The Meteor DP8700 XL is a Multi-Substrate XL Digital Press for Papers, Plastics, and Envelopes. MGI is the world leader in digital printing and finishing. The Meteor DP8700 XL is the perfect example of innovation in motion. Meteor DP8700 XL provides an efficient workflow with the Fiery RIP – allowing you to manage both your workflow and colorspace.

Variable data printing provides the power of personalization and Variable Data Management. Full personalization to customize your content to target your customers individually. Documents are fully customized to be relevant to your audience, and can be custom-tailored to specific individuals or groups, be it static, personalized, or segmented data. Applications include personalized advertising, automatic numbering, bar codes, alphanumeric databases and photos, on virtually any paper or plastic substrate.

Don’t miss your chance to view the Meteor DP8700 XL at Mid-State Litho’s 2013 Remote Demo. This is your chance to innovate competitive solutions, from printing through finishing. You can RSVP to Mid-State Litho’s 2013 Remote Demo by Clicking Here or by contacting Billi at billi@midstatelitho.net

To Click Charge or Not to Click Charge, that is the Question. By Doug Barrett

Click charges are the standard model for charging for output on digital print devices. The MGI Meteor Pro 8700 is one of the only devices on the market which does not subscribe to the click charge model of charging for operation. Without fail when we sit down with a prospective customer they get a glow when they hear there are no click charges. “I hate click charges,” is the most common statement made. As the discussion continues you sense a sign of confusion. The next question becomes, “How do I know what to charge?”

To me it comes down to a basic way of doing business which is the same way it is done with offset. You know your cost and you charge accordingly. We supply all of the tools necessary to calculate cost before you ever print a sheet. It is very easy to do and in a short amount of time using these tools will become unnecessary. This is because after you cost out a few jobs you get an accurate feel for what the cost will be. Once you have the machine we supply one invoice a month for everything related to operating costs of the 8700. Take the monthly copy count and divide that by the monthly invoice amount. There you have your actual average cost per copy. Do this every month and you have everything you need to know. We can supply reports that differentiate the maintenance items from the toner so that costs can be broken down any way you want to. It really isn’t scary or hard to do.

The problem with click charges is that the contracts related to them are very confusing and don’t actually cover everything. It is not uncommon to hear of huge surprise charges which weren’t discussed during the purchase process. With offset, you know what it costs you to run: the variable is ink usage, then there are the fixed costs, plates, blankets, rollers ,maintenance and labor. With the Meteor, you have variable toner usage, and fixed costs of drums, developer, maintenance kits and labor. Same concept different items. Click charges are built for worst case scenario cost wise and it is what you pay regardless of the work you do. With the Meteor, your cost is what it really is. Let’s say that you do 300,000 clicks a month. With click charges you always pay the same amount. With the Meteor if you do a lot of light coverage work your monthly bill will reflect that with lower cost. What really matters is the cost of ownership and profit potential. The MGI nearly always has the lowest cost of ownership. We always offer the highest profit potential. Based on it’s capabilties, the 8700 has potential which no other competitive machine has.

When explaining the cost structure of the Meteor Pro 8700 to a potential customer, we typically take some sample files from them and cost them out with the software we provide with the 8700. We always get the same kind of files, paint jobs (full coverage). We do the calculations and sometimes it scares people off. This is because we can have a job where it is 100% coverage or more on a 12 x 18 sheet and the cost per piece might be $.10 to $.13 while they have $.08 click charges on their device. This is a valid concern but the reality is the average coverage of digitally produced jobs is 35% not 100%. In that coverage range the Meteor is approximately $.05 cost per piece. Which means for average coverage, we are below most click charges. With the MGI, you pay what the actual cost is.

As a manufacturer, MGI made the decision to not use click charges as they did with Graphics Arts dealers selling these machines rather than copier dealers. MGI feels that the Graphic Arts community is the better market for their equipment to be sold in as they are more likely to utilize the capabilities that are designed into their machines. The sheet size, variety of substrates and lack of post finishing issues all lend themselves to Graphic Arts rather than an office environment. The Graphic Arts community is also more prepared for the actual cost of operation model versus the click charge. It is our job to help you understand how the cost works and what the value of our output is. After all, at the end of the day, it is about profit. Is the most important part of the formula the cost to a tenth of a cent or if you can postion yourself to command higher price for a product only you can produce? Take a look at the Meteor Pro 8700 and let us help you understand how the cost model works and what the profit potenetial is. We know you will be impressed.

The Meteor DP8700 XL allows Sheridan Books to Increase Efficiency & Offer More Capabilities to Their Customers.

MELBOURNE, Fla (November 13, 2012) – MGI Digital Graphic Technology, the manufacturer of multi-substrate digital printing and finishing solutions, announces the installation of a Meteor DP8700 XL digital press at Sheridan Books, Inc., one of the nation’s leading book manufacturers.

