Newtown

Newtown/CPC, Fredericksburg, Va., has shortened its name to Newtown to accurately reflect its numerous offerings and to promote its strengths to distributors. In addition to manufacturing business forms, cut sheets, checks, negotiable documents, label/form combinations, unit sets and wrap-around cover books, Newtown is now producing commercial printing, digital printing, booklets, business stationery, posters and pads, and full mail-shop services. Its plants are located in both Pennsauken, N.J. and Fredericksburg, Va. For more information, call (800) 336-2110 (Fredericksburg, Va.) or (800) 820-3000 (Pennsauken, N.J.) .

How to find a comfort level in the growing commercial printing industry. Commercial print products are so diverse in scope these days that it is tough to pinpoint a precise method for marketing them properly. "Commercial printing is such a broad category that it is difficult to describe a sales formula that works for everyone," said Lindsay Gray, vice president of AccuLink (formerly AccuCopy/Quicktabs), Greenville, N.C. "You might as well ask General Mills to state the best way to market food." Gray advised distributors in this industry to "divide and conquer" commercial print products. "They need to identify the products and services they can

Newtown, Pennsauken, N.J., has acquired two six-color 40˝ Heidelberg Speedmaster CD102 presses to meet the growing demand for commercial printing. Each press features an aqueous coating unit and a patented Air Transfer system that provide sharper printed images, solid ink coverage on heavier stocks, greater efficiency and faster turnaround. These two state-of-the-art presses are the newest additions to Newtown's fleet of forms equipment—a six-color Heidelberg Speedmaster CD102 press with an aqueous coating unit and a 40˝ two-color Heidelberg Speedmaster 102Z with a perfector unit. For more information on tihs equipment, contact either Randy Fry in Buffalo, N.Y. at (800) 828-7364 or Eric Killinger in Fredericksburg, Va.

More Change Hits the Top 100 Changes in company ownership and product mix are having a dramatic effect on the industry By Bill Drennan, Maggie DeWitt & Danielle Litka Change has become the norm in the forms industry, as the past year has seen last year's top independent manufacturer by sales close its doors and directs going independent, in addition to the usual spate of mergers and acquisitions. CST/Star Products ceased operations last Spring. A few weeks later, American Tissue, a paper converting company, purchased CST/Star's assets and opened three of the eight plants as American Forms. With only a few months of operations, American Forms declined

What you must know about prepress in the digital age By Eric Fiedler In a profession that requires perfection, the prepress process can cause nothing less than an excess of stress. Seemingly endless variables and tight deadlines can make prepress production a tough area for distributors to master. "If the press is the heart of an operation, prepress is the soul," said Henry Hatch, president of the International Prepress Association. "No matter what type of printing equipment you have, your prepress people must be able to get the job done right every time in order to succeed." Prepress involves everything that happens between the original artist's conception of

Knowing the basics of color can help expand solutions By Stacey Wenzel When customers are looking to get a reaction from their printed product, one persuasive technique is the use of color. Whether it's a direct mail piece or a company logo, color can make quite an impact--and knowing the basics can be a big advantage when selling it. Industry professionals advise first understanding the difference between flat, or spot color and four-color process. "Determining what type of color to use really depends on the specific job," said Tracy Dennis, sales manager for Newtown, Pa.-based Newtown/CPC. "Flat and process color each have a

Know-how is necessary to break into the direct mail market By Misty Byers When it comes to succeeding in the direct mail business, it's all in the approach. "Manufacturers and distributors don't just jump into direct mail," explained Allen Simon, president of Monaca, Pa.-based Datatel Resources. "It's a whole different in-dustry [from traditional business forms] that operates a completely different way. If you attack it like you attack the business forms industry, it won't work. "You don't just go out and install a four- or six-color press and say, 'I'm in the direct mail business.' You have to make a very strong commitment to do business the way