Ipex preview: pre-media stand-by-stand

Your guide to the pre-media exhibitors at this year's show.

Accura

Stand N1 D091

New for Ipex 2014 will be Accura’s eDocBuilder, a variable data/web-to-print engine, and a new visual interactive Production Scheduling module for its MIS. The company will be hoping to demonstrate how the estimating, production, proofing, dispatch, invoicing, stock control, job costing and purchasing modules of its established MIS are well suited to SME printers.


BeanStalk

Stand N3 A291

BeanStalk will launch the new version of its management software, GGWEB. This web-based, multi-lingual software is designed for managing all areas of print companies, including purchasing, quoting, stock, production, sales, finance, quality and analysis. All features are also available for mobile devices.


CCDotmeters

Stand N3 C302/02

New for Ipex will be the latest developments in digital dotmeters for accurate plate measurement and control, with a new system that breaks the price barrier for a single portable device. The company will also be showcasing its latest range of digital microscopes aimed at the printing industry, designed for critical analysis of both conventional and digital printing output.


Chili Publish

Stand N2 C185

chili-publishAt Ipex, Chili Publish will show version 4 of Chili Publisher for the first time to the industry. The software package now supports a wider range of platforms including Flash and HTML5. It also includes added functionality, such as a 3D visualisation tool that enables users to see a ”real-world” view of their design, viewing for instance how a personalised sign might look as a bus shelter. The platform is also now integrated with DirectSmile marketing campaigns tool, enabling users to use data sources and images from DirectSmile to personalise documents in Chili Publisher.  


Clarity Software

Stand N2 A210

Clarity Software will be showcasing its estimating, CRM and MIS package. It will be demonstrating how the system combines online quoting, CRM, marketing and e-commerce functionality at the front-end with order processing and production management at the back-end. Mobile sales personnel can quote on the move using the cloud-based product Clarity Go.  


EFI

Stand N2 D175

efi-stand-ipexEFI’s pre-press focus at Ipex concentrates on the company’s productivity software. Key pre-press products being demonstrated include PrintSmith Vision, Pace, Monarch, Radius and Metrix, plus Fiery ProServer, Digital StoreFront and SmartSign Analytics. The vendor will be demonstrating its MIS’s financial, CRM, sales management, shop floor data collection, purchasing and inventory management, and business analysis and reporting capabilities. As at Fespa last year, a real highlight of the stand will be SmartSign Analytics and its ability to detect people within viewing range of a sign, determining who is actually viewing the display and for how long.    


FC Exports

Stand N3 C302/04

FC Exports specialises in pre-press products including a wide range of refurbished imagesetters and CTP solutions.  


Fujifilm

Stand S4 E330

fuji-xmfFujifilm will be showing the latest versions of its XMF Remote online job submission and approval system, and XMF workflow. XMF Remote 9.5, launched at the end of last year, is now based on HTML5, a change made in response to potential security issues with the Java platform. The new software can also now upload multiple jobs concurrently, review high-pagination publications using a fast scrolling mode, and sample colours from multiple areas of a job all at once. XMF Workflow v5.5 meanwhile is being described as the most significant upgrade to the workflow for years, and features new Mercury RIP technology and a raft of variable data and productivity enhancements. 


Hybrid Software

Stand S3 H250

Hybrid Software will use Ipex 2014 for the worldwide launch of a host of products under the umbrella of its new Cloudflow suite. Positioning itself as “the alternative” software vendor, Hybrid will be introducing Cloudflow Workspace, supported on Windows and Mac OSX, and interacting with MIS/ERP and custom- designed web pages. The new Packzflow being introduced meanwhile provides automation of pre-press functions based on native PDF files, with backend processing for the Packz engine, with Packz editing software offering 64-bit multiprocessing as well as multi-threading. Also being showcased will be new Production Data Management software specifically aimed at labels and packaging, a new RIP module and a new Printplanner Module that enables operators to use a web-based interface to position and annotate artwork on a sheet. 


Imprint

Stand N2 D170

Imprint will focus its efforts on demonstrating how the company’s 34 years’ experience provide solid MIS solutions. 


