Ghent (Belgium), December 2008 - EskoArtwork announces the successful installation of the largest Kongsberg cutting table ever delivered, a Kongsberg XL48, at Nefab Packaging Norway. For the past four years, the company, part of the Nefab Group, had been working with a Kongsberg XL24 table and ArtiosCAD structural design software to produce small to medium-size runs of foam and corrugated boxes. Nefab Packaging Norway decided to invest in the large-size Kongsberg XL48 to support corporate growth and satisfy demand for shorter time-to-market.

A combination of quality and excellent service

In Norway, the key to packaging success is providing a wide range of high-quality products along with exceptional service and performance. Espen Auseth, Managing Director at Nefab Packaging Norway, remarks: “To deliver consistent high-quality service to our customers, we decided to seek a local partner that could handle converting foam for inner packaging. So, during late 2005, we acquired Gregersen & Rosenvinge AS, located in Sande, Vestfold. This decision proved to be a fortunate one for us—sales during the past three years grew 70%. To satisfy capacity, we decided to look for a more efficient way to produce foam for inner packaging and corrugated boxes. The Kongsberg XL48 cutting table was the best solution available on the market, perfectly suiting the growing needs of our company.”

Responding to growing demands

With added work and requests for faster deliveries, an obvious in-house bottleneck occurred. The company had to decide whether to invest in new equipment in-house or move production capabilities to another business unit outside Norway. Nefab strongly preferred to handle clients’ packaging orders locally, and chose to install the new Kongsberg table in Norway. Espen Auseth explains: “Norway is an expensive market. It is important for our customers who compete in global markets to minimize the time-to-market and avoid damage during shipment. Nefab resolves these concerns so our customers can focus completely on their core businesses.”

Nefab’s small print-run production, its need for high-quality products and short delivery times were strong motivators behind the company’s decision to invest in an EskoArtwork Kongsberg XL48. It also helped that they were very comfortable with their Kongsberg XL24, which worked seamlessly with ArtiosCAD software. ArtiosCAD creates structural packaging designs with the ability to create 3D proofs for customers. Design files are sent electronically from ArtiosCAD workstations to the Kongsberg table for cutting and folding.

Espen Auseth adds: “The Nefab Group owns several Kongsberg tables across Europe and, with our four years of experience with the Kongsberg XL24, we knew we could rely on the quality and performance of the cutting table. However, we needed to produce the same quality for our small and medium-size runs of foam and corrugated packaging, on a larger scale. Through our research, we realized that the Kongsberg XL48 could produce more, along with less handling.”

The efficiencies of the largest Kongsberg table

The Kongsberg XL48 is a real production machine and enables Nefab to handle larger volumes with the existing in-house staff. With a work area of over 14 square meters, a larger piece of material can be processed on the Kongsberg XL48. This means more work can be fitted and cut simultaneously; reducing the number of times a substrate has to be loaded and unloaded on the table. Thus, Nefab can produce more foam and corrugated packaging in only one shift with strongly reduced operator interference. Since the R&D department was already familiar with the ArtiosCAD software also this work could easily and with no extra costs be transferred to the new XL48. Espen Auseth comments: “The Kongsberg table ensures an efficient and increased production. Also the flexibility in terms of the size of foam products and the ability to produce solutions in triple-wall or other heavy-duty board were important issues for our company. With the XL48, we have found the perfect solution.“

The Kongsberg XL48 is the largest Kongsberg cutting table available, with a work area of 2210 x 6550mm, handling a maximum sheet size of 2280 x 6960mm. As with all Kongsberg XL die-less cutting and creasing tables, the XL48 offers simple and time-optimized operation with excellent tooling flexibility and unsurpassed durability. For even greater efficiency, it can be delivered with automatic loading and unloading platforms.

Espen Auseth concludes: “While Nefab Packaging Norway had been able to manage our exceptional growth with our Kongsberg 24 table, the new Kongsberg XL48 lets us produce packaging even faster and more efficiently. Thanks to EskoArtwork, our company can take on new work and will be able to respond to anticipated future growth.”

About Nefab Norway

Founded in 1993 and part of the Nefab Group.Former Nefab Emballasje AS changed name to Nefab Packaging Norway AS in 2005 after acquiring Gregersen & Rosenvinge AS. Located in Europe, North and South America and Asia, the Nefab Group delivers complete packaging solutions to international industrial firms. Invoiced sales in 2007 amounted to SEK 2.3 billion. Its products range from inner packaging (foam cushioning, bubble wrap and airpack), export packaging (plywood, corrugated boxes and expandable pallets) over-reusable packaging (steel racks, plywood containers and plastic packaging systems) to long-term packaging (flight cases and aluminum boxes). For more information, visit www.nefab.no.

