Irish Printer

FEBRUARY 2015 || THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY || WWW.IRISHPRINTER.IE

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NEWS COVER WIDE EXHIBITION http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/520436229.jpg?v=2&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=zSGCmt5AdaxIorEabSbXaviOvlQI5eJwL2qsxLHTCRGL5YO9c7QuQTSTORY FORMAT PREVIEW 7AnMKMuoJ0 Agfa Investment Expands Production at Horizon

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Freeney’s Graphics MD on Retaining Print’s Craft Skills Base

Digital Textile and Wallpaper Solutions

Print & Substrate Innovation at Sign & Digital

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Contents | IRISH PRINTER

NEWS » 4 A round up of some of the latest news from the Irish print industry.

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COVER STORY » 12 The Artful Printer - A recently published book celebrates the creative and colourful ‘painted buses’ produced by Dublin print company Freeney’s Graphics. Managing Director Tom Freeney talks to Maev Martin about this unique tradition and the importance of retaining print’s craft skills base.

WIDE FORMAT » 16 • Digital Textile and Wallpaper Solutions • QR Code & Finishing Tools for Signage Software • The Power of Promotional Print • Mimaki Wins Best of 2014 Award at Viscom

WHAT’S NEW IN PRINT » 18 • Agfa Launches Automatic Cutting Plotter • Integrated Pouch Printing Solution • Chemistry-Free Direct-On-Press Plate • New Folding Concept from Friedheim • First Installation for Automatic Flexo Plates • Major New Updates for Fujifilm Software

PACKAGING » 22 • UV and EB Curing Technologies – Are They Completely Safe for use on Food Packaging Print? RadTech Europe’s Food Packaging Seminar in Stuttgart debated the proper use of radiation curing in food-safe printing in order to enable this technology to achieve its maximum potential.

• Xeikon Unveils Folding Carton Suite at Emballage 2014 • MGI Wins Packaging Innovation Award

EXHIBITION PREVIEW » 26 Print & Substrate Innovation at Sign & Digital - From smaller devices for poster and POS printing, to large industrial presses that cater for an array of indoor and outdoor display opportunities, Sign & Digital 2015 (March 24th – 26th, NEC, Birmingham) is still the industry’s one-stop-shop for all thing wide, and super wide, format.

PROFILE » 32 The Print Show - organisers of this new industry event are bullishly confident after hitting their first target for stand sales two weeks ahead of schedule.

MIS UPDATE » 30 Powerful New Package for Carton Manufacturers - A new ‘Production Planning’ system gives real time feedback directly from the shop floor, providing crucial information and control for the modern packaging environment.

MARKETING » 31 Global Rebrand for Neopost - The global leader in mailing solutions and a major player in digital communications and shipping services launched a global rebrand on February 2nd.

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IRISH PRINTER | Editor’s Letter

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nkjet production printing technology is predicted to be a very disruptive force in the graphic arts industry over the next decade. Industry forecasts show that total annual inkjet impressions will account for close to one-third of all digital printing volume worldwide by 2016.

I recently received the winter edition of the excellent magazine produced by Fujifilm, which highlights the features and business opportunities presented by the new Jet Press 720S. The cover plug is an eye catching summary, with those all important numbers higlighted, that really drives home the benefits of inkjet printing and shows the extent to which the dynamics of print are changing.

It reads: “In an 8 hour shift the Jet Press 720S printed 11 jobs involving 9,567 B2 sheets and 18,117 printed sides. To print the same jobs offset would have required 488 plates, 122 make readies and wasted 12,200 sheets”.

Apart from extolling the virtues of its own press, the corporate magazine includes an article on a British Printing Industry Federation online survey, commissioned by Neopost last year (see Irish Printer – October 2014 issue). The article highlights the impact that multi-channel marketing is having on print runs but also indicates the positive impact that its growth is having on emerging digital technologies, including inkjet. The survey reveals that non wide format inkjet systems is one of the notable growth areas - from five per cent in the last three years to 14% in the next three years.

Fujifilm attributes the growth to the evolution of inkjet deposition technologies over the past 10 years - single pass printheads able to deposit ink at the speeds and quality levels required by the discerning consumers of commercial print have now become a commercial reality. “It is these printheads, combined with sophisticated control systems, ink and paper handling technologies, that are now set to ignite a revolution in the way that commercial print is produced.”

