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by Brad Schmidt Having worked at Friesens since the beginning of the desktop publishing era, I have seen many changes develop. An area that has always fascinated me is the variety of software packages that I have had the opportunity to work with. PageMaker 4 was my first exposure to desktop publishing software. Then came […]

Friesens has a long-standing history of quality initiatives, including most recently the Continuous Improvement Initiative, led by Vern Bergen. I am excited that Friesens has created this important initiative in our never-ending desire to get better at what we do and to increase the speed at which we improve. I have just been promoted to […]

We recently changed the title of our CSR (Customer Service Representative) to CPS (Customer Project Specialist) Team. It reflects what we do in the way of working with you and managing your projects here at Friesens. They are your primary contact while your project is being produced. Please remember that they are just a phone […]

2018 was a heavy capital year for Friesens and this continues in 2019. Some equipment is already installed, and other equipment has been ordered and is scheduled for installation later this year. Let’s begin with the big news. Friesens is expanding. We will be adding 35,000 sq. feet to the west side of our existing […]

We continue to see a growing number of high-fidelity art books, photography books, cookbooks, etc., on uncoated papers. While every job is treated with the same care, expertise, and attention to detail, we do know that certain markets/projects and customers have different needs and expectations. In general, the term “high-fidelity” colour describes a variety of […]

The good news is that we have returned, at least for the moment, to a place of greater stability with regards to paper supply for the book industry in North America. Paper is generally easy to buy right now, lead times have returned to normal (compared to the long lead times we encountered in 2018), […]

Smell is a powerful thing. We’ve known for a long time that smell is closely linked to memory. Maybe the smell of cookies makes you think about making with your grandmother, or perhaps the smell of freshly cut grass brings back thoughts of playing outside with friends. For me, it’s the smell of books. You […]

Last year we had issues with paper, as mills continued to close and there was a paper shortage throughout the industry.  Friesens having a good financial relationship with our paper mills and also forecasting and increasing our paper inventory/warehousing, helped us stay ahead of this issue and make it through relatively unscratched. And, this year, […]

2018 was a heavy capital year for Friesens, and 2019 will be no different. Some equipment is already installed, and other equipment has been ordered and is scheduled for installation later this year. Let’s begin with the big news. In 2018, Friesens replaced a twenty-year-old Kolbus hardcover line with a new Müller Martini line. The […]