Itasca, IL, August 11, 2005 – Punch Graphix Americas (PGX-A), through its well established Xeikon and basysPrint brands in the digital printing and prepress markets respectively, has been experiencing exceptional growth. According to Kristof Vereenooghe, President and CEO of PGX-A, “Both the Punch Graphix brands- Xeikon and basysPrint- have built a record of solid profits since joining the Punch corporate family and we are experiencing a strong continuation of this trend. Our customers' print volume has grown constantly and we are seeing a rapid adoption of the Xeikon 5000 press -- which is underscored by a large increase in the number of companies installing several presses at one time. These figures indicate that PGX-A's customers are also seeing strong growth in demand and profits. More importantly, it is a testament to the fact that digital printing and CTP technologies can leverage many segments of the printing industry.” To keep up with this growth trajectory and further strengthen its position as a top digital printing and prepress player, PGX-A has taken some vital steps. Rob Mayerson has been appointed VP Sales-Digital Printing-North America. Before joining PGX-A, Rob was the Director of Operations at Vertis- a leading one-to- one marketer. Rob brings a wealth of experience in the direct mail and transactional printing segments to PGX-A. Eduardo Pazos has joined PGX-A as VP-Sales and Marketing-Latin America. Eduardo was with IBM before joining PGX-A and has more than a decade of experience in the Latin American digital printing and prepress market. Glenn Toole, a Xeikon veteran, has been appointed VP-Marketing and Business Development. Glenn's responsibilities include providing strategic direction to the company and identifying new market segments for PGX-A's product offerings. Patrick McCarthy has been appointed Chief Operations Officer (COO). Patrick has more than 15 years of experience in the digital printing and prepress business and has done a commendable job in streamlining PGX-A's service organization in a short span of time. Jeff Hopkins, a prepress and CtP systems expert, has been appointed VP Sales for PGX-A's basysPrint prepress systems. PGX-A has also hired 6 additional regional sales managers to strengthen its North American direct sales force. The new sales managers are specialists in different segments of the digital printing and prepress markets -- transactional, direct mail and packaging to name a few -- which are core markets for PGX-A. These personnel additions are noteworthy considering the fact that most digital printing and prepress equipment manufacturers have reduced their direct sales and support organizations over the past few years. In addition to these sales positions, PGX-A has added several additional technical and customer support personnel in order to maintain superior levels of support while the customer base expands. PGX-A has also taken some vital steps to bolster its sales and marketing efforts in Canada. Punch Graphix Canada, with a newly opened administrative office and parts warehouse in St- Laurent, QC (near Montreal), will handle all the sales and service activities of PGX-A in Canada. Additional technical support specialists have also been hired for this purpose. PGX-A has also formed strategic partnerships with top variable data printing software vendors, such as Printable Technologies and XMPie to name a few, to enhance the capabilities of its digital printing solutions. “In high-end digital printing, workflow is crucial. With our powerful digital front-end, the X-800, workflow is one of the biggest selling points of the Xeikon technology,” adds Kristof. In addition, to provide a comprehensive solution to its current and prospective customers, PGX-A has also partnered with some of the top finishing equipment manufacturers. “We firmly believe that our success and profitability depend entirely on our customers. Hence, PGX-A's aim is to provide the best possible solution to the right customers – not to install as many 'boxes' as possible. So far this philosophy has worked very well for us,” concludes Kristof.