DRUPA 2000: The Greatest Technology Extravaganza in the History of Printing
by Ivars Sarkans
Drupa 2000 will be remembered by over 413,000 visitors as a major milestone event in the history of printing, partly due to the sheer size of the show, partly due to the huge number of new equipment introductions and technology demonstrations, and partly due to its significance in charting the digital future of the printing industry. The first Drupa show in 1951 highlighted the early stages of the tumultuous transition from letterpress to offset printing. Fifty years later, Drupa 2000 charted progress of the "digital tidal wave" that is transforming how information and images are prepared, proofed, transmitted, printed finished and distributed.
Drupa 2000 showed the dynamic nature of the printing industry and its ability to adapt to the demands of today's customers for shorter runs, personalized printing, immediate service and flexibility in choosing the method of production. Drupa 2000 pointed to an abundance of new opportunities for all types of printers, including forms manufacturers. Forms manufacturers have a choice of using some of the innovative printing technologies to enter new markets and create new products and services, or follow the lead shown by forms equipment manufacturers into large established and growing segments of the printing industry.
Drupa 2000 had different highlights for each visitor and each printing specialty. As usual, presses dominated the show, attracted the most attention from visitors and provided a strong indication of printing opportunities in the next decade. From the perspective of the forms industry, most of the highlights from 2.4 million gross square feet of show space spread across 18 halls and 1,957 exhibitors can be summarized under seven categories:
- Digital workflow
- Computer-to-plate
- Offset press automation
- New forms equipment applications
- Direct imaging (DI) presses
- Digital presses
- Document printing
Each of these categories had some exhibits that point to new market or productivity improvement opportunities for forms producers, while others signal new competitive or technology challenges. Several exhibits raised the specter of major changes in how forms and other types of documents are produced. New press and imaging technologies signaled the possibility that the competitive position of some conventional offset presses used for short run color printing, forms and direct mail could face new threats. Drupa 2000 also showed the many options that printers have for improving existing processes and using digital printing technologies to offer valuable new product and service combinations.
Digital Workflow
This may sound like an esoteric subject to many forms manufacturers, but acquisition of knowledge about digital workflow is essential to prepare for a future that will involve more direct competition with commercial printers. In the past the focus of digital workflow developments has been on linking creative and pre-press functions and development of file format and image processing standards. Drupa 2000 showed various ways of linking presses and finishing equipment to the digital job specifications developed in order entry and prepress.
The concept of digital workflow is to create a seamless process from image creation and acquisition to editing, page assembly, color calibration, color correction, trapping, proofing, revising, RIPping and imaging on film, plate, press cylinder or digital press. Printers have a choice of purchasing powerful complete "pre-packaged" workflow solutions, such as Agfa Apolgee, Heidelberg, Prinergy or Creo Scitex Brisque. The other alternative is to use the many workflow components shown at Drupa 2000 to assemble simpler systems that are adequate for forms producers to move into utility grade commercial printing and direct mail. Important digital workflow components include file format standards, links between imaging and job specifications, proofing, file transfer networks, digital asset management software and imaging devices.
The use of Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) was widespread in the latest prepress and file transfer systems at Drupa 2000. PDF is a "distilled" version of PostScript code that allows viewing of files with reader software regardless of the program or operating system used to create the files. Conversion from PostScript to PDF generates smaller standard-format files that are easier to move over the Internet, across networks, between workstations, to local or remote proofing devices and to imagesetters, platesetters or digital presses. Software is available for "preflight" checking of PDF files prior to RIPping. Developments previewed at Drupa 2000 indicate that PDF file format will soon be able to carry images as well as all job specifications needed for proofing and production.
The proliferation of digital color proofing exhibits at Drupa 2000 indicated that acceptance of digital proofs is growing and analog proofing systems will gradually be relegated to specialized applications. New color management software has improved proof quality and consistency even on relatively low cost ink jet printers. Epson is becoming a major supplier of ink jet proof printers and now offers models in 2, 4 and 8 page sizes. At Drupa 2000, Epson introduced the 24" wide Stylus Pro 7000 series with 1440 x 720 dpi print resolution. Several suppliers had proofing systems based on wide Hewlett Packard ink jet color printers, including one modification by Purup-Eskofot to produce 2-sided proofs. DuPont showed a two print station model for one-pass output of 2-sided proofs. Agfa offers moderate-cost large-format Sherpa color proofers which use Epson ink jet heads. There are also many high cost and higher quality color proofing systems which can show halftone dots or use special materials from Imation and other suppliers to produce proofs on thermal platesetters.
