“Anyone who hasn’t seen a copy of ForeWord recently will be pleasantly surprised,” says ForeWord Reviews Publisher Victoria Sutherland. “With readers in mind, we’ve implemented some design changes leading to a delicious spread of cookbooks, a better view of the authors behind newest voices in fiction, and spotlights of compelling new Civil War and Greek and Roman history books..

“But I’m particularly excited that ForeWord co-founders Mardi Jo Link and Anne Stanton were available to contribute. Their memories of the early days make this issue that much more personal with reminders about our commitment to exposing the best books to the marketplace.”

HESS PRINT SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCES PLAN FOR SALE TO BANG PRINTING

Brimfield, OH, May 22, 2013 – Hess Print Solutions and its subsidiaries (HPS), a provider of accountable print performance solutions and other value-added services for catalogs, books, publications and educational printed products, announced today that HPS has entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of its assets to an affiliate of Bang Printing.

The decision to sell to Bang Printing followed an extensive process of reviewing various strategic opportunities for HPS that was aimed at ensuring it will remain a viable long-term business partner for customers, vendors and employees. This sale will allow HPS and Bang Printing to combine their existing capabilities and provide customers with a more diversified suite of products and services.

“The strategic decision to pursue a financial restructuring through a sale will allow us to proactively and quickly improve our financial position and ensure we have the resources to meet the needs of our clients, suppliers, employees and other business partners going forward” said Jerry Haywood, interim CEO of HPS.

Bang Printing has over 100 years of experience in the book and commercial printing industry.  Bang Printing, which has its corporate offices in Brainerd, MN, offers complete printing, binding and fulfillment services at a competitive price.  Bang Printing has facilities in both Minnesota and California.

“Bang Printing is excited to announce this opportunity to acquire Hess Print Solutions.  The combination of Bang Printing’s extensive product line and the strong reputation of HPS will allow us to offer our customers one-stop solutions to their print and marketing needs,” said Chris Kurtzman, President and CEO of Bang Printing.

To facilitate the sale of assets, HPS has commenced a prepackaged voluntary Chapter 11 proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. HPS has obtained debtor-in-possession financing with certain of its existing secured lenders, which, along with the company’s cash flow, is expected to provide the working capital necessary to meet its ongoing obligations while the company pursues approval of the sale.

HPS has filed a number of motions with the Court requesting authority to keep the business operating as usual. The immediate relief being requested includes a request to pay all wages, salaries and commissions, as well as honor the employee benefits programs, and to continue existing customer programs.

After the sale is approved by the Bankruptcy Court and consummated, HPS will work with the purchaser to address the structure of the combined organization, with the primary objective to continue to provide superior product, service and technology offerings in a cost-effective way.

About Hess Print Solutions

Hess Print Solutions is a client-centric, solutions-focused and results-driven print performance partner. The Hess Print Solutions team of print experts shares an unrelenting focus on clients’ success, an inventive spirit and a commitment to providing measurable results. These qualities – and unparalleled print production, mailing and fulfillment solutions – help clients drive top-line revenue and growth. Additional company information is available at www.hessprintsolutions.com.

About Bang Printing

Bang Printing specializes in one to four color printing including digital, traditional web and sheetfed for both the commercial and book manufacturing markets.  Established in 1899 in Brainerd, Minnesota, Bang Printing has over 100 years of experience in the printing market.  In addition to press capabilities, Bang Printing has an extensive in-house bindery including case (smythe, adhesive, and library), perfect, saddle stitch and mechanical bindings.  Currently, Bang Printing has sales, manufacturing and fulfillment facilities in Minnesota and California, offering extensive product line to customers nationwide.  Additional company information is available at www.bangprinting.com.

]]> http://pubwest.org/general/bang-printing-to-acquire-hess-print-solutions/feed/ 0 http://pubwest.org/general/happy-50th-anniversary-ware-pak/ http://pubwest.org/general/happy-50th-anniversary-ware-pak/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 03:51:39 +0000 Tara Lehmann http://pubwest.org/?p=1617 Ware-Pak Still Adapting After 50 Years

Chicago, Illinois –  If the Chicago-based fulfillment and distribution company were going to select a famous quote to characterize its 50 years of service to book publishers and associations, it would certainly have to give serious consideration to the phrase “the only thing constant in life is change.”

When founder Robert Plechaty’s employer, Cuneo Press, asked if he would use a corner of their printing facility to accommodate their fulfillment service in 1963, little did they know that Ware-Pak would still be responding to changing needs 50 years later. “Adapting to industry changes has become a way of life for every member of the Ware-Pak team,” stated Keith Shay, President and CEO of Ware-Pak. “Their focus and dedication and the loyal support of our customers have made Ware-Pak the company it is today.”

