In the wake of disappointing financial results, Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc. said Tuesday it will begin closing plants and taking other steps to cut $100 million in costs.
"Our third quarter financial performance was challenging and below our expectations," Joel Quadracci, CEO of the commercial printing firm, said in a statement.
Quadracci said the company would move swiftly to slice costs and bring them in line with sales.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/quadgraphics-to-close-plants-cut-100-million-in-costs-b99609370z1-339983321.html
I'm surprised newspapers have lasted this long. It is only a matter of time before they and magazines and directories and books go 100% digital.
Ulrich I'm surprised newspapers have lasted this long. It is only a matter of time before they and magazines and directories and books go 100% digital.
What are you going to hold over your head when caught in a sudden shower? What are you going to put on the bottom of your birdcage? What are you going to use to start a fire in your wood-burning fireplace?
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Don't forget the ever popular fish wrapper and kitchen scraps. Somewhere along the line all the afore mentioned was brought by a train.
Y6bs evergreen in my mind
Paul of CovingtonWhat are you going to use to start a fire in your wood-burning fireplace?
Them Canadians live so close to the North Pole they keep the fire stoked year round.
Norm
God forbid we lose print media! I am NOT taking a computer or any other electronic device in the bathroom! Drop it in the "you-know-what" and that's the end of it!
Quad prints quite a few of the rail enthusiast magazines some of us read. If any of them end up needing a new place with a Harris M1000 press to produce their product, a certain printing plant here in northern Idaho is ready to begin receiving their page files via InSite. As for coal, not everyone is feeling the downturn:
http://bnsf.com/about-bnsf/financial-information/weekly-carload-reports/pdf/20151031.pdf
I've subscribed to the on-line version of the DM Register. What I read is a scanned copy of the regular paper. If they do away with that have only the website type news items where there are a few top stories and you have to hunt for other stories I would stop reading it altogether.
If Kalmbach dropped the print editions, I don't think I would subscribe. I have the Trains electronic 70 year collection on my laptop, but hardly ever read them like I thought I would. Mostly it's looking up information and that's not very often. It's just not as pleasurable as holding a magazine in my hands. I pick up Model Railroader at retail outlets, I don't subscribe now. Will there be a way to buy single issues via internet? Or will those that go totally electronic just lose the casual buyer?
Jeff
Wow! Two opportunities in a row to respond to a post by Jeff!
I also prefer holding a book or newspaper in my hand to looking at a screen. It's much easier to go back when I want to, and, in the case of a newspaper, quickly scan to see what interests me.
However, I appreciate the opportunity to see, quickly, what fellow posters have to tell the rest of us--and to respond as I feel moved to respond. You can't do that with print!
Johnny
jeffhergert It's just not as pleasurable as holding a magazine in my hands.
Every now and then, I'll stop into my "stacks" and grab an old issue of this magazine or that just for my amusement.
I don't have 70 years of Trains (or any other magazine), but going back even 25 years can prove amusing, no matter what the magazine.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I like Trains and Classic Trains in print. Forums like this are great for communicating, but reading print and looking at physical great photographs is even a greater pleasure.
Two clubs I am a member of used to produce printed newsletters every month. I'd get them in the mail and read through them - maybe even learning something.
Both have gone digital and online only. I may think to look at the web sites once or twice a year. Out of sight, out of mind.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
My older brothers took the magazine American Boy, and saved almost all of the issues from about 1930 to when it ceased publication in 1941 or 1942. It had adventure, sports, and science fiction stories, and articles on many subjects. My youngest brother (15 1/2 months older than I) read them all--and were dismayed when the issue with the final installment of a story was missing. When I moved to Utah, I was delighted to find that the Salt Lake City library had a file that went back to 1930--and read every issue.
"Out of sight, out of mind" indeed. Lady Firestorms employer used to put out a monthly newsletter, then went digital about eight years ago.
Lo and behold, things ready to be seen in the old newsletter were totally missed in the on-line version, no-one ever thinks to look in there. The company ended up setting up electronic billboards at various locations on the property. Shades of the old low-tech bulletin board!
My employer has an employee website that's a complicated mess. Only the cubicle dwellers have the time to peruse it, and sometimes not even them.
An article in the Chicago Tribune brought up another issue that archivists and others have to address with all record-keeping going digital. What happens when the technology advances and digital records in an older format can no longer be read? The article mentioned the experience of archivists at Northwestern University, who are searching for old cell phones (with chargers and connectors) and other similar devices so these records can be read.
CSSHEGEWISCH An article in the Chicago Tribune brought up another issue that archivists and others have to address with all record-keeping going digital. What happens when the technology advances and digital records in an older format can no longer be read? The article mentioned the experience of archivists at Northwestern University, who are searching for old cell phones (with chargers and connectors) and other similar devices so these records can be read.
You mean I can't play a 33 1/3 album on my I-pad?
BaltACDYou mean I can't play a 33 1/3 album on my I-pad?
