TC Transcontinental announced that it is phasing down the printing activities of Transcontinental LGM – Coronet, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in anticipation of the complete closure of the facility on January 31st, 2021. Operations will be transferred gradually over the next few months, mainly to Transcontinental RBW Graphics in Ontario and, to a lesser extent, to Transcontinental Calgary in Alberta, to ensure a smooth transition for customers and maintain a top-quality service. "In order to protect the long-term financial health of our sector, our teams are constantly working to align the capacity and costs of our printing platform with our business volumes," said Brian Reid, President of TC Transcontinental Printing. "With this in mind and in light of a thorough analysis of the situation at our Winnipeg plant, it is with regret that we have to close Transcontinental LGM – Coronet and transfer operations to two of our other plants. We thank our employees who have always demonstrated their professionalism and commitment in serving our loyal customers with dedication."

The 2020 Gold Ink Awards recently took place, with winners being announced earlier this month. We are pleased to announce that Arandell was the recipient of eight awards this year, including the Silver award for our work on the Gudrun Sjoden Spring 2020 catalog. Arandell participates in several print industry competitions each year, including the Graphics Excellence Awards, the Premier Print Awards and of course, the Gold Ink Awards. Along with it being the last competition of the year, the Gold Ink Awards competition is also the most prestigious, as it is put on by Printing Impressions – the print industry’s most well-recognized and influential industry publication.

News Corp announced today that it plans to shift the printing of several of its publications in New York to a different facility in the city, a move which will help cut costs and secure production of print editions of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and the New York Post for years to come. Under the change, the publications would be printed at The New York Times’ College Point plant in Queens. This plan would result in the closure of the company’s Bronx Print Plant, where the publications are currently printed. Financial details of the arrangement were not released. The company has notified the leadership of the unions representing the employees at the Bronx Print Plant about the plan, and is entering into a period of negotiation with the unions. While the process is underway, the publications will continue to be produced at the Bronx plant.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its DLS Worldwide Logistics business to TFI International for $225 million in cash, subject to a customary working capital adjustment. The agreement stipulates 10 percent of the purchase price will be held in escrow while the remainder will be paid at closing. The transaction does not include RRD’s International Mail and Parcel Logistics business and is expected to close within the next 60 days pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Dan Knotts, RRD’s President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “The sale of our DLS Worldwide business further demonstrates our strategic focus and ongoing commitment to optimize our business portfolio, reduce debt and improve liquidity, all while remaining strongly positioned as an industry leading provider of marketing and business communications. As we move through the final phase of this transaction, we are laser focused on facilitating a smooth transition for our employees while continuing to deliver the exceptional service our DLS Worldwide clients have come to expect from RRD.”

LSC Communications, Inc. announced that the Company has entered into a stock and asset purchase agreement with an affiliate of Atlas Holdings LLC with the support of certain of LSC’s secured creditors. Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Purchaser will acquire substantially all of the Company’s assets through a combination of cash and a credit bid of obligations under the Company’s secured term loan facility and senior secured notes at the direction of the Creditor Group. The Purchaser will also assume certain liabilities of the Company, including, subject to certain prerequisite conditions being satisfied, obligations related to the Company’s qualified pension plan.

Presented by Printing Impressions, the Gold Ink Awards is the industry’s most prestigious printing competition. The competition is open to all creators and producers of printed materials, and encompasses categories within commercial printing, magazines, books, catalogs, digital printing, and packaging. This year, more than 400 entries were submitted in 43 categories. During the course of two days, several judges who — despite the pandemic — came in to Printing Impressions' offices in downtown Philadelphia to pour over the various entries, deliberating on which submissions would be crowned with Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Pewter designations. For the results go to: https://www.piworld.com/extension/gold-ink-awards/2020/

In celebration of International Literacy Day and the 16th anniversary of the founding of MagLiteracy.org this week, Quad announced today that it has donated $25,000 to MagLiteracy.org to kickstart the creation of a first-of-its-kind national literacy marketplace. The marketplace, a nationwide network of regional literacy banks, will facilitate donations of new, recycled or expired magazines and comic books to local literacy programs – an important tool in combatting poverty. Quad’s cornerstone contribution to MagLiteracy.org will be used to: *Establish a Magazine Literacy Lab in Madison, Wisconsin, which will serve as a training, education and resource center for individuals and groups looking to establish or grow literacy programs in their own communities, replicating MagLiteracy.org’s proven best practices, including how to engage volunteers. *Support operations at MagLiteracy.org’s newly established Ohio Literacy Bank, a warehouse in Columbus for processing large-volume magazine donations (from publishers, newsstand returns, etc.). These donations, which are sorted and boxed by volunteers, are delivered to literacy programs in Columbus and other nearby cities, including parts of Appalachia. The warehouse is the first in a planned nationwide network of regional literacy banks that will supply local literacy programs inside women’s shelters, youth mentoring programs, job training centers, meal programs and food pantries.