About EskoArtwork

EskoArtwork is a global supplier and integrator of innovative solutions for packaging, commercial printing, sign and display finishing and professional publishing. Its products and services help customers raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business.

EskoArtwork is the worldwide market leader with pre-production and collaboration software for packaging buyers, designers and manufacturers. The CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers, Kongsberg short-run converting and signage finishing systems complete the portfolio for the packaging, label, signage and display industries.

The company also provides a range of workflow solutions for the commercial printing and publishing market, as well as the Enfocus suite of PDF tools for graphic designers and print production professionals.

EskoArtwork employs around 1,000 people worldwide. Its global sales and support organization covers Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan, and is completed by a network of distribution partners in more than 40 countries.

EskoArtwork is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in 6 European countries and the United States. The consolidated full year revenue for 2007 amounted to EUR 170 million, with an EBITDA of EUR 30 million.

For more information, visit www.esko.com or contact:
P.R. agencies
Europe, Asia, Africa
Lutt Willems
Duomedia Public Relations
Tel:                +32 2 454 85 50        
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EskoArtwork
Corporate and EMEALA
Jef Stoffels
Director of Corporate Marketing
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All press releases, as well as corresponding product pictures, are available at the press section at www.esko.com.

“The award was established to honor individuals in the graphic arts industry who serve as outstanding advocates for graphic arts education,” said A. Thomas Loch, IGAEA President. “Jeff Hayzlett has been an exceptional advocate, and very supportive of the efforts of our organization.”

Hayzlett serves as an ambassador of print, speaking frequently around the world on the graphic arts business, growth, communications and marketing. He has been involved in the graphic arts, technology and visual communications industries for nearly 25 years.

“The IGAEA is greatly respected in the industry, as was Earl Sundeen,” said Hayzlett. “I’m honored to accept this award and attribute it to the education advocacy demonstrated by all IGAEA members.”

In 1980, the IGAEA Board selected Earl I. Sundeen of Kodak as the first recipient and made its decision to have the award bear his name. Sundeen joined Eastman Kodak Company in 1939 and expressed unceasing support for graphic arts education, which earned him the nickname “Mr. Graphic Arts Education” at the company and “Mr. Eastman Kodak” to graphic arts educators.

The International Graphic Arts Education Association is an association of educators in partnership with industry dedicated to sharing theories, principles, techniques, and processes relating to graphic communications and imaging technology. For the past two years, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group has worked with the IGAEA to print and distribute posters at Graph Expo that promote the advantages of the industry as a career choice. For more information about the IGAEA, go to www.igaea.org.

About Kodak

As the world's foremost imaging innovator, Kodak helps consumers, businesses, and creative professionals unleash the power of pictures and printing to enrich their lives. To learn more, visit http://www.kodak.com, and our blogs: 1000words.kodak.com, PluggedIn.kodak.com, and GrowYourBiz.kodak.com.

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Ultimate Technographics has released Impostrip 8.5, which it claimed offers a "spectacular speed increase", new job optimisation features and new functionality.

The Canada-based pre-press software developer said its latest imposition release could help prevent bottlenecks on short runs in both offset and digital markets.

“Processing PDFs can become a bottleneck no matter how much you invest in hardware,” said product management director Roberto Marroquin.

“Impostrip 8.5 Signature Server brings improved speed of 50% and more compared to previous versions.”

New features include the ability to mix and gang jobs into one output where different paper sizes and binding methods are mixed for optimisation.

GBC Commercial, part of ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ABD)  – market leader in print finishing equipment and consumables announces the installation of its first GBC 7580 lamination system at Mönch Medien + Print GmbH + Co KG in Germany. The graphics company, a specialist in the conversion of non-standard print products is the first company in Germany to use the system and it is already proving cost effective, as the company can now produce its own high-quality finishes rather than turning to costly third parties.

Mönch Medien + Print is an expanding company and counts among its customers

leading cosmetics companies, banks and insurance companies. It chose the GBC 7580 laminating system because of its enhanced performance and equipment options. In addition to its simple and intuitive operation, the company was also impressed by the new MABEG feeder and the pneumatically-controlled separator features, which ensure sheets are passed accurately through the commercial finishing process and deliver a high-quality end product.

Oliver Mönch, Managing Director, Mönch Medien comments: “Our customers in the cosmetics and medical industry invariably need promotional material with a high-quality finish. With the GBC 7580, we can respond rapidly to this requirement and deliver runs of between 100 and 5,000 prints at short notice – and, crucially, without compromising on quality.”

The GBC 7580 can produce sumptuous brochures, leaflets and sales folders. The products are printed in offset or digital processes and can be cellophane coated, silver coated or combined with matt cellophane and silkscreen spot varnishes, as well as blind and foil stamping.

