On Demand On the Move

The eighth annual On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing conference and exposition, held February 27 through March 2 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, drew more than 21,000 attendees and almost 200 exhibitors to the 107,000-square-foot show floor—the largest in the event's history, according to show producers Advanstar Communications, Milford, Conn., and CAP Ventures Inc., Norwell, Mass.

The future prospects for print-on-demand are bright, but there may be a few bumps in the road as market forces continue to rock, and in same cases shatter, the very foundation of the printing business, said CAP Ventures managing director Charles A. Pesko Jr. during opening remarks that officially kicked off the exposition.

"Growth of the Internet and the use of digital technology will drive more digital print," stated Pesko. "CAP Ventures predicts that the retail value of print-on-demand will grow at an 18% compound annual growth rate from $21 billion in 2000 to almost $48 billion in 2005. At the same time, the overall U.S. print market will grow from $115 billion to $140 million—a 4% compound annual growth rate."

Pesko noted that in the last five years, many commercial printers have added digital printing to their product mix. He cited a study conducted the National Association for Printing Leadership, where 50% of commercial printers surveyed said they would be adding digital printing in the next two years.

In his keynote address to conference attendees, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG chairman Bernhard Schreier said that despite the development of new media technologies, the printed page is here to stay, with strong growth anticipated over the next decade.

"Heidelberg's goal is to be the leader of the digital printing industry for 2010 and beyond," said Schreier. "Working together, we will provide value to our customers by offering complete solutions for every market segment. The end result is that printers will employ these solutions to produce higher-value printing and services for their customers, resulting in profits and the continued demand for digital printing."

Following are just some of the highlights of the On Demand event from a variety of vendors.

Barco Graphics, through its Commercial Printing Business Unit, showcased its new VIPLane application for the printing of complex variable-data jobs. Running on Windows NT workstations, the suite of tools processes and RIPs these jobs, which can be created on any of Barco's variable-data editors (such as VIPLayout or VIPDesigner), or by other PPML producers and PostScript and PDF suppliers. Say company officials, VIPLane processes print jobs automatically at the nominal speed of the printing engine.

CreoScitex showcased its Spire CSX2000 color server, designed to drive Xerox's DocuColor 2045 and 2060 color units at printer-rated speed. The DocuColor/Spire combination features a Gallop mode that enables users to RIP and print the same file simultaneously, and a powerful but easy-to-use built-in imposition tool that can be used with any application, including variable-data jobs.

Digital Art Exchange (DAX) unveiled its Web browser-based DAX-IT secure information transfer solution, a service that guarantees the safe delivery of large digital files to their destination without the threat of interception, claims the company. Powered by Hilgreave, Inc.'s HyperSend technology, the product allows businesses involved in moving large graphics files electronically to protect their deliveries via secure data transfer protocols.

DAX-IT supplies a user-authenticated encrypted connection between a Mac or PC and DAX-IT servers, providing security levels comparable to that of financial and healthcare institutions. "DAX-IT puts the tools in the hands of the end user, while the network administrator can rest assured that network security is guarded," explains DAX chief operating officer Martijn van Steeg.

Harlequin unveiled Jaws Systems Ltd.'s Jaws PDF Creator Version 2.0 as an alternative to Adobe Systems, Inc.'s Acrobat application for PDF creation. The new version has support for PDF 1.3-format files, and includes many other customer-driven improvements to its performance, user interface, and control panel, say Harlequin officials,

PDF 1.3 reportedly addresses many of the issues the graphic arts community had with earlier versions, and has driven PDF forward as the format of choice for many in digital publishing.

Along with the ability to produce PDF 1.3 files, Jaws PDF Creator 2.0 also includes support for encrypted PDF files using the BSafe Library, which Jaws Systems has licensed from RSA Security Inc. to enable Jaws PDF Creator users to create PDF files that restrict the ability of recipients to open, print or alter a PDF file.

Ikon Office Solutions launched the MicroPress Common Print Server (CPS) from T/R Systems as a digital front-end system for a range of production imaging devices made by Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Océ, and Ricoh. Through a single interface, say Ikon officials, the MicroPress CPS is designed to simultaneously drive up to 12 supported imaging systems distributed by Ikon from multiple manufacturers.

Integrated into the CPS is Ikon's Digital Express 2000, a turnkey, Web-based document management and print e-procurement system also introduced at the show. Designed to handle overflow and distribute-and-print support for short-run publishing and variable-data printing, the CPS cluster-print feature allows large jobs to be split among numerous devices, and enables work to be routed to multiple high-speed print engines and redirected as necessary.

The company also announced at the show that it would market and distribute Electronics for Imaging (EFI) Velocity workflow management software. In addition, both companies are collaborating on the customization of Velocity software for use with Ikon's Digital Express 2000. Velocity controls color, monochrome, and variable-data jobs through multiple imaging engines.

