Litho Technical Services Inc. history

In January of 1961, Toppan established its vanguard for new business development, the Toppan Printing Service Center, in Ginza, Chuo Ward, Tokyo.

Subsequently, the Service Center was renamed the Toppan Idea Center (TIC) in 1964 and, the following year, the Toppan Idea Center Osaka was established.

In 1974, Japan recorded negative growth for the first time since the end of World War Ⅱ. Faced with this crisis, the private sector in Japan took initial steps toward stable growth by downsizing management and streamlining operations.

Three-layer laminated containers consisting of polyethylene and paper were used for milk and fruit juices, but Toppan improved upon these to develop the Toppan EP-PAK, a paper-based container for liquids, in 1976.

Longtime chairman John W. Dreyer retired in December after having served in that position since 1977.

Russ began his printing career in Chicago in 1978 as a press operator and is experienced in small and large offset; duplicator; and full and half-size web presses.

In 1980 she was sent to Phoenix to establish and manage a sales office for the Southwes

In October 1983 Toppan completed the development of the IC Card, a plastic card with an IC chip embedded in it.

In July 1986 the Toppan Technical Research Institute was opened in Sugito, Saitama Prefecture, as the core facility for Toppan's research activities.

In 1987, the Printing Archive was opened inside the Technical Research Institute to promote general understanding of Toppan and the printing industry.

Toppan had previously handled the remote transmission of high-definition data for printing, but in September 1988 it created a network for the transmission of high-definition color images from the Seoul Olympics.

In 1991, Pitman declared its intent to address the changing needs of its customers.

1992: Joseph Demharter joins Pitman, bringing with him 22 years' of experience at DuPont Printing and Publishing.

In December 1994 Toppan launched an Internet-based information provision experiment in collaboration with Keio University and involving Kyodo News, Kirin Company, Limited, Shiseido Company, Limited, and Shogakukan Inc.

Another key distribution agreement achieved by the end of 1995 was made between Pitman and Howtek, Inc., authorizing Pitman North American sales rights for the entire line of Howtek Scanmaster drum and flatbed color scanners.

Toppan launched Bitway, a new business specializing in Internet-based distribution of information, in July 1999.

As Pitman reached revenues of $620 million in late 2000, the company experienced several shifts in personnel.

In May 2001, Pitman ventured full force into e-commerce with the acquisition of PrintNation, considered the largest online printing and supplies store in the world.

In 2002, Pitman actively pursued other areas of growth through strategic marketing alliances with New York-based Van Son Holland Ink Corporation and DuPont Imaging Technologies.

One of the outcomes of joint research was the production of a piece of VR content entitled The Palace VR―The Forbidden City: The Palace of Emperors Part 1―Hall of Supreme Harmony in 2003.

In August 2006 this system began to be used for issuing Greek IC passports and e-ID cards for the Hellenic Police.

Noriaki Kikuchi, an employee of Toppan Group company Toppan Communication Products' Sapporo Plant, represented Japan and won Japan's first ever gold medal in the printing category at the WorldSkills competition held in Calgary, Canada, in September 2009.

Award for printing culture promotion received at the 2010 Mécénat Awards ceremony for operation of Printing Museum