provides publishers with opportunities to increase ebook sales through online marketplace monitoring, sales analysis & keyword generation. The relationship between Workman and LSC goes back more than forty years. Since 1973, LSC (originally through Banta/RR Donnelley) has been Workman’s largest print vendor, responding with tremendous creativity to Workman’s needs for unusual formats and display ideas. In 1978 it also became Workman’s warehousing and distribution partner. Click Read More below for additional information.

First quarter net sales were $929 million, up $108 million, or 13.2%, from the first quarter of 2017. After adjusting for acquisitions, changes in foreign exchange rates, pass-through paper sales, and the adoption of new revenue recognition standards, organic net sales decreased 1.7% from the first quarter of 2017 which represents an improvement in the Company’s organic net sales trend. This improvement was driven by sales performance in the Print segment, especially within the book reporting unit, that was more than offset by the impact of customer inventory reductions in the Office Products segment. GAAP Net Income: First quarter 2018 net loss was $11 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2017. The first quarter 2018 net loss included after-tax charges of $7 million and first quarter 2017 net income included after-tax charges of $5 million, both of which are excluded from the presentation of non-GAAP net income. Click Read More below for additional information.

Quad/Graphics Inc. announced that it has signed a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract with U.S. Bank to manage credit card acquisition programs for hundreds of its small and mid-size regional banks. The volume for the U.S. Bank programs is significant: more than 70 million data-driven mailpieces annually. Quad, which began production on the programs earlier this year, is using its state-of-the-art direct mail platform for producing the mailpieces that are hyper-personalized with data elements highly relevant to each individual recipient to increase engagement and inspire action. In addition, Quad will engage its delivery optimization services to lower postage costs, reduce mail handling and cycle times, and offer more predictable, in-home arrival intelligence. Click Read More below for additional information.

LSC Communications and Trend Offset Printing announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Trend to acquire LSC’s retail offset printing facilities. Newspaper inserts, which are traditionally used by retailers to advertise promotional offers, are the main product produced on LSC’s retail offset assets. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter. Anthony Lienau, Chairman of the Board of Trend Offset, commented, “This acquisition will further Trend’s commitment to the retail sector of our business. Trend Offset is dedicated to providing all clients with great customer service, superior quality and increasing speed to market across all of our plants and platforms. We look forward to providing a smooth transition for customers and employees alike.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Net sales in the quarter were $1.71 billion, up $48.9 million or 2.9% from the first quarter of 2017. On an organic basis, consolidated net sales increased 1.3% driven by higher volumes in both segments as well as higher fuel surcharges in Business Services, partially offset by price pressure in Business Services. From a products and services perspective, Packaging, Logistics, Direct Mail and Business Process Outsourcing accounted for most of the increase while Commercial Print was down due to ongoing secular pressure and lower specialty card sales. Gross profit in the first quarter of 2018 was $294.7 million or 17.3% of net sales versus $326.8 million or 19.7% of net sales in the prior year quarter. The favorable impact of volume growth and cost reduction initiatives was more than offset by inflationary increases, primarily in paper and costs of transportation, unfavorable changes in foreign exchange rates, operational inefficiencies due to volume reductions from two clients and modest price pressure. Click Read More below for additional information.

Net sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, were $968 million, representing a 3.1% decrease as compared to 2017. Organic sales declined 5.1% due to ongoing print industry volume and pricing pressures after excluding acquisitions (2.0% impact), pass-through paper sales (-0.2% impact) and foreign exchange (0.2% impact), and is consistent with previous guidance. The Company incurred a net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.07 per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2018, which included a special $22 million non-cash employee stock ownership plan contribution as part of the benefit of tax reform. Net cash provided by operating activities was $2 million for the first quarter 2018, compared to $63 million in the first quarter of 2017, and Free Cash Flow decreased $62 million to a negative $22 million. These variances were primarily due to expected timing differences in 2018 versus 2017 for cash generated from working capital, which will be weighted more towards the fourth quarter. Click Read More below for additional information.

LSC Communications and R.R. Donnelley & Son’s Company announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for LSC Communications to acquire the Print Logistics component of RRD’s Logistics business. RRD’s Print Logistics capabilities include a range of logistics services and technologies to optimize the print distribution and mail supply chain, including solutions that drive postal discounts. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2018. President of LSC Logistics, George Zengo, commented, “As we continue to strengthen LSC’s logistics solution offering, the combination of RRD’s Print Logistics with our recent acquisitions of Fairrington and The Clark Group greatly expands our national footprint. This gives LSC the natural synergies and scale to improve service and add more value to our current client base, as well as extends our reach deeper into a variety of other industries.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Allen Press, Inc. is the recipient of 19 awards from the Printing & Imaging Association of MidAmerica’s 2018 Graphic Excellence Competition (GraphEx). The 19 awards are the most of any company competing in the 2018 GraphEx competition. Of the winning submissions, 9 entries were Best of Category with the 2018 Alaska by Rail Calendar winning a Best of Kansas City Bronze Award and Orchids winning a Division III Silver Award. Click Read More below for additional information.

“The new Versafire EP delivers extremely stable production at a constantly high speed,” sums up Marcus Unterleider, Managing Director of the Unterleider Medien Gruppe. The company, based in Rödermark, has been testing the new high-performance digital printing system from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) for several weeks. The Versafire EP is based on the tried-and-tested platform of the Versafire CP and has been systematically enhanced for the needs of customers in the graphics industry. Like the recently introduced Versafire EV (press released from 20 March 2018), the Versafire EP has been developed for flexible production and maximum performance. Both machine models from Heidelberg feature the Prinect Digital Frontend (DFE) and an intuitive user interface that simplifies prepress work. Click Read More below for additional information.

