Printing Industry Commentary & Analysis

First Reactions to drupa 2012: Searching for a “Big Picture” of the Big Show

What were the principal take-aways from drupa 2012? What was new and exciting in the exhibit halls? Where is the industry headed? We’re sifting our notebooks for the answers. In the meantime, here are some broad observations about the character and “feel” of the show.

The New Liquid Toner Generation

While most of the attention at drupa has been concentrated on the subject of B2 sheet fed inkjet presses, and also on the impact of Benny Landa’s new Nanographic Printing Process, there has been another major development that has stayed somewhat under the radar.

Latest Information on Landa's Nanographic Printing

Catch up on the latest information, videos and exclusive reports about Landa's nanographic printing platform.

Everything you wanted to know about UV Lamps

UV curing technology is seeing increased use in the printing industry, primarily for inks and coatings. UV lamps are a high performance component of the drying system. Proper maintenance as well as shopping around for sources can help you get the most from these systems.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? Initial notes from the field

In this article of the series, David takes an initial look at some of inkjet announcements, potential implications, and offerings???

The Prime Group: Transforming Business

Originally founded as a traditional offset printer, Prime Group has evolved into a provider of value-added items such as personalized products and cross-media marketing services. This article provides an overview of how Prime Group transformed itself into one of the U.K.’s leading providers of customized and personalized specialty items.

Package Printing to Be a Highlight of KBA’s drupa Presentations

Much of the activity at KBA’s stand in Hall 16 at drupa will center upon packaging, an application in which the company has always claimed a competitive edge. At drupa, KBA will reassert the claim with systems it describes as engineered to meet today’s highest-priority requirements in packaging production.

Xerox at drupa 2012 and Beyond

As we rapidly approach drupa 2012, WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne talked with Jeff Jacobson, president, Xerox Global Graphic Communications, to find out what Xerox is up to and what we can expect to see at drupa and beyond.

The Perfect Invention

Pricing for standard printing jobs is typically a cost plus scenario, however when you are selling solutions you have the option to price based on value and then get your fair share of the value you create. You just need a way to figure out what the value is to your client we'll show you a simple tool for making that calculation.

Landa to Give New Life for Offset Iron

As drupa prepares to open its doors to the public, I am wondering if two announcements in the past week may indicate a major change in the printing industry, and also a new lease of life for two of the leading offset press vendors.

Mohawk Reinvention: Tom O’Connor, Chairman & CEO Speaks Out

Following the mid-April announcement by Mohawk about its reinvention plans, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Thomas D. O’Connor, Jr., the company’s Chairman & CEO, to dig deeper.

Xerox and the Cloud: Deb Cantabene Talks About Forward Strategy

There is no question that drupa 2012 will be an inkjet drupa, where inkjet technologies really begin to come into their own. But it will also be a “cloud computing” drupa. We have already seen a major announcement from Adobe, and many more companies are moving in that direction, including Xerox. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne talks with Xerox’s Deb Cantabene to find out more about the company’s cloud strategy.

What I Learned at the Océ Direct Mail Summit

We were invited as the guest of Océ to participate in their recent Direct Mail Summit in Boca Raton, Florida. The agenda was focused on understanding how to generate more direct mail business and included both Océ executives and industry experts.

At drupa, KBA’s RotaJET 76 Digital Inkjet Press Will Reveal Deep Roots in Web Offset Production

KBA’s venture into digital printing with its new RotaJET 76 inkjet web press has origins in a market that the company knows well: high-volume offset web production.

Promoting Your Large Format Business in a Digital World

In today’s economy, getting the most out of your marketing dollars requires a smarter and more creative approach. With a little bit of creativity, wide format providers can leverage public relations, innovative Websites, networking, customer education, and social media to reach customers and grow their businesses. This analysis provides five key strategies for promoting your business.

New Screening Technology to Enhance Your Business

These days when print is so competitive, printers need to be able to utilize technology to make them stand out from their competition. Andy looks at a new screening technology that may save money, improve productivity and enhance quality.

Another drupa is Upon Us... Now What?

Dr. Joe tells us what drupa and other trade shows mean to the new capital investment patterns of our industry. He thinks capital investments are becoming more tactical than strategic, more continuous than discrete. This is a problem, because “capex” often locks in a vision of media markets, making it harder to adjust to market changes. Just what we need: Dr. Joe having visions again.

