When a passenger chooses to fly Northwest Airlines, that person is counting on Northwest to have the proper equipment and trained personnel to successfully deliver them to their destination, safely and efficiently, every time the wheels leave the ground. And to meet whatever particular needs he or she may have in the process. Northwest has consistently met those expectations for nearly seventy-five years. That’s an amazing success story. And it’s possible only because of the dedication of 55,000 Northwest employees who make serving that passenger’s needs their #1 priority.

At Gannett Offset-Minneapolis, we provide that same commitment to meeting the needs of our customers. If we have the opportunity to produce Northwest’s Passages , it’s as if we donned a flight officer’s hat, a cabin attendant’s smartly pressed uniform or the coveralls of a highly trained aircraft maintenance technician while we successfully complete your project. And it will be completed on time, within budget and with the level of quality of which you can be proud.

Let’s take a moment and specifically address the reasons why all of us at Gannett Offset are confident in our ability to meet your needs with the production of Passages :

* Schedule – we are comfortable with the production schedule of Passages as outlined; creative materials in late Wednesday, color proofs sent and returned Thursday, Passages printed Friday. Oh, except we will deliver your mailed copies to the post office on Friday, rather than the following Monday, for more timely delivery into the hands of Northwest employees.

*Customer Service – we are very proud of the level of service our customer service representatives (CSR) provide to our partner clients. Your project becomes their project, and it’s given whatever care and feeding is needed to assure it will be completed as promised. Nobody does it better than a Gannett Offset CSR.

* Pre-press – we are capable of working with Quark, PageMaker, Freehand, Adobe PDF and a whole host of other software and file applications. We can accept your files on Zip disk, SyQuest, EZ Drive, JAZ or electronically via FTP. We are happy to work with the format you are comfortable with and confident using. You will receive color proofs for your approval on the stock on which Passages will be printed. Should you feel a need to move toward computer to plate, CTP technology will be operational before January 1^st of 2001.

* Printing – no other non-heatset press in this area can duplicate the superior imaging of the MAN Roland Uniset 70 press. The look of Passages will be noticeably enhanced and improved. The difference will be readily apparent.

* Paper – our recommendation is 30# double-wire wound newsprint that will provide the whiteness of USA TODAY, the consistency, page-to-page, that goes with a higher quality stock and pricing that will be kind to your budget. Gannett is the world’s largest buyer of newsprint.

* Inserting – we’ll use our Mueller Martini inserter with the capacity to place up to 9 inserts per pass.

* Labeling – we utilize 3 Cheshire labeling machines set-up to handle 3, 4 or 5-up formats. Should you ever decide to move to an inkjet format, we have 2 VideoJet System 4000 off-line systems to efficiently handle mailings of any size.

*Mailing – mailed quantities will be delivered to the post office on Friday of each week that Passages is printed for timely delivery to Northwest employees. Our mailing capacity is robust. In June and July of this year, we averaged 3.5 million pieces mailed per month. We attend national Postal Forums, are a member of the Postal Customer Council and have a solid relationship with Twin Cities area postal personnel that goes back many years. We know mailing, and how to make the system work for the benefit of our customers.

* Security – we are fully aware of the need for enhanced security and confidentiality in today’s business environment. We treat your data and information with the same level of confidence that we provide for our own…the highest. There will never be a breach of your trust.