Business News

Lehigh Direct Steps up to Full Color In-Line Variable Data Print Capabilities with KODAK PROSPER S10 Imprinting System

Thursday 12. August 2010 - Direct marketing service provider set to install first U.S. process color implementation of S10 Printheads

Lehigh Direct, a leading direct marketing company serving many top international brands, is taking its expertise in personalization to the next level as the first U.S. company to leverage the CMYK capability of the KODAK PROSPER S10 Imprinting System. Designed to enable part-page and full-page variable color print inline at full speeds with a web offset press or web finishing line, the PROSPER S10 Imprinting System brings together the best of both worlds—offset and digital.

Lehigh Direct, a long-time innovator in personalized direct mail solutions, anticipates a variety of new and rewarding opportunities for its customers with the ability to enhance direct mail by blending high-quality offset with high-quality digital full-color variable data. “We are excited to partner with Kodak on this big step into the next generation of direct marketing,” said Bob Hackett, Executive Vice President, Lehigh Direct. “Clearly both Kodak and Lehigh Direct have established themselves in their leadership positions within the direct marketing industry over the last decade and we continue to invest in what we believe will offer our clients solutions to their growing direct marketing needs.”

With the process color capability in the PROSPER S10 Imprinting System, print and marketing service providers are now able to leverage the specialty printing capabilities of offset—including metallics, heavy color saturation, scratch-off coatings, and other specialty inks—to create a high-value product that can be customized with process color imaging inline at high production speeds. The solution is ideal for direct mail, catalog, and other custom publishing solutions.

“Printers and marketers are always looking for ways to make communications more effective,” noted Ronen Cohen, Vice President, Inkjet Printing Solutions, Kodak. “Personalization is known to drive a higher response and a more robust return on marketing investment (ROMI), and this KODAK Solution gives customers a game-changing bridge between high-value offset color and high-quality full-color variable communications imprinting in the hybrid environment.”

The KODAK PROSPER S10 Imprinting System, which uses KODAK Stream Inkjet Technology, was launched in June 2009 as a monochrome imprinting system for delivering offset class variable data applications produced inline with web offset presses and finishing equipment at up to 1,000 fpm/305 mpm. The PROSPER S10 Imprinting System, with flexible mounting options, integrates seamlessly with web offset presses and web finishing lines using a variety of third-party printing towers to add variable data to offset printed materials at a resolution of 600 dpi.

With a print width of 4.16 inches/10.56 cm. and pigment-based process color inks that offer fade, scratch, and water resistance, the PROPSPER S10 System increases throughput and eliminates the need for additional standalone equipment.

“Another powerful advantage of the PROSPER S10 Imprinting System is that it enables printers to maximize their capital investments and transform an offset press by adding full digital imaging capability that delivers offset class quality,” added Cohen.

Integrating multiple heads for a CMYK solution opens new doors of opportunity for forward-looking customers such as Lehigh Direct. The Lehigh Direct installation utilizes Kodak authorized integrators Adphos and GSS to implement the configuration.