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This section offers printing reinvention news briefs. European printers are using the full Berliner and half Berliner print size, midway between a tabloid and a broadsheet through the state-of-the-art presses of German manufacturer manroland. The innovative technology of ultraviolet (UV) printing by manroland is gaining success worldwide with easy upgrades, small physical footprint and improved curing process. The Colorman e:line was introduced by Manroland for operating different modules.

The article discusses the role of social media in the printing industry. It states that for marketing purposes, the use of social networks with billions of followers and members such as Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. (FB) could really influence the clients. Sales manager Susan Thomas of Printfastic Printing Ltd. regarded social media as the next revolution in the industry and in the whole business sector. It says that companies are starting to discover the online behavior of the consumers.

The article discusses the various technology companies that newspaper can partner with to boost their online presence and business profit. Among such technology firms are Mediaphormedia, ZEDO, Inc. and ppi Media. The newspaper firms that partner with such companies include German publication "Nordkurier," "Omaha World Herald," and "Daily Herald" of Paddock Publications.

The article examines how to balance the benefits of both toner and inkjet production equipment against the costs to find the best option for the needs of the company in the U.S. It mentions the printers and vendors who share their views on the real world costs required to run both equipments. It cites a print scientist and inventor, Henry Freedman, who states that it is not about ink or toner, instead it is a function of run length, paper requirements, and the type of work.

The article presents considerations for newspaper publishers in choosing content management systems (CMS). Senior technology consultant Bob Atkinson of Sabatier Consulting said that traditional ink-on-newsprint publishers need versatile systems to drive content to their web sites and mobile devices and must keep their CMS simple for their editors, writers, and other non-technical contributors who may have limited patience for meta-data tagging demands.

The article offers information on several large scale inkjet web printing presses used in printing industry. It mentions that Eastman Kodak Co. has launched its Prosper 5000XL digital press which provides four-over-four perfected output on coated, uncoated and glossy stock. It says that HP T300 Digital Inkjet web press from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) features print speeds and three million images per day which are data driven and can carry different messages.

The article discusses the need for newspaper pressrooms to maximize return on investment (ROI) on printing press investment. It cites the decision by "The Rockford Register Star" to replace an old press with the Colora to increase production speed and improve color capacity. It mentions the factors considered by publishers when investing in presses including reliable service and compliant system components. Information on products designed to make presses run better is provided.

The article explains the importance of preventive maintenance to printing companies. Drawbacks of putting off regular preventive maintenance includes major breakdowns, days of idle downtime, and gradual degradation of quality and efficiency. Conducting regular preventive maintenance makes downtime predictable. Ray Prince, the president of the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), suggests steps printers should take on a regular basis to keep their press investments running efficiently.

The article looks at the emerging trend of "Mobile Marketing Graphics," or intracity vehicles with graphics. Considered as one of the most cost-effective forms of out-of-home advertising, mobile advertising can generate about 30,000 to 70,000 sightings per day. According to an Arbitron Outdoor Study, an estimated 75 percent of people develop an impression of a company and its products by its vehicles. Comments from Ralph Nappi of the Graphics Arts Show Company are included.

The article discusses the highlights of the Print 09 trade show held on September 11-16, 2009 at the McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Topics for the exhibition, organized by the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), included business diversification, mailing and fulfillment, and color management. The absence of Adobe Systems and the failure of Hewlett Packard (HP) to present its 30-inch, high-speed inkjet web press are noted. Among the exhibitors were Heidelberg, Komori America, and Domino Amjet.

This article discusses how the human resources (HR) department can help maximize the return on investment (ROI) from the company's human capital and minimize financial risk. It explains that companies should start viewing their employees as capital investments. To be able to help maximize ROI, the author suggests HR to make it sure that employees know that someone in the management are listening to their concerns. INSET: HR Alternatives.

The article focuses on the effort of more commercial printers in the U.S. to add packaging to their product offerings in order to increase opportunities and profits. According to the Printing Industries of America and Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR), print companies are expanding into ancillary services like mailing, fulfillment and database management. In Wisconsin, printing plants Outlook Group and the Garvey Group are reportedly even going beyond packaging.

