Key Themes @ the Show

Only a few days before Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2006 opens in Chicago, and reports of innovative new developments continue to arrive. This preview provides just some of the key categories, with more to follow in next issue's show follow-up.

One undeniable trend is the move by equipment and systems suppliers to entrench themselves as tightly as possible to their print industry customer base. One approach is to seamlessly wed themselves to the whole of the print supply chain, regardless of whether their business focus is the supply of printing presses, folding machines, color management, inks or even skids. This trend extends across the board to include heavy iron—from self-setting folders to presetting presses—through premedia workflow knitted to enterprise resource planners—on through digital storefronts that automate (or even bypass) the sales force process to send jobs sailing through production.

One example of a familiar supplier expanding its equipment links to the supply chain is MAN Roland, which is presenting its printnet JDF connectivity as a key theme for Graph Expo. printnet accesses individual process areas through modules that allow the integration of MAN Roland presses, as well as the systems of third-party suppliers, into an integrated workflow.

Printnet provides a platform for building a JDF production stream, with utilities MAN says operate right out of the box. printnet PressManager is in use in over 2,000 locations worldwide, according to MAN Roland. It can link to virtually every aspect of an operation from prepress to invoicing to build of a complete computer integrated manufacturing system.

Closely related is the arena of web-to-print utilities, which will surely prove to be the key enabler of the print industry's survival. Familiar names, many of them prepress players—Agfa, Screen, Heidelberg, Kodak, EFI—are joined by more recent industry arrivals such as Printable, Press-sense, Xerox and dozens of others. Many are debuting or expanding solutions that not only take orders, but also capture precise specifications, generate confirming proofs and complete the financial transaction. Those suppliers also selling output devices—digital printers (Kodak, EFI, Xerox, Screen, Agfa, Fujifilm), direct imaging offset (Presstek, xpedx, Kodak, KBA) or conventional presses—can extend their hold on their customer's enterprise.

One example of a software entreé in this field is the Web-to-print utilities vendor Saepio, presenting at Graph Expo its “nearly humanless workflow” based on linking its Agilis Marketing Suite—Storefront, Web-to-Print, Asset Management, Direct Mail List Builder and eCommerce—as a gateway to Objective Advantage's OASymbio workflow automation.

The following pages present some technology briefs that typify key show themes.

Big news in digital presses can't wait until the spring. So Graph Expo has turned out to be a rich showcase for digital print systems. Punch Graphix chose the Chicago venue for the print industry introduction of its speedy new Xeikon 6000. The roll-fed machine features a hefty monthly duty cycle of 4 million pages, and a speed of 160 8½×11´´ pages per minute (9,600 per hour). To process pages that fast for the companion to the model 5000 requires a new front end and new toner. The X-800 Digital-Front-End and Form Adapted (FA) toner are tuned to what Punch Graphix says is the fastest digital color press in the market geared to graphic arts quality runs.

Handling paper stocks ranging from 40 gsm up to 350 gsm means the 6000 can do light folding carton work. Substrate widths from 12.6´´ to 20´´ at unlimited cut-offs provide a unique flexibility of output.

The new release of the X-800 Digital-Front-End supports the machine's higher speed, new FA toner, and fifth-color and color management tools. A full-color Intelligent Print Data Stream controller is also available.

Punch Graphix says the 6000 is the first of its machines to implement polyester-based ,shape-modified toners for high-speed digital color printing. The toner is FDA-approved for indirect food contact. The Xeikon 6000 with the toner is also Pantone-licensed. Red, blue, green, orange, white and clear spot toners are also available “off the shelf.”

Kodak is demonstrating its NexPress 2500 digital production color press, being shown with the new inline bookletmaker, NexGlosser glossing unit (in which a dry toner coating gets a heat treatment to bring up photo-type gloss), and the NexStation front end. A new family of black-and-white printers, as well as a new speed model Digimaster EX138 is being displayed.

Kodak's Versamark web-fed 4-over-4 VX5000 inkjet press is being shown. It was to be presented at the IFRA newspaper show in Amsterdam this month integrated to a Hunkeler finishing that would permit delivery of tabloid newspapers in short-runs on demand—with applications for foreign newspapers delivered to big-city hotels, for example. Versamark can produce 100% variable data in black, spot color or CMYK process colors, for direct mail and billing applications, for example. It runs at 500 fpm to yield more than 2,000 pages per minute.

