Even though NEXPO'96 was held in the middle of America's most famous gambling town, it still had a decidedly European flavor--perhaps because most of the innovation seemed to come from overseas. That was the consensus of three industry experts that TechNews convened to discuss what they felt were the most important news items to emerge from the exposition.
Howard I. Finberg, Phoenix Newspapers' senior editor of information technology, even suggested that our NEXPO headline should be, "American vendors asleep at the switch as all innovation happens in Europe."
Probably the biggest news story came from Switzerland, as press manufacturer Maschinenfabrik WIFAG introduced two new shaftless presses and announced that the Tulsa (Okla.) World would be the first American newspaper to purchase the technology. Unisys Corp. imported an innovative pre-press system developed in Italy, while two Danish companies, CCI Europe and Euromax, both enjoyed heavy booth traffic with their new pre-press offerings. In the post-press area, AM International of Rosemont, Ill., announced that it intends to sell its Sheridan Systems Division to Heidelberger Druckmaschinen of Heidelberg, Germany.
Whatever happened to good old American know-how? Maybe, said Chuck Blevins, CEO of the Blevins Harding Group, the problem is that "American newspapers buy commodities, while Europeans buy systems. European newspapers are more likely to pick one vendor to handle an entire department like the mailroom door to door."
Sharon Hite, president and general manager of Scripps Howard supply, agreed: "Too many American companies have a mish-mash of stuff."
Finberg said that may be changing, as Americans learn that their systems--and their people--must learn to communicate better. "It's the smell of fear," he said. "All of the departments know that if they don't work together, they don't stand a fighting chance. We're being nibbled to death by pygmies."
As an example, Finberg cited the need for a publications-database system capable of sending a preview of the front page to circulation before the press run. Circulation could then decide the draw, which depends on what stories are above the fold. Finberg also said we need a fully integrated process for new media. "If we have to create tools for each and every product--Web, audio, magazine--we're going to be drowning in people," he said.
A third example of how technology is collapsing the boundaries between departments is in the area of computer-to-plate. Innovations in CTP were big news at NEXPO, with at least five vendors showing off new systems. As most newspapers are not yet fully paginated, though, they don't seem quite ready to buy into CTP. This prompted Blevins to wonder, "Do you get CTP to force pagination or vice versa?"
That and other multimillion-dollar questions floated about NEXPO'96 as the industry continues its difficult transition into the information age. Perhaps some of them will be answered next year in New Orleans, and maybe then the answers will come from both sides of the Atlantic.
Except where noted, stories by TechNews, Presstime and Atwood Convention
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Photographs by Jim Richards.
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