July 31, 2008
Winpak sales up, Davis + Henderson down in second quarter
WINNIPEG—Winpak saw sales of $US 127.6 million in the second quarter of 2008, ending June 29, up from $US 114.5 million in the same period last year. The company’s net earnings were also up, coming in at $US 7.2 million, compared to $US 5.2 million in the second quarter of 2007.
Davis +Henderson reported revenue of $97.3 million in the second quarter of 2008, ending June 30, down 4.6% from the $102.0 million it earned at the same time last year. Net income was $25.4 million, compared to $26.5 million in the second quarter of 2007.

Toronto shop greens up its website
TORONTO—Colour Innovations has launched an interactive environmental component to its website, complete with calculators for print buyers to measure their ecological footprint.

“A lot of big corporations and design firms are trying to green their clients’ business but there are pressing issues that aren’t being pushed,” says Colour Innovations president Matthew Alexander.

Under the Eco Tools button on the site are definitions of numerous environmental terms, links and an FAQ section with important questions to address to your print and premedia suppliers.

“We’ve put the information for everyone to make their own decision... Now here’s the information, you’re empowered, now you can ask these questions to whoever is doing your printing,” says Alexander, who has so far invested $50,000 in the site.

“The idea is to provide really good, solid information, let people know how environmental we are and hopefully that will get people to think about how they are buying and what they are buying and make better decisions for the environment.”  Contact: www.colourinnovations.com

PacBlue Digital goes recycled
VANCOUVER—Imaging and reprographics company PacBlue Digital Imaging announced today that beginning August 1, 2008, it’s switching to paper made with 30% post-consumer waste. The company says it plans to convert more than 20 million sq. ft. of paper annually with its new initiative.
PacBlue has been in business for more than 60 years and primarily serves the engineering and architectural industry. It employs more than 100 people. 

July 29, 2008
May shipments up 
OTTAWA—May printing shipments enjoyed a good month, rebounding from April when they fell slightly, according to figures from Statistics Canada. Note that these numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

Shipments	2008	2007	Change
May	$847.1 million	$790.6 million	7.1%
Year to date	$3.99 billion	$3.93 billion	1.5%

St. Joseph Communications triple-certified
With the announcement of its latest environmental certifications, St. Joseph Communications today launched its new chain-of- custody program, called ecomark. The company became triple-certified this month when it received certifications from the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).  St. Joseph became FSC certified back in 2002, the first heatset web printer in North America to do so.

New CFO at Quebecor World
MONTREAL—Jeremy Roberts is the new CFO at Quebecor World, taking over from Jacques Mallette, who was appointed CEO and president in December 2007. Roberts has been with the company since 1997 and has held a number of positions, most recently senior vice president, corporate finance and treasurer.

July 24, 2008
More printers targeted by scam
MISSISSAUGA, ON—PrintCAN has received a number of calls and e-mails from printers in response to the story about a scam artist targeting print shops that we ran on Tuesday.  The printers who spoke to us were from Ont., and Que., and said the same man had also contacted them, wanting to do the same transaction. The RCMP recommends that anyone who has received an e-mail or phone call from the scammer report it to the Canadian Anti-fraud and Call Centre at www.phonebusters.com. According to Marilynn Knoch, executive director of BCPIA, the organization that originally alerted us to the scam, the calls probably originate somewhere in Africa and the perpetrator likely uses phone lines that do not receive incoming calls, and are capable of using area codes from anywhere in the world.

New HP Indigo for Ontario shop
KINGSTON, ON—DigiGraphics has added an HP Indigo 5500 to its pressroom. The digital shop specializes in direct marketing, desktop publishing and graphic design, and has been in business since 1989.

With the new HP is Dianne Newbury, press operator and Doug Burget, president, DigiGraphics.

July 22, 2008
Scam artist targeting printers
WHITE ROCK, B.C.—A scam artist is targeting printers in B.C., according to a notice sent by the BCPIA yesterday. The issue was brought to the BCPIA’s attention when it received a call from a printer who got a bad feeling about a print order. The situation is similar each time. A man, claiming to be a reverend, contacts a printer with a request for a large order of printing, usually flyers with religious text.  He then asks the printer to charge the deposit to a credit card—which is stolen—and asks the printer to wire a pre-payment through Western Union to a freight forwarding company so he can ship the printing overseas. The intent is to reverse the deposit and take the shipping money.