The article provides information on the use and nature of transpromo marketing. Transpromo is defined as a transactional printed documents combined with promotional marketing messages on the face of monthly statements, bills and invoices to be delivered to customers. It says that this kind of marketing captures more mindshare than any other advertising alternatives such as television, radio and magazines. It mentions that though there is the global economic depression, the marketing strategy is still applicable. Industry consultant Adam Dewitz emphasizes the power of transpromo since most of the documents mailed are opened and read by the customers. Barb Pellow, InfoTrends analyst, tells that transpromo boosts more attention than any other communications. INSET: COLORS: 3,2 and 1....

The article focuses on the increasing popularity of direct mail and transactional-promotional prints due to the advent of advancements in data handling, software and digital presses. Specifically, he claims that blending promotional messages into the transaction documents create a new marketing vehicles called transpromo print. He also explains that printing companies interested in entering the field will serve a unique customer because transpromotional print buying is more allied to business process outsourcing than the usual marketing-related print purchase channels. INSET: CASHING IN on Speed.

The article focuses on the strategic approach of Curtis Packaging Inc. on the consumer packaged goods and printing services. Company's cartonmaker Sandy Hook has designed more innovative products using heavy silver metals effect. The company has applied several equipment including the 51-inches KBA Rapida 130 sheetfed-offset press, Harris & Bruno LithoCoat interstation dispersion coater and 37 inches Kohmann 950 window-patching machine.

The article features several sheetfed presses including machines from MAN Roland, KBA and Bert-Co Industries.

The article discusses the future of production inkjet in the graphic arts environment. Corporate vice-president for information technology strategies, Marco Boer, states that the graphic arts segment is the big theme in the next decade. He explains that inkjet outputs can equally match the print quality and productivity levels on coated offset substrates.

The article discusses the opportunities for commercial and trade print firms in the U.S. and forecast their growth by citing the reference of evolution and business expansion of printing firm Spartan Printing from a blueprint specialist to a trade printer. Topics discussed include installation of Durst Rho 1312 Ultraviolet (UV) inkjet digital printer by commercial printing firm A.J. Bart, information on ValueJet 1626UH printer from Mutoh, and information on Spartan's plant in Arlington, Texas.

The article offers information on the sheetfed J Press 720 S from Fujifilm and the digital continuous-feed press series which include 5 RotaJET printing systems from Koenig & Bauer.

The article discusses the growth and future of the print media and graphic communications industry in 2015. It mentions the revived economic activity during the GRAPH EXPO in Chicago, Illinois, with brisk customer traffic, show-floor excitement, and high investments in new equipments. Chief economist Andy Paparozzi believes that the U.S. printing industry is recovering and getting better, but business growth is slow and far from robust.

The article announces the winners of the 2014 "Quick Printing" (QP) magazine Readers' Choice Top Products Awards including the COLORlynx Technology calibration profiling solution from Canon Solutions America, the T400 Color Inkjet Web Press from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), and the Spartanics L-350 Laser Die Cutting Machine.

The article offers the author's view on convergence in the printing industry. He mentions Mike Zimmer of document management firm Xerox Corp. who wrote an example of convergence between his company and "Forbes" magazine. An overview of strategies applicable on franchising for the industry is also presented.

The article previews the Prosper S-Series Imprinting System developed by Kodak. INSETS: MORE REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES;IMPROVED FINANCING APPROVED.

The article features printed materials that are shown at SGIA and Graph Expo including the Display Cube three-dimensional display fabric and foam material from Tex Visions, the JetMaster Display System from Innova Art and the CoolFlex seamless, digital printing membrane from Cooley Commercial Graphics.

The article discusses the highlights of the 2012 Graph Expo held at the McCormick Place South in Chicago, Illinois on October 7 to 10. Newsweb Corp. president of printing division Rodd Winscott was part of a show panel, titled "2020: The Future Role of Newspapers." KBA sponsored a press conference to introduce its RotaJET 76 production ink-jet press.

The article offers information on the 2012 World Publishing Expo, the world's largest global trade exhibition for the news publishing and media industry, to be held at the Frankfurt convention center in Frankfurt, Germany.

The articl deals with the opportunities presented by developments in digital fabric and textile printing to the wide-format imaging market. According to Dye Into Print, banner printing, fashion sampling and product prototyping are some of the opportunities presented by dye sublimation technology. Information on DigiFab Systems' StampaJet BP-64 textile printer is provided. In June 2012, two flame-retardant fabrics were launched by Fisher Textiles.

