GTI Graphic Technology

Commercial printing industry supplier company and personnel news from Printing Impressions’ April 2012 edition.

On the heels of GRAPH EXPO 2011’s post-show attendance report released last week-which revealed buyers up 7 percent and buyer companies up 12 percent over last year’s show-are just sampling of comments from attendees and exhibitors who spoke out on the quality of this year’s show.

Wide- and grand-format printers really stood out around the show floor, with the size of some devices giving them the impression of being the new “heavy iron” in the industry. Even the new crop of inkjet presses for high-volume page production was overshadowed a bit by their wider brethren, as fewer vendors elected to bring machines to Chicago.

NORMALLY, THE point of comparison for PRINT 09 would be the 2005 show and maybe Drupa 08, but attendees will find the show floor more akin to Graph Expo 08 in terms of the number of exhibitors and the makeup of their booths. The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC) has taken an unprecedented step to maximize the amount of equipment on hand by offering exhibitors a stimulus program to offset most of their setup costs.

MELBOURNE, FL—November 12, 2008—MGI Digital Graphic Technology/MGI USA, the multi-substrate (paper and plastic) digital press and finishing solutions manufacturer, announced a strong showing at GRAPH EXPO 2008, including receiving Must See ‘em honors for the Meteor DP60 Pro® 4-color multi-substrate digital press for paper and plastics.

Allegra Names Heidelberg USA ‘Supplier of the Year’ Winner NORTHVILLE, MI—Allegra Network honored Heidelberg USA with the Supplier of the Year award at its 2008 Allegra Network convention. Allegra Network franchise members vote to choose the winner. In April 2007, Heidelberg served as host for Allegra Network’s annual summit trip to Heidelberg, Germany. More than 160 of Allegra Network’s top franchise members participated in the event. The Allegra Network consists of Allegra Print & Imaging, American Speedy Printing Centers, Insty-Prints and Signs Now. Multi-City Road Show Deemed a Success MINNEAPOLIS, MN—Buhrs Americas and Lake Image Systems teamed up and headed for the road

DRUPA’S STANDING as an international printing exhibition makes it the place to see the course of technological development in the industry laid out for the next four years. As even the following press and postpress wrap-up stories note, digital printing technology had its strongest showing yet. Even the developments in digital workflow were muted by comparison. Many of the product introductions were already covered in one of the Drupa Countdown stories published in editions of Printing Impressions leading up to the show. Therefore, this wrap-up will primarily focus on what was new in Düsseldorf. The event lived up to its billing as The Ink-Jet

Here’s an exclusive, PRE-SHOW PREVIEW showcasing new products submitted by many of the exhibitors that will be displaying their wares next month in Chicago. Colter & Peterson will showcase the BASA 3, which features an automatic jogging system that can automatically form layers of printed sheets, align them accurately and transport them to the subsequent cutting process. The BASA 3 is appropriate for paper from 16-lb. bond to 125-lb. tag, and is effective when combined with a modern, rear-table-feeding system. Existing gripper transport systems can be retrofitted. Visit www.piworld.com/infocenter: enter #377 MBO America will introduce the Super KTZ, featuring a knife-folding unit that

MIAMI BEACH, FL—After watching attendance at its conference dwindle since the booming days of the ’90s, Xplor International teamed up with the successful Graphics of the Americas (GOA) exhibition and conference this year, putting on a joint event held here last month. The partnership seems to have been a wise move, as it freed Xplor from the task of organizing a trade show, allowing it to concentrate on its educational mission. More than 250 sessions were available, covering PDF, JDF, XML, digital prepress, design, variable data and more. GOA, in turn, got a host of new attendees, as well as a larger base of

(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2004. Therefore, companies that revised their 2003 revenues may have changed their 2003 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.) 101 ('03: 97) NorthStar Print Group, Watertown, WI Total Sales (Millions): $57.40 Previous Year's Sales (Millions): $56.52 Change (%): +2 Principal Officer: Richard Gasper Employees: 290 Primary Specialties: PKG 100% Web Offset Press Units: 0 Sheetfed Press Units: 0 Other Press Units: 81 Ownership: Public Plants: 3