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PRINT 05 Technology Directory: Part I

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 November 2005, 09:00 CST

By Anonymous

According to the Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC), approximately 62,000 people attended PRINT 05 at McCormick Place in Chicago Sept. 9-15. Filling nearly 750,000 sq. ft. of booth space were 954 exhibitors, up from 893 in 2001, the last time PRINT was held.

International attendees exceeded 7,200, or 11 percent of the total, up from 7,100 in 2001. These visitors represented 99 nations, up from 75 in 2001 Tours were offered in various languages, international visitors could be found throughout the displays and at a series of presentations and networking events dedicated to specific global regions each day.

Seminar attendance also broke a record, with more than 2,260 people registering to participate in one or more of the 80-plus educational sessions offered at the show.

According to GASC president Regis J. Delmontagne, "This show exceeded many of our expectations as well. The positive response to our initiative to significantly enter the package printing sector and the success of those exhibitors serving that sector, the increase in international attendance and the continued success of the educational program all contributed to a very successful event overall for everyone involved."

Most importantly, GASC says exhibitors were extremely pleased with their experiences at this global event. Says Vutek Midwest Sales manager Joe Gano, "We've made at least $3 million at PRINT 05. Break-even isn't what we're looking for. We're looking for 10 times the ROI, and I'm confident that we'll get it as a result of business we've generated from this show."

Exhibitors also reported success in gathering leads for future follow-up and in closing sales right on the show floor, sometimes to customers they had never seen before. Says Colter & Peterson Sales v.p. Jeff Marr, "We made one multimillion dollar sale to somebody we'd never met who just walked in. We've also made some large sales, which normally would take much longer to close. Within half an hour of the show opening, we were buried in visitors. The show results exceeded our expectations."

KBA's booth also welcomed unfamiliar faces, says KBA corporate Marketing v.p. Eric Frank."Sales were excellent," he notes, "and some of our sales were unexpected. There were new customers here this year."

The next PRINT will be held in 2009. Next year, GRAPH EXPO will be held Oct. 15-18 in McCormick Place South.

If you were unable to attend the show, don't despair. On the following pages, the High Volume Printing staff has prepared a brief rundown of the products presented at the show that are most suitable for midsize and large commercial printing companies. If you would like additional information about any product, circle the corresponding Reader Service number on page 45. Look for additional PRINT 05 products next issue.

Agfa

Agfa demonstrated a new line of thermal CTP external-drum platesetters that feature the new :Avalon HD imaging head with 512 imaging beams; :Azura chemistry-free plates, which Agfa says are in use by 300 customers worldwide; and new inkjet printers.

The :Avalon LF thermal platesetter is available in five basic configurations with throughput speeds ranging from 10 (LE model) to 40 plates per hour (XXT model). The :Avalon XT can image 23 :Azura plates per hour. The :Avalon VLF is available in eight sizes, ranging from the :Avalon VLF50 up to the VLF83, which supports larger-format presses such as the KBA 205 and MAN Roland Lithoman 72. Four throughput choices are offered from the entry-level E model to the XXT model, which can produce 18 66.9-inch plates per hour. For more information, visit www.agfa.com/en/gs/index.jsp or

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:Azura is a grained and anodized aluminum thermal plate that uses patented ThermoFuse technology to physically bond images to the plate without any chemical processing. A clean-out step follows the nonablative imaging process to enhance contrast. The plates offer 2 percent to 98 percent dots and are available in two-, four- and eight-up formats. For more information, visit www.agfa.com/en/gs/ index.jsp or

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The :Dotrix is a piezo drop-on-demand inkjet press system suitable for packaging, label, POP and decorative printing applications. Using UV inks, the press is able to print on a range of substrates. Each ink color is applied simultaneously, to help the machine print up to 3,254 square yards per hour. For more information, visit www.agfa.com/en/gs/index.jsp or

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The M-Press is a flatbed, UV inkjet printer that combines Agfa's inkjet technology and Thieme's screen printing equipment design and manufacturing capabilities. The 62 x 102-inch unit prints using a four-color inkjet process, with optional inline screen-printing units for spot-colors, varnishes and coatings. The piezo inkjet system is equipped with 64 multilevel print heads developed jointly by Agfa and Xaar that provide 509 x 509-dpi resolution at a speed of 100 full-size sph. Print heads are automatically cleaned and calibrated. For more information, visit www.agfa.com/en/gs/ index.jsp or

