David J. Nims | Phone: 425-397-9814 | Fax: 425-397-0489 | nimsd@aol.com |
In the fall of 1994, as I was in the middle of my work on Vertical Graphics, I received a call from Gershon Miller, who I knew well when he was a Senior Engineer at Optrotech in Israel. He had also been terminated by Orbot. Gershon had started a new company called Idanit, and was developing the Idanit-162Ad, a very large format (5 x 8 foot) digital ink-jet press targeted at the outdoor advertising market. Gershon wanted to know if I might be available to help with market research and the early sales effort in the U.S.
I was quite busy with Vertical Graphics, but was interested in having some cash coming in, as Vertical Graphics was consuming cash in large quantities. So I agreed to help him on a part time basis. I made a few trips, talking with printers of fleet graphics, banner printers, and others, and provided feedback to Gershon. As the Idanit-162Ad development neared completion, Gershon hired Motti Attia, another Israeli, as his V.P. Sales. I then started working with Motti.
The kick-off for the Idanit-162Ad was planned for Drupa '95 in May of that year, the largest graphic arts trade show in the world, held every 4 years in Dusseldorf, Germany. Motti asked if I would attend the tradeshow, to deal with the North American attendees. By this time, the Vertical Graphics products were in beta test, and I had more time available. So I agreed to attend. As usual, the development of the Idanit-162Ad took much longer than planned, so Idanit only had a mock-up at the show. Nevertheless, the product concept and published specifications generated much interest.
Idanit finally delivered the first Idanit-162Ad in October '95, to a beta test site in Belgium. The product was still very green, and its performance and reliability was marginal. However, as the months went by, it started to be used for print production. In early 1996, Motti asked me if I would be available full-time to help launch their efforts in the North American market. As the fate of Vertical Graphics was becoming clear by that time, I agreed. We negotiated terms under which I would help them locate and book orders for beta test sites in the U.S., operating as a full-time consultant.
In May of 1996, we showed the Idanit-162Ad operational for the first time at a tradeshow in Indianapolis. Although the machine wasn't working well, the interest it generated led to the first orders in North America. Motti Attia then moved to the States, to set up their North American office for sales and support. I had not indicated an interest in joining Idanit, preferring to remain in Seattle, and support them on a consulting basis. In this capacity, I sold the first 5 Idanit systems in North America. Three of these were sold to screen printers for use for fleet and general graphics applications. The other two were sold to an offset printer and a photolab.
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For several years, I served in many roles. When Idanit was positioning the company for acquisition, they requested that I join the company, so that all key people would be actual employees. I did this, and when the company was acquired by Scitex, I was an employee of Scitex for a short time. When CREO acquired Scitex, the wide-format printing division was not part of the acquisition, and was spun off as a separate business entity. By this time I had more-or-less concluded that the company didn't have the engineering talent to resolve the many product performance issues that were hampering further success. I had booked the first order for the new GrandJet product. Because of lack of support and diligent attention to the performance issues associated with this beta-test site, the customer finally decided to return it. I left the company, on amicable terms, but continued to support them on a consulting basis, preparing in-depth product business plans, and carrying out several market studies.