If you can get the iPad to turn that fast it might work. LOL
45 rpm records would fit better on th iPad--but they would really strain it.
switch7frg Don't forget the ever popular fish wrapper.
Don't forget the ever popular fish wrapper.
I'm not eating anything wrapped in a newspaper. That's pretty filthy.
Norm48327 BaltACD You mean I can't play a 33 1/3 album on my I-pad? If you can get the iPad to turn that fast it might work. LOL
BaltACD You mean I can't play a 33 1/3 album on my I-pad?
Just about every popular album comes on vinyl now. People want the big art and gatefold sleeves. The vinyl usually includes a download code of some kind so you can get a digital copy as well (included in the price). A good deal if you ask me.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
fieryturbo Just about every popular album comes on vinyl now. People want the big art and gatefold sleeves. The vinyl usually includes a download code of some kind so you can get a digital copy as well (included in the price). A good deal if you ask me.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Ever try to read the album notes or even the song lyrics on a CD liner? Jeez! Never had that problem with vinyl!
In a way, I've got you all beat. When we have a power failure here we've still got music. I just crank up the Victrola! Ahhh, a little Caruso in the night...
Bruce Kelly Quad prints quite a few of the rail enthusiast magazines some of us read. If any of them end up needing a new place with a Harris M1000 press to produce their product, a certain printing plant here in northern Idaho is ready to begin receiving their page files via InSite.
Quad prints quite a few of the rail enthusiast magazines some of us read. If any of them end up needing a new place with a Harris M1000 press to produce their product, a certain printing plant here in northern Idaho is ready to begin receiving their page files via InSite.
I happen to know a large commercial printer in PA that can take on the work as well. :) In fact, we are doing quite well. There was a study that came out recently that shows more and more people want to actually hold a catalog and magazine in their hands. Many companies are going back to printing catalogs. Even JC Penny announced it was going to print a catalog again. As someone who works in the printing industry, I can tell you it's not the industry that's suffering. Yes, the recession did do some harm and my company cut back on labour, but we've been adding machinery steadily for the last few years. Our business is doing very well (we print catalogs, magzines, calendars, etc...no books in the sense of Barnes & Noble).
Also, for what it's worth, Quad does not print newspapers.
avonlea22 Bruce Kelly Quad prints quite a few of the rail enthusiast magazines some of us read. If any of them end up needing a new place with a Harris M1000 press to produce their product, a certain printing plant here in northern Idaho is ready to begin receiving their page files via InSite. I happen to know a large commercial printer in PA that can take on the work as well. :) In fact, we are doing quite well. There was a study that came out recently that shows more and more people want to actually hold a catalog and magazine in their hands. Many companies are going back to printing catalogs. Even JC Penny announced it was going to print a catalog again. As someone who works in the printing industry, I can tell you it's not the industry that's suffering. Yes, the recession did do some harm and my company cut back on labour, but we've been adding machinery steadily for the last few years. Our business is doing very well (we print catalogs, magzines, calendars, etc...no books in the sense of Barnes & Noble). Also, for what it's worth, Quad does not print newspapers.
I find it much easier to find what I am looking for in a catalog I am holding in my hands than it is to use an online catalog.
Deggesty So, Quad does not use newsprint--nor are most catalogs printed on newsprint. I find it much easier to find what I am looking for in a catalog I am holding in my hands than it is to use an online catalog.
So, Quad does not use newsprint--nor are most catalogs printed on newsprint.
Well, they may use newsprint, it's just not for newspapers. We do some work on newsprint (think those automotive catalogs used to find your oil filter or air filter at WalMart).
I agree that for catalogs, I'd much rather browse through the pages than look online. Some magazines however, I prefer the digital edition. Especially those with added content. A couple that spring to mind are the Food Network Magazine and Family Handyman. They both have added content that makes the digital edition superior to the print edition, in my opinion. I guess I'm not helping my own industry very much, but I feel there will always be a need for printed materials.
Avonlea, I trust you're familiar with the difference between Freesheet (FS) and Groundwood (GW) stock? If you compare the text pages of some recent issues of Trains with those from say 10 or 20 years ago, the paper quality has changed considerably. The grit and imperfections of GW are very apparent now, literally showing up through the lighter areas in photographs, ads, screens, etc, and looking like there's serious need for a lint brush everywhere there's not ink. Perhaps it was a cost-saving move at Quad's end. In addition to costing less, GW is said to be more environmentally friendly due to less energy, chemistry, and waste during manufacture. But the majority of our work rolls off press on FS, much of it of recycled origin, mind you. Our customers (travel, fashion, hobby, real estate, music, business, and other titles from throughout North America, New Zealand, and parts of Europe and Africa) are apparently willing to pay a little more for cleaner-looking paper and imagery, and we're able to offset that cost by having just about the lowest electricity rates in the nation (go hydro!), and certainly lower labor costs as well. When it costs you less to run that press, you can afford a better grade of paper.
