Digital News

Published: February 01, 2001, By Teresa Koltzenburg, Senior Editor

DPP 2001 Slated for Spring
ANTWERP, BELGIUM —DPP 2001, the international conference covering digital production printing and industrial printing applications, will focus on digital printing applications rather than on the technology itself, says conference organizer the American IS&T (The Society of Imaging Science & Technology). Slated for May 13 through 16, the event will be held at the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza Hotel in Antwerp, Belgium. All current digital printing areas—digital package printing, variable information printing, print production management, digital document and publications printing, and more—will be discussed, says the IS&T. For more information, visit www.imaging.org or e-mail Ann Van den Broeck, conference secretary, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or call +32 (0)3 444 30 98.

VUE/POINT to Offer a Learning Atmosphere
RESTON, VA, USA—Printers, prepress, and postpress managers can exchange information and learn more about the latest digital technologies and solutions at VUE/POINT, March 26-28, 2001, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA. Sponsored and produced by the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), the conference will feature a cross section of users and vendors on panels, representing everyone from the million-dollar trade shop to the billion-dollar-plus printer. According to GASC, a unique highlight of the conference will be "rap sessions" with open microphones, a series of interactive round-tables that will facilitate attendee participation on the industry's most important issues. Included in the conference program are: "Remote Workflows—The Latest Fad for the Future of Prepress" and "Digital Offset Presses vs. Computer to Plate—Revisited."

Sponsors include Agfa Corp., American Printer (sister publication to PFFC), Collabria, CreoScitex America, DuPont Color Proofing, Heidelberg, Imation, Indigo America, MAN Roland, Polaroid Graphics Imaging, Printcafe, Xeikon America, Xerox Corp., and many more. For more information visit GASC's web site, gasc.org or contact VUE/POINT Conference, 2400 Lemoine Ave., Fort Lee, NJ 07024; fax: 201/461-5928.

Digital Technology Show Set for Atlanta
FAIRFAX, VA, USA—DPI 2001: A Digital Odyssey, the Ninth Annual Conference & Exhibit of the Digital Printing & Imaging Association (DPI), is expected to attract more than 2,500 global players, says DPI, the show sponsor/organizer. The event is scheduled for April 4 - 7, Atlanta, GA, at AmericasMart, the city's central convention center. DPI 2001 will feature more than 225 exhibitor booths displaying what is described as the newest technology for output equipment and the latest developments in consumable supplies.

According to DPI, education also will be a major thrust of the show. More than 50 workshops and seminars will focus on such basic skills as digital startup and color management; how to improve company sales marketing and daily operations; the "how-tos" of putting the latest technology to work; and more. For more information, visit DPI's web site, dpia.org or contact Sylvia Hall at 703/385-1339.

Heidelberg Inforum Showcases Solutions
MT. PROSPECT, IL, USA—Held last December at the company's Technology Center located just outside of Chicago, Heidelberg's Packaging Inforum showcased its most recent "solutions" for the packaging market. Among the products demonstrated at the day-long event: Prinergy Powerpack and Signpack, part of Heidelberg's prepress digital workflow management system; the Speedmaster CD 74, a 29-in., sheet-fed package printing press designed specifically for short-run packaging jobs in mid-size format; and the CD 102-LYLYX Off-line Coater, which the company says can handle matte/gloss coatings, spot coatings, metallic inks, blister packs, UV coatings, and other specialty applications.

Via the Inforum's product demos, panel discussions, and educational presentations, packaging professionals —printers, converters, and trade press (PFFC included)—got a first-hand look at the technology, processes, and trends that are driving the packaging industry. According to Achim Schmidt, Heidelberg USA's sales and marketing manager for the packaging and label industry, more than 100 industry executives attended the event. Schmidt adds, "Since the industry is changing so fast and new challenges are faced almost every day, it is important to keep up with fast-advancing technologies."

IPA Conference Presents "Patterns for Success"
SAN DIEGO, CA, USA—An atypically rainy, chilly Southern California was the setting for the International Prepress Association (IPA) 5th Annual Sales and Marketing Conference, held January 11 through 14. Though the weather was unusually bad, the conference, Patterns for Success: Profiting from the Changing Marketplace, provided a bevy of good information for its attendees. Attended by PFFC and almost 100 other industry professionals, the weekend conference featured three days of educational seminars and presentations, which focused on how prepress sales and marketing staffs can profit in the fast-changing prepress/digital marketplace. Conference highlights included a high-energy presentation by Steve Snyder, chairman of MindLab Development. Snyder, best known for his development of AlphaLearning, the product of more than 30 years of research into accelerated reading and learning techniques, offered attendees insights into how to control stress and ignite leadership abilities through complete focus on the task at hand.

In addition to Snyder's attention-grabbing presentation, David W. Anderson, president of AMSI Research reviewed the recently released IPA report Profiting from New Revenue Streams. Anderson, author of the study, revealed how traditional prepress companies can profit in the changing industry, offering attendees information on everything from digital printing and e-business to new services and profit centers. Each attendee was given a copy of the IPA-commissioned report.

Saturday's line-up included John Bonura, president of Bonura Training Systems, who supplied attendees with specific development strategies for training sales and marketing teams to thrive in the "challenge of change."

The conference wrapped up on a high note, both weatherwise (Sunday was sunny and 60 deg F) and with two final sessions, one that covered what attendees learned at the conference as well as another that focused on the benefits of using personality profiles for recruiting and maintaining an effective workforce.

DAX to Be Powered by Hilgraeve's Hypersend
MONROE, MI, USA—Digital Art Exchange Inc. (DAX) is entering a strategic partnership with Hilgraeve's HyperSend. According to the mfr., Hilgraeve's secure Internet delivery service will be integrated into the DAX suite of applications. The result will be a solution designated "DAX-IT."

"Partnering with DAX allows us to extend the benefits of our Hypersend secure file transfer technology to the graphic communications industry," reports Matt Gray, president and CEO of Hilgraeve. "It offers many advantages over FTP and is a perfect fit for this industry because of its ability to send large files over the Internet in a fast and secure manner." DAX-IT will be introduced before the end of the first quarter this year.

GretagMacbeth Has New Leader
REGEBSDORF, SWITZERLAND—GretagMacbeth Holding AG has a new leader: Thomas J. Vacchiano, Jr. Vacchiano will serve as president and CEO, succeeding Ronald G. Anderson. Anderson will act as an advisor to the board of directors until his retirement in May of this year. Says Anderson, "Tom is a natural leader, and he is ideally suited to lead GretagMacbeth for many years. He brings a consistent track record...along with the strategic and technological vision needed to take [the company] forward. His experience serving global markets through multiple distribution channels is also very significant. We are extremely excited to have him help us move forward." Vacchiano was formerly president and CEO of Xerox Engineering Systems.

Xaar Opens US Headquarters Office
SCHAUMBURG, IL, USA—Xaar plc has opened headquarters for its US operation in Schaumburg, IL, a northern suburb of Chicago. The new facility houses both sales and technical support staffs and a Customer Support Center. The center is equipped with customer-supplied printing systems that Xaar staff members can use to demonstrate the broad range of wide-format and industrial ink jet printing applications in which its technologies—printheads and inks—are used.

The company reports another important part of the center is a lab facility in which staff and/or customers can experiment with various ink jet printhead/application combinations, produce print samples, and test combinations of printheads, substrates, and inks.