Ennis

Distributor-only CSRs and five plants are positioned to handle distributor orders The $2.43 billion direct-selling giant of the forms industry—Moore North America, Bannockburn, Ill.—has launched a business unit geared to the independents and joined the DMIA. The new unit, called Latitudes, is based in Iowa City, Iowa. According to Dick Dennis, vice president of the Resale Channels, Latitudes is completely independent of Moore's direct-selling divisions. Rather than reporting to a vice president of sales, Dennis reports to Patrick Brong, the president of Logistics & Operations for Moore. No stranger to the independent channel, Dennis previously served as vice president of sales for Vallis

Breaking News GATF Releases Four Research Studies Reports feature PDF setup and digital proofing Four original research studies on color management workflow, PDF setup and digital color proofing have been released by GATF. The color management workflow study looks at the color accuracy and workflow timesavings of color management systems. The study finds that color quality depends on operators, but that CMS systems offer time savings and waste reduction. The PDF setup study was designed to evaluate the image quality of several different compression settings in PDF. The study concludes that compression affects color, detail and modeling. Overall, the JPEG-Medium compression setting produces files

Under CEO Keith Walters, Ennis responds to the changing industry with technology and services By Carol Katarsky About two years ago—although still an industry leader—it had become clear that Ennis Business Forms had seen better days. As Joe Bouldin, business unit director and a 24-year employee, said, "It was a troubled period for us. We were financially sound, but sales were flat and profits were down." "It wasn't a market-driven company," noted former president and 15-year board member Bob Mitchell. "We were about 20 years out of step with the industry." He added that when looking for new leadership, Keith Walters—a newcomer to the forms industry—seemed the logical

Traditional products are being adapted for use in more advanced applications By Eric Fiedler Walk down any city street and you're likely to see a police officer writing a parking ticket—hopefully for somebody else. For those who chose to park in a garage, time tickets probably grace their windshields. After parking, patrons often go shopping, examining price tags and product ID tags. Traditional tag and ticket markets are everywhere—and new, more sophisticated ones are beginning to sprout. "The market is evolving," said Michelle England, marketing manager for Chicago Tag & Label, Chicago. "In the past, a tag simply identified the product by name,"

Top 20 Independent Manufacturers 1998 Rank Company Sales ($000) 1997 Rank Sales ($000) Principal Officer Employees Locations Year Founded 1 CST/Star Forms $255,000 1 235,800 William O. Nahikian, CEO 535 9 1969 2 Ennis Busines Forms $154,348 3 153,726 Keith Walters, CEO/COB 1,408 15 1909 3 *Poser $121,750 4 100,000 Dennis M. Grasso 940 15 1949 4 *TRANSKRIT $101,000 5 95,000 Jack Resnick 1,028 8 1938 5 GBF Graphics $82,700 6 87,400 Richard S. Kunz 500 6 1951 6 Adams Business Forms $65,000 9 60,000 Joe Bauman 350 3 1889 7 Datagraphics $60,473 10 58,354 John Staniforth 350 3 1889 8 * Label Art $52,203 - 58,392 Thomas Cobery 426 4 1963 9 Discount Labels $53,971 - $55,945 Allen C. Conway Sr. 665 1 1964 10 DSFI Distributor's Stock $53,000 8 $62,000 Malcolm Geffen 185 4 1979 11 Continuous Forms and Checks $48,500 13 49,910 Bob Lenox 435 10 1982 12 Calibrated Forms $46,175 16 45,152 Bill Amyx 320 1 1985 13 Northstar Computer Forms $43,000 15 46,200 Kenneth Overstreet 500 6 1962 14 Sovereign Business Forms $39,204 36 23,606 Donald D. Patteson 421 8 1962 15 Wright Business Graphics $38,813 20 37,507 Jim Wright 275 6 1971 16 Rittenhouse Label Media $38,236 - $38,000 Tom Pagel 125 3 1915 17 ELT $38,000 - 16,800 Tim Wright 150 25 1987 18 United Computer Supplies $37,500 18 $38,700 Jack Zimmerman 128 3 1984 19 Data Label $36,383 22 36,131 Geroge Snyder 180 5 1980 20 Highland Computer Forms $36,151 21 36,290 Philip D. Wilson 108 4 1979 For a complete list of the "Top 100 Independent Manufacturers," read the Oct. 20 issue of Business Forms, Labels & Systems. Subscribe by clicking on the "How to Subscribe" link below.