Business Printing Technologies Report December 1999

Inside This Issue A Pad Printing Primer THE SOURCE HOTLINE       solution Formtrac '99 Sneak Preview:      The Direct Selling       Manufacturers The Shape of Printers to       Come? Back to DMIA Home Page A Pad Printing Primer You may not know much about the process, but you have seen the products. Pad printing is used to print everything from golf balls to auto parts to pens to coasters. Pad printing is probably one of the most versatile of all printing processes due to its unique ability to print on three-dimensional objects and compound angles. The theory behind the pad printing process comes from a combination of screen printing, rubber stamping, and photogravure. Step 1: Flooding The image to be transferred is etched into an engraved surface printing plate commonly referred to as a cliche'. Once mounted in the machine, the cliche' is flooded with ink. The surface of the cliche' is then scraped clean with a doctor blade, leaving ink only in the engraved image area. As solvents evaporate from the image area, the ink's ability to adhere to the silicone transfer pad increases. Step 2: Pick Up The pad is positioned directly over the cliche', pressed onto it, then lifted away. The foam rubber composition of the pad forces the pad into the engraved areas, ensuring maximum ink pull from the plate. More importantly, the evaporation that takes place in the ink during flooding (and wiping) increases the ink's ability to be extracted from the recessed engraving and transferred to the pad. Step 3: Print Stroke After the pad has lifted away from the cliche' to its complete vertical height, there is a delay before the ink is deposited on the substrate. During this stage, the ink has just enough adhesion to stick to the pad (it can easily be wiped off, yet it does not drip). The ink on the pad surface once again undergoes physical changes: solvents evaporate from the exposed ink layer, making it tackier and more viscous. Step 4: Ink Deposit The pad is pressed down onto the substrate, conforming to its shape and depositing the ink in the desired location. Even though it compresses considerably during this step, the contoured pad is designed to roll away from the substrate surface rather than press against it flatly. A properly designed pad, in fact, will never form a 0-degree contact angle with the substrate; such a situation would trap air between the pad and the part, resulting in an incomplete transfer. Step 5: Pad Release The pad lifts away from the substrate and assumes its original shape again, leaving all of the ink on the substrate. The ink undergoes physical changes during the head stroke and loses its affinity for the pad. When the pad is pressed onto the substrate, the adhesion between the ink and substrate is greater than the adhesion between the ink and pad, resulting in a virtually complete deposit of the ink. This leaves the pad clean and ready for the next print cycle. Limitations Versatile as it is, the process does have a few limitations. For example: Image transfer is much more efficient when solvent-based inks are used. The use of water-based or UV curable inks are not recommended. The object to be printed needs to have a higher surface energy than the pad. This rules out printing on silicone and other non-stick materials. Additionally, polypropylene and polyethylene parts often require a surface treatment for the ink to adhere properly. Pad printing is limited to relatively small images compared to screen printing. Pad printable images are usually less than 100 square inches. Large opened areas of more than four square inches are difficult to accomplish and not recommended. If a large print area is necessary, it can be accomplished by screening the image, which breaks the image down into a series of dots instead of one open area. Pad printing produces a finished ink film thickness of approximately .00025" to .0003" with a single pass. This is a very thin film compared with screen inks, so caution is recommended. Open and Closed Ink Systems Two primary categories or types of pad printing ink systems exist: open and closed. Open systems feature an ink trough or basin that partially exposes ink to the air. Closed systems have "ink cups" that keep the ink from coming into contact with the air. Ink cups work like a caulking tube, pushing the ink out as needed. Open systems generally allow you to print larger images, because more of the cliché's surface area can be used for the image. Closed systems allow better process control, especially for longer runs, because the ink isn't exposed to the air and doesn't require the frequent addition of thinner. Closed systems typically use less ink, allow for faster cliche' and color changes, and are easier to keep clean. Pad Printing Machines There are three basic types of pad printing machines: vertical, horizontal, and rotary. All three have variations on the open or closed inking systems. Vertical The majority of machines in use around the industry are referred to as vertical machines. These machines can be open or closed. In closed systems, doctoring is achieved by either sliding the ink cup back and forth over the cliche' surface or by sliding the cliche' beneath a stationary ink cup. Figure 6 shows a typical vertical machine. Some vertical machines can print on any angle using a special pressurized ink cup. Instead of using