C. J. Graphics acquires printing, pre-press and bindery firm Annan & Sons

C. J. Graphics has acquired Annan & Sons, a well-known printing, pre-press and bindery trade shop. With the merger, many of the Annan staff and management -- including Paul and John Annan -- are joining C.J. Graphics at the end of October.
Jay Mandarino, president and CEO of C.J. Graphics, said

"The Annans are some of the most ethical, honest and hard-working people in our industry. Over 30 years ago when I started as a print broker, I had the privilege of working with their father and company founder Don Annan, and I was fortunate to get to know the family and their incredible staff. Don was one of the first people to extend me credit to purchase printing from his company, and I will never forget that. Their company has been known as one of the first true trade shops, with a focus on high quality, in the country. Several years ago, the company began to expand and focus their energy into dealing directly with clients. This meant less and less trade work, making the merger very appealing due to the lack of crossover between accounts.”

Earlier this year, the C.J. Group of companies sold three existing buildings in Toronto and consolidated in a 260,000 square foot facility in Mississauga  and added mailing service as well as a new large-format litho press and a new digital press. The whole move involves an investment of $25 million.

Transcon Printing shuts down three presses and lets 130 people go

Transcontinental Printing has let 90 employees go and shut down two web presses at its huge Aurora, ON printing plant. According to a story on the PrintCAN site, published by Graphic Monthly Canada, the cutbacks were "driven by market conditions and excess production capacity," said Jennifer McCaughey, senior director of investor relations and corporate external communications. 

Forty further layoffs are occurring in Edmonton, where one press is scheduled for dismantling. 

Transcontinental is Canada's largest printer and the fourth largest in North America and its media division is one of the largest publishers of consumer magazines in the country. 

R. R. Donnelly buys JournalismOnline and its Press+ metered paid content model

U.S. printing giant R. R. Donnelly has made a strategic move by buying JournalismOnline's content project and, with it, the Press+ technology that allows publishers to create flexible pay models for digital content, according to a story in minonline. Stephen Brill, who had founded American Lawyer and Court TV and later Brill's Content before founding JournalismOnline, has been a champion of metered paid access as a revenue stream for newsapepr and magazine partners; it claims 1,600 affiliates for the platform. Brill's partner in the venture had been former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, who said in a statement:

“The scalable Press+ model enables publishers to quickly test and implement a variety of content distribution strategies. Our experience demonstrates that publishers using Press+ for metered access to web sites and other digital products retain their online ad revenue and readership while adding a valuable revenue stream from online subscriptions.”

R. R. Donnelley's CEO and president Thomas J. Quinlan III said 

“Press+ enhances our offering and opens new avenues for publishers to generate incremental subscription and advertising revenue.”

St. Joe's Tony Gagliano named printer of the year

St. Joseph Communications president Tony Gagliano has been named printer of the year by the magazine Graphic Monthly Canada, an award that will be presented Saturday, November 20 during the PrintWorld show at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. PrintWorld is a trade show owned and managed by North Island Publishing, which publishes Graphic Monthly, Masthead and Design Edge Canada.

Gagliano heads up what is one of the largest print and media companies in Canada and certainly one of the largest privately held ones. St. Joseph Communications publishes a range of consumer titles including  Toronto Life, Fashion, Canadian Family and Wedding Bells. 

EnRoute will have to be printed elsewhere, as Transcon shuts down Boucherville plant

Boucherville R.I.P.

Transcontinental Inc., Canada's largest consumer magazine publisher and one of the continent's largest printers, is closing its Boucherville, Quebec printing plant, one of 36 it has across the country. 

The plant, where enRoute magazine is printed for Spafax Inc. on behalf of Air Canada, is but the latest casualty in a restructuring of the company and an overcapacity in magazine and book printing facilities, according to a statement by Transcontinental vice-president Jacques Grégoire, quoted in a story in the Financial Post. The story also said that one of the reasons the plant is closing is that it is printing fewer of Canada's tax return documents since people are more and more filing online.The closure will result in the layoff of 180 workers.

“Our members are all in shock and so are we,” said Serge Bérubé, president of local 1999 of the Teamsters union, which represents Transcontinental workers. “But some of our members noted that the plant had been on artificial life support for some years now.”

Plant workers had agreed in the last collective agreement to reorganize their work to strictly limit the number of eventual layoffs subsequent to the implementation of major rationalization measures announced in February 2009, labour leaders said. The union represents 125,000 members of all trades in Canada.

Transcontinental, the continent’s fourth-largest commercial printer, tallied net income of $28.9-million or 35¢ a share in its latest quarter on the strength of its digital and print platforms and said it was optimistic for coming quarters.

