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 2003

Emphasis on CIM, Value-Added Services, and Smaller Printers

Coming off a difficult year, many vendors’ booths at Chicago’s McCormack Place were smaller and a few noteworthy suppliers were not displaying. Yet the mood among both manufacturer representatives and attendees was markedly improved over the recent two annual shows. While no earth shaking product or technology announcements were expected, if you were a small to medium sized commercial printer you could not help but be impressed at the number of new products being rolled out that were based upon the proven technology of the larger, big brother models launched in the ‘90s.

The impenetrable theme across aisles and among processes was fully integrated digital infrastructure and workflow leading to the ultimate goal of computer-integrated manufacturing.

An integral part of every Graph Expo is the exhaustive number of seminars available to attendees. One worthy of note was Frank Romano’s Ten Critical Trends. Here are my notes without Frank’s humor. #1. Digital Generation. Communications is expected to be more by the Internet and by watching and listening then by reading for decades to come. #2. Ubiquitous Computing. Because each technology builds on the last, there are expected to be ever more specialty computers with photoconductive inks, like an RFID application, to be applied by a printing press like device. #3. Wireless World. Integrated, multi-functional, portable and even handheld units will proliferate with many applications being free. #4. Multiple Media Marketing. Mass media and segmented media, such as cable, will lose market share to more targeted profiled media. #5. Mail Conundrum. Postage cost has surpassed the printing costs for many products. Electronic banking will drive done postage volume. #6. Stochastic Selling. Response rates will drive the unique databases that allow targeted print mail. #7. What leisure time? Free hours continue to fall. Productivity continues to climb in the U.S. yet we continue to lose jobs overseas. #8. E-everything. The purpose of direct mail will be to drive prospects to the web sites for sales. The state of Wisconsin expects to save $23 billion a year by not printing anything. It will all be on the web! #9. Pixels vs. paper. Paper will be the choice of the receiver, as a receipt for example, not the sender. A new career opportunity exists as a Data Archeologist for retrieving data from arcane storage media. #10. I, printer? Growth in printing will continue to flatten due to the Internet plus the growth of sophisticated desktop systems.

Heidelberg traditionally has the largest and first accessible booth at each McCormick Place print show. So I give them their due with a run down of their introductions. It is not insignificant how many are targeted to the small and emerging medium sized printers, which would include the in plant market. A new Print Master 52 (20” format) will fill the product void between the QuickMaster and the Speedmaster series. It is expected to be 30% less money than the Speedmaster and about 30% more costly than the QM comparably equipped. A SM 52-D with die-cutting in-line will still spill out these specialty products at 15,000 iph! An inline Probinder™ will allow Digimaster 9110 CP to produce double-loop wire comb binding in a single pass. The new Dymatrix 105 CS, formerly Jagenberg, will accurately die-cut and emboss at 9,000 sheets an hour. A unit of the 72” web width Sunday 3000/32 showed the single circumference 2X 8 pages across configuration, which will print a 32-page signature from a single web at speeds up to 100,000 iph.

KBA announced a 30% year over year increase in their sheetfed business. Part of the extraordinary growth for this German press manufacturer must be attributed to its niche applications in the packaging and specialty commercial printing markets. For example, they introduced their waterless Genius 52, available in either 4 or 5 units for a 20” product application. A new sheetfed flexo press with in-line die cutter was introduced for the corrugated market. The range of corrugated substrate is expected to be the micro E-flute up to AC-fluted double wall. The first installation of the 10,000 iph Corrugraph press will be a six-color version of the 66” by 118” machine. It will be shipped this fall to Canadian box maker Central Graphics & Container Group Ltd in Mississauga, Ontario.

A household name as a press manufacturer in the United States for over a century, actually 119 years, AB Dick is coming off six consecutive quarters of profit growth. Their success strategy is conceptually simple but difficult to implement. They want to be the single source supplier to their small printer clients. It’s one thing to provide razors and razor blades; this firm includes the shaving cream and every flavor of after-shave lotion. More than 400,000 purchase transactions averaging barely $300 were delivered out of their nine North American warehouses for overnight delivery this past year. Shop.abdick.com has accounted for 20% of this consumables volume in the 18 months that it has been open. Their revenue streams are equally divided among equipment, consumables, and service. Their dominant client segments are inplants in the federal prison industries, state governments, cruise ships, armed forces, and schools as well as franchise quick printers such as Minuteman Press and Kinkos.

