DIGITAL digest
Putting an iGen3 in Team Spells Digital Success
CAROL STREAM, IL—Some 350 people attended the open house recently held by Team Concept to showcase the capabilities of its new Xerox iGen3 digital color press. The shop reports running the machine 24 hours a day within just four months of installing it. Pictured in front of the digital press are (from the left) Tony Rouse, Team Concept president and CEO; Paco Salcedo, its iGen3 certified specialist; Julie Higgins, customer business development manager for Xerox; Laurie Kaminski, Team Concept’s iGen3 manager; and Mike Murphy of Xerox.
Punch Graphix Rolls Out Xeikon 6000
ITASCA, IL—After an evening of cruising Lake Michigan aboard the Mystic Blue, printing industry journalists from around the world were treated to a preview of the latest digital printing solution that Punch Graphix hopes will float more than a few boats.
The September dinner cruise proved to be just the appetizer from Punch Graphix, which unveiled its new Xeikon 6000 digital color press that was shown at Graph Expo last month. The press is complementary to the Xeikon line; Punch Graphix plans to continue manufacturing the Xeikon 5000.
The 6000 press, which boasts productivity of 160 A4 pages per minute, includes the new X-800 digital front end and form adapted (FA) toner. The production speed translates into 9,600 full-color pages per hour and nearly 4 million pages per month.
The webfed Xeikon 6000 handles paper stock from 40 to 350 gsm and can run a wide array of substrates, including paperboard.
Pete Tindall, director of manufacturing for Baltimore-based Vertis Communications and an engineering veteran of 20 years, tested the Xeikon 6000 at his company’s Monroe Township, NJ, facility. Vertis services markets including automotive, pharmaceutical, gaming and retail.
Tindall noted a 25 percent increase in speed with the Xeikon 6000 and said that the FA toner provides a smoother finish, along with improved color repeatability.
“The Beta testing has been very exciting and I’m encouraged by what I see,” Tindall added.
HP, Standard Register Set Sights on the Enterprise
PALO ALTO, CA—Since acquiring the assets of Indigo, Hewlett-Packard has had to walk a line between serving the needs of the enterprise (re: corporate) market while not selling against the interests of its HP Indigo install base and prospects.
Last month, the company held a briefing in San Francisco to reveals its plan to “energize” enterprise imaging and printing growth with a revitalized sales approach and expanded product portfolio. Highlights included introduction of the new HP Edgeline printing technology, an extended marketing agreement with Standard Register and plans to add “hundreds of highly skilled sales consultants.”
HP’s new “ink-based” printing technology is said to combine attributes of laser and ink-jet printing—fast print speeds, laser- quality text and bright, saturated colors—and support high-volume workloads. It uses page-wide printheads, run with specially formulated HP Vivera inks, for higher performance and reliability.
The first devices incorporating HP Edgeline imaging, with speeds of up to 71 ppm, are slated for introduction in spring 2007, the company says. It sees the technology as having advantages in retail printing solutions (consumer photo kiosks), industrial applications and high-volume office printing.
Standard Register, Dayton, OH, and HP have teamed up to provide enterprise print users a single point of contact in meeting their document output needs. The former’s recently expanded SMARTworks document services platform will now be included in HP’s Managed Print Services offering. Standard Register will also provide professional services, print sourcing and supply chain services, such as kitting, fulfillment, distribution and design.
SMARTworks provides users with a suite of document services, software and on-site resources to help them optimize the creation, printing and distribution of documents, thereby controlling costs.
Central to Standard Register’s services are PrintConcierge printing experts who are stationed at a customer’s site to serve as a single point of accountability for print sourcing, process improvement, job optimization, routing and general assistance.
Dennis Rediker, president and CEO of Standard Register, says the agreement expands the existing working relationship between the two companies. For its part, Standard Register is seeking to function in an advisory capacity in executing an “enterprise strategy for document services,” Rediker notes. It is not looking to sell equipment to or manage in-house printing operations, nor take on commercial printing work itself, although it will source work to a trusted stable of print providers, he adds.
Standard Register’s services will be sold on a contract basis by HP’s sales force, Rediker says. He characterizes the arrangement as an opportunity to “help more companies meet their goals of reducing costs, improving processes and productivity, increasing compliance and avoiding risk.”
digital bytes
ITASCA, IL—Continental Web Press has received approval from Time Inc. to utilize Dalim Software’s Dialogue monitor-based proofing as a basis for all of its press proofs. Time reportedly is ahead of schedule with its initiative to move completely to monitor-based proofing by 2007.
ROCHESTER, NY—Kodak is donating a complete thermal CTP solution to Arizona State University’s (ASU) Graphic Information Technology program. The CTP package includes a Kodak Magnus 400 platesetter, Prinergy workflow system, Thermal Direct non-process printing plates, InSite software and Staccato screening.
LOWELL, MA—To add an international dimension to DS Graphics’ variable data printing (VDP) services, Responsive Solutions, St. Petersburg, FL, customized the VDP module of its new CUSTOMER+ Suite application to support printing custom versions of CAD training manuals. The printer’s value-added reseller clients now can order pieces in multiple languages and currencies in a single shopping experience.
RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ—Gaining more southern exposure, Agfa Graphics announced installations of CTP systems at two newspaper publishers in North Carolina. The Fayetteville Observer Co., publisher of the daily Fayetteville Observer, is adding two Advantage CLS platesetters and IntelliTune image enhancement software from Agfa. The Salisbury Post is supplementing its existing Agfa Advantage DL platesetter with an Advantage X violet unit to expose N91v plates.
ROCHESTER, NY—Kodak Prinergy 3.1 workflow systems now comply with the Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) 2005 PDF/X-Plus V3 specifications for preflight. GWG is an international assembly of graphic arts professionals established to create, test and disseminate best practices and specifications for publishing workflows.
WEST DEPTFORD, NJ—The Total Mailing System, a full-service direct mail production company, is using a Xerox iGen3 110 digital production press to expand its personalized color printing capabilities. The company promoted these capabilities in an open house mailer, featuring a sound chip, that generated a response rate of 25 percent and is expected to deliver at least $500,000 in new billings by the end of the year.
ROCHESTER, NY—In response to the growing need for “day A” news- papers (newspapers delivered on their publication date anywhere in the world), Kodak is offering a solution that combines the Kodak Versamark VX5000 digital ink-jet printing system with in-line finishing from Hunkeler AG. The system prints at speeds up 500 fpm.
FOSTER CITY, CA—Margaret Motamed has been elected CEO of CIP4, the industry organization responsible for JDF. Motamed currently serves as EFI’s director of software platforms. She has held the position of CIP4 marketing director for the past four years.