Quad/Graphics shifting magazine printing from Edmonton to Aurora

Quad/Graphics, which bought printer Worldcolor (formerly Quebecor World),  has announced it is consolidating operations, closing a plant in Quebec and shifting its magazine printing business from Edmonton to its huge plant in Aurora, Ontario. According to a company release, about $23 million will be invested in new plant and equipment next year. 

The St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu plant in Quebec, a 240,000 square foot facility that employs 270 people will start to wind down immediately. The Edmonton plant will now concentrate on retail inserts and directories. When the restructuring is complete, the company will have 8 printing plants in Canada: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Montreal, St. Laurent and LaSalle, Quebec; Aurora and Concord, Ontario; Edmonton, Alberta; and Vancouver, British Columbia as well as a premedia and prepress facility in Toronto.

"While we are very focused on integrating operations and achieving synergies, we are also focused on finding ways to better serve our clients and help them grow and succeed in the Canadian marketplace," Mr. Quadracci said. "We have more solutions than ever to help clients capitalize on the power of print as part of a multichannel communications strategy."

Quad/Graphics acquired Worldcolor in July and had already indicated that integration of the two huge companies would result in some consolidation and a projected savings of  $225 million within 24 months. The company's six month net sales to the end of June were $2.17 billion.

Printers' association hopes to change Heritage's mind about allowing printing outside of Canada

The president of the Canadian Printing Industries Association says he hopes to convince the Department of Canadian Heritage to change the Canada Periodical Fund to prevent public money from being spent to print magazines outside of Canada.

Bob Elliott says in a story on the PrintCan website that he is disappointed publishers are no longer required to print their magazines or newspapers in Canada to be eligible for the Canada Periodical Fund; he also said it was difficult to judge the impact of the relaxed regulation:

“Ultimately if there are tax dollars being used to support the printing of publications those Canadian tax dollars should be spent in Canada. This opens the door for that not to happen, for those dollars to be spent outside of Canada.”

Publishers' outsourcing of pre-press steadily growing

It would seem that magazine publishers, at least in the U.S. (and probably in Canada) are moving steadily away from doing all of their own pre-press in-house. According to Folio: magazine's 2010 manufacturing and production trends research, the number of publishers doing it all themselves was 60% last year and only 51% this year. Complete outsourcing has stayed steady at about 17% of publishers.

Interestingly, the majority of respondents to the survey spent less than $5,000 on new technology last year and just 2% said they spent more than $200k.

Worldcolor to launch integrated print-on-demand system

Worldcolor has announced a partnership with Kodak and Muller Martini to create a digital inkjet publishing system  that can produce up to 1,000 books an hour and could well become a print-on-demand solution for magazines and back issues. The FastBook digital system integrates and automates prepress, digital printing and finishing in-line to achieve a seamless files-in/books-out solution. While it is pitched at short-run book publishers, the system can also produce versioned and variable magazines, catalogs and high-end direct mail.

It seems that such digital solutions could be an answer to the perennial problem of printing and storing back issues of expensive-to-produce literary journals. For instance, a magazine which costs $10 to print a copy now could be keeping on hand hundreds of copies for back issue requests, presenting both a storage and a cash flow problem. Though there isn't information yet about the actual cost per copy, the company says in a release that runs of up to 3,500 copies are expected to be competitive with other print-on-demand systems.

"FastBook Digital reflects our continuing commitment to innovation, speed and efficiency as a way of helping our book publishing customers succeed," said Brian Freschi, President, Worldcolor North America. "FastBook Digital is also part of our 'Pressroom-of-the-Future' initiative that will be transformational in terms of how our book and other operations will better serve publishers and their changing needs in a digital world. The same systems approach also will deliver unique applications and benefits to our magazine, catalog and direct mail customers. "

The first FastBook Digital installation will be in Worldcolor's Dubuque, Iowa, facility and is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of this year.

Will cheaper paper mean that National Geographic magazines will crumble?

A relatively recent switch by National Geographic magazine to print its inside pages on much less costly coated groundwood paper may mean that, in future, copies will not stand up so well to the test of time. According to a story in the blog Dead Tree Edition, the magazine was previously printed on coated freesheet paper which doesn't contain lignin, a natural ingredient that causes the yellowing and degradation of the paper.

Periodical Fund quietly removes requirement to print funded mags in Canada

There could be a significant impact on Canadian magazine printers from the changing rules under the Canada Periodical Fund, not least of all because the government has quietly dropped the requirement that magazines receiving government funding must be printed in Canada. 

