From the Editor: In-plants Aplenty at PRINT 17

In-plants packed the room for an IPG lunch session on print automation

PRINT 17 was a whirlwind of activity for me. My schedule was jam packed with in-plant breakfasts and luncheons, vendor press conferences, video shoots, meetings, booth tours and evening events. In short, it was just business as usual for me at the busy Chicago show — with one difference: there seemed to be even more in-plant activities than usual this year.

IPG hosted our usual in-plant breakfast and lunch sessions, both of which drew capacity crowds. (In fact, we ran out of food at the luncheon, to the dismay of a couple of late arrivals. But the strong in-plant turnout sure made us happy.) The In-plant Printing and Mailing Association stepped up its activities this year, adding a seminar on Sunday and a reception Monday afternoon, in addition to its customary in-plant luncheon.

One of several in-plant panels at PRINT 17. From left Laura Lockett (Sacramento State), Jimmy Vainstein (World Bank) and Amanda Bronowski (UPMC) with Elisha Kasinskas (RSA).

Plus the PRINT 17 seminar program featured a number of in-plant sessions, with titles like “Finding the In-plant on the USS Enterprise” and “In-plant Service Providers: The State of the Industry.” One of the better show seminars featured a panel of in-plant managers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, California State University, Sacramento and The World Bank Group talking about their “bold moves for the future.”

In-plant attendance at PRINT 17 seemed higher than usual too. Not only were managers in abundance at the sessions and luncheons, I could barely cross the show floor without running into a manager. With most of them I only had time for a quick hello and a brief conversation about the equipment or software they were investigating. Still, it was nice to touch base with so many managers and to know they’re looking at new technology, with plans to bring some of it home.

IPG's Canon-sponsored breakfast session on security packed the room.

Two of the sessions that managers seemed to get a lot out of were IPG’s breakfast presentation on production printing in today’s security-sensitive world, and our lunch session on document automation at Blue Valley Schools’ in-plant. The first topic was something new for this group. Speakers detailed the undetected vulnerabilities that exist within many companies and how hackers exploit them. We learned that nearly 80% of all hacks come from within; either an employee inadvertently introduces a virus into the computer system or it is introduced intentionally by an internal force.

For an in-plant, which receives new files constantly from a variety of sources, the risk of being an unwitting accomplice in a malware attack is uncomfortably high. (Accepted any customer USB drives lately?) In-plants were urged by the speakers to create a risk-management strategy that includes training and staff education, along with a disaster recovery plan.

Blue Valley’s Jason Gilliam and Paul Ackerman (seated) with Elisha Kasinskas of RSA (at podium)

The IPG luncheon on document automation dished up an impressive in-plant success story. Managers from Blue Valley Schools’ in-plant detailed how they used software to automate document production so that no one touches documents until printed and bound copies are ready to be picked up from the output trays. This enabled the shop to handle an increase in printing without adding staff positions, and saved the district $1.4 million in printing costs.

Blue Valley Schools was one of several in-plants whose success stories were highlighted at PRINT 17. It was great to see in-plants getting the respect they deserve at the show. You can be sure we’ll be covering these stories in the months ahead.

Here are some scenes from the show floor:

Visitors view samples printed with the new Xerox White Dry Ink for the iGen 5’s fifth print station, for which Xerox received a Must See ‘Ems award. Its inkjet presses, like the Xerox Brenva HD and the Trivor 2400 also drew a lot of interest.

Challenge showed its CMT 330TC ­three-knife trimmer which can trim landscape-format books up to 12.1x12.9˝ and down to 5.875x3.937˝. It boasts a 10.5˝ color touch screen display, an easy-to-use operator interface and smart diagnostic assistance.

On display for the first time in the U.S. was the Ricoh Pro VC40000 continuous-feed inkjet press, which won a 2017 Must See ‘Ems award. It uses Ricoh’s variable drop-size technology, with three sizes of drop for any pixel, giving 600-dpi applications a perceived resolution of 1,200 dpi.

The centerpiece of the Riso booth was the new T2 cut-sheet inkjet printer, shown as a prototype at Graph Expo 2016. The high-speed duplexing device, which utilizes a pair of Riso ComColor GP printers, can print up to 320 color impressions per minute. The T2 is set for availability in the spring.

The new Standard Horizon StitchLiner Mark III features expanded booklet size and increased productivity up to 6,000 booklets per hour. The system can produce a wider range of applications, including landscape-size booklets, 12x12˝ calendars and pocket booklets as small as 4.5x3.5˝.

Konica Minolta was honored with a Must See ‘Ems award for its IQ-501 Intelligent Quality Optimizer, demonstrated here on a 100-ppm AccurioPress C6100. The IQ-501 is an automated process management system that uses an inline spectrophotometer and two synchronized scanners to read output and maintain internal calibration.

Duplo demonstrated cost-effective print embellishment with its new DDC-810 digital spot UV coater, which utilizes 600x600-dpi inkjet technology, UV lamp curing and camera image registration to deliver production output with texture and depth by applying a gloss varnish to defined areas of the substrate. The DDC-810 handles maximum paper sizes of 14.33x29.13˝ up to 450 gsm.

Canon touted its next generation iQuarius Performance Inks, an update to the Océ VarioPrint i-series production inkjet platform that is designed to open up graphical applications on offset-coated media.