Three companies and four digital print technologies are prominent in this year's InterTech technology awards.
Established in 1978 and now administered by Printing United Alliance, the awards honour tech predicted to have a major impact on the graphic communications and related industries, which in today's newsmedia environment pretty much comes down to digital newspaper printing.
All of the digital print developments honoured are oblique but advance the systems' market appeal.
Firstly, two sheetfed inkjets are in the awards. Xerox's Baltoro HF is an entry-level unit capable of 302 ipm duplex on an A3 sheet, while HP's Indigo 100K is a 6000 sph B2 duplex press designed to pump out up to a million sheets a month.
The value of the Harris & Bruno ExcelCoat ZRW inline coater - honoured with HP's PageWide T240 HD web press for "delivering extraordinary productivity with a touch of luxury" - will be in extending its non-core earning capacity in direct mail. It runs either aqueous or UV-cured coatings.
Kodak is named in two awards - for the Prosper QD packaging inks and film optimiser agent, and its part in the hybrid Uteco Sapphire EVO M press, a high-speed production inkjet for flexible packaging.
Other recipients are: Aurigma for Customer's Canvas; EFI for Reggiani Bolt; Esko for Trapper; GMG for ColorCard; Komori America for Komori's GLX40RP double-sided press; and Xitron for the Navigator DFE.
Pictured: Some of the product of HP's PageWide inkjets