Santa Ana, CA and Montreal, January 22 - Duplo and Ultimate announce a partnership to deliver an automated system where the imposition software from Ultimate generates a barcode that is read by Duplo to automatically slit, cut, and crease digitally printed applications on the Duplo DC-645, which comes equipped with a barcode reader. This digital print automation solution for the photo product market will be shown for the first time at the PMA-08 show in Las Vegas.

Ultimate's Impostrip On-Demand Digital software with its barcode option can place the necessary barcode on a printed sheet to be read by the barcode reader on the Duplo equipment. Based on that barcode, the Duplo DC-645 automatically sets itself to the precise position. The DC-645 can hold up to 80 job memories; those set-ups can coincide with the Impostrip hot folders, enabling customers to simply drop jobs in a hot folder knowing that the finishing will be completed automatically from that point.

The barcode can be generated on each sheet or per individual items on each sheet. The barcode can be used to not only set the Duplo machine for precision cutting, it can also be used to identify and keep track of the items after they have been cut.

At the PMA show, Jan 31 – Feb. 2 the full automated workflow solution, from job submission, imposition, printing and cutting will be shown live in the Duplo booth (T167), focus product presentations and demos it will also be shown with mutual partners: Digilabs (K183) for digital photo printing and as an integrated solution with HP (P131).

"We wanted to present an interactive workflow to clearly demonstrate the power and significant productivity benefits that can be delivered by a complete end-to-end print production," explains Si Nguyen, Head Of Marketing of Duplo USA. "By teaming up with some of our industry partners, we've provided a hands-on opportunity for visitors to experience just how simple it is to automate production, which in turn offers significant cost savings in terms of eliminating manual intervention and potential inputting errors."

The DC-645 is the ideal finishing solution for digital color documents. Unlike any in the industry, the DC-645 slits, cuts, and creases documents in a single pass at an incredible speed of 26 sheets per minute. Unattractive white borders and cracked spines of digitally printed documents are problems of the past as the DC-645 produces a wide variety of professional quality, full-bleed applications such as business cards, greeting cards, invitations, brochures, pamphlets, catalogs, posters, book/CD covers, photographs, and more by simply loading the automatic high-capacity feeder. Features include:

o    Up to 6 slits, 15 cuts, and 10 creases in 1 pass
o    Processing speed up to 26 sheets per minute
o    Automatic image shift compensation
o    Barcode reader for automatic job set up

"Manufacturing automation is what best describes what our digital customers need when referring to prepress," explains Joanne David, Ultimate Executive Vice President. "The objective is to shorten the distance between the order and the delivery. In prepress this responsibility is fulfilled in large part by the imposition task where we automate the manufacturing process all the way to print and now to finishing, bringing each web submitted photo product order to printing and finishing quickly and accurately. This is what Impostrip On-Demand Digital is about."

Impostrip On-Demand Key benefits and value proposition:

•    It is all about automation. Impostrip On-Demand Digital expands any workflow to include the imposition step as an automated and hands-off system. This is because it offers unique and simple dynamic automation via a simple, yet powerful hot folder that requires NO intervention after set-up. All customers' preferences for bleed control, templates, marks, barcode for tracking and finishing can be automated. 

•    It is all about quality. Impostrip On-Demand Digital even at its highest integration and automation level offers all the necessary tools to produce top quality photo products, consistently and in various binding fashions, without the intervention of an operator. Customers can rely on a tool capable of manufacturing products with precision and consistency. That automation and quality is now extended to finishing with the barcode connection to Duplo equipment.

•    It is all about profits. Impostrip On-Demand Digital optimizes production for each printer, reducing workflow set-ups considerably - thanks to its dynamic hot folder. It eliminates paper waste due to manual and human errors, thus building customer's confidence in our ability to deliver high level of imposition expertise to capture new business opportunities with the photo product market.

At PMA the partnership between DigiLabs, Duplo and Ultimate is taking the automation of web2print custom photo products a step further. DigiLabs and Ultimate are showing a hands free automation between web job submissions through print production with a special XML interface. This can be combined with barcode production to automatically set up the Duplo equipment to deliver web to finished product automation.

As a next step in the automation of prepress, print and finishing, Duplo and Ultimate will be working on communicating finishing information through JDF.