Print
Solutions December 2005
IN
BRIEF: At Print ’05 in Chicago,
equipment suppliers showed how
offset and digital printing are
complementary.
The
Industry in Convergence
BY
IVARS SARKANS
Editor’s
Note: This is the second of a
2-part column on Print ’05,
which was held in Chicago in September.
The first covered trends in systems,
prepress and other pre-production
processes; this column focuses
on specialty niche and digital
printing equipment.
One
major printing industry trend
evident at Print ’05 is
the growing overlap between printing
specialty segments. This is often
called “convergence,”
and is driven partly by equipment
suppliers seeking to extend the
capabilities of their machinery
and systems from static or declining
printing specialties to industry
segments where demand is growing.
For many years, forms production
equipment suppliers have modified
their machines to serve the needs
of commercial printers, direct
mail producers and even the package
printing market. Conventional
sheet-fed offset and digital printing
are converging as complementary
production technologies for short
runs, on-demand production and
small-lot customization of offset
printed base stock.
Special
Application Machines
A
number of exhibitors demonstrated
equipment that could fit product
line diversification strategies
of forms manufacturers. Sheet-fed
folders, ubiquitous in commercial
printing plants, now are available
with additional capabilities to
score, perforate, glue, affix
items to sheets and imprint with
ink jet attachments. In the hands
of forms producers, these folders
can be configured as effective
mailer production machines. Ga-Vehren
Engineering demonstrated a machine
that can be configured for a variety
of mailer forming capabilities
combined with ink jet color imprinting,
application of patches or removable
notes, insert addition, and gluing.
The
show floor at Print ’05
had a separate large pavilion
for mailing equipment and software,
indicating that printers view
fulfillment and mailing services
as a major opportunity. Key components
of many document assembly and
mailing equipment exhibits in
this area were control code imprinters,
scanners and software to guarantee
100 percent document integrity
and mailing accuracy with the
option to print verification reports
for customers. One of the more
unique inspection devices was
a new bar code scanner from Formscan
that can read codes on documents
enclosed in sealed envelopes to
verify contents.
Spartanics
introduced a new laser die cutting
system for manufacturers who invest
in digital label presses and need
a complementary machine that can
die cut, kiss cut, mark and perforate.
For adding value to printed products,
Heidelberg exhibited a partly
automated sheet-fed die cutter
and foil stamper that also can
crease, perforate, kiss cut and
emboss. EMT, an established tooling
supplier for forms plants, showed
servo-driven variable sized processing
modules for punching, perforating,
die cutting, numbering, imprinting
and sheeting digitally printed
webs. Tamarack’s booth had
information on new equipment for
adding integrated or affixed cards
and labels to forms and other
types of printed webs, and a label
press attachment to insert RFID
chips and antennas into labels
or tags at high speed. On the
show floor, Tamarack demonstrated
a window film affixing module
added to a conventional folding
carton forming machine. FME, another
forms plant tooling supplier,
introduced a sheet-fed machine
from Belgium that can affix RFID
chips and antennas to preprinted
sheets of labels, tags or tickets.
Versions of the same machine also
can create sheets with integrated
and die cut cards or labels. The
third forms industry supplier
at Print ’05 with equipment
for making RFID tags and labels
was Schober USA Inc.
Digital
Printing Flourishes
Judging
by the number of exhibits at Print
’05 and the crowds they
attracted, digital printing appeared
to be a major growth segment in
the printing industry and an area
of opportunity for forms industry
participants. Numerous demonstrations
featured digital monochrome or
color printing of forms, direct
mail or imprinting of variable
information on conventionally
printed base stock. There’s
little doubt that migration of
forms production from conventional
presses to digital machines will
continue. Some black plus highlight
color digital printers at the
show clearly were designed specifically
for forms production, and inline
options included punching, perforating
and die cutting. Whether these
devices will present a threat
or an opportunity to traditional
forms suppliers will depend on
the industry’s willingness
to look at new business models,
production methods and services
required by customers.
Print
’05 exhibits showed the
growing contest between ink jet
and toner-based digital printing
technologies. At this time, ink
jet dominates several high-quality
specialized applications, such
as digital color proofing and
large-format display printing
with roll-fed or flatbed machines.
At modest production rates, ink
jet systems can achieve excellent
quality on a wide variety of materials.
New low VOC solvent inks and UV
inks, combined with advances such
as reduced drop sizes and improved
color consistency controls, have
led to more outdoor sign applications,
decorating of various industrial
materials, wallpaper printing
and more. Ink jet technology demonstrations
at Print ’05 included printing
with thermochromic ink.
Another
segment where ink jet dominates
due to high speed over print quality
is addressing and imprinting.
Several suppliers demonstrated
1-to 4-inch ink jet heads capable
of 200-300 d.p.i. resolution and
the ability to support speeds
up to 500 feet per minute. Ink
jets can achieve higher run speeds
than competing toner-based devices,
but the tradeoff is lower quality.