gravity to flood the cliche', pressurized ink cups use an inflated diaphragm to ensure the image is properly flooded. Pressurized ink cups can be difficult to install and maintain. Figure 7 shows how a pressurized ink cup works. Closed vertical machines have also been modified so that their ink cups slide along the X-axis, allowing the printing of wider images. This type of machine is commonly referred to as a "sliding ink cup" machine. Figure 8 shows this variation. By delaying the pad at the end of the print stroke, some vertical machines can print 360 degrees around a cylindrical object. As shown in Figure 9, the image is transferred as a gear-driven nest rolls the part along the length of the pad. Without any special pad delays or gear-driven nesting fixtures, vertical machines can print a maximum of 120 degrees on a cylindrical object. To accomplish this, the pad's set-down point must be top and center. The pad is then compressed 60 degrees in each direction from the set-down point. Horizontal Horizontal pad printers are actually a variation of a vertical machine. Horizontal machines flood and doctor like vertical machines, then actuate the pad to print using a horizontal stroke (as shown in Figure 10) rather than a vertical one. Horizontal machines are typically used only when the part is too large to fit into a vertical machine or when the image is too large to fit into a pressurized ink cup. Rotary Rotary pad printing machines are very different from their vertical and horizontal counterparts. Rotary machines have cylindrical clichés, usually referred to as "drums". The clichés are flooded and doctored as they rotate. The pad also rotates to pick up and transfer the image. Rotary pad printers can be configured to print vertically or horizontally. A vertical machine, as shown in Figure 11, can be self-standing for one-up printing, or mounted on automations for tandem or multiple color printing. A Horizontal rotary printer is shown in Figure 12. These rotary pad printers are used to print on the vertical sides of parts that are moving along a conveyor. The figure shows how cassette tapes would be printed on two sides at once using a horizontal rotary pad printer. Carousel machines allow a piece to be printed with multiple colors. As shown in Figure 13, this machine keeps the piece to be printed stationary while moving the ink pads in a carousel fashion . Ink cups and clichés are mounted on a carousel below the piece, and the ink pads rotate on a separate carousel above the piece. These machines are typically slower than their multiple color, standard vertical counterparts and are used only for printing parts too large to fit a standard machine. Options and Accessories Multiple color capability is probably the most popular option. Obtaining this capability can be as easy as purchasing a multiple color (split) ink cup or cliche' holder, or as difficult as completely retrofitting an existing machine. A few manufacturers offer small (60.0 mm) 2- or 3-color split ink cups. These cups allow you to print multiple color side by side, or in some cases, wet-on-wet. The limitation is size versus cost, as these cups are very expensive-a 2-color ink cup can cost up to $1,800. Multiple color inkwells can allow the printer to switch from one to as many as four colors in open systems. In addition, you would also need a set of multiple color accessories, such as ink spreaders, doctor blade assemblies, and pad holders. Having semi-automatic or automatic multiple color capability requires a method for moving the parts from color to color without changing nests. For proper registration, it is not recommended that you print one color, then move the part to another nesting fixture for subsequent prints. The correct procedure is to hold the part in one place and then print multiple colors onto the stationary object. This can be accomplished by means of a part shuttle, a rotary indexing table, or a conveyor of some type. Part shuttles can be pneumatic, or electronic. Electronic shuttles are more expensive than pneumatic ones, but last longer and are typically more accurate. The nice thing about either one of these two options is that you only need to build one nesting fixture. Rotary indexing tables can be either electronic or pneumatic as well. Here again, the more expensive electronic versions offer better accuracy and durability. Some manufacturers stock modular rotary systems that allow you to use up to four machines either simultaneously or individually. The number of nesting fixtures needed depends upon the size of the rotary table and the parts you're printing. Drying parts is as easy as attaching a hot air dryer to the outbound side of the printer on a rotary indexing table or conveyor. Or you can have a separate self-standing tunnel dryer such as those used in the screen printing industry. Ink pumps and thinner metering devices are used to control ink viscosity during long production runs. Ink pumps are used to add thinner to the ink in open, recirculating systems. Thinner metering devices are used to add thinner to closed ink cups. Ink residue removal systems or "tape-offs" are used for cleaning ink and debris off of the pad surface during the print cycle. Using a slide mechanism, these systems position an adhesive covered "tray" beneath the pad after a print stroke. The pad is then compressed onto the tray where the adhesive removes