The GBC 7580 laminating system, which GBC Commercial unveiled at drupa 2008, is ideal for finishing mid-to-high-volume book covers, folders, brochures and carrier bags. The GBC 7580 can process sheets from 216 x 280 mm to 812 x 1020 mm at a speed of up to 60 m/min.

GBC Commercial

GBC Commercial, a division of the American multinational ACCO Brands Corporation, specialises in manufacturing, marketing and distribution of thermal laminating film and equipment. The company offers a wide range of quality films for laminating offset prints such as book covers and luxury packaging.

GBC’s commercial laminating equipment operates at speeds from 20 m/min up to 150 m/min and provides solutions for high-speed commercial lamination with guaranteed quality output. GBC’s commercial film, made from polypropylene, polyester, acetate and Lay-Flat® substrates, is designed to run at high speeds and deliver the highest quality. For on-demand lamination requirements, GBC offers small and medium format single-sided laminating units available with a selection of special films for digital prints and low to mid volume offset prints.

The name GBC and the GBC logo are registered trademarks of GBC Film Products Group. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

The survey, which netted nearly 5,000 responses from a mix of designers, publishers, specialty and commercial printers, revealed that only 60% of incoming files received in the last 12 months had been preflighted.

Enfocus said that whilst respondents, 50% of whom were either prepress managers or designers, had been positive about its products, it was "less encouraging" to find that 40% of PDF files did not get preflighted.

David van Driessche, marketing director at Enfocus, said: "Enfocus, and other parties such as the Ghent PDF Workgroup, have spent an enormous amount of time and effort on advocating the need for quality control.

"Our survey shows that there is still a large amount of users who are not convinced of the need to check every PDF file that hits their workflow. Continued education remains of the essence."

Belgian-based Enfocus revealed that the most common preflight errors were fonts not being embedded, low resolution images and RGB colours being used.

The survey also revealed that PDF-based workflows were on the rise, with 53% of all jobs received in PDF format and 78% of jobs sent out, either internally or externally, also in PDF.

In addition, 26% of all PDF files received were PDF/X compliant and 11% were compliant with Ghent PDF Workgroup specifications.

Enfocus reported high levels of satisfaction with its PitStop Professional and PitStop Server preflighting tools, as well as its Switch family of products.

Hudson, NH – December 12, 2008 – Presstek, Inc., a leading manufacturer and marketer of digital offset printing solutions, today announced that the print and mail operation for California’s Contra Costa County has acquired Presstek’s PathWay, an affordable, highly scalable Web-to-print solution. This complete, Web-based, end-to-end print-on-demand workflow and management solution will offer County employees the cost efficiency and convenience of buying print through a centralized service over the Web 24 hours/7 days a week.

“We are currently in a pilot with about 300 County employees,” says David Gould, the shop’s manager. “Our objective is to cement our position as the one-stop print shop for all county printing activities, whether we actually produce the work here or out source it.  The Presstek PathWay platform has the ability to accept ad-hoc work, as well as serve our users with a library of templates they can customize themselves for commonly printed items such as forms, business cards and stationery. By acquiring the subscription (ASP) model of PathWay, we didn’t have to invest in servers or other IT infrastructure.  It made the transition very easy for us.”

Once the system is fully deployed, some 3,000 employees are likely to become users. “We want to make it easy for our users,” adds Gould. “Not only is the system easy to use, but by taking advantage of it for all their printing needs, they can sole-source procurement through us and eliminate the need to create and manage bids.  For work we do outsource, the County can then leverage a consolidated print volume to gain preferred pricing from our suppliers.”

Presstek PathWay is an affordable, highly scalable Web-to-print solution, powered by Press-sense. This complete, Web-based, end-to-end print-on-demand workflow and management solution allows users to create, customize, order, print and deliver in one streamlined, integrated operation.  In addition to the basic PathWay platform, add-on modules are available for extra functionality, making this powerful solution scalable from small shops to large, complex operations.  PathWay is available in a stand-alone, hosted or multisite configuration.  Ease-of-entry options have a well-defined upgrade path that allows the solution to grow as the user’s business grows without the need for an expensive platform change.

About Presstek

Presstek, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and marketer of high tech digital imaging solutions to the graphic arts and laser imaging markets. Presstek’s patented DI®, CTP and plate products provide a streamlined workflow in a chemistry-free environment, thereby reducing printing cycle time and lowering production costs. Presstek solutions are designed to make it easier for printers to cost effectively meet increasing customer demand for high-quality, shorter print runs and faster turnaround while providing improved profit margins. Presstek subsidiary, Lasertel, Inc., manufactures semiconductor laser diodes for Presstek’s and external customers’ applications. For more information visit www.presstek.com, or call 603-595-7000
(1-603-594-8585, x 3599 from outside the United States) or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

DI is a registered trademark of Presstek, Inc.