The manufacturer also highlights how these technological developments have occurred in tandem with a major shift

in the print industry from volumebased printing, dominated by long run lengths and low prices, to valuebased printing, “where high quality, short runs and excellent customer service are the norm.” Inkjet printing, they argue, is the best-fit technology to meet the continuously evolving demands of print buyers.

However, if Fujifilm’s claims seem a bit subjective, then a new market report from Smithers Pira provides an objective view on the future of the inkjet print market. ‘The Future of UV Inkjet Printing to 2018’ is forecasting that the UV inkjet printed products market will grow by 18.3% and reach $15.9bn by 2018. The Smithers Pira report also reveals that our next door neighbour, the UK, is the biggest country market for UV inkjet printed output in Europe, ahead of Germany and France.

According to Smithers Pira, stable inks are performing well in the print heads and providing excellent final print properties. Pigmented inks offer good lightfastness, and durable films can be directly printed, eliminating some finishing processes, such as lamination or coating, that may be necessary with solvent-based ink systems. Inks can be formulated to provide excellent adhesion and flexibility on a wide range of substrates, with good resistance to many chemicals, water and solvents, making them good for durable applications.

In the new world of printing that is undoubtedly emerging, will inkjet technology succeed in ousting offset printing from its still dominant perch in the commercial print world? What do Irish Printer readers think? Why don’t you email me at the address below and we can publish your views on the likely future impact of this technology on the Irish print market.

Maev Martin, Editor Email: maeve.martin@ashvillemediagroup.com Tel: (01) 432 2271

THE TEAM Editor: Maev Martin Editorial Manager: Mary Connaughton

Printed by: Walsh Colour Print Cover Image: courtesy of Freeney’s Graphics

Art Director: Jane Matthews Design & Layout: Antoinette Sinclair Advertising Designers: Colm McDermott Stock Photography & Illustrations: Thinkstock

Contact: Irish Printer, Ashville Media Group, Old Stone Building, Blackhall Green, Dublin 7

Production Manager: Mary Connaughton Production: Nicole Ennis

Tel: (01) 432 2200 Web: www.irishprinter.ie

All rights reserved. Every care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this magazine is accurate. The publishers cannot, however, accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. © Ashville Media Group 2014. All discounts, promotions and competitions contained in this magazine are run independently of Irish Printer. The promoter/advertiser is responsible for honouring the prize. ISSN 0790-2026

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IRISH PRINTER | News

AGFA INVESTMENT EXPANDS HORIZON’S

WIDE FORMAT PRODUCTION

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orizon Digital Print has increased its flexible wideformat production capabilities by investing in Agfa’s new three metre wide Anapurna M3200i roll-to-roll UV printer.

Ever since Horizon opened for business the company’s policy has been to invest in the latest technology to improve quality and efficiency.

Virtually every year Horizon makes a significant investment, and 2014 was no different. Directors of the company travelled to FESPA Digital in Munich where they looked at a wide range of printers. “We know Agfa Graphics very well, with over 30% of our production equipment being manufactured by them,” explains Ken Kavanagh, Joint Managing Director at Horizon Digital Print. “They, like us, understand colour as both our companies have grown from repro backgrounds. Once we saw the Anapurna M3200i RTR we knew we could find the extra business to fill it and in less than a month of being installed it is constantly in operation.

With over 80 staff working around the clock for some of the biggest brand names in Ireland, which include major supermarkets, events organisers and retail outlets, we plan to continue expanding and this latest

(L-R): Peter Doyle, Agfa Graphics, and Kenneth Kavanagh, Digital Manager, Horizon Digital Print with the new Anapurna.

addition will help us to do that.”

The new Anapurna is situated in the flexible media division, which is managed by Kenneth Kavanagh. “The quality of the M3200i is fantastic,” he says. “The performance of the Anapurna is also a major advantage especially when you take into account the dual roll system which is very easy to set up and allows us to print two 1.5 metre rolls side by side.”

The three metre wide Anapurna M3200i RTR is a dedicated industrial roll-to-roll printer built for 24/7 workloads. It incorporates the latest high-resolution print heads and has a range of output speeds, reaching

up to 123 square metres per hour. A popular feature is the capacity to print on dual rolls simultaneously as well as on mesh without a liner.

Horizon Digital Print’s relationship with Agfa goes back to 1986 when Horizon was formed to provide a repro service for litho and screen printers. Over the years, as digital inkjet technology evolved, Horizon has transformed into a leading wide-format display company and now offers a complete service.

With its own in-house structural engineers carrying out site surveys, it also provides in-house design and origination, digital printing, delivery and installation.

