Xerox Corp.

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

THE OBJECTIVE of marketing your business is two-fold: to build market awareness about your products and services and to generate qualified leads. Both are important elements of the customer acquisition process. Building market awareness makes the sales process easier. Prospective customers are more likely to talk with a firm that has a recognized name. And lead generation, if done correctly, provides you with information about qualified prospects that are likely to purchase your products or services, reducing the amount of time your sales force must spend on expensive, and often unproductive, cold calling. In previous columns, I have shared ideas about how to build market

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

Presses Head for Hawkeye State HIAWATHA, IA—Two 41˝ KBA Rapida 105 sheetfed presses with coaters have been installed at Cedar Graphics. The first press is a six-color Rapida 105 sheetfed press; the second is a 10-color, five-over-five Rapida 105 long perfector with a roll-to-sheet feeder. CALIFORNIA GLENDALE—Color Depot has installed a Kluge EHF series press. The print trade shop included the preload continuous magazine option that allows the machine to be reloaded while in motion (for continuous feeding). The EHF press will be used primarily for foil stamping and embossing small boxes and CD sleeves. SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO—A new six-color Komori Lithrone 28

MICHAEL PANAGGIO may not be a household name in traditional printing circles but—as founder and CEO of DME based in Daytona Beach, FL—his company is a trendsetter in creating cross-platform marketing programs that marry variable data digital printing with Internet-based communications. Operating four Xerox iGen3 digital color production presses, more than a dozen monochrome laser printing systems and four offset presses, Panaggio doesn’t think of himself as being a printer when describing the $100 million business that’s predicated around targeted, one-to-one direct marketing. Customized direct mail printing is just one arrow in DME’s quiver to provide its well-pampered clients with personalized marketing strategies.

Editor's note: While not a blog, exactly, Dennis E. Mason, of Mason Consulting Inc., kindly agreed to share some of his first-hand impressions of IPEX 2006 direct from the fairgrounds. IPEX 2006 Day 2: Wednesday at IPEX proved to be a much better day than its opener on Tuesday. Crowds were good, and exhibitors were generally quite pleased with their booth traffic. IPEX veterans say that the second and third days are usually the best attended, so everyone seemed to think that things went according to plan. The day began with a Xerox briefing, featuring CEO Anne Mulcahy talking about where the company is going.

Bindery Gear Heads to East Coast Shop LEBANON, PA—Colortech Inc., a full-service commercial printer, recently installed a Vijuk 321-T saddlestitcher. Things Get Bigger in Texas After Install MESQUITE, TX— IntegraColor Inc. has purchased a five-color, 81˝ KBA Rapida 205 sheetfed press, making IntegraColor the first printer in the Southwest with 81˝ litho capabilities. The press has been configured with a special board-handling package and is also to be equipped with UV facilities for printing on plastics. It also incorporates an ICS slitter system and non-stop pile changing for the feeder and delivery. KBA has added its own Densitronic quality control

HP Digital Goal Scales Summit SALT LAKE CITY—In order to grab a leading role in the digital graphic arts market, Hewlett-Packard leveraged the Sundance Film Festival in nearby Park City, UT, to spread its message during the Graphic Arts Summit held here January 24-27. Some 75 journalists, consultants and industry observers attended to learn about HP’s latest wide-format printers, as well as advances with the Indigo 5000. The overall message was the company’s desire to establish itself as the leader in the digital printing market. HP augmented the informational sessions with side trips into Park City and the Film Festival, where examples of HP