Don Elliott

The magazine, which is long over due for a makeover, was the pride and joy of publisher Don Elliott, former printer.It has struggled over the years financially and in terms of relevance, suffering mainly from a lack of investment.Constantly harrassed by Australian Printer magazine for the top place in the monthly market it has recently responded with accusations of plagerism against its rival.

Elliot, who will take up a position as a publishing consultant, reckoned the offer when it came was too good to refuse."When Haymarket approached us we felt that the timing was right and ProPrint was going to a good home with a solid heritage in serving the printing industry," he said.In recent times Elliott has had to pay market value for the printing of the publication, ever since he sold out of Agency Printing to GEON.

But it's not history that the three directors - Don and Geoff Elliott and Noel Boltwood - are interested in. After some serious soul searching a few years ago, Agency Printing has metamorphosed from a typical suburban print shop into a showcase of new print technology.
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While life was pretty good for the company, about three years ago Noel, Geoff and Don agreed that things had to change.
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Some modest success (and regular complaints from neighbours in the small streets of North Sydney) saw the company move to the outer suburb of Seven Hills, the installation of two second-hand Roland Rekord four-colour presses, and the expansion of the bindery area into a second factory down the road, "which turned out to be a logistical nightmare", according to Don Elliott (pictured).
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Don Elliott added, "We could see that our competitors with high-tech machines were stealing the work.
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Don Elliott said, "When we got to 120 hours a week we knew we'd have to look seriously at getting another press.
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"It will be almost a completely new bindery," said Don Elliott.
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"We have no trouble getting the right staff," said Don Elliott, "because the shopfloor is now so high-tech - - that's attractive to experienced staff in all departments - - but also because it's very clean and fully air-conditioned."

And the future is... With so much recently invested in new technology, the three directors are happy to spend the next six months consolidating the company's operation and bedding in the new press and associated purchases. Along with that will come the shift to a fully operational JDF workflow. "We want to achieve 95 per cent productivity from the plant, or better," said Don Elliott.

One of them was Don Elliott, the director of maintenance for Miami Valley Aviation and its fleet of six DC-3s.

"They take a lot of oil," says Elliott, who was reminded at the symposium of one of the things he experiences almost daily in the field: With oil starvation the chief engine killer, the engines must be pre-oiled before each flight.
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"I've pulled 'em off everywhere I can think of," says Elliott.
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"Ten years ago, I would have said they're going to be gone in ten years," says Miami Valley's Don Elliott, whose company flies freight in a $2 million Falcon 20 jet and four Beech 18s; it also owns two Learjets, a King Air 200, and three Piper Aztecs."The DC-3s have bought us everything we have here," says Kevin Uppstrom, and Elliott agrees.
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Elliott says that every time he goes to an airport to work on one of the DC-3s that lost an engine, people of all ages stop to watch, and oldtimers tell him stories of the first time they flew--always, it was in a DC-3.So, are the revenue operators hanging on for sentimental reasons?

"Nah," says Elliott."It's the fact that they can still make money with them.We still get over a thousand hours a year out of them."

Elliott thinks the engines will soldier on, but he's not sure the airplane will survive federal regulations.

Donald ElliottDirector

Donald ElliottDirector