Marilynn Knoch, executive director of the BCPIA, says that since sending the notice, she has been notified by other printers with the same story. She says she suspects this scam extends far beyond B.C. after she was alerted to a blog where printers from the UK, U.S. and Canada share their stories on calls from this man. She also says she knows of only one B.C. printer that has been taken by this con artist.
The RCMP has been notified and is looking into the matter.

CPICS studying industry
OTTAWA—The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council has announced a new, in-depth study on human resources in the printing and graphic communications industry. The last sector study was carried out in 2003, and according to executive director Marie Eveline, new information is overdue. The study will use labour market statistics, information from Statistics Canada, and independent surveys to gain intelligence about trends and issues in the industry. Eveline says a key trend to examine is the use of skilled immigrants to fill jobs, as well as the issue of retention. The study, which is being funded by the HR and Skills Development Canada arm of the federal government, began in May and runs until the end of November. Results will be released in January 2009.

July 17, 2008
InterTech award winners released
PITTSBURGH—The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) has announced the 10 winners of its annual InterTech Technology Awards. In all, 28 submissions were considered, most with the recurring theme of efficiency. The winners, listed alphabetically by company are:

Alwan Dynamic DeviceLinks, Alwan Color Expertise

EskoArtwork Neo, EskoArtwork

POLAR P.A.C.E. Cutting Systems, Heidelberg USA

Prinect Inpress Control, Heidelberg USA

HIFLEX MIS with eBusiness, Webshop and Print Support, HIFLEX Corporation, North America

Inca Onset, Inca Digital Printers Limited

KODAK FLEXCEL NX Digital Flexographic System, Kodak Graphic Communications Group

MetalFX, MetalFX Technology

Platinum White Technology, Sun Chemical Corporation

Xaar 1001 printhead, Xaar plc

Look for more information on the 2008 InterTech awards in an upcoming issue of Graphic Monthly Canada.

Trade Watch—imports, exports both fall in May
OTTAWA—May data from Statistics Canada shows another slow month of trading activity, with exports and imports taking a dip. Exports to the U.S. dropped to $77.44 million, from $96.71 million at the same time last year. Imports from the U.S. were down, coming in at $69.21 million compared to $77.44 million in May 2007. Imports from China also grew to $19.96 million, up from $17.67 million in the same period in 2007.

EXPORTS	2008	2007	Change
May	$93.64 million	$115.70 million	-19.1%
Year to date	$502.10 million	$614.08 million	-18.2%

July 15, 2008
Trustee investigation into Patel and Prodigy case to continue
TORONTO—The trustee in bankruptcy has received permission to conduct further examinations into the bankruptcy of numbered company 1627880 Ontario Inc., an amalgamation of Prodigy Graphics Group Inc., Post-Prodigy Finishing Inc., and another numbered company 1491100 Ontario Ltd. The permission was the result of a creditors’ meeting held July 11. The next step will be for the trustee, MSI Spergel, to examine a number of people who have information about the bankrupt company, a process that’s likely to take about a month, Frank Kisluk of MSI Spergel told PrintCan. Further decisions will be based on the outcome of the examinations.

July 10, 2008
Flint Group North America and Sun Chemical hike prices
PLYMOUTH, MI and PARSIPPANY, NJ—The price of ink is going up again, with recent announcements of price hikes from both Flint Group North America and Sun Chemical. Flint Group, which hiked publication ink prices about 10% on June 1, announced this week it will increase the cost of and add surcharges to its packaging and commercial inks, effective on products billed on or after July 21. Sun Chemical will implement a 10¢-per lb. surcharge on coldset, heatset and directory inks, solvent packaging and energy curing inks starting July 14. Water packaging inks will be subject to a 6¢ increase per lb. Flint Group will contact its customers individually but more information and a roundup of price increases and surcharges are available at www.flintgrp.com

Quebecor World signs multi-year deal with Reader’s Digest
MONTREAL—Quebecor World has signed a multi-year agreement with Reader’s Digest Association to print its books and magazines. Valued at $55 million, the deal will see Quebecor World continue to print magazines like Family Handyman, and Weekly Reader, as well as new titles Reader’s Digest Milwaukee and Weekly Reader Current Events. The printing will be done at Quebecor World plants in Canada and the U.S.