ink and debris. The tray then retracts, and printing continues. Nesting fixtures are often taken for granted. Until you gain a knowledge of pad-print-specific requirements with regard to designing and building nesting fixtures it is highly recommended to allow the pad printing equipment manufacturer to build them. Clichés There are three primary types of clichés: steel, mid-run, and short-run. Steel clichés are the most durable of the three types, capable of lasting more than 1 million impressions. They can be anywhere from .250" to .390" thick depending upon the manufacturer. Mid-run clichés are made of thin steel (.026" to .040"). Also referred to as "record" clichés, mid-run clichés can last anywhere from 35,000 to 150,000 impressions, depending upon the application. Steel and mid-run clichés are created in a process similar to that of the screen print "plate". The cliché is coated with a photoresist, dried, then imaged by exposure to UV light. After exposure, they are developed, touched up, then chemically etched using either nitric acid or ferric chloride. Due to the complex nature of this process, most steel and mid-run clichés are made by pad printing equipment manufacturers. Very few pad printers make their own steel or mid-run clichés. Short-run cliches are also referred to as polymer or plastic clichés. Short-run clichés are the least expensive, least durable, and easiest to make. Some short-run clichés are developed in water, while others are developed in an alcohol and water solution. While the alcohol developed short-runs are typically more durable, the durability and image resolution of both water and alcohol developed clichés vary significantly depending upon the manufacturer. For example, some water-developed clichés last only a few hundred impressions, while high-quality alcohol clichés can last 20,000 impressions. Ask your supplier which cliche' is best for your application. Many pad printers make their own short-run cliches. Rotary cliches are often referred to as "drums", because they are cylindrical. These can be the steel, mid-run or short-run variety. When mounting any mid-run or short run cliche' to a spacer or dummy plate, be sure there is no debris between the back of the cliche' and the spacer plate. Debris the thickness of a hair can result in a bump in the cliche' that will be shaved off by the ink cup or doctor blade later, possibly rendering the cliche' useless. Etch depths are usually about .00085" to .001" (18-25 microns). After the image is picked up, transferred and dried, the finished ink film thickness will be about 20% of your etch depth. Many people reason that in order to compensate for such a thin ink deposit, all one needs to do is make the cliche' deeper. Actually, the best way to increase ink film thickness is to multiple print the image, because etch depths in excess of .00115" (or about 40 microns) result in blurry, smeared images and incomplete transfer. Screened images are necessary in certain applications. Large open areas need to be screened to support the ink cup or doctor blade so that it doesn't dip into the image during the doctoring stroke. The screen exposure is a second exposure which, once developed, results in a fine pattern of dots or "bumps" in the bottom of the etch. In addition to support, these dots help provide resistance to ink flow when the pad compresses to pick the image up. This prevents the ink from forming a wave that results in an inconsistent ink film. Pads Pads are made from a silicone base and vary in degrees of hardness. Manufacturers can have anywhere from a few dozen to a couple of hundred shapes and sizes of pads in varying hardnesses. Size, shape and hardness are the three most important considerations in choosing a pad for a given application. Size is determined by the size of the image to be printed and by the size of the machine. Measuring the image diagonally, the pad should be 20% larger to prevent image distortion. The machine needs to be able to compress the pad far enough to pick up and transfer the entire image in an even motion. In addition, the pad must not interfere with the ink cup or other parts, and it must not roll off the edges of the cliche' during image pick up. The shape of the part to be printed determines the shape of the pad. With the exception of rotary pads, the three basic shapes from which all standard pads are derived are conical, rectangular, and roof-shaped. All three types are shown in Figure 14. There are many variations of each of these three basic shapes. Compression of the pad should always be set for the minimum amount necessary to pick up and transfer the image. Over-compression causes excessive pad wear as well as poor transfer efficiency. In set-up, the pad should be located so that its tip is not in the image area when the image is picked up. The tip is the first place a 0-degree angle will be created during compression. Having the point in the image can result in a void in the printed image in that location. Keep a record of set-down point and machine compression settings if you're going to run a job frequently. This will expedite machine set-up. Hardness (also referred to as shore or durometer) is the last of the three main considerations in choosing a pad. Hardness comes into play for three main reasons. First, the same pad of two different hardnesses requires different amounts of energy to compress the