Digital Printing, Philadelphia Style

Technology mingled with history as the AIIM On Demand Conference and Exposition brought the latest digital printing technologies to Philadelphia.

By Bob Neubauer

Prior to this year's AIIM On Demand Conference and Exposition, vendors had wondered whether attendees would follow the show from New York, where it took place for the past decade, to Philadelphia. But after watching more than 21,000 visitors flood the show's two floors' worth of exhibits in May, few left disappointed.

True, last year's showing of 25,903 attendees topped this year's crowd. But as locations go, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, smack in the heart of downtown Philadelphia, beat New York's Javits Convention Center—isolated by the Hudson River—hands down. Where the Javits is plagued by a lack of cabs, Philadelphia's convention center is flowing with them—not that you'd need one, as most hotels and attractions are within walking distance. And this year's show was blessed with some fabulous spring walking weather.

Though On Demand 2005 lacked any earth-shattering announcements, like last year's eye-widening news that Kodak planned to buy Heidelberg's digital business, many exhibitors did preview new products. Most, though, seem to be holding out for Print 05, coming to Chicago in the fall.

As usual, competitors were busy trying to one-up each other, as when Xerox introduced an inline coater for its iGen3 to rival Kodak's NexGlosser. Multifunction printers (MFPs) of nearly every speed and capability packed the booths of Ricoh, Sharp, Konica Minolta and others. And no less than four vendors showed digital printers with the number 5000 in their name.

Here's just a glimpse of some of the digital printing systems that caught our eye at this year's show.

Debut Appearance

On Demand marked the first showing of Canon U.S.A.'s new imageRUNNER 5570 and imageRUNNER 6570 digital multifunction imaging systems. Both feature Canon's MEAP (Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform) technology. A Web access function allows the devices to serve as "information kiosks" to access and print information directly from the Internet. They boast Canon's third generation Image Platform architecture. Canon's Universal Send option allows documents to be scanned and "pushed" to other destinations electronically, including e-mail addresses, fax destinations, internal mail boxes and network folders.

On the wide-format side, Canon introduced the 44˝ imagePROGRAF W8400 and the 24˝ W6400. They use Canon's proprietary print head technology, which enables high-speed printing at 2,400x1,200 dpi with precise four picoliter ink droplets. Canon's six-color pigment ink set now offers interchangeable black inks to produce a broad color gamut. Both new imagePROGRAF printers come with a suite of software, including PosterArtist, to design and customize signs and banners, and Digital Photo Print Pro, a photo-printing tool for editing, manipulation and management of digital images.

Eastman Kodak's booth featured everything from scanners to a direct imaging offset press. Among the products on display was the Kodak Versamark VT3000 continuous ink-jet system. Geared toward variable data printing, the roll-fed system prints 1,526 two-up duplex images (8-1⁄2x11˝) per minute and can be configured to support monochrome, spot color or process color output. It was shown printing multiple elements for a customer loyalty program, including a personalized letter, a statement and a booklet.

Elsewhere, the Kodak Digimaster E125 was on display. Providing monochrome printing at 125 images per minute (ipm), it can handle a range of paper sizes along with coated and heavier stocks. The E125 offers resolutions of 600x600 dpi.

Hewlett Packard showed the HP Indigo 5000, the first press co-developed by HP and the former Indigo organization. Introduced at Drupa, the four-color digital press with seven-color capability can produce up to 4,000 full-color pages per hour. It features innovations in paper handling, inking systems and production software. New paper transport technology minimizes jams. Liquid HP ElectroInk allows resolutions up to 812x812 dpi and line screens up to 230 lines per inch.

IBM displayed its Infoprint Workflow, an end-to-end automated document factory solution. At the IBM booth, Infoprint Workflow was driving the IBM Infoprint 4100 continuous-form printer. Boasting 600-dpi quality, the 4100 prints up to 280 feet per minute (1,220 two-up duplex letter impressions). It can accommodate 19.5˝ paper widths to allow three-up printing, which can yield 2,238 ipm. The enhanced operator console also works as an Infoprint Manager workstation, letting users manage jobs and queues from the print room.

Konica Minolta previewed a 92-ppm monochrome device, the bizhub PRO 920. Shipping this summer, the 920 is based on the company's 85-ppm engine, but it uses 8 percent less energy and offers an enhanced image quality. It features tri- and bi-fold capabilities.

Konica Minolta also introduced the bizhub PRO C500, which outputs 50 ppm in both color and black and white. Rated for 150,000 pages a month, the C500 features true 600x600-dpi resolution and uses an enhanced version of Konica Minolta's Simitri color polymerized toner. Two new finishing options are also offered: the FS-513 staple finisher and the FS-606 booklet finisher.

Together with Creo, Konica Minolta introduced the new IC-301 controller to drive the bizhub PRO C500. It offers job ticketing and tracking, color management tools, variable data support and a connection to Creo's graphic arts solution.

Nipson showed off its VaryPress 200, which uses Nipson's magnetographic imaging technology. Its cold flash fusing process fuses the toner without heating the substrate. With speeds up to 230 fpm on a printable width of 18.45˝, the VaryPress 200 produces more than 500 letter pages per minute in two-up simplex mode, and double that in two-up duplex mode. It has redesigned print heads, an improved print drum and a new toner formulation, enabling it to print at 600 dpi.