Digital workflow is being extended to link motorized ink keys on presses with ink coverage profiles obtained from the files used to image film or plates. Some Drupa 2000 exhibits also showed how prepress planning data can be used to create digital instructions that can automate folder and cutter setup tasks. Digital presses have a natural fit with workflow systems and some of the latest controllers of these presses can combine RIPping with imposition and trapping and allow editing of RIPped files. Drupa 2000 also showed that film will continue to play a role in the prepress workflow at many printing plants. Several suppliers introduced new film imagesetter models and reported sales of these machines exceeded 300 units.
Computer-To-Plate (CTP)
Drupa 2000 had CTP systems that can be purchased for as little as $1,500, ranging up to more than $400,000 for fully automatic machines for large size plates. The lower end of the price scale is dominated by equipment for polyester plates, which have improved in quality and some, such as the Agfa Setprint Plus and Mitsubishi Silver Digiplate, were used at Drupa in process color printing demonstrations. Kimoto Ltd. Showed a dye sublimation printer costing under $1,500 for imaging compatible polyester sheets for black and spot color printing on small offset presses. Other low cost systems combine polyester plate materials from Agfa and TechNova with high resolution laser printers. Use of polyester for process color work requires higher resolution laser imagesetters in the $25,000 to $80,000 price range and digital plates. Polyester plates are already used by many forms plants on small sheetfed and short run pack presses.
Drupa 2000 had over 40 different internal and external drum and flatbed machines for imaging metal plates with various laser options and manual to fully automatic plate loading, punching and unloading. Complicating the variety of choices were indications that both platesetter and digital plate technologies are still evolving and may be subject to shifts in direction. CTPmetal system choices now include four types of imaging, each requiring different plates: visible read, green and blue laser imagers operating in 500 to 700 nanometer (nm) wavelength range, thermal lasers in the 800-1,100 nm range, violet lasers in the 400-450 nm range and systems that can image conventional UV-sensitive plates.
The first generation of CTPmetal platesetters at Drupa '95 used visible light lasers and silver-based or photopolymer emulsion plates. Soon after 1995, attention shifted to thermal laser systems due to the higher energy output of infra-red (IR) laser diodes, more imaging options, plate coatings without silver content, daylight handling of plates and ablative plates that required only cleaning rather than chemical processing. Thermal imaging also holds the promise of new switchable polymer plates that require no special cleaning or processing. According to Drupa 2000 technology previews, a thermal laser can switch the plate coating from ink receptive to water receptive. Agfa already offers Thermolite, a non-ablative thermal plate based on phase-change technology, which requires no processing or cleaning. On press, the dampening and ink form rollers remove Thermolite's coating from non-image areas and deposit it on the first few printed sheets of paper.
Thermal imaging appeared to be most popular among the automated 4-page and larger platesetters at Drupa 2000. It is also the imaging technology on most DI presses. The major constraint on acceptance of thermal imaging is plate cost. Drupa 2000 had an ample population of visible light platesetters, particularly among the smaller format and manually loaded models. Drupa 2000 also introduced violet light lasers into the CTPmetal systems mix. Violet laser diodes, mass-produced for digital video disk players, are inexpensive and could lower the cost of platesetters. A current limitation is relatively low power output, which requires very sensitive photopolymer or silver-based plate emulsions. As more powerful violet laser diodes become available, this could evolve into a popular plate imaging option.
The availability and cost of plates is a key consideration in evaluating CTPmetal systems choices. Thermal and visible light plates are sold by multiple suppliers, but cost is still 20% to 50% above conventional plates. Several violet laser plates are being developed, but only the Agfa Lithostar Ultra-V is available now. Violet laser plates require processing but can be handled in yellow light rather than in a darkroom environment.