same distance. A particular machine may not be able to compress the harder of the two. Second, a hard pad may damage the part you wish to print, thus limiting you to pads of a lower durometer. Third, textured surfaces are more successfully printed using harder pads. The surface that presents the biggest problem for pad printing is negative texture, which has multiple-level surfaces. However, this depends on how open the surface is. For example, a golf ball has a negative texture, but pad printing works great on golf balls. This is because the dimples are gradual, shallow, and have adequate spacing. A tight woodgrain plastic surface might present a major challenge, as the pad cannot be forced down into every level of the textured surface. How long a pad lasts depends upon its initial quality, its hardness, the aggressiveness of the inks and solvents used, the amount of compression the pad receives, the texture of the surface you are printing, and the type of etch the cliche' has. There is no magic number. Pads can last anywhere from 20 to 250,000 impressions-it greatly depends on the application. Choosing an Ink Most ink manufacturers provide technical information to recommend ink or inks for nearly any substrate you'll run across. Find out exactly what the material you intend to print on is made of-the more specific, the better. It doesn't help your supplier's technical people much if you tell them that you want to print on "black plastic," since there are hundreds of substrates that could fall under that description. Once you know the substrate, you'll need to find out what characteristics the ink must possess. Ask your customers the following questions: How well must the ink adhere? Does the ink need to meet specific abrasion, chemical and weather resistance specifications? Are there any specific concerns about the potential toxicity of the ink? What are the ink's drying and curing requirements? Will colors be matched? Is any type of certification required? After gathering this information, you're ready to contact suppliers to discuss your project and obtain recommendations. Most pad printing equipment and ink manufacturers have application laboratories staffed by experienced technicians. They can either recommend which ink you should use based on the information you give them, or they can test print your parts in their lab. Having your parts tested is usually free, unless you insist on having your image printed, in which case a nominal fee is usually applied. Even then, many manufacturers will apply the costs of testing toward the purchase of any equipment you buy as a result of the tests. UV cured ink, by design, contains no evaporative solvents, making it very difficult to transfer via pad printing. In addition to being difficult to pick up and transfer, UV ink lacks opacity, and thus doesn't work well on dark colored substrates. Your printer should be willing to work with you from beginning to end on your project. They should be willing to test print your parts and provide you with samples to prove their machines and methods work before you agree to buy anything. Hopefully, this primer has helped you understand the fundamentals-and more. Next time you have that order of pens or golf balls printed, you'll be better informed of the process, and you'll know why the details are so important. This article was written by John Kaverman, Service Tectonics, Inc., a pad printing supplier. You can reach John by email at sti@tc3net.com THE SOURCE HOTLINE solution Problem: I have heard about an ink discoloration associated with screen-printed compact discs. Can you tell me more about this? Solution: The discoloration you describe is referred to as "Bisphenol A" by the CD replication industry. The term Bisphenol A is actually a compound used in the plastics industry. Bisphenol A is used in all kinds of plastic parts, including compact discs. The discoloration can occur if discs are sealed in plastic wrapping for an extended period of time. The protective wrapping traps residual gasses that need to escape from the surface of the screen-printed CD. This discoloration may occur when replicated CDs are left in shrink-wrapped bulk packages for over 60 days after they are initially wrapped. Storing the bulk packages in a temperature of over 75 degrees Fahrenheit will also contribute to the unwanted effect. The replication industry often ships bulk packages of CDs in spindles of about 200 CDs per shrink-wrapped stack. If the wrapper is not taken off the discs soon after manufacturing, a white, hazy discoloration of the screen-printed label print may occur. To prevent trapping the gasses, it is recommended that shrink-wrapped packages be opened upon receipt. Formtrac '99 Sneak Preview: The Direct Selling Manufacturers By Ivars Sarkans General Trends Direct-selling manufacturers, due to their size and resources, have produced some very large and abrupt shifts in the product mix within their half of the forms industry. The most extensive changes have been the result of acquisitions during the last three years, as the Directs expand into products and services that can offset the decline of their conventional forms volume. The high probability of more large acquisitions outside the confines of what is currently identified as the forms industry makes it very difficult to forecast the direct-selling manufacturer shipments by product. In