Article prepared by C. Clint Bolte, C. Clint Bolte & Associates, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. For additional information please call 717-263-5768, fax 717-263-8945, or e-mail to clint@clintbolte.com.

Graph Expo & Converting Expo 2004

Small Scale DRUPA For Sure

The Chicago Marathon and its 40,000 runners coincided with the first day of Graph Expo and set the mood for the most exciting print trade show in North America in many a year - frenetic, fast-paced, fun. Coming off the exhilarating DRUPA 2004, the suppliers and manufacturers showed their latest equipment that is ready to be placed into service. Printers who allowed only a couple of days to take it all in could not help but be frustrated at the myriad of educational venues as well as the workflow and productivity enhancing offerings to review. It simply took longer than expected to do justice to all there was to see, learn, and experience.

While there were no block buster technology announcements, several mainline manufacturers presented note worthy enhancements to their existing product lines and nearly without exception showed their JDF-enabled equipment running live in an integrated fashion both in their own booths and those of complimentary process vendors throughout McCormick Place. Computer-integrated manufacturing via JDF, pre through post press, was the echoing theme of Graph Expo '04. While press enhancements were plentiful, no small amount of intensity of excitement was provided by the post press vendors, as the printing industry seems eager and ready to recapitalize their aging finishing operations.

For the second year in a row the Graphic Arts Show Company organized isolated areas for key topics of increasing interest to printers. These included the Wide Format Pavilion, Mailing and Fulfillment Pavilion, Bindery Industries of America (BIA) and JDF Pavilion. These first two were considerably larger than last year's initial effort. Popular venues were the theater section in the heart of each of these pavilions. The Mailing & Fulfillment Theater held 14 free hour-long sessions over the four-day trade show presented by leading consultants and suppliers. The Wide Format Theater had 13 free sessions. This did not include the daily brunch seminars or the 62 half day seminars put on by the industry's leading educators and topical consultants. The full day symposium on technology and workflow trends, Executive Outlook 2004, which is traditionally held the day before Graph Expo and Converting Expo opens, will be covered in a subsequent article.

There were 33 vendors in the Mailing and Fulfillment Pavilion while 110 vendors throughout the trade show offered some solution to these value-added services. Likewise the nearby BIA area had specialty vendors of interest to many fulfillment firms. The only noticeable vendors not present in the Graph Expo Mailing and Fulfillment Pavilion and who were present two weeks ago among the 98 suppliers at the National Postal Forum were the distribution consolidators. The use of these subcontractors by printers and mailing services firms to save a little money by drop shipping deeper into the postal network is an increasing trend.

Next year at Print '05 the Graphic Arts Show Company hopes to have a networked display of selected mailing systems to display typical workflows. Full computer-integrated manufacturing via the CIP4 and JDF initiatives will be important for the printing industry, but these manufacturers' equipment are not now JDF-enabled.

An actual U.S. Army Deployable Print Production Center (DPPC) along with its National Guard contingent, several of whom were in Iraq printing psychological leaflets from identical equipment units, were guests of the Graphic Arts Show Company and occupied a popular booth under an American flag banner. Comprised of a color scanner, PC, Corel Draw software, RISO digital duplicator, and cutter, this mobile factory is mounted on a Humvee towing an equipment trailer. The print production equipment has been slightly modified to Army specifications to include shock mounting.

Its cadre of two to five print warriors prepare thousands of four color leaflets that are banded together and inserted into a plastic "bomb" disseminator. This "bomb" is dropped from Air Force or Navy jets from an altitude of about 30,000 foot. At 10,000 feet the bomb is programmed to come apart automatically scattering the leaflets over a multi-mile radius for an expected saturation of a leaflet per square meter. Nearly two dozen different samples of the actual leaflets deployed in the pre-Iraq war were handed out to show attendees.

The Research & Engineering Council of NAPL Technology Breakfast drew 250 attendees to hear eleven quick fire presentations of the show highlights from the various production processes plus the "Must See 'ems." Additionally, Malcom Keif, Professor of the Graphic Communications Department of California Polytechnic State University, received the 2004 Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation Educator of the Year Award. Here are a few of the more salient comments from the presenters;

Mark Evans, JohnsByrne's Vice President of Technology Business Development, in reflecting on the prepublishing offerings said there is a distinct "emphasis on how products impact the business. Many vendors are offering financial models and professional consulting services." This same business planning consultant concept is almost universally available to prospects and clients from virtually all main line suppliers in all processes.

Steve Musselman, AGFA's worldwide Graphics Systems Business Development Manager, gave a treatise on the evolution of printing plates and computer-to-plate. With inexpensive 2-up and 4-up CTP machines now mainline from several suppliers, the evolution continues with JetPlate offering an inkjet CTP unit. An inkjet marking fluid is applied to conventional plate, which is then conventionally processed.

Barb Pellow, Chief Marketing Officer for Kodak's Graphic Communications Group, summarized the digital press area by saying that the manufacturers were providing (1) increased reliability and quality, (2) more cost effective single color (black) equipment, (3) improved workflow solutions, and (4) emphasis on standards compliance.

