MAILCENTER: Graph Expo to Deliver Distribution

Hoping to boost revenues and improve customer relationships, printers continue to add mail processing and fulfillment services to their list of specialties. Graph Expo 2007, Chicago Sept. 9-12, again will include a Mailing and Fulfillment Center promoting the latest trends, with nearly 80 exhibitors who will show equipment and software.

Several exhibitors—including Buhrs Americas, Longford International, Think Ink, Formscan, Document Data Solutions and Virtual Systems/Mail-Shop, and 3PF Manager Software—will have both physical booths and online booths, the latter displaying product information accessible at www.graphexpo.com. The Pavilion Exhibition also will host Mailing and Fulfillment theater sessions.

Buhrs will feature several mailing/fulfillment products on the show floor, including the BB700, a new addition to its line of high-speed envelope inserters. Buhrs says the BB700 ranks as the fastest and most productive multi-format inserting system on the market, with product sizes ranging from 6×4´´ to 10×13´´ envelopes and speeds up to 14,000 per hour.

Buhrs also provides solutions to optimize postal discounts by co-mailing direct mail, publications and catalogs. Its high speed, high-capacity model 4000 film and paper wrapping system features a shaftless design with servo motor technology. The modular system has the ability to interchange feeding stations, execute dynamic off-line makeready and respond to a variety of applications with multiple configurations. At speeds in excess of 20,000 cph, the Buhrs 4000 is targeted as a solution for dealing with automation issues and postal reform.

BCC Software, developer of data-quality applications, will feature Mail Manager 2010 mailing software. BCC also offers NewLeaf, a one-to-one variable-data print tool.

Also featured at Graph Expo is Streamline Solutions, which provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for print, direct mail and fulfillment. Its PrintStream estimating tool covers a large mix of products within the sheetfed, web and digital printing arenas. A direct mail estimating component unifies print, mail and fulfillment within one platform. The firm offers all elements for fulfillment, including contract packaging, on-demand printing and assembly needs.

Böwe Bell and Howell will display its Turbo Premium inserting system, which canprocess atrates up to 22,000 per hour. It features a Tornado envelope feeder that yields 40,000 pieces per hour. Logistics round out the process with a mail tray system, EPOS, that automatically takes the inserted mailings and places them in post boxes.

Leading off a series of the Mailing and Fulfillment theater sessions at Graph Expo will be Glenn Toole, VP sales/marketing for Micro Computer Solutions, a provider of inkjet imaging systems. At “What You Need to Know About Cameras and Matching Systems” on opening day, Sunday, Sept. 9, Toole will discuss the best products for each business, focusing on equipment installations and systems.

Among other highlights in the sessions: Dave Lewis, president and co-founder of trackmymail.com, with “What Have They Done to My Barcode?” He will cover the U.S. Postal Service's Intelligent Mail Barcode.

Also featured at the show will be Catherine Moriarty, program manager of corporate advertising for USPS, with “Become a Direct Mail Champion—Tools and Strategies for Higher Returns.” Moriarty will share how to gain better print sales success.

Mark Nuzzaco, government affairs director for NPES (the Assn. for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies), will wrap up Sunday with “Mail Moves America—Protecting Your Interests.” Mail Moves America is a coalition of 48 trade associations and corporations with the mission of educating state and federal government decision-makers on the vital role advertising mail plays in our commerce and economy.

Brian Doyle, consulting IT architect from InfoPrint Solutions Co. (IBM/Ricoh), will kick off the day on Sept. 10 with “Converting Transaction Output to Permit Mail to Eliminate Meters,” educating printers on how to change to permit mail. Doyle will also present the following day.

Karl Schumacher, chief strategy officer of MegaSpirea, and P.C. McGrew, Kodak director of industry marketing for transaction printing, will follow with “The Next Phase of TransPromo Mail: Brokering White Space on the Envelope.”

“PostalOne! & FAST: Cut Paperwork & Automate Drop Ship Appointments,” led by Jeffrey Peoples, CEO of Window Book, will offer guidance for improved account management with online resources.

Clint Dally, VP product development for mail solutions exhibitor Pitney Bowes, will present “The Printer's Journey to Mailing” on Monday afternoon, explaining in four steps how to efficiently generate materials going into the mailstream—without outsourcing—by choosing the correct equipment.

The last presenter at the expo will be Dave Currie, national sales manager of RENA Systems, with “Offering Mailing Services”—a session designed to help commercial printers consider which mailing/fulfillment equipment and resources are best for their needs.