ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 29 -- Cross Media, a marketing implementation company based in Dallas, is growing its business by offering a mix of digital and conventional offset printing supported by KODAK workflow, computer to plate (CTP) and digital printing solutions. Kodak recently installed several products at Cross Media to help the company execute print, promotion, and marketing plans for an expanding client list of national, regional and local clients. “With a blended production environment come certain challenges with regards to workflow between conventional offset and digital production presses,” said Jeff Bradford, President, Cross Media. “We needed a partner that could offer us a total package to help us manage our entire workflow. Kodak was able to provide the most comprehensive integrated system with workflow, CTP and digital printing solutions all working together to improve our business.” Cross Media’s portfolio of KODAK solutions includes the KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Digital Production Color Press, the KODAK PRINERGY CONNECT Workflow System, a KODAK TRENDSETTER 800 II QUANTUM Platesetter, KODAK INSITE Software, KODAK UPFRONT Production Planning Software, KODAK SWORD EXCEL Thermal Printing Plates and the KODAK MATCHPRINT Inkjet Proofing System. According to Bradford, the integration of these products makes Cross Media more efficient, productive and profitable. “Time and money are the biggest benefits of our integrated KODAK solution,” explained Bradford. “Getting product to market faster, as well as more seamlessly and easily, for our customers saves valuable resources across the board.” Cross Media’s digital print business continues to grow as marketers gain appreciation for the benefits of variable data printing and short run color applications. The NEXPRESS 2500 press provides Cross Media with speed, productivity and inline features that allow it to offer digital printing that complements its high quality conventional offset printing work. The NEXPRESS 2500 press meets a variety of needs from entry level to very high volume environments. Customers are able to upgrade presses as they grow their businesses with options to select desired paper capacity, increase processing capability, and add a fifth imaging unit for delivery of spot color, watermarking and protective coating with the GATF InterTech Award winning KODAK NEXPRESS Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions. The fifth imaging unit solutions also enable high impact glossing in conjunction with the KODAK NEXGLOSSER Glossing Unit. The booklet maker for NEXPRESS presses is available inline or offline for collating, stitching, folding, trimming, and creating standard or square back booklets of up to 100 pages. “We handle a lot of print on demand text books and other self published books that the NEXPRESS 2500 press produces with ease,” said Bradford. “And because the press is engineered to allow our operators to handle most of the maintenance themselves, our downtimes are minimal.” In addition to its digital printing capabilities, Bradford highlights workflow and monitor proofing as profit opportunities for Cross Media. With the PRINERGY CONNECT workflow system and INSITE software, Cross Media customers are integrated into the production process with features like automated pre-flighting and monitor proofing. This fosters a seamless, more efficient manner for handling production files. The PRINERGY CONNECT workflow system is a PDF based workflow management tool that organizes prepress and plate production including final output to film, plate or press. It manages tasks such as file optimization, trapping, proofing, imposition, and plate making for increased process control and productivity. KODAK INSITE software is a Web portal for prepress that streamlines job submission, job status tracking, and remote content proofing. INSITE software extends the reach of a user’s business operations and improves responsiveness to customer needs, while reducing job cycle times and material costs. Adding the MATCHPRINT Virtual Software option to INSITE Software enables color accurate monitor proofing of pages in the prepress workflow. While still in the implementation stage, Bradford expects his monitor proofing capabilities to deliver significant time savings. “We’re talking minutes instead of days with monitor proofing. It’s an exciting endeavor for Cross Media and a point of differentiation for us,” said Bradford. On the conventional offset side of Bradford’s business, SWORD EXCEL thermal printing plates and a TRENDSETTER 800 II QUANTUM platesetter work together to maximize quality and minimize turnaround time. The KODAK SWORD EXCEL thermal printing plate delivers run lengths of up to 500,000 impressions and hard dots that yield resolutions ranging from 1% to 99% at 200 LPI. By eliminating the preheat and postbake cycles, the SWORD EXCEL plate cuts processing time and allows prepress managers to utilize smaller processors. The benefits of the SWORD EXCEL plates are optimized when paired with Cross Media’s TRENDSETTER 800 II QUANTUM platesetter. Featuring KODAK SQUARESPOT imaging technology, the TRENDSETTER 800 II QUANTUM platesetter maintains sharp resolution and end to end data integrity, from the original file to the press, despite any variations in production. “Kodak offers the most integrated and comprehensive solution we could find,” said Bradford. “It was clear to us that Kodak had made a significant investment in solutions that work together to drive time and error out of the production process.” Cross Media is a marketing implementation company founded in 1993 and based in Dallas. The company’s 85 employees support a client roster that includes well known names like Hewlett Packard, Ryland Homes, Perot Systems, Blockbuster, American Cancer Society and Texas Instruments, as well as an even longer list of small and mid sized companies. Cross Media offers a wide array of marketing services including automated marketing campaigns, collateral management, relevant direct marketing, graphic design, lead tracking and promotional products. The company is best known for leveraging technology to help small and mid sized companies market like the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.crossmediamgmt.com, call 214.367.3600 or contact Veronica Thompson, MPR Source, Inc. at +1 972-801-2555 x111. KODAK products are backed by KODAK Service and Support. KODAK Service and Support includes more than 3,000 professionals in 120 countries. These professionals are fully qualified to help customers control costs, maximize productivity, and minimize business risk.