At its exhibit, Océ North America presented a working "Printshop for the 21st Century" featuring live, on-demand document workflow. It announced a number of enhancements to its VarioPrint 5000 series of cut-sheet digital printers, including the new 135-ppm Océ VarioPrint 5000 advanced version. It incorporates PRISMAproduction server hardware and software directly into the printer, allowing printer and workflow control from one central point, so operators quickly check status, identify problems and make adjustments. It accepts and seamlessly interprets all major PDLs and data streams and proprietary formats like Xerox DigiPath output.

Books for Kids

Océ was also a partner in the Books for Kids project, which published 10,000 books for the Philadelphia school system. An Océ VarioStream 9210 continuous-forms printer produced the books' text pages at 1,300 ipm. Covers were output on the Océ CPS900 production color printing system, which uses seven colors instead of four to achieve a broad color gamut. CPS900 printers require virtually no calibration.

Panasonic introduced its C3 Series (connect, converge, communicate), featuring the DP-C322 and the DP-C262. Both print color pages at 21 ppm. For black and white, the DP-C322 prints 32 ppm and the DP-C262 outputs 26 ppm. Panasonic's induction heating eliminates the need to preheat the fusing device during standby. Users can print from an SD card by inserting it into the front panel. Thumbnails are then displayed on the touch-screen control panel. Using emulsion aggregation toner technology, smaller, more uniform particles allow smoother image reproduction. The printers also boast a newly designed color engine and use intermediate transfer belt technology.

In addition to the many color and black-and-white MFPs in its booth, Ricoh debuted the EMP 156 monochrome printer for data center environments, a 156-ppm model able to produce 4.5 million images a month. A multiple-original printing feature provides multiple sets at engine speed, and a 14˝ wide paper path accommodates printing on legal size documents at full speed.

Ricoh also introduced the 75-ppm Aficio AP900 monochrome laser printer. With PDF Direct Print, users can send PDF files directly to the printer. Remote monitoring capabilities let users manage the AP900, configure network settings, browse the printer's status and view job histories from his or her desk.

RISO unveiled its two-color MZ790 printer-duplicator, capable of printing up to 150 ppm. RISO's new Easy 2 Color process eliminates the need to prepare separate originals for each color. The MZ790's proprietary design also eliminates the need to remove the second ink cylinder for printing one-color jobs. RISO Editor lets the user quickly specify which areas should be in which of the two colors and move individual blocks of text, photos and illustrations. Combination Print allows the user to split the print run, with one part in a single color, and the other in two colors.

Also at the show was the Riso HC5000 full-color ComColor printer, which recently received a special recognition award from Buyers Laboratory. The HC5000 prints at 105 ppm, handling sizes up to 11x17˝. Running costs are $.03 per page in full color. Engineered to run monthly volumes as high as 250,000, the HC5000 harnesses FORCEJET technology, which combines a powerful print engine, a Piezo ink-jet system that can reproduce up to eight gradations per drop, and a high-speed paper feeding system. The ComColor color management system ensures quality color reproduction while reducing ink usage.

Sharp Document Solutions Co. of America showcased its multifunctional peripheral systems and demonstrated a suite of document and device management applications, including its Open Systems Architecture, which optimizes MFP network performance and document workflow. On display were mid-level production MFPs like the AR-C330 and monochrome MFPs such as the AR-M700, AR-M455N and DM-4551. These MFPs feature Scan2 dual-sided scanning, which scans two-sided documents in one pass, allowing easier document sharing.

Toshiba America Business Solutions showed off its e-STUDIO 520/600/720/850 multifunction series boasting speeds of 52, 60, 72 to 85 ppm. The printers use e-BRIDGE single-board architecture, providing a single circuit board to control copying, printing, scanning and other functionality. Boasting 2,400x600-dpi resolutions, the e-STUDIO 520, 600 and 720 all will feature a new high-speed, single-beam laser-imaging unit, while the e-STUDIO 850 will use a dual laser-beam design. All four models will include Toshiba's new Serial Filter, which renders higher-fidelity grayscales for more deliberate shades of gray, as well as an eight-bit scanner. Additionally, a new dual speed paper handling system slows down the paper while it passes through the process unit, making up the speed elsewhere to maintain performance.

Also new was the Toshiba 3100c. It outputs 31 cpm in color and monochrome at 9,600x600 dpi. Features include scan once/print many capability, dual compression imaging technology, a four-beam laser unit, and single pass four-drum tandem design

The web-fed Xeikon 5000 was at the show, boasting speeds of 7,800 full-color pages per hour (130 ppm). It has an inline densitometer, and press registration and calibration are automated. The new digital front end, the X-800, offers an enhanced tool box for rapid, optimum workflow automation. It can easily process jobs with complex graphics using variable date from more than one million records. The X-800 allows simultaneous setup, RIPing and printing of a file, increasing productivity. Another productivity plus: toner can be added to the 5000 during a print run.

Xerox launched the DocuColor 7000 digital press, adding a 70-ppm option to its portfolio to bridge the gap between the DocuColor 6060 and the 8000. Built on the DocuColor 8000 platform, the 7000 features 2,400x2,400x1-dpi resolution, handles a variety of paper sizes and types and offers three color server options: Xerox FreeFlow DocuSP controller or color servers from Creo or EFI.

The company also enhanced its iGen3 digital press with an in-line coater: The Epic Cti-635, from Epic International. Operating as fast as the iGen3 press (110 ppm), it gives documents a glossy or matte finish, improving their appearance and durability.

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The Philadelphia experiment was enough of a success that show organizers plan to hold AIIM On Demand in the city again next year. The show will take place in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, May 16-18, 2006.