Promising alternatives to digital plates are two systems that can image lower cost conventional UV-sensitive plates. One system, using a computer-controlled array of micro-mirrors to project UV light images on a plate is available now from basysPrint (www.basysprint.de). The platesetters at Drupa 2000 from this company were faster than previous models and could image over 20 high-sensitivity projection plates per hour. An even faster system called Dicon was shown in a Purup-Eskofot technology demonstration at Drupa 2000, with anticipated production rates of 30 to 50 plates per hour at 2,540 dpi resolution. Dicon is a flatbed machine with a wide UV imaging head consisting of a fiber optic line array and computer-controlled "light valves." This platesetter will be available in 2002 with daylight manual-load and automatic versions and will include a plate punching station.
Is CTPmetal ready for forms plants? Drupa 2000 workflow and prepress exhibits suggest that the more important question is how many forms plants are ready for this technology. CTPmetal can bring quality and press productivity improvements to plants that are moving rapidly into direct mail and high quality commercial printing products. For conventional forms and "pleasing color" sheet printing, the print quality advantages of CTPmetal are not very important. Press setup productivity and waste improvements can justify a platesetter, but some of these benefits can be realized through better conventional prepress practices to insure exact placement of images on a plate and precise bending. New lower-cost violet laser platesetters may be easier to justify if this imaging option becomes widely accepted and leads to a wide choice of plates. The UV platesetters could also be attractive to forms plants due to low plate cost. Conventional platemaking still dominates in the printing industry, and CTPmetal has been most successful in specialized segments such as newspaper, catalog, directory, magazine and book printing. Drupa 2000 signaled that CTPmetal systems will gradually become a competitive necessity for more printing plants and it is time to prepare for the transition. For forms plants, that means moving to digital prepress workflow which includes digital proofing, stepping and output of fully imposed plate-size films.
Offset Press Automation
The greatest automation advances at Drupa 2000 were evident in sheetfed and web commercial presses. A fully automatic unattended offset press may become practical for some applications over the next five years. At Drupa 2000, job change time in demonstrations of the most automated 4 to 10 color sheetfed and web offset models was under 10 minutes. This typically includes changing paper size and thickness, resetting ink keys for different images, changing plates, washing blankets and press adjustments to produce the first saleable sheet. On some sheetfed presses, the 10 minutes can include a change between straight printing and perfecting modes, and resetting of a signature folder can be accomplished on some web presses.
In demonstrations of the automated presses at Drupa 2000 the operators seldom left their control consoles. Ink profiles obtained from plate imaging files automatically reset the ink keys for each job. Plates were changed, blankets washed, feeders and deliveries reset and paper thickness adjustments made without operator intervention. Operators had to periodically reload and empty the magazines for new and used plates, replenish or change paper and remove printed sheets. On some sheetfed presses, even paper was loaded and stacks of printed sheets removed automatically. Technologies such as press cylinder imaging shown on the MAN Roland Dicoweb and possible in the future with the Agfa LiteSpeed spray-on coating could eliminate the manual loading and unloading of plate magazines.
Several technologies used on such highly automated commercial web presses as the MAN Roland Dicoweb also appeared on several forms type models at Drupa 2000. This includes features such as individual unit servomotor drives that replace the conventional press driveshaft and gear trains, motorized ink keys, register mark scanners that activate automatic register adjustments, color sensors, image viewers and sensor-controlled web tension adjustments. Clearly, computers are taking over more and more of the press monitoring and adjusting tasks. Both conventional and shaftless presses are now being designed so that most makeready tasks can be performed prior to running paper. So far, forms press suppliers have not attempted to introduce automatic plate changing on their high-end models. This may be due to the fact that most forms-type presses are now variable size, which poses very difficult challenges in designing automatic plate changers. The future alternative to plate changing on forms type presses may be systems that replace plates with direct imaging of press cylinders. It is also possible that some future automated forms presses will evolve from the digital printing innovations shown at Drupa 2000 by Scitex Digital Printing and Elcorsy. The most immediate benefits from the press automation advances shown at Drupa 2000 will be reduction in crew sizes, traditional printing skills, risk of injury to operators and sizeable improvements in productivity and waste. An example of what automation of prepress, presses and finishing can help to accomplish was provided in a Drupa 2000 presentation by Tom Quadracci, Vice President of Quad Graphics: his company has expanded sales by over 20% per year during the last two years with no increase in the number of employees.