Océ is showing its range of high-speed printers, roll and continuous, as well as wide-format devices, and is also presenting its 250-ppm 6250 black-and-white sheet printer.

Canon is unveiling the imagePRESS C7000VP, its 70-ppm entry into the digital color production arena. It handles stocks up to 13×19´´, “delivering quality output that is comparable to offset,” says the firm. (It is featured in the Product Spotlight, p.21).

IBM recently announced improved halftoning capabilities for its Infoprint 4100 roll-fed printing system. It features a 64-bit, scalable multiprocessing power controller to support high-speed, variable-content printing and builds a foundation for full-color printing, says IBM. The 4100 can print up to 330 fpm with 600-dpi image quality in both simplex and duplex models. Its extra-wide format can produce three-up pages on a 19½´´ paper width with up to 19´´ wide print area. A Commercial Print feature supports coated stock up to 9 pt. Options advanced pre-/postprocessing interfaces.

Konica Minolta announced a new 65 ppm bizhub PRO C6500 digital color printing system with a high volume 300,000-page monthly duty cycle just before the show opens, so visitors may be seeing that along with the other bizhub PRO color offerings.

Xerox is arriving at Graph Expo with a number of surprises. In addition to the new mid-range DocuColor 5000, expansion of DocuTech Color Highlight (magenta is the latest, and mix-to-match toners will soon be offered), 288-page per minute twin-engine Nuvera tandem black-and-white printer technology demonstration, and integration to book finishing systems, among numerous other improvements.

Press engineering that provides easier-to-run machines and that also will deliver more consistent quality, are exemplified by newly engineered presses from Hamada, Ryobi, Sakurai and a new MAN Roland 500 perfector, all being highlighted at Graph Expo, The Komori Lithrone S29, a completely redesigned half-size press, includes numerous productivity and quality-boosting features, among them:

• Hi-Speed Start Up: Enhancements to the inking and dampening system allow the press to start printing at 12,000 sph.
• Fully Automatic Platechanging: The first half size press on the market with fully automatic plate changing, it changes four plates in two minutes and 30 seconds.
• Bend-less Plate Clamping: A new approach means no need to bend the plate edge, eliminates a need for plate bending device.
• Suction Tape Feeder: As seen on 40´´ presses, for more accurate feeding at maximum speeds and reducing sheet marking.
• Fully Automatic Blanket Washing: Improved blanket washing using a pre-soaked cloth also cuts consumption by 50%.
• PDC-S2 Scanning Spectrodensitometer: Komori's new PDC-S2 scans the sheet twice as fast and sends ink key information directly to the press console, where corrections are made to any key out of specification. The speed of the PDC-S2 means less waste.
  c Swan-Neck Delivery: Like the full-sized Lithrone, this design provides a gentle sheet path into the delivery reducing scratching and marking at maximum print speeds.
• Also making its north American debut is the Presstek 52DI 20´´ press (shown on p.35). This marks the launch by Presstek of sales of its offset presses in the U.S. under its own label. The digital-imaging press features up to 300-lpi FM screening, up to 10,000-sph operating speed and 10-minute makeready, including plate imaging and coming up to color within about 20 sheets.

Hamada is introducing the B452 Mark II, a 14×20´´ sheetfed press with a run speed of 10,000 sph. Features include semi-automatic plate loading, swing gripper infeed, vacuum tape register board, a high-speed stream feeder, a tape speed switch to convert to sheet feeding, blanket washers and running register. It also has extended delivery, runs stock up to .016´´, an ultrasonic double detector and non-marking delivery cylinder. Mark II is offered in 2-, 4- and 5-colors.

Heidelberg, covered in several sections within this issue, is also showing its range of Printmaster offset presses, positioned for the small commercial and quick print market, which will be detailed in post-show coverage next issue.

KBA is showing its InterTech Award-winning waterless Genius press, with a kit for allowing for higher pile-height delivery. Next issue will carry extended coverage of PIA/GATF's 2006 InterTech Award winners. The Genius was featured as a Product Spotlight in GAM's April issue.

