C. Clint Bolte & Associates

The DRUPA 2004 - Part I highlighted the strongest global economic outlook this observer has detected from attending four previous DRUPAs, a myriad of innovations introduced by the leading sheetfed press manufacturers, the concerted emphasis upon JDF/CIP4 and proven connectivity by more than 220 suppliers, and an unusual robot that perhaps GATF can add to their repertory of leading printing technologies.

This article will review new digital printing including exciting postpress systems, radio frequency identification (RFID) print solutions, web printing, and large scale postpress introductions.

Digital Printing

So called independents, that appear to me to be paid advocates, continue to forecast growth curves for digital print that to date have consistently proven to be exaggerated. My articles have not quoted them or their projections for years. This preliminary statement is not meant to dampen but rather add sobriety to a technology that in my opinion will never be more than a niche printing application relative to conventional printing. The ultimate size of this niche will strongly depend upon free enterprise among manufacturers to drive the cost of these "razors" down and the continued quality advancements in inkjet technologies to drive down the cost of the expendable "razorblades." Both of these favorable factors continue with DRUPA being the key venue for new product announcements by many reputed vendors.

More manufacturers now offer models with speeds of 100 A4 (8.5" by 11") a minute, which is 6,000 an hour. General commercial printers with proven demand on hand at that level usually prefer to get a matched pair of 40-60 cpm machines as this provides the necessary mechanical back up with the same labor cost as the single faster unit. The nagging differing substrate capabilities and print quality results between the mid-range and high speed units of the same manufacturer may cause some client or product shift limitations.

The new Delphax CR2000 rollfed digital press tops the industry's speed charts at 450 feet or nearly 2,000 images per minute on an 18.24" imageable web width at full single color 600 X 600 dpi resolution. This electron beam imaging engine is 50% greater than its predecessor and is capable of producing 300 page books (6 by 9) at the rate of one every five seconds. Muller Martini showed this unit inline with both a stitcher and perfect binder. This co-branded system will be called the SigmaPress™.

The unique SigmaPress™ layout has the Delphax feeding inline at a "T" either the stitching or perfect binding line which takes up about 2,500 square feet with adequate material handling space for separate covers and take away of finished product. There also appears to be adequate clearance access to the large (1.5" thick) three knife trimmer should that capacity be needed for conventionally gathered and glued perfect bound jobs. On the other hand considering the expected SigmaPress™ investment to be $3.5-4.0 million including $900 thousand for the CR2000, the printer must obviously have enough contracted volume to run this system several shifts a day without being concerned about utilizing a little available trimmer time.

Anne Mulcahy, Xerox's CEO and President, announced at their press conference the roll out of seven new digital systems at DRUPA. "Fifty percent of Xerox's sales have come from products introduced less than two years ago," she asserted.

The monochrome DocuTech's replacement is the Nuvera line with the first two models being the 100 and 120 listed for $177,000 and $217,000. The print resolution is 4800 X 600 dpi, which Xerox reports to equate to 156 lines per inch screen ruling range. Xerox's high speed scanner, the FreeFlow 665 and priced at $25,000, is compatible with the Nuvera line but would reduce its possible quality as its upper scan resolution is 1200 by 1200 dpi. The Nuvera cost per click will vary with the monthly volume contracted. With the Nuvera having 50% fewer parts than the DocuTech 6135 and 40% fewer moving parts than existing digital production printers, the maintenance click costs are presumed to be less than half that of the DocuTech. It is not known what the expected maintenance charges will be.

A UV coating option will be available for the iGen3 after the first of the year and will cost $35,000 as well as an oversized paper option up to 14.33" by 22.5" (364 mm X 571 mm) for $60,000. ProfitQuick™ software, which contains modules for a business planner and workflow cost estimation and comparison, is provided free with the purchased of an iGen3. No decision about price level has been determined for this software tool if the printer prospect only has lesser Xerox digital production equipment in mind. ProfitQuick™ is part of Xerox's ProfitAccelerator™ Digital Business Resource collection. Additional information can be obtained from xerox.com/profitquick or xerox.com/driveprofit.

The initial review of the ProfitQuick™ pie charts and breakeven graphs would suggest that the initial job of this software is to help the prospect feel more comfortable about buying the equipment. This appears to serve a similar purpose as the Life Cycle Management concept and reports that are provided free by MAN Roland and all other press manufacturers under differing names for prospects considering any press in their product line. This exceptional service was described in my DRUPA 2004-Part I report.

The book, Pantone™ Digital Chips, has been developed by Xerox and Pantone to be used by designers printing on a DocuColor 6060 with a DocuSP front end. It is expected to be available on the iGen3 before long.

The Xerox DocuPrint 1050 roll fed printer is aimed at publishing and transaction applications with speeds up 244 feet per minute at 600 dpi resolution. Though this expected speed is half that of the Delphax CR2000, the list price is the same at $900,000. Click charges are reported to be $.0032/foot of the 19.5" wide web, $.0017 expected for consumable, and then the paper costs.