New Forms Equipment Applications
One of the options for forms producers seeking future growth markets is to follow the lead of the press suppliers. Drupa 2000 exhibits by builders of forms presses showed that they are focusing on four large established segments of the printing industry:
- Direct mail
- Commercial printing
- Labels
- Packaging products
The latest models exploit several advantages of forms-type presses: variable size, flexibility to print many different face-back color combinations, ease of adding UV dryers, in-line stations for punching, perforating, die cutting, numbering, encoding and coating, and multiple delivery modes. The appeal of these press capabilities to some printers in the four target segments signals an opportunity. Forms producers should be able to combine their extensive experience running web offset presses with the capabilities of the new models shown at Drupa 2000 to become strong competitors in the four industry segments pursued by forms press suppliers.
The following are examples of the types of machines shown by forms press suppliers at Drupa 2000 and the intended applications. All of these presses can be equipped with UV dryers. The shaftless models tend to have the greatest flexibility for installation configurations, wide range of materials and easy addition of special modules, including digital imaging stations.
- Automation (Meerbush, Germany) high speed roll-to-sheet converting line for small packs of premium laser and ink jet papers, 3 to 500 sheets inserted in each special retail pack, 500-960 ft/min. (Tel. 49-2132-9902-0)
- Brandtjen and Kluge Inc., shaftless 15" wide short run and specialty product press with in-line ribbon MICR station and variable imaging unit. (www.brandtjenandkluge.com)
- Didde Web Press Corp., print tower from BIC 315 variable size 1,500 fpm direct mail and commercial printing press; print tower from Excalibur 1300 fpm 8-page perfecting web press for commercial printing. (www.didde.com)
- Drent Graphic Machines, bv, shaftless Vision SMR 9 color offset/flexo press for direct mail, commercial printing and packaging products; complementary Vision web processing machine with Xeikon magneto graphic digital printing station for personalized direct mail. (www.drent.com).
- Goebel GmbH, Novaprint shaftless press, 6 color, 1,500 fpm for direct mail, commercial printing and packaging; Combiprint 20.5" wide modular press with print towers that can accept offset, flexo, rotary screen or foil stamping inserts for label, packaging and security printing applications. (www.goebel-darmstadt.de)
- Graphic Systems Services, Inc. (GSS) print tower from Commander variable size press, 1,800 fpm, up to 40.5" wide, high capacity inking and 2-cylinder insert design for folding cartons. (www.gss-schriber.com)
- Miyakoshi Printing Machine Co., radically new and compact 20.5" wide perfecting web press for short run commercial printing; 8 print units with 4 form roll inkers in a single unique 3-section print tower. (US tel. 937-890-8411)
- Muller Martini Marketing, AG, Concept NT 6-color press, conventional or shaftless, with variable size signature folder for commercial printing; other delivery options are available for roll or cut sheet packaging products. (www.mullermartini.com).
- RDP Marathon, Inc., print tower from Model 380V 38" wide 1,800 fpm variable size press for direct mail, commercial printing and packaging. (www.rdpmarathon.com)
- Rotatek SA, shaftless Perfect NT model with 8 offset towers and a flexo unit for direct mail, labels and packaging. (www.rotatek.com)
- Sanden Machine Ltd., 6-color variable size Quantum 1500 press, 1,500 fpm, for direct mail and commercial printing. (www.sandenmachine.com)
Drupa 2000 also showed many ways that some existing forms presses can be upgraded with console-control of ink keys, automatic blanket cleaners, registration sensors, web viewing units, UV dryers and high speed skeeters. Eltromat GmbH (www.eltromat.de) displayed a shaftless drive retrofit for forms presses combined with automated registration controls. A technology presentation by Flint Ink (www.flintink.com) indicated substantial progress towards single fluid lithography that would integrate dampening chemistry with ink, eliminate the need for a dampening unit, and work with conventional plates. This technology, if successful, could yield sizeable productivity gains and lower waste on existing forms presses.
Direct Imaging (DI) Presses
Heidelberg and Presstek pioneered imaging of thermal no-processing plates on a press with the Drupa 95 introduction of the 4-color Quickmaster DI 46. Since then, Heidelberg has sold over 1,300 of these machines for short run color printing, and buyers have included several US forms manufacturers. Data available from Heidelberg indicates that a DI press has close to a 50% short run job cost advantage over a comparable size conventional offset press and platemaking. Part of this advantage can be attributed to the extensive automation of the Quickmaster DI 46 and simplicity of its waterless offset process.
