Graph Expo Part I--The Future On Display

Graph Expo marked the debut appearance of many of the technologies unveiled at Drupa.

After seeing so many new technologies displayed at the massive Drupa trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany, trade journalists found few surprises at the recent Graph Expo show in Chicago. But it was for printers, not journalists, that McCormick Place opened its doors—and they were certainly impressed.

"I thought the show was very complete, with more than enough new things to see and want," remarked Don Davis, associate director of LSU Graphic Services, in Baton Rouge, La. He went to the show to look at prepress and computer-to-plate (CTP) equipment and small perfect binders.

He liked what he saw.

"I'm starting to write RFPs for prepress upgrades to include a new RIP, a digital proofer, a scanner and an imagesetter," he said. "Also for CTP for our small presses."

Managers were impressed by Heidelberg's foray into digital color, first demonstrated at Drupa:

"I thought Heidelberg's NexPress was awesome," enthused James Dalton, director of Publishing, Document and Distribution Services at Indiana University Purdue University of Indiana. "The technology was timely and their design seemed well thought out—a good balance of quality capabilities and productivity."

For its part, Heidelberg USA was also impressed with Graph Expo—the company booked more than $150 million in orders during the show and got orders for about 50 units of its two-color Quickmaster presses. Other vendors also scored big. Xerox, which exhibited in its own 40,000-square-foot hall, got more than $46 million in orders and letters of intent. CreoScitex America made more sales in the first two days than during the entire run of any previous Graph Expo.

The four-day event featured 575 exhibitors and drew over 45,000 attendees. Some of the highlights:

• CreoScitex demonstrated plateless digital offset printing using a reusable substrate that was sprayed with a coating, imaged and then used to print.

• Flint Ink demonstrated its Single Fluid Ink concept technology, which eliminates the need for fountain solutions, eradicates ink/water problems, and brings faster makereadies and better color consistency.

• Xerox showed a new 400-ppm digital offset press, the result of a partnership with Presstek.

• NexPress Solutions demonstrated the new NexStation front end for its NexPress 2100 digital color press. It combines workflow management, press operations and on-board diagnostics.

Direct Imaging For Everyone

As at Drupa, direct imaging (DI) presses were prominent—with more to come.

"By the time we gather here for PRINT 01 a year from now, every single press manufacturer will have a direct imaging press of some sort," predicted William C. Lamparter of PrintCom Consulting Group at the Executive Outlook 2000 pre-show conference.

Helping to make this prediction come true was Adast America, which launched the new Adast 500 DI series in four- and five-color configurations. The DI press combines Presstek's ProFire laser imaging and automatic plate feed cylinder with a system that images plates in less than three minutes while the press is stopped. The 15x201⁄2˝ press runs at 12,000 iph.

Also on the DI train was Karat Digital Press, which demonstrated digitally integrated offset production by using a 74 Karat press to print over 40 different short- to medium-run jobs over the four-day event.

Ryobi introduced its four-color Ryobi 3404 DI A3 size, portrait format press with built-in direct imaging at the xpedx Import Group booth. The Presstek FirePower multi-beam laser provides shortened imaging time at approximately 21⁄2 minutes for 1,270 dpi or 51⁄2 minutes for 2,540 dpi.

Presstek's DI technology was also the centerpiece of an uncharacteristic offering from Xerox—the DocuColor DI Series of digital offset presses. Xerox' first foray into digital offset yielded a trio of presses: The DocuColor 400 DI-4 and DI-5 and the DocuColor 233 DI-4. The presses all use Xerox DigiPath software.

In a demonstration, the DI-5—shown at Drupa as the PAX-DI—took less than nine minutes to go from the end of one print job to the first sheet of the next. It can run from four to 400 ppm. The 233 DI-4 is a two-page, four-color press and will be the most affordable option when it comes to market in the second quarter of 2001.

On a larger scale, Komori held the North American debut of its Project D concept machine equipped with reportedly the world's first digital imaging system for a 40˝ press. The press uses an 830nm thermal imaging head from CreoScitex, capable of imaging no-process thermal plates at 2,400 dpi/200 lpi in less than four minutes.

Plateless Printing

CreoScitex went beyond just DI press collaboration at Graph Expo, though. It gave its first public demonstration ever of plateless printing by spraying a laser imageable polymer onto a plate sleeve, then imaging and printing. Still a few years away from availability, its SP plateless digital offset printing system uses a liquid media developed by Agfa. Though it could be sprayed directly onto a drum, most operators will use a replaceable sleeve. The process is targeted at short-run printing (less than 15,000 sheets).

