The strength of the print-mail bond is clear at Graph Expo this year. From interlinkONE fulfillment software (booth 5627) to XMPie PURLs (booth 4851), wherever variable-data printing is exhibited, a mail-related offering probably isn't far away.

And in addition to the nearly 40,000-sq.ft. dedicated Mailing & Fulfillment Center, there are several presentations accessible at no charge to attendees. An Oct. 26 general session (4:15 p.m.) by Frank Romano is entitled “New Business Building Opportunities for Printers.”

Pitney Bowes is involved in four free sessions, including: “The Printer's Journey to Mail Starts with Customers,” on Oct. 28 at 12:30 p.m., and a look at transpromo with “Transform Your Mailing Operation into a Strategic Corporate Asset” on Oct. 27 at 12:30 p.m.

In booth 2263, within the mailing pavilion, the firm also is showing off the high-speed mailstream 26 finishing system, which inserts up to 26,000 mail pieces per hour—that's eight every second! The new machine is 18% faster than the APS 22 and, says Pitney Bowes, is also 10% more reliable. It began shipping earlier this month.

Also showing is a prototype direct-mail system printing full-color, inline inkjet on up to 22,000 envelopes per hour. Expected to be commercially available some time next year, PB is partnering with HP on this project.

PB also offers mid-range products with flexible inputs for printers who want to stop jobbing out mail-related services such as addressing, folding and inserting. The FPS (Flexible Productivity Series), for example, are inline folder feeders that operate at up to 14,000 pieces per hour. For lower-volume mailers, the EZ-Flats Sorting System was introduced earlier this year. It offers a low cost of entry for a new level of First-Class Flats discounts, helping to identify the largest postal discounts in a single pass—at speeds up to 2,000 mail pieces per hour.

On the 'green' front, the company's ecoswise program is highlighted during “Be Green and Profitable,” an hour-long session beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 29.

Böwe Bell + Howell says it exhibits at only three shows annually, and Graph Expo is one of them. (The other two are Mailcom and the National Postal Forum.) Located adjacent to the Mailing & Fulfillment Center, its booth (#1253) is demonstrating the company's product portfolio for paper-based and digital mail communications, including inserting, cutting, direct mail, sorting, integrity verification, print-on-demand and software solutions.

Its Printegrity inkjet solution allows color graphics and targeted marketing messages to be added to envelopes, along with printing addresses and barcodes—making for a more personalized mail piece. For quality control, the JETVision Platinum Web Transport system can capture details on two-up duplex print at speeds up to 900 fpm, while simultaneously analyzing barcodes, alignment and page content.

The firm's BCC Software subsidiary (booth 2486) presents a range of USPS-certified products. Track N Trace monitors deliveries, while Mail Manager 2010, its flagship mail-processing software, is scalable to any size mailer's needs and is backed by free, unlimited support—helpful for any new mailer. BCC Software also offers an extensive line of list-enhancing data services, the NEWLEAF one-to-one variable data printing communications tool and a line of hardware products, including the Mail Verifier Plus (MVP) barcode quality tool, named 'Worth-a-Look' at the 2007 show, updated this year to include the USPS Intelligent Mail Barcode.

InfoPrint Solutions Co. (booth 2274), the IBM-Ricoh joint venture, is showing its entry-level, monochrome models 75 and 100 laser printers, which provide the document sequence integrity of continuous forms (CF) printing in a compact footprint (under nine sq.ft.) backed by around-the-clock service. For documents that must remain in page sequence, these devices can print invoices, picking slips, labels or mailings with the high throughput.

Also shown at drupa, these printers feature ease of loading for box fanfold forms and easy unloading from a power stacker. The reliable tractor feed paper path can print forms formatted in one-up landscape format or two-up portrait format with a simple adjustment in the paper path. The print speeds range from 75 ipm up to 154 ipm. And 600-dpi print output provides clarity on text, graphics and sharply defined barcodes. The 75 and 100 are backed by InfoPrint Availability Services that can be tailored to operating requirements. The printers are Energy Star Compliant.

On the software side, InfoPrint also is demonstrating its Suite of Transpromo Solutions, which ties to the full-color 5000 CF inkjet printer.

ONLINE: Mailing webcasts at graphicartsonline.com