Ricoh Acquires IKON Office Solutions for $1.6 Billion

IKON Office Solutions (NYSE:IKN, "IKON") announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Ricoh Company, Ltd. (TSE:7752, "Ricoh"), under which Ricoh will acquire IKON for $17.25 per share or approximately $1.6 billion in cash.

The combination of IKON and Ricoh will leverage IKON’s sales and services capabilities with Ricoh’s engineering and manufacturing expertise to better meet the needs of customers by offering full end-to-end office solutions and services.

Contex Americas Strengthens Partnership with Tekgraf to Unify Dealer Channel

Contex Americas announced a new arrangement with Tekgraf. Tekgraf will begin to inventory Contex brand scanners as well as Vidar brand scanners for the U.S. market place. The purpose of this arrangement is to increase availability of products and to facilitate faster delivery times of products. Promark Imaging Technologies will also continue to distribute Vidar scanners within the United States.

In July, Contex A/S acquired the scanner distribution division of IDEAL, creating the US division, Contex Americas, Inc. Since the acquisition, plans are being made to unify Contex’s dealer network for both Contex and Vidar Scanners. Contex Americas will work to support all Contex and Vidar distributors, dealers and their customers.

In the next several months, Contex Americas will announce new dealer programs that will support its large format scanner dealers, large and small, in an effort to increase dealer loyalty and profitability and enable its dealers to be even more competitive and create greater value in all segments of the market. 

 Roland Announces Winners of First-Ever I Love My Roland Contest

Roland announced the winners of the first-ever I Love My Roland Photo Contest. Entrants were asked to submit up to five photos of themselves with their Roland equipment plus up to 25 words on “why they love their Roland.” More than 100 entries from all over the world competed for the grand prize of a Caribbean cruise or trip to SGIA’s Specialty Printing & Imaging Expo to be held in Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 15-18.

Grant Eneix, owner of Macular Media in Houston, Texas, was selected as the contest’s grand prize winner through a random drawing of the top 25 finalists. Also winning his choice of a cruise or trip to SGIA was Roland choice award winner John McColl, owner of Sign*A*Rama Natomas in Sacramento, Calif.

To view the I Love My Roland Contest gallery of winners, visit www.rolanddga.com/love.

Contex Acquires Scanner Distribution Division of IDEAL

Contex A/S announced that it has acquired IDEAL’s Scanner Distribution Division. IDEAL has consistently been Contex’s largest U.S.-based distributor of wide-format scanning and imaging solutions.

This move is designed to provide stronger and more direct support to business partners, distributors and dealers in the North and South American market. Additionally, Contex expects the acquisition to expand their market leadership and increase their distribution base in the North and South American market. The acquisition of IDEAL’s Scanner Distribution Division continues Contex’s growth strategy and furthers their commitment to connect more closely with their end-customers and distribution partners.

Colortrac initiates first Code of Conduct in Wide Format Scanning

Colortrac Limited is the first wide-format scanner manufacturer to put its name to a corporate Code of Conduct that aims to promote fair employment conditions, protect human rights, ensure a safe working environment, manage environmental issues responsibly and adhere to high ethical standards, wherever in the world the company operates.

High standards of professional conduct are essential for Colortrac who require that its employees understand and comply with its values and policies. While Colortrac rely on the good judgment of its employees to comply with the law, act with integrity and safeguard its reputation in every situation, the Colortrac Code of Conduct provides them with a sense of direction in the application of corporate policies.

A copy of the Colortrac Code of Conduct is available online at http://www.colortrac.com/company/company_code.htm

Tia Cleaves joins Paradigm Imaging Group

Paradigm Imaging Group announced the addition of Tia Cleaves as a new member of the Customer Support team, effective immediately.
 
Cleaves has a strong administrative background and has worked in a variety of industries including manufacturing, real estate and mortgage. In her role at Paradigm Imaging Group, she will be responsible for all aspects of order entry and sales support, strengthening Paradigm’s ability to provide unparalleled customer service.

PacBlue Digital Converts all Reprographic Paper to Recycled Content

PacBlue Digital Imaging, Inc. announced that beginning Aug. 1, it will deliver all reprographics projects on paper containing 30 percent post-consumer waste.

A printing company aimed at reducing its environmental impact and that of its clients, PacBlue Digital will convert more than 20 million square feet of paper used annually for building plans, engineering drawings and spec books to recycled paper for its architectural and engineering customers.

PRIMIR Study Benchmarks Printers and Consumables in North America

Have you ever wondered where the concentration of book printers is in North America? What about how large the market is for blankets in the Northeast? How about how much ink is consumed by the newspaper printer? These and numerous other queries are answered in a new PRIMIR study completed by State Street Consultants (Boston, MA) entitled, Benchmarking 2006 North American Printers & Consumables. This new study provides volumes of statistics about all size printers in a variety of markets and geographic regions.

Principally, the study benchmarked the 2006 consumption of paper, ink, blankets, toner and plates for approximately 57,000 sites in the United States and Canada in the market segments covered by this study at the end of 2006. Statistics are provided by geographic region (country, state/province, U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area and U.S. 3-digit zip) and by market segment.

