Passages
We pause to reflect on some
passages that have occurred in our industry and to salute their involvement
with FOLDEX and its partners.
First, we acknowledge the
closure of Stevens Graphics. Stevens has
a long and storied history starting as Ruralist Printing. I came to know them prior to Bell South’s
acquisition by A.T.T. in 2004 when we undertook a folder project for their 7x9
directories. FOLDEX had the technology
and experience with its Viking Series for the short cut off and the double collect
function, but we needed to address the conditions of cold web offset, so we
designed for that. The project was
successful in no small part because of the supportive leadership and the people
on the floor who worked closely with us.
We did two of these folders ultimately, and Stevens was very successful
with this product. ATT ultimately
concluded that they did not want to be in the printing business and made the
decision to exit through plant closure.
It is an understandable decision, looking at the larger picture of what
ATT’s core businesses are and looking at reduced demand for printed
directories. But we lament the loss of this
good company and the fine business relationships developed over the past five
years.
Another passage of note is
the retirement of Roland Reuterfors from MotterStitch. My history with Roland goes back many years
to the formation of MotterStitch when I was Director of Engineering at the
Motter Company. I made the introduction
for Roland, and made the case to the Motter’s that we could benefit from
launching a competitive stitcher to those offered by Cerrutti and Albert. Years later, Roland would return the favor in
“introducing” me to Bob Erbstein. Sort
of funny in a sense, because I’d known Bob at least as long as I’d known
Roland, but I didn’t know about a special project Bob was considering, so it
was an important introduction that ultimately led to the formation of
FOLDEX. Roland has been on our Board, and
has worked together with us and with MPEL for many years. We wish him well as he enters retirement.