At drupa, Social Media Will Help Xerox Share the Experience

When Xerox exhibits at drupa, its presence won’t be limited to stand A62 in hall 8b. Throughout the show, the company intends to maintain an equally high profile in the realm of social media as it attempts to viralize not just its own drupa experience but the pulse and the intelligence of the event as a whole.

How a 1987 Joint Venture Might Have Changed Digital Printing History

In this WhatTheyThink exclusive, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne tells the story of DX Imaging, a DuPont/Xerox joint venture founded in 1987, that might have changed printing history.

Looking for a Big Opportunity? Think Large Format!

Commercial printers and in-plants are adding large format capabilities, and many report that this move has enabled them to capture additional marketing dollars from new and existing customers. Large format is increasing in importance because it has become a key customer touchpoint for marketers of all sizes. This article takes a closer look at the wide format market opportunity.

Digital Presses at drupa: Delphax, HP, Kodak, Komori, Landa, Presstek, Ryobi, Xeikon

In this Part Two of her pre-drupa overview, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne reviews some of the new digital presses visitors to drupa will be able to see. It is not, by any means, an exhaustive list … while this is being called the inkjet drupa redux, there are also very interesting announcements in the toner space as well.

Vistaprint Revisited: New Acquisitions

WhatTheyThink profiled Vistaprint in January 2011and the company has made some notable acquisitions since then, so we are taking an updated look at what has been in development. Conclusion? Vistaprint is still charging ahead.

KBA Prepares for drupa in Confident, Customer-Focused Frame of Mind

Every four years, the international printing community gathers at drupa and asks itself a question: How are we doing? The Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA) believes that if every vendor’s experience over the last few years had been as positive as its own, the collective answer would have to be: Never better.

High-Profile Industry Figure in Latest Role: Frank Steenburgh, a.k.a “DocuFrank,” Joins NDP as Partner

It would be impossible to speak for very long about the evolution of digital printing without bringing Frank Steenburgh’s name into the conversation.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? Are you prepared to acquire production inkjet? Part 2

In this 11th and final article of the series, David looks at how to make sense of and apply the information he has presented to make informed purchasing decisions.

Gearing up for drupa: Workflow news from Chili Publisher, Enfocus, Esko, HP, Kodak, Xeikon and X-Rite Pantone

March was a pre-drupa whirlwind for many of us journalist/industry analyst types. No one can attend all of the events, but it seemed like I had more than my share. I will be breaking my report up into three parts … the first will focus on the softer side—color management, workflow, etc. Stay tuned for additional information on new digital presses, finishing and more. Companies covered here: Chili Publisher, Enfocus, Esko, HP, Kodak, Xeikon and X-Rite Pantone

In-Plants: “The Times They Are A-Changin’”

In just in the past few months, the print service operations at the University of North Carolina and Johns Hopkins University made headlines by shutting their doors. Printing is declining, so the volume of work has dropped. More and more of work is being done electronically. The small-run printing that most universities need is being completed with digital equipment, basically high-end digital copiers. In-plants need to change with the times if they hope to survive.

Hybrid Printing at drupa

One of the key trends we are seeing today is the rise of the hybrid printing system. This is where a mix of printing technologies are used on a press or finishing system to allow for adding variable data to offset or flexo printed content.

Surviving “the Printing Industry’s Perfect Storm”—and Its Aftermath

A “perfect storm” of change has transformed the printing industry, and every traditional printing operation caught in it faces the same decision: either issue a Mayday and sell the boat, or do nothing and watch the ship sink.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Delphax

In this tenth article of the series, David looks at Delphax, and its new production inkjet offerings and applications.

Delphax elan—a Game Changer?

In February, Delphax Technologies announced it would be bringing to market a digital color print system powered by Memjet at drupa 2012. Industry watchers have been waiting to get more details on this sheet-fed device and the news is finally out. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne gets the details from Delphax’ Dieter Schilling.

Everyone is Talking about Integrating Social Media and Direct Marketing… SourceLink is Doing Something!

A presence in the virtual world is essential to any successful marketing plan, but organizations of all sizes are getting lost in social media. Service providers must decide how they plan to participate in this market. This article discusses how SourceLink’s TAG solution is harnessing the power of social media sharing.

Linofilm grids and all that

Be a part of history. Frank is seeking some of the font masters and paraphernalia of the old phototypesetting era. He knows there are a few oldtimers who read WhatTheyThink while drooling in their oatmeal. Film, glass, and plastic fonts are requested.

