Rochester, N.Y. - Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (Excellus BCBS) earned a first place award for its dimensional ink, full-color calendar produced on the KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Digital Production Color Press.  Excellus BCBS, based in Rochester, N.Y., won a "gold" award in the "calendars" category of the In-Print competition, which is co-sponsored by the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) and In-Plant Graphics magazine.  The company is also finding that it is better able to target customers while saving on printing costs since adding the NEXPRESS Press.

"This prestigious award is possible because of the great work our team produces every day using the NEXPRESS Press and its unique features, such as Dimensional Ink," said Catherine Ciardi, Corporate Director, Document Services, Excellus BCBS. "It's the talent of our staff, coupled with the quality and reliability of the NEXPRESS Press, that have helped us create more sophisticated-looking products that better serve our customers."

A panel of printing industry experts chose 34 gold, 23 silver and 13 bronze award winners from 407 entries.  With its calendar, Excellus BCBS gained a coveted spot among other skilled professionals.

The calendar, a promotional piece for Lifetime Care, an Excellus company, includes photos of landmarks in the Rochester, N.Y. area.  The cover of the calendar incorporates a raised texture of the Lifetime Care logo-an effect made possible by KODAK NEXPRESS Dimensional Clear Dry Ink.  On the NEXPRESS Press, texture is applied through the PIA InterTech Technology award-winning KODAK NEXPRESS Fifth Imaging Unit Solution using the KODAK NEXPRESS Intelligent Dimensional Coating Solution. With this technology, tactile characteristics previously unattainable with digital printing are easily added to the materials creating a look that sets them apart.

In addition to the tremendous win for the calendar, Excellus BCBS has also been better able to produce custom materials for members and expand its printing abilities since acquiring the NEXPRESS Press.

"We're taking advantage of the NEXPRESS Press' ability to print on a variety of substrates as well as tailor our products to specific customers," added Ciardi.  "With the NEXPRESS Press VDP capability, we can personalize materials not only with the customer name and address, but we can also market to specific customers such as eyeglass and contact lens wearers. This flexibility helps us reach our customers in different ways."

The NEXPRESS Press' reliability and short-run printing capabilities have also helped Excellus BCBS save money.

"We can now print smaller quantities of materials such as our annual reports instead of initiating one large printing run that may end up generating more pieces than needed," she added.

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, a nonprofit independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, is part of a family of companies that finances and delivers vital health care services to 1.7 million people across upstate New York. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield provides access to high-quality, affordable health coverage, including valuable health-related resources that our members use every day, such as cost-saving prescription drug discounts and wellness tracking tools in our Step Up program.