When Keith Shay joined the company in 1998, he quickly directed a transition from a homegrown computer system to fully integrated, real-time, warehouse management technology capable of meeting the diverse needs of the publishing industry. The conversion has enabled Ware-Pak to offer a wide variety of cost efficient solutions to publishers and associations while dramatically improving quality.  “Any company can put books into a box and ship them.  What separates a leader from the pack is the ability to provide critical information and superior customer service,” said Keith.

“Like so many industries, technology has reinvented ours. As a warehousing company, it was critical to stay current. We chose to adapt early on by partnering with best-in-class software providers. When we found that certain systems lacked the tools to provide our publishing clients with everything they needed, we implemented specialized software for each major function,” Shay added.

Ware-Pak utilizes sophisticated, turnkey systems for account management, call center clients and in the warehouse, as well as very robust software at all shipping stations. As the publishing industry changes, so have the needs of publishers, which has made it necessary for Ware-Pak to offer services and capabilities they would have never dreamed of 50 years ago.

“We partner with companies that develop the tools needed to serve customers who prefer e-books to printed books. Today we offer publishers a variety of e-book solutions, including complete e-book conversion, e-commerce shopping cart integration, Nook or Kindle-compatibility and efficient e-book fulfillment. In addition to e-book conversions, we offer clients complete website development and shopping cart management,” added Keith Shay.

With consumer demands changing so rapidly, publishers who maintain warehouses are finding it increasingly difficult to effectively manage their warehousing costs. Warehousing is a business with high fixed costs. As the market shifts from print to e-books, it is getting tougher to reduce fixed costs as rapidly as the industry changes.

“When even a portion of a publisher’s warehouse becomes empty, it is not possible to reduce their costs by a corresponding percentage. The top three expenses for a warehouse – rent, utilities and labor – all remain unchanged. Many publishers are choosing to dispose of their warehouses and outsource to Ware-Pak because they obtain the expertise, skills and technology they need to compete, while often realizing a savings of 20% to 25%. That has a big impact on a publisher’s bottom line,” explained Keith Shay.

Ware-Pak team members work around the clock to fulfill orders quickly and accurately. Year after year, performance records show that 90% of all orders received before 4:00 pm are shipped the same day and 98% of all orders are shipped within 24 hours of receipt.

As one Ware-Pak client put it, “Since we retained Ware-Pak, the communication between our teams has been excellent, orders are filled quickly and there are few, if any, mistakes. I am grateful for their service and look forward to a long relationship.”

With 50 years in third party fulfillment, publishers depend on Ware-Pak for state-of-the-art virtual warehousing technology, proven customer service and outsourced solutions that are custom tailored to meet their needs. Ware-Pak looks forward to serving new and existing clients for another 50 years.

Two RoadRunner Press Novels Win 2013 Oklahoma Book Awards

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The RoadRunner Press of Oklahoma City saw two of its books named winners at the recent 24th Annual Oklahoma Book Awards.

Linda McDonald’s debut novel, CRIMES OF REDEMPTION, took home the gold medal for Fiction, and M. Scott Carter’s sophomore novel, THE IMMORTAL VON B., won for young adult fiction.

The medals were presented by the Oklahoma Center for the Book at Oklahoma City’s Jim Thorpe Museum and Sports Hall of Fame.

McDonald, an Oklahoma native, describes her novel as a “tale of psychological suspense.”

The book, which has garnered high praise from reviewers, is set in a small town on the Oklahoma plains and introduces three characters readers won’t easily forget:  Tommy Maynard, a Viet Nam vet-turned-sheriff who has always been more babysitter than detective.  Willie Morris, the town’s resident curmudgeon. And Gayla Early, a young nurse turned cautionary tale.  When the most important man in the county turns up dead, Sheriff Maynard soon realizes he and a grumpy recluse are all that is keeping the good-ole-boy buddies of the deceased from railroading a fragile stranger named Gayla Early right into prison.

Carter, another Oklahoma native, describes his book as a “love letter to Ludwig Van Beethoven and a love story about a boy and a girl.”

At the heart of his YA novel lies the question, “Could a teenage girl from this century find happiness with a young composer from another?” Josie Brunswick struggles to answer that after she moves to Europe with her father so he can head up a new secret world genetics project and a mishap happens in his laboratory.

The Immortal Von B. is Carter’s book for The RoadRunner Press.  His debut YA novel, STEALING KEVIN’S HEART, was a finalist in the Oklahoma Book Awards for 2012.

The RoadRunner Press is a small, traditional publishing house based in Oklahoma.  It specializes in thoughtful fiction for children, as well as select fiction and nonfiction titles for adults.

