Who are the next industry game changers? Jim Workman, assistant vice president, Center for Technology and Research, tells you where you can find complete details on this year’s InterTech Award recipients.

Attendees visiting Printing Industries of America’s booth #3802 at GRAPH EXPO 15 will be able to learn more about the ten technologies receiving the prestigious 2015 InterTech™ Technology Award.

Read the press release announcing the 2015 InterTech Technology Awards here.

The “Forecast Part 2, Midyear Update” issue of Printing Industries of America: The Magazine will be distributed at the booth and devotes 34 pages to the innovative technologies nominated and selected for an InterTech Award. You’ll find:

•    Complete technology descriptions of all 2015 InterTech Award recipients
•    Exclusive judge’s comments on the technology’s key benefits
•    Images of each technology

How we define “Innovative”
The InterTech competition has been conducted annually since 1978 by Printing Industries of America as a service to the industry. Each entry is judged against specific criteria. First and foremost, the technology must be truly innovative—not just an evolutionary improvement on an existing product—and expected to have a significant influence on the graphic communications industry. Further, it needs to enable printers to operate much more efficiently or provide new products or services and offer a clear return on investment. Finally, it must be commercially available, yet not be in widespread use.

Predictions for the future
This year the independent panel of judges deliberated over technology nominations ranging from presses and finishing equipment to solutions to automate workflow and even determine the carbon footprint of print projects. This year’s awards show great developments in high speed web and sheetfed color inkjet presses, digital finishing equipment, use of metallic foil, patterning for optimal flexo ink laydown, and a portable spectrophotometer that can scan color bars. Also honored were solutions that facilitate cross-media marketing campaigns, use a new standard to define and communicate brand colors, and simplify the integration of production and business processes.   

“The judges spend hours evaluating each technology submission and then come together to vigorously debate the ‘breakthrough’ nature and business merits of each technology,” said Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president, Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America. “Their judgments have proven to be a realistic predictor of a technology’s future success. Our research shows more than 80% of the technologies recognized in the past have experienced marketplace acceptance.”

The ten technologies selected to receive the 2015 InterTech Technology Award (alphabetical by company):

Océ VarioPrint i300
Canon U.S.A., Inc.

ORIS CxF
CGS Publishing Technologies International LLC

KODAK PROSPER 6000 Presses
Kodak

NX advantage, KODAK FLEXCEL NX System
Kodak

EFI DirectSmile Cross Media
Electronics for Imaging, Inc.

Automation Engine Connect
Esko

Prinect Media Manager
Heidelberg

Highcon Euclid Digital Finishing Technology
Highcon Systems Ltd.

MGI iFOIL
MGI

X-Rite eXact with Scan Option
X-Rite

Plan on stopping by PIA booth #3802 at GRAPH EXPO 15, September 13-16 in Chicago, to learn more about the technologies expected to have a significant impact on the industry’s future.