Sun Chemical

The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation has selected 11 technologies to receive 2006 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology awards. Each company will receive a Lucite Inter­Tech star during the competition’s November luncheon in Milwaukee. The winning technologies are: • Adobe PDF print engine, Adobe Systems • Microsystems Microcip software module, C&P Microsystems • Dalim Mistral, Dalim Software • WebCenter, Esko-Graphics • Magnum ink formulation dispenser, GFI Innovations • Zero-slip nip enhancement, Goss International Americas • KBA Genius 52 UV sheetfed offset press, KBA North America • InlineFoiler, MAN Roland • DeskDirect, PrintSoft • Liberty sheetfed inks, Sun Chemical • uImage, XMPie Inc.

Sun Chemical, a manufacturer of printing inks and organic pigments, plans to sell certain assets of its Sun Graphic press blankets business to Day International, a blanket supplier. The asset purchase is subject to the satisfaction of the customary closing conditions and is expected to be effective August 31, 2006. The two companies will also enter into a distribution agreement for the sale of Sun Graphic blankets.

Sun Chemical announced price increases of 9 percent on all publication inks, effective July 1. Additionally, surcharges will be applied where necessary to cover increasing costs in energy and freight. “Despite our efforts to mitigate the impact of the rising costs in materials and fuel through active involvement with our supplier base and by driving internal efficiencies, raw materials—particularly ink oils and rosin resins—make up the majority of our costs and continue to spiral with no relief in sight,” explains Chris Parrilli, corporate vice president and president, North American publication inks.

Looking for new wrinkles in offset printing innovation, Sun Chemical and Heidelberg have decided to work together on new projects in order to bring additional value to the customers of both industry heavyweights. The companies pooled their reserch and development in offset press inking, which helped pave the way for Heidelberg’s new ‘Anicolor’ unit, a highlight in the Speedmaster SM 52 sheetfed press that was launched at IPEX. The unit, which has no inking zones, makes it possible to produce even the shortest of runs using a standard offset workflow, only with significantly higher margins.

SOFTWARE E-ticketing with Hardcopy Jobs Rochester Software Associates has introduced QDirect.SCAN Connector for eCopy Share­Scan OP. QDirect.SCAN enables electronic job ticketing with hardcopy submission directly from multi-function printers (MFPs). Users log in for accounting purposes and specify options such as duplex, stapling and paper stock. Those choices, along with the scanned documents, are transmitted to QDirect, which generates a confirmation receipt that is printed at the requestor’s MFP. An electronic job ticket is automatically created from the user entry. The resulting print-ready file can be sent to any printer in the in-plant. Software Delivers Jobs ‘To Spec’ Quickcut has introduced QuickPrint 5, the

In recent months Kodak has announced acquisitions and restructured in a bid to grab a bigger chunk of the graphic arts business. But how will this benefit in-plants? By Bob Neubauer Eastman Kodak is optimistic. The 124-year-old company is betting that in-plants and printing companies are looking for a single vendor to satisfy all of their graphic arts needs—and it has been investing rather heavily lately to make sure it becomes this vendor. Since 2002, the Rochester, N.Y.-based firm has been acquiring companies and buying out joint venture partners as part of a strategy to dominate the graphic arts business. But is this strategy

Often overlooked and rarely explored, offset blankets and inks are those essential accessories that deserve a closer look. By Mike Llewellyn A trio of two-color offset presses keep University of Southern Maine's Administrative Services busy, says Production Supervisor Fred Degenhardt. To keep the quality of the impressions high, he says the in-plant has maintained a relationship with A.B.Dick to stock the shop with press blankets. "We run everything from business cards to clasp envelopes here," he says. Degenhardt explains that for the mid-sized presses the in-plant runs, he has found semi-compressible blankets to be ideal. "Softer blankets tend to mean less headaches for us,"

Drupa 2000 was the best of the old, the best of the new and the best of what's yet to be for true integrated digital prepress. As far as prepress was concerned, Drupa 2000 affirmed the reliability of the old, elevated the promise of the new and positioned leading market players in new strategic patterns. All that, in just 14 days. Drupa 2000 registered a strong vote for the necessity of true digital prepress integration—as well as the health of proven technologies, from imagesetters to scanners. Drupa also marked the true affirmation of PDF as the globally accepted next standard—with more