Solid expectations for Graph Expo
By C. Clint Bolte
With the economy still soft and Drupa 2004 barely eight months off, history might suggest that Graph Expo 2003 could be a yawner. Those of us monitoring the pulse of innovation and technology see numerous indications that attendees could be delightfully surprised at the quality of equipment and product enhancements displayed at McCormick Place Sept. 28 – Oct. 1.

Those small to medium-sized graphic communication firms could be especially pleased with the new offerings aimed at their market segment.

Here is my reasoning for predicting a very solid trade show with opportunities for everyone. The new product pipeline coming from technology research and development follows a logarithmic expansion path. GATF’s Technology Awards program has been going on since 1978. Over that quarter-century, 161 vendor products have been acknowledged as “expecting to make a major impact on the printing industry.” More than 490 percent of those products were chosen in the last seven years alone.

The Must See’ems competition held each year for the past eight years in anticipation of the upcoming Print or Graph Expos has likewise increased its quantity of nominations as well as actual award acknowledgements almost every year.

Because Graph Expo ’02 last fall had no real apparent blockbuster new technology, some consultants and trade press editors acted a little dismayed. On the other hand, I was ecstatic. Several technologies, namely computer-to-plate related, that had been developed and proven a full decade earlier for the large scale 40-inch press market, were all downsized and introduced en masse to the half size (26 to 28-inch) press market in Chicago. This is the heart and soul of the general commercial printing industry particularly as run lengths continue to come down. The 40-inch lion might always roar and get its full attention, however, the 26-inch cheetahs and 28-inch panthers will now receive their due, as all digital technologies are looking to this huge segment of the print market for targeted penetration in the next few years.

Prepress
Soft or “virtual” proofing continues to gain ground in acceptance as it saves the time and expense previously required of overnight couriers. Integrated Color Solutions and Kodak Polychrome Graphics each have SWOP-certified, color-critical, collaborative packages available for less than $30,000. RealTimeImage is a key vendor that is enabling several other systems to achieve this vital capability as well. Proof-It-On-Line is another offering worth seeing.

Inkjet color proofing for dual-sided signature proofs as well as hard copy digital proofs is mainline with Epson Stylus Pro 7600/9600 with their proprietary UltraChrome Ink.

Workflow tools to aid multiple versions of a job, often created by multiple languages, are vitally important. Esko-Graphics N.V. offers an interesting solution with their FastVariants scripting software.

PDF-workflow solutions are expected to abound for the small to medium size vendors.

Press
Packaging applications are of keen interest. A specialty vendor is offering an ultra violet coating advancement that can be retrofitted on existing presses. Adphos-Eltosh North America replaces ambient air with nitrogen in their INERT-UV system for sheetfed presses. The energy savings offers an attractive return on investment.

Though shown before, interest is expected to continue to climb for Heidelberg’s SP 52, a 20.5-inch sheetfed press with in-line rotary die cutting for spot waste removal on door hangers and presentation folders. It will be limited to 12 to 14 point substrate thickness.

A free standing scanner device called ImageControl will support the folding carton and label applications by identifying a particular box early in the run that is ‘perfect’ according to special PMS standard designation. The scanner will then replicate that control feature for the same box at all the other nested locations on the same sheet. The scanner will be able to support up to four presses at one time.

PostPress
The Graphic Arts Show Company, organizer of Graph Expo & Converting Expo, is setting up for the first time a dedicated area for Mailing and Fulfillment vendors. Many full service graphic communications firms will find this concentration of specialty value-added hardware, software, and equipment a significant attraction.

Mailing services has long been a purveyor of high volume web printers producing catalogs, periodicals, and direct mail. Corporations below the size of the Fortune 1000 are now putting pressure on their favored full-service graphics vendors to learn more about and consider bringing these integrated mailing list software, inkjet labeling, bar coding, sorting, and tabbing capabilities in house. Whether this equipment is brought in house, designers must be ever more sensitive to designing pieces that meet the stringent specifications of the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) Direct Mail Manual (DMM) regulations.

Digital Finishing
Xerox’s square fold booklet maker is a stand-alone, digital finishing product with a unique square-book look allowing printing on the spine for saddle-stitched booklets.

Baumfolder Corporation’s Flexifold Modular Folder is fast and foolproof for digital printing operations that do not have a dedicated finishing department.

More retail packaging manufacturers want fast turn over in order to get a small quantity of product into the pipeline. For example, pharmaceutical manufacturers want product flowing within hours of the FDA approval on a new drug. This allows time for the full product roll out to ramp up. Esko-Graphics is offering the die-less Kongsberg Digital Converting Machine for just-in-time short runs.

About the author: C. Clint Bolte is owner of C. Clint Bolte Associates. He consults to the commercial printing industry on topics such as strategic technology assessment, product development, in-plant printing studies, fulfillment, warehousing and other industrial disciplines. He can be reached at 717-263-5768 or at .