Hewlett-Packard

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

Technology mingled with history as the AIIM On Demand Conference and Exposition brought the latest digital printing technologies to Philadelphia. By Bob Neubauer Prior to this year's AIIM On Demand Conference and Exposition, vendors had wondered whether attendees would follow the show from New York, where it took place for the past decade, to Philadelphia. But after watching more than 21,000 visitors flood the show's two floors' worth of exhibits in May, few left disappointed. True, last year's showing of 25,903 attendees topped this year's crowd. But as locations go, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, smack in the heart of downtown Philadelphia, beat New

Hobby Lobby's in-plant has gone from a one-man, one-press shop when it started five years ago, to 14 employees, four presses and a new HP Indigo digital color press. By Bob Neubauer Brad Smith can still remember the good old days. "It started off small—one press, one person," recalls Smith, offset printing manager for Hobby Lobby's Oklahoma City-based in-plant. But he doesn't have to think back very far to summon up this memory. It was the fall of 1999, five short years ago, when he was hired to run the new Hamada 234 the company had ordered to print its forms. Having spent 12

Installing CTP means rethinking your proofing methods. When the State of Washington Department of Printing decided to add a Creo Lotem 800 II Quantum platesetter last fall, the in-plant had to start thinking about proofing in a whole new way. Without film, its DuPont Waterproof system wouldn't be much use. So the in-plant added Creo's Iris4Print ink-jet proofer, with an eye toward upgrading to the new Creo Veris 1,500x1,500-dpi proofer this spring, according to Dan Maygra, interim prepress manager. The same thing happened at Arkansas State University Printing Services when it added a Heidelberg ProSetter 74 in September. The in-plant went with

HP chose a sunny, seaside hamlet in Spain to show off its latest printers, a range of products that essentially completes its graphic arts portfolio. By Bob Neubauer As the sun rose over the nearby Mediterranean Sea, graphic arts journalists from all over the world gathered recently in a hotel auditorium in the coastal village of Sitges, Spain, to hear about Hewlett-Packard's latest technology innovations. With new digital offerings ranging from wide-format printers to high-volume, commercial-quality color presses (including the first commercial press co-developed by HP and Indigo), HP now says it has the industry's most complete graphic arts portfolio. HP couldn't have

Like anyone who's learned to play guitar, I spent part of my youth daydreaming about being up on stage, hitting the power chords and thrilling the wildly cheering crowds. Though the rock star part has mostly eluded me, I do find myself on stage now and then as editor of IPG—though my "performances" are far less musical than I had once imagined, and the cheering only comes after I finally shut up. Still, I enjoy taking the stage once in a while at industry conferences, to sing the praises of in-plants, so to speak. One highlight of these events is meeting the in-plant

NRF Distributors' Graphics & Printing Department has moved into a new and larger facility in Augusta, Maine. By Bob Neubauer NRF Distributors didn't become New England's largest flooring distributor by being slow. When its suppliers decide to have a sale, NRF needs to get that information to its customers before its competitors—somewhat of a challenge for a company tucked away in chilly Augusta, Maine, far from many of its clients. The family-owned company has long relied on its four-employee in-plant to print the sales announcements and other customer communications that keep NRF competitive. "I can get a mailing out in one day," boasts

Think your main competition is that copy center down the street? Think again. The humble desktop ink-jet or laser printer may be hurting your business even more. By Linda Formichelli Your in-plant may be quick and cost effective, but a desktop printer is...well, it's right there. It's convenient. Being able to print to a machine that's mere inches away from the computer—instead of having to walk projects over to the in-plant and then wait for them—is appealing to many customers. It's also a big waste of money. Vic Barkin, manager of Northern Arizona University Printing and Reproduction Services, tells the story of

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

Wide-format technology is advancing rapidly. Is it time for your in-plant to get on board? By Linda Formichelli You've probably heard Americans are getting bigger. But you may not have heard that our graphics are getting bigger, too. According to CK Associates, a consultancy, the aggregate growth rate in the market for ink-jet graphics greater than 45˝ wide will be 9 percent over the next few years. And according to Deborah Hutcheson, Agfa's senior marketing manager for color systems and workflow, the graphic applications for wide-format printers have a compounded annual growth rate of 20 percent. In 2003, the engines, ink and media