EFI

Counterfeiting, diversion, and contamination of products are big, “burning platform” problems. The results of a recent Purchasing Magazine survey show that 42 percent of buyers consider counterfeiting a “serious problem,” and 44 percent report falling victim to counterfeiting. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates counterfeiting costs brand owners $200 billion annually. The food industry was hit hard by a series of recent contamination issues. The U.S. spinach market was down about 40 percent a year after E. coli killed three and sickened 200. A recent survey of U.S. households found that 88 percent of consumers would buy a traceable product

CLEMSON, S.C.—Last year the Clemson Department of Graphic Communications formed a committee of industry leaders to produce a new event in its Seminar Series, “Digital Proofing for Flexography.” The program was so popular that the program is scheduled to return this May 13-16 in twin sessions. The two sessions ensure that the numbers stay small, below 30, to ensure hands-on experience. The seminar is co-sponsored for the second year by the Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association (FFTA). Presenting Experts Some of those committee members that helped shape this program, recognized experts in the field of proofing, have stayed on as key presenters for the

Whether they are political or technological, most revolutions give way to a period of fine-tuning and incremental improvement. Having shown that they can meet the needs of packaging houses for fast, affordable concept and interim proofing, digital inkjet devices up to 44˝ in width now are proving that they also can satisfy the rigorous demands of legal contract proofing for high-end packaging applications. Traditionally, inkjet has had difficulties in reproducing trap and overprint characteristics, fine lines and text, moiré patterns, light pastels, and metallics, and has needed special media and color management tools. Because of these issues, brand-sensitive clients still may specify a

Xaar and EFI-Jetrion announced an agreement whereby Xaar’s 1001 piezoelectric printheads will be supplied for use in EFI-Jetrion’s 4000 Series full color UV label printers. First shown last fall at Labelexpo Europe, the Jetrion 4000 Series of UV inkjet printers bring narrow web converters an affordable, full-color alternative to toner-based printers. By incorporating Xaar inkjet technology into the Jetrion 4000 series printers, converters will benefit from added flexibility and cost-effectiveness for applications such as labels, tags, forms and tickets on a variety of substrates. Available in web widths of 5.5˝ (139 mm) or 8.3˝ (210 mm), the printer uses 8 or 12 Xaar 1001

Last month, packagePRINTING attended the pre-drupa media conference, where industry leaders announced somewhat guarded plans for the two-week-long trade show, to be held May 29-June 6 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Although much of the focus was on the commercial print industry, several companies discussed what package printers can expect at drupa 2008. Heidelberg is stepping out with its new “HEI TECH” campaign, which includes its “HEI Performance” and “HEI Value” solutions. The company’s Packaging Print Solutions Hall will feature HEI TECH Centers for Special Applications and Very Large Format and Integrated Packaging Production, as well as Information and Business Centers and A HEI School, for

WASHINGTON, DC—The International Cooperation for the Integration of the Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) organization and the Networked Graphic Production (NGP) Partners announced that CIP4 and NGP have reached an agreement under which the functions of NGP will converge into CIP4. The NGP Steering Committee and CIP4’s governing Advisory Board voted to move forward with the convergence effective immediately. All members of NGP are already members of CIP4, and the NGP Steering Committee and all the functions of NGP will be assumed by a new Business Networking Group; a working group within CIP4. As a result of this agreement NGP will

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., and CYPRESS, Calif.—Chromaticity, Inc., a leader in distribution and deployment of color management and digital imaging technologies, and Eizo Nanao Technologies Inc., have signed an agreement naming Chromaticity an EIZO master distributor in North America and making the full line of EIZO monitors available to Chromaticity’s growing network of graphic arts and systems integration resellers. The addition of the graphic arts industry’s leading line of LCD displays to an already strong Chromaticity product offering should further accelerate Chromaticity’s recent growth for what promises to be a strong 2008. “EIZO has the highest quality monitors in the world and they are a

BRUSSELS, Belgium—Labelexpo Europe 2007, which took place Sept. 26-29 in Brussels, surpassed all of its previous records in terms of visitors, exhibitors, and equipment sales. According to the show producers, this makes Labelexpo Europe 2007 the largest and most successful label event ever to have taken place. In total, 24,752 visitors from 114 countries attended this year’s show, an increase of 7 percent over the 2005 event. This included large delegations from Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and the Middle East. Sixty-six percent of visitors extended their visit by at least a day (compared to 2005), which meant that the

BRUSSELS, Belgium—Labelexpo Europe 2007, which took place Sept. 26-29 in Brussels, surpassed all its records this year, in terms of visitors, exhibitors and equipment sales. This makes Labelexpo Europe 2007 the largest and most successful label event ever to have taken place. In total, 24,752 visitors from 114 countries attended this year’s show - an increase of 7 percent over the 2005 event. This included large delegations from Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the Middle East. An incredible 66 percent of visitors extended their visit by at least a day (compared to 2005), which meant that the daily attendance

The term MIS—management information systems—gets thrown around so much that the significance of its impact gets taken for granted. Company management and all employees making management decisions (and in well-managed companies, these decisions are made at the lowest possible organizational level) depend on accurate, real-time information to make good decisions that enhance the bottom line. So, you would think systems that provide the information for management decisions would get top billing, or at least some priority. However, this is not always the case. Companies that are in the MIS business for the printing arena sometimes struggle to win the battles for investment