Landa Plans Expansion with New Ink Plant in North America (piworld.com)

CJK Group, the parent company of Sheridan and Kodi Collective, has announced the realization of its strategic vision for their February 2024 acquisition of Kodi: bringing Kodi’s three offset print facilities into the Sheridan family. This tactical move marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Sheridan, industry leader in print and publishing services for book, journal, and magazine publishers, as well as catalogers. The addition of Kodi’s three high-performing print facilities to Sheridan’s nine state-of-the-art production sites positions the company to redefine excellence in the print industry. As Sheridan continues to expand its footprint through this powerful integration, the company strengthens its already stellar reputation in its marketplaces, enhancing the breadth and scope of its service offerings and extending its hallmark Sheridan Experience to current and future clients. That experience underscores Sheridan’s well-known commitment to innovation and unwavering dedication to ensuring that every client interaction is characterized by exceptional service and tailored solutions.

People are tired of looking at screens. Since February 2020, the number of weekly virtual meetings has risen around 150%, with the amount of time people spend in those meetings up around 252% — that is a lot of time staring at screens all day long. For marketers looking to reach that same audience, online or mobile ads are losing their effectiveness as people seek to step away from the digital world when they end their workday. This is where direct mail comes in — a medium that has never gone away, but is seeing a resurgence post-pandemic. “There has been a permanent change in how mail is being used as a marketing channel,” Gary Masse, CEO of IWCO Direct, points out. “Now mail is the channel that breaks through the digital clutter to gain your prospects’ attention, while being coordinated with online channels to drive greater response in all channels.” Deloitte’s “2021 Connectivity and Mobile Trends Survey” found that the average household now has an average of 25 connected devices, with 38% of households connecting additional devices in the past few years.

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.