BCC Software

It’s hard to improve on a winning formula, but EFI has continued to raise the bar for its Connect users’ conference as illustrated by last month’s 15th annual event in Las Vegas. Approximately 1,500 attendees—1,000 of them EFI customers from 25 different countries (a 20 percent jump from the previous year)—gathered at The Wynn Las Vegas for four days of educational and breakout sessions, plus several keynote presentations.

In addition to spinning off BCC Software, a former business unit, as an independent, stand-alone company owned by its current shareholders, Bell and Howell also completed recapitalization, retiring its outstanding third-party debt. Versa Capital Management now holds separate controlling majority interests in both Bell and Howell and BCC.

THE AIIM/On Demand Conference and Exposition is returning to IPG’s home town of Philadelphia next month, taking place April 20-22. Some 10,000 people are expected to attend the three-day show, with hundreds of vendors planning to exhibit. To whet your appetite, IPG asked some key vendors what they plan to showcase at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

At the awards ceremony this afternoon at the On Demand Conference & Expo, InfoTrends, a leading market research and consulting firm in the digital imaging and document solutions industry, announced the winners of the fourth annual On Demand Best of Show Awards program.

THE LATEST USPS regulations may have inspired visitors to Graph Expo to be more aggressive in their purchasing habits. Across the show floor, mailing equipment vendors reported a lot of interest in their wares. Here’s a look at what was available. BCC Software demonstrated its Mail Manager 2010 mail preparation solution. It is USPS-certified to deliver top encoding and presorting performance, and is fully compliant with all recent Postal Service rate and regulation changes. A new 2010 premium option, the deluxe automation product Job Manager, was demonstrated at the show. It uses watchfolder technology to provide unattended mail processing operations. Böwe Bell + Howell highlighted its

NOT EVERY in-plant offers mailing services for its clients. Prior to 2005, for example, the in-plant at The Stelter Co.—a marketing firm in Des Moines that works with non-profit organizations—simply shipped printed material back to clients or handed it over to an outside vendor. But Dan Manderscheid, who joined Stelter in October 2004 as a mail processing specialist, says that outsourcing mail didn’t make sense given that the company was otherwise a one-stop shop with artists, Web designers, editors, legal counsel, marketing professionals and print operators on staff. In January 2005, Stelter purchased an inserter, two address printers and Pitney Bowes SmartMailer software,

In recent months, new products and capabilities have made mail imaging equipment even more useful to in-plants. By Debora Toth Digital mail imaging systems are increasingly being asked to print on various substrates and contend with errors in the mail stream. Recently introduced products are handling these challenges. "There is a growing trend of printing direct mailing and fulfillment pieces on coated stocks," says Ron Gilboa, vice president of marketing at Kodak Versamark. "Our DS4350 UV printing system has the ability to print on multiple substrates, making it an effective printing solution." The DS4350 ink-jet printing system is bundled with a UV curing ink

A year after Drupa, what new surprises do graphic arts vendors have in store for in-plants? Here's an advanced look. In-plant managers eager to see the latest graphic arts technologies can't do much better than Print 05 & Converting 05. Held in Chicago once every four years, this is the printing industry's main event. Larger than last year's Graph Expo show, Print 05 will feature nearly 800 exhibits covering more than 725,000 square feet of floor space. To help in-plants prepare, many of the industry's key vendors offered a peak at the products they plan to display in Chicago. Offset Boasting

The latest envelope printing and inserting equipment has a focus on variable data printing. But is this right for your in-plant? By Kristen E. Monte The in-plant staff is now more frequently made responsible for overseeing the mail operation too," says Kerri Renshaw, marketing manager at Gunther International. In fact, IPG data shows that 50 percent of in-plants now have mailing responsibilities. As a result, envelope printing and inserting systems are becoming key components of many in-plants. But as those in-plants produce more variable data jobs, what effect is that having on the mail operation? "Organizations that invest time and money to personalize

Discover the benefits of offering printing and mailing all under one roof. Read what these managers say about running a successful mailing operation. We've all heard the familiar (though unofficial) United States Postal Service (USPS) slogan: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." This creed also seems to be the testament of many in-plant managers who offer mail services, in addition to printing, to their parent companies and organizations. In recent years, however, there's been a change in the way mail is handled and distributed. Today, having a