What Printers Can Do To Thrive In This Market

We are coping with unprecedented industry consolidation and declining print volumes. As the overall volume of print declines, printing companies are scrambling to find strategies to not only survive, but to grow revenue and margins.

PULP Communications: Helping SMBs Engage Consumers

Small and medium-sized businesses want the ability to extend their marketing efforts across two or more channels, but they don’t have the time or money to do it effectively by themselves. This article leverages recent survey results to describe the challenges that today’s SMBs are facing and discusses how companies like PULP are helping to address these issues.

More of What to See at drupa

We finally have got through the series of pre-drupa events and announcement press releases. So we now know a lot of what will be seen at the event. The following is a summary of some key products that will be shown in a few market segments.

Are you prepared to acquire production inkjet? Part 1

In this ninth article of the series, David looks at how to make sense and apply the information we have presented to make relevant purchasing decisions.

ROMI: Return on Marketing Investment

Why has marketing been given such a long leash for so long or, in most cases, the only leash is the budget? Spend as you wish, hope it has a positive impact, and stop when the budget is gone. Marketers are good at pointing out their impact but when pressed, they typically can’t identify which part of their spend had the desired impact.

intomedia – Helping Service Providers Harness Web-to-Print

intomedia GmbH recognized an opportunity to harness the Web to drive online print ordering, improve communication workflows, and streamline production processes. This article discusses intomedia’s offerings and also offers examples of companies that are leveraging them.

manroland web systems Inc.: A Conversation with CEO Roland Ortbach

In this exclusive WhatTheyThink interview, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne speaks with Roland Ortbach, just named as CEO of manroland web systems Inc. North America. Ortbach discusses the new organization, its relationship with the manroland sheetfed division and more.

It is Not Just Inkjet for the Future

Almost all the recent announcements, and certainly all the hype, in the digital printing market have involved high-speed inkjet printing. Little has been heard about the established form of digital printing, namely digital printing using electrophotographic (toner based) technology.

Economic Overview; Changing Channels Not Just for TV

Dr. Joe tiptoes through the economic data, discusses the nature of efficiency and expansion, and then pontificates about channels that are not of the TV kind. Then he explains why a new high in a stock index is not what it seems. Did we really say tiptoe? Where are the tulips?

TGI: Positioning and Rebranding for Cross-Media Success

Print service providers can effectively position or re-position themselves for differentiation in today’s market. They can make their businesses stand out and effectively reach their target markets. This article explores how Philadelphia-based TGI has become a national leader in print and cross-media communications.

More Digital Printing at drupa

The past few weeks have seen many of the pieces of the drupa jigsaw drop into place as vendors define some of what they will introduce and offer in May. There are still a few announcements to come with HP and Xerox making their announcements soon.

A View Up and Down Print’s Value Chain with HP and O’Neil Data Systems

We had a unique opportunity recently to get a look at the entire printing industry’s value chain by attending two separate events at O’Neil Data Systems new plant in Plano, Texas. First was HP’s First Look event, which previewed for their customers technology they will be officially in the next few weeks. Second was O’Neil Data Systems’ grand opening of their Plano facility, which gave us an opportunity to meet their customers as well.

Geographics: Portrait of a Printing Company with M&A in Mind

Ever since he founded Geographics in 1976, Norvin Hagan hasn’t tried to purchase another company—until now. Read why he’s ready to complement organic growth with the kind that comes from a well planned and executed acquisition.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Memjet and three unique OEMs

In this eighth article of the series, David looks at Memjet inkjet technology, and some OEM implementations and offerings to address specific production print applications.

Vertical… A Competitive Differentiator for the One to One Group

Developing an understanding of industry dynamics can help service providers identify the right vertical market. Once the vertical market has been identified, the service provider must develop the right document and marketing solutions to meet clients’ needs. This article outlines the steps involved in taking a vertical market approach and also provides a relevant success story from the One to One Group.

drupa 2012 International Media Briefing

Last week fourteen companies gave a preview of what they will bring to drupa 2012 during a series of media briefings at a conference center on the trade fair grounds of Messe Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf, Germany.

X-Rite/Pantone Update from President & CEO Tom Vacchiano

I had the opportunity to participate in an analyst briefing at Pantone in late February, and X-Rite President & CEO Tom Vacchiano took the time to speak with Senior Editor Cary Sherburne one-on-one with an update on X-Rite/Pantone strategy—where the company’s been and where it is going. Read more.

Are You Having Fun Yet!

