3/01 - CeBIT 2001 - Office Automation, Information Technology, and Telecom are the primary themes at CeBit, but with the blurring of the lines between the in-house print shop, the IT department print rooms, and the services of outsourcers that encompass the full range of print services, it has been attracting the attention of buyers and vendors in the print and graphic arts infrastructure space. This year CeBit’s Information Technology halls showcase vendors in digital printing, asset management, document workflow, and mail handling. There will be ink vendors, laminating technology vendors, and even paper vendors, all showing their latest innovations. We also expect to see major announcements in the areas of data acquisition and internet-based supply chain services. Some vendors, like Heidelberg, are holding their cards close to their chest until opening day on March 22, while some are already talking about their innovative technology. Xeikon promises three of their presses to highlight their color and black-and-white digital printing systems. The CSP 320D is the entry-level production digital model, while the DCP 500D shows their top-of-the-line color press, both with One Pass Duplex imaging. For the high-end applications, Xeikon is showing the 7000 Twin Engine to show high-volume personalization. They intend to show a number of applications including documents using their variable data language to create mass-customized documents. Remember that the 500D handles PostScript TIFF-IT and PDF, making it a highly versatile solution. At the other end of the production spectrum EPSON brings their newest Stylus models to the floor, this time to demonstrate their 2880 DPI ink jet printers, including the EPSON PRO 5500 color proofing printer. Minolta plans to bring their CF series color office printers to their stand, and Konica brings their new Document Communication Series of office systems, both showing that the lines between what we used to think of as print shop work and office print work are harder to define. We’ll be checking in with all of the hardware vendors in this space once we get on the ground in Hannover to see how their offerings perform and which ones you should be looking at when your next buying opportunity is at hand. XML has been a major topic at most conferences for the past couple of years, and it looks like CeBIT will again be on the bandwagon with more than 70 vendors discussing XML as part of their product offerings. Most of the vendors hawking their XML wares are using XML as an interchange format for everything from workflow to supply chain applications, which they all claim result in process improvements and Bottomline savings. We’ll be looking at the XML component of CeBIT to see which innovations you should be seriously considering, including the integration of workflow and shop floor management with handheld and PDA information delivery systems.