ImageX.com, Inc., a provider of Web-enabled design and printing services, formed a strategic alliance with Ikon Office Solutions. The alliance will offer both companies' e-procurement customers ImageX.com's custom e-procurement solution and Corporate Online Printing Center in combination with Ikon's Digital Express 2000.

"This agreement is consistent with our corporate strategy to grow our market presence in the e-procurement space," says ImageX.com president and chief executive Rich Begert. "By collaborating with Ikon, we gain immediate access to a tremendous number of customers looking toward e-procurement."

NowDocs, Inc. launched IntraPrise Version 2.0, a digital on-demand print-and-distribution solution built to optimize how companies use corporate print centers. The solution can be run securely as an enterprise application behind a corporate firewall, or outsourced completely to NowDocs as an ASP for hosting and day-to-day management.

IntraPrise is being marketed to companies with multiple print centers, and for facilities management companies charged with cutting turnaround time for their clients' print centers. IntraPrise integrates NowDocs' distributive digital print technology and award-winning user interface directly into a company's own networks. IntraPrise's browser-based order tickets ensure that employees provide complete, consistent specifications for both print jobs and related deliveries. Users simply upload their documents from the desktop, either to their intranet or to the NowDocs-hosted ASP site.

Optimus Corporation unveiled the latest release of its OptiWeb software solution, added last year to the company's full suite of electronic report and statement solutions. Optimus officials says that OptiWeb now affords the ability to select intelligent summary data from key electronic statement and report databases, thereby enabling users to tabulate summaries from individual documents (document mining) and query report output information via the Web.

RealTimeImage Inc. showcased its RealTimeProof suite of on-line proofing solutions for remote soft and hard proofing. According to the company, the product allows gigabytes of original production data to be securely transferred, reviewed, and annotated in full resolution and color fidelity with a Web browser, even over a dial-up connection.

SmartWorks.com, which announced a channel partnership agreement with Danka Business Systems PLC, unveiled at the show its Design to Order extended e-business platform for full commercial print management capabilities.

Webprint, Inc., founded in February 2000 as an e-commerce platform for on-demand printers, emerged after a year of research and development to announce that it had entered into a partnership with Adobe Systems, Inc. to develop PDF-based e-commerce services for the office printing market. Webprint is an application service provider that hosts file transfer, job tracking, and other services for clients such as Office Depot, PIP Printing, and Sir Speedy.

Webprint chief executive Tom White said during a press conference that the companies' combined technologies would allow printers to "minimize the problems associated with customer-prepared files while improving their bottom-line profitability and operating efficiency."

Xeikon premiered a number of new products at the On Demand show, such as Ucoat, the first in-line ultraviolet (UV) coating unit for digital color printing. Say company officials, Ucoat streamlines digital printing by enabling users to print, UV coat, slit, and rewind or cut in a single pass at full speed. The system will become commercially available in the third quarter of 2001.

Xeikon's new DCP 320 Dx, available now, is an entry-level digital printing system featuring a print speed of 70 ppm and full-color variable-data printing capability.

Finally, Xeikon launched its upgraded Intellistream Version 3.0 digital front-end for the company's DCP 320 Dx, DCP 320 D, and DCP 500 D digital color presses. The offering takes full advantage of PPML, the new open industry-standard variable-data language, thereby resulting in the efficient processing of extremely complex variable-data print jobs, says Xeikon.

"This has been a very key year for Xeikon," relates Paul Peyrebrune, president and chief executive of Xeikon America. "Print volume continues to grow; many of our users are printing over one-half million pages per month. Variable-data printing is gaining acceptance. For example, the ACE Group in New York City produces 75% of its jobs with variable data compared to 20% in 1999. And 40% of our sales are to existing Xeikon users, which shows that they need additional capacity and are adding new locations."

Xerox Corporation took the occasion of the On Demand show to tout once again a restructuring of the company, saying that it was bullish about printing even in a bear market. "We've launched a three-pronged plan to create basically a new company," says Xerox Global Solutions Group president Thomas J. Dolan, stressing Xerox's stronger focus on high-end printing supported by color, solutions, and services. Dolan also says that Xerox is "recommitting" to the office market.

"Why are we so bullish?" he asks rhetorically. "Because we're focusing on areas where the name Xerox makes a difference," noting that one of those areas is in the development of end solutions for printing books and manuals on demand. "Revenues from our advanced digital book publishing solutions have taken our growth from $4 million in 1999 to over $73 million last year," Dolan states. "We absolutely expect to go over $100 million in the year 2001."

Next year's On Demand event is slated to take place April 23-25, 2002 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.