Printers prepare entries for digital awards

Printers from around the UK are preparing their entries for this year's Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging awards (PIXI), an annual showcase for Xerox equipment users.

Printers from around the UK are preparing their entries for this year's Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging awards (PIXI), an annual showcase for Xerox equipment users to demonstrate their digital printing products.

The PIXI awards are judged by an international panel of journalists and assessed on individual merits, taking in to account the company and product that excels in business effectiveness, innovation, overall aesthetics and use of digital technology and workflow.

Last year's overall European PIXI winner was DSI Digital in Rainham, Essex (UK) a Xerox premier partner member that picked up the accolade for its travel programme for TUI, one of the world's largest tour operators.

DSI transformed the old fashioned travel booking procedure, with its mounds of paperwork and forms, in to one easy to use personalised booklet that contained the customer's tickets, agendas and travel information that could be used during a holiday, all printed on a Xerox iGen3 digital press.

DSI Digital's business development director Fraser Church is busy preparing this year's entry to the awards, for a project completed for a major High Street retailer.

He commented: "Last year the PIXI awards presented us with a major opportunity to network with our peers from across Europe and also to promote the capabilities of digital printing to an outside audience of print specifiers and designers," he said.

"Hopefully, other Xerox users gained a lot from us in listening to what we are doing.

But we also gained real commercial benefits from them.

We saw other applications and talked to other business partners and that is providing real advantages for the future.

There is also a wider message to get over, and that is to promote the benefits of digital printing to as wide an audience as possible.

This is why we were so keen to follow up last year's success and enter for this year's awards," added Church.

The PIXI awards will be presented at this year's premier partner congress in Amsterdam on June 9.

The congress is a gathering of all of Xerox's leading customers and digital press users, and is used as a showcase and talking shop for all the members.

The awards are open to all Xerox digital equipment users and entries are invited from Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.

There are three separate categories - the best short-run digital colour product, the best short-run digital mono product and the variable print, one-to-one marketing communications award.

All of the finalists will be showcased in the PIXI awards book, a publication that profiles all the finalists and the products that got them on to the short list.

Another printer gearing up for this year's awards is Antony Rowe in Chippenham, Wiltshire (UK) part of the CPI Group.

The short-run on-demand book printer is another UK Xerox premier partner and is a specialist in providing a total book management service from data supplied and typesetting, through to book manufacture, fulfilment and distribution.

Its on-demand book service, in partnership with Gardners Books in Eastbourne, can automatically fulfil the supply requests made by booksellers and consumers by employing specially developed application software and digital technology, including the Docutech printers and the 8000 digital press, said Xerox.

Bob Hunt, the managing director for Antony Rowe's Eastbourne division said: "The company has traditionally considered itself as an innovator and its main forte is in developing digital printing.

Entering this award is part of recognising what we do, what we have achieved, and the processes we go through to produce the ultimate printing job." It is the second time that Antony Rowe has entered the awards, this time with a submission for a catalogue for the Titanic Memorabilia Society, a high quality printed booklet that changes every three months once items have been sold off, or stock renewed from the historic wreck site.

"It is a book that lends itself to high quality printing and because it changes on such a regular basis, it really doesn't suit to print it conventionally.

We can print it either on out Xerox Docucolor 8000 or any of the Docucolor 6060 presses we have here on site.

We have the ability to print books here in quantities as low as one," commented Hunt.

It follows on from the success last year, when the company was awarded with a first prize for the best short run digital - mono category.

Valentin Govaerts, senior vice president, production and graphic arts for Xerox Europe said: "The PIXI Awards are very important to Xerox.

Every year they provide a showcase of the very best work from the very best Xerox customers.

We are proud to be hosting the PIXI awards once again, this time from the fabulous city of Amsterdam and we hope that many more printers can be there to share the occasion with us." Those interested in entering the PIXI awards can do so on the Xerox website by looking under PIXI Awards 2005 to fill in the on-line application form.

The closing date for entries is May 1 and prizes include a five-star luxury break, including a visit to any Xerox Ducati team Superbike race of choice within Europe to meet the Xerox Ducati team.

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