GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO 2004 -- Star Attraction
By Erik Cagle
Senior Editor
Traditionally, DRUPA has always created an east-to-west breeze; hence, whatever new technology or technologies made a splash in Germany at the world's largest printing exposition generally carried over to its North American counterpart, Graph Expo and Converting Expo.
The problem is, there's really not a hot new technology that has everyone abuzz. But that will hardly dampen enthusiasm when the doors of McCormick Place swing open to about 40,000 attendees from Oct. 10 through 13.
It might not take a new technology to bolster the show. The one trend that stuck out at Drupa, according to Bill Lamparter, president of PrintCom Consulting Group in Charlotte, NC, was the revitalization of the sheetfed offset press. Lamparter notes that most manufacturers unveiled "significant developments" to the sheetfed press, with Heidelberg practically rolling out an entirely new platform.
While Job Definition Format (JDF) continues to be the media darling and will no doubt garner a great deal of attention in Chicago, Lamparter sees sheetfed press technologies making a bigger splash. Even those printers who are not currently in the market for a new sheetfed press need to at least increase their awareness of the developments that may find their way into competitors' shops.
"JDF was the vendors' buzz technology at Drupa and it will be the vendors' buzz technology at Graph Expo," he says. "We think the sheetfed developments are more important in terms of having an immediate and mid-term impact for the mid-sized sheetfed commercial printer.
"The average printer is not going to go out and implement JDF tomorrow afternoon. But he may need a new sheetfed press, which he hasn't bought in several years. And, if he doesn't do that, he'd better know what new press his neighbor is going to buy."
JDF is still a pretty fresh topic, and the trend towards diversification will be evident in the Mailing & Fulfillment Center, along with the Wide Format Pavilion, at the Chicago event. Of course, there will be no lack of traditional equipment and software for prepress, press and postpress applications as 600 firms will be showcasing their wares in more than 400,000 square feet of exhibition space.
In terms of square footage, this should be one of the largest Graph Expos in recent years. More exhibitor floor space for this year's show had been sold by June than the final 2003 figure. The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC), which orchestrates Graph Expo and Converting Expo, expects the expanded space it ordered to be completely sold out in October. Both the Mailing & Fulfillment Center and the Wide Format Pavilion have roughly doubled in size.
Finishing Isn't Finished
Dennis Mason, president of Mason Consulting in Western Springs, IL, predicts that while JDF-compliant equipment may be the focus of attention, the latest automation in the finishing leg of the print production workflow has the potential to grab headlines.
"People realize that there's a lot of labor left in the finishing area," he says. "The process of taking labor out of prepress and the pressroom seems to be reasonably complete, or at least it's hard to go that last mile. I think there's a lot of gold to be mined in the finishing area. Visitors will have the opportunity to see numerous developments they might not have thought about going in to the show."
Garnering a great deal of attention will be the programs offered by CIP4, the Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress, aimed at enhancing the future of production in the printing industry. Heading the initiative is the JDF Pavilion, which will feature 18 demonstration "pods" hosted by companies with JDF-enabled solutions.
JDF Pavilion visitors can follow a number of reoccurring tours of the pods, where they will see how JDF is exchanged between four to five systems of different vendors, and learn about the process efficiencies to be gained by JDF-enabled integration and workflows. Staffed information kiosks will allow attendees to learn more about JDF and JDF Expert Certificate training programs. Educational literature will also be available.
Attendees won't need to hunt around for participating JDF technology providers. JDF Roadmaps, with the location of each participating company and the JDF-enabled products they are showcasing, will also be available.
"JDF has attracted worldwide attention," notes Martin Bailey of Global Graphics and CIP4 CEO, "and North America is indisputably a significant market for printing technology. It is of paramount importance that we do our best to ensure that North American printers get a fair chance to kick the tires of JDF solutions, get answers to their questions and see for themselves what JDF is all about."
CIP4 is conducting four free morning and afternoon JDF Show Floor Tours leaving from the JDF Pavilion, each with a specific focus and stops. The tours are: JDF and Creative, Front-Office and Customer Exchange Systems; JDF in Prepress; JDF-enabled Workflow and MIS Systems; and JDF in the Pressroom and Postpress.
"Printers and industry solution providers have hunkered down during the last couple of years," states Regis J. Delmontagne, president of GASC. "Capital replacement and new investment schedules had been postponed, but this year we see the industry coming back and JDF is the topic of the day for many buyers."
With mailing and fulfillment topping most industry survey lists of profitable avenues to diversification, a special section has been created to group together exhibitors that specialize in these tools. Seminars related to these topics will be available on the show floor for those who wish to enhance their current level of mailing and fulfillment offerings, or have just begun to branch out into these disciplines. A Mailing & Fulfillment Center Theater (Booth 3670) adds to the educational component of the center.
Among the mailing and fulfillment educational seminars are "Fulfillment and Supply Chain Integration" (Oct. 11, 8:15 a.m. to 11 a.m.), "Selling Distribution Services" (Oct. 11, 10:15 a.m. to noon) and "Integrating Mail Services" (Oct. 11, 2 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.).
Those printers looking to take their operations to an even bigger level may wish to consider visiting the Wide Format Pavilion. More than 15 exhibitors will showcase tools for printing larger-than-life banners, posters, point-of-sale displays, outdoor signage and other products on an array of substrates, including canvas, paper and vinyl.
Back to School
Among the educational seminars for wide format printing are "Wide Format Color Control" (Oct. 10), "Wide Format Digital Graphics—Everything You Wanted to Know and More" (Oct. 11) and "Wide Format Profit Boosters" (Oct. 13).
As usual, Graph Expo and Converting Expo offers a wide variety of educational seminars—60 in all—as well as free general sessions and free special exhibitor presentations. Spearheading the first general session on Oct. 10 is Frank Romano and friends presenting their take on the "State of the Printing Industry" (4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.). The following day is a session on increasing productivity called "Workflow and the E-CSR" (4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.).
The lineup of exhibitor presentations includes "ePublishing as a Value Added Service," by Adobe (Oct. 10, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.), "JDF and PDF: Industry Standards for Automated Print Workflows," by Adobe (Oct. 11, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.), "Vision into Print: The Evolutionary Path for Publishing," by Adobe (Oct. 12, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.), and "Mailing and Fulfillment Solutions," by Buhrs (Oct. 12, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.).
This year's Executive Outlook, the daylong precursor conference slated for Oct. 9 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., will focus on "Keeping Pace with Tomorrow's Technology-Innovation-Diversification." Executive Outlook will examine hardware and software technologies that were introduced at Drupa. Two sessions will also focus on the popular topics of Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and JDF.
During Executive Outlook, the products, technologies and exhibits worthy of the "Must See 'ems" status will be announced, as well. "Must See 'ems" recipients will be identifiable by the owl logo and will be highlighted in a booklet to be distributed at the exhibition entranceway.
"This Graph Expo should be gangbusters," Lamparter exclaims. "I would expect that the printer attendees will be enthusiastic...but that also depends on the economy between now and when the show starts. Drupa attendees, of which there were very few Americans, seemed to be very enthusiastic."
The printing industry's premier national event will be sharing the spotlight this fall. With the Chicago Marathon running on Sunday, Oct. 10, and the baseball Cubbies on the verge of a postseason berth, the Windy City is certainly the place to be in early October. Visit www.graphexpo.com for more information and registration.
