Xplor-GOA Partnership A Good Fit?

Xplor joined up with Graphics of the Americas last month to bolster its conference. Did it work?

By Bob Neubauer

AFTER WATCHING attendance at its conference dwindle since the booming days of the '90s, Xplor International teamed up with the successful Graphics of the Americas (GOA) conference this year, putting on a joint event last month in Miami Beach that drew about 24,500 attendees, according to organizers.

The partnership seems to have been a wise move, as it freed Xplor from the task of organizing a trade show, allowing it to concentrate on its educational mission. GOA, in turn, got a host of new attendees—14 percent more than in 2005.

Whether the Xplor crowd of technical folks meshed well with the largely Latin American congregation at GOA depends on whom you ask. Some Xplorers were pleased to find more sessions on graphics and design topics than in the past. Others felt many of the 490 exhibits at this traditionally offset-heavy show did not have much to do with their interests in transactional printing and variable data.

Still, digital technologies were all over the show floor, perhaps more so than in previous years. Xerox, Kodak Versamark, HP, Xeikon, IBM, Nipson and others were showing off their latest digital printing gear, and plenty of software vendors were in evidence.

Freed from trade show detail, Xplor seems to have thrown all its energies into its educational program. More than 250 sessions were available, covering PDF, JDF, XML, digital prepress, design, variable data and more. About 1,700 people attended the four-day conference, according to Xplor—a great turnout.

Perhaps because of the numerous choices, attendance at individual sessions never seemed heavy. Sessions were very informative, though, and drew rave reviews from Xplorers. If the merger with GOA allows Xplor to focus even more closely on its sessions, this could help the association build attendance back up to previous levels. Already Xplor 2006 topped attendance at the previous two Xplors.

In-plants: Make Your Customers Happy

One conference speaker, Howie Fenton, led a whole series of sessions geared toward in-plants. Companies are looking for ways to cut costs, leaving in-plants in a precarious position, said Fenton, senior technical consultant for the National Association for Printing Leadership. To ensure their futures, in-plants must focus on making customers happy by being very convenient for them.

"The easiest way to do it is to be convenient online," he said, referring to online ordering systems and offering PDF proofs.

"If you want to survive, the future is all about adding value," he said at another session, mentioning variable data printing, cross media services and one-stop shopping as ideas.

Fenton made this point again when he debated prepress guru Taz Tally on the future of print in one end-of-day session: "Print is never going to die, but you'll have to become more value-added," he said.

Tally disagreed. Print will die, he insisted. Future generations will read from flexible digital displays that will offer higher resolutions than print and will be as ergonomically comfortable as a book, he insisted. Fenton, however, believes these new technologies will coexist with print.

New Technologies, New Markets

One message from the show was that, with bills and statements increasingly doubling as marketing materials, transactional printers have to become more savvy with color and variable graphics. Several vendors showed printing systems geared toward both transactional and marketing output.

There was plenty of equipment on display at GOA's 490 booths. In-Plant Graphics took a look at some of it.

On the Front End

To prepare for the integration of high-quality full-color print with detailed personal data, Xeikon introduced Xeikon IPDS: a front-end capable of handling typical data centre as well as mainstream graphic arts workflows. It was demonstrated with a Xeikon 5000 full-color digital print engine.

IBM debuted its entry-level Info-print ProcessDirector Software, a customizable output process management system that automates many tasks. It is designed to improve the management of output environments, and provides advanced print/mail management and job-level workflow control.

Böwe Bell + Howell demonstrated new Böwe One software, which integrates leading softwares into a modular, scalable solution to allow customers to manager all aspects of their mail production, from data manipulation and postage management to enterprise workflow management.

Computer-to-plate Technology

Xanté showed off its Impressia metal platesetter, which outputs 60 plates an hour at a cost of just $2.30 per plate. The maximum plate size is 13.38x19.87˝.

RIPit Computer Corp. displayed its four-up SpeedSetter VM4, a violet metal, internal drum platesetter. It is offered as a turnkey system with RIPit's OpenRIP Symphony core RIP. It images violet plates from 91⁄2x15˝ to 25x30˝.

Presstek had its Vector TX52 thermal platesetter at the show, running Freedom chemistry-free plates. It outputs 20 plates per hour using Presstek's ThinDrum and SureFire technology.

ECRM Imaging Systems showed its four-page MAKO System4x. It features ECRM's new NexGen series optics enabling printers to image violet CTP plates, including processless plates when available.

Digital Printing

A company named Degrava Systems, in partnership with Oki Data, unveiled a web-fed toner-based color printer called the DP-8500, designed for printing labels, tags and forms. It runs at 5˝ per second, printing 600x600-dpi images. It boasts advanced RIP and color management technology. No color calibration or registration is required.

