Vandalia, OH (USA), October 10, 2006 - Esko, the world leader in packaging pre-production solutions, announces that The Oldham Group has become an Esko distribution partner in the States. Oldham will focus on selling the Esko Scope packaging software suite, along with the Kongsberg series of dieless cutting tables. The Oldham Group will focus primarily on customers in the Midwest. Oldham was established in Springfield, IL in 1951 with an initial focus on printing supplies. As the company grew, prepress, pressroom, and bindery equipment became increasingly important aspects of the business. Through acquisitions, Oldham Graphic Supply expanded its area of coverage to include Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas. To keep pace with rapid changes in the printing and publishing industry, Oldham formed its electronics division in 1989. Since then, The Oldham Group has invested significantly in electronics technology, training, and service. As systems integrators, The Oldham Group offers its customers expert assistance with automated workflow solutions, digital asset management, CTP output devices, color proofing, color management, workstations, servers, networking, raid solutions and backup solutions. Most of Oldham's attention will be focused on the application of Esko products for its corrugated printing customers, although Oldham also sees relevance to certain commercial applications. "We needed an extensive, powerful product line to complete our offerings for paperboard packagers. We have always sold consumables, offset CTP, servers and networking to them, but have not been able to deliver the complete package. The primary piece is the workflow component, but we have not represented the right product to compete with other solutions to these printers," remarks Jerry Collins, vice president of electronic sales at The Oldham Group. "Esko's Scope is an exceptional-and the most complete-workflow solution for packaging. And, the Kongsberg table offers our customers the ability to take advantage of short runs and samplemaking. To solidify our investment in Esko, we have already hired a technical and training support person who is very familiar and comfortable with Esko products." "The Oldham Group has been undergoing product service and training classes, and is prepared to offer complete support for the Esko product line. We have always respected the level of assistance they provide their customers," comments Dave Mitchell, Esko sales manager, indirect channels. "We welcome The Oldham Group as a distributor of Esko products and look forward to their contributions, particularly in the Midwest, where they are a familiar name to so many printers."