Sites using printing presses, digital production presses and/or wide-format printers were evaluated and grouped into various market segments, including commercial printers, in-plant printers, newspaper printers, catalog printers, book printers, directory printers and digital imaging services.

The study was distributed exclusively to PRIMIR and NPES members in early 2008. For membership information, contact Jackie Bland, PRIMIR Managing Director at e-mail: jbland@primir.org.

PRIMIR Announces Research Studies Line-up

The Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR) announces the recent launch of a number of research studies for the coming 12 months.

Trends in Books: The research will cover all major segments of the book publishing industry, including trade books (adult, juvenile, mass market paperback, book clubs, mail order and religious); educational (elem-high textbooks, college textbooks and university press); and reference (professional books and subscription reference). It will also investigate personal titles, as well as non-traditional books such as e-books, audio books, and books in Braille.

Sourcing Behavior of North American Print Originators: The study will identify how print sourcing decisions are made today, how they differ from five years ago and project how they will be made five years hence, by examining: who (job title or function) purchases print and what they purchase, purchase lead times by application and sourcing (local, regional, global, etc.), how they decide where to source, why they choose print versus alternative media, and how the print is purchased (direct, agency, broker, etc.).

Sustainable Print in a Dynamic Global Market: What Going Green Means: The research will define sustainability and identify the regulatory, economic, social and environmental drivers impacting the developed nations print supply chain players. It will describe the key drivers for adopting green practices, and provide an assessment of how the printing and publishing industry ranks when compared with other industries as far as impacting the environment.

For information about PRIMIR research or membership details, visit www.primir.org.

World’s First Installation of a Heidelberg Suprasetter for the Large-Format Successfully Completed

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) recently installed the world’s first Suprasetter for the new large-format. The first company to use this machine is Brüder Glöckler GmbH & Co KG, based in Wöllersdorf near Vienna.

At drupa, Heidelberg presented the new Suprasetter 145, 162 and 190 models. The new systems are used in conjunction with the Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162 and can also supply plates for other presses up to a sheet width of 190 centimeters (74.80 inches). The platesetters are available with throughput speeds of up to 35 plates per hour, with a resolution of either 2,540 or 2,400 dpi as required. The six cassettes of the plate loading unit enable up to 600 plates in as many as six different formats to be loaded fully automatically. The new system can be fully integrated into the Prinect print shop workflow.

LexJet Now Offers Mutoh’s ValueJet Line of Low-Solvent Printers

LexJet announces that it is now an authorized re-seller of Mutoh’s popular ValueJet line of low-solvent printers. The addition of the ValueJet line to LexJet’s product offerings effectively rounds out its printer portfolio as LexJet also offers a range of UV-curable and aqueous-based printer and media solutions to its customers.

LexJet’s solvent media line includes specialty films, backlit films, reverse-print polycarbonate, fine art papers, décor media, photo papers, adhesive-back vinyl, banner materials, wallcoverings, canvas, and fabric. The company also carries FLEXcon’s line of advertising graphic systems for train and bus wraps, wall, building, and billboard advertising, floor, sidewalk, and carpet advertising, and backlit advertising, as well as a full range of solvent solutions from 3M and Oracal.

Mutoh’s ValueJet line includes the 54-in. Mutoh ValueJet 1304 and the 64-in. Mutoh ValueJet 1614. Both printers feature Mutoh’s patented Intelligent Interweaving Printing Technique (i2) that reduces banding and increases print speeds in bi-directional printing. The technology lays down the ink in an optimized wave form, rather than the straight lines used in other printers.

Scientists Develop 3-D Document Visualization

Preparing detailed brochures and flyers with special folds can be a time-consuming and costly process for printers. Until now. Scientists at Xerox Corporation created a technology that uses 3-D software to help printers view the entire layout of a piece before it goes to print.

Aimed at eliminating one of the most costly bottlenecks in printing, the new technology will speed document preparation and approval, a process that costs $6 for every $1 spent on the print job itself, according to InfoTrends. With Xerox’s 3-D visualization software, users can see what prints will look like — texture, gloss, folds, binding and all — before any ink or toner is put to paper.

Mutoh America Announces New Hires, Promotions

Mutoh America proudly announces the following new hires and promotions: Hiro Futsukaichi has been named director of Marketing, Brian Phipps has been promoted to director of Sales and Debbi Wagers has been promoted to inside sales manager

Hiro has been involved in the Digital Image Industry on regional and international levels. In the past, he had experience working with accounts in Asia, China, Europe and North America while living in Japan.

Phipps has been involved in the wide format industry for more than 10 years. Prior to joining Mutoh America in December of 2004, Phipps held a position as Director of Sales for a fortune 500 company. For the past three years, Phipps has increased sales profits for Mutoh America.

Wagers has been employed with Mutoh America for more than 20 years and continues to make remarkable impacts in multiple facets. With her promotion, she will manage all inside sales representatives, in addition to all of her current job responsibilities.