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  Sept. 24, 2007, with Rachel Frank—Sustainability. Trans-promo. Packaging. These were resounding trends for printers to capitalize on at this year's Graph Expo and Converting Expo, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Sept. 9 - 12. It was the largest Graph Expo since 2000, with 640 exhibiting companies occupying more than 460,000 sq. ft. of booth space. More than 120 of those were first-time exhibitors, and more than 300 had new products to announce.
In this issue and next, Printing News offers you an in-depth look at what was not to be missed when considering your 2008 business plans. Here are some of the products that made news in the press category, as well as annoucements that had people talking. Next week, read all about the latest developments in prepress, postpress, and consumables. Be sure to check out the Oct. 15 issue for environmentally-friendly products and programs being offered by manufacturers and suppliers.
The Business of Printing
Building on the success of its Indigo Capture Program, Hewlett-Packard (HP) (www.hp.com) launched an expanded Graphic Arts Capture Business Success Program at the show. Designed for HP Indigo-equipped PSPs interested in expanding their digital profit opportunities with Designjet and Scitex large- and super-wide-format solutions, the program provides a collection of tools, training, and programs including job estimators, market research, marketing templates, and online resources.
One of the newest software elements in the program is the new Indigo CJE/Business Planner, version 2.0. This tool calculates job costs for digital and conventional presses. This new version gives Indigo users the capabilities to calculate costs for one- and two-color jobs, and other work involving spot colors. The enhanced software also compares multiple Indigo presses to multiple offset presses, and uses pre-set comparative information for a wider range of offset devices.
Pitman Co. (www.pitman.com) announced a new reseller agreement for Kodak Nexpress presses and Digimaster systems in the United States and Canada.
Under the new agreement, Pitman sells all digital production color presses within the Nexpress digital color platform, and for black-and-white printing offers five Digimaster systems. Additionally, Pitman Co. will now sell Presstek's 34DI and 52DI presses.
At Pitman's press conference, President Joseph Demharter announced that the firm has a new marketing department, and the product mix has shifted somewhat. "Commercial printers are still our most important market (50 percent), and the digital plate business is our single largest product in the portfolio ($250 million)," he noted. Meanwhile, Pitman's packaging division continues to record growth, and the packaging industry is its second major market. Growth for the next several years is pegged at approximately 6.9 percent.
Inkjet proofing is another important sector. The firm has surpassed $200 million in inkjet media sales, which it feels has the potential to become a $500 million business. Larry D'Amico, vice president of digital imaging sales, mentioned that Pitman will be looking into products in the label market next year, as well.
Ricoh Americas Corp. (www.ricoh-usa.com) announced the establishment of its Production Printing Business Group (PPBG). PPBG was created to focus on the requirements of data centers, in-plants, and graphic arts environments.
During the past several years, Ricoh has been preparing to enter this market. Now—with a dedicated direct sales team, channel operations, and solutions engineers—it is finally ready with a portfolio of monochrome and color products, as well as alliance partners. The development of PPBG began with the acquisition of Lanier in 2001. In 2004, Ricoh purchased Hitachi Printing Solutions, and its high duty cycle, cut-sheet and continuous-feed manufacturing facilities, and recently formed InfoPrint Solutions Co., a Ricoh/IBM joint venture. It also announced that it will be selling the Kodak Nexpress line as part of its PPBG product portfolio.
Xerox Corp. (www.xerox.com) advanced its offerings to help commercial printers expand their businesses, and profit from the growth opportunities in digital printing. The company highlighted its portfolio and partnerships through "digital application zones." A few of those were:
- Collateral by request, designed to help print providers implement Web-to-print systems.
- Books and manuals, helping providers tap into digital print capabilities to meet the needs of self-publishers, publishing houses, and universities.
- Trans-promo; adding promotional messaging to bills and statements presents a marketing opportunity. InfoTrends forecasts that the trans-promo, full-color digital output for North America will increase at an annual rate of 91 percent, to 21.72 billion images by 2010, up from 1.62 billion images in 2006.
- Photo books; professional photographers and consumers who produce these are creating an opportunity for digital print providers to tap into a new, fast-growing market.
- Digital/offset integration; commercial printers are increasingly complementing existing offset with digital print services.
- Xerox's New Business of Printing Business Development Services program. This suite of consulting services provides training and professional service offerings for print providers' digital print businesses, to boost page volume and revenue.
Xpedx (www.xpedx.com) introduced a new program to help U.S. printers install and produce variable-data printing (VDP) at their facilities. The program builds on the "pay-per-click" digital press acquisition program by adding new VDP software, as well as training. The program enables printers to get a production-rated digital press installed in their facility, but only pay for each piece produced. The press is typically a Xerox machine. This allows printers to get into high-growth, high-profit VDP programs, and start marketing VDP offerings to customers. Presses can be upgraded, replaced, or removed upon a printer's request.
