In order to spearhead development of new digital printing market opportunities, F.E. Burman Ltd. has installed an HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press. The installation also includes an HP SmartStream Production Pro Print Server capable of handling the high volumes of data required to feed the high-speed HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press and enable sophisticated variable data printing and personalization.

The 50-year-old London based company has a reputation as an innovator and was an early adaptor of digital printing with the installation of an Indigo E-Print 1000 press in 1995, and subsequently an HP Indigo press 3050. F.E. Burman is a modern print service provider that began as a repro company, pioneering digital prepress and currently provides repro, print, mailing and IT services to blue-chip customers. The company specializes in information architecture, digital and short-run offset printing, mailing, database management and pre-media production.

The HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press is not located on the company’s production floor, but showcased in a new, purpose-built marketing suite. The HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press was launched earlier this year and is aimed at companies printing more than one million pages per month. It runs at a process speed that is 76% faster and uses 25% less power than earlier digital presses, and offers on-press image oil recycling, and longer consumables life.

Mercury Printing Co. LLC is starting a $6 million expansion at its Memphis facility as part of plans to enlarge its digital printing customer base. The company’s expansion could grow as much as $27.8 million should the Memphis facility receive a payment-in-lieu-of-tax credit and be selected by its parent company to receive the new business.

The expansion is part of a plan by Mercury’s parent company, Consolidated Graphics, Inc., to increase its digital printing service offering. Mercury will add 25 new full-time employees along with another 85 temporary employees. The company currently employs 102 full-time workers and approximately 20 temporary employees. The $6 million investment will go toward the purchase of multiple Hewlett Packard Indigo and Kodak Nexpress printing presses and a Xeikon printing press.

Mercury will also build out another 12,000 square feet from its current building to accommodate the new equipment and capacity. They currently occupy a 120,000-square-foot facility. The digital printing presses will allow Mercury to compete in direct mail and other piece-specific contracts. As the technology advances, more companies are deciding to purchase digital equipment.

There is a 33% increase in newspaper advertising in the first half of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, according to the half-annual report issued by Pan Arab Research Center (PARC). The print industry has topped the media split for advertising spend with a 45% share.

Ad value reached $1.7 billion for print media, rising from $1.27 billion in the first half of 2007. Magazine ad spend increased by 15% to $343 million. While television achieved a share of 43% of the total ad spend between January and June 2008, ranking second. It has, however, only witnessed a growth rate of 19%. The spend on T.V. advertising was $1.6 billion compared to $1.35 billion in 2007. In the UAE, the total advertising spend in print media was $833 million, split between newspapers with ad spend of $738 million and magazines with $95 million. Their total share was 89%.

Pan Arab T.V. advertising was ahead with a total of $1.4 billion, compared to $152 million for magazines and just $14 million for newspapers. Pan Arab T.V. spend consisted of more than 89% of the total regional T.V. ad spend while newspapers only accounted for 1%. Radio, outdoor and cinema saw a decline in advertising spend, ranging between 7% for radio and 37% for cinema.

Hewlett Packard demonstrated its portfolio for the printing and finishing of photo-specialty products, based on its HP Indigo digital presses, new HP SmartStream workflow portfolio and digital front-end and finishing solutions at Photokina 2008. The company has continued to develop its photo-specialty solutions to meet customers’ business demands.

In the photo-specialty market, HP Indigo digital presses have a leading market share. Multiple press orders from leading photofinishers reflect industry confidence in HP Indigo presses and the company’s ability to meet their requirements. The HP Indigo press 5500 produces photobooks, calendars, greeting cards, postcards and other photo-specialty products. It is now enhanced with options to facilitate greater productivity – including inline connectivity to the HP Indigo UV Coater, streamlined HP SmartStream workflow management and an additional feeding unit and thick substrate support.

The HP Indigo press 5500 is suited to meet the needs of digital printers who need to produce on-demand, short-run applications. Software solutions from HP partners include Pixami, Digilabs, and Ultimate Technographics, with finishing solutions from CP Bourg Renz and Schmedt. With these solutions, the HP Indigo press 5500 demonstrated the ease and quality of end-to-end production of perfect bound and hard cover photobooks.

UNIMAC is a sheetfed and web printer based in Carlstadt, New Jersey. They recently purchased a new fully automated KBA Rapida 106 41-inch six-color press with UV capability, perfecting after the second unit, board kit, and extended delivery. The press will be shipped to UNIMAC in October 2008.

The KBA Rapida 106 features an 18,000 sph output, ultra-fast makeready times, and cutting-edge automation. The press provides a wide choice of automation options: the KBA DriveTonic dedicated drives and simultaneous plat mounting system and the DriveTonic feeder with presetting capabilities. It also features the GATF InterTech Sidelay-feed, DriveTonic SIS. The substrate range runs from lightweight papers to heavyboard, from plastic films to corrugated – all without adjusting any grippers.

UNIMAC is also partnering with KBA’s new independent consulting company known as KBA Complete. UNIMAC sought them out to help the firm deliver ultra-high-level manufacturing efficiency and automation across prepress, press, and postpress systems. UNIMAC Graphics is also developing its own printing processes to help its customers and working with different groups to become more environmentally-friendly.