OBITUARY

On January 5th, Friedheim International announced the passing of former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Morris, after a long illness. Peter Morris was diagnosed with cancer in October 2013 and then underwent a serious operation for an unrelated condition in June 2014. He officially retired from the company in September 2014. Paying tribute, Mark Bristow, Friedheim’s Managing Director, said that “the contribution of Peter Morris to the company and to the printing and graphics arts industries as a whole for the past 40 years has been immense. His passion and enthusiasm for life in general and for all things related to print was an example to everyone. We have all lost a dear friend and colleague but he leaves behind a wealth of happy memories.”

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News | IRISH PRINTER

NEW MD FOR IBS

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BS, A Xerox Company has appointed Alan Brown as Managing Director.

He will report to Diego Hervas, President of Xerox’s European Channels Group.

“IBS has a strong brand and a tremendous team of employees,” says Alan Brown. “I look forward to working with them to further strengthen the value we bring to customers throughout the island of Ireland.” IBS has in excess of 18,000 clients across corporate, SME and public sector organisations.

“Alan brings a wealth of leadership and management experience to this role,” says Diego Hervas, President,

European Channels Group, Xerox Europe. “I am sure that under his leadership IBS will go from strength to strength.”

Prior to joining IBS, A Xerox Company, Alan Brown held a number of senior positions in the telecommunications industry, most recently as Deputy CEO and Business Director, Telefónica O2 Ireland. He replaces Jerry Carey who has retired. Jerry founded IBS in 1972 and under his leadership it became the largest independent reseller of digital imaging and printing solutions in Ireland. In 2010, IBS was acquired by Xerox and subsequently merged with the majority of Xerox (Ireland) Ltd to create IBS, A Xerox Company.

DATAPAC BECOMES IRELAND’S FIRST HP PLATINUM PARTNER

Pictured at the announcement are (l-r): Bernie Byrne, Partner Manager, Datapac, Damian Cusick, UK and Ireland Channel Sales Director, HP, and Patrick Kickham, Director, Datapac.

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atapac announced on January 13th that it has become a HP Platinum Partner for Printing and Computing in Ireland. This is the highest level of accreditation that HP can confer on a partner, with Datapac being the first to gain this elevated status in Ireland.

HP launched the new Platinum level to create an elite group of partners who represent the highest standards and certifications for HP’s solutions.

“Platinum status gives customers confidence that they are working with a partner that truly understands the full HP product suite and has the capabilities required to quote, deliver and implement to the highest possible standards,” says Damian Cusick, UK and Ireland Channel Sales Director, HP. “Platinum status requires exceptional effort across a business, with many months of training and exams to be completed. HP has had a

long and successful partnership with Datapac since we started working together in Ireland in the eighties.

Our relationship has continued to grow and evolve throughout this time as they consistently exceed our expectations in terms of revenue growth, technical expertise and market knowledge. We place huge significance on our partner programme and we are delighted that Datapac is the first company in Ireland to achieve this elevated status. We’re very excited about the opportunities and pipeline ahead as HP and Datapac continue to innovate and grow together in the Irish market.”

Datapac Director Patrick Kickham says the company is “absolutely thrilled” to be the first and only partner in Ireland to achieve the highest level of accreditation with HP. “It means that Datapac can provide its customers with insights, solutions and ongoing support for HP printing and computing technologies that is unmatched on the island of Ireland,” he says. “This is an excellent achievement for the company and also for our team which displayed such commitment and knowledge when passing all of the stringent exams with flying colours.”

Datapac’s new Platinum Partnership with HP follows quickly on the announcement that it was awarded HP’s 2014 Print Partner of the Year for UK and Ireland.

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IRISH PRINTER | News

Clondalkin Group Awarded H&S Accreditation

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londalkin Group’s Specialist Packaging Division (SPD) has been awarded the internationally recognised occupational health and safety accreditation OHSAS 18001.

The international producer of high value-added packaging solutions has achieved the accreditation at its two UK-based sites - Clondalkin Consumer Great Harwood and Clondalkin Pharma & Healthcare Northampton.

The sites are two of Europe’s leading manufacturers of printed folding

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cartons for the fast moving consumer goods and pharmaceutical markets.

