RELIEF PAPER HEADQUARTERS

Some time ago, I wrote, with regret, about the demise of Aiko's Paper in Chicago. Well, it has come to pass that they have shut their doors, and it is a loss to the paper purchasing world. The folks at Aiko's were very generous in helping Graphic Chemical to fill the void left by their closing. They shared with us a tremendous amount of information regarding papers that were popular with their customers, who their suppliers were, and much more.

Last month a contingent from Graphic traveled to an oriental paper summit. No it wasn't in Japan - if it had been I'd have found a way to attend. This one was held in Toronto, and our crew told me they found it not only interesting but highly invigorating. They are really psyched up to make us a major player in papers for relief printing techniques.

To that end, I did a quick count on how many papers have been added to our supply list in the past 2-3 months, and I was staggered to see that the number was 110 new papers. The interesting part of this is that they aren't done yet by a long shot.

Packaging papers is an art form in and of itself, and thin papers such as most of these is significantly more difficult. Our paper specialist, Pete, was really impressed with the training that he received relative to handling and packaging.

I've asked the boss - Susan - to do a guest piece here with more information about the specific papers, characteristics and strengths. She, as I expected gave me that look. You know the one that means, yeah, right! Eventually I'll get her to at least give me the information, but in the meantime, look at our web site for information, or call us, we're happy to talk to you about these new products.