Hewlett-Packard

PALO ALTO, CA—August 23, 2006—HP today announced that Openfirst, a Quad/Graphics company that specializes in targeted one-to-one marketing communications and information management, has installed three HP Indigo press 5000s to create new targeted business communications for a national client base. The HP Indigo press 5000s support the Milwaukee-based company’s ongoing mission to boost customer value and retention through strategic print and electronic programs. The firm, which sent out more than 500 million pieces of mail in 2005, specializes in leveraging integrated databases and transactional marketing opportunities. The liquid ink offset quality and up to 7- color capability of the HP Indigo press

Quark Out to Make Seven a Lucky Number NEW YORK CITY—Competition is said to be a good thing. To the extent that’s true, these are great days for users of page layout software. Quark Inc. clearly has been tested by Adobe Systems’ challenge to its once near monopolistic position in the graphic arts market. It is responding technologically with the release of QuarkXPress 7 and offering inducements for users to upgrade, thereby keeping them in the fold. Most of the enhancements are targeted to the design community, naturally, but the company insists it kept an eye toward print service providers (PSPs) during development

Browsing hasn’t become a Web-only activity quite yet. Shoppers looking to make a major purchase still tend to visit multiple stores and/or revisit the same store before making a buying decision. Furniture shoppers are particularly apt to dither in light of the wide range of choices—styles, colors, fabrics, etc.—and often conflicting tastes. It’s easy for buyers to get confused about what they saw where and forget the finer points of an individual piece. [ Program Objectives ] The management of American Signature Furniture wanted a way to keep visits to its stores top of mind for browsers and to encourage them to come back. The company

IT’S STRIKING for so many industry trends to be encapsulated in a single company, especially a mid-size printer with just over 50 employees. Denver-based Lange Graphics continues to make major investments in sheetfed offset capabilities while expanding its digital printing business. Both production platforms have the capability to support the firm’s diversification into printing on plastic, static cling and removable vinyl materials. The shop also is in the process of rolling out a Web-to-print solution. Lange Graphics originally established a separate business—Digi Colorado—as a vehicle for its move into digital printing, but is now offering offset and digital printing services in an integrated approach. Its

Expo Shows Demand for Digital Presses PHILADELPHIA—By all measures, save one, the recent 2006 On Demand Exposition (co-located with AIIM) has been widely judged a success. The exception being that the sponsors apparently found the Pennsylvania Convention Center wanting and have decided a move to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is called for in 2007. More than 20,000 registrants and 450 exhibitors were reported to have participated in the 2006 expo. There was a noticeable up-tick in the new product introductions (or U.S. debuts, at least) from the digital printer/press vendors at the show, resulting in further segmentation of the market. A surprising

OVER THE last several months, I have had occasion to speak with a number of print shops that have acquired direct imaging (DI) presses. Out of these conversations have come some common themes that present an interesting picture about where this technology fits in today’s increasingly complex and competitive printing environment. Interest in DI was relatively flat prior to DRUPA 2004, when several new DI technologies were announced. It is these new product developments and continued growth in high quality, short-run color that have created increased momentum behind the DI press. The owners I spoke with had some terrific business growth stories to

A FAMILY owned printing company is not unusual. But one that was started by three 20-something brothers, which has endured 30 years of growth and that’s debt-free, is surely note-worthy. Today, Shapco Printing is one of the largest sheetfed commercial printers in Minnesota. Located in downtown Minneapolis, this full-service company offers computer-to-plate, offset and digital printing, binding, kitting, and mailing and fulfillment services. Shapco has up to eight-color, 40˝ printing capabilities on paper (up to 40-pt. board) and plastic substrates. Joel Shapiro, 51, along with his co-owner brothers Robert, 50, and Alan, 56, have built a competitive edge based on their high-end printing capabilities combined with

Stora Enso has announced the opening of its new Southern California regional distribution center in Montebello, just south of Los Angeles. Len Cammalleri is MAN Roland’s new district sales manager in New York and New Jersey. He has held senior sales and management posts with Hell Graphic Systems, Linotype, Polaroid and Hewlett-Packard. Meanwhile, Gerald Whitlow takes over as district sales manager in Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Diamond Holding Corp. has appointed Matt Greene to the position of technical sales representative. Greene will join the telemarketing department and will be responsible for nationwide sales of the Diamond Express product line. KBA North America has named

NOT MANY Americans made the trip to the largest English-speaking trade show in the world in 2006. In Europe, virtually everyone carries a passport for identification, but here in the U.S. a driver’s license is the norm. Because our country is so large and self-sufficient, Americans are generally loathe to travel internationally. So Americans are not expected at IPEX, the once-every-four-years trade show held in Birmingham, UK. But, in many respects, it is our loss. Those who made the trip for the eight-day show saw the latest in printing technology across a wide spectrum of processes and business applications. Although the number of

WEIGHING THE differences between click charge plans in service contracts offered by providers of digital printing equipment is an apples-to-apples comparison. There’s just one problem. For apples, there are Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Cameo, Pink Lady, Golden Delicious and Jonagold, among countless other varieties. And where do they hail from? Vermont? Washington state? New England? So, in that regard, yes, click charge plans offered by manufacturers A, B and C constitute an apples-to-apples comparison when you factor in the high amount of variables influencing what may be the appropriate plan for a given digital printing operation. Which is to say that a direct comparison