The health and safety management system provides a framework for identifying and managing health and safety risks and ensures all legal requirements relating to health and safety are met, therefore reducing the potential for accidents and improving overall performance. OHSAS 18001 will also provide a platform to achieve the new occupational health and safety standard, ISO 45001, which is expected in 2016. “We are

delighted to achieve this latest certification which demonstrates our commitment to the health and safety of our workforce and overall improvement of our quality systems,” says Kath Cotterill, SPD Europe Quality Manager. “It means that we have a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and managing health and safety risks. Customers can be assured of our ability to provide a reliable service, free of the downtime and costs associated with work-related accidents and incidents.”

Clondalkin comprises Clondalkin Specialist Packaging and Clondalkin Flexible Packaging. The Specialist Packaging Division consists of Clondalkin Pharma & Healthcare and Clondalkin Consumer. The division represents 50% of overall Group sales, and includes folding cartons, labels, leaflets, literature and inserts/outserts businesses, along with paper packaging and printing components. The Specialist Packaging Division operates from 24 manufacturing sites in the UK, Netherlands, Spain, Poland, the US, Puerto Rico and Ireland, and across an extensive range of markets, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries and confectionery.

– The Next Frontier?

he Self-Assembly Lab at US private research university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 3D print specialist Stratasys, and 3D design software company Autodesk have joined forces to establish a new 4D print process.

Researchers classify 4D printing as self-reconfiguration of self-transformation – printed elements in a strand, sheet or 3D object that transform into another shape through the use of energy. The ‘smart’ materials that are being developed by the team have properties that allow them to transform from one state into their programmed state through the use of water as an activation energy. The research project is being headed up by Skylar Tibbits, who is an architecture facility member at MIT. MIT opted to use the Stratasys Connex 3D printer due to its multiple material capability, which allows one material to act as the geometric programme and the other as the activation energy or the potential energy for it to transform from one state into another. Using two materials seamlessly together allows for the creation of new materials or a system that can adapt on its own. Sportswear and sports equipment that adapts to the user and how they are performing when their body temperature or environment changes around them are just some of the materials and objects that can be created through this process. For example, in the future, 4D printing may be used in warzones or during back-packing excursions. Users may require condensed packaging one day, but the next, a larger bag which includes programmed materials could enable the condensed packaging to respond to external stimulus and automatically expand the bag.

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News | IRISH PRINTER

CUBE PRINTING INSTALLS XEROX VERSANT MODEL

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imerick-based Cube Printing recently invested in a Versant 2100 full colour digital press supplied by IBS, a Xerox company.

The new model was installed in midDecember 2014.

“The Cube Printing installation is one of the first three installations of this press in Ireland,” says Pat Boland, Production Sales with IBS, a Xerox Company. “We installed the first Versant in Ireland at Killarney Printing Works in November, there is a model in Northern Ireland, and we recently installed the 2100 in Snap Printing on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin.”

The Versant 2100 duplex colour printer can handle sheet sizes up to 330mm x 488mm and stock weights up to 350g/m2. It has an output speed of up to 100 prints per minute and produces an average volume of 75,000 to 250,000 per month. The Versant 2100 is capable of high speed feeding, stacking and finishing, including saddle stitching, and prints at a resolution of 2400 x 2400dpi.

It can print on a variety of media types, including coated and uncoated papers, bright papers, labels, business cards, brochures, window decals, durable/synthetic papers, greeting cards, tabs, embossed, polyesters and custom solutions. It also supports mixed stock jobs.

“It is geared towards short run, high quality colour work so it supports

The new Xerox Versant 2100 press recently installed in Cube Printing Ltd in Limerick.

our lithographic output,” says Cube Printing’s Managing Director Brendan Ring. “The technology in the press is such that it doesn’t require any fuser oil in the transfer of the image so the look and feel is very similar to litho and that is what makes it very attractive to us. We can print on heavier stocks and it is much faster in terms of output than our other Xerox models. The new press replaces our Xerox 5000 and 5252 digital colour presses because the Versant can produce the equivalent of what both of these presses were printing. I estimate that we are enjoying a 20% to 25% improvement in productivity as a result of the new installation.

In addition, with the Versant, the colour calibration is part of the tests and checks that you do within the press features rather than having to stop the press to do a special run.

Also, it has a lot of prepress function features. For example, the operators can set up crop marks and bleeds and some pagination from the terminal itself rather than being fed them from our design department.”

Cube Printing began trading in 1996 and has been a Xerox house since 1997 when the company moved into digital print with the installation of a Xerox DC 12 model.

They also operate a black and white Xerox Nuvera press.

