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Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 04:41:46 GMT
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Our Imaging and Information Technologies Group:
Leadership in a digital world that's going
on-line with clients
Our Imaging and Information Technologies Group
provides premium prepress products and services, from art production to
print-ready files, and services for the three main printing processes used
in packaging, promotional materials, related point-of-purchase, and direct
mail: lithography, flexography, and gravure.
Our client base of Fortune 100 and 500 companies relies on Schawk to assure
a perfect balance of colors, specifically adapted for the unique material
of each package.
Our clients place great value in their brand imagery. Consistent quality
each time those images are replicated, whether produced and printed domestically
or internationally, is essential. One prepress imaging supplier, if sufficiently
skilled, can provide these clients with the worldwide control and consistency
they require. Today, Schawk has placed itself in that position.
Packaging poses a unique challenge to accurate brand image replication because
the inks are often applied to plastic, metal, cardboard, colored stock,
or other material instead of standardized paper. This can cause the ink
to reproduce in an inappro-priate color, and a minor error in color balance
can cause a major problem since a high percentage of the buying decisions
for food, beverage and other household products are made at the point of
purchase.
The specific task of our Imaging and Information Technologies Group, therefore,
is not printing but the production design and/or modification of artwork
and photography in the creation of film or digitized information that is
provided to converters around the world, who then print the actual packages
or labels.
In 1995, our imaging business added significantly
to the techniques and tools that enable us to efficiently provide these
premium services to our clients- both concerning software and hardware.
In November, we purchased a Heidelberg GTO-DI digital printing press which
links directly to our computer systems. We can now offer a complete digital
work flow from digital photography to final proof.
Heidelberg GTO-DI
digital printing press
 |
In addition, our Imaging Group has created a new product critical to providing
superior service to our clients. CLICk (Client Linked Information Centers),
launched in 1995, is the keystone to an entirely new way of doing business.
CLICk provides a set of tools that make it possible for our clients to work
efficiently with us and their various suppliers at long distance via telecommunications
infrastructure. While similar products have been developed, they require
proprietary equipment and software, thus limiting clients access and use.
On the other hand, CLICk was developed to be compatible with a variety of
equipment and software applications, and allows use of the Internet and
ISDN to simplify file transfer, accessing/archiving of images from remote
databases, and collaboration on design/production projects and proofing.The
primary client benefit enables reduction in cycle times from design to prepress
to print, while pro-viding improved control, flexibility, and a more efficient
sharing of resources.
During 1995, CLICk was installed at six of our Imaging units, several design
firms, and at the first of our client base.
CLICk
(Client Linked Information Centers)
 |
During 1995, we made significant advances in the transformation of our imaging
operations from conventional to electronic digital processing through the
retraining of many of our long-time crafts-people. Our objective all along
has been to marry their many years of craftsmanship with today's digital
tools.The training program was, and is, essentially a two-stageprocess:
first, to teach computers and software in a highly hands-on, production-oriented
environment; and second, to start the individual on a career of continuous
learning necessitated by the rapid develop-ment of digital production technology,
often using educational tools internally developed.
We have included training for our salespeople to help them develop digital
solutions for our client needs.This train-ing, while the backbone of the
internal transformation of our Imaging and Information Technologies Group,
is primarily directed at helping our clients keep their employees abreast
of new develop-ments, technologies and capabilities which provide solutions
for those clients to achieve their goal of improved speed to market and
customization ability. Altogether, our Client Services Group provided over
4,500 hours of training for approximately 740 people during 1995.
Our imaging clients rely on us as their "technology agents," to
research and rec-ommend new technologies. As a result, our STAB group (Schawk
Technical Advisory Board) reviewed numerous vendor presen-tations and our
Client Services Group published over 50 technical reports and quarterly
newsletters, which were distrib-uted to our clients as well as to our internal
imaging operations.
In addition, Schawk played a high-profile role in the imaging and prepress
industry during 1995.We participated in 22 events, including the Seybold
conferences, and those sponsored by the National Paperboard Association,
the Flexographic Technical Association, and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation.We
provided instruction at such prestigious educational institutions as the
Rochester Institute of Technology. The Company was spotlighted by Adobe
Systems, Inc. and Wausau Coated Products, Inc. Our Vice President and Technical
Director, Paul R. Guy, was honored as "Person of the Year" by
the Scitex Graphics Arts Users Association.
In 1996 and beyond, we will continue to make use of the information technologies
to provide premium production design and imaging services, seeking more
business from our packaging clients, and expansion, via our recognized expertise,
into work for their advertising agencies and other venues of high-end digital
imaging.
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