A typical sheet of paper or cardboard is neither waterproof, interactive or able to harvest energy, but an innovative new printing technology developed at Purdue University can make it all of the above. The researchers demonstrated the technique by transforming a sheet of notebook paper into a music player, and say it could be scaled up to work with larger printing processes for more mainstream uses. “This is the first time a self-powered paper-based electronic device is demonstrated,” says study author Ramses Martinez, an assistant professor in Purdue’s School of Industrial Engineering. “We developed a method to render paper repellent to water, oil and dust by coating it with highly fluorinated molecules. This omniphobic coating allows us to print multiple layers of circuits onto paper without getting the ink to smear from one layer to the next one.” With this omniphobic coating as the starting point, the researchers were able to integrate vertical pressure sensors onto the paper. This not only enables it to become an interactive surface for a variety of applications, but also one that can harvest energy from user’s actions through friction as they apply pressure to the device, which can be used to power wireless Bluetooth communication.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD) (NYSE: RRD), a leading global provider of marketing and business communications, today released The Pivot Report, which compares pre- and intra-COVID-19 priorities for marketers and their approaches to developing effective campaigns. RRD surveyed 250 U.S. based marketers across a variety of industries in both late 2019 and mid-2020 to conduct a comparative analysis of perception changes driven by COVID-19. These survey results indicate that the global pandemic has significantly impacted marketer attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the importance of data management, and how companies emotionally connect with consumers. To read the full report, go to: https://www.rrd.com/pivot?utm_medium=link&utm_source=press%20release&utm_campaign=091020%20PR%20-%20Pivot%20Report

Worzalla, an employee-owned company specializing in printing high-quality children’s books, movie tie-in books and cookbooks, announced it is hiring for 35 open positions at its facility in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Worzalla cites an increased demand for books during the coronavirus pandemic for the need to hire additional associates. “Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we have seen an increase in demand for books of all categories, especially in the children’s books category for both education and entertainment,” said Richard Letchinger, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Worzalla. “Our customers across the country have been reaching out to us to print a variety of projects, both classics and new titles, to help educate and entertain kids at home.”

CJK Group, Inc. announced that it has acquired content services business Cenveo Publisher Services and Cenveo Learning from Cenveo Worldwide Limited, and will be merging them with its own content business Sheridan Journal Services and hosting platform Sheridan PubFactory to form KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. (KGL). The combined entity employs approximately 1,500 people globally with offices in Boston, Mass.; Richmond, Va.; and Waterbury, Vt. in the U.S.; Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and Noida in India; and London, UK. KGL will operate under the leadership of Atul Goel, formerly President of Cenveo Publisher Services, and he will report to Chris Kurtzman, CEO of CJK Group. Chris Kurtzman said, “The combination of these two organizations, both of whom have strong reputations and venerable histories, will create an important new entity within CJK Group, positioned for growth while delivering value for customers.”

2020 Third Quarter Results: Revenues decreased by $141.5 million, or 19.4%, from $728.9 million in the third quarter of 2019 to $587.4 million in the corresponding period of 2020. Operating earnings increased by $18.7 million, or 33.0%, from $56.6 million in the third quarter of 2019 to $75.3 million in the third quarter of 2020. In the Packaging Sector, adjusted operating earnings increased by $11.5 million, from $34.1 million in the third quarter of 2019 to $45.6 million in the third quarter of 2020. In the Printing Sector, adjusted operating earnings increased by $7.7 million, or 16.4%, from $46.8 million in the third quarter of 2019 to $54.5 million in the third quarter of 2020. Net earnings attributable to shareholders of the Corporation increased by $44.9 million, from $3.4 million in the third quarter of 2019 to $48.3 million in the third quarter of 2020.

thINK, an independent community of Canon Solutions America production inkjet customers, today announced their success in bringing learning and networking to the thINK community via their virtual event platform that reached a record number of attendees across the world at the 6th annual thINK Ahead conference. “I want to congratulate the thINK Board on creating a one-of-a-kind experience for Canon Solution America inkjet customers and partners. We will all remember today for a variety of reasons but most of all for the reminder that we all need to stay connected,” said Francis A. McMahon, Executive Vice President, Production Print Solutions, Canon Solutions America.

Sun Chemical agreed to name Icaro International, a distributor of woven metallic wire mesh and synthetic mesh for different screen printing applications such as printed electronics, as its distributor for Sun Chemical’s conductive and dielectric inks as well as other electronic materials in Mexico. The three-year agreement allows Sun Chemical to expand its reach to the biosensor, automotive, white goods, and electronic assembly markets across Mexico using a well-respected and widely known partner.

LSC Communications filed a WARN notice with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development on Sept. 1 announcing its intention to begin shuttering its Kendallville book manufacturing facility located on Marion Drive effective Oct. 1, impacting all 307 employees who work there. The Chicago-based printer's operation on Lester Drive in the same roughly-10,000-resident town in northeast Indiana will remain open. "At this time, the company anticipates that all employees will be permanently separated from employment with the company by December 23, 2020," wrote Rebecca Robertson, VP of human resources, in the WARN notice. "In connection with the plant closure, no employees will have bumping rights to displace other employees working for the company," she added. "We appreciate any support or assistance you or your office can provide to help employees affected by the plant closing in finding new positions."