contrast, volume and product mix changes in the independent segment of the forms industry occur gradually and in a relatively predictable pattern. Wallace Computer Services and Standard Register have acquired commercial printing operations with total annual sales close to $500 million. Standard Register sold the Communicolor division, shifting a substantial volume of direct mail printing out of forms industry shipment statistics. Reynolds & Reynolds and Moore have sold or transferred sizeable amount of continuous stock forms production to trade manufacturers. Several of the Major Directs have expanded their shipments of labels at a rapid pace through acquisitions. Analysts following the forms industry today must track the effects of acquisitions and divestitures to determine the real internal rate of growth that the Directs are achieving in each of their main product categories. The Directs as a group are averaging a relatively modest overall rate of product shipment growth, even considering the major acquisitions of commercial printing and label production operations. This appears to be due partly to divestitures, partly to severe price competition in high-volume accounts and partly to declining demand for conventional forms. Based on product shipments, excluding forms and print related services, the Directs' share of forms industry shipments has remained in the 44% to 45% range. This ratio can be expected to remain stable through 2003, unless one or more of the Directs make very large acquisitions. The Directs are growing revenue from forms and print related services at a more rapid rate than product shipments. These services include warehousing, distribution, forms management, electronic forms and statement processing. The Directs are also increasing sales of products that are normally not considered part of the forms industry, such as office supplies, computer supplies, equipment and other "non-forms" specialties. When the high-growth services and "non-forms" products are included in total sales by the Directs, their share of forms industry sales is projected to increase slightly from the 47% - 48% level in the late 1990's to 49.0% - 49.5% range in 2000 to 2003. The Directs appear to be very active in using the Internet to increase the effectiveness of their print management programs and build automated procurement systems that can be extended to a very wide range of printing, office suppliers and other business products. The Directs appear to be ahead of the independent segment in applying Internet technologies to reduce the costs of processing small orders for relatively standard products. This could give the Directs an advantage where they compete with independent distributors for major accounts or comprehensive print management programs. Conventional Forms The very large businesses that constitute the primary customer group for the Major Direct have generally been more aggressive than medium-size firms in reducing their purchases of conventional forms through systems changes and new technology initiatives. Large businesses have been the most successful users of electronic forms and in some cases have developed electronic libraries of all their forms, which are then printed conventionally and stored, printed on demand or distributed on networks as electronic forms. As a result, the Directs have experienced a faster decline in demand for conventional forms than trade manufacturers. The overall downward trend in conventional forms shipments by the Directs is affected by particularly rapid decline in stock continuous forms. Shipments of custom continuous forms are declining slowly, because use of custom-printed and processed rolls for very high speed laser printers continues to grow and partly offset decreased use of multiple ply continuous forms. Directs have experienced a major shift from packs to rolls in all continuous forms because they tend to serve the customers with the largest data centers and the latest high speed printers. While demand for unit sets in the independent segment is relatively stable, the Directs are experiencing a faster decline in shipments. This is partly due to systems and technology changes in high volume applications, such as car rental contracts and credit card charge slips, that provided many of the large orders for the long run plants operated by the Directs. Shipments of very short runs by the Directs have shown slight growth in 1998 and 1999 and this category is projected to be stable through 2003. The short run programs operated by the Directs have depended heavily on imprinting of base stock. This is a very efficient manufacturing method, because the base stock of forms for popular software packages can be produced in large quantities. Imprinting of company names and addresses requires very little setup time and waste is minimal compared to custom printing. Demand for stock imprinted forms reached a plateau in late 1990's as new software packages and upgrades allowed users to easily customize the layout of print positions and the proliferation of software versions made long run base stock production less economical. Distributors have been very successful in selling custom-printed software compatible forms and other very short runs and the Directs are moving towards more custom production and more purchases of custom very short runs from trade manufacturers. Some of the catalog sales programs