IChromatic Discovers the World of Digital Printing t was the era of bell bottoms and disco when Richard Sevigny purchased a small quick print shop in Glendale, CA, and renamed it Chromatic. From day one, the print shop was a family affair, as Sevigny’s wife, Genie, and two young sons, Mike and Keith, all worked side by side. Together, the Sevigny family worked tirelessly to grow the business, providing offset printing services to a variety of both small and large clients. Times were good, but even the Sevignys’ dedication to providing quality printing and excellent service wasn’t enough to insulate Chromatic from the economic recession. The business was hit hard and revenues plummeted. Then Chromatic discovered the world of digital printing— and embarked on a long-standing partnership with Canon Solutions America (Booth 1213). “When we entered the world of digital printing, I was hesitant about certain decisions that had to be made in regards to equipment and productivity,” says Mike Sevigny, President of Chromatic. “Now, our digital printing is the fastest growing segment of our business.” To maintain its high level of efficiency, Chromatic produces much of its materials on various Canon devices, including the Canon imagePRESS C7010VP digital color press and Canon imagePRESS C6010 digital color printing system, among others. Most recently, though, with an influx and variation of new jobs, Chromatic recognized the need to enhance its digital color print fleet through an acquisition of the Canon imagePRESS C800. “Without equipment like the Canon imagePRESS C800, our emergence into the digital space would not have been as successful or seamless,” notes Sevigny. Canon imagePRESS C800 “Listening to our customers and growing with their needs is an integral part of what we do at Canon Solutions America,” says Tracie Sokol, Vice President, Marketing, Enterprise Services and Solutions, Canon Solutions America. “We knew that the Canon imagePRESS C800/C700 was the next step for Chromatic as they continue to meet and exceed business expectations.” While Sevigny is clearly pleased with the technology Chromatic has acquired from Canon Solutions America, he’s equally, if not more, impressed with the guidance his company has received from his representative and the entire Canon Solutions America team. Over the years, the team from Canon Solutions America have become Sevigny’s trusted advisors, not only assisting him in selecting the right equipment and software solutions to meet Chromatic’s needs, but also helping him identify new markets and map out a plan for capitalizing on them. “Canon Solutions America seemingly always has the right Tech Trend: Digital Presses for Corrugated Package Printing Several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have rolled out digital presses for corrugated packaging. Two years ago, Canon (Booth 1213) introduced its Océ InfiniStream liquid toner technology, which combines sheetfed offset productivity and quality with digital flexibility. Its product characteristics provided the first digital technology for industrialized on-demand production of folding cartons. The roll-fed modular print tower concept with up to seven colors allows speeds of up to 394 feet per minute with a 28"- wide web, resulting in up to 14,400 B2 sheets or 7,200 B1 sheets per hour, irrespective of the number of colors used. More recently, this past March, HP (Booth 1202) and KBA (Booth 213) introduced a 110"-wide color inkjet web press for pre-printing of corrugated top liner. This will enable corrugators to combine many individual jobs together on a roll or across rolls for short, mid or long runs. Unlike traditional analog pre-print, every box can be different. Planned to print at speeds of up to 600 feet per minute and produce up to 300,000 square feet per hour, this inkjet press will print corrugated liner rolls that can then be placed directly onto existing industry-standard 110"-wide corrugators. This press will be the first solution co-developed by the two companies since the announcement of their strategic collaboration last year at GRAPH EXPO. Centralized corrugated box plants serving major retail brands will especially benefit from this digital pre-print solution for all corrugated print applications. Brands are increasingly requiring just-in-time inventory, shorter runs, and faster turn-around time. HP’s inkjet technology enables significant time, material, and shipping cost advantages when compared to analog processes. Digital preprint is more efficient than post-print alternatives. New award category There now are enough new digital packaging press models available that Printing News magazine added a “Packaging/ Corrugated Printers” category to its Top Products listing published this month, as voted on by readers. The first winner is the HP Scitex 15000 Corrugated Press, which brings the benefits of digital to the production of corrugated displays and short-run packaging. With this HP Scitex press, HP is helping converters and manufacturers achieve shorter product life cycles, meet demand for faster time to market, and offer the versioning, short runs, and reduced environmental impact only available with digital printing technology. The 15000 simplifies and streamlines corrugated printing on an industrial scale, according to the OEM. With the new large-format digital press, converters and display makers can print direct to corrugated media as well as add short-run and versioning capabilities to their existing flexographic or lithographic-lamination operations. The press features HP Scitex High Dynamic Range (HDR) Printing Technology that enables a unique combination of high-quality output at industrial volumes. Other key features include: • Easy setup and operation as well as speeds up to 6,456 ft2/hour, helping to maximize productivity • An integrated automatic media loader that handles up to four media stacks side by side, optimized for use with corrugated sheets without operator intervention • HP HDR240 Scitex Inks, which are GREENGUARD GOLD Certified and meet AgBB criteria, making them ideal for indoor point-of-purchase displays, bulk bins, and freestanding display units solutions for us and had guided us to where we are today with excellent support and service,” says Sevigny. “They are a very professional group that knows how to get the job done.” Chromatic’s entrance into the digital market not only gave it the necessary capabilities to keep up with increasingly tight deadlines, it also resulted in a whole new focus for the company. Suddenly awash in all the benefits of digital printing, the Sevigny family began to think of Chromatic as a marketing company, rather than merely a printer. Sevigny credits Canon Solutions America for bringing a struggling business back from the brink and into an exciting new world of digital wonderment. “Our relationship with Canon Solutions America has given us a new lease on life and a new lease on business,” says Sevigny. “They’ve helped us become profitable again and helped us become a company that has a bright future now. What could be better than that?” Xanté Brings Jose Tthe Barber Back his is Xanté’s (Booth 431) second year to provide free haircuts for attendees at GRAPH EXPO. Jose is a barber in the Chicago area and has been cutting for a wide variety of customers for several years. Jose partnered with Xanté last year and set up shop in their booth. He came with scissors, clippers, and an outgoing personality to bring visitors into the booth for a fun and fast haircut. By the second day of the show, word of Xanté’s barber had traveled around enough that Jose was busy from open to close with attendees lining the aisles. In addition to a free haircut, attendees will be able to participate in live, hands-on demonstrations of Xanté’s entire digital product line that includes the Impressia Digital Multi-Media Press, ILUMINA Heavyweight Champion Digital Production Press, Excelagraphix 4200, and the award-winning iQueue Prepress Workflow. 40 September 16, 2015 | GRAPH EXPO Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com
GraphExpo Show Daily September 16, 2015
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