According to a posting in PrintCan, Doug Bennet, the publisher of industry trade magazines Masthead and Graphic Monthly, recently told the Toronto chapter meeting of the National Association of Major Mail Users, that

“Postal bills will be increasing by double-digits after April 1. This could be a disincentive for publishers to increase publication frequencies and page counts, especially above the 200 g threshold. It will also make publishers think twice about adding more enclosures in the polybag, particularly if advertisers aren’t willing to shoulder dramatically higher postage costs.”

At the same time, the new program may be an incentive for publishers to print more copies for newsstand distribution, since paid newsstand copies now count towards the grant calculation. “We could see a shift in strategy away from subscriptions to the newsstand, since publishers could elect to spend their grant funds on newsstand promotions,” says Bennet.

The removal of the printed in Canada rule means publishers could shop their printing in the U.S. or overseas and still receive federal funding—impossible before.

Database tracks phenomenal growth of eco-paper availability

The number of eco-papers available to printers in North America has grown from 97 to 228 in just 18 months, according to information released by Canopy, the  non-profit organization working to improve the environmental performance of paper and wood companies.

"We're witnessing a phenomenal shift in the paper industry where sustained and growing green demand is steering paper production towards ecofriendly options, giving a life line to mills and a future for our endangered forests and species," said Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Canopy.

Canopy maintains a database that tracks the qualities of 350 different papers and the mills that provide them. 

Giant Quad/Graphics Inc. buys Montreal-based Worldcolor Press

[This post has been updated] Quad/Graphics Inc, has agreed to buy magazine printer Worldcolor Press Inc. of Canada, which prints magazines such as Time and Cosmopolitan.The sale price is about $1.3 billion. According to a story published on Bloomberg.com, the merged company, which will be publicly traded, will have 30,000 employees and combined sales of $5.1 billion.

Joel Quadracci, Quad/Graphics’s chief executive officer, will lead the new company as chairman, president and CEO, the company said.

“We will enhance our leadership position in the printing industry,” Quadracci said in the statement.

Shareholders of Worldcolor, which is based in Montreal (and until recently was called Quebecor World), will own about 40 percent of the combined company, the statement said. The Quadracci family will control the company through ownership of its Class B shares. Quad/Graphics will distribute $140 million in cash to its shareholders, the company said.

Quad/Graphics has $1.2 billion of financing from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and U.S. Bancorp to fund the acquisition and cash distributions and to refinance borrowings, the company said.

[Update: “I don’t see this as good news for magazine publishers as it will further reduce competition which may lead to higher print prices,” Bradner Smith & Company publication papers vice president Dan Walsh[told Folio: magazine]. “I would also not be surprised to see some Worldcolor plants shut down over the next year as a result of this purchase.”

The board of Worldcolor had turned down a $1.8 billion offer from another printing giant, R. R. Donnelly, last summer.]

Related posts:

• New logo for former Quebecor World magazine printer
• Courts approve Quebecor World reorganization; now the tax man has to say yes
• Donnelley gives up in bid to take over Quebecor World
• Quebecor World board rejects sweetened Donnelly offer 
• Printer vs. printer: R. R. Donnelly makes unsolicited bid for Quebecor World 
• Quebecor World seeks, and gets, bankruptcy protection
  

Worldcolor consolidates printing plants with loss of 150 jobs

Worldcolor, the former Quebecor World, one of Canada's largest magazine printers, has announced that it is closing its Richmond Hill printing plant and consolidating all magazine, catalogue, direct mail  and production and sales operations to its Aurora plant. The move will be completed by the end of March and will result in a net loss of approximately 150 jobs.

Worldcolor lands contract to print 21 American Bar Asssociation magazines

Worldcolor, the Montreal-based printer (formerly Quebecor World) has landed a contract to print 21 magazines and journals for the American Bar Association. The multi-year pact with ABA Publishing includes such titles as Litigation, Business Law Today, Probate and Property, Student Lawyer and Construction Lawyer. Worldcolor has printed the ABA's flagship magazine ABA Journal for several years.

Rogers and Transcon team up to cut ad insertion lead times to 2 weeks

Canada's two largest magazine publishing companies, Rogers Publishing and Transcontinental Media, have announced that they are cooperating in cutting the lead times for advertisers' insertion in the companies' monthly magazines. Pressexpress is an ad-close schedule that means ad creative can be sumbitted only two weeks prior to publication.

Brian Segal, president and CEO of Rogers told Marketing magazine that Pressexpress will make advertising more atttractive.

“Both us and Transcontinental were of the view that we needed to reset the position of magazines within the minds of media buyers,” said Segal. “We think it helps reposition the industry in terms of being more urgent, more timely and more competitive with some of the other media cycles.