operated by the Directs, which were very effective for stock imprinted forms, are not as successful for selling custom forms, which limits their ability to grow very short run volume. The Directs are moving faster than the independent segment in supplementing conventional forms with other products. Part of their more rapid product mix change is in response to the conventional forms reduction and elimination efforts by many of their large customers. In the independent segment, conventional forms will drop under 50% of total product shipments in 2003. The Directs will probably reach this milestone ratio in conventional forms during 1999. Other Products Products other than conventional forms sold by the Directs have been grouped into five categories: Promotional and direct mail printed products, including vital direct mail. Commercial and quick printing products, including preprinted cut sheets, stationery, manuals, directories, binders, indexes, presentation folders. Labels, decals, tags and tickets, including form-label combinations. Forms-related services, including distribution, warehousing, forms and print management, electronic forms and mailing services. Products purchased for resale from suppliers outside the industry, including office supplies, computer supplies, advertising specialties, etc. Both large national and regional Directs tend to be more successful than the independent segment in promotional printing and direct mail, where many orders are very large, complex and require extensive contact between the manufacturing facility and the customer or advertising agency and designers. The Directs can accept the risk of large direct mail runs that most distributors would avoid. Some of the Directs have specialized equipment combining conventional and digital printing stations in sophisticated product lines that require substantial technical and product development support. The projected decline in promotional and direct mail shipments by the Directs in 1999 is due to two factors: Standard Register's sale of the Communicolor Division to R.R. Donnelley, which reduces direct mail printing within the forms industry. Government investigation of Sweepstakes programs, which has curtailed mailing activity by some very large direct mail printing buyers. Some of the Directs apparently have recognized that commercial printing is such a large market that it represents potentially the best source of volume to replace declining demand for conventional forms. Almost all of the Directs have operated some commercial or quick printing facilities for many years. Moore was the industry leader in establishing regional quick printing centers during the early 1980's, a role that now appears to have passed to the Stanfast Division of Standard Register. In 1998 the Stanfast Division reported the addition of six new print centers and compound annual growth over 25% for the last 5 years. Much of the quick printing and short run commercial printing volume sold by the Directs is a byproduct of forms management programs. While many forms management programs focus on continuous and unit set forms, the typical customer also needs cut sheet forms in small quantities. Some of the Directs are becoming more aggressive in pursuing short run sheetfed programs under a more modern term - print-on-demand services. One of their strategies is to target in-plant printshops for complete or partial takeovers, which almost always yields a steady stream of orders for cut sheet forms, precollated set and other products similar to forms. Some of the Directs have started to use the Internet technology to automate the entire print-on-demand ordering process. Commercial printing shipments by the Directs increased by over $400 million in 1998 just due to the acquisition of Graphic Industries by Wallace Computer Services. This moved Wallace from a limited role in web offset commercial printing to the ranks of the largest commercial printers with a national presence and a combination of sheetfed and web offset capabilities. Commercial printing shipments by the Directs will show another large increase in 1999, partly due to Standard Register's acquisition of the Boothwyn, PA commercial printing plant previously operated by DuPont. Projections of commercial and quick printing product shipments by the Directs from 2000 to 2003 include expected smaller acquisitions. These projections may prove to be very conservative, if Wallace, Standard Register and possibly other Directs continue the 1997-1998 pattern of major acquisitions and rapid internal growth in this product category. The Directs have grown their label, tag and ticket business through a series of moderate-size acquisitions and conversion of some plants from forms to labels. The Directs generally focus on large industrial label projects, where their technical and team sales expertise and variable imaging capabilities are a competitive advantage. For several years, the Standard Register display at the Xplor show has featured some of the most innovative form/label combination products. Other Directs have unique label marketing programs to reach specialized applications or customer groups. The Directs can be expected to continue their expansion in labels with both internal growth and acquisitions. All-Inclusive Forms Markets The forms industry as commonly defined today will reach approximately $14.8 billion in 1999 shipments