Hewlett-Packard

Fall is prime time for professional sports, and many fans are too well acquainted with the sentiment, "Just wait until next year." For years, the same could be said for proponents of variable data printing (VDP). Early adopters of VDP often ended up with a great service in search of a market. Over time, the Web-to-print business model came to the forefront. It evolved around providing online, template-driven solutions for companies that market through remote agents, dealers and distributors. As the market continues to mature, a growing number of digital printing operations are developing other formulas for success. Daniels Marketing Support Services, Asheville, NC

If your sales force is focused on selling to print buyers, they are aiming too low on the corporate totem pole. That is the basic message Anthony Parinello, of VITO Selling, will stress as keynote speaker at the PIA/GATF Personalization Conference November 7 in Phoenix. Parinello started his selling career with Hewlett-Packard as a computer systems salesperson. During his time with HP, Parinello was the recipient of many sales awards. He was successful then by creating what he teaches today. In 1995, Parinello coined the phrase VITO, for Very Important Top Officer, and wrote his first of six best-selling books, "Selling to VITO."

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor One of the most striking trends to take shape at PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 is the degree to which one can now play a "zero degrees of separation" game between vendors of digital printers and prepress workflow systems. Some level of cross-linking seemed to be announced for almost every possible pairing. (More details are included in the "Prepress Workflow and CTP" show recap on page 28.) In terms of the print engines themselves, developments appear to have at least temporarily hit a plateau. The pieces required to build a viable business are already in place, so the focus

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor Deep down, E.R. Spada must wonder if he has angered the bowling gods. How else can you explain some of the unfortunate circumstances that have befell his Digital Page since converting an old bowling alley into a printing shop in 2002? A little background first. Digital Page was formed by the entrepreneurial Spada in 1996 as a prepress house located in Albany, NY. Only two years earlier, he had debuted a company called Media Wizard, a graphic design/print brokerage. Spada decided to pursue commercial printing work to complement his prepress/design expertise, so he added a Heidelberg Quickmaster DI 46

PALO ALTO, CA—Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Scitex Vision from Scitex Corp. for $230 million. The move pushes HP into the super-wide, large-format printing arena. Scitex Vision specializes in wide- and super-wide format printers for signage and industrial applications, such as billboards, banners and street advertising. Based in Netanya, Israel, the company recorded revenue of $142 million for the year ending June 30, 2005. The acquisition is said to complement HP's existing product portfolio of large-format printers and digital presses. HP also reaps Scitex Vision's proprietary technology for print heads. The two companies are also well matched

Heidelberg Outlines PRINT 05 Plans KENNESAW, GA—Heidelberg announced plans for its 76,000-square-foot booth at next month's PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 exhibition in Chicago during a pre-show press conference held here recently. One of the main attractions will be the XL 105 Theater—a large-screen theater for live presentations that will house Heidelberg's new Speedmaster XL 105. The first product introduced in the company's new series of high-end offset presses known as the "Maximum Performance Class," it boasts speeds to 18,000 sph. There will be a total of 10 sheetfed presses, in various sizes and configurations, within the Heidelberg exhibit. Outside the XL 105

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor Digital printing, by all accounts, isn't what it was even two years ago. Likewise, any similarity between today's digital printing presses/output devices and short-term future technologies will be purely coincidental. Scratch that last statement, for there's one notable exception: the quality of digital printing already has improved and is certainly on the fast track to mainstream acceptance for any type of job, not just those pigeonholed as "digital friendly" applications. More commercial applications are continuously being realized. The masses have certainly gotten that point and are mobilizing the back end of the operation with equipment geared toward the finish

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Even as variable data printing (VDP) capabilities perennially failed to become the next big thing in the industry as a whole, the original business model for success has endured. This archetype is an all-digital operation that identifies itself as a marketing communications firm and not as a printer. It sells solutions and offers marketing expertise to help clients identify opportunities and craft effective applications. The firm also boasts strong IT resources and is likely to offer design, mailing and fulfillment services. It may or may not track responses for clients. A bit more variation has been seen within

Innovate '05 Takes Digital Printing on the Road ROCHESTER, NY—Innovate '05 has begun its 14-city sweep across North America, offering attendees a day-long, free seminar on digital printing. Xerox Corp. is working with more than 25 industry partners to put on the tour. The program is designed to "help print providers and professionals in the marketing, creative and design services fields use digital printing technology to increase productivity, reduce costs, improve work processes and provide more services." Each tour stop will feature a keynote address delivered by Howie Fenton, senior consultant of digital technology, National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL); Bob Tapella, chief of

The term printer almost carries a negative connotation these days. Label a company a “commercial printer,” and the prevailing feeling is that the business has been painted into a corner, a dead end of sorts. Certainly, this is not the case, but a new generation of companies that derive profit from putting ink on paper for customers has all but disavowed the term “printer.” Look at 75 percent of the companies that have changed their name in recent years. The word “printer” has been stricken from the name and corporate logo. Still, the movement is less about signaling a dying art and more a