Eastman Kodak Co.

Despite the sour economy, xpedx is investing. That was the message the company wanted to send when it showed off its new Cincinnati-area print technology center to graphic arts journalists last month. It is reportedly the only U.S. center demonstrating equipment from a variety of manufacturers.

According to IPG data, almost 22 percent of in-plants have an imagesetter. Until last month, one of them was the University of Mississippi, which has been churning out film with a Screen Katana for years. The main reason the shop stuck with it? “It was paid for,” laughs Tony Seaman, director of Printing and Graphic Services at the Oxford, Miss., shop. 

WE RECEIVED 420 entries this year for In-Print 2009, the only printing contest exclusively for in-plants. Sponsored by both IPG and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA), In-Print was judged again this year in the Salt Lake City offices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Printing Division.

PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative, and DICE, the Digital Imaging Customer Exchange, announced today that the two member-supported organizations will merge and move forward under the management of Caslon, a PODi Affiliate. When the merger is completed, members will enjoy the full resources of both of these prominent digital print industry organizations.

ON MAY 29, 2008, an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal called “Ink-jet Printers Get Set to Turn the Page.” According to author William Bulkeley, “Ink-jet printing technology that dominates inexpensive desktop printers is about to enter the world of commercial print shops. If the new technology succeeds, it could spell trouble for Xerox Corp. and lead to expanded business for Eastman Kodak Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., Ricoh Co. and other ink-jet makers.” That article, published on the first day of Drupa, as well as statements from industry experts Andy Tribute and Frank Romano, created a buzz suggesting that ink-jet printing would displace offset and toner-based printing as the dominant printing technologies. I’d like to discuss the facts behind the buzz and offer some conclusions about the real state of competing technologies.

In a little over a month from now, the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) will hold its 50th conference. On this momentous occasion, it’s only fitting that this event will take place in the home town of two of the association’s main supporters. That town is Rochester, N.Y., and those supporters are, of course, Kodak and Xerox. IPMA plans to visit both companies’ facilities as part of a packed agenda of events.

“OUR PRIMARY focus really is color,” declares Dallas Johnson, from his office at the University of California-Riverside. “We’ve moved away from black and white. We saw that as sort of a dying market…still see it that way.” With 35 years of printing experience to guide him, Johnson thinks he has a pretty good idea where the industry is headed. So when the director of Service Enterprises decided to move his in-plant away from the “dying” monochrome market and into the more promising world of color printing, he did it in a big way.

Kodak announced today that it will consolidate its plate manufacturing operations in the United States. As a result of this consolidation, Kodak will close its plate manufacturing operations in Windsor, CO, by the end of 2009 and consolidate all U.S. plate manufacturing operations at its Columbus, GA, plate manufacturing facility.

If you were planning to attend the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association's conference in June but haven't gotten around to registering yet, you have just over a week to do it and save $300. The group extended its early bird discount to March 15.

This year's event, to be held in Rochester, N.Y., is set to be a big one, with seven keynote, 28 sessions, a two-day vendor fair, tours of Kodak and Xerox facilities and an awards banquet.

Sustainability starts at the corporate level. Several vendors are taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, use alternative energy sources, recycle and more.