ISL

Stand To be confirmed

ISL will preview its new Photobook module for its Catfish web-to-print system, which it claims makes Catfish the first platform with the ability to cater for both the business-to-business and consumer market. With a starting price of £25,000, the Catfish Photobook module is optimised for mobile devices and designed for enterprise-level production. Other functions of Catfish include variable data and SMS. 


Key2Print

Stand N1 B090

Key2Print is a subscription-based web-to-print package, apparently ready to launch for individual use at a printing house within minutes.  


Konica Minolta

Stand N1 C130

Reflecting Konica Minolta’s move into this area, the vendor will be, it says, demonstrating a whole range of pre-press products on-stand. The main focus will be Konica’s workflow system PrintGroove, which features a range of modules for web-to-print, job submission and pre-flighting, including JT Suite and JT Web. The vendor will be showing its software’s third-party integration, including partnerships with Vpress and DirectSmile, and demonstrating how its workflow solutions can be tailored to suit both commercial and corporate in-plant users. More details of what the firm will be showing will be released nearer the show. 


Lake Image Systems

Stand N2 C171

Lake Image Systems will be showing its imaging and scanning technologies, illustrating how, by reading and processing the variable data on printed items, the company’s systems inspect, verify, track and report on millions of documents, printed pieces, plastic cards and packages using OCR, barcodes, 2D codes and postal barcodes.


Optimus

Stand N1 C085

Optimus will be showcasing its Dash MIS and launching Job Ganging. This new software package’s automatic estimating and job bag creation modules, along with its integrated approach to stock control, purchasing, e-commerce and accounts can, says Optimus, help generate even greater efficiencies and savings.


PNE Print Technology

Stand N3 D278

PNE Print Technology specialises in the production of pre-sensitised lithographic plates. The company also produces conventional positive working, negative working, UV-CTP and CTP thermal plates and has up until now been active mainly in Asia and the US with occasional presences in some European markets.


Printflow

Stand N3 D250

CIP3 and closed-loop solutions for new and legacy printing machines will be the centre of attention on the Printflow stand. DIPS links pre-press workflow and the press console, providing a single, common system for all presses within a plant regardless of the make and model. Printflow’s DC closed-loop colour control system processes colour information from a scanning densitometer, calculates the required ink fountain adjustments and sends the calculated values to a press console. The press console then automatically adjusts ink fountain keys.


Quite Software

Stand S4 H320

Quite Software will be talking visitors through how its imposition products are designed for both small-scale and larger printers. Quite Imposing Plus is an Acrobat plug-in working with PDF files in prepress and Quite Hot Imposing is a newer product aimed at workflows. They both work with PDFs from any source and can perform easy bookletmaking or complex impositions, dealing with bleeds, crop marks, creep and page numbers.


ROI360

Stand N1 C094

ROI360 provides hundreds of print service providers and agencies with a flexible web-to-print system. The company also delivers more than 500 online marketing portals, with high-profile customers including St Ives and Prime Group.


Screen Europe

Stand N4 C330

The latest version of Screen’s Equios universal production workflow will be in action at Ipex, showing how users can maximise press up-time and productivity. Equios will drive any of Screen’s inkjet presses as well as third-party digital machines, which means that operators only need to learn one set of tools and one user interface for multiple output devices, says the vendor. 


Sefas

Stand N3 C292

Sefas will be previewing its next generation of customer communications solutions at Ipex. Open Print v8 will provide clients with ‘omni-channel’ distribution, allowing customers to send interactive customer communications quickly, easily and cost-effectively. The Open Print suite can send the same document to several devices with intelligent “custom fit” content. Sefas will also preview new features that enable import/export from external sources such as QuarkXPress and InDesign.


