Eastman Kodak Co.

So much work had been flooding into one school district in-plant that the manager knew something had to be done. Test booklets, recruitment brochures, covers for student handbooks and many other items were testing the limits of the eight-employee in-plant’s equipment. To handle the work, the shop recently added a long list of new equipment—including a Xerox iGen3—and built a 3,000-square-foot addition to house it all. New on the shop floor are: • A Xerox iGen3 90 digital color press • A second Kodak Digimaster 9110 with an inline bookletmaker • A C.P. Bourg bookletmaker for the shop’s other 9110 • Two Konica Minolta

Last month’s TransPromo Summit in New York was certainly upbeat in its predictions for this new marketing technique. Keynote Speaker Barb Pellow, of InfoTrends, pointed to data predicting a 68 percent compound annual growth rate for transpromo over the next four years. Most of the speakers backed this up with case studies and research indicating that customers are receptive to reading relevant marketing messages on their statements and bills. The 300 vendors, marketers and printers in attendance were certainly primed to hear this. They received numerous tips on how to initiate and carry out transpromo campaigns. Dozens of vendors were on hand to discuss

As the Olympics wrap up in Beijing, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group (GCG) is preparing to power down the on-site production center (a.k.a. in-plant) it has operated throughout the event. The Official Imaging Sponsor of the Olympic Games, Kodak’s GCG operated a NexPress S2500 Digital Production Color Press with a fifth imaging unit to print photobooks, postcards, newsletters and poster-sized photo prints of key images from the games for display purposes. The NexPress also produced a Kodak Olympic Picture of the Day poster. Kodak Unified Workflow Solutions enabled variable data and static jobs to move seamlessly through the production center. Kodak technology also helped

GHENT, BELGIUM—August 18, 2008—The world’s graphic arts experts have come together to release v4 of the Ghent Workgroup specifications (http://www.gwg.org/GWGversion4.phtml) for automated workflow efficiency in the range of application and output environments. v4 of the specifications supports Adobe Acrobat 9 - which itself includes Universal Proof of Preflight developed by the Ghent Workgroup. Heading the list of additional enhancements to v4 is a check for missing glyphs, one of the leading causes of preflight and page production frustration. GWG’s specifications have become the international benchmark for PDF quality assurance. The free specifications are utilized by designers, prepress and printers all over

GHENT BELGIUM—July 21, 2008—Access to the comprehensive, best practice workflow specifications and resources are now easier than ever for printers, prepress professionals and designers as The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) unveils its newly streamlined, fast website, www.gwg.org. In addition the GWG, the international cross-section of PDF and print experts known for creating, testing, and releasing specifications and best practices that have been proven to make it easier for users to ensure PDF document quality across workflows around the world; announces newly elected officers to its executive committee. The www.gwg.org Website The latest version of the website has been completely revamped to address the expanding population

PITTSBURGH—July 17, 2008—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2008 InterTech Technology Awards. For over thirty years, recipients of this prestigious award have not only had a major impact on the graphic communications industry, but they also consistently prove to be successful in the commercial marketplace. The independent panel of judges deliberated over technology submissions ranging from consumables to MIS systems to large-format presses. A recurring theme with 2008 InterTech nominations was process efficiency; submissions contained solutions to automate production steps, provide in-line process control, and manage production. Great strides in technology were also

BY MOST accounts, the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference in Tunica, Miss., last month was one of the best ever. Attendance was up, enthusiasm was high and the presentations were engaging, informative and well attended. True, it was a virtual oven outside, with daily temps in the mid-90s, but the action was all indoors, from the big vendor fair on the first day, to the excitement of the awards banquet on the last. “The participants seemed more serious about finding out new information this year,” observed Glenda Miley, manager of Auburn University’s CopyCat operation. “I noticed that most of the

To reintroduce itself to the campus and show off its FSC chain-of-custody certificate, University of California-Berkeley Printing Services held a well attended open house last month that drew 165 visitors, including some from other campuses. Customer service representatives welcomed guests, handed out media kits and explained the in-plant’s commitment to customers. Visitors then proceeded right to a booth where they learned about the in-plant’s commitment to sustainability. They were shown the shop’s FSC chain-of-custody certificate, which it just earned from Scientific Certification Systems, an independent analyst. Customers learned that the paper products the in-plant uses are certified to have been harvested from

The two-employee in-plant at California State University-Fullerton was doing some remarkable digital color printing volumes on its Xerox DocuColor 12. In just one month last summer it produced 47,000 impressions. “We had the highest click count this side of the Mississippi,” laughs Terry Jarmon, manager of Print Services. Still, Jarmon knew a lot of digital jobs were bypassing the in-plant due to the Doc 12’s speed limitations. So after checking out all of the latest digital presses, the shop added a Kodak NexPress 2100 plus. “This is our first true digital press, and it is an amazing piece of equipment,” he says. The

DIGITAL PRINTING technology had its strongest showing yet at Drupa 2008, the world’s largest graphic arts trade show. The two-week event, which took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, last month, lived up to its billing as “The Ink-jet Drupa,” with “green printing” being the only challenger as a show theme, since virtually every exhibitor touched on it. About 391,000 visitors prowled the 19 halls of Drupa this year, (see sidebar about in-plants that attended), checking out the 1,971 exhibitors from 52 countries. Most of the attention, though, centered on the new digital printing devices, particularly those in the ink-jet category—though with prices ranging from $1