But not all presses at Graph Expo used DI technology. Hamada of America introduced the V48, a five-color, landscape-fed, waterless offset press, sold together with a Toray waterless computer-to-plate device to let the operator create plates while printing. Feeding and delivery of 18.5x13.39˝ sheets are on the same end of the press, which features keyless ink adjustment and a new pin system for better registration.

Hamada also introduced the two-color, 14x20˝ B252A offset press. It prints up to 10,000 sph and features double diameter impression, triple diameter transfer cylinders, plus a pneumatic pressure on/off mechanism.

MAN Roland showed its redesigned 200S four-color, 20x29˝, 13,000-sph sheetfed press. It has a compact design including an integrated operator console at the delivery end. Sheet feeding is done with a suction feedboard subsystem and pneumatic sidelays.

Sakurai showed the new four-color, 18x223⁄4˝ 458EII offset press featuring the same advantages found on Sakurai's larger presses, including automatic plate change, automatic roller wash, full image and ink key movement from the console, suction belt feeder, heavy-duty construction and superior electronics.

Komori showed its upgraded two-color, 28˝ Sprint GS convertible perfector. Its sleek operation stand is integrated with the press for convenient control. Pile height has been raised to 241⁄2˝ to facilitate longer runs. Plate changing takes just 21⁄2 minutes for two units.

A.B.Dick introduced a new two-color portrait press, the PowerPro 34. It comes in two models, a universal and stream feeder, and uses a motorized continuous film dampener. Its improved inking system makes it possible to use three ink form rollers in a segregated mode.

A.B.Dick also showed its newest, small-format true two-color offset press, the 9995-A, which is digital plate compatible. It delivers consistent color quality and increased productivity, and also simplifies press operations while reducing makeready time. The 9995-A features a semi-automatic plate changer and ink control system.

Akiyama introduced its new half-size JP-5P532 press, based on its patented design for printing the top and bottom of the sheet in one pass. It comes in 26˝, 29˝, 32˝, 40˝ and 44˝ sizes, from one-over-one to six-over-six printing units. Each upper and lower unit has its own plate, blanket and impression cylinder for accurate register and high quality.

Halm Industries announced its EM5315 Jet Press, a four-color process perfector, which prints 30,000 envelopes per hour. The EM5315 features a microprocessor motor control and an easy-to-use main control for quick setup and job changes. The unit comes standard with a high-speed transfer table, as well as adjustable height and slope angle for optimized shingling and stacking of the stock.

For those without color presses, Townsend Industries unveiled its new AE (Anniversary Edition) T-51 swing-away unit. With on-the-fly vertical, horizontal and twist (skew), plate register adjustments can be made while the machine is running. Printers can trade in their standard swing-away to buy an AE.

Digital Directions

Those interested in digital printing had plenty of choices at Graph Expo, as well. A week before the show, Indigo America formed an alliance with Hewlett-Packard to co-develop high-end, digital color printing systems. (HP also plans to OEM Indigo's digital printers.) At the show, Indigo and HP demonstrated live camera-to-press printing using HP PhotoSmart digital cameras to snap pictures of visitors and Indigo SNAP technology to personalize the images with text.

Indigo also showed off five of its new Series 2 seven-color presses: the UltraStream 2000 and 4000, The Publisher 4000 and 8000 and the WebStream 200. The UltraStream 4000 is a twin-engine sheetfed digital color press that produces 4,000 four-color A3 images per hour, or 136 letter-size color pages per minute. The 4000 is twice as fast as the UltraStream 2000.

Xeikon America, which recently received Belgium's E-Award for its electronic business applications on the Internet, showed its newest digital color presses: the third generation DCP 500 D web press, printing 8,200 four-color pages (81⁄2x11˝) an hour and offering innovative applications for one-to-one and Web-to-print products; the new CSP 320 D sheetfed digital color press; and the black-and-white Xeikon 7000 on-demand press.

Xeikon also showed its eMerge digital front end, with automated workflow capabilities and PPML input. It uses job tickets to communicate all job parameters and tracks all job activities into a database that integrates into a management reporting system.