Toronto shop adds two more HP’s
TORONTO—Digital Imaging Solutions is now an all HP shop with the installation of an HP Scitex XL1500 and HP Designjet Z6100 photo printer. The shop specializes in banners, vehicle wraps and signage, and already owns an HP Designjet 9000 and Designjet 5500. It plans to use the Scitex for fleet and event graphics and the photo printer for backlits and postcards.

With the new HP gear from left to right are; James Crawford, Cheryl Hannaford, Sonja Ng, Peter Gucciardi and Joey Viola, all from Digital Imaging Solutions.

July 8, 2008
KBA boosting its Canadian presence
WILLISTON, VT—KBA North America is expanding its Canadian presence with two key appointments. Lawrence Robinson has been promoted from Canadian district sales manager to the newly created position of vice president of sales in Canada and Wolfgang Günther is the new vice president of service and operations for the Canadian market. KBA Canada also plans to move into a new office space near the Toronto airport in January 2009.

Lawrence Robinson	Wolfgang Günther

New Heidelberg for Ontario shop
BRAMPTON, ON—Industrial printer Peel Graphics has added a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105-6LX to its pressroom, which it will use to better serve its trade and packaging customers. Peel Graphics has been in business for more than 30 years.

With the new Speedmaster is vice president Susan Nyilas, and president Andrew Cook.

July 3, 2008
Creditors’ meeting called in Patel and Prodigy case
TORONTO—A meeting of creditors has been called in the bankruptcy of numbered company 1627880 Ontario Inc., an amalgamation of Prodigy Graphics Group Inc., Post-Prodigy Finishing Inc., and another numbered company 1491100 Ontario Ltd.

Bankruptcy orders were issued against 1627880 on June 5, 2008. Bankruptcy orders were also previously issued against Prodigy Graphics Group Inc., Post-Prodigy Finishing, and Andy Patel, owner of Prodigy Graphics Group Inc., on December 17, 2007. Prodigy Graphics Group Inc. changed its name to 1627880 Ontario Inc. in July 2006. Ink manufacturer Hostmann-Steinberg was the petitioning creditor in both instances, the trustee in bankruptcy, Frank Kisluk of msi Spergel Inc. in Toronto, told PrintCan.

The bankruptcy action relates to a civil judgement Hostmann-Steinberg received against Post-Prodigy Finishing, Prodigy Graphics Group and Andy Patel in February 2007, regarding a truckload of ink that went missing from the ink manufacturer more than 13 years ago. The judgement granted Hostmann-Steinberg $300,000 for the ink and $200,000 for its legal costs.

But the bankruptcy actions do not impact Prodigy Graphics under its current ownership structure, according to controller Gordon McCauley. He said Prodigy president Najib Jamal bought the assets of Prodigy Graphics Group in January 2006 through his own company, Prografix. “We are not related to the company owned by Andy Patel. The receiver is doing whatever it needs to do to execute its responsibility.” Prografix also bought the name Prodigy Graphics and continues to use it as a trade name. Jamal is the former president and chief operating officer of Prodigy Graphics Group.

The creditors’ meeting will be held on July 11, in Toronto.

Cascades to close Toronto boxboard plant, invests in Quebec tissue plant
SAINT BRUNO, QB—Cascades is shuttering its Norampac boxboard mill in Toronto indefinitely, the company announced yesterday. About 140 employees will be affected by the closure, which will take place sometime before Sept. 14. The company blames the high energy and fibre prices as well as labour costs for the decision. Cascades also announced that it was investing $15 million in a new conversion line for its tissue plant in Lachute, Que., a move that will the save the jobs of the 160 employees at the facility.