In discussing Xpedx's 2008 plans, Jeffrey Higgins, corporate catalyst, pointed out that currently Xpedx is the largest merchant in the world, and half of its employees are in sales. The firm experienced its sixth record quarter in a row, and plans to go after more business in Canada and Mexico. It has begun by setting up Canada's first storefront location of this kind in Toronto, with 20,000 sq. ft., slated to open in four to six weeks. That is in addition to, and located within, its Canadian headquarters, which are 150,000 sq. ft. Another store in Brampton is slated to open Oct. 15, and a third store will begin operating in June 2008. There are currently 157 Xpedx retail stores.
Additionally, Xpedx's e-business continues to grow, with $1.5 billion in e-sales and 5.9 million orders a year.
The Art of Ink on Paper
Canon USA Inc. (www.usa.canon.com) featured new imagePrograf S-series large-format printers at Graph Expo, providing rapid print speeds for high-volume production. The S-series launched with two models, the iPF9000S and iPF8000S, printing at 60" and 44" respectively.
Boasting up to a 40-percent increase in speed over the imagePrograf iPF9000 and iPF8000, the S-series can render an A0-sized print in 4.9 minutes in Standard Mode on glossy photo paper. Adding to printers' productivity is the ink sub tank, which allows operators to replace empty tanks on the fly, without interrupting printing.
The new printers feature an 80-GB hard drive, so printers can queue more jobs without burdening networked systems. Another new feature is media skew correction, which will detect when paper is not properly aligned, and shift the edge to ensure even prints. They also feature Kyuanos, which allows operators to adjust print tones to various ambient light conditions to help provide favorable color.
Epson America (www.epson.com) displayed its first 64" printer for creative professionals, commercial print shops, and photographic labs with the Stylus Pro 11880. According to Epson, it is designed to produce levels of image quality that exceed previous models, with print speeds up to two times faster than other Stylus Pro models.
The Stylus Pro 11880 uses a new, advanced print head technology called MicroPiezo TFP (Thin Film Piezo). This represents Epson's most advanced inkjet print head, and is being featured exclusively in the Stylus Pro 11880.
The new head features a wide array of end-user benefits, such as ink repelling coating technology that contributes to reducing nozzle clogs; a piezo print head with 360 smart nozzles per inch, achieving resolutions as high as 2,880x1,440 dpi; and, a nine-channel system that allows for simultaneous use of all inks without having to manually swap cartridges.
Additionally, Epson showcased three new wide-format printers—the Stylus Pro 4880, 7880, and 9880. They are designed to achieve higher levels of print quality than previous models by way of the new MicroPiezo AMC print head, enhanced UltraChrome K3 inks with vivid magenta, and new AccuPhoto HD screening technology.
Inca Digital Printers (www.incadigital.com) partnered with its distributor Fujifilm to demonstrate the Spyder 320 Q Fine Quality digital UV flatbed printer for high-end and closely viewed printing, as well as provide presentations about the Onset, the world's fastest digital flatbed printer.
A new addition to the Spyder 320 range, the Spyder 320 Q features a new print head, designed for and unique to Inca, that accurately delivers a fine resolution 10-picolitre drop size at production speeds up to 400 sq. ft. per hour. The result is a printer that produces fine quality, photorealistic prints at high speeds.
The press was demonstrated with a range of products and substrates using Uvijet ink technology. It is available with either CMYK + white, or CMYK + light cyan and light magenta.
The Inca Onset was shown in action on a large video screen, supported by a range of samples. It was presented as the next generation of digital flatbed inkjet printers, and is the fastest digital flatbed available. The Onset offers high print quality and speed with variable gloss levels, and an enlarged color gamut. With built-in automated feeding and stacking, it is capable of up to 5382 sq. ft. per hour, or 100+ full, 5x10' sheets. This is delivered by an array of 576 Spectra print heads, addressing a total of 73,728 inkjet nozzles in Inca-designed print bars.
Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA Inc. (www.kmbs.konicaminolta.us) introduced the bizhub Pro C5500 digital color production print system. Based on the design and technology of the bizhub Pro C6500, it delivers up to 55 pages per minute (ppm) in both color and monochrome. It has a maximum paper capacity of 4,650 sheets, for sizes up to 13x19.2", and can handle both coated and uncoated stocks, with duplexing up to 140 lb.-index, and simplex on stocks up to 170 lb.-index. There are a variety of finishing options available, including booklet making, sorting, stapling, and hole-punching.
MAN Roland (www.manroland.com) CEO Vince Lapinski noted that his firm is focused on achievement. The introduction of three new presses—two in the mid-size arena—was designed to "offer maximum versatility so printers can capitalize on a wide variety of opportunities."