Sakurai USA is demonstrating its fully automated 575SD sheetfed press series with several enhancements. The Sakurai 575SDC 5-color with coater features a double diameter, cylinder configuration and is available in straight or perfecting versions with or without coaters and from 2- to 6-printing units. The larger, expanded sheet size of 23 5/8×31´´ allows room for 6-up 8½×11´´ sheets.

xpedx Printing Technologies, the U.S. distributor of Ryobi presses, sold and installed its first-ever 8-color press in the U.S. , to the in-plant shop of Dominion, an energy company. The Ryobi 758 has interdeck UV dryer/curing unit. xpedx says demand for the 6-up 23x29´´ 750-series presses is strong.

Kodak has launched major software integration initiatives and presents ready-for-market offerings, as well as technology demonstrations. The company has grouped much of its workflow under the commercial print area of its booth. This area features products, solutions and ideas for making print more dynamic.

The section highlights Kodak Unified Workflow solutions, aimed at providing an end-to-end digital infrastructure for printing that integrates business, production, color and data workflows, open standards and intelligent automation. Workflow product launches include the Prinergy 4.0 workflow system, for control and automation to Unified Workflows; and Profile Wizard 4.0 color management software for controlling accurate color throughout the workflow. Kodak Web-to-Unified Print software, based on Kodak InSite and Prinergy technologies, is being introduced as a technology demonstration.

Other Unified Workflow solutions include: Preps 5.2 imposition software; UpFront production planning software; InSite software, a Web portal for prepress; the Matchprint Virtual proofing option, a SWOP-certified color proofing solution for extending color process control throughout InSite workflows; and Prepare software for PDF creation.

Kodak will also launch the Kodak Colorflow technology architecture for communicating, controlling and confirming color across multiple devices through enhanced connectivity, improved predictability and the elimination of errors.

Color WorkFlow is designed to provide consistent color across the workflow, proofing, imaging and printing platforms—electrophotographic, high-speed inkjet, and direct imaging offset—that Kodak now offers. Products currently enabled by Color Workflow include Prepare software, Prinergy workflow, Veris digital proofer, InSite with Matchprint Virtual software, Matchprint inkjet proofs and NexPress 2500 digital color presses.

The Unified Workflow system will link to the Kodak Enterprise Management System (EMS)—a business-wide management offering now in Phase 2 beta testing at four U.S. sites. The official release of EMS is expected in the second half of 2007.

Also, Kodak will show a technology demonstration of its Web-to-Unified Print application beta at Graph Expo. The Unified Workflow system will link to the Kodak Enterprise Management System (EMS), expected in the second half of 2007.

EFI's range of offerings on reflects the firm's expansion in recent years, and will include: print management solutions, Fiery RIPs, Fiery controllers for Sharp and Konica printers, embedded Fiery controllers, Web-to-print solutions and DirectSmile Collaborate for variable-data work.

EFI servers and controllers are being presented with integration into its commercial and enterprise print management systems, its Professional Printing Solutions such as EFI's Print Management Information Systems, proofs and Web-to-print solutions.

Heidelberg is showing its Prinect MetaDimension, a RIP and workflow solution built around PDF workflows. The company has specific offerings for the small commercial market, including entry-level workflow the smaller shop.

At the Wide Format Pavilion within Graph Expo—in recent years the fastest growing area of the show—visitors are seeing a range of print and finishing products that open new market opportunities. While poster-printing holds dangers of becoming just another commodity, the latest generations of machines and their compatible inks and substrates, permit printing on a wide range of substrates, including thick stocks for prototype packaging and point-of-purchase work. Interestingly, these are available from units of well-known names within the marketplace. Two examples are EFI and Fujifilm Sericol.

The latter sells the Inca Digital line, including the Columbia Turbo wide-format printer. It is engineered to provide controlled print quality at print speeds up to 1,720 sq.ft. per hour. It uses 64 Spectra SE-class print heads to provide true 600-dpi resolution. The Columbia Turbo is routinely used to produce commercial quality print at run lengths of 500 pieces or more.

