On Demand Preview

The 11th annual On Demand conference and exhibition gets underway in Philadelphia, May 15-18. On tap are strong keynotes from Adobe's Bruce Chizen and InfoTrends' Charles Pesko, a compelling list of seminars from InfoTrends (the former CapVentures) and an exhibit where printers will have the first U.S. view of introductions made at Ipex in Birmingham, England, last month.

The event will also feature a keynote panel on “The Evolving Digital Color On Demand Printing Opportunity…The Future Is So Bright, You Have to Wear Shades” on May 17. Panel participants will include Canon USA CEO Yoroku Adachi; HP Indigo executive VP Vyomesh Joshi; Kodak Graphic Communications Group president Jeff Jacobson; and Xerox president James Firestone. “On Demand is the 'must-attend' event for professionals involved in the dynamic world of digital printing technology,” says Christina Condos, group director of technology events for Questex, the show management company. “This year's show is shaping up to be our biggest and best event ever.”

Among the year's largest selection of new products will be for finishing. “Bindery has been at the top of the leader board for buying intentions for the past couple of years,” says Mark Hunt, marketing manager at Standard's Finishing Systems Division. “Traditionally, bindery is the last area for investment because often there is more imperative to prepress or press. But at some point, you can't drive that old equipment and be cost-­effective.”

New from Standard Finishing, www.sdmc.com, is the Standard Horizon BQ-470 four-clamp perfect binder and the AFC-546FKT. Both were prototypes at Print 05 and will be generally available at On Demand. The BQ-470 is a fully automated, JDF-ready system with interchangeable hot-melt/PUR glue tanks for handling a wider variety of substrates, including heavier stocks requiring PUR.

The company says that AFC-546FKT is the most automated folder Horizon has ever built, including “gap sets” that depend on the fold pattern. It's JDF-ready and effectively straddles digital and offset production.

The Standard Hunkeler Gen6 Unwinder for continuous-feed printers represents the first offering in a new platform, called Gen6. It is field-upgradeable for faster speed, UP3i-compliant and handles a broader range of substrates, including thicker stock.

Spiel Associates, www.spielassociates.com, will feature two tabletop units, the Sterling Coilmaster Jr. and the Sterling Digitabinder. The new Coilmaster automatically inserts plastic coil into a book from the first hole and then cuts and crimps automatically, binding up to 500 books per hour. The Digibinder is a perfect binder with a pneumatic clamp and nipper that adjusts automatically. Users can go from thick to thin books without any adjustments. It can bind up to 360 books per hour up to 2´´ thick. A compressor is supplied with the machine, which can complete runs of three, 300 or 3,000.

Also debuting is a new product from Graphic Whizard, www.graphicwhizard.com, the CreaseMaster PRO, the latest in the CreaseMaster series. The system impact-scores materials prior to folding. The new CreaseMaster PRO is a floor model, pneumatic, stream-fed by hand with touch-screen control system for low- to mid-volume users.

Perfect binding capabilities is a must-have in this industry, and CFS Products/Plockmatic International AB (www.plockmaticcfs.com) of Sweden will be exhibiting its new PL104 SquareFold binder that takes regular, everyday stapled booklets and squares the spine, providing a “perfect bound” look. The PL104 is used either online with other Plockmatic collating and bookletmaking systems, or it can be used as an off-line, standalone unit. It retails for less than $6,000. Plockmatic also provides an online SquareFold unit to major copy machine manufacturers.

Also making a debut is Rollem International, www.rollemusa.com, which will preview its new Jetstream two-directional slitting-perforating system designed to improve finishing productivity on multiple-up products including business cards, game cards, product cards and reply cards and more. Business cards can be laid out in multiple rows per sheet, yielding a higher volume of finished cards. The first process slits the sheet in one direction with the new specialty slit/perf heads keeping the sheet intact with a 1|16´´ bleed. The sheet is then strike slit in the second direction, providing delivery of strips of business cards.

Renz, www.renz.com, will display its AutoPunch360 (fully automatic punching system) which punches small quantities efficiently. It is wheel-mounted with a compact profile. The AP360 comes in a variety of input and output configurations with a minimum punching length of 100mm (or 4´´), and a maximum of 360mm (or 14 5|32´´). Speed is rated at 40 to 100-strokes/ minute, with a maximum punching thickness of 3.5mm (or approx. 35 sheets of 20-lb. paper).

Rollem also previews its newest airfeed scoring, perforating and slitting machine—the Advantage. This model is designed for short- to mid-run digitally printed products and features an air feeding system and side guide register. Available in a 24´´ model, the Advantage also offers expanded inline capabilities by adding other company systems to automate finishing lines.

