Heidelberg

Money may not grow on trees, but that didn't stop Dollar Tree from spending a few bucks to upgrade its in-plant. The whole idea of going to a Dollar Tree store is to save money. But sometimes you have to spend a few dollars now to save money down the road. With that in mind, Dollar Tree recently spent more than $500,000 to completely upgrade its 11-employee in-house graphics department, based in Chesapeake, Va. The 4,500-square-foot shop produces everything from signs to coupons for Dollar Tree's home office, four distribution centers and 1,400 stores nationwide. The company is expanding, and graphic arts manager

As you evaluate new digital printer platforms, take a careful look inside the box. Is the quality of digital networked printers as good as it's going to get? Not at all. The newest generation of printers is approaching image quality in a new way. To date, digital platforms have offered in-plants limited quality improvements over their optical predecessors. That's because most existing digital print platforms retain many of the same imaging components and processes used in optical devices. Since optical and digital devices approach the imaging process from different perspectives, the technology needs to be tailored to the process. Conventional optical

In-plants are in the unique position of being both printers and print buyers. Because of this, E-commerce can be twice as helpful. In-plants can use auction sites to expand their customer base by taking in commercial work to fill their extra capacity. At the same time they can act as customers and find commercial printers to print their overflow work. If you have an existing relationship with an outside printer, you can use E-commerce solutions like Collabria.com, Noosh.com or Impresse.com to strengthen that relationship and make your workflow more efficient. You can also use these systems to manage the workflow between your customers

The print world certainly has gone digital, and On Demand was the place to see the latest—from digital printing to Internet-based job management. If you haven't left your in-plant in a while, the recent On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing Strategy Conference and Exposition would have made your head spin. Judging by the abundance of digital technology packed into New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, it was clear that the printing industry's move into the digital world is accelerating rapidly. "The world is now moving at Internet time, so fast that the landscape is just a blur," noted Charles Pesko, managing

No more film. Faster makeready. Better quality. Direct imaging presses seem to have everything a printer wants. Is this where the industry is going? SAFECO had a dilemma. Press runs at its in-plant were getting increasingly shorter, and these short-run jobs were keeping the six-color 20x28˝ Mitsubishi constantly busy—so busy that when long-run jobs arrived, they frequently had to be outsourced. "We knew we needed another press, and we needed a press that would facilitate the shorter-run jobs," recalls Larry Jablinske, manager of graphic and printing services for the Seattle-based insurance and financial services firm. Additionally, the new press would have to run five

Better color management and expanded spot colors are increasing the accuracy of halftone proofs and facilitating an all-digital workflow. It seems that every flavor of digital proofer is pushing to better mimic press conditions, deliver stable, accurate color and provide printers with the best tool for making the customer happy: the contract proof. Easier said than done? Maybe not. Contract proofers, sporting better color management, expanded spot colors and flexible multisetting capabilities, are prepared to push the contract digital proof to the next level. Kodak Polychrome Graphics reports that the Kodak Approval XP4 halftone digital color proofing system with Open Front End (OFE) will

Indigo's new digital presses directly challenge the mainstream commercial offset market and the domain of black-and-white xerography. In a swirl of colored lights and exotic music, Indigo N.V. Chairman and CEO Benny Landa unveiled several impressive digital printing devices at his company's headquarters in Nes Ziona, Israel, recently—devices sure to draw the attention of industry stalwarts like Heidelberg and Xerox. As a crowd of journalists and consultants from around the world took in the scene, Landa discussed the technologies Indigo plans to debut at DRUPA—technologies intended to bring digital offset color into the heart of the commercial printing market. New products include: • A

Going direct-to-plate can save you time, material costs and labor expenses—especially when using polyester plates. Are you ready to move your shop forward? Employee turnover is a regular challenge for Dave Hager, print shop supervisor at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers, Conn. Since Osborn is a medium-security facility, inmates are moved continuously throughout the system. This leaves little time for a learning curve. "We have a high rate of turnover and a constant flux of new inmates with no experience," Hager explains. This problem was resolved in the prepress area when Hager purchased an A.B.Dick Digital PlateMaster (DPM)2000 CPS. "We can train an

A name change gave Tom Neckvatal the perfect opportunity to move his shop to an electronic workflow. He jumped at the chance and hasn't looked back. PRINTING WAS not in Tom Neckvatal's plans when he was attending the University of Wisconsin back in 1966. But when he heard of an opening at the university print shop for a part-time press operator, the business administration and economics undergrad grabbed the position. "I needed a job, and that was the only thing available," he explains. Neckvatal was groomed on a Multilith 1250 press, and he hasn't left the in-plant environment since. Today, after working

Want to bring polyester platemaking or film production in-house? Check out the latest imagesetters that will help you bring home the savings. In-plant managers who have brought film and plate work in-house have been thrilled with the time and money they save. No more expensive outsourcing—and no more waiting around for work to arrive from the outside. If this sounds good to you, maybe it is time your shop brought in a new imagesetter. Here's what vendors are offering. The Tanto 5120 imagesetter from Screen (USA) is an entry-level CTP device. The eight-page unit is able to provide direct-to-plate digital imaging on flexible, polyester