Business News
Screen USA Celebrates 45 Years, Countless Innovations
Wednesday 31. October 2012 - A lot has happened since Screen USA came into being in 1967. An organization whose success derives from the strength of its products, Screen USA enjoys an incredibly rich heritage as the first overseas subsidiary of Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Its parent company was formed in 1943, though the Kyoto, Japan-based parent's origin stretches back much further to a copper plate and lithographic printing shop called Ishida Kyokuzan Printing Works begun in 1868. The shop's founder was the great-grandfather of Dainippon Screen's current chairman and CEO, Akira Ishida.
Today, Dainippon Screen is the leading supplier of thermal computer-to-plate (CTP) recorders and prepress systems. More than 17,500 Screen-manufactured CTP units have been installed worldwide since 1995. Most are still in use. Sophisticated PDF- and JDF-based workflow solutions drive CTP and digital print-on-demand production around the globe. Screen’s comprehensive range of Truepress digital printing systems enables efficient and cost-effective printing of commercial projects, transactional documents, publications, signs, displays, packaging and labels.
Technology highlights
New product developments in its early years included a sales-topping direct color scanner, the company’s first electronic page makeup system and a scanning device for desktop publishing.
By the 1990s, Screen had cast its eye toward digital workflows. A key milestone was reached with the introduction in 1995 of the PlateRite 1080. The CTP recorder allowed users to write digital computer files onto printing plates. In 2000, Screen unveiled the revolutionary Trueflow PDF workflow management system. Trueflow increased workflow speed and efficiency by digitally organizing individual tasks in prepress and plate production. The same year, Screen premiered its first digital presses, led by the four-color Truepress 544.
The next decade saw the company broadening its entire line of digital workflow, CTP and printing systems.
What’s new in 2012
In 2012, Screen USA christened the newly reconstructed and redecorated Demonstration Center in Rolling Meadows, Ill. The Demonstration Center spans more than 12,000 square feet of demonstration space, including two customer lounges. An 1,817-square-foot Technical Center for performing printing demonstrations and process testing opened within Screen’s software engineering division in Irvine, Calif.
Important product introductions that have taken place in 2012 build on the success of the Truepress family of UV inkjet printers. For instance, a new standard feature allows the latest generation of the Truepress JetSX inkjet sheetfed press to print directly on paper package material, coated board and cardboard up to 16-point in the duplex mode and 24-point in the simplex mode.
Introducing the Truepress Jet L350UV inkjet label press to North American audiences at Labelexpo Americas 2012 catapulted Screen USA into the U.S. label printing arena. In addition, EQUIOS Flexo Series workflow products bring end-to-end automation to label and packaging printing.
Similarly, the Truepress Jet W1632UV wide-format inkjet printer made its North American trade show debut at SGIA Expo 2012. Designed to meet the highest standards of the point-of-purchase and graphic display markets, the Truepress Jet W1632UV prints at 1,011 square feet per hour using 12 picoliter microdroplet printheads.