DI presses appeal to printers who want to expand or become more effective in short run color but do not have an established commercial prepress operation. This also applies to many forms producers and other new participants in the growing short run color market. As cut sheets become a greater proportion of the product mix, more forms plants can be expected to add DI presses to improve their competitive position in short run color against commercial printers. At Drupa 2000, Presstek announced a new alliance with Didde Web Press to explore the use of DI technology on forms presses.
Drupa 2000 had ten different DI models, indicating that equipment suppliers expect growing acceptance of on-press imaging of plates. Press-mounted laser heads are now available from two suppliers: Creo Scitex and Presstek. The later introduced the new ProFire imager which integrates lasers and controller in one compact unit. Some DI press models offer a choice of wet offset or waterless printing, while others are configured specifically as waterless offset machines. The Drupa 2000 crop of DI presses included some innovative central impression cylinder designs which result in a very compact four color press. The more conventional in-line print tower models take more floor area but offer the advantage of perfecting configurations. The new Adast 557 DI is a particularly interesting joint development with Presstek and Xerox. It has the new Presstek ProFire laser units, plate cylinders can be declutched and rotated at high speed for fast imaging, plates are changed automatically, and the press can be linked to the latest Xerox DigiPath printer management system that treats it like another printer on a network. The Adast 557 bears partial resemblance to the original DI press introduced in 1991, the Heidelberg GTO-DI, and offers the advantages of a 15" x 20.5" sheet and in-line print tower design with perfecting option.
At Drupa 2000, DI technology was also introduced on the MAN Roland Dicoweb commercial web offset 8 color perfecting press. The Dicoweb is a wet offset press, but it does not use plates. What would normally be the plate cylinder carries a sleeve that is imaged by the use of a laser and donor ribbon to deposit an ink-receptive coating on each sleeve. This coating is made durable by heating prior to printing. After a job is completed, the coating is wiped off and imaging can begin for the next job. Practically all press functions are automated. Significantly, this is the first variable size model built by MAN Roland. Print repeat can be changed by using different diameter sleeves. The Dicoweb is available with 4, 5 or 6 blanket-to-blanket print towers. If the initial installations are successful, visitors to the next Drupa may see introduction of a plateless forms type press.
Digital Presses
One of the Drupa 2000 highlights was the first showing of the secrecy-shrouded digital color press from NexPress Solutions LLC, a new company formed by Heidelberg and Eastman Kodak. The NexPress 2100... is a sheetfed 4-color electrophotographic machine, printing at 600 dpi with dry toner. Each color station has a blanket cylinder to transfer toner to paper, which allows this press to print on a wide range of papers, including textured grades. NexPress 2100 appears to be "built like a Heidelberg" and has a system of sensors to control color consistency. Rated production speed is 70 four color pages (8_' x 11") per minute. The press turns sheets automatically for duplex printing. In Drupa 2000 demonstrations, print quality was very good compared to other dry toner models.
Another show highlight was a preview of the Xerox Futurecolor digital press, designed for high volume production up to one million color pages per month. Other specifications were not available, but samples printed on the press indicated that print quality will be very competitive. Xerox plans to bring the Futurecolor press to market in 2003. The latest Xerox digital color press that is available now is the 60 pages/minute DocuColor 2060, which has a new "digital blanket" belt system to transfer color toner to paper.
Indigo introduced several new multiple-engine digital presses that achieve run speeds competitive with small-format offset presses and can print up to seven colors. Indigo print quality is close to offset, and one of the new models is designed for production of photographic quality prints from digital camera files. Xeikon launched the first sheetfed model which has the unique capability to print both sides of a sheet (4 over 4 colors) in one pass. Xeikon also showed several higher speed color presses for web-fed commercial printing, labels and folding cartons, and each of these products can be personalized. One of the significant Drupa 2000 announcements was that MAN Roland will brand and market Xeikon-engine digital color presses in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America
All of the sheetfed digital presses target the market now served by small format (up to 14" x 20") sheetfed offset presses. It is reasonable to expect that the next 10 years will see a gradual migration of short run color printing from small-format offset to digital presses. This would parallel the shift of black ink printing during the past 10 years from offset duplicators to Xerox Docutechs, other comparable digital printers and high speed copiers.