“My sense is that [advertisers] will see more opportunities to match merchandising strategy and marketing planning with advertising. If they know they have eight or 10 or 12 merchandising events or cycles that they’re working on for the year, but that [under the previous ad-close schedule] the creative might not be ready, they’ll now have the option to buy magazines where they may not have before.”

Transcontinental now has a long-term contract to print all of Rogers magazines, so the ad insertion system is a natural extension of their business collaboration.

Francine Tremblay, senior vice-president, consumer magazines for Transcontinental Media, said:

“Advertisers are always waiting to see what the latest thing is before making a final decision,” said Tremblay. “Final decisions are critical in our industry, and the more information you have, the best final decision you will make.”

Rogers plans to launch the Pressexpress schedule for the January 2010 issues of Chatelaine and Châtelaine, with the March issues of Today’s Parent, Flare, Glow, Pure and the French and English versions of LouLou to follow. Schedules for the company’s weekly and bi-weekly consumer magazines, such as Maclean’s, Hello! and Canadian Business, will not be affected as the already provide short lead times.

Transcontinental will launch Pressexpress with the January issues of Canadian Living and Coup de Pouce, with other titles to follow in March and April.

New logo for former Quebcor World magazine printer

Well, it beats the heck out of "Novink", which was a contender for the renaming of the former Quebecor World magazine printer. World Colour Press of Montreal has introduced its new name and logo, effective immediately. It will be all over the company's website worldcolor.com (note the American spelling).

What good is a new logo without a complicated rationale for it? Here is Worldcolor's cour:

“World is a testimony to our determination to lead and expand our business across all borders. Color is the essence of our business; reaching and touching people with printed and digital images and related services. We have merged the two words into one to bring new energy, a new-economy feel and a modern edge to the name.”

Globe and Mail says its future is to have a magazine look and style

The Globe and Mail will be more like a magazine than a newspaper by late next year as new printing equipment comes online at its primary printer, Transcontinental Inc.

What was once the good, grey Globe will become a four-colour newspaper and change its format to fit the new Commander CT presses that Transcon has purchased in order to meet the obligation of its 20-year, $1.7 billion contract extension, according to a story in Newspapers and Technology.

Perry Nixdorf, The Globe and Mail's vice president of operations, said the new machines will allow the paper to meet its goal to improve print quality. "We are alive and well and we are now ready to evolve to a point where we can connect to our audiences in a style and manner that's preferential to them," he said.

All four of the new presses will have heatset capability -- a commonplace for four-colour magazine printing.

Heatset was an important consideration, Nixdorf said. "We will definitely be looking at the best ways to optimize the heatset, whether it's better quality newsprint, or the production of glossy, niche publications," he said.

"The future in our industry is to go to a magazine look and style, so we wanted heatset and UV upfront."

Transcontinental will build a new plant in Toronto to house two of the machines. The third press will be placed at a Transcontinental site in Calgary and the fourth in another company-owned facility in Vancouver, B.C. The Calgary and Vancouver plants will replace contracts Transcontinental now has with local printers to produce The Globe.

The Globe will standardize its size to a 21-inch cutoff and 44-inch web width; currently, the paper is 22.75 inches and it is produced on a 48-inch-wide web. This may require the Brandon Sun (which produces the Globe for distribution in Manitoba and Saskatchewan) and Transcon's Halilfax plant (which services the Atlantic provinces) to make some adjustments, said Nixdorf.

Five ways to green your magazine

Bruce Jensen, group vice president of sales for Transcontinental Printing’s magazine, book & catalogue group, has a brief, commonsensical article for Folio: on "greening" the way magazines do business, written from a printer's perspective.

I say common sense, because most publishers may know the following things, but don't always insist on doing them.

• Use low-volatility inks and coatings and go easy on ink coverage
• Use paper that has resulted from environmentally responsible forestry and manufacturing processes.
• Manage retail distribution and, working with distributors, adjust order levels (this is sometimes easier said than done).
• Use good list hygiene and co-mailing to avoid undeliverable copies and mailing inefficiency.
• Use digital workflow to eliminate redundant proofing and deliveries.

From leather to spaghetti, printer offers "peel and sniff" print ads

Scent strips have been ubiquitous in recent years, particularly featuring perfumes in fashion-related magazines, for both men and women. Now, according to a story in Media in Canada, however, magazine printer Quebecor World is rolling out a "peel and sniff" technology called 'Flexappeal' that aims to involve consumers with scented print ads.

"Certainly peel has been used in the marketplace - a lot of the peel and sniff on perfumes and stuff like that," says Ron Myers, marketing director, Quebecor World, Marketing Solutions Group. What's different now is that the printer offers more than 160 scent offerings, from leather to spaghetti. The execution ranges in size from 2 to 10.75 inches.