Daly had coaxed plant managers to develop standard colors, paper weights and printing practices so that U.S. directory publishers wouldn't know the difference between a job done in Dwight, Ill. and one in Greeley, Colo.

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In Donnelley's directory plant in Dwight, for example, new computers alert operators feeding 14 presses when a roll of paper is about to run out--a process they eyeballed until six months ago.

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