Dick Holliday, Principal of 3P consultancy, discussed the new web presses on the floor but commented on the continued activity by the auxiliary manufacturers to enhance legacy equipment. For example, QuadTech and WPC are offering closed loop ink control. Original equipment and specialty vendors readily discuss their rebuilding services (of legacy presses).

Andy Fetherman, Muller Martini's Digital Finishing Manager, described the bindery integration and full systems automation from entry level up through high-speed lines offered by several vendors. On-demand book integration was shown in several booths, each with lots of partners.

The United State Postal Service (USPS) kept their customer service representatives busy in their booth showing printers how to navigate their usps.gov website to obtain free books and information. While started in 1998, their Confirm Service will be a vital resource for printers who want to trace and track their direct mail projects and particularly variable imaged products to completed delivery. This allows their client to implement a closely coordinated complimentary marketing thrust from either telemarketing or e-mail broadcasting.

Variable data and imaging presses were in many booths with noticeable improvement in the quality of the inkjet offerings. Buskro (buskro.com) introduced their Sapphire inkjet printer with four heads covering a 10" image area at up to 660 dpi. While shown at DRUPA, global sales began October 1. Their BK 1700 controller provides sapphire's job management and system control. In the future both units will be capable of running 8 heads covering 20" of image area.

Another notable variable data printing system was Kodak's Versamark VX5000e, which produces up to 2,000 pages a minute with a duty cycle of 60 million impressions a month. An interesting high volume operation was the combination two-unit Muller Martini Concepta™ variable size web press running in line with the Nipson VaryPress™ 400 to produce variable data, direct mail pieces.

Kodak's NexPress launched its fifth imaging unit for the NEXPRESS 2100 at DRUPA 2004. This fifth unit and the NexPress intelligent color solutions allow the printer to simulate 86% of the 1,114 colors in the Pantone Matching System. This capability results in this press being designated a Pantone-licensed product. The fifth unit also allows users to add a flood or spot coating of a new clear dry ink. In addition to a protective coating this overcoat can be an authenticating watermark on coupons or to communicate copyrights on proofs of portrait images. Available in the first quarter of 2005, a NexGlosser in the fifth unit will achieve higher gloss than UV-coating processes.

Mitsubishi showed their variable sleeve offset concept press as they did at DRUPA. However, Drent Goebel showed their variable sleeve web offset press (VSOP) that has actually been offered for two years and in fact received a patent very recently for these innovations. The VSOP allows the printing length to be steplessly set from 15 to 30 inches for the 520 and 850 presses, while the 1120 and 1250 presses can vary from 22.5 to 44 inches. Drent's narrow web rotary offset provides a modular system allowing the printer to configure a hybrid machine incorporating flexo, gravure, screen, hot foil, laminating and in-line matrix die cutting for producing labels (wet glue or pressure sensitive), flexible packaging, cardboard, and commercial printing.

Xerox demonstrated their Xerox 180 Highlight Color (HCL) claimed to be the world's fastest cut-sheet, highlight color-printing system operating at 180 pages per minute. Targeted at the newsletter and transactional print markets, the HCL family of printers is expected to be able to add color to a document for under a penny a print. List prices range from $320,000 to $472,000 for the 128, 155, and 180-ppm units with a phased in launch of this equipment to be late 2004 and early 2005.

MAN Roland unveiled its new corporate logo along with a series of in-line enhancements demonstrated on their mainstay Roland 700 press. These enhancements were first introduced at DRUPA. They included a double coater module, a digitally driven inline sheeter, Eagle Eye inline full speed quality control, a digitally controlled inline sorter, QuickChange make-ready accelerator, the Prindor inline foiler, and DirectDrive™.

Waste sheets were identified and diverted at full speed by the new inline sorter before they ended up in the good delivery pile. A video-driven inspection system, called the Eagle Eye, worked in conjunction with the inline sorter. It examined the entire sheet length-wise, utilizing 0.024" square grid zones. An integrated bundle of seven modules, named QuickChange™, further automated various aspects of make-ready and reduced this time by an additional 30%. It is interesting to consider that by automating more aspects of the make-ready process, the press allows apprentice operators to be responsible for more functions. This in turn might mean that the plant's best pressman could mentor and oversee more than one press.

Prindor™ is intended to apply foil and metallic effects automatically during the printing pass at full press speed, thus eliminating the more expensive and time-consuming off-line hot foil stamping process. The Prindor System can be mounted on any two consecutive printing units of any recent vintage ROLAND 700. When foil is not being applied, the entire press can be used for normal printing. The reflectiveness of inline foil lamination is reported to be very close to that of foil stamping. Additionally, the gloss threshold provided by Prindor™ is significantly higher than that achieved by applying metallic inks or coatings. Sales literature and packaging can now be more eye catching as well as security elements such as holograms can now be applied in line.

