DUSSELDORF, Germany - May 6, 2004 - Drupa 2004 - IBM expanded its leadership position in digital book printing by signing new customers and growing incremental business this year.  Cargraphics (a division of Carjaval), PIMS and Quebecor World all chose IBM to help them expand their business offerings, improve digital print quality, increase speed and simultaneously lower their print costs. This customer growth comes on the heels of IBM's number one position in digital book printing, according to Lyra Research.  "In terms of retail books printed on digital equipment, more are printed on IBM printers than any other products," said Julianne Mehegan, senior consultant with Lyra Research.  "IBM has done a great job of working with customers to develop digital printing applications that are well integrated with the database and order fulfillment systems necessary for distributors to increase their bottom line."   As the competitive digital book printing industry moves toward a print-on-demand model, professional printers need a solution that can help them print higher quality books at a lower cost, in quantities that their customers demand.  When digital book printing was first introduced little more than six years ago, printers initially only produced print-to-order runs for out-of-print books or proofs.  Now, with today's advances in digital printing technology, digital publishing has grown to include print-on-demand not only for retail or trade books but also for popular or genre books, providing rapid reprints as needed and eliminating the cost of warehousing pre-printed books.  For digital book printers like Cargraphics, PIMS and Quebecor World, IBM's Infoprint 4100 series is often selected because of its ability to print specific numbers of books as needed, without sacrificing quality, decreasing speed or having to anticipate future demand. "Cargraphics was the first company in the world to use a 600 dpi continuous forms digital printing solution for making books, and IBM was the company that was able to supply us with the solution," said Esteban Guerrero, managing director of Cargraphics. "Cargraphics digitally prints more than 300,000 books per month in five different countries using the IBM Infoprint 4100 and Infoprint 4000. We've been very pleased with IBM's continued ability to provide us with a cost effective digital printing solution that delivers the print quality needed to satisfy our publishers' requirements." "Until recently, I believed that a cut sheet approach was best suited for very short run applications. However, the new Infoprint 4100s have enabled us to minimize operator intervention, cost effectively increase our total output and improve our print quality. We believe our target volume of 40 million A4's per month is easily achievable with this combination of equipment," explained Julian Henchley, Chairman of Pims Enterprise Ltd.  "We chose to expand our relationship with IBM because of its understanding of our business requirements and expertise in the workplace. We found the speed and quality of printing offered by IBM machines to be superior to most of its competitors. We are so impressed, we intend to phase out our current cut-sheet solutions and plan to expand our continuous printing capabilities." "Our success in high-end printing is attributed to our focus on delivering ultimate savings to our customers," said David Myers, worldwide production print segment executive for IBM Printing Systems.  "IBM's unique services-based approach focuses on all elements of a print solution, including the AFP architecture, software, controllers and workflow.  Not only do we provide higher quality, faster printing equipment, we also help customers save on all of the hidden costs that come with the printing process, ultimately improving their bottom line." The IBM Infoprint 4100 series can help commercial printers, service bureaus and enterprise data centers to increase printing speed and reduce operational costs while achieving superior print quality, through advanced features designed to save time and minimize operator intervention.  All Infoprint 4100 printers include operator switchable resolution for producing 480 dots per inch (dpi) or 600 dpi output from 240/300/600 dpi input; switchable speed for printing on challenging media or with MICR; high-speed FICON and Gigabit Ethernet attachments for maximum productivity; integrated pinless and tractor feed paper path; and an enhanced operator console/GUI.