Morgana, www.morgana.co.uk, will show its DigiFold, an integrated creasing and folding machine for digital and offset output and DocuMaster, a system that combines high-speed creasing and perfing with high-quality bookletmaking. According to the company, the DigiFold combines the proven blade and matrix creasing technology used in its AutoCreaser with a new, patented folding method that will not mark or scratch even the most sensitive materials. DigiFold works either as an integrated creaser/folder performing both functions in a single pass or as a creaser alone.

Another finishing product the show has to offer is Gateway Bookbinding Systems Ltd.'s (www.plastikoil.com) PBS 3000 QS Quick Setup Automatic Coil Inserter that handles up to 600 books per hour. This unit automates the process of plastic spiral binding and can accommodate coil diameters from 6 mm with options up to a 30 mm coil.

In addition to showing its digital product portfolio, Duplo USA, www.duplo.com, will launch its high-performance, affordable air suction folder—the DF-1000. It incorporates suction technology, which prevents it from marking or scratching the surface of the printed color page and evades static build-up. Able to handle bond stocks and art/coated paper to a maximum weight of 200 gsm, the DF-1000 can fold and batch up to 240 sheets per minute, ready for inserting or mailing.

In addition, building on the success of the DC-545HCEX Slitter/Cutter/Creaser, Duplo is featuring its second-generation machine, the heavy-duty DC-645 with JDF support. The DC-645 slits, cuts and creases in a single pass and has the ability to read printed images and automatically adjust and compensate for the common problem of image shift. The new features that set it apart from the DC-545HCEX are its high-duty cycle, the ability to manage heavier substrates (up to 310gsm), larger sheet sizes, the first and only ultrasonic double detection sensor in the market, a reject tray and its ability to cut full-bleed, 20-up business cards on a 12×18´´ sheet.

Though hardware and software are the show's meat-and-potatoes, finishing products are gaining headway into the industry, and this year's expo mirrors that shift. Buhrs (www.buhrs.com) will present a wide range of digital finishing solutions. Inline products will include unwinders, rewinders, cutters and folders. Offline products include job separation, set accumulation, cutters, folders and stackers. Buhrs is also known for its reliable inserters, the BB300 10K and the BB600.

In the digital press and printer arena, some significant presentations will include Screen's showing of its high-speed, 20´´ 4-color inkjet Truepress Jet 520 web, Canon's 150-ppm monochrome imageRunner 7150, and Océ's 250 ppm duplexing cutsheet VarioPrint 6250.

With one of the larger and diverse exhibits at the show, Kodak, www.kodak.com, will bring its NexPress 2100 plus and 2500 digital production color presses and its monochrome 600×600dpi Digimaster E125 and E150 digital production systems. The company will also have its Versamark D-and V-series high-speed continuous inkjet webs.

Kodak's digital proofing solutions Veris and Matchprint inkjet plus and software solutions will also be demonstrated. Insite software offers a portal into the company's Prinergy and Brisque workflows, and Prepare software automates PDF workflows. It can be used to create prepress-ready files within the Macintosh desktop environment.

Riso, www.riso.com, will showcase its RZ990 Printer-Duplicator in addition to the HC5000 inkjet-based full-color ComColor printer and MZ790 150ppm 2-color, single-pass printer-duplicator. Introduced in December, the RZ990 features print speeds of 180-ppm as low as $.003 per page.

Expanding its space 20% to 8,000-sq.ft. for this year's show, Xerox Production Systems Group, www.xerox.com, will continue with its “New Business of Digital Printing” theme and also focus on its “More Ways to Profit” showcase, says Barb Anselm, VP marketing. The company will be showing several Ipex introductions in the U.S. market for the first time. Xerox will add a new program to its Profit Accelerator called Digital Assessment Readiness Test (DART). This program covers 17 different areas from marketing to sales training and compensation. The company will also focus on ways to integrate offset workflows with digital. Xerox will introduce a new finishing module for its Nuvera series. In addition to being able to run this module in a dual configuration, other finishing options for booklets, binding and more can be attached. The 4590 and 4110 enterprise printing systems will be shown integrated with a DocuSP front end, enabling DocuTech customers to fit these systems into their workflow. Anslem promises “excitement on the color side.”

Adobe, www.adobe.com, will give in-depth demos of Creative Suite 2 Premium and partner demos on VDP and information on the new Adobe PDF Print Engine (see p.30). Barr Systems, www.barrsystems.com, will release its DocForm version 4. Printable, www.printable.com, will demonstrate PrintOne 6.0, which boasts two new modules, Job Express and Online List Purchase.