In web-fed inkjet color printing, the new VersaMark Business Color Press from Scitex Digital Printing set the top run speed benchmark at Drupa 2000 - 500 ft./min. for 4 over 4 colors. While color image resolution is only 300 x 300 dpi, actual print quality is good enough for some direct mail and document printing applications that require the speed and low cost per page advantages of ink jet. In addition, each page can be personalized. Several other Drupa 2000 exhibits showed that the long-held promise of the many things that can be done with ink jet technology may finally be realized. A high proportion of the large-format sign and poster printers at Drupa 2000 used ink jet imaging heads. Ink jet proof printers continue to proliferate and gain credibility. Aprion Digital Ltd. demonstrated new ink jets in a 6-color web-fed machine for producing highly customized wallpaper. Aprion imaging heads were also in a large flatbed device for carton printing. Ink jets are available for water, solvent, UV and other special inks. Small ink jet heads can be used for printing codes or text on anything from labels to packages and even products such as wires.
A completely new method of digital color printing was promoted by Elcorsy Technology and Toyo Ink. Their 4-color prototype machine at Drupa 2000 resembled a forms press and could produce fixed or variable 400 dpi images at 400 ft./min. The Elcorsy process uses computer controlled electrical charges and a special ink that is coagulated on an imaging cylinder and then transferred to paper. Elcorsy claims even higher speed potential and low cost per page for this technology, and expects to start production testing of the press in 2001.
While digital color presses captured most of the attention at Drupa 2000, there were also several significant developments in black ink digital printing. The news from Heidelberg that sales of the Digimaster 110 have surpassed 1,000 units since the technology was acquired from Eastman Kodak signals a serious challenge to the Xerox Docutech product line. Screen displayed the TruePress V-2000 dual engine sheetfed machine rated at 400 pages per minute in duplex mode. Indigo joined the competition for the B & W market with the Ebony, a 136 page/min. machine with exceptionally high 800 x 2400 dpi image resolution. All of these developments mean more choices for printing equipment buyers, including the many forms plants that are now running Xerox Docutechs.
Document Printing
The digital press application that should be of most interest and also concern to forms manufacturers is document printing, which includes forms and direct mail. At Drupa 2000 more forms, such as invoices and statements, were produced on digital presses than on conventional forms presses. The Scitex VersaMark Business Color Press... printed roll after roll of statements. Digital printers on the Oce, IBM, Xerox and Xeikon stands were running statements, invoices and promotional forms. Matti Technology of Switzerland (www.mattitech.ch) demonstrated a web machine with Scitex ink jet heads for high speed blank plus highlight color printing of statements, invoices, tags, tickets, labels and direct mail.
This type of document printing was new to a Drupa show, but it is an application that came to Drupa 2000 along with the multitude of digital presses. Almost every presentation by the digital press suppliers had an indication that forms, direct mail and other business documents rank near the top of their targeted applications. It is reasonable to expect that a substantial volume of long run forms production will gradually migrate from conventional presses to various types of digital "document presses" that print both fixed images and variable data in one pass and in as many colors as required. If forms producers do not seize the opportunities in document production presented by digital presses, others certainly will.
Message From Drupa 2000
The most important message from this immense show of equipment, systems, materials and supplies was that printing is a dynamic and growing industry. The pace of technological change has quickened, which is creating new opportunities and obsoleting some established methods and business models. Future windows of opportunity will open and close faster, and obsolescence of equipment, systems and practices will be a growing challenge for printed product manufacturers.
Digital printing is moving toward a position as one of the mainstream production methods. When printing equipment suppliers such as Heidelberg, MAN Roland and Koenig & Bauer start to build or market digital presses, it is time to take digital printing technology seriously and pursue the opportunities created by new digital presses.
Ivars Sarkans, a business forms and commercial printing expert with more than 30 years of industry experience, is president of Sarkans & Associates in Los Angeles, Calif. For more information, contact him at Tel: 323/221-7791, Fax: 323/221-7799; Email: isarkans@sarkans.com or Web:www.sarkans.com/sarkans.