of products and services at retail value. For the same industry participants, shipments are projected to reach $16.1 billion in 2003. While forms manufacturers have become more aggressive in pursuing cut sheet forms and other very similar commercial and quick printing products, forms industry statistics do not reflect the true size of the cut sheet forms market. During the 1970's and 1980's, forms manufacturers generally avoided cut sheet products, even if they could be printed on forms presses. Some forms manufacturers even closed or sold cut sheet product facilities. In effect, the forms industry forfeited cut sheet forms and related products to commercial printers, quick printers and in-plant printshops. In 1999, these operations will produce approximately $6.8 billion of cut sheet forms, edge-glued sets, laser printer forms, mailers, letterheads and other forms-type products. Some of this volume is accessible to forms producers, and some of it already has been transferred to the forms industry through in-plant takeovers. The true size of the forms market in 1999, considering retail value of forms produced by in-plant, commercial and quick printers, will be approximately $21.7 billion. Commercial printers should be able to grow their cut sheet forms volume at a moderate rate through 2003. They will probably lose some volume to aggressive forms industry participants with in-line finishing advantages on forms presses. However, commercial printers also are installing more folders with gluing attachments for effective production of mailers and buying more productive sheetfed presses for forms-type printing. Several forms press suppliers now offer commercial printing roll-to-sheet models that are being purchased by commercial printers to compete in the forms market. Quick printers appear to have reached a peak in their forms volume. Their specialty, short run production on offset duplicators, is being displaced by a combination of desktop laser printers, high speed copiers and various other digital printers. Quick printers can be expected to experience a gradual loss of forms volume to laser printers and the growing number of on-demand printing facilities operated by forms manufacturers. In-plant printshops have always had a high proportion of forms in their product mix. The smaller shops are being affected by the same technology shifts as experienced by quick printers. The general trend is toward outsourcing of in-plant printshops. These operations will experience a decline in total forms volume as some of their offset production shifts to the forms industry and laser printers operated by their clients. Ivars Sarkans provides consulting services to the printing industry. Ivars Sarkans and Associates 600 West Ave. 46 Los Angeles, CA 90065 323-221-7791 email: isarkans@sarkans.com Web: www.sarkans.com/sarkans The Shape of Printers to Come? Zebra technologies, a new DMIA member, announced the introduction of a new breed of bar code printers at the October Scantech show in Chicago. The Xi Series is the first bar code printer family that combines wireless messaging and the Internet with printing functionality. The First Printer That "Talks to You" The unusual thing about these printers is that they enable system administrators to use wireless messaging and the Internet to stay in constant contact with their printers. While most bar code printers require administrators to manually send an alert probe to see if there are any errors, the XiIII printers are the first printers capable of initiating communication with other devices to provide network administrators with error messages in real-time. Zebra employs their ZebraNet™ Alert system to keep network administrators in constant contact with networked XiIII printers from anywhere in the world. Should a printer run out of media or ribbon, it instantly notifies the network administrator by issuing a detailed error message through e-mail or to a wireless mobile device, pager, text-messaging-capable cellular phone or Zebra's ZebraNet Alert Printer Management Utility for Windows™ 95/98/NT. Internet-Based Printer Management The advanced architecture of the XiIII includes an embedded Web server, enabling on-site or remote printer configuration using a common Web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Using the ZebraNet WebView utility, a system administrator can log on to any printer's password-protected Web page via its IP address, and set up or adjust its characteristics such as burn temperature, printing resolution, print speed, etc., using pull-down menus of that printer's possible settings. Because this is a Web-based solution, system administrators or system integrators can set up and manage multi-site or multi-national printing operations from one centralized location. Even where a fixed TCP/IP connection is not available, users can access and modify printer features through common dial-up connections. XiIII printers equipped with the ZebraNet PrintServer II are Plug-and-play compatible that allow the user to set up the printer and network configuration from the printers front panel. This saves time for administrators that usually have to walk back and forth between server and printer making adjustments on both sides. Additionally, once the printers are networked, system administrators can use the Internet functionality to establish and maintain consistent printing