Many in-plants are requesting print vendors to provide solutions that include customized software addressing their specific needs. by Sam Errigo With the conversion to digital production printing systems, in-plant managers are finding that front-end software used to design and manage documents is critical to achieving efficient workflows. As a result, many in-plants are requesting—or in some cases requiring—print vendors to provide solutions that include customized software addressing their specific needs. In the past, customized solutions usually involved proprietary software and were often expensive to maintain and upgrade. Today, however, vendors can provide a customized solution by integrating existing, off-the-shelf software with their printing platform,
Canon U.S.A.
With digital technology growing, will there still be a demand for analog black-and-white copiers in the future? It depends on whom you ask. • Dennis Amorosano, Canon: "Surprisingly, there is a demand for analog machines. Much of the demand is due to price. The cost of analog is significantly less. A lot of customers don't have applications that justify digital, Internet-capable machines. For black-and-white copying only, you don't need to buy into digital. Analog will be around for all of these reasons, but mainly the due to the price." • Steve Pearl, Minolta: "There's still a demand for analog black-and-white because some businesses need
With color copier technology improving daily, what's in store for black-and-white? by Cheryl A. Adams Duplicating speeds and paper capacity were the specs by which black-and-white copiers were evaluated in the past. Today, customers want scanning, Internet connectivity and e-mail capabilities—not to mention mega speed. And, they want color. In a world where color has become a phenomenal communications tool, what is the future of black-and-white copiers? Surprisingly, it will be color that has to compete, according to several leading printer/copier manufacturers, including Canon, Konica and Minolta. These experts—which sell both color and black-and-white devices—feel the future of black-and-white looks quite
Xerox has a lead with its DocuTech, but other vendors are successfully challenging it. In-plant users have strong opinions on the available machines. by Allan Martin Kemler Xerox has ruled the high-speed black-and-white digital printing world since it launched its DocuTech in 1990. So when Heidelberg, a giant in its own right, decided to step into the fray, everyone wanted to see what would happen next. What happened was Heidelberg partnered with Danka, Canon and IBM to sell its print engine to the world's print-on-demand customers as the Danka/Heidelberg Digimaster 9110, the Canon Imagerunner 110 and the IBM Infoprint 2000. Now, everyone wants
Digital printing has not replaced offset yet. But in-plants that have added digital gear say they can do certain jobs much more efficiently this way. We spoke with four in-plant managers about their digital printing capabilities. Becton Dickinson and Co. Printing Services Franklin Lakes, N.J. Office Services Manager: Michael Bekker (Michael_Bekker@bd.com) In-plant employees: 10 Annual operating budget: $1.55 million Main digital printing equipment: Xerox DocuTech 6180, Canon 2400. Jobs printed digitally: Price lists, training manuals, workbooks, correspondence, product catalogs, telephone directories. _________________________ University of North Carolina-Greensboro Graphics and Printing Greensboro, N.C. Director: Angela W. Schrock (angela_schrock@uncg.edu) In-plant employees: Four full-time, one part-time, four students
Federal Reserve Bank in-plants don't print money, but they work together to try to save it. COSMO CORVAGLIA has a kingdom—though he'd probably prefer to call it an area, or maybe just a district. Either way, he's the one responsible for it. This kingdom (or district if you prefer) stretches from Trenton, N.J., to Rehoboth, Del., and from Pittsburgh to Cape May Point, N.J. And although he isn't really a king, or even a prince for that matter, he is part of an organization few understand—and even fewer could live without. Cos Corvaglia is print manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
To compete in the future, you must start providing customers with non-paper-based services today. LAST YEAR at the On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing conference, the unofficial theme of the show was dotcom fever. Now that the fever has broken, the big bang buzz is all about paperless communication. But this isn't your father's "paperless office of the future," mind you. This is different. In the past, when the term "paperless office" was first being bandied about like a baby at a bridal shower, the term reflected the hazy euphoria associated with early computing. This time around, having had the benefit of a
A new Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 and a dedicated staff have helped Case Western Reserve University refine course pack production. When Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio, outsourced its offset press work and bookstore operations, it considered outsourcing all printing services at the same time. That might have happened, too, had Lisa Gerlach, printing services manager, not been able to demonstrate that her department achieves lower per copy costs than outside providers—while simultaneously providing outstanding service. Gerlach's staff focuses on creating a professional image for the university, while maintaining low costs for students. When the staff processes copyright clearances for course packs,
In-plants say color copiers can improve customer service and add verve to dull documents. Find out what they can do for you. WHEN YOUR parent company has participated in the construction of such historic projects as the Hoover Dam, San Francisco Bay Bridge and Trans-Alaska Pipeline, you can't afford to skimp on quality. And when your parent company routinely sends out multi-million or even multi-billion dollar proposals, they have to be on time and looking good. So when Jerry Prouty has to produce a sharp-looking proposal for his parent company's international construction and engineering business, he turns to his color copier—and it delivers every
As printing technology has changed, paper has had to keep pace. We've traced its path through the years. In many ways the history of offset printing is the history of a mad scramble by papermakers to keep up with the developments of the lithographic industry. Between 1900 and 1949, offset lithography was the red-headed stepchild of the printing industry, which left it without many choices of suitable paper. By the early 1930s, the pressure upon the paper manufacturer to produce coated papers for offset printing had reached the explosion point. Even though there had been some use of coated one-side paper in stone
