Digital Printing-Toner - Cut Sheet (Color)

THE MEANS for companies to communicate with customers expand on an almost daily basis. The Internet, cell phones, movie theaters, kiosks and dozens of other outlets have joined print, radio and TV as popular methods of delivering ads and messages. The market research firm Yankelovich quantifies the impact of the growing array of communication methods this way: consumers encounter between 3,500 and 5,000 marketing messages a day, or three to four times as many as in the 1970s. In this environment, conventional wisdom would suggest that no single medium would prevail…and certainly not the one that has been around the longest. In fact,

MARKETERS RECOGNIZE that smaller, more targeted campaigns achieve a greater return on investment. Successful in-plants are aiding the marketing process by providing both versioning and personalization. • Versioning is when a similar piece is printed for multiple audiences. For example: a four-page company newsletter for a large corporation where the inside content is common to all versions but the front cover contains specific information for each location or division. Using versioning, each group receives relevant news about their company and job. • Personalization takes this a step further: each piece is customized for the recipient. Simple personalization often includes the person’s name and a personal URL

ANY ATTEMPT to predict the course of technological development amounts to an educated guess at best. (After all, experts once said that Adobe Photoshop and the Mac would never be acceptable for professional graphic arts applications.) That said, there’s a buzz in the air about three technological developments: printed electronics, security printing and lenticular. Each is still a work in process to a degree, so the exact size and nature of their market potential is yet to be determined. The term “printed electronics” (printing of conductive inks) is being applied to such a range of processes and applications that it’s hard to make

THE IN-PLANT market is probably the most underestimated user of digital printing technology. The influence of the in-plant is apparent from an examination of the segments where on-demand devices are being placed. The in-plant market drove the adoption of black-and-white digital printing and currently accounts for 40 percent of high-speed monochrome print-on-demand cut-sheet installations. The in-plants are also leading the color charge, accounting for 30 percent of placements in the 24-59 pages per minute (ppm) production color segment and 20 percent of the convenience color copier/printers and production color devices in excess of 60 ppm. Just like the entire print-for-pay market, in-plants are

In 2000, Illinois State University Printing Services purchased a Heidelberg QM DI 46 direct imaging offset press. Since then, digital printing has taken off. In response, the in-plant recently invested in this growing technology too. “The growth of full-color printing was exponential,” says David Nelson, director of Printing Services. “Now, run lengths are getting shorter, turnaround times more demanding, and customers have expressed interest in variable data printing. A digital press is more efficient because it does not require negatives, plates, makeready and lots of time. Time is money...It was time to decide.” After much re-search, the in-plant purchased an HP Indigo 5000 to aid the

TRUMBULL, CT—October 11, 2007—Océ, a global leader in digital document management and delivery, will showcase inline printing and finishing workflow at the MBO America Innovation Days Open House November 7-9 (www.mboamerica.com). The annual event at MBO America facilities in Westampton, NJ gives graphic arts, commercial printers, and other production customers a close-up look at Océ solutions for finishing flexibility. The Océ VarioStream 7650cx continuous feed printer will be paired with MBO finishing equipment for an unwind-to-cut-to-fold configuration that improves productivity. MBO America has hosted or co-hosted an annual Open House for nearly a decade, and it provides a valuable opportunity for end users

Temple University Duplicating Services recently upgraded to a Xerox DocuColor 5000, part of a technology upgrade that also brought Xerox 4110 and Nuevera 120 black-and-white printers to the Philadelphia university. “We had pushed a DocuColor 3535 to its limit and established a reputation for quick turnaround,” says Maury Kane, director. “We could easily justify adding the new color unit with only moderate increase in volume.” The 5000 has allowed the 10-employee in-plant to take on a variety of color projects previously out of its scope. Because of the “significant” improvement in quality, Kane says Temple’s Creative Services group plans to send his shop more work. “It

When the time came to move into digital printing, Gospel Publishing House went all out. The 255-employee in-plant for the Assemblies of God has invested thousands of dollars in new digital color and black-and-white printing and finishing equipment for its Springfield, Mo., facility. “We just needed this additional niche to be more of a multi-purpose print operation,” explains Arlyn Pember, general manager. The centerpiece of the installation is a new Kodak NexPress 2100 plus with a fifth color and a NexGlosser unit. “The clients, they love the color,” comments Jon Harrell, account consultant manager. “They really like the gloss.” Also new is a Kodak Digimaster EX138

Eastman Kodak’s board of directors has promoted Philip J. Faraci to President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for the day-to-day management of Kodak’s two major digital businesses: the Consumer Digital Imaging Group (CDG) and the Graphic Communications Group (GCG). Faraci, 52, had been President of CDG and a Senior Vice President of the company. He assumes responsibility for GCG from James T. Langley, 57, who remains a Senior Vice President until his departure at the end of the year. Since the company is eliminating the position of president for both CDG and GCG, Langley will leave Kodak once he completes the transition of his responsibilities

OUR IN-PLANT just made a big change in the way it does business: we sprang for “Big Color”—a digital color press. Over an eight-month period we considered the Canon C7000VP, the HP Indigo 3050, the IKON CPP 650, the Kodak NexPress 2100, the Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6500, Océ’s CPS900 and CS650 Pro, and Xerox’s DocuColor 6060, 7000 and 260. Many of you are considering a similar acquisition, so I will share some aspects of our experience with you.