Shaftless technology has revolutionized the web press over the past decade by isolating each printing unit through the use of separate direct drive motors. MAN Roland's DirectDrive™ combines the best designs of both web and sheetfed mechanical technology. The longitudinal shaft on a DirectDrive-equipped Roland 700 assures that all printing units and sheet transfer mechanisms are mechanically in synch with one another. Each plate cylinder is driven by its own motor and controlled by the PECOM™ operating system. The plate cylinders can be decoupled. This allows all plates to be changed simultaneously rather than sequentially; plus wash up tasks can be accomplished at the same time as plate changeover. Those jobs requiring language version changes of a single plate, for example, can be swapped out quickly on the fly.

Heidelberg's new top management - Bernhard Schreier, Chairman of the Board, and Jim Dunn, President of Heidelberg USA - were on hand to meet clients and prospects. Dunn said Heidelberg's first long perfector (eight units and up) was introduced in 1993. One thousand such presses have been installed worldwide and 20% of those in the United States. A 10 unit SP102 in line with a CutStar™ roll sheeter was running at Graph Expo. Dunn also commented that Heidelberg USA parts warehousing service had been moved up to Indianapolis to gain two more hours on the distribution time cycle for North American clients.

Heidelberg introduced its Eurobind series of perfect binders at Graph Expo replacing their Quickbinders and Bindexpert. The entry level Stitchmaster ST 90 (rated at 9,000 books an hour) and the high volume ST 350 were also demonstrated.

Holding a 70% worldwide market share in saddle stitchers and perfect binders, Muller Martini's equipment was actually shown in four different booths to highlight the collaboration of multiple vendors in achieving in-line production functions. Their new Frontero face-cut trimmer, rated at 6,000 cycles an hour, facilitates the production of gatefold flaps on perfect-bound book covers in a single pass. That streamlines a process that used to require two separate procedures. The first involved production of the book block with face trim. In a second pass the cover was applied and the head and foot was then trimmed. Frontero takes a gatefold-covered book, aligns it, pulls back the cover out of the way, and then trims the face of the book, ensuring that the cover flap is not compromised in any way.

In their North American premiere, Muller's AmigoDigital perfect binder was combined with the new SigmaTower, SigmaTrimmer, and Océ VarioStream 7650cx Twin continuous feed print engine to create an integrated book-on-demand system producing as many as 1,000 fully variable size soft cover volumes per hour throughout the show. The new SigmaTower served as an in-line buffer between AmigoDigital and SigmaTrimmer. It provides a dynamic cool-down zone for bound volumes, allowing their glue to set so their structural integrity is ensured before they arrive at the trimmer.

Also making its North American debut is Muller Martini's SigmaTrimmer. The system can trim books that have a different length, width and thickness - one right after another - at the rate of 1,500 variable copies an hour. The system automatically sets itself from upstream data, so it is fully integrated into the on-demand workflow. The Chicago Public Schools will be the recipients of books produced on this Océ - Muller Martini on-demand print production system.

The specialty lenticular printing was evident in a number of press booths. Also known as auto animated images, lenticular printing requires precise registration of at least two images along with special software and graduated cover material to view the finished image(s). 3D effects require up to 50 images as demonstrated by the Human Eyes software exhibit in the Xpedex booth. The one time investment of the Human Eyes software is $30,000 with Xpedex providing all of the expendable materials additionally. Pacur announced the first ever lenticular web site, lenstar.org.

NAPL's Soderstrom Dinner acknowledged the industry contributions and career of Jim Hyder, President and CEO of Louisville's Fetter Printing, and awarded him their annual 2004 Soderstrom Award. The Soderstrom Society also inducted nine industry leaders into membership: Bob Bierwagen - Business Development Manager of Creo, Maudie Briggs - CEO of Morrison Communications, Gregory D'Amico - Graphic Communications Professor of Kean University, Harry Duncanson - Vice President of Dynacolor Graphics, Mark Hoover - CEO of Bayshore Press, Lynn Poretta - Hallmark Cards' Product Quality Assurance Manager, Patrick Ryan - former Executive Vice President of John Stark Printing, Dick Westfall - CEO of Patented Printing, and Jeffrey White - Director of EFI.

Graph Arts equipment trade shows are becoming more stressful for me as the years pass. I find three compelling features about Graph Expo and Converting Expo that present a personal sense of urgency for my too brief time at McCormack Place. First, the mainline suppliers, almost universally, are continually raising the bar on their equipment's performance and productivity. You can read about the new features but there is nothing like seeing it first hand. Second, new suppliers and smaller vendors on the side aisles invariably have the neatest innovations that are easy to overlook. And most importantly, they may not be aware of additional print-related problems that their software, hardware, or gizmo could solve if slightly modified. If you've got a potential application, they're sure to listen. And finally, it is essential that owners and industry leaders continually get the clear perspective that ours is a global business impacted by firms throughout the world. The opportunities are immense if we can balance the short term crisis with the ever clearer longer term demographic and socio-economic trends that are quite evident at North America's largest printing and converting trade show.

Article prepared by C. Clint Bolte, C. Clint Bolte & Associates, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. For additional information please call 717-263-5768, fax 717-263-8945, or e-mail to clint@clintbolte.com.