EXQUISITE EDITIONS T

he National Print Museum at Beggars Bush Barracks on Haddington Road in Dublin will host an international exhibition of finely printed books in March and April.

For the first time in Ireland, this exhibition brings together 25 outstanding books from the world’s leading contemporary fine press printers. All the books are letterpress printed in limited editions and many have been illustrated through a variety of means, including wood engraving, woodcut, linoleum and other fine art processes. Exhibiting alongside the work of several Irish presses will be books from the UK, the US, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands. The exhibition has been curated by Jamie Murphy of The Salvage Press and admission is free. This one is for the bibliophiles…

Image of ‘At Sixes and Sevens’

by Stoney Road Press.

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IRISH PRINTER | News

NEW DIRECTORS AT NEOPOST IRELAND

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eopost Ireland started 2015 with the announcement of two new directors in its sales and marketing divisions.

Conor Power is the new Sales Director. He will be responsible for managing the field and telesales channels for the organisation. Conor started his print career at a young age in the family business, Skane Print. He completed his print apprenticeship at DIT Bolton Street while working at the Meath Chronicle. Conor then moved to a Sales Manager role with Andrews Graphics Systems before securing his role with Print & Finishing Equipment Ltd (PFE). Following the acquisition of PFE by Neopost, Conor was appointed as Sales Manager for the graphics division. He recently completed an Executive MBA in Dublin Business School.

Jason O’Connor has been appointed as Marketing Director

Jason O’Connor

with responsibility for Neopost’s marketing, branding and CRM strategies in Ireland. He joins the company with over 15 years of marketing experience in the IT and professional services sectors. He previously worked for the professional

Conor Power

body Accounting Technicians Ireland and has held senior marketing roles with a number of leading software companies, including CA Technologies, TerraNua, Fineos, BearingPoint and Compufast.

DIGITAL PRINTING SEMINAR 2015

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aterford-based Codico Distributors Ltd and Domino are running a seminar on digital printing on Thursday, April 15th in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel in Dublin. The event will also be the official product launch of Domino’s new monochrome high speed continuous printing press in Ireland. The new press and name will be unveiled at the Hunkeler Innovation Days 2015 in Switzerland this month.

Other Domino digital printing products, including the K600i rewinder, will also be showcased at the April 16th seminar, which will be addressed by a range of speakers from Domino. Topics that will be covered in the presentations include monochrome applications and the K600i, colour applications and the N610i, the Irish launch of the Domino K630i, and digital cold foiling, as well as a general talk on the future of digital printing.

“There are approximately 30 medium to large scale digital printing companies in Ireland and the central message that Codico and Domino has for these companies is that we offer diverse digital printing capabilities as well as traditional ink jet technology,” says Darragh Reynolds, Marketing Executive, Codico Distributors. “The printing industry likes to keep up to date with technology and future trends. We are providing an attractive agenda which will encourage customers and prospective customers to attend and hear about the latest developments in digital printing and about how inkjet can be used to help them to run a profitable business.”

Places are limited to 60. For more information, contact Darragh Reynolds. Email: darragh.reynolds@codicodistributors.com or call (051) 379933.

HYBRID EXPANSION FUELS TECHNICAL RECRUITMENT DRIVE

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xclusive UK and Irish Mimaki distributor, Hybrid Services is creating a number of new technical job opportunities as it continues to expand its business operations.

With a head office, warehouse and showroom located in Crewe, Cheshire, Hybrid covers the whole of the UK and the Republic of Ireland with a team of field engineers delivering customer support services, new

machine installations and end user training. The company is currently looking for technically competent and detail-oriented field service engineers to join its team. In addition, a number of other new positions have been created at the company’s head office in Crewe. These include vacancies for internal technical support engineers.

Experienced support technicians are needed to join the internal TechServices team, handling first line

technical service, delivering telephone and e-mail support to customers, and working alongside the field engineers.

Hybrid is also investing in the future with a number of vacancies for trainee engineers. With full training provided and the availability of day release study, Hybrid says that the trainee wide format printer engineer positions are ideally suited to people educated to at least A-Level standard or equivalent.

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DISCOVER TRUE WHITENESS! ON UPM FINESSE PAPERS

UPM Finesse papers offer high whiteness and brightness, opacity 90–100% and different finishing from gloss to matt.

Its superior surface provides the best image and text reproduction, ensuring you can make a sharp and lasting impression.