Printers are facing an increasing number of challenges due to rapid changes in the economy, technology and the marketplace. It is easy to get mired in viewing these changes as negative and the demise of an industry. However, for this article I will focus on the positive side of these changes.

The long road to recovery: the impact of the Great Recession on print

With the industry suffering from a paralysis invoked by the economic crisis eyes will turn to drupa 2012 to see how the future will shape up.

FedEx Office Expands Grand Format Business

FedEx Office recently announced that it would be accelerating investment in grand format printing services in selected centralized production centers to supplement its service offerings. The same release also reported that Boeing had selected FedEx Office as its print service provider of choice. WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne talked to the company to learn more.

New Presstek CEO Stanley E. Freimuth Talks About Strategies, Plans, What to Expect at drupa

On February 2nd, Presstek announced the appointment of Stanley E. Freimuth as Chairman, President & CEO. Mr. Freimuth, who stepped into the role on February 13th, spent nearly 25 years with Fujifilm where he ultimately had responsibility for all Fujifilm U.S.A businesses. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Freimuth about his reasons for taking on the role and his expectations for the firm and the market.

Mobile: A Disruptive Technology that Printers Need to Harness

In 2003, Clay Christensen and Mike Raynor published a bestselling book entitled The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth. The authors discuss how established companies need to create disruptions rather than being destroyed by them. Businesses must turn innovative ideas into disruptive products and services that will lead to long-term profitable growth. This article outlines key strategies from the book and provides an example of a retailer that has taken action to generate growth.

PrintCity Alliance Builds Momentum for Strong Showing at drupa 2012 (Part 2)

By exhibiting as a group at drupa 2012, the members of the PrintCity Alliance hope to present a continuum of solutions that visitors will find well adapted to the new realities of the print marketplace. Previews of some of their show offerings are here.

The schizophrenic printing industry

As the number of printing services declines; the number of printing services increases. You read that correctly.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Screen

This series by David L. Zwang focuses on current production inkjet products and their application in the market today. This series will run every 3 weeks leading up to drupa 2012. In this seventh article of the series, David looks at Screen, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

VP of Marketing Steve Bonoff discusses IDEAlliance’s Upcoming TechWeek Conference

IDEAlliance® recently announced that attendee registration is strong for TechWeek, its week-long event series featuring the G7 Forum 2012, TechConference 2012 and XTech 2012 Seminars. Slated for March 12-16, 2012 in Rosemont, IL, the conference offers a mix of educational sessions, hands-on computer labs, and networking opportunities for media production professionals.

Let Your Customers Tell Your Story

Good customer testimonials can help your business stand out in a crowd and enable more meaningful marketing. This article discusses the characteristics associated with good testimonials and explains how you can use them to differentiate your business.

Industry Veteran Jeff Jacobson Joins Xerox

The announcement that Jeff Jacobson, President & CEO of Presstek, was departing the company to take on a senior role at Xerox caught many industry watchers by surprise. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Jacobson to get the story behind the story.

PrintCity Alliance Builds Momentum for Strong Showing at drupa 2012

At drupa 2012, the PrintCity Alliance will emphasize and promote the future of print from its usual location on the Messe Düsseldorf fairgrounds. Last week, some of its members gave a preview of what awaits visitors to Hall 6.

Ideas that Work: Standing Out from the Crowd

At the recent PODi AppForum conference, keynote speaker Ken Schmidt spoke passionately about the need to create a compelling message for your business – a message that connects emotionally with prospects and stands out from the crowd. Too often, Ken says that companies say what makes them great is quality, service and reliability when these items are merely givens - table stakes. And what’s worse, it’s a boring message that causes prospect’s eyes to glaze over. It eventually leads to competition based solely on price – and there go your profit margins.

News Stories Underscore Today’s Media Shift and The Need for Action by Print CEOs

Procter & Gamble, tablet computing, and the S&P 499... Dr. Joe ties them all together and comes up with urgency and entrepreneurship and something about backbones. He even includes one of those really cluttered charts that he's famous for. It's just another Dr. Joe column, but this one might rattle the common wisdom when it doesn't want to be rattled... again.

Technology Is Not the Answer

Technology on its own cannot solve your business challenges. It can play a part, it can enable your strategy, it can free up your labor but the real benefits of technology come from the people and the processes around it.

Selling to SMBs...Automating Marketing

The SMB market provides an enticing, yet challenging, sales opportunity for print service providers. Today's small businesses are seeking partners to help them sell in the cross-media world. They want the solutions that integrate and automate marketing across print, online, mobile, and social media channels. This article cites survey findings and highlights industry examples of service providers and software solutions providers that are beginning to approach automated marketing via cloud-based solutions for small businesses.

