Heidelberg

Adobe. Agfa. BARCO Graphics. EFI. Epson. IBM. Indigo. Heidelberg. PageFlex. Scitex. Splash. Varis. Xeikon. Xerox. The movers and shakers of on-demand got together recently in the Big Apple to promote everything from variable-data software to wide-format output to the latest initiatives in PDF functionality, servers and digital cameras. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Between the digital prepress performances of Seybold Boston and Seybold San Francisco, the greats of the on-demand digital printing industry hit the Big Apple with the latest in digital color presses, variable data software, digital cameras—everything and anything designed to boost the short-run performance standards of the on-demand digital printing market.

If maximizing RAID storage power and strengthening server support sound promising, surf the fibre channel— the next tech wave to boost the potential of RAID. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Imagine that you're on a tight deadline to finish a four-color project—a high-end, 110-page catalog featuring automotive accessories for a popular sports utility vehicle dealer. It is 8 p.m. on Tuesday. All is going well. Images have been scanned and the project is almost done being pushed through the prepress department. Working late and feeling benevolent, you decide to order pizza for your night shift, kick back, send a few long overdue e-mail responses

NEXPO, headlining in Las Vegas this month, touts trends in digital asset management, imagesetters, new RIP releases and other digital prepress tools designed to make the front page move in digital directions. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Newspapers are at a disadvantage when it comes to reaping the full benefits of electronic prepress, at present, for the obvious reason: Experimentation can cost—and, with the front page at stake, few newspaper greats would push for thermal imaging innovation at the risk of an unplanned late edition. However, are newspaper executives, who are in positions of operational and production management, taking note of the technologies driving thermal

Moving to new levels of digital asset management? Be sure to network and organize effectively to lay the foundation for an astute database. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Content manager. This is the latest descriptive to find its way onto your ever-clever corporate promotional materials. You are a general commercial printer, an innovative digital prepress provider—a digital content manager. Needless to say, your database capacity has, well, grown-up during this maturation from pure print provider to overall digital asset controller. REALITY: You have only begun to investigate ways to bolster your database power to make the move from print provider to all-in-one print provider and digital asset manager.

Customers are finally beginning to recognize the added value in embracing targeted, digitally printed communications that incorporate variable data, personalization and on-demand turnarounds. BY ERIK CAGLE A better understanding. That is the repetitive phrase on-demand printers are using to describe print customers' attitudes toward the digital market. Customers are becoming more particular about their needs, about the audience they're targeting and how they're targeting that audience. With that better understanding is a better appreciation for digital printing, and a sampling of the nation's leading on-demand printers couldn't be happier. Well, that's not entirely true—they could be happier. There's still much to be accomplished in

For the fourth year, Printing Impressions has compiled a ranking of the top color on-demand print providers in the nation. This year, the universe of digital printers was drawn from lists supplied by digital vendors, as well as the individual companies. Rankings were determined by self-reported on-demand sales figures. While there are other companies who would qualify for this listing, we could only include those who responded to our survey. 1. XYANKing of Prussia, PA(610) 992-7100Total Annual Sales: $74,200,000% of Sales From On-demand: 60Principal Officer: David McGrewPlants: 61Employees: 750Year Founded: 1994Digital Printing Devices: Canon CLC 1000 (4); Xerox DocuColor 40 (12); Xerox DocuColor 70

Map printer W.A. Fisher has carved a profitable niche in this mammoth market, where durability, detail accuracy and color are critical. Switching from parchment to synthetic paper gave the company a competitive edge. Outdoor maps are keys to our nation's parks, wilderness and great outdoors. They enable visitors to safely explore the vast expanse of nature. Accuracy is, of course, of paramount importance. Lakes, rivers, walking trails, portages, historic sites and ranger stations all must be clearly defined. But what about durability? How effective are maps that must endure the persistent elements of nature? Water, dirt and old-fashioned abuse all take a toll.

From creative design to full-service prepress to both traditional offset and digital printing, Kreber Enterprises has capitalized on a regional niche, serving the dominant furniture industry of High Point, NC—to the tune of $32 million a year. It's difficult to get a handle on exactly what Kreber Enterprises is. It doesn't fit into any single category. But that doesn't keep Howard Smith, president of the High Point, NC-based company, from trying. "We're a turnkey solution to the graphic arts industry," Smith explains nonchalantly. Turnkey, meaning Kreber does it all—from creative design to a photographic studio that's bigger than most warehouses, to a full-service

BY ERIK CAGLE Shorter runs, longer runs, less waste, reduced makeready time, skilled labor shortages, increased automation—some of the biggest issues facing the commercial printers who use heatset web offset presses are also some of the oldest issues. They are issues constantly being addressed. It is a flourishing market, as some of the open web industry's manufacturing stalwarts now offer enhanced commercial models or are breaking into the heatset specialty for the first time. That gives the printer more variety of choices in both the quantity and quality departments. For the manufacturers already entrenched in the heatset web market, the quest is to answer

BY PINCUS JASPERT The world's largest graphic communications supplier, Heidelberg, will be 150 years old in the Year 2000. As such, "anniversaries offer a chance to reflect," Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Chairman and CEO Harmut Mehdorn told some 60 of the world's leading industry trade magazine editors at an international press briefing held recently in Heidelberg, Germany. The phenomenal growth of the Heidelberg group over the past three years has not only involved going public, but also brought the acquisition of key industry suppliers into the Heidelberg fold, as well as partnerships with such companies as Kodak Polychrome Graphics. With the nature of the business in constant