Graph Expo is Approaching

when it relocates to Orlando, FL, for a one-year commitment. It will mark the first time in 20 years that the annual event has stepped outside the Windy City.

Stepping Stone to Drupa

So what will be whipping attendees into a frenzy next month? Jim Hamilton, group director of InfoTrends’ Production Group, sees this year’s Graph Expo as a stepping stone to drupa 16, and points out that a number of announcements made at the last drupa exhibition are now being commercialized. He feels that any big reveals will be held off until next spring in Germany. However, a number of products have already had their coming-out parties, such as Canon’s Océ VarioPrint i300 (formerly called Niagara) cut-sheet inkjet press and the Xerox iGen 150 digital press with the fifth color capability.

“In the past couple of years, some manufacturers have made their announcements too soon and it’s taken them a while to get the actual products to market,” Hamilton notes.

On the software end, Hamilton says that a number of companies, including Xerox with its FreeFlow, have done a good job of integrating digital printing workflows. The finishing side offers attractive value-add solutions from Scodix, Highcon and MGI, to name a few, especially as packaging becomes more of an application focus for digital.

Though there may be a few product surprises that will turn heads in Chicago, many announcements are being withheld until the eleventh hour, as manufacturers are finding it tougher to time their releases to coincide with the major printing shows. Marco Boer, vice president of IT Strategies, notes the development cycles are getting longer as the technology becomes more complicated. But while heavy iron will be tougher to spot in McCormick Place than a booth without a bowl of candy, Boer is confident that attendees will get a full serving of application examples from vendors, including Ricoh and Canon/Océ, demonstrating what substrates their machines are capable of using.

“We’ll see a lot of emphasis on improved print quality from companies like HP, with its HDNA (High Definition Nozzle Architecture) print heads,” Boer says. “There will be an emphasis on expanding the range of applications that inkjet can print on. Kodak will have some emphasis on package printing, for example. I also see toner [digital] machines being key, but not much offset. Xerox will be heavily promoting its iGen 5.”

For Trish Witkowski, the chief folding fanatic of online community foldfactory.com—known for her 60-second Fold of the Week videos—finishing provides an especially attractive menu of items at Graph Expo. She believes there’s a huge emphasis on value-added print gradually reversing the trend from printing being viewed as a commodity into something that commands a premium.

The ability to provide special formats and finishes stands as a differentiator for printers. “We’re seeing this play out not only in B2B environments, but also in B2C where the saturated photo card and wedding markets are adding foil, and special substrates and diecut shapes to get noticed,” says Witkowski.