First Look – Digital Printing Highlights for drupa

Andy takes a look at three companies and their products that he feels will be major highlights of drupa.

Epson Launches NextGen Wide Format Printer, New Branding

Today, Epson launched its next generation, newly-branded 64” solvent printer – the SureColor S30670 is a four-color solvent printer (CMYK) using Epson UltraChrome GS2 ink. Read more.

Sustainability - Giving Success The Green Light

An environmentally responsible approach to print production not only helps the energy intensive industry minimize its impact, it is also an essential business tool as will be widely demonstrated at drupa 2012.

Dscoop Adds DSee Digital Print & Design Conference

Dscoop, the wildly successful HP digital printing users group, has added a new conference to its repertoire. Co-located with Dscoop7 being held in Washington D.C. March 22-24, the event, DSee, takes place on March 22, 2012, and has already sold out. Hear more from Dscoop board members and HP about this novel event.

Publishing: A Whole New World

e-Readers are definitely here to stay, so the printing and publishing worlds must change with the times. There will always be a place for hardcover and paperback books, but recent developments will demand a huge transition for book printers and publishers alike. How businesses adapt will determine who is left standing five years from now. This article provides an overview of the publishing landscape and provides examples of service providers who are changing with the times.

AlphaGraphics Acquired by Blackstreet Capital

Now that the dust has settled a little on the acquisition of AlphaGraphics (AGI) by Blackstreet Capital and CEO Kevin Cushing’s unexpected departure, Art Coley, AlphaGraphics’ Interim President, talks to WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne about the AGI perspective, future prospects and franchisee reaction.

Expect a Stepped-up Pace of M&As in 2012, for All the Right Reasons

No matter what is happening to other print industry metrics, M&As are trending up. This can be to the advantage of many printing companies seeking growth or a path to staying in operation.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Fujifilm

In this sixth article of the series, David looks at Fujifilm, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

manroland Sheetfed Division Being Acquired

Andy Tribute takes a look at Langley Holdings which recently acquired the manroland sheetfed division.

Data-Driven Marketing: Building Better Relationships

In today’s market, data-driven personalized marketing has never been more important. Every buyer has his or her individual needs, preferences, resources, and behaviors. Since it is virtually impossible to cater to each customer’s individual characteristics, marketers attempt to group customers into market segments by variables they have in common. This article provides a discussion of service providers that are using market segmentation to improve their business results.

Gerhardt and Marcantonio on Allegra's Acquisition of Signs by Tomorrow

Cary Sherburne, WhatTheyThink’s Senior Editor, had a few questions for Allegra’s Carl Gerhardt and Mike Marcantonio about this acquisition. Here’s what they had to say.

SpyderLynk’s SnapTags Strive for Acceptance

There’s a notable gap between consumers’ understanding of QR codes and their willingness to use them. A company called SpyderLynk has a solution aimed at helping image-based mobile marketing to fulfill the potential that has eluded QR codes.

Driving movable data in the right direction

“Printing using movable type” has turned into “printing using movable data”. It has been almost eight years since Bernhard Schreier, CEO of Heidelberg, paraphrased Gutenberg’s invention to describe the transformation of the industry. And data has been moving ever faster, in ever more directions, ever since.

Fenske Media: Innovative and Growing

In December, WhatTheyThink’s Senior Editor, Cary Sherburne, joined a number of her press and analyst peers on a visit to Fenske Media in Rapid City, South Dakota. In this article, she shares details about the event and includes an exclusive interview with Tom Fenske, one of the four brothers that own and operate the business.

AlphaGraphics Has a New Owner

Rumors that AlphaGraphics was on the blocks proved to be true when the company announced it had a new owner. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke to CEO Kevin Cushing to get the story behind the story for our readers.

Business at the Speed of NOW: Implications for the Printing Industry

In December 2011, John M. Bernard published a book entitled Business at the Speed of Now: Fire up Your People, Thrill Your Customers, and Crush Your Competitors. The book states that the ability to understand emergent issues and act upon them with appropriate speed will mark the difference between the winners and losers. This article provides examples from the book and explains how they can be applied to the printing industry.

Océ Business Services Partners with Mimeo to Deliver Océ PrintExpress

Océ Business Services introduced Océ PrintExpress, an online print and distribution service that augments its Managed Print Services offerings. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne speaks with Océ Business Services and its partner, Mimeo, to get the scoop.