U.S. printers got their first look at the NexPress 2100 digital color printer from NexPress Solutions, a Heidelberg/Kodak joint venture. Built with a blanket and an impression cylinder like a press, the 2100 prints 2,100 tabloid sheets an hour on a variety of stocks. It has auto perfecting and electronic collation, so it delivers completed, collated jobs.

Thomas Gribb, director of marketing and business development for NexPress touted the machine's operator-replaceable components, which allow users to fix problems immediately. Up to 40 components can be replaced by operators. The 2100 also boasts a number of advances in quality and consistency, he stressed.

On display at Graph Expo was the browser-based NexStation digital front end, which combines workflow management, press operations control and on-board diagnostics. It is based on an open architecture so it integrates with common workflow systems and job-ticket-compliant systems. Its diagnostics instruct users when to conduct routine maintenance and walk users through repairs using video.

Heidelberg didn't overlook its other digital printing devices. The Digimaster 9110 was on display with a new inserter to let users insert preprinted materials on a variety of substrates. Also, a perfect binder, from C.P. Bourg, lets users produce cover-bound books from 15 sheets to 11⁄2˝ thick. Both will be available early next year.

Heidelberg showed its new 600x600-dpi, 65-ppm Imagedirect 665 Production Scanner, which will integrate with the Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 when it becomes available next year. It can handle up to 100 sheets of varying weights, stocks and formats, and you can continuously add more pages to the feeder. It's good for 300,000 scans a month, and can even be used to scan documents for a Xerox DocuTech.

For its part, Xerox extended the reach of its DocuColor family by introducing the DocuColor 2000 CSX image processor. The new RIP automates trapping to ensure consistent color coverage on all documents in a run. The 2000 CSX increases productivity with an intuitive control system that streamlines workflow and reduces the learning curve. It has a simultaneous RIP-while-print feature and post-RIP imposition so operators can incorporate last-minute changes without reprocessing jobs.

Xerox also touted its new Pixography Solution, a personal imaging center that lets consumers create business materials, greeting cards, calendars and invitations. It uses a DocuColor 12 color printer and a Duplo DocuCutter 545 finisher.

Minolta showcased a 75-ppm digital copier built for high-production environments. The heavy-duty Di750 supports monthly volumes of 500,000 copies. It holds 6,750 sheets and can feed paper weights of 160-lb. bond through 110-lb. index from all five paper sources. An optional tandem copy kit will connect two Di750s, letting them act as one 150-cpm copier.

Minolta offered another "cluster" printing system too, the MicroPress WG, for users with lower volumes. It supports two output devices—two DiALTA Di620s, two CF color printer/copiers or one of each. It is built around the Harlequin ScriptWorks RIP and accepts today's most common file formats.

Another new device was the DiALTA Di550, a 55-ppm digital copier that will replace the Di520. It was shown with a Pi5500 Print Controller, based on Fiery X3 technology.

Ricoh offered its own high-volume digital imaging system, the Aficio 1050. Outputting 105 ppm, the 1050 features touch panel CRT controls and offers six paper sources for a capacity of 7,550 sheets. Two 1050s can be linked for 210-ppm output. It has an auto reversing document feeder and next job prescan features.

Another device, the Ricoh Aficio Color 6110 copier, outputs 101⁄2 color pages and 40 black-and-white pages per minute. It can print full bleed 11x17˝ graphics onto 13x19˝ paper. The 6110 handles heavy index paper.

Standard Duplicating Machines took digital duplicating another step by showing a duplicator that prints two colors in one pass. A 600-dpi model will be available in January. Standard also introduced the 130-cpm SD330 digital duplicator, with a glass platen for book copying, automatic edge-erase modes and image rotation. It offers optional spot color in unlimited customized colors.

For Banner And Poster Printing

In the wide-format arena, A.B.Dick displayed its deSign U. wide-format banner and poster solution, which combines the company's Professor D. Sign custom software and high-quality printing inks with ENCAD's NovaJet 630 digital color printer.

Another jet printer was on display at Marconi Data Systems' booth, the Videojet PrintPro. This non-contact system prints fixed or variable text, logos, bar codes or graphics on direct mail, catalogs, magazines, business forms and more. Each PrintPro unit contains two print heads and two ink management systems, enabling one PrintPro to print two spot colors at the same time.

See Part II of our IPG Graph Expo Report.

PRINT 01 will be held on September 6-13, 2001. For info visit: www.print01.com.

by Bob Neubauer