The winds of change: 29 October 2008

The printing industry has more people coming and going than an airport. This week, Print 21 traces the latest changes at DIC and Epson.

Team spirit keeps DIC strong
2009 is just over two months away and by the time it rolls around, DIC will be equipped with a new management team.

Current managing director, David Rands, will retire from his role to become chairman of DIC Australia and New Zealand. Taking over is Ian Johns (pictured), a man who has been with the company since 1989.

Starting out as an apprentice litho printer in Adelaide during the early 70s, Johns has held a number of roles and for the last four years, has been the web and offset division directors at DIC.

Now, it is John's job to lead the company into its next phase of development. "Over recent years we have seen strong growth for DIC in the Australian and New Zealand markets, and our challenge is to continue building quality business operations that service our customers," he said.

As part of the changes, Meredith Darke will move to the newly-created role of web business manager for DIC ANZ.

Rands feels confident in taking a step back and handing over the reins.

"The orderly succession of management within the company has been planned now for some time and I am delighted to see it coming to fruition," he said.

Bacci grows large format
Romano Bacci takes charge as Epson's business unit manager, while his predecessor, Craig Heckenberg, steps up as business manager for business solutions.

Bacci, (pictured) who joined Epson Australia six months ago, first joined Epson in 1998 where he was based in Singapore. Now he looks after the company's large format printers.

"It's all going well," he said. "I have an Epson large format background already, so this is an extension to my job functions."