Shuttleworth

Stand S3 E292

shuttleworthShuttleworth will be showcasing the latest developments to its MIS at Ipex. These include a fully integrated CRM, which now consists of a smartphone app that can instantly update vital information. The app is designed to give instant access to essential information including company, contact and enquiry details whilst working away from the office. Also highlighted will be the new real-time Dashboard which displays key performance indicator data at the click of a button. Also on display will be the newly launched job tracking functionality ‘Milestones’, which automatically updates jobs, so the status of any job can be viewed as it progresses through the business. Shuttleworth will also launch a new Mobile Stock app, enabling users to update stock transactions using a mobile device with barcode scanning if required. The app has been designed, not only to improve stock accuracy, but to make it quick and easy for users to record stock transactions.


Taopix

Stand N1 D095

taopixTaopix will be unveiling Version 4.2 of its Taopix Online and Taopix Desktop photo product creation platforms for the first time in the UK at Ipex. The company will be showcasing the benefits both of its established download option (Desktop) and its newer Online offering, launched last September, and including HTML5. Though full details on what the new version will entail aren’t yet available, it will apparently feature enhanced social media features and “key enhancements behind the scenes of the software”. The Desktop version will build on enhancements made at the end of last year to bring the shopping cart experience in line with that of the Online platform.


TemplateCloud

Stand N2 C175

With over 80,000 templates, TemplateCloud is, claims the vendor, the world’s largest library of sector-specific, web-to-print templates for online printers targeting the SME market. The company will be illustrating at Ipex how the system also connects to Fotolia’s more than 15m stock images. TemplateCloud connects with any webshop via an API and also integrates directly into W3P.


Tharstern

Stand N1 B135

Tharstern will at Ipex be aiming to demonstrate how its MIS solutions can be  specifically tailored to support the exacting needs and requirements of commercial printing and the graphic arts industry.


ThermoFlexX

Stand S1 E090

thermoflexxJoining forces with Xeikon to share a stand (see next page), ThermoFlexX will also be pairing up with Hybrid Software, following a recent global agreement between the two companies. The company will be demo-ing its ThermoFlexX 30 imager with Hybrid Software’s new Cloudflow, a ‘workspace’ concept for the web-enabled production environment. The ThermoFlexX 30 has a maximum plate size of 635x500mm and is aimed at the label and folding carton sectors. The imager comes as standard with resolutions of 2,400dpi and 2,540dpi and there is the option to have 4,000dpi, 4,800dpi or 5,080dpi. There are six imagers within the ThermoFlexX series, ranging from the 508x420mm model designed for tags and label applications, to the recently launched 1,270x2,032mm ThermoFlexX 80 for the corrugated packaging and folding carton sectors.


Transeo Media

Stand N1 B092

Making its Ipex debut, Transeo Media will be demonstrating DirectSmile Cross Media Version 6 for the first time since its commercial launch at the start of the year. The new iteration of this multi-channel marketing package features extended web-to-print capabilities for real-time online design and document configuration and allows users to set up bespoke lead-management and lead-generation programmes. It is designed to make building and managing data-driven marketing campaigns simpler. Also on the Transeo stand will be the latest version of Taopix photobook and photo gift software, Version 4.2.


TSS Technology

Stand N1 D130

As the main UK agent for X-Rite, TSS Technology will be exhibiting the latest X-Rite products including the Exact spectrophotometer. The auto scanning Easytrax will be connected to Rutherford’s Easyloop software to show how this enables almost all presses to be closed looped. The new converting-creasing analyser Creasy from Peret will be shown for the first time in the UK. Also on show will be a Braille measuring device and Flex 3 Pro for flexo plate measurement.


W3P

Stand N2 C175

W3P is web-to-print software designed to remove the need to manually re-build a graphic design file into a web-to-print template. The W3P cloud software builds the web-to-print template automatically, direct from the native InDesign file, saving time on template build. W3shop includes the TemplateCloud library of templates and Fotolia connection to sell printing online to clients without a print-ready file.


Xeikon

Stand S1 E090

On the pre-press side of things, Xeikon will at Ipex be showcasing its platemakers for newspaper offset printing and its basysPrint CTP solutions for commercial printing. The company will be hoping to demonstrate how these systems combine the latest exposure techniques with cost-efficient UV plate technology, high imaging quality and flexibility. For the flexographic market, Xeikon also offers digital platemaking systems under the ThermoFlexX brand name.