Xeikon Hires Ronald Shepard to Bolster U.S. Document Printing Sales Efforts

ITASCA, IL—December 10, 2013—Xeikon NV, an innovator in digital color printing technology, announced today that Ronald Shepard has been appointed national document sales manager and Trillium specialist, USA.

Shepard's primary objective is to further grow the market penetration of the Xeikon 8000 series of digital color presses for the document printing market. He will also focus on driving Xeikon's success with its patented High Viscosity Toner (HVT) technology, called Trillium. Shepard will report to Todd Blumsack, Xeikon's vice president of sales in North America.

The Xeikon 8000 series of presses have enjoyed strong sales growth since their introduction in Q1-2012. The Series consists of three press models, all of which feature high precision LED-array imaging technology to deliver true 1,200 dpi resolution and 4-bit per spot color depth. In addition, the Xeikon 8000 series offers unmatched format flexibility, with a media width of 20.2˝ and unlimited print length. With monthly duty cycles of up to 10 million pages, the Xeikon 8000 series supports a broad range of document and commercial printing applications, including direct ma rketing/direct mail, transactional printing, books and Photobooks, point-of-sale banners/posters, as well as wall decoration such as borders, murals and wallpapers.

Trillium, Xeikon's soon to be released HVT-based technology, was announced at drupa 2012. It delivers a combination of high image quality and speed. A key strength of Trillium technology lies in its ability to print mid-to-high image coverage jobs with sharp quality, which makes it particularly suitable for direct marketing and commercial printing applications. In addition, Trillium technology offers significantly lower running costs while maintaining the high eco-sustainability standards for which Xeikon products are known. As a result, print providers will no longer have to choose between high image quality, productivity/throughput and affordable cost. Xeikon plans to install its first beta unit based on Trillium technology in the first part of 2014.

"We are pleased to have someone of Ron's caliber and sales leadership join the Xeikon team," Blumsack said. "He has a proven pedigree for delivering successful results and has a great opportunity to drive our document printing business in the U.S. forward."

A resident of Centennial, CO, Shepard has 30 years of experience in publishing and document imaging sales. Most recently, he was director of sales and marketing for Heidelberg CSAT America. He has also held senior sales positions with HP Indigo America, Eastman Kodak, and the Pro Lab.

About Xeikon
Xeikon NV is an innovator in digital printing technology. The company designs, develops and delivers web-fed digital color presses for labels and packaging applications, document printing, as well as commercial printing. These presses utilize LED-array-based dry toner electrophotography, open workflow software and application-specific toners.

As an OEM supplier, Xeikon designs and produces platemakers for newspaper offset printing applications.

Xeikon also manufactures basysPrint computer-to-plate (CtP) solutions for the commercial printing market. These proven CtP systems combine the latest exposure techniques with cost-efficient UV plate technology, high-imaging quality and flexibility.

For the flexographic market, Xeikon offers digital platemaking systems under the ThermoFlexX brand name. ThermoFlexX systems provide high-resolution plate exposure including screening, color management, as well as workflow management.

All the Xeikon solutions are designed with the overarching principles of profitability, quality, flexibility and sustainability in mind. With these guiding principles and a deep, intimate knowledge of its customers, Xeikon continues to be one of the industry's leading innovators of products and solutions.

Source: Xeikon America.