At Graph Expo they launched a new thermal metal CTP platemaker, the Vector 52, which will sell for under $85,000 and produce chemistry free metal plates at close to polyester plate prices. The CXP 3000 digital press made its debut as well. Fronted by either AB Dick’s Momentum or EFI’s Fiery servers this direct to print solution has output speeds of 50 cpm or 3000 iph with high print resolution from a new patented, color polymer dry ink. This should satisfy the user with a monthly page volume of 150,000 color pages.

Finishing suppliers were reported to be experiencing increasing interest and serious inquiries. Muller Martini introduced a combo stitcher/diecutter called the Presto/Multi 450. They also presented a patent pending device for perfect bound backbone preparation, entitled Angle Notch. It is available as an upgrade to shops that run Amigo, AmigoPlus, or Tigra perfect binding systems.

Toppy America showed a mobile load turner with air jogger with a capacity 2,200 pounds for max pile size of 31” by 44” and height of 52” aimed at the commercial printing market. Investment would be under $50,000.

NPES hit a home run with the dedicated Mail and Fulfillment Center. The area included a hundred seat open theater for free, continuous, hour long lectures by suppliers and consultants on various pertinent topics to these vital value-added services. Thirty vendors clustered in this area and received much deserved traffic. Ironically the Bindery Institute of America (BIA) had another isolated area some distance away. Several of these specialty vendors actually offer products often purchased by fulfillment services, such as unique CD packages. Next year hopefully BIA will be next to M&F Center.

PrintCafe wisely had a dedicated booth in this M & F Center as they were seeking beta sites for their new web based fulfillment module. It could be an add-on to existing users of Hagen™, PSI, or Logic SQL print management systems. It was quite basic, but an important initiative for a major MIS supplier who needs a more dedicated product offering in this specialty application.

Any small printer considering adding mailing services would have been well pleased to meet both BCC and Satori Software. Both vendors tenaciously explained their exhaustive capabilities as ZIP+4, CASS, Presort, and Move Update agents. Nothing new announced here except a comfort level of finding an affordable package from a reputable vendor when you are new to the ballgame.

Kirk-Rudy demonstrated a new solvent-based inkjet addressing system targeting the aqueous coated stock applications. While the production line will be twice the investment of the cartridge inkjet line ($75,000 versus $35,000), the cost of solvent inks will be 92% less expensive.

Bowe Bell and Howell is the contracted manufacturer of the infamous MERLIN units being used by the USPS to test, accept, and potentially reject (for discount purposes) mailing jobs based upon a series of DMM address placement criteria. While no printer can buy a MERLIN, B&H is offering an in-line verification system that can be adapted to existing inkjet equipment. It utilizes the same algorithms as MERLIN and therefore should be an excellent quality control check prior to releasing the job to the post office to run through one of their thousand MERLINs located throughout the country. It costs $25,000 and can be purchased from B&H or Videojet.

Bell and Howell also demonstrated their DemandWorks Compact Polywrapping system. Built as either a two or four station unitized inserter with shuttle feeder and 8,000 per hour rated speed, this polywrapping unit will cost $140,000. This is less than half the competitive models and occupies 25% less floor space.

Unicor is known as a vendor that specializes in setting up production operations in Federal Prison Installations that produce work for the public sector. This might initially appear as if they are designed to compete against free enterprise vendors at subsidized low rates. The clear benefit is the training of inmates in valuable vocational skills. They were in the M& F Center as they are trying to attract customers who have already decided to move their fulfillment operations, for example, off shore because of more favorable economics.

The Print Council announced its formation and founding members as an industry alliance initiated by PIA to influence and promote the greater use of print among media specifiers. The President of PIA, the President of PIP Printing, and CEO of Mail-Well, made brief comments. Members of the press in attendance asked why other graphics trade associations and the United States Postal Service were not part of this founding effort. The response was that all of these parties have been contacted and are expected to be included.

It’s hard to predict what kind of North American audience DRUPA 2004 might draw. But there was no indication at Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2003 that any manufacturer was holding back any significant product announcement for the next eight months. Every attendee came away with a clear sense that technology is not standing still. All printers who chose not to come missed numerous educational opportunities that hopefully they can pick up from selective articles or books. It was definitely a good 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.