EFI, Jetrion Industrial Inkjet Systems

Variable Data Printing has become a buzz word. But how do you sell it to customers? What does it take to provide VDP? And how can your department profit from it? By Vic Nathan Barkin When taking aim with a rifle, the smaller the target you aim for, the more likely you are to hit that target. The very same concept can be applied to personalized variable data printing. The VDP process is much more than just printing with new technology, though; it's a fundamental change in how printing is perceived, utilized and produced. A musket in the time of the American Revolution

More than 38,000 people attended this year's expo. Here's a glimpse of what they saw. By Bob Neubauer Integration was the big theme of this year's Graph Expo and Converting Expo. Individual manufacturers like Heidelberg and MAN Roland showcased computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) technologies connecting prepress, press and finishing. And vendor partnerships, both small and multi-faceted, foreshadowed future integration between multiple vendors' systems. Notably, at a large press conference touting the Networked Graphic Production initiative, 27 companies proclaimed their commitment to defining, developing, testing and delivering JDF-based integration between their systems. They plan to define a standardized set of interfaces to create plug-and-play solutions

Higher-than-expected turnout made Graph Expo 2002 an exciting four days for both vendors and attendees. By Mike Llewellyn &012;and Bob Neubauer Graph Expo was back in action last month in Chicago, and from the look of the 380,000-square-foot show floor, the printing industry may soon spring back, as well. Close to 38,000 people attended the show, including buyers representing over 9,600 companies. After last year's big-ticket event, Print '01, was brought to a halt by the September 11 terrorist attacks, it was reassuring to see crowded exhibit areas and overflowing equipment demos this year. David Poulos, director of communications for the event's organizer,

Scanning services are one new way to win back revenue nixed by the Web. Find how how other managers are making scanning work for them. By MIKE LLEWELLYN A natural disaster showed Newell Fogelberg just how important scanning can be to his customers. Three years ago, Fogelberg, director of Imaging Services for the University of Colorado at Boulder, received a call from the library at nearby Colorado State University. There had been a flood and many of the library's books had been ruined. "They asked for our help," he says. "So we scanned the damaged pages, cleaned them up, cut out the

Though tragedy cast a pall over the show's final days, most of Print 01 was filled with exciting product introductions and surprising merger news. by Bob Neubauer Even the biggest industry news at Print 01 was overshadowed by the horrific destruction of the World Trade Center, which stunned attendees as they prepared for the sixth day of the show. The resulting shock and cancelled travel plans drastically slowed trade show traffic on the show's final three days. Many vendors even abandoned their booths. Prior to that tragic Tuesday, the largest graphic arts trade show of the year had been a place of

The print world certainly has gone digital, and On Demand was the place to see the latest—from digital printing to Internet-based job management. If you haven't left your in-plant in a while, the recent On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing Strategy Conference and Exposition would have made your head spin. Judging by the abundance of digital technology packed into New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, it was clear that the printing industry's move into the digital world is accelerating rapidly. "The world is now moving at Internet time, so fast that the landscape is just a blur," noted Charles Pesko, managing

Xerox has announced several new products designed to fill the gaps in speed not covered by its current offerings. Judging by the number of new digital printing devices introduced or hinted at during last month's On Demand conference in New York, it's clear that industry vendors see a big future in digital printing—and digital color, in particular. One of those vendors, Xerox, has been on the cutting edge for years. Its DocuTech forever changed the way black-and-white documents were produced. Likewise its DocuColor 40 made production digital color more viable for in-plants. Now Xerox has stepped forward again with new developments in

The DocuTech is no longer the only choice when it comes to high-speed copying. New players in the market are now vying for customers. Equipment choices used to be clear-cut for in-plant managers: High-quality and long-run reproduction went on an offset press. Shorter-run, quick and dirty black-and-white work went on a duplicator. Copiers were low-end, low-quality devices. Not anymore. Today's crop of black-and-white copiers offer true 600x600 dpi resolution, speeds of up to 85 ppm (with tandem or cluster printing magnifying that 12-fold) and, through digital technology, networking, printing, scanning and advanced finishing. For instance, Ricoh's new digital Aficio 850 offers 85-ppm, 600-dpi output

Wide-format printers bring a new dimension to your in-plant and allow you to offer customers jobs that are larger than life. IMAGINE GIVING your customers the option of making anything they want into a poster. Now think about the cost savings you could pass onto them by doing it in-house—not to mention the increased exposure and business for your shop. Many in-plant managers already have made this a reality, and are reaping the benefits of providing wide-format printing in-house. "In addition to the cost savings from not having to outsource, the in-plant gains greater control over the final print," says Kelli Ramirez, director of

The show was built around a trio of themes: personalization, the Internet and outsourcing. This last theme, however, may have proved a bit overbearing. As Barbara Pellow put it in the opening minutes of the 1998 On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing Strategy Conference and Exposition, "The digital opportunity isn't coming; it's here, it's today and it's now." Certainly that was not headline news to printers, who have been hearing about—and practicing—printing on demand for years. Nevertheless, more than 18,700 people jammed the Javits Convention Center in New York recently to learn about the latest print-on-demand developments. Pello's consulting firm, CAP Ventures, the