Edwards Brothers Malloy’s Jackson Road plant in Ann Arbor is a zero landfill facility and its other facilities use, reuse or recycle 97.5% of all incoming materials.  An estimated 12,100 lbs of office paper was recycled in 2012 at the Jackson Road plant with a like amount recycled at the company’s other manufacturing plants in Michigan and North Carolina.  Altogether, the company recycled about 25 million lbs of paper or 27,777 lbs per employee.

“AF&PA is proud to honor Edwards Brothers Malloy’s recycling efforts with this year’s Business Leadership Award. They drove their zero-landfill vision by educating their employees on different recyclable grades of paper and paper-based packaging and how to recycle them, and their nearly 100 percent employee participation makes their program particularly impressive,” said Mark Pitts, AF&PA’s executive director of printing & writing papers, who presented the award.

The process centers on employee education and an efficient collection system that presorts paper into 20 different categories as part of daily work flow. The presorted paper is then collected and picked up regularly by a recycling vendor.

“It’s a voluntary system and I’m proud to accept the AF&PA award on behalf of our employees who have clearly demonstrated their commitment to the environment,” said Bill Upton.  “Achieving zero-landfill status at the Jackson Road plant was an important goal for us and we’re pleased to have our efforts recognized by the AF&PA in this way.”

According to the AF&PA, 65.1% of all paper consumed in the United States was recovered for recycling in 2012.  Recycling programs such as Edwards Brothers Malloy’s, combined with the recycling efforts of millions of Americans each day, help drive the industry toward its goal to exceed 70% paper recovery for recycling by 2020.  For more information, visit www.paperrecycles.org.

The announcement comes as the company looks to expand its presence in the food innovation arena, with the newly opened office allowing for meetings with food and technology companies from around the Bay Area, including Palo Alto. “Over the past 3-4 years, The Harvard Common Press has grown to become more than just a book publisher,” said Adam Salomone. “Our investment in Yummly, an intelligent recipe search engine, back in 2010 was the beginning of our exploration of the business opportunity in food and tech innovation, but that has led us to more serious conversations, interactions and other investments with food startups.”

The company will continue to operate out of its fifth floor loft space in Boston’s South End, with plans to use the San Francisco office space for meetings with food startups, investors and other entrepreneurs.

Full press release

 “We are excited to announce that the two leading heirloom sewing publishers, Country Bumpkin Publications and F+W are working together to take Australian Smocking & Embroidery magazine to a whole new level,” said Fiona Fagan, Director Country Bumpkin Publications. “The result of our partnership ensures the wealth of knowledge and wonderful history of designs, patterns and smocking plates from Australian Smocking & Embroidery will be available for future generations.”

Said Sara Domville, President, F+W Media, “I am delighted to have an opportunity to partner with Country Bumpkin and see this as a first step in an exciting partnership. Through this collaboration we will extend the range and reach the very best smocking patterns.”F+W Media, the world’s largest craft and art media entity, is parent company to heirloom sewing leader The Martha Pullen Company and its charter publication Sew Beautiful.

“This relationship between Country Bumpkin and The Martha Pullen Company will dramatically increase the amount of world-class Smocking content that’s available in the U.S. and Canadian sewing marketplace,” said John Bolton, Senior Vice President.

“We are excited to be working with F+W on this project and trust it will be the first of many. Together we will be working to nurture the popularity of smocking and heirloom sewing by increasing the exposure and accessibility to a worldwide audience,” Fagan added.

About Country Bumpkin Publications

Country Bumpkin Publications is a world leader in creating exquisite needlecraft publications, producing the world’s best and most beautiful smocking and heirloom sewing, embroidery and stitching content. The Company’s flagship magazine Inspirations (Classic Inspirations in the UK market) is read in more than 75 countries and sets the standard for embroidery periodicals. With more than 25 years in the industry, CB Publication’s magazines and books have developed a loyal following of passionate readers the world over. Publications are distributed in print and digitally for the enjoyment of the global stitching community. Country Bumpkin Publications is a proudly Australian company, who enjoys worldwide strategic relationships with contributors, licensors, licensees, distributors and retail partners.

About F+W Media, Inc.

F+W Media, Inc. is a community-focused, content creator and marketer of products and services for enthusiasts offering a diversified portfolio of ecommerce, books, ebooks, magazines, events, competitions, education services, instructional video, and more. The Company is considered the authoritative, trusted voice guiding enthusiasts with relevant, helpful information and connecting them to the products and services they need to achieve success, profit from their passion, or find inspiration. www.fwmedia.com

PubWest invites industry professionals to submit proposals for presentations at PUBWEST 2013.