The article discusses the growth of digital signage deployment in the U.S. According to a report from Nielsen, electronic signage in the country generates more than 237 million of monthly exposures to people 18 years of age or older. Some of the benefits of these signages are suggested including displaying content relevant to a specific site or region. The pitfalls that printers should be aware of are also discussed.

The article presents information on the pressroom equipment maintenance and retrofit upgrades of web presses before the start of the back-to-school promos. Newspaper presses generally slow down during summer and they use this time for machine maintenance and performance enhancements. The upgrades are aimed at reducing total life-cycle cost including maintenance and operating cost, improving production capacity and adopting new technologies.

The article previews several ink that will be featured at the Graph Expo in Chicago, Illinois in October 2012 including the HP FB225 White Scitex Ink from Hewlett-Packard, the Uvijet UV curable ink from Fujifilm, and the UltraChrome GS2 solvent ink from Epson.

The article reports on the latest printing software as of the second half of 2012. Topics discussed include the 9th version of the raster image processing of Caldera which incorporates the Adobe PDF Print Engine 2.5 and the Overdrive 2.0 inkjet proofing technology from ColorBurst Systems. Also mentioned are the ImagePrint Version 9 of ColorByte Software and PosterPrint Version 14 from ErgoSoft US.

The article focuses on the importance of using the right printing blankets in the newspaper industry at a time of increasing pressure on the industry to control costs and improve efficiency. Thomas Linkenheil, managing director of Trelleborg Printing Blankets, said that it is vital that the industry understands that different printing methods require different approaches when it comes to a printing blanket. Moreover, higher-quality blankets can help reduce overheads and reduce press downtime INSETS: TCO Math: The Blanket Factor;Who Is Trelleborg?;White Paper.

The article offers information on the 2012 drupa printing trade show, to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, on May 3-16, 2012, which will be hosted by the PrintCity Alliance.

The article discusses the advantages of Point of Purchase (POP) displays in boosting retail sales. Statistics show that more than 70% of a customer's choice on which product to buy is made at the point of purchase. Based on a University of California-Berkeley study, consumers are six times more likely to buy if a product is highlighted by a POP display. The most common POP display is a sign but other options include easel cards, life-size stand-ups and decals.

The article discusses the best practices for social media in 2012. According to Forrester Research, the combination of search marketing, display advertising, mobile marketing, electronic mail marketing, and social media is going to increase by 35% of all advertising spend by 2017. Information on how to use social media to gain profit is offered. Featured companies include Apple Visual Graphics and Blue Media.

The article describes the growing market for photo merchandise such as photobooks, event books and postcards. Consumer research information show that in 2010, 32% of consumers availed of a photo merchandise compared to only 25% from 2009 and that by 2014, sales will reach 14 billion dollars with business-to-business sales accounting for 12 billion dollars. Capabilities of new technology such as Canon's FINE and DreamLabo as well as Kodak NexPresses are described.

The article discusses the highlights of the Graph Expo in September 2011 where at least 30 exhibitors participated. It offers information on the environment-friendly plates displayed by Agfa Graphics including a seminar for publishers and printers. It focuses on the statement of manroland Inc. chief executive officer (CEO) Vince Lapinski on the search for other markets by the manufacturer of printing presses.

The article discusses the Oce JetStream 2200 printer used by full-service print provider Symeta for international newspapers. It offers a description of the inkjet printer's press technology involving a 20.5-inch web width, 600-by-600 dots per inch (dpi) resolution, and 500 frames per second (fpm) speed. In addition, the first prints were produced on behalf of Newspaper Abroad, which handles the marketing, sales, and distribution of international newspapers.

The article focuses on the printing solutions incorporated by several print shops in their production. It says that the SigmaLine in-line digital book manufacturing solution is used by Worldcolor for its facility in Dubuque, Iowa. It adds that David Allan, who is the owner of Allan Graphics, has added a Xerox 700 Digital Color Press to his 8,000 square-foot plant in Canada. Moreover, a Flex Book line from Magnum Digital Solutions was comprised by Webcom Inc. in its book production.

The article discusses the use of Web-to-print as the preferred approach to the marketing and sales environment. It explains that Web-to-print is a browser based software application or a virtual retail that facilitates collaboration and customer service interaction between buyers and sellers in a fast and cost-effective way. It also cites several companies that offer amazing web-to-print installations including Amazing Print Corp., Datatech SmartSoft Inc., and Avanti Computer Systems Ltd.