Despite the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the economy and within the printing industry, Marquis is announcing two significant investments at its Toronto plant. These investments aim to increase the production capacity of monochrome and color books for trade, educational and professional publishing markets. "These investments demonstrate the trust we have in the publishing world. We sincerely believe that the paper book is resilient and will go through future crises and technological developments to remain the refuge of knowledge and imagination. We have dedicated and very professional employees who operate our equipment and the existing management team created the confidence to enable Marquis to continue to invest in the operations of Marquis Toronto," said Serge Loubier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Marquis Book Printing. click read more below for details

The auction to acquire the assets of LSC Communications, which had been planned to take place on September 3, has been postponed until September 9. Bids for the company were due August 26, but no filings disclosing what bids have been received have not yet been made public. Although no filing has been made about the bids, a recent disclosure by LSC investment bank Evercore indicates there was quite a bit of initial interest. According to the filing, made by Evercore to get court approval to be paid for its work, the bank said it contacted 163 prospective buyers, signed 60 nondisclosure agreements, and had continuing talks with 21 potential bidders.

Sun Chemical and its parent company, DIC Corporation, have acquired Seller Ink Industria e Comércio de Tintas e Vernizes Ltda., a specialty inks and coatings manufacturer based in São Paulo, Brazil. With over 25 years of experience, Seller Ink has a strong market presence in both the security ink and the metal decorating markets. With the acquisition of the Brazilian-based company, Sun Chemical will increase its specialty inks and coatings offering in Latin America and will obtain a local manufacturing platform for security inks to provide first-class service.

In response to election-year political gridlock on common sense reform for the struggling United States Postal Service, I sent the following letter to roughly 300 U.S. Senators and Representatives this week. This isn’t just a matter for the postal industry — it’s in the best interest of the nation’s overall economy. Dear Senator: Quad was founded by my father in 1971, when he took out a second mortgage on our home and he along with a handful of dedicated partners opened the doors to what today has grown into the nation’s largest long-run printer with nearly 20,000 employees spanning across 20 states. I was two years old when Quad began, so I have quite literally grown up as part of the industry. My father’s vision has transformed many lives through hard work, dedication and smart business. However, that vision would not have happened without the tremendous partnership Quad has forged with the United States Postal Service. Today, Quad mails more than 10 billion pieces of mail each year on behalf of our clients. This accounts for 13% of the overall marketing mail volume in the country. The USPS continues to be a vital partner to the mailing/marketing industry — an industry that is comprised of retailers, marketers, catalogers, directories, direct mailers, magazine and book publishers along with paper manufacturers, timber producers and many others. The industry employs over 7 million people and accounts for $1.6 trillion of economic activity on par with industries such as air travel, automotive and oil and gas. The industry provides family supporting jobs throughout the country and over 90% of the Postal Service’s revenue. Leading Quad at this critical time gives me a sense of urgency in knowing that the future of our industry is at stake if our leaders do not act in our best interest.

Creative Graphics Services (CGS), a U.S. large-format graphics communications specialist, has expanded its print capabilities with the addition of a fleet of new HP Latex R series printers. The new technology is enabling customers to enjoy high-impact graphics on virtually any rigid surface for limitless design possibilities and to fill urgent signage needs. Today, CGS is mobilized to help equip local businesses, communities and hospitals with signage to communicate social distancing, wayfinding and public health awareness as they reopen amid the continued COVID-19 pandemic.

Capacity issues at the two largest printing companies are among the factors creating havoc for authors and publishers. This spring, when the pandemic forced bookstores across the country to close and authors to cancel their tours, many editors and publishers made a gamble. They postponed the publication of dozens of titles, betting that things would be back to normal by the fall. Now, with September approaching, things are far from normal. Books that were bumped from spring and early summer are landing all at once, colliding with long-planned fall releases and making this one of the most crowded fall publishing seasons ever. And now publishers are confronting a new hurdle: how to print all those books. read more at: https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/books/printing-companies-backlog-book-publishing.amp.html

Royle Printing is pleased to announce Pam Rostagno has joined the Royle team as Director of Operations. Rostagno brings a broad depth of knowledge and experience from her various operations leadership positions she held at Quad. Beginning her career in their Corporate Trainee program, Rostagno spent time as a customer service representative before moving into a leadership position in that department. She advanced in her career, serving as the Plant Director at the Quad Lomira, Wis., facility and Quad Martinsburg, W.V., facility. In 2013, Rostagno accepted the position of Director of Operations at the Quad In-Store Division, where she championed the rapid growth of that business unit. Rostagno has been heavily involved in employee development, process improvement & cost analysis, strategic planning & direction, customer service, quality & production controls, LEAN/6S applications, leadership and mentoring/coaching.