MISSION VIEJO, CA—July 22, 2008—Franchise Services, Inc. is pleased to announce that more than 200 franchise owners and salespeople from around the world received awards at the annual Sir Speedy and PIP International Convention and Vendor Show at the Westin Diplomat in Fort Lauderdale, FL, July 9-12. Don and Bernadette Sanders of Amarillo, TX, received the Sir Speedy “Franchisee of the Year” award and Frank and Clarice Petrellis of Kissimmee, FL, received the PIP “Franchisee of the Year” award. Jim Corliss, Jerry Hogan and Jose Tafur of Braintree, MA, received the Sir Speedy “Top Volume” award and the Fulner Family of Indianapolis and
Eastman Kodak
GHENT BELGIUM—July 21, 2008—Access to the comprehensive, best practice workflow specifications and resources are now easier than ever for printers, prepress professionals and designers as The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) unveils its newly streamlined, fast website, www.gwg.org. In addition the GWG, the international cross-section of PDF and print experts known for creating, testing, and releasing specifications and best practices that have been proven to make it easier for users to ensure PDF document quality across workflows around the world; announces newly elected officers to its executive committee. The www.gwg.org Website The latest version of the website has been completely revamped to address the expanding population
PITTSBURGH—The PIA/GATF has released the names of the winning technologies for its 2008 InterTech Technology Awards. The winners, along with their technologies, are: Alwan Dynamic DeviceLinks from Alwan Color Expertise; EskoArtwork Neo from EskoArtwork; POLAR P.A.C.E. cutting systems from Heidelberg USA; Prinect Inpress Control from Heidelberg USA; HIFLEX MIS with eBusiness, Webshop and Print Support…
PITTSBURGH—July 17, 2008—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2008 InterTech Technology Awards. For over thirty years, recipients of this prestigious award have not only had a major impact on the graphic communications industry, but they also consistently prove to be successful in the commercial marketplace. The independent panel of judges deliberated over technology submissions ranging from consumables to MIS systems to large-format presses. A recurring theme with 2008 InterTech nominations was process efficiency; submissions contained solutions to automate production steps, provide in-line process control, and manage production. Great strides in technology were also
BIRMINGHAM, UK—July 2, 2008—Following the official launch of Ipex 2010 at the highly successful Stars in Print reception at Drupa 2008, which was attended by over 90 of the industry’s senior management, the Ipex 2010 organizers are thrilled to announce that they have sold out its pre-media and digital solutions halls 9, 10, 11 and 12. Major exhibitors in these halls include HP, Kodak, Ricoh, Agfa Graphics, Epson, Canon, Screen, Xeikon, Konica Minolta, Canon, Fuji and many others, some of which have significantly increased the size of their stands. In particular, Konica Minolta has increased its footprint by 400%; Canon by 91%, Fuji by
DRUPA’S STANDING as an international printing exhibition makes it the place to see the course of technological development in the industry laid out for the next four years. As even the following press and postpress wrap-up stories note, digital printing technology had its strongest showing yet. Even the developments in digital workflow were muted by comparison. Many of the product introductions were already covered in one of the Drupa Countdown stories published in editions of Printing Impressions leading up to the show. Therefore, this wrap-up will primarily focus on what was new in Düsseldorf. The event lived up to its billing as The Ink-Jet
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—June 11, 2008—Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eastman Kodak Co., launched drupa with the emphatic statement “We’ll change print forever.” As the show closed after 14 action packed days, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group (GCG) concluded a hugely successful event, taking hundreds of orders, delivering thousands of demonstrations, logging in excess of 10,000 qualified leads, and exceeding the company’s aggressive goals at its 2008 drupa debut. “If this is remembered as the inkjet drupa, then Kodak will be at the heart of it with our unique and innovative Stream Inkjet Technology, which delivers offset class output and which we demonstrated to
SUSSEX, WI—Quad/Graphics is investing $25 million to bolster its direct mail services division, QuadDirect. The outlay includes new digital and offset presses, high-speed envelope inserters and commingling machinery, as well as significant upgrades to its Pewaukee, WI, plant. The facility will be transformed into a state-of-the-art direct mail production facility, including a digital pressroom.At the…
Across the world, the giant chemical corporations have been rapidly strengthening their position as producers of the new materials at the heart of printed electronics, an industry set to be over $300 billion. BASF has licensed in know-how and invested in a new producer of organic photovoltaic devices while Sumitomo Chemical, Akzo Nobel and Henkel have made acquisitions of appropriate organic and inorganic material suppliers. Merck Chemical has funded major new university research in inorganic materials for printed electronics in Germany. Kodak, Honeywell and DuPont have announced new electronic display materials with Bayer also gearing up as a supplier. In Japan the filing of
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—June 4th, 2008—The International Cooperation for the Integration of the Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) Organization today announced the winners of the 2008 Jürgen Schönhut Memorial CIP4 International Print Production Innovation (CIPPI) Awards. The CIPPI awards are given annually to the applicant printer, publisher or prepress service with the most compelling case study in three topical categories and four regions. The winners are: • Metzgerdruck GmbH, Obrigheim, Germany — First Place, Best cost/benefit realization and improvement in efficiency as a result of process automation implementation • Cox Target Media, Inc., Largo, Florida, USA — Second Place, Best cost/benefit realization and