DAYTON, Ohio, Sept. 6 Scitex Digital Printing announced today that its VersaMark(TM) Business Color Press(TM) has been selected by R&D Magazine as a recipient of the R&D 100 Award for 2001. The award, which was established in 1963, is given annually to the 100 most technologically significant products of the year judged among entrants worldwide. "The R&D 100 Award is gratifying for the entire organization,'' said Steve Henriksen, vice president and chief supply officer at Scitex Digital Printing. "We know our heritage is founded on innovation, and we believe strongly that our future will be defined by innovation as well.'' Scitex Digital Printing was recognized for the technological breakthrough in color printing that has created a new print category, Business Color(TM). Business Color Printing Systems from Scitex offer customers the benefits of digital printing combined now with the full process color of offset printing. The printing systems fill a void that currently exists in the printing market and extend digital color printing capabilities to new segments of the market that have been underserved by traditional color printing technologies. Business Color is aimed initially at commercial printers, direct mail and data center printers, book and catalog printing, and ticket and label markets. Examples of digital color printing applications for those markets include using color in personalized direct mail with variable text and graphics, color in billing statements with personalized messaging, textbooks and manuals that need to be updated frequently or that carry time-sensitive information, and mailings with spot color messaging. Traditionally, previous technologies and color printing techniques required a tradeoff for the printer between print speed, image quality, and economics. Business Color changes that. "We can offer customers technology that creates a dynamic balance among all the key variables - print speed, affordability, and color-image quality - in full process color digital printing,'' Henriksen said. "Business Color is an alternative to offset printing and opens new markets and new possibilities for printers who want to use variable page-by-page data and digital color printing cost-effectively.'' In introducing the concept of Business Color this year, Scitex also unveiled new printing systems and enhanced application software packages that will support the Business Color Printing Systems. The lead software product, which is named Composer(TM), was developed internally at Scitex to provide optimum design and layout features for Scitex digital color printers. "We are a recognized leader in the digital printing market,'' Henriksen said. "The company's reputation is based on invention and innovation, and those have best been expressed consistently in the new products and technology that we have delivered to the marketplace for nearly four decades. This latest award further confirms and continues that legacy.'' Henriksen concluded, "We've always been focused on product technology and what the technology and the product could do. Now, we are paying as much attention to the extension of that technology - what the product can do to solve a business problem for our customers. The Business Color Press does that.'' The R&D 100 Award is selected annually by industrial researchers, university faculty, and consultants with expertise in the areas each is judging.