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Agfa co-developed the :Anapurna 100 large-format printer with Mutoh Europe. It combines print heads developed by Agfa and Xaar, and Agfa's new UV-curable :Anapurna inkjet inks. The printer's shuttling printing system provides uninterrupted operation on a range of flexible and rigid media. Its eight Universal print heads each contain 764 nozzles and have the ability to print up to 16 levels of grayscale images with a minimum drop volume of 8 picolitres, which produces up to 1,440 x 1,440-dpi prints. For more information, visit www.agfa.com/en/gs/ index.jsp or

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Artwork Systems

Artwork Systems' Concentric screening is a new halftone dot technology that divides a conventional round dot into thin concentric rings. The thin rings are designed to limit ink buildup on plate.The company says users are able to increase screen rulings without experiencing the traditional problems of mottle, dot gain and variability previously associated with high screen rulings. The technology now is completing evaluation at four U.S. printing companies and is scheduled for commercial release later this year. For more information, visit www.artwork-systems.com or

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Bobst Group USA

Bobst demonstrated some of its new equipment in action at PRINT 05. Run two-up on 16-pt. stock, The Chicago 2005 Pocket Folder first was hot-foil stamped on the company's SPeria Foilmaster 102, then the SPeria 106-E Autoplaten die cutter die cut the folder and embossed the Chicago skyline on it. During the final operation, the Amazon 105 A-1 folder-gluer folded and glued two interior pockets.

The SPeria 106-E is an entry-level die cutter designed to work with paper, board, corrugated and plastic materials. Operating at speeds up to 7,700 sph, the die cutter uses tooling from existing 40- inch Bobst Autoplaten diecutters. For more information, visit www.bobstgroup.com or

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Bwe Bell + Howell

Bwe Bell + Howell demonstrated Bwe One, an integrated software suite designed to allow customers to manage their mail production environment from data manipulation and postage management to enterprise workflow management, including piece- and job-level tracking. Suitable for mailing operations of all sizes, the company says the software will enable users in operations, marketing, IT, customer service and accounting departments to manage, automate and raise productivity in the most secure and transparent manner possible. It integrates solutions from the BIMAS, IntellaCtr, JETS, cQuencer, eRoute, Track and Trace and other product families, and will be available in early 2006. For more information, visit www.bowebellhowell.com or

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EFI

EFI says Colorproof XF version 2.6 is a highly scalable and versatile client/server-based proofing solution that turns inkjet and laser printers into powerful proofing devices. New and enhanced features include manual nesting, support for a wider variety of printers and file formats, and Dot Creator and Fiery options. Colorproof XF consists of different components that can be joined together in different combinations to create basic or extended configurations. Enhancements include manual nesting, which enables users to output numbers of files collectively as one single job. The new cropping function allows users to remove a section of a page and print only the area of interest. Process colors can be defined as spot colors. The new Dot Creator option can generate composite or separated screened proofs and printouts from continuous-tone data without using a RIP. The composite output shows a raster on the proof while the separated output function enables users to produce films or plate for production print on a standard DOD inkjet printer. For more information, visit www.efi.com/contact/ proofing/ or

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Enovation Graphic Systems, Inc.

Enovation presented the newest solutions from various graphic arts equipment manufacturers. Enovation demonstrated the Fujifilm FinalProof GxT digital halftone proofer with extended color gamut capabilities and an extended color gamut that allows users to transfer most Pantone colors, opaque white and metal lies to virtually any substrate. Fujifilm has added an eight-color library of donor material that includes green, orange,red and reflex blue. Additionally, custom libraries can be created using dot percentages of any donor color. For more information, visit www.enovationgraphics.com or

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Enovation introduced two processless plates: a thermal plate (BrNMa HD Processless Thermal Plate PRO-T) and a violet plate (Brillia HD Chemical Fee Violet Plate PRO-V). Brillia HD PRO-T is compatible with most 830-nm thermal platesetters and produces a 1 percent to 99 percent dot at 200 lpi conventional screening or 300 lpi for hybrid and FM screenings. Enovation says the nonablative plate carries a latent image with distinct contrast, which allows for visual inspection after imaging. The plate only needs an imaging power very close to Fuji's existing thermal plate and is suitable for run lengths up to 100,000 impressions.

