IPEX 2010 Blogs - Simon Enticknap Number 2

For the hard-working journalists (and yes, that’s not an oxymoron, or any other type of moron) Ipex begins the day before the show opens as the first presentations seek to get a head start over their rivals and the long-suffering hacks prepare for information overload.

Fujifilm and Heidelberg kicked off proceedings this year and, perhaps surprisingly for an offset plate and press manufacturer respectively, the main talk was all about digital print.

The approaches to a major trade show such Ipex used to be jealously protected by the traditional guardians of the industry, the offset press manufacturers. This time around, however, the honours went to a plate manufacturer – although describing Fujifilm as a plate manufacturer these days is a bit like calling IBM a typewriter company.

Fujifilm’s big talking point was obviously the Jet Press 720 which provided the focal point of its press conference. All that attention from the eager on-lookers must have given it stage fright because the new press seemed to suffering from first night nerves.

It’s the sort of situation that has presenters waking in a cold sweat the middle of the night: the world’s graphic arts press are assembled for the launch of the latest you-beaut gizmo, all eyes firmly fixed on what this latest advancing in imaging technology will deliver, but when you press the ‘go’ button, nothing happens. Zip, zilch, rien.

Eventually the press was coaxed into spitting out a few pages and the problem was blamed on “NEC fuses”, whatever that means.

And before any rival manufacturers start sniggering and making fun at Fujifilm’s expense– don’t. It will happen to you too some day if you tempt the technology gods and, when it does, I’ll be sitting in the front row reporting on it.

They just don’t get it

Heidelberg provided the second big anti-climax of the day when it announced that it was getting back into digital print as a reseller but failed to provide any details about who, what, when and how. Even the ‘why’ seemed a little muddled when – as Andy McCourt reports – the head of Heidelberg UK, George Clarke, proceeded to criticise the very technology they hope to be selling. Challenged on the obvious inconsistency here, Clarke responded:

“When I’m paid to sell digital, I’ll sell digital.”

While admiring the purely mercenary instincts of the man, such comments do nothing to dispel the feeling that, when it comes to digital print, Heidelberg just doesn’t get it.

This was a massive missed opportunity for Heidelberg – they needed to come to Ipex with something concrete to say about digital print and, so far, they’ve flunked it.

In a very long press conference, the main attraction was the launch of the new CX 102, shown running as a five colour configuration, which Heidelberg says will sit in between the faithful old CD 102 and the top-of-the-range XL 105.

Pictured: Stephan Plenz, Heidelberg board member for equipment, introduces the new Speedmaster CX 102 press.

Web-to-print also scored a few mentions as Heidelberg tries to reclaim some of the action here from the digital printers. It was announced that in each country, the company will team up with one web-to-print supplier and one MIS supplier to provide complete solutions integrated with Prinect. No word yet on who that will be in Australia.

An entry-level version of Prinect - called Prinect S - has also been introduced to make workflow and the benefits it delivers more affordable to smaller printers.

More on Heidelberg as the show progresses.

So what have we learnt so far at Ipex?

Well, based on the first day’s presentations, the most important country at this year’s show will be Iceland, not for its printing equipment but rather its volcanoes which seem intent on spitting the dummy (or the ash at least) and spoiling the party.

The Eyjafjallajokull volcano earned half a dozen mentions in the press conferences and the assembled journos were congratulated several times on having made it Ipex despite the looming threat.

Hey, that was nothing. Getting here was the easy bit. Now the fun really begins.

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