worldwide. XiIII printer configurations, including burn temperature, saved formats, fonts and graphics can be "cloned" and applied to other printers enabling quick multi-site printing adjustments to keep up with changing compliance-labeling requirements or other factors. The XiIIIs also feature several mechanical improvements to make media loading quicker and more intuitive. In addition to an enhanced ribbon take-up spindle that frees spent ribbon with a simple twist, the XiIIIs also utilize a new dust-free media hanger that ensures an ideal printing environment within each printer. Access to the printer can also be improved with the addition of a new folding media door-a user option that reduces the printer's required workspace. Digital Directions or the past few years, the BPTR editors have covered various printing conventions around the globe, and for years we have been telling readers that the landscape is getting more digital with each passing year. As one would expect, Graph Expo '99 did not disappoint. A summary of digital highlights follows: Direct-Imaging Presses There are more choices for direct-imaging presses than ever before. To add to the already successful Quickmaster DI, Heidelberg placed its larger and older Speedmaster line in the direct-imaging mix. The Speedmaster DI larger format takes "short run" out of the standard equation for direct-imaging presses. Karat Digital Press company finally delivered its first 74 Karat press. After a much-awaited introduction, the 74 Karat press was giving live demonstrations at the show. Immediately after the show, the press went straight to their first North American customer, EMR Systems Communication of New York. Adast America (formerly Omni Adast) showed their new Dominant 705C DI. Made in the Czech Republic, the 705C DI is being marketed as an economical direct-imaging press. In addition, Akiyama Printing Machinery of Japan announced plans to have Presstek direct-imaging units on press after Drupa. The Akiyama press will be directed to the book-printing market. Digital Color Production: Indigo's major announcement at Graph Expo was the low price of an e-Print Pro+, a scaled-back version of the famous e-Print 1000 machine. Priced at $149,000, the e-Print Pro+ prints four-color images on one side (simplex) and cannot print variable text or images. The machine is being marketed as an entry-level press for the small printer. Upgrade options for the e-Print Pro+ are a monochrome personalization, and duplex printing. Xeikon's focus was two new presses specifically designed for the packaging market- the 50-SP for paperboard packaging and the DCP/50-SF for flexible packaging materials. Both presses are basically the same, the difference being that the 50-SP allows for the printing of paperboard up to 18 point thickness, and the 50-SF has the ability to pull flexible substrates such as polyester films and foils. Both presses print master rolls or sheets that require off-line finishing for conversion into boxes, bags etc. Black and White Digital The most notable entry in the black and white category is that Heidelberg introduced its first totally digital printer this year at Graph Expo. The Digimaster 9110 Network Imaging System, manufactured and sold by Heidelberg, has been named to reflect its output speed-110 images per minute. Equipped with an in-line finishing system, the Digimaster 9110 prints black toner, can accept PostScript, PDF, PCL or TIFF files. A scanner glass is incorporated into the system for analog input of documents and images. The device is based on the former Kodak Lionheart digital printer. The Digimaster 9110 carries a 600 dpi resolution rating, and enhances the output through the use of small particle toners, which produces crisper text and more detailed imagery. The printing system incorporates a matrix of user-friendly features, several of which are Web-based. For instance, a print customer can remotely proof a job over the World Wide Web through the Digimaster 9110's interface. At Graph Expo 99, Heidelberg was demonstrating how the Digimaster could be used in conjunction with other direct-imaging presses like the Speedmaster DI and Quickmaster DI. For example, full-color book covers printed on the Quickmaster can be combined with the variable data text pages from the Digimaster to create personalized books or direct mail pieces. Print Buying: Back in the old days (about three years ago), digital automation meant that a printer was using software to enter orders or that prepress was using the latest desktop tools. Not anymore-thanks to the Internet, a print buyer can now place orders, perform layouts, and examine proofs from any PC anywhere. At Graph Expo '99, Collabria, Noosh, and Impresse were listed as "must-see" vendors. All three companies demonstrated e-commerce solutions for printers and print buyers. In addition, Collabria caused quite a stir at DMIA's Informservices in Las Vegas with a standing-room-only seminar and a very active show presence. All three companies offer web-based software to allow the distributor or manufacturer to provide a link to their print-buyer customers. Any reader thinking that e-commerce is a fad is strongly cautioned to reconsider their opinion on this very hot issue. For more information on E-Commerce Solutions, visit: www.colabria.com www.noosh.com www.impresse.com

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