Future-cast: New Directions for Digital Print

The digital printing industry looks to Caslon and PODi for insights into what’s next and what will be profitable in the future. Here are a few of the exciting opportunities we see emerging plus some red flags to watch out for.

Kodak, Does it Have a Future?

The big news of the past few days has been that Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the USA. The announcement from Kodak was not unexpected as the company has been having financial problems for some time, and had appointed a specialist consultancy company late last year to evaluate bankruptcy protection options.

Welcome Back: I Was Wrong

Dr. Joe is back and he admits he was wrong. There's a season for everything, it turns out, but not the same ones there used to be. He explains how to be a hit at cocktail parties, and then wonders why we should care about economic forecasting, if at all. Sounds like he's been away from the WhatTheyThink pages a little too long...

Kodak Means to Stay the Course in Graphic Communications Throughout Chapter 11 Reorganization

Kodak will continue to advance its graphic communications business as it tries to emerge from bankruptcy, treating its digital printing, plate, and workflow operations as keys to survival and future success.

Running the Gauntlet: A Book Review

Jeff Hayzlett’s second book, Running the Gauntlet, is out, launched January 3rd. Read what Senior Editor Cary Sherburne has to say about the book and the SnapTags it incorporates.

Looking for an Expert

Across all industry segments, marketers are challenged with understanding how to effectively leverage cross-media communications and build out effective campaigns. This article explains how Darwill has transformed its products and services into real customer value in the non-profit and association markets.

Cool App from a Surprising Source

Web-to-print provider Aleyant profiled one of its customers in a recent press release that caught my attention. Thinking this was an innovative print service provider who had launched a niche holiday application, I contacted them to see what they do the rest of the year. Not a print service provider!

Will Newspapers Ever Use Digital Printing?

One of the areas where major future business growth is seen is in newspapers adopting high-speed inkjet printing as an alternative or replacement for offset printing. The various press vendors all specify newspapers as a key business area for them for the future. Yet when one looks at the market newspapers have just not moved in any way to adopt the technology.

Cathedral Corporation: Portrait of a Printing Company with M&A in Mind

Technical innovation and customer care are the main ingredients in the recipe for growth at Cathedral Corporation, which now aims to accelerate its expansion with the well-planned acquisition of another printing firm. President and CEO Marianne Gaige describes her objectives in this interview.

Latex Ink Jet Technology Goes Mainstream

Latex ink jet ink technology was introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 2008 for wide format graphics printing applications, and after an extended period of beta-testing and an economic recession it went mainstream in 2010. During the last 18 months in particular unit placements have continued to gain strength, now totaling over 10,000 placements wordwide at the end of 2011.

It’s 2012… and the Transformation of the Printing Industry is Happening NOW!

It’s a brand new year and a great time for predictions about what the future holds for the production printing market. This article outlines InfoTrends’ top seven predictions for 2012 related to digital technologies within the printing industry.

Pressroom Chemistry Gets Green

As printing companies move towards environmentally friendly processes and products they must sort through the misinformation in the marketplace. This article helps to educate the printer on what to look for in pressroom chemistry.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Ricoh

This series by David L. Zwang focuses on current production inkjet products and their application in the market today. In this fifth article of the series, David looks at Ricoh, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

Why HP Acquired HiFlex

On December 7th, HP announced the acquisition of print MIS provider HiFlex. WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with HP to understand more about this acquisition and how it fits into the HP portfolio. You may be surprised to learn where the acquisition is reporting within the HP organization.

Boarman Out as Public Printer

On April 15, 2010, President Obama announced his intent to nominate William J. Boarman as the 26th Public Printer of the United States. Following that announcement, WhatTheyThink covered the long, and ultimately unsuccessful confirmation process, revealing a number of problems with the nominee. Apparently more problems have arisen and his nomination was returned to the President. Read more.

The day the typesetting industry died

There will always be a printing industry, but it will be different than it used to be. Typesetting did not go away; it just moved to a different place.

J Press 720 Moves Beyond the Showroom

Fujifilm first announced the J Press 720 in 2008, with much press and fanfare for the new sheet-fed, digital inkjet press. In 2010, at GRAPH EXPO, it was shown in action. Now, the first machine has been installed in Michigan. What does the J Press 720 mean for Fujifilm?

Commentary & Analysis

Insight You Need. Analysis You Trust.