Heidelberg

Figment Designs, a Miami-based advertising agency, has started a new in-plant. Two months ago the company purchased a new five-color Heidelberg Printmaster PM 52 along with a Prosetter 52 violet CTP device, and hired three employees to run the equipment. After exceeding $400,000 a year in printing costs, co-owner Jeff Pankey said the shop brought printing in-house to control costs and better meet deadlines. “You want your clients to rely on your deadlines and promises; therefore, you have to have equipment you can rely on,” Pankey says. So far, the results have been excellent. Since installing the new gear, profitability has soared to 12-18 percent,

More than 125 in-plant managers attended the main in-plant event of the year, the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference. IPG was there.

THE GRAPHIC arts market saw the need for industry standards and understood the growing XML (Extensible Markup Language) development when it supported the decision to create CIP4 (www.cip4.org). This association includes major equipment and software vendors in prepress, digital printing, offset and finishing. CIP4 created the Job Definition Format (JDF) as a standard way to exchange and understand job information. This process can begin to empower creative and production staffs to support an efficient manufacturing process. Tremendous efficiency can result from understanding the interdependence of each department. We largely still depend on paper-based processes that are isolated and disconnected with our current way

A glimpse of the excitement and bustle of Graph Expo, with interviews of some of the in-plant managers in attendance.

THE MARKETING budget in corporate America typically falls victim to intense scrutiny. In a results-driven age, the chief marketing officer feels intense pressure from executive officers, boards, shareholders and customers to deliver measurable results. As a consequence, marketers are always asking questions like these: • How can I be as efficient as possible in my marketing efforts so I don’t waste time and money? • How can I make sales personnel more productive in prospecting and closing business? • How do I keep the sales funnel filled with qualified leads? • How can I more effectively get clients to come to me instead of

Incoming orders 13 percent up on previous year Sales six percent up at 1.628 billion Euro Considerable improvement in result of operating activities at 118 million Euro Outlook for full financial year 2006/2007 confirmed HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—11/07/2006—For the first six months of financial year 2006/2007 (April 1 to September 30, 2006), Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) increased its sales and earnings over the previous year. Heidelberg Group sales in the first six months were six percent up on the comparable figure for the previous year at 1.628 billion Euro (previous year: 1.529 billion Euro). Incoming orders in the period climbed 13 percent to 1.996 billion Euro

More coverage of Graph Expo product introductions . IT MAY be telling that the majority of presses in operation around the show floor of Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2006 last month were of the digital variety. Offset units were conspicuous in their absence. Digital presses have become part of the commercial printing mainstream, rather than being a specialty product segment or market niche. To emphasize this, Hewlett-Packard shared results from an InfoTrends study that surveyed a sampling of digital color printing buyers and producers. The research firm found that the percentage of color printing jobs with a run length

Sure, “old and reliable” equipment has its advantages. But with nearly 30 years behind it, the saddle stitcher at the Texas State Senate’s in-plant had seen better days. “It finally got to the point where I couldn’t get any more parts for it,” says Robert Gomez, director of publications at the 18-employee in-plant. So he recently added a new Rosback 201CD stitcher with two quick-clamping stitch heads, two head alignment gauges, a book sensor and a stagger stitch feature. It can output between 1,800 and 5,000 books per hour, with a maximum size of 12x15˝. The books and brochures being produced on the stitcher are of

ONE OF an in-plant manager’s greatest fears is a shutdown. Walter Leonard has felt the power of that threat three times during his tenure with Sonoma State University General Services. But proving its worth has kept him managing for 17 years. Born and raised in San Francisco, Leonard attended a local college until his father passed away, then he went to work full time. He took a position with San Francisco-based distributor WJ Lancaster. Starting as a clerk in the mail room, he occasionally filled in for the duplicator operator. The company eventually purchased a MultiLith 1250 and he started doing full-color work. Leonard grew

To drive home its conference theme, “Digital in Demand,” the National Government Publishing Association held its most recent meeting in Rochester, N.Y., a stronghold of graphic arts technology. As the home of Xerox, Kodak and the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester proved an ideal location. Each of those organizations hosted the NGPA group for half a day, providing seminars, tours and a close look at the latest digital equipment. The three-day conference drew 34 government attendees from 14 states. Each morning kicked off with educational sessions covering such topics as CTP, shop management software and marketing. The afternoon tours followed. In