Roland 700 HiPrint has the largest sheet size in its class. The new 41" line made its North American premiere. HiPrint provides a wide array of inline options including InlineFoiler Prindor for special effects; InlineInspector, InlineSorter, and InlineObserver for improved color control; InlineSheeter for substrate versatility and savings; and InlineCoater Smart for cost effective surface enhancement.
HiPrint also offers a variety of coating options and UV capabilities. It features a 17,000 sheets-per-hour run rate, equipping it to print packaging, books, and other mass-market items. It also handles a large range of substrates.
Roland 700 Direct Drive features automatic plate changes, a 60-percent makeready savings, and is ideal for short runs and long-perfecting plants.
MAN Roland also premiered the Euroman, with its 4x4" commercial web press format. Euroman replaces the traditional double-web 38" commercial web press with a more efficient single-web, four-unit design.
Nipson (www.nipson.com) introduced high-speed spot color capabilities for its VaryPress line. The Spot Color System (SCS) allows users to add from one to four spot colors to their print production, while maintaining print speed and quality output. The VaryPress SCS consists of a high-speed drop-on-demand inkjet head array mounted on a specially designed web transport mechanism to deliver spot color printing of fixed or variable data anywhere on an 18.45" print area.
A second array can be mounted on the unit to add an additional color. Up to two SCS units can be installed inline with the VaryPress 200 or the VaryPress 400. President of Nipson, Heberto Pachon noted that an SCS with running speeds of 500' per minute will be launching shortly.
Though Presstek (www.presstek.com) did not feature any new presses at Graph Expo, what they did showcase, in addition to several enhancements to the product line, was a new way to talk about direct imaging (DI).
Todd Chambers, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, explained that Presstek's new customer approach is to inquire as to what business issues or pockets of challenge a client has, and help them become more profitable. He noted two pockets that most often need filling are variable data and short-run, four-color printing.
Presstek introduced the Dimension450 Excel-Autoloader, which is a plate-loading automation feature for Presstek's four-page thermal CTP platesetter system. The loader is fully integrated with the Dimension450, and mounts up to 20 pre-punched plates.
Perfecting the Plate
Agfa Graphics (www.agfapress.com) added the Avalon LF XT+ to its line of violet CTP engines. Designed to increase the quality, flexibility, and reliability of violet CTP imaging, the Avalon LF XT+ uses Agfa's Lithostar digital printing plates to deliver 40 B1-size plates per hour, and is available in both manual and fully automatic
versions. In addition, the Avalon family is compatible with Agfa's violet chemistry-free plate, which will be released in 2008. The Avalon LF platesetter family features imaging heads that can easily be switched between thermal and violet with a simple field retrofit.
Mitsubishi Imaging (MPM) Inc. (www.mitsubishiimaging.com) showcased its first chemistry-free flexible CTP plate, the Thermal DigiPlate. It uses a thermal fusing technology to create a high-contrast image on-plate without chemical development or wash-off. Ideal in high-volume environments, the platemaker can produce up to 60 plates per hour, and output plates up to 18.1x20.8". It has an output resolution of 1200 dpi, and up to 133 lpi.
Screen USA (www.screenusa.com) introduced PlateRite Ultima 36000ZX, Truepress 344, and PlateRite FX870.
PlateRite Ultima 36000ZX is the first model to utilize Screen's new-generation imaging technology based on Grating Light Valve (GLV). With it, each exposure head features 1,024 imaging channels. PlateRite Ultima 36000ZX can achieve speeds of 33 full-size plates per hour at 2,400 dpi. Using eight-up plates, it can output 68 plates per hour. It accommodates plates from 25.6x21.7" to 82.6x62.9".
Truepress 344 is a four-color press that produces smaller-format, economical print runs with color fidelity that compares to conventional offset equipment. It boasts substrate versatility, the ability to accomplish longer runs, and features a maximum sheet size of 13.4x18.5", and speed of 7,000 sph.
PlateRite FX870 CTPplatesetter helps improve production for the packaging industry. It can be used in both flexo and letterpress printing production, and offers the option of imaging digital offset plates. It directly exposes the black mask layer of resin plates, eliminating the need for film or other intermediate processing. It utilizes a 32-channel laser diode head to image plates from 7.9x7.9", to 34.2x30".
Xanté's (www.xante.com) Harmony Violet Metal Plates and chemistry delivers results for up to 500,000 impressions. The plates are engineered to deliver high-quality performance and print results at an affordable price. Used in conjunction with the company's VM metal CTP platesetters, Harmony offers superior imaging, consistent quality, and high reliability. They are also compatible with other industry-standard violet systems.
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