Sales and local service for Sheridan Books is provided by Mid-State Litho, MGI’s distribution partner for Michigan.

Located in Chelsea, MI, Sheridan Books provides publishers with complete book manufacturing services. Sheridan Books provides sheet-fed and web offset printing, digital inkjet and toner printing, and eBook conversion and distribution product offerings. They service a wide variety of industry segments, including education, University Press, religious, trade, professional/technical, reference/catalog, and independent publishers.

Sheridan Books is one of five Sheridan Group (based in Hunt Valley, MD) companies providing print, publishing services, and technology solutions to the publishing industry.

As the demand for shorter runs of books continued to increase, Sheridan Books realized that they needed to integrate digital production in order to meet their customers’ requirements. Their solution was a combination of two presses: an HP T-360 inkjet web press and the MGI Meteor DP8700 XL.

The Meteor DP8700 XL is an ideal complement to the HP T-360 with its ability to print dust jackets and covers in a 30” format for short run books, which also supports their hard cover customers.

“The most impressive deciding factors for the MGI Meteor DP8700 XL were the quality and the sheet size,” said Tim Cotter, Vice President of Operations for Sheridan Books. “It was the only sheetfed toner-based digital press that could accommodate our size requirements and the quality was outstanding. We compared output from several toner-based digital presses against live offset jobs, and the Meteor DP8700 XL’s quality was much closer to offset than their competition. These two factors plus a competitive cost per page made the Meteor DP8700 XL a natural choice.”

Another key for Sheridan Books was that the Meteor DP8700 XL’s dry toner technology uses no fuser oil, very important since all covers and dust jackets are laminated. The Meteor DP8700 XL prints are compatible with Sheridan Books’ existing lamination technology, which is designed for offset applications, so no new equipment or films were required.

The installation of the Meteor DP8700 XL helps Sheridan Books more quickly service the short run market, targeting runs as few as 200 very cost effectively for their customers. As publishers’ run lengths continue to decline, this is expected to become a significant revenue source for the company.

“Since the Meteor DP8700 XL’s installation, it has lived up to the expectations that were communicated prior to purchase,” added Cotter. “The press is producing book covers and dust jackets that match offset very closely, which is exactly what we needed. We’re also beginning to integrate variable data on our covers and dust jackets, which will bring our customers more personalization options. All in all, the Meteor DP8700 XL is an excellent toner-based press for the majority of our short run work.”

The most versatile digital press in the global graphics market, the Meteor DP8700 XL offers users the widest range of substrates available (paper, plastics & envelopes), the largest sheet size among production sheetfed digital presses (up to 40″ in production), laser-safe prints via oil-free, dry toner, no click charge and an economical total cost of operation, and a print resolution of 3600 DPI / 270 LPI with 25 different line screens (including stochastic), including the ability to select 2 different line screens within the same job.

For more information, please visit http://www.mgiusa.com.

About the MGI Group

The MGI Group is composed of MGI Digital Graphic Technology, headquartered in Paris (Ivry-sur-Seine), France, and KÖRA-PACKMAT, located in Villingendorf, Germany.
Founded in 1982, MGI Digital Graphic Technology designs, manufactures and markets a full and innovative range of award-winning digital presses and a complete line of versatile finishing solutions.
MGI has a portfolio comprised of several thousand customers in a wide range of sectors, including graphic industry professionals, Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, plastic card manufacturers, silk screeners and photo labs.

A leader in the professional graphic equipment market, MGI is registered on the Euronext Paris Alternext stock exchange (ALMDG). They received the prestigious OSEO “Innovative Company” & “OSEO Excellence” labels respectively in 2009 & 2012 in recognition of their expertise and innovation in the graphics & finishing industry. In addition, MGI has won thirteen international product awards from 2008-2012 related to technological innovation, including the 2010 Siemens Innovation Grand Prix and the 2011 Engineering Prize for their color inkjet technology.
MGI USA, based in Melbourne, Florida, is MGI’s fully owned subsidiary that services the North and South American, Caribbean and Asia Pacific markets.
KÖRA-PACKMAT is an industrial manufacturing company which specializes in the development of offset sub-systems. With four business units that cover feeding systems, paper transport systems, film wrapping machines & ultrasonic sealing systems, KÖRA-PACKMAT has a worldwide presence that is represented through a network of distributors and a subsidiary based in Singapore.

Mid-State Litho, Inc.
5459 Fenton Rd.
Flint, MI 48507 USA
sales@midstatelitho.net
810.238.7370

Media Contact:
Giselle de la Moriniere
Marketing & Communications Manager
MGI USA, Inc.
g.delamoriniere@mgiusa.com
+1 321 751 6755