- Tutorials, Technology White Papers, and Case Studies to Highlight Meeting - White Stone, VA, January 2002— Program details are now complete for the 2002 R&E Council/IDEAlliance Digital Smart Factory Forum, to be held at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida, on March 6-8, 2002. The program will begin with a pre-forum tutorial session which will acquaint attendees with basic concepts, common terminology and technology applicable to the digital smart factory, with specific sessions dealing with database technologies and metadata, CIP-4 and JDF implementations, color strategies for automation, and integration using off-the-shelf tools. Following the tutorial sessions, the forum will feature a series of white papers focusing on page construction, pressroom systems and automation, bindery systems, the semantic web, enterprise application integration for smaller printers, enterprise culture, and networked graphic production. The final portion of the meeting will consist of detailed case studies submitted in advance by the top technologists and strategic planners from leading printing, premedia and publishing companies around the world. The meeting, cosponsored by the R&E Council and IDEAlliance (formerly known as the Graphic Communications Association), will be chaired by Charles R. Gehman, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Printable Technologies; Bill Davison, principal of PointBalance; and Greg Suprock, technology business development manager of The Sheridan Press. In announcing the forum program, R&E Council managing director Ronald L. Mihills commented: "While printers and publishers have technologies available today which can automate the print production process, those technologies must be implemented differently by each individual company. The 2002 Digital Smart Factory Forum will bring together the foremost thinkers in the field for a thorough discussion of the issues that will determine how printing may be done in the 21st century. The specialized program, with speakers from every corner of the industry, is sure to benefit everyone concerned with the future of printing. Printers, in particular, should be represented at the forum as a means of preparing for the future." David J. Steinhardt, IDEAlliance president and CEO, added: "The Digital Smart Factory Forum is a prime example of how printing industry trade associations can work together for the benefit of the entire industry. We are pleased to commend the forum to IDEAlliance member companies as well as others interested in the concept." Registration information for the 2001 Digital Smart Factory Forum is available at www.recouncil.org, or by calling the R&E Council at 804-436-9922 or IDEAlliance at 703-837-1066.