Kodak showed its Versamark VT3000 ink-jet system, running in a roll-to-fanfold configuration. It prints variable data output at up to 500 feet per minute with a print width of 17.92˝.

In addition to its HP Indigo ws4050 digital label press and HP Indigo press 5000 (now with double the speed for monochrome printing), Hewlett Packard showed for the first time its new HP Designjet 8000s and 9000s large-format printers for the outdoor graphics market.

Mixed in with production printers like the DocuTech 6180, the DocuColor 250 and the 4110 copier printer, Xerox debuted a wide-format printer aimed at architectural, engineering and construction companies. The Xerox 6204 prints four black-and-white "D-size" (24x36˝) images per minute at 600x600 dpi. Its compact size makes it easy to fit into a print shop, and its touch-screen interface and integrated scanner make it easy to use.

RISO showed its two-color MZ790 printer-duplicator, capable of printing up to 150 ppm. RISO's 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. Combination Print allows the user to split the print run, with one part in a single color, and the other in two colors.

Offset Printing

Hamada demonstrated its new B452A Mark II, a computer operated, automated press. It has a vacuum register board, an Ultrasonic Double Detector, extended delivery with the addition of a fourth gripper bar and a stream feeder that can be easily changed over to single sheet feeding. The Mark II will accept a sheet thickness of .016˝, making it easier to run envelopes.

Presstek showed the KPG DirectPress 5634 DI press, with imaging times of 41⁄2 minutes for a two-page, four-color job. With fully automated makeready in less than 10 minutes, it prints up to 7,000 sheets (13x18˝) per hour.

xpedx showed a 23x29˝ six-up Ryobi 750 offset press. Able to run a range of paper, from lightweight to card stock, the press has a semiautomatic plate changer, anilox coating, fanout clamp, precise helical cut gears and durable cylinder bearings.

Bindery and Finishing

Duplo highlighted its DC-645 slitter/cutter/creaser. The heavy-duty machine can read printed images and automatically adjust and compensate for image shift. It slits, cuts and creases in one pass and can manage substrates up to 310 gsm. It uses an ultrasonic double-detection sensor.

Gluing Machinery & Systems was demonstrating its microglue 204 controller on a Baum Flexifold folder. Sheets were folded and then sealed with dots of glue, eliminating the need for tabbing. Model 204 offers two separate channels, each capable of controlling four applicator valves.

MBM showed its 306A friction folder, which is preprogrammed with six standard folds and stores up to 18 custom folds. It automatically senses and displays paper size. Four-roller friction feeding ensures precise folds.

MBO's B21 buckle folding machine was inline with a palamides gamma automatic bundler. The B21 has a new pile feeder, developed for the 20x28˝ size, as well as microprocessor control to reduce setup times.

Morgana Systems showed its Digi-Fold creasing and folding machine, which uses a new folding method that reduces marking or scratching. It performs creasing and folding in one pass and can also act as a creaser alone. It handles sheet sizes up to 13x251⁄2˝.

Spiel Associates showed a prototype of its new COILMASTER JR. tabletop automatic plastic coil binder. It will insert coil into a book from the first hole onwards and then cut and crimp automatically. It can bind books between 8mm and 22mm automatically at speeds of up to 500 books per hour.

Standard Finishing Systems was running a Standard Horizon AFC-544AKT floor model folder. It offers advanced setup automation through a user-friendly color touch-screen control panel, which displays fold formats and sheet sizes for easy selection. Up to one hundred different job settings can be stored in memory, and automated setup can be accomplished in 14 seconds. The AFC-546AKT can handle a maximum sheet length of 43.3˝ at speeds up to 35,000 sheets per hour.

Shop Management

Avanti demonstrated its eAccess system, which provides a secure Internet-based environment for customers to communicate in real-time. It is ideal for requests for quote (RFQs), placing orders, online proofing, job status and uploading files for print.

Rochester Software Associates debuted enhancements to WebCRD, its portal to the print center. Improvements include new production management tools that make it easy to view job details. Print jobs may now be split or grouped and printed by recipient or location. New AutoFlow ensures that user-specified ticketing options determine which printer a document is routed to.

Monitoring and Report Distribution

Lasermax Roll Systems announced availability of the Web Vision digital print quality monitor, which uses high-resolution cameras to scan in-line digitally printed bills, statements and documents. It was shown in-line with an RS Roll to Roll System.

Barr Systems debuted Rover, a report distribution and management application. It offers secure online report archival, distribution and analytics.