Fujifilm is developing Brillia HD PRO-V, a violet photopolymer, nonablative, chemistry-free CTP plate, which is designed to perform similarly to the Brillia HD PRO-T. Enovation says the plate exhibits many of the qualities found in Fujifilm's existing LP-NV plate, including the abilities to print with UV inks and solvents without baking, produce long run lengths and be handled in yellow safe light conditions.The development of this plate depends on commercial availability of high-power violet laser technology. The scheduled launch of these plates is Q1 2006 for Brillia HD PRO-T and 2007 for Brillia HD PRO-V. For more information, visit www.enovationgraphics.com or

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Goss Intl.

Goss presented a video documentary featuring industry leaders and their visions for the next decade of web offset production. Insight:'05 to '15 featured Arandell Corp. executive v.p. James Treis, C&C Joint Printing Co. Ltd. CEO Charles Lo, Cadmus Communications president and CEO, Bruce Thomas, Graphic Transitions consultant, Bob Erbstein, Quad/Graphics president and COO Joel Quadracci and Time Inc. senior v.p. Barry Meinerth. They discussed how to attract advertising spending to the print medium, specific opportunities to enhance productivity and efficiency through innovation, and what they envision web offset products and production platforms will look like in the coming decade.

Goss also announced it is extending its Lifetime Support program into the commercial printing industry. Goss says following its success in servicing the newspaper printing market, it will leverage its resources and experience to offer customers a platform of parts, service, training and enhancement offerings. Leading this expansion of Goss Lifetime Support capabilities is Goss After-market senior v.p. Greg Blue. As part of the endeavor, Goss recently appointed Harry Kokolus v.p. of Americas Aftermarket Sales.

According to the company, with limited investment and interruption of production, Goss enhancement products and rebuild services are able to optimize product quality, improve productivity and reduce waste on existing, installed commercial presses. Commercial enhancement products include Plate Cylinder Upgrade, which installs Goss' current plate cylinder design on existing Sunday 3000 and M-3000 presses; Zero-slip Folder Nips Upgrade; Enhanced Semi-Automatic Plate Loading; Blanket Washer Upgrade; and Omnicon Control Upgrade.

For more information, visit www.gossinternational.com or

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GretagMacbeth:

GretagMacbeth's NetProfiler2 allows a number of spectrophotometers, whether in a single plant or across a network of affiliated locations, to be verified and certified. An internet- based application consisting of software and certified physical standards that routinely check and profile instruments to help ensure optimal performance, NetProfilerl provides certificates of performance and unlimited report access. It also includes remote diagnostic tools, which can be programmed to run on a regular basis. Should a spectrophotometer no longer meet performance specifications, a NetProfiler2 run will detect and correct the problem, restoring the instrument to defined specifications. The company says NetProfiler2 helps maintain production processes without interruption for service and certification. For more information, visit www.gretagmacbeth.com or

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Heidelberg

Heidelberg's booth had an Industrial Print Solutions area that featured press, postpress, consumables and service products tailored to what it calls industrial print shops that produce long runs.

A 10-color Speedmaster SM 102 with perfector, perfecting coating system and CutStar reel-to-sheet feeder printed double-side, five- color jobs in a single pass. The press also can print double-side, four-color jobs with aqueous coatings on both sides of the sheet. Heidelberg says the optional CutStar sheeter is a profitable investment for perfecting presses because it provides flexibility and significant cost savings in reel stock. For more information, visit www.us.heidelberg.com or

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Featured presses included an eight-color Speedmaster CD 74 with perfector and coater, which can print 4/4 plus coating. Designed with Heidelberg's three-drum perfecting device, this new perfector can handle an expanded range of stock thicknesses. For more information, visit www.us.heidelberg.com or

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The Stahlfolder TH 66 buckle-plate folder is available in 22-, 25- and 32-inch widths. Heidelberg says the machine's modular design allows for virtually all hardware features to be retrofitted to suit individual requirements. Optional automation features, such as automated fold roller settings and motorized buckle plates, are designed to reduce makeready times. The machine is controlled by a touchscreen monitor with an automatic learning mode. For more information, visit www.us.heidelberg.com or

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Designed for gathering, stitching and trimming, Heidelberg says the Stitchmaster ST 400 is the first saddlestitcher that adapts to the product. Automated manual processes with computer-driven stepping motors are designed to give the operator more control of the machine's functionality. Computer-enhanced makeready procedures with independent servo drive motors can reduce makeready times. Equipped with a Windows interface that guides operators via a touch screen, the machine can be integrated into a business workflow with data reporting. For more information, visit www.us.heidelberg.com or

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Copyright Innes Publishing Company Oct 2005

Source: High Volume Printing : HVP

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