Bruce Kelly Avonlea, I trust you're familiar with the difference between Freesheet (FS) and Groundwood (GW) stock? If you compare the text pages of some recent issues of Trains with those from say 10 or 20 years ago, the paper quality has changed considerably. The grit and imperfections of GW are very apparent now, literally showing up through the lighter areas in photographs, ads, screens, etc, and looking like there's serious need for a lint brush everywhere there's not ink. Perhaps it was a cost-saving move at Quad's end. In addition to costing less, GW is said to be more environmentally friendly due to less energy, chemistry, and waste during manufacture. But the majority of our work rolls off press on FS, much of it of recycled origin, mind you. Our customers (travel, fashion, hobby, real estate, music, business, and other titles from throughout North America, New Zealand, and parts of Europe and Africa) are apparently willing to pay a little more for cleaner-looking paper and imagery, and we're able to offset that cost by having just about the lowest electricity rates in the nation (go hydro!), and certainly lower labor costs as well. When it costs you less to run that press, you can afford a better grade of paper.
Yes and no. Lumber mills outnumber paper mills in my immediate area. The three closest paper mills are Inland Empire Paper in Spokane, WA; Ponderay Newsprint in Usk, WA; and Clearwater Paper in Lewiston, ID. IEP and PN produce mainly newsprint/uncoated stock. Clearwater produces mainly tissue and paperboard products. All three have rail service for inbound materials and outbound product. My plant has received some uncoated stock from IEP, but our coated stock comes mainly from outside our immediate area. Even though BNSF's Coeur d'Alene branch runs right behind our plant, all of our paper arrives by truck.
Bruce Kelly Even though BNSF's Coeur d'Alene branch runs right behind our plant, all of our paper arrives by truck.
Even though BNSF's Coeur d'Alene branch runs right behind our plant, all of our paper arrives by truck.
We have 4 manufacturing plants in one town (so much growth over the years) but only one, the newest, is served by rail, and only for incoming paper rolls. Once in the plant, many are distributed to other plants by shuttle truck. The building I work in, which has 4 high speed web presses doesn't even have roll storage. They order what they need and it comes by shuttle.
My take on this news item:
1. Quad found a way to efficiently print COLOR graphics neatly, vividly and crisply and a lot more cheaper than other printers. Your not going to just shift their business to another color publisher without impact in cost, quality, or distribution to Quads clients. Certainly your not going to move it to Idaho without impact to costs or quality, which is not even near the geographic center of the country (postage costs). Quads advantage is the location of it's plants, efficiency of operation and it's patented color printing process itself. Quad grew rapidly as more and more magazine and catalog publishers shifted from black and white graphics to more color graphics.......Trains being an example over the last few decades.
2. It's been a long time but the last time I worked at the Sussex plant they did not handle nor did they produce newsprint. They only publish soft cover books and magazines and some catalogs and then they mail address them right on the factory floor and mail them out. One or two guys a shift running a printing press and mail addrressing machine can produce Trains Magazine and my guess the whole magazine can be produced within the confines of one fraction of one shift by 2-3 people at the most (maybe 1-2 hours given the speed of their presses).
3. One growing area when I worked there was production of magazine blow in magazine advertising inserts (not attached to the binding of the magazine just loosely blown in between pages) and those junk mail VALUE PAK mail advertisements. In fact they produced a small fortune for junk mail advertisers.
4. I think the downturn is being blamed on a shift to digital but has more to do with the typical cycle of a company being complacent once it achieves a level of profitability and not changing with changing times. Quad could be leading several areas of the digital progression but choose not to do so. Further as pointed out in the article, price competition has really undercut their profit margin and I would say this more than anything is hitting them hard. Why is that so? Because Quad did not remain ahead of the curve competition wise in some respects and the competition is able to creep up in areas of printing efficiency.........although I think Quad still leads the pack. Thats Quads management fault in my opinion and it's not too late for them to innovate again and extend their competitive edge again.
As for the decline of newspapers. Myself, I think its mostly due to the decline of reporting standards in this country. You used to be able to buy a newspaper and it would be a real rarity not to spot spelling errors, factual errors or even pick out a bias in the article. Thats not the case anymore. So newspaper clients have migrated more and more to preferred sources of news they can get more readily and they feel is more accurate then what they read in newsprint. Some of it is competition as when USA TODAY was first published, almost all the newspapers in this country were forced to update their decades old publishing format and also spend more money on color pictures as did USA TODAY. Some were able to compete, others not. Another area of newspapers which I find comical is advertising within them. A long time ago many of them should have shifted to a online do it yourself advertising graphical production and submission process to gain more advertisers...........instead they stuck with their decades old call center approach where in most cases you cannot even see the end product of the advertisement before it prints (which totally sucks). Many of the advertisements in newspapers are still all black and white with no options for color or much in the way of highlighting to jump off the page to the reader.......also sad. Just some examples of where I do NOT attribute the decline of newspapers to shifting technology as much as newspapers inclination to NOT USE UPDATED TECHNOLOGY versus their competition.
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