Two Xerox Technologies Recognized With Industry's "Oscar Awards" What technologies are on the cusp of advancing the print industry? That’s exactly what the Printing Industries of America (PIA) (Booth 1425) sets out to determine through its prestigious InterTech Awards program. These awards are to our industry what the Oscars are for fi lm. Its objective? To identify technologies that are truly innovative and expected to advance the performance of the graphic communications industry. To assist, PIA assembles a panel of about a dozen experts—mostly managers and executives at medium-to-large printing companies—who read hundreds of pages of technology descriptions and testimonials submitted by entrants, then meet to debate the technologies’ merits. “We’re looking for technology that is likely to have a signifi cant impact and stands out among similar technology, if there is any,” says Jim Workman, Vice President, Center for Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America, who manages the InterTech Awards Program. “The judges ask themselves, ‘Does it really advance the state of the industry? Does it make things less expensive or open up new opportunities for a printing company?’” In the case of two Xerox (Booth 1625) technologies, the answers were, “Yes.” After helping differentiate print providers’ businesses for more than a year, and garnering countless positive reviews along the way, the Metallic Dry Inks of the Xerox Color 800i/1000i Press and the Ultra HD Resolution of the Xerox Versant 2100 Press have been honored with the highest endorsement the industry has to offer. New digital color image quality benchmark “Printing companies today often warn digital print customers when jobs contain elements that may be prone to jaggedness and stepping,” Workman says. “With HD Resolution that concern diminishes.” The judges were even more defi nitive: “With the Versant 2100 resolution increase, there’s no longer a reason to avoid the elements that used to be a problem for digital print— gradients, thin fonts, and vector graphics.” One reason the Versant 2100’s delivers superior image quality is that it captures more imaging information than other presses. Its Ultra HD Resolution of 1200x1200 dots per inch (dpi) is maintained throughout the imaging chain (from the print server to the laser output), delivering four times the resolution of other presses. Also critical is benchmark color depth of 10 bits, enabling the press to print each of the four primary colors (CMYK) at any of 1,024 shades, compared to 256 shades with standard 8-bit color. Direct Technologies, Inc. of Suwanee, GA, has multiple Versant 2100s. “The color, the clarity, the quality, the uptime, the accessibility, the user friendliness, are all outstanding features of this machine,” says the company’s Manager of Laser Printing, Eric Anderson. Making it shine The Metallic Dry Inks of the Xerox Color 800i/1000i Press enable the fi rst example of digital printing that rivals the metallic quality of traditional foil stamping. As a foil-stamping alternative, these inks enable the added value of variable and on-demand metallic printing, while reducing costs by eliminating custom dies, eliminating waste, and boosting productivity with an in-line workfl ow. The result: new opportunities for print providers to generate new revenues with high-value applications that expand and differentiate the shop’s offerings. Engineers at Fuji Xerox developed the toner by applying the approach used for creating the Color 800i/1000i Press’s EA toner—controlled assembly of nanoscale polymer droplets to build evenly shaped toner particles. Flat metallic flakes were used as refl ective pigment particles, and ellipsoid shaped toner particles were developed to fully contain the fl akes and orient them in the same direction to optimize refl ectivity. The result is a fl op index (measure of refl ectivity) that is among the highest in the industry. One judge's comments, “I think this is a game changer; I wish I had the capability on the presses I currently run.” Others were impressed that the toner, which is applied from an optional fi fth housing station, is an add-on that extends the value of a press investment. Celebrate the award recipients at GRAPH EXPO 16 The awards—six in total, including the two going to Xerox—will be presented at the 2016 Printing Industries of America Premier Print Awards and InterTech Technology awards Gala, Sept. 25, during GRAPH EXPO 16. In addition, the Xerox Versant 2100 will be on display in the Xerox booth at the show—along with fi ve MUST SEE ’EMS Award winners—and a booklet showcasing all of this year’s entries will be available online at: www.printing. org/InterTech. According to PIA research, more than 80% of InterTech award recipients experience continued commercial success, so the odds are good that Ultra HD Resolution technology and Metallic Dry Inks still have a lot of runway to drive business for leading print providers. Aleyant Acquires Tucanna Software Aleyant (Booth 2372) has acquired Tucanna Software. This follows the company’s acquisition of a one-third investment in the company in November 2014. Tucanna, a software company dedicated to building software for humans (user-friendly production software), was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, CA. “We’ve been working strategically with Tucanna for some time,” says Greg Salzman, Aleyant’s President, “and even more closely since our 2014 investment. Its product portfolio is a perfect complement to Aleyant Webto print and MIS solutions. Our corporate cultures and mission are very much in alignment, and we expect to develop even more synergies within the Aleyant print software ecosystem as a result of this acquisition.” Salzman adds that there will be no impact to the current work force. “Rather,” he adds, “it is likely that the combined organization will be doing more hiring soon as we continue to grow. Furthermore, we are committed to fostering the continued growth of Tucanna’s product line as we believe they address our customers’ prefl ighting, color correction, and automated production workfl ow needs.” Tucanna's products include tFLOW, a powerful digital and large format proofing, prefl ighting, color correction, and automation workfl ow solution; Rapid- Check, an easy-to-use print reporting system that helps operators quickly check print quality and monitor it over time for faster problem resolution; PrintControl, for gray balance and TVI correction; and QualityControl, an intuitive solution that works with X-Rite’s Eye-One and eXact measurement devices, including process control capability that is currently missing in most i1 software. Aleyant is holding a Meet and Greet breakfast event on September 26th from 9:00 to 10:00 am in Room N329. 16 | September 25, 2016 | GRAPH EXPO 16 Offi cial Show Daily | PrintingNews.com
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