CHICAGO -- Rickard Bindery, a legendary Chicago postpress binding and finishing company, has been awarded six Achievement in Print Excellence Awards by the Printing Industries of Indiana and Illinois, including four awards in the coveted "Best of Category" distinction. The Achievements in Print Excellence (AIPX) competition recognizes companies, employees and customers for outstanding craftsmanship in the creation, design and production of printed materials. A total of 40 companies entered 354 entries in this year's AIPX competition, according to PII. "Everyone at Rickard Bindery is proud to receive these honors from our industry," says Jack Rickard, president of 106-year-old Rickard Bindery. "We continue to push ourselves and our equipment to innovate new binding and finishing techniques that allow us to create unique products that deliver value for our customers." Rickard's plant boasts 80 folding machines, nearly two dozen gluing units and five stitchers that allow the company to handle high-volume jobs and complex projects simultaneously. "What we do better than most binderies and finishers is understand the purpose of the printed product," says Jim Egan, sales manager. "Armed with this knowledge, we try to give printers, marketers, and ad agencies a printed product that will be engaging and useful to the end user." Best of Category The Printing Industries of Indiana and Illinois honored Rickard with four Best of Category awards. The Best of Category distinction is awarded to recognize superior craftsmanship and innovation. Winners in this category are automatically entered into the Premier Print Awards competition -- known as the "Bennys" -- sponsored by the Printing Industries of America and will be judged later this year against other regional winners from across the country. Rickard Bindery won two Bennys in 2004. Rickard won the AIPX Best of Category for Binding Process award for a stitched booklet within a booklet for Griffith Laboratories. The interior booklet has a six-page body signature with a translucent cover, and appears to be floating inside the larger booklet. The outer booklet includes a signature, pocket cover and a die-cut outer translucent. A two-way step-down accordion piece netted Rickard Best of Category honors for both Special Innovation and Other Special Finishing Techniques. This piece for Whale Watch combines three separate sections using Rickard proprietary technology to create a step-down accordion that opens both from the front and the back. Rickard also won the They Said It Couldn't Be Done Best of Category award for an innovative direct mailer for Home Depot. This piece features four triangle-shaped panels folded to center, a removable 3" x 3" insert glued to the lower left quadrant, and a final gatefold with two wafer seals. Rickard delivered 290,000 pieces. Award of Excellence A welded seam remoist envelope with gatefold secured Rickard an Award of Excellence for Binding Process. Rickard actually salvaged this 1 million piece project for Assurant Health after another bindery was unable to run it through its machines. A late design change altered the final fold to a gatefold. Using its folding expertise and a gatefold attachment, Rickard overcame the production issue. Certificate of Merit Rickard also received the AIPX Certificate of Merit for Binding Process for a uniquely shaped stitched booklet called Homecoming 2005. This piece featured an eight-page plus cover book shaped like a college pennant. Rickard used a guillotine cutter to create the book's shape, thus avoiding the expense of die cutting.