Agfa Graphics

Hot Products for in-plants, including InfoPrint ProcessDirector (IPPD) a modular software and Océ PRISMAproduction software, :Apogee 7 workflow management suite, inkjet papers, FSC-certified paper and more.

“The price of silver continues to escalate to all-time high levels. Year-to-date, silver prices have increased almost 60 percent with no signs of stabilization. This follows an 80 percent increase in silver prices throughout 2010,” said Peter Wilkens, president of Agfa Graphics.

In August, the Church of Scientology opened a massive, 185,000-square-foot in-plant in Commerce, Calif.

WITH CELEBRITY practitioners like Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its members, Scientology has gotten its share of media attention over the years. The growing church, founded by L. Ron Hubbard in 1954, boasts more than 9,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups worldwide.

xpedx and Agfa Graphics are ending their distribution agreement. The parties have agreed to an orderly wind-down of their relationship to ensure end-user customers are properly supplied during the transition. Effective Feb. 28, 2011 xpedx will no longer distribute Agfa-branded graphic products in the United States.

Join IPG Editor Bob Neubauer as he drives around central Pennsylvania, dropping in on in-plants along the way.

Any in-plant manager lucky enough to be in Chicago last month for Graph Expo got to witness some significant developments in the world of graphic arts. Dubbed “The Inkjet Graph Expo” by some, the show featured more inkjet technology than most in-plant managers had ever seen in one place.

All major plate suppliers have made great strides in reducing the amount of chemistry and waste required to process offset lithographic printing plates. Tat said, a number of claims are being made, and there is a great deal of confusing information. This report is an attempt to bring some clarity to the issue.

Agfa Graphics has signed an agreement to purchase the assets of the Harold M. Pitman Co., the distributor of prepress, industrial inkjet, pressroom and packaging printing products and systems in the United States. Plans call for the Pitman brand to be retained and the business to continue operating as a subsidiary of Agfa.

Staff at the City of Los Angeles’ Publishing Services operation were shocked to learn of the sudden death on May 7 of their director, Michael Leighton. In charge of the 47-employee in-plant for the past 12 years, he suffered a heart attack in his home. He was only 52.