The true flatbed design of the Turbo comes standard with a 63×126´´ vacuum table and pin registration system. The combination of the pin registration system, dedicated vacuum table, and precision drop placement of the Turbo system reduces the time required to register substrate and lowers the scrap rate.

The Columbia Turbo uses patented Uvijet UV-curable inks from Fujifilm Sericol, employing automotive-grade pigments with outdoor durability of up to three years. The inks are designed to print on a wide variety of materials to enable printers to meet the requirements of their customers.

The Columbia Turbo is driven by a magnetic drive system to shuttle the vacuum table at a speed of almost 10 feet per second.

EFI entered the wide-format field with the acquisition of Vutek, and that unit just introduced the QS2000 UV-curing digital inkjet printer. Vutek says the fourth-generation UV printer bridges the gap between superior image quality, productivity and connectivity. EFI's prowess in developing servers and RIPs to drive color digital devices has made wide-format a natural extension to its business. It has developed the Fiery XF image processor for such applications.

Vutek says the QS2000 is the first in an all new category of printers that combine EFI's production and workflow management technologies with the digital print capabilities of its Vutek super wide format printers.

Quality and productivity are the critical success factors for print-for-pay super wide format print shops and commercial printers, the company notes, and EFI development of High-Definition Print (HDP) provide print resolutions up to 1080 dpi. Crisp, clear 4-point text will satisfy customers who demand the highest image quality for close viewing of applications

Incorporated are proprietary image smoothing technologies, 6-color imaging and a special seventh white ink channel for creative applications. It has the ability to print white ink in six different variations, including overprint, underprint, spot, underspot, fill and overspot.

The QS2000 can also handle thicker substrates—up to 2´´ thick and up to 80´´ inches wide. It changes between rigid and flexible substrates in less than a minute.

Mailing and fulfillment services are natural extensions for print industry services, and at Graph Expo the Graphic Arts Show Co. has established a Mailing & Fulfillment Pavilion to create an area of concentration for printers interested in entering the field.

Some exhibitors that supply equipment and services for the field do not exhibit within the pavilion, however. Böwe Bell + Howell is one of these—perhaps because some of its industrial-grade mailing systems are too large to fit within that section of McCormick Place.

Böwe Bell + Howell notes that with the USPS mandate to gradually phase out mechanical postage meters, high-volume mailers with the proper equipment and systems can dramatically save on the annual cost of postage application through alternative postage payment options.

Böwe Bell + Howell's WayMark system applies a high-quality indicia inline as part of the normal sorting process. The use of WayMark eliminates meters and their associated maintenance and supply costs. The weight verification capabilities of WayMark also enable mailers to achieve document integrity and postage verification at throughput rates that were previously not attainable.

By adding the WayMark weight verification module to Böwe Bell + Howell's Criterion sorting system, mailers can verify the weight of every mail piece, calculate the correct postage and produce postage reports in one easy process. With deviations of 4% or better at speeds up to 36,000 pieces per hour, WayMark eliminates errors due to overestimating First-Class or Standard-Class mail piece weights, or underestimating weight and postage, which can lead to incorrect postage statements.

Another interesting product, MagVision, being shown at Graph Expo by Formscan, uses a patent-applied-for technology to read variable-data codes through opaque material, such as envelopes and folded marketing material. Typical uses of this solution are in quality addressing applications, read-and print-mailings and other secure personalized communications. MagVision acts just like a barcode reader, says the manufacturer, with all the proven reliability of barcode technology. The barcodes can be prepared on any laser printer; no special fonts or hardware modifications are necessary. Because it acts just like a normal scanner, MagVision can be integrated into traditional read and print applications, establishing the security of knowing that there will be no mismatch between sensitive contents and the addressee shown. (Some states have begun to implement penalties if addressee and content don't match.)

The MagVision unit attaches to the output of an inserter, or can be fed with a multifeed stacker for standalone use. A unique customer code stored within the hidden barcode is read and passed to the inkjet printer software. This code then triggers the correct address characters for printing.

MagVision is supplied as a turnkey system. The MagVision reader is housed inside a transport. This transport can easily be integrated into a current production line. A PC is also supplied that houses the control software and provides the interface to the production line and any external print devices.