Hewlett-Packard

Ace Hardware Downers Grove, Ill. When Mark Krammer, graphic service manager at Ace Hardware, first came to the Downers Grove, Ill., in-plant 15 years ago he was on a mission. He wanted to make Ace Hardware's in-plant that best it could be, but he also wanted to do something more. He wanted to bring the company some thing extra in the form of revenue. "In any operation there are always peaks and valleys," Krammer observes. "What better way to maximize those valleys than to subsidize your company's printing by taking on commercial work?" Insourcing revenue has helped Ace Hardware's 92-employee in-plant to offset

In part two of our Graph Expo report, we detail the latest advances in prepress, e-commerce, bindery and consumables. The recent Graph Expo show in Chicago drew more than 45,000 industry professionals to McCormick Place. Last month IPG took you there as we detailed many of the technologies on display, including direct imaging and digital printing innovations. But with nearly 575 exhibitors at the four-day event, we couldn't cover it all in one issue. So this month we're presenting even more Graph Expo highlights. Prepress Group Logic exhibited MassTransit, version 3.6, its high-speed digital file transfer and remote proofing software. MassTransit

Graph Expo marked the debut appearance of many of the technologies unveiled at Drupa. After seeing so many new technologies displayed at the massive Drupa trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany, trade journalists found few surprises at the recent Graph Expo show in Chicago. But it was for printers, not journalists, that McCormick Place opened its doors—and they were certainly impressed. "I thought the show was very complete, with more than enough new things to see and want," remarked Don Davis, associate director of LSU Graphic Services, in Baton Rouge, La. He went to the show to look at prepress and computer-to-plate (CTP) equipment and

Having a wide-format color ink-jet printer in-house can provide a valuable service to your customers. To be successful—and stay alive—you must provide your customers with better service than commercial printers. That means giving the customers what they want, when they want it. For Tino Castro, this meant purchasing a 12-color 52˝ ColorSpan Displaymaker 12 wide-format color ink-jet printer last year. "For the past two to three years I've seen [demand] increase," says the printing services manager for the County of Riverside, Calif. In the past, customers would come into his 20-employee shop with work orders for posters or banners and Castro would have

Do you need a wide-format ink-jet printer? How do you know? And how do you get your organization to buy one—and then use it? Here are a few tips. HAS THIS happened to you? Someone comes to your in-plant with a disk or print-out and asks if you can make posters. Although you'd love say that you can, you know your shop doesn't have the capabilities. The client now has to outsource the project, and isn't happy about it. It's the third time this week this has happened. A wide-format ink-jet printer would have come in handy right then. The problem is you don't

Vendors offer an increasing variety of media for wide-format ink-jet printers. Find out which factors you should consider before buying. Picking the right paper for a wide-format ink-jet job can be a daunting prospect. Your choices include economy papers, water-resistant stock, self-adhesives, matte, glossy and satin finishes, canvas, silky polyester and vinyl. Films come in clear, white, reverse-print backlit or front-print backlit, erasable media, double-coated, Mylar and more. You have to consider the printer and ink combination, whether the application is indoor or outdoor, how color-saturated the print will be, the quality you want, how long the print needs to last,

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

Gather around the old water cooler—or in this case the office copier or laser printer—and find out about the latest paper offerings for the office environment. OFFICE Papers must provide users with consistent performance. To ensure runnability, major paper mills work closely with office equipment manufacturers on product and equipment issues, notes Dick Thomas, business and converting papers manager for Willamette Industries. This is done particularly when new copiers or printers are in development to make sure work can be produced smoothly. The result, Thomas says, has been the addition of more reliable papers to the market. Recent manufacturing enhancements have helped Beckett develop

Printers showed up in force to see the latest in graphic arts technology and learn how E-Commerce might affect their futures. From all reports, Graph Expo 99 was a huge success. According to the Graphic Arts Show Co., which organized the event, 45,217 people took part—including numerous in-plant managers who stopped to chat with In-Plant Graphics' staff at our booth. All told, the show's 622 exhibitors occupied more than 430,000 net square feet of booth space. IPG spent three days walking the show floor at Chicago's McCormick Place, examining the new equipment and talking to the numerous E-Commerce vendors. Here's what

University of California Printing Services Berkeley, Calif. Annual sales/budget: $15,877,189 Full-time employees: 186 Jobs printed per year: 5,000 To satisfy the printing needs of some 140,000 University of California students attending nine campuses across the state, University of California-Berkeley Printing Services has needed to be flexible. According to George Craig, printing services director, there have been many changes over the years, especially with the emergence of digital technology. Craig recalls bringing in photocomposition and computer business management systems in the '80s, before moving to the direct-to-plate processes and computer-controlled presses of today. Through it all, Craig says, his staff has excelled at adapting to the changes.