Key themes for the show were the inexorable rise of
transpromo and the rush of new technologies from solutions developers,
web-to-print with again a host of new opportunities for savvy printers, and
workflow integration.
Infoprint featured its Infoprint 5000, which generated a lot
of interest among attendees. The press
is manufactured by Screen, and Screen had its version, the TrueJet 520, on the
floor as well. These presses run at 209fpm
and cost in the range of US$3m.
The
Xerox 980 Continuous Feed Color Press, is not inkjet solution, but rather uses dry
toner and flash fusing (using light instead of heat) that enables printing on a
wider array of substrates than normal heat-fusing toner, was shown printing at
300fpm and also selling in the US$3m range.
Add to that Océ's new Jetstream 2200, running at a speed of 500fpm,
and the Kodak Versamark VX5000, also running at 500fpm, both selling in the
range of US$5m.
For smaller printers – the vast majority of global printing
establishments – suppliers to the industry are bringing to market
ease-of-entry, scaled down versions of their solutions to make it easier for
smaller businesses to partake. One example
in the TransPromo realm is Elixir's Opus SMB, a small to medium business (SMB) version of its Opus composition
solution that sells for US$25,000.
Combine
that with RISO's 120 ppm HC5500 inkjet printer, at US$45,000 or about US$1000 per
month on lease, and TransPromo suddenly becomes very affordable for companies
wishing to produce hundreds or thousands – rather than millions – of statements
each month.
In the web-to-print
arena, another hot market, RSA's WebCRD now comes in a Base model including
modules previously sold separately and repackaged at a lower price, making
WebCRD easier to afford. WebCRD won a
best of show award for this offering. Printable continues to extend the
workflow farther back into the design and creative worlds, with FusionPro's
campaign-centric workflow for creating a customised online response experience
using personalised URLs and microsites for variable data publishing (VDP)
marketing campaigns.
XMPie is taking a
similar scaled approach in the world of cross-media. Along with its refreshed branding launched at
the show, XMPie reconfigured its cross-media suite to meet a broader range of
needs across the marketplace. uDirect
now comes in Classic, Studio and Premier versions, starting at a few thousand
dollars.
Australia-based
PrintSoft had a good presence at the show as well, demonstrating its latest
version of Web Direct.
Kodak focused on its
Unified Workflow, which incorporates InSite Storefront, allowing customers to
be even more involved in the production process and moving job definition
further upstream. Kodak also announced
the acquisition of Design2Launch to extend its collaborative workflow deeper
into the marketing and creative worlds. The D2L System is a suite of
integrated modules designed to save time and money at every step of the
graphics creation process, from project initiation, collaboration and revision
to approval and production.
Screen's TrueFlow is now available as part of Canon's imagePRESS Workflow Solutions Program,
helping users to unify hybrid offset/digital workflows, better leverage their
investment in Screen technology and seamlessly integrate the imagePRESS digital
press into their existing digital and offset production processes.
Xerox continues to
add to its FreeFlow Digital Workflow Collection, most notably announcing FreeFlow
VIPP Pro Publisher, a plug-in to Adobe InDesign that enables variable page
production without pre-composition, saving network bandwidth by dynamically
composing pages at the printer.
Presstek and Press-sense announced a
partnership that takes the benefits of fast makereadies offered by Presstek's
DI presses even further upstream, leveraging Press-sense iWay to automate job
submission and preparation of these jobs for print.
EFI released Version 3.3 of its Digital
Storefront, which now integrates with PrintSmith, offering a more sophisticated
alternative to PrintSmith Site for printers who wish to move their web-to-print
capabilities upmarket without having to change MIS systems.
Avanti and Pageflex
made a similar announcement, with the integration of Pageflex Storefront to
Avanti's print MIS solution and an upmarket migration path from users of
Avanti's eAccess web-to-print solution.