HITRUST CSF (Common Certified Framework) certified status demonstrates that Quad/Graphics’ HealthVision™ Solution and the HiCO Environment have met key regulations and industry-defined requirements and are appropriately managing risk. This achievement places Quad/Graphics in an elite group of organizations worldwide that have earned this certification. By including federal and state regulations, standards and frameworks, and incorporating a risk-based approach, the HITRUST CSF helps organizations address these challenges through a comprehensive and flexible framework of prescriptive and scalable security controls. Click Read More below for additional information.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2018, the Company reported record first quarter revenue of $239.9 million, up 5% compared to first quarter 2017 revenue of $228.7 million. GAAP net loss was $3.6 million compared to GAAP net income of $4.8 million for the same period in 2017 or $(0.08) per diluted share compared to $0.10 per diluted share for the same period in 2017. Non-GAAP net income was $17.2 million, down 33% compared to non-GAAP net income of $25.8 million for the same period in 2017 or $0.38 per diluted share, down 31% compared to $0.55 per diluted share for the same period in 2017. Cash flow from operating activities was $6.3 million compared to $14.9 million during the same period in 2017. Click Read More below for additional information.

VIVO Colour Solutions, Flint Group’s Paper & Board division is proud to be the first ink supplier to offer a cutting edge end to end integrated press room digital colour management service. Adding to this platform, Flint Group announces the launch of VIVO ColourPortal and VIVO ColourCloud. VIVO ColourPortal provides a fast, structured, and professional communication interface between the customer and Flint Group’s Global Colour Centre (GCC). The GCC delivers a centralised colour service supporting a comprehensive range of colour related requests. Services range from individual colour matching and DigiSwatch creation, to group wide, multi-site, colour mapping and private colour cloud management projects. VIVO ColourPortal is how 21st century customers communicate with colour experts. Click Read More below for additional information.

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP), the leading authority in sustainable printing certifications for print manufacturers, announced today Heeter has achieved SGP certification. Heeter is a service leader among single-source providers of complex print, direct mail, fulfillment and digital marketing to the casino, healthcare, pharmaceutical, retail and education industries. They focus on delivering marketing communications reliably and securely. Heeter offers innovative print solutions, advanced technology, and cost-effective distribution methods to a multitude of diverse clients. Click Read More below for additional information.

Transcontinental Inc.’s Media Sector, TC Media, announced the sale of 30 publications, including 21 weeklies in the Montréal area, the Métro Montréal weekday newspaper, as well as 8 publications in the Québec City area to a Canadian corporation of which Mr. Michael Raffoul, a Montréal-based businessman, is President. The transaction includes all web properties related to the titles sold as well as the Québec Hebdo website. In total, 119 employees of the various publications and 20 employees from TC Media’s Production team are transferred to the acquirer. TC Transcontinental also concluded a multi-year agreement for the printing of all of these titles, as well as for the distribution, with the exception of Métro Montréal, which is already under contract with Mr. Raffoul’s print media distribution company. In addition to the Métro Montréal newspaper, the Montréal-area publications included in this transaction are: Ambiance/Rendez Vous, L’Avenir de l’Est, Cités Nouvelles, Courrier Ahuntsic, Courrier Bordeaux-Cartierville, Corriere Italiano, L’Express d’Outremont – L’Express Mont-Royal, Le Flambeau Mercier-Anjou, Le Guide Montréal-Nord, Le Magazine de l’Île-des-Soeurs, L’Informateur de Rivière-des-Prairies, Journal de Rosemont, Messager Lachine & Dorval, Le Messager LaSalle, Le Messager Verdun, Nouvelles Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Les Nouvelles Saint-Laurent News, Le Plateau, Progrès Saint-Léonard, Villeray–Parc-Ex Petite Patrie and La Voix Pop. For the Québec City area: L’Actuel, L’Appel, L’Autre Voix, Beauport Express, Charlesbourg Express, Le Jacques-Cartier, Journal Habitation and Le Québec Express, as well as the Québec Hebdo website. Click Read More below for additional information.

“We welcome Spectrum Printing & Graphics to the growing Two Sides network and look forward to working with them to promote the unique sustainable features of print and paper. Our membership now includes several commercial printers from family-owned businesses to large operations – they have been instrumental in educating their stakeholders about the great environmental story of print,” said Two Sides North America President, Phil Riebel. "Getting the facts straight about the positive story that the paper and printing industries have related to the environment and the economy is very important to us – it has been misunderstood for years. We are excited to help Two Sides convey an accurate message to the marketplace, our customers, employees and vendors," says Andrew Berman, President, Spectrum Printing & Graphics.

LSC Communications has embarked on a new strategic relationship with international academic publisher Taylor & Francis Group, a division of Informa plc, to provide print, fulfillment and distribution services. According to Dave McCree, President of Book Sales at LSC Communications, “We are very excited about the opportunity to work with Taylor & Francis. LSC has been diligently focused on creating a scalable, customizable and fully integrated supply chain model for publishers that brings efficiencies to the next level, and we will continue to innovate new ways to support Taylor & Francis and our other global publishing clients.” Click Read More below for additional information.