The Kodak Versamark ink jet heads
can match the speed of a 1,000
feet per minute forms press as
demonstrated at Print ’05,
but imprint image resolution is
limited to 240-300 d.p.i. A full
process color Kodak Versamark
digital web press can produce
300 x 1,200 d.p.i. resolution
“business color” quality
at 230 feet per minute. This quality
level should be adequate for some
direct mail applications and forms
production. Some installed Versamark
digital web presses are producing
statements and other direct mail
work that previously may have
been done on conventional forms
presses.
New
Models for Color Jobs
Among
toner-based digital color printers,
the most significant and least
obvious trend was the introduction
of moderately priced models that
produce very high-quality color
work. As the number of these models
increases, they’ll displace
a growing number of monochrome
printers and shift more work from
small-format offset presses to
digital color devices. Two examples
of the new crop of 30-60 page
per minute, high-color-quality
digital printers are the Xerox
DocuColor DC-240 and DC-250 models
introduced at Print ’05.
The model numbers designate maximum
speed rating of 40 and 50 pages
per minute. Both machines incorporate
technological advances from the
new higher-speed Xerox DocuColor
8000 (80 pages per minute) that
improve image quality and consistency.
The DC 240/250 printers achieve
2,400 x 2,400 d.p.i. image resolution
and can run sheets up to 12 x
19 inches, including heavy stock.
In manual feeding mode, the machines
can print long banners up to 12
inches wide. The real significance
of these Xerox models is a new
print quality and price combination
benchmark. The DC 240, which includes
a RIP, is priced below $43,000,
and the DC 250 costs less than
$50,000. This means a manufacturer
can start with a modest investment
and “scale up” for
$150,000 to a 150 page per minute
production system that matches
the capabilities of some current
machines at three or more times
that price. A multiple-machine
system also has the advantage
of redundancy in case one machine
breaks down. Xerox’ “click
charges” will affect the
economical range of the DC 240/250
models compared with higher-speed
color printers, but competitors
such as Canon, KonicaMinolta,
HP and others can be expected
to offer alternatives with attractive
click-charge plans.
In
high volume, speed and quality
digital color presses, the introductions
at Print ’05 featured improvements
in production rates and color
consistency control, more integrated
in-line finishing options and
various coatings to protect color
images from abrasion during handling
and mailing. A new version of
the Kodak Nexpress can print 14
x 20-inch sheets at 2,500 sheets
per hour, equivalent to 83 color
pages per minute. All Nexpress
versions can have a fifth print
unit for spot color or a protective
coating. Sheets have to be fed
through a separate off-line unit
to get a high gloss protective
coating. The Xerox IGen 3, also
a 14 x 20-inch color machine,
has been upgraded from 100 to
110 pages per minute and is available
with an in-line UV coater for
a gloss face finish on printed
sheets. The new W-3250 model from
HP-Indigo is a 2-engine web-fed
model rated at 136 4-color pages
per minute. Maximum web width
is 13 inches, and the finished
product can be delivered in rolls
or sheets. Printing only two colors,
this machine can run at 272 pages
per minute. One innovation demonstrated
at Print 05 was an in-line pre-coating
unit to eliminate the need for
special precoated paper. HP-Indigo
representatives indicated that
the cost of consumables for most
color work is now under 5 cents
per page.
The
newest highlight color digital
printer was the Océ Vario
Stream 9230 web-fed machine, printing
3/1 to 3/3 color forms and other
types of documents at the show.
This is essentially a toner-based
forms press, and it would be easy
to add inline perforating, punching
or die cutting stations as needed.
The Océ 9230 can run webs
up to 19 inches wide (with or
without aligner holes). Image
resolution is 600 x 600 d.p.i.,
and rated speeds range from 196
feet per minute for 1/1 color
to 52 feet per minute for 3/3
colors. This machine will probably
shift more work from conventional
forms plants to service bureau
and in-plant document production
operations. It could also be very
effective for forms suppliers
who are establishing document
factories for printing statements
and other business communications
products.
Printing
of books, manuals, directories,
forms and other business documents
dominated the demonstrations of
both web and sheet-fed black toner
digital printers. IBM introduced
a new 4100 series web press with
exceptionally good halftone print
quality for on-demand book production.
Xerox is moving to gradually replace
the DocuTech sheetfed digital
printer line with Nuvera models
capable of 600 x 4,800 d.p.i.
image resolution, equivalent to
156 lines per inch offset production,
according to Xerox. At Print ’05,
Xerox introduced a 144 page per
minute Nuvera model and a MICR-capable
version of the same machine. The
Nuvera product line includes new
toners that improve halftone quality
and allow printing on coated or
uncoated papers.
It
was obvious at Print ’05
that the industry has turned the
corner on analog processes and
devices. Digital is here to stay.
Frank Romano of Rochester Institute
of Technology has been warning
the industry for years that the
printing plant of the future would
be better called an “information
factory.” This is becoming
more apparent with each passing
industry show. Forms manufacturers
are in a good position to evolve
their operations; they just need
to make the right choices moving
forward.
Ivars
Sarkans is president of consulting
firm Sarkans & Associates,
Los Angeles, and a long-time contributor
to DMIA publications. He can be
reached at (323) 221-7791 or by
email at isarkans@sarkans. com.
