Nipson America

ONE OF the promotional pieces sent out by the sponsors of Graph Expo made the claim that this year’s event would be the largest digital printing show in the United States by a factor of two. That’s including solutions for page printing, wide-format printing, software and related equipment. Tuesday was designated “Customer & Marketing Communications Day,” which was supposed to put a special focus on transpromotional printing applications that combine direct marketing with statements/transactional mail. Several digital press vendors did highlight this developing market during their press briefings, and GMC Software had a good-sized booth, but this application was still easy to miss around

Cal Poly Dedicates New Sheetfed Press SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA—Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department received the donation of a new Heidelberg four-color Speedmaster CD 74 press to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its establishment. The perfecting press with anilox coater and Prinect system—which was a gift from Heidelberg USA—will introduce the newest sheetfed technology to Cal Poly students, said Harvey Levenson, head of the department. It will be used in sheetfed printing classes and as part of the department’s student-run company, University Graphic Systems (UGS). To better serve the graphic communications market, sales training consultancy 2WIN! Global has entered into a business

Open House Event Touts By-the-Book Production HAUPPAUGE, NY—Muller Martini and Nipson recently teamed up to host an open house at Muller Martini’s headquarters on Long Island. The theme for the day was short-run book production using the latest on-demand digital printing and finishing technology. “We see 2007 as a transitional year for digital print manufacturing, during which the industry will fully realize what on-demand technologies are capable of,” noted Robert Stabler, of Nipson America. “The short-run book market will grow very strongly.” According to Stabler, book publishers gain a number of benefits from being able to print lower quantities with digital technology. These include

High-level Buying and Capital Investment Results in Record Onsite Sales for Next Year MIAMI BEACH, FL—March 15, 2007—Graphics of the Americas-Xplor, the second largest U.S.-based annual international graphic communications exhibit and conference, today announced the positive results of their 32nd annual exhibition held in Miami Beach, Florida, March 2-4, 2007. The event organizers are eager to report that this year’s attendance exceeded the previous year by 4%, with close to 500 exhibitors filling the Miami Beach Convention Center, both representing an increase over 2006. More importantly, exhibitors reported larger than ever high-level buying activities and capital investments. In a survey conducted during the event with

Western States Nabs New Cutter BUTLER, WI—Western States Envelope & Label installed a new Polar 155 XT in its cutting department here, replacing an older model. Since installing the paper cutter a few months ago, the company has experienced less downtime and faster turnaround. These results are important to the success of this 24 hour-a-day plant, which produces more than seven million envelopes each day. Because of these results, Western States’ Ohio division decided to increase its capacity by purchasing a new Polar 155 XT, as well. The company, founded in 1908, has divisions in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Ohio and Minnesota, with more than 700 employees

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

Digital Printing Gear New to Boston Area LOWELL, MA—King Printing has added a Kodak NexPress 2100 digital production color press, Kodak NexTreme DL-1000 variable data client-server package and Kodak NexTreme DL-100 variable data software. Adi Chinai, joint managing director (pictured), says the installation has helped grow the education and trade book publishing segments of his business by giving customers quicker time to market. Printing Excellence Celebrated by GAA PHILADELPHIA—The Graphic Arts Association (GAA) recently held its 35th annual Neographics awards ceremony and banquet to celebrate quality printing, as well as Ben Franklin’s 300th birthday. Riegel Printing of Ewing, NJ, was the Prisco 2006 Power

MIAMI BEACH, FL—After watching attendance at its conference dwindle since the booming days of the ’90s, Xplor International teamed up with the successful Graphics of the Americas (GOA) exhibition and conference this year, putting on a joint event held here last month. The partnership seems to have been a wise move, as it freed Xplor from the task of organizing a trade show, allowing it to concentrate on its educational mission. More than 250 sessions were available, covering PDF, JDF, XML, digital prepress, design, variable data and more. GOA, in turn, got a host of new attendees, as well as a larger base of

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

Banta to Sell Healthcare Group MENASHA, WI—Banta Corp. has reached an agreement to sell the assets of single-use healthcare products subsidiary Banta Healthcare Group to an affiliate of Fidelity Capital Investors for $67 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter. Fidelity is a private equity investment division of Boston-based Fidelity Strategic Investments. In a separate deal related to the divestiture, Banta sold its warehouse in Rialto, CA, to a California real estate investment company for $7 million. Phoenix Color Closes Division CHICAGO—Phoenix Color has authorized the closure of its Book Technology Park division and the sale of its