For the first time held in Vienna, and only one month after IfraExpo India, IfraExpo 2007 experienced growing interest from visitors coming  For the first time held in Vienna, and only one month after IfraExpo India, IfraExpo 2007 experienced growing interest from visitors coming from the Asia/Pacific region, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. A total of 10,600 media professionals visited the stands of 367 exhibitors, among whom there were also growing numbers of companies from Asia, Eastern Europe and the USA. Indian companies who presented their products in Vienna included Grafitek International based in New Delhi, Manugraph based in Mumbai, NBG Printographic Machinery of New Delhi, Ninestars Information Technologies of Bangalore, Pressmart Media of Hyderabad and The Printers House of New Delhi.

Grafitek presented its range of web offset printing presses at speeds of up to 45,000 cph. Configurations included: 4-high towers, 4-colour satellite, 1/2 deck, mono printing units. Folders: half-page for broadsheet and tabloid fold, and quarter-page for magazine and books. Optional: splicers, remote control inking, closed-loop registration, bay windows, turner bars, dryers, chillers. The company says it has 1700 installations worldwide and uses state-of-the-art machinery to make parts and components. It also has a network of agents worldwide for sales and after sales.

Manugraph showcased its successful line of newspaper presses with speeds ranging from 35,000 to 60,000 cph. The company is a leader in the 4-page web-offset printing segment. Leading publishers from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States, made up of 11 former Soviet Republics) placed orders with the company. Manugraph recently acquired a 100 percent stake in the US based firm Dauphin Graphic Machines Inc. DGM commands a 60 percent market share in the USA in the 4-page press segment. With this acquisition, Manugraph has become the No.1 single-width, web press manufacturing company in the world with almost 50 percent worldwide market share of single-width machines.

NBG Printographic Machinery showed its Star range of web-fed offset presses for newspapers and contract publishers. The company says its product portfolio for newspaper and book publishers offers cost-effective solutions by supplying new press lines, add-on units, turnkey jobs and consultancy services. The Star web offset presses are single width, single circumference, and coldset presses, with modular construction, offering quick make-ready, and with a simple design for ease of operation and maintenance. The printing elements of Star are a mono unit with integral roll stand and 3-colour satellite unit. The mono unit can be stacked up to 4-high tower for full colour on both sides of the web (4/4), and the 3-colour satellite in combination of a mono unit or stack unit can print full colour one side of the web and one colour on the other side of the web (4/1). The Star press can also be built in other configurations (2/2, 4/2), is available in cut-off sizes from 508 to 578 mm and speeds between 16,000 and 35,000 CPH.
Ninestars Information Technologies explained that it has the largest eArchival facility in the world, and that it is the first digital archiving and ePublication company that is ISO 9001:2000 certified. Ninestars deploys a patented, proprietary technology and a large-scale, semi-automated workflow, which has delivered millions of pages of tier 1, globally recognised newspaper pages including The Hindu, Malayala Manorama and many others. The company has technology partnerships with IBM, Atex, DigiCol & Mediasoft. Among Ninestars' services are: Starchive, used for digitisation of historical and current newspapers; StarView, a fully automated plug-and-play online ePaper publishing system; StarPix, a photo digitisation service; StarClips, a  production service for article clip digitisation, and ‘Ifra Firsts' StarZine, StarMobil and StarDigital. Ninestars is backed by a strong research and development arm and provides search and retrieval solutions for newspapers in languages such as Arabic, Japanese and other Asian languages.

Pressmart is a new media delivery company that works with major newspapers and magazines in more than 21 countries to deliver their print replica editions on multiple distribution channels, including web, mobile, podcast and RSS. The service is pre-integrated with social networking services and is search engine ready in order to optimise the online system for electronic editions. Pressmart also provides hosting, subscription management, advertising sales and reporting, and maintenance. Digital editions are offered with operational value-added modules such as eTearsheet, eClassified booking and content syndication. Backed by their experience of digitalising 400 years of legacy archives, Pressmart also offers eArchival services to convert newsprint, microfilms or microfiches into web and e-commerce ready content.

TPH (The Printers House) introduced two new versions of its Orient line of presses, the Orient X-Cel at 36,000 cph and the Orient X-Press at 45,000 cph. The Orient range of configurations includes a mono unit with integral reel stand, stack unit, 3-colour satellite and 4-high tower. Folders range from 1:2 and 2:2 jaw type to tucker type designs with quarter and double parallel fold options. Cut off sizes range from 508 mm to 578 mm. A host of auxiliary equipment such as auto reel changer, auto registration control system and remote inking is integrated into the new presses. Orient presses are manufactured at an ISO-9001 certified CNC manufacturing facility. TPH produces some 700 units per year, with 70 percent of its turnover exported worldwide. To date, close to 5500 printing elements have been installed in around 40 countries. The company told us that the Orient press has gained a substantial foothold in the Chinese market, where more than 160 4-high tower presses have been installed so far.