The article offers information on printers' open house in-plant parties, events which printers and industry suppliers are increasingly conducting to showcase new technologies or improved processes in order to promote business. It states that the cost-effective marketing strategy consistently draws considerable attendance and correspondingly generates increased volumes. Also mentioned are several printers and suppliers that hosted successful open house events including Solo Printing Inc., O'Neil Data Systems and Hewlett-Packard.

The article focuses on the use of direct mail among printers to attract clients. According to a Marketing Week Direct Mail Attitudes survey, 56% of marketers deem direct mail as effective in influencing executives in their companies. Several printers that utilize direct mail were mentioned, including Modern Postcard, CustomXM and Imtech Graphics.

The article offers information on the Print 2009 Trade Show that will be held at Chicago, Illinois, from September 11 to 16, 2009.

The article focuses on the Brown Printing Company's expansion including a six-story warehouse in Waseca, Minnesota. The plant, which started in April 2005 and is nearing completion, is meant for paper receiving, paper storage, shipping/receiving, press bays and automated storage/retrieval systems. The showpieces of the expansion are two Goss Sunday 3000/32 web presses that have a 72" paper and plate width, offering more pages per impression. Also included are the details of a new Goss Universalbinder 2 adhesive binder, integrated factory automation from HK Systems, closed-loop system from Web Printing Controls (WPC) and iMirus Digital Solutions. Company profile is provided.

The article deals with the use of wide-web presses with paper rolls that weigh five tons and are 60 inches in diameter by Arandell Corp. of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. The printer uses the Goss Sunday 3000/32 wide system, which features a two-by-eight cylinder and produces 100,000 impressions per hour with up to a 72-inch width. Adjustments were made to the plant of Arandell due to the use of the system. The installation of the wide-press has reduced Arandell's printing costs and paper usage. The printer has seven web presses.

The article focuses on a digital printing company. When top golf supplier Titleist wanted personalized boxes to package golf balls, its print broker was almost stumped. It wasn't long before that broker thought of nine-year- old print-on-demand specialist Odyssey Digital Printing. The commercial and packaging printer had for some time been using roll-fed digital presses from Xeikon America to print custom point-of-purchase work. It had also demonstrated its ability to hold consistent color and quality for some of the best-known packaged brands on the planet. Odyssey was referred to Titleist because we're totally digital, and Titleist's turnaround requirement was three days for individual orders.

This article focuses on the advantages of computer integrated manufacturing workflow for folding and in-line gluing machines. Learning and gluing in line are two folder features gaining in popularity and helping printers and binderies save time and costs in computer-integrated manufacturing environments. Some manufacturers are perfecting the adhesion process, which previously was fraught with bottleneck set ups and clean-ups, not to mention extensive hand-holding by highly skilled operators. Binderies and finishing departments are not eager to job-out gluing, choosing instead to grow a new profit center internally and offer faster delivery. For creative and compact folding. Vujik Equipment's Miniature Glued Booklet System folds and glues booklet spines at one station of the H+H KL 112 folder. Popular among the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and small-packaging industries, Vujik says its mini system also works ideally for direct-mail inserts, compact disc packaging inserts, invitations, announcement and other small, folded print products. In addition to being flexible and versatile, the new class of folders is artificially intelligent, too. Heidelberg's folding machine, for example, retains preprogrammed settings for the six most commonly used small-format fold types and has memory capacity to store three more, despite its compact application. INSET: JDF Links the Binding Line.

The article offers information on the Graphic Communications Scholarship Foundation (GCSF), that helps aspiring graphic arts professionals to fund their education. Laura Reid, a trustee, says that GCSF has given away more than 415,000 dollars. Another trustee and vice president Diane Romano says that their goal is to increase the level of giving, both the total per year and the amounts.

An interview with Fred Collins, chief executive officer (CEO) of trade printers and printed product manufacturer, the DFS Group. Collins offers an overview of the company, which has been serving the industry for more than 30 years. He indicates that he joined DFS as business development manager in 1997 and worked to grow the business by winning large accounts. He talks about his greatest achievement in the market and offers insight on the big challenge for the printing industry.

The article discusses the growing practice of brokers and trade printers reselling print and promotional printing. It notes that print firms adopt the business strategy of turning to trade printers when they need printing done outside their scope of work and expertise. Copresco president Steve Johnson advises that contracting a specialized but low-cost producer is important when the work requires more printing capabilities.