Orders, Leads & Traffic

Many of the 575 exhibitors reported a successful expo in Chicago.

Staff -- Graphic Arts Online, 11/1/2000

Weeks after the close of the Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2000 show in Chicago, exhibitors were toting up their sales successes, following up on hot leads, and recalling heavy traffic and high visitor interest.

Stanley Freimuth, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., called the show "outstanding, even fabulous--without a doubt the best show we've ever had. It was certainly the most productive show in terms of actual orders generated on site."

Added Vicky Perzanowski, assistant sales manager for U.S. Paper Counters, "The show was really phenomenal. The first two days we literally didn't sit down; the action started early and went on late."

Carton Craft Supply, Inc. had a similar experience, according to president Mark Doxtader. "It was overwhelming," he said. "We were very, very busy. Our plan was to conduct a demonstration every two hours, which we changed to every hour, and then every half hour--and the sessions were all full. We saw decision makers who came back two or three times to show our systems to others. I wouldn't be surprised if we sell 200 of our systems."

NexPress marketing communications manager Thatcher Hogan called the show the "ideal vehicle" for his company's new product demonstrations, saying, "The quality of visitors who approached us for additional information and one-on-one conversations was very good."

Dr. Shlomo Shamir, president and chief executive of CreoScitex America, said the company booked more sales in the show's first two days than the entire run of any previous edition of the show (see page 48).

At Heidelberg USA, which mounted the expo's single largest exhibit, president and chief executive Niels M. Winther reported record-setting sales and very heavy visitor traffic.

Late in the show, Winther reported that Iowa-based Walsworth Publishing purchased its 10th Nexscan scanner, of which 1,000 have been sold since its debut a year ago, and that sales of 28" and 40" Primesetter imagesetters and Topsetter computer-to-plate systems had climbed into the double digits.

Two big sheetfeds sold

Winther cited the sale of two 10-color Speedmaster 102 perfector presses, one to be shipped to Crowson Stone, Columbia, S.C. (which also purchased Heidelberg's entire product range), the other to go to a printer who asked to remain anonymous.

The company's black-and-white Digimaster 9110 system sold briskly, Winther said, and, as anticipated, the new NexPress offering, for which field testing is to begin shortly, attracted many letters of intent.

John Sommers of Allied Printing, Manchester, Conn., confirmed his purchase from Heidelberg Web Systems of a seven-color M-600 press with Autoplate, slated for installation next April.

Heidelberg's bindery solutions were a "big hit," said Winther.

Exhibitors debut systems

Agfa previewed Salient, an expandable digital prepress network that integrates the Apogee PDF workflow system in a compact design. The base unit, a network rack that occupies just 12 square feet of floor space, consists of a general NT server, an Apogee PDF RIP, and Apogee PrintDrive.

Agfa also previewed the AgfaJet Sherpa 24 digital proofer, a compact, capstan-type unit that images paper sheets or rolls up to 24" wide at 720x720- or 360x360-dpi resolution in CMYK plus light magenta and light cyan.

Digital Art Exchange (DAX) announced its iSeries VPN (virtual private network) to its managed Internet solutions as a feature-rich alternative to private networks. VPN, provided at a low, fixed monthly cost, is said to enhance security by using encryption provided by the Internet standard IPSEC protocol features triple-DES encryption.

First anniversary

DAX also marked the first anniversary of its e-community industry site, PrintPlanet.com, with an event at the show hosted by 13 companies. PrintPlanet.com, which is said to now have 20,000 subscribers, maintains 15 free e-communities on the Web, including the latest XML and e-production forums.

DuPont Color Proofing demonstrated its DuPont Digital Halftone System (which is matched in hue, density, and overall appearance to WaterProof and is in field testing with a target date of early 2001 for production and commercialization), the integration of its WaterProof system into the CreoScitex workflow (with compatibility with the Analog WaterProof Color Versatility system), and Thermal Dylux media for CreoScitex thermal imaging equipment.

Flint Ink debuted its Gemini UV ink system, available worldwide in four-color and Hexachrome process sets and Pantone formulations, that utilizes "two-in-one" technology allowing interstation wet traps and a single cure at the end of the press.

Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. showed its new Lanovia Quattro scanner, which features four lenses, an oversized A3 platen, capacity for mounting and scanning up to 100 35-mm slides in a single operation, and enlargement scale up to 4,000%, plus new CelebraNT Extreme software, which uses the latest Adobe PDF and trapping modules and encompasses a suite of productivity-enhancing options. Also, Luxel Gateway V3.5 software will serve as an interface between various workflows and Fujifilm's line of electronic imaging equipment.

Proofing options.

Imation's Color Technologies division introduced the Matchprint Digital Halftone direct-to-paper proofing system, Matchprint Digital Halftone Custom Color Software, and the Matchprint Plus system, which enables users to develop proofs containing Pantone and other specialty colors. Imation also demonstrated the Matchprint Professional Server, a new digital front-end from the recently announced Imation/Xerox alliance.

KBA North America reported that Miller-O'Connell Corporation, a Waukesha, Wis.-based commercial printer and a division of the Lang Companies, had purchased a seven-color, 41"-wide Rapida 105 sheetfed press with coater.

Kodak Polychrome Graphics enhanced its Kodak Approval XP proofing system with Approval Recipe Color software, which allows the unit to reproduce millions of spot colors when combined with new metallic, green, and orange donors, and announced that its Approval XP/XP4 system with Recipe Color software achieved calibrated certification from Pantone Inc. Also, Kodak Approval Digital proofing media, Type 2, which enables proofing-enabled computer-to-plate devices to provide proof quality with real halftone dots on the intended printing stock, is fully commercialized.

.and more proofing

Polaroid Graphics Imaging reported that it had started shipments in North America of its Prediction units, a two-up (oversized A3) automatic digital halftone proofing system using Laser Ablation Transfer technology.

The system, which offers color sets for SWOP, GRACoL, Publication, Eurocolors, and Pantone's six-color Hexachrome, can also run opaque white and Pantone's licensed specialty colors, including metallic gold and silver.

Copydot scanners

Purup-Eskofot unveiled its A3-size EskoScan F14 copydot scanner (featuring a 14,400-element CCD that can produce up to 1,200-dpi optical resolution across a 13x18" format) and its high-speed 23x30" EskoScan 2330 (capable of copydot scanning eight four-color sets per hour at up to 2,540 dpi), plus Reverse Imposition, a copydot application that enables the repurposing into electronic form of hard-copy originals such as film archives.

Purup-Eskofot also announced an upgrade to its ImageMaker range of filmsetters and platesetters, which allows customers to change lasers using OptoLink technology, and NewAge 3.0, the latest version of its Output Management System, which provides the first step toward a distributed system architecture involving multiple RIPs and imagesetters.

RealTimeImage introduced its on-line soft and remote hard proofing service for real-time collaboration by graphic arts professionals. RealTimeProof incorporates ICC profile calibration using Apple's ColorSync while color-calibrated remote proofs can be output to digital proofers in real time. Participants receive a private, secure, and customizable workspace, a one-stop access point for complete project portfolios and multilevel administration tools.

Laser light source

TuiOptics of Germany staged the world premiere of PVLS (pulsed violet laser source) 3000, described as an affordable, high-performance laser system that incorporates a multifunctional, multichannel current controller for the violet diode in a small enclosure for use in automated platesetting.

Xerox launched its Premier Partners e-business initiative, a virtual "channel" or hub that transforms graphic arts service providers into Web partners. The network, scheduled to be operational early next year and intended to attract about 750 users, channels printing jobs to partners that are certified for special projects or unique applications.

Fees for participation, which will be organized around a Xerox-hosted site at XeroxgraphX.com, are set at $1,000 per Xerox customer per year, plus $500 per location per year.

Bundling two systems

X-Rite announced an agreement by which its measurement equipment, specifically the DTP41 autoscan spectrophotometer technology, will be bundled with CreoScitex's Iris2Print and Iris4Print digital contract proofing systems. The agreement expands a continuing business relationship between the two companies.

X-Rite also reported the first shipments of its fully featured InkMaster and QuickInk ink formulation solutions, offered in a unique two-tiered approach, plus it announced that its Color Tools That Work components can be purchased on line by buyers at store.xrite.com, along with its Monitor Optimizer, Digital Swatchbook, and ColorShop solutions.