Presstek Inc.

A beautiful beachside location and the chance to mingle with university printing peers lured more than 80 in-plant managers to ACUP 2003. By Bob Neubauer It was hard to avoid catching some of Keith Walker's overflowing enthusiasm at the recent Association of College and University Printers' (ACUP) conference down in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. Walker, assistant director of Printing Services at Wake Forest University's School of Medicine, had spent the better part of two years planning ACUP 2003—and he spent much of the four-day conference making sure everything went right. At times he seemed to be everywhere at once. But despite the stress, his

CTP can substantially slash the amount of time, labor and money needed to complete an offset job. by Mike Llewellyn Michael George is a very busy man. Whether he's meeting with customers, flying to trade shows or solving any number of daily crises in the in-plant, he's always looking for a way to get a little more time. George is director of Villanova University Graphics, a 13-employee shop tucked away on the second floor of Galberry Hall in a far corner of campus. Operating in what was once a house, the in-plant is its own storm of activity, and it's in a constant race

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,

Why put imaging systems on every press unit, when a complete set of plates can be made in a single offline CTP system? We asked the experts. by MARK SMITH TAKING STEPS out of a process can increase productivity, reduce variability and lower production costs. That all sounds great, but these gains naturally must be weighed against the investment required to achieve them. Doing such a cost-benefit analysis for the on-press imaging concept might at first seem to be a rather straightforward calculation. The potential variables in the equation quickly prove otherwise, however. Issues such as integration with existing plant capabilities, markets served and

Is there a CTP device in your future? To get the scoop on CTP, we asked the experts a few questions. Their answers will help you decide. Sharing their expertise on computer-to-plate topics were: • Mark Vanover Marketing Director of Advanced Solutions, Creo Inc. • Marc Johnson Product Line Marketing Manager, Off-Press Products, Presstek • Jeff Hopkins President, basysPrint • Stu Gallup Director, Digital Systems Marketing and Product Planning, A.B.Dick Co. • David Furman Agfa Product Marketing, CTP • Peter Vanderlaan Product Development Manager Electronic Imaging Hardware Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Graphic Systems Division . What advantages does a computer-to-plate device have over

Even as platesetters flourish, many in-plants are sticking with imagesetters. We asked several in-plants why they chose the imaging technology they use. by Bob Neubauer With so many printers turning to computer-to-plate technology, why are some in-plants sticking with imagesetters? We decided to ask a few managers. Providing their comments were: Mike Schrader -Printing & Publications Manager -Mercury Marine -Fond du Lac, Wis. -15 in-plant employees _________________ Dan Kovalsky -Director Print & Digital Media Services -Constellation Energy -Baltimore, Md. -22 in-plant employees _________________ Charlie Tonoff -Manager Corporate Printing Services -Highmark -Camp Hill, Pa. -20 in-plant employees _________________ Sticking With

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

What's the future of offset technology? Find out where direct imaging is taking it—and how presses may eventually shed plates altogether. Look at the trends: Shorter runs. Faster turnaround demands. Digital job data. Cut-throat competition. Many printers won't survive. Those that do will have to use new technology to heed these trends. That's where on-press imaging comes in. It offers everything today's business climate demands: Short-run efficiency, lower costs, faster makereadies and fewer steps. True, direct imaging (DI) is nothing new; Heidelberg introduced its GTO-DI in 1991. But DI quality has improved since then. New imaging systems from Presstek and CreoScitex have paved

To compete in the future, you must start providing customers with non-paper-based services today. LAST YEAR at the On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing conference, the unofficial theme of the show was dotcom fever. Now that the fever has broken, the big bang buzz is all about paperless communication. But this isn't your father's "paperless office of the future," mind you. This is different. In the past, when the term "paperless office" was first being bandied about like a baby at a bridal shower, the term reflected the hazy euphoria associated with early computing. This time around, having had the benefit of a

Offset may be the darling of today's printers, but it wasn't always. IPG has watched its progress for 50 years. HOW PRACTICAL is offset lithography for the in-plant shop? Twenty-five years after the defeat of letterpress, this question appeared in our March 1976 issue (then called Reproductions Review And Methods) in response to rising competition from the burgeoning copier industry. The answer then, and now, is the same: offset is very practical for in-plants. But this wasn't always so clear. For 50 years IPG has been covering offset lithography and bringing news of its advancements to our readers. The magazine owes