UPM Finesse woodfree coated papers are available in a wide range of sheets and reels. Their runnability and overall performance is proven to be excellent. Close co-operation with technical service and product development ensures that the paper is constantly being developed to meet different printing and market requirements. UPM Finesse is an EU Ecolabel awarded paper.

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www.upm.com

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IRISH PRINTER | News

CELEBRATING PRECIOUS TREASURE FROM AN INDUSTRY STALWART

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anuary must be the print industry month for remembering times past. Freeney’s Graphics publishes a book which is an illustrated history of Irish society and culture before the boom, while the Bolger family launches a book by the late Jim Bolger that includes a lament for the demise of traditional print crafts.

‘Precious Treasure – The Thoughts and Musings of Jim Bolger’ features plays, sketches, poems and prose written by well-known stereotyper Jim Bolger. The book was lovingly compiled by his wife Peggy and launched at a family event in the Red Cow Hotel on January 10th to mark his seventh anniversary. The poem ‘Lament for a Martyred Friend’, about the demise of the old printing trade and the emergence of new technologies, features on Page 58 of the book.

Lament for a Martyred Friend It’s difficult to comprehend...

We’ve lost our dearest life-long friend, After many years of technical sniping, They have finally killed poor Stereo Typing.

Tonight, we mourn for he who passes, And drown our sorrow in our glasses.

We shall miss him, that we know, Our faithful colleague... Stereo.

Did he not support us all?

Always at our beck and call, Warm and friendly in his mission, Steadfast in his repetition.

A man of metal, big and bold, Cast in the finest traditional mould.

Sometimes sandy, sometimes chilly...

But never, never willy-nilly!

For more than a hundred years he served, Any praise we give him is well deserved.

Even when his life was cracking, They found it hard to send him packing.

Tough and strong, he was well bred, With nerves of antimony, tin and lead.

At trouble he would laugh and chuckle, Even when his legs did buckle.

ABOVE: Jim’s family and widow, from left, Tony, Gerry, Mary, Peggy, Peter and Jim, RIGHT: Precious Treasure, The Thoughts and Musings of Jim Bolger

Easy go, or panic session, He always made a good impression.

From molten heat to solid state, His lifes-blood flowed from pot to plate.

But now alas, it flows no more...

They’ve killed him... poor unfortunate whore.

Fond memories of him will never cease, Good-bye ... and may you rest in peace!

Jim Bolger, Briody’s Tavern, March 31st, 1988

In 1933 as a 14-year-old boy Jim Bolger followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the printing trade as a stereotyper’s apprentice. A lifetime of work as a stereotyper ensued, working for the Irish Press group, Irish Independent Newspapers and, towards the end of his career, Cityview Press. An interest in the welfare of his fellow workers led him to take an active part in trade union work. He became chairman of the Irish Stereotypers Union and remained in that position for 27 years as a result of his annual re-election to the post.

During these years he also developed his interest in

photography – he photographed over 500 weddings – and that interest also drove him to become a pioneer of 3D photography in Ireland. When the Irish Stereotypers Union merged with two other unions to form the Irish Print Union, he was afforded the honour of becoming the first chairman of the IPU, even though it was the smallest of the three unions. Following his retirement from the industry he became a founding member and officer of the first executive of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, a group with an accredited membership of 95,000 people.

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News | IRISH PRINTER

SPRINT PRINT SPEEDS UP LAMINATION WITH NEOPOST

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igital print company Sprint Print continued its policy of regularly increasing the levels of automation at its operation in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, when it installed a Komfi Amiga 36 laminating machine supplied by Neopost Ireland in December.

“We had an entry-level laminating machine that had to be fed by hand and as the business developed it got to the stage where we had outgrown it,” says Sprint Print Managing Director Gerry Kelly. “We were spending up to six hours a day laminating covers with someone standing over the machine. This new machine runs itself and what was taking six hours to laminate we now laminate in two hours so the time saving is terrific. In addition, it has added to the quality of our output because the adhesion of the laminate to the digitally printed cover is a lot better so we are experiencing a great improvement in the overall look and quality of the finished book. Our policy is to automate the factory as best we can.

The idea is to grow sales without increasing the labour force so the laminator fits into that plan nicely.

The level of automation that we now have means that we can increase our business by another 50% without increasing the labour force.”

Gerry says that the company’s digital book printing business has enjoyed steady growth year-on-year.

“We began trading in September 2012 and we are now starting to see the fruits of our labour,” he says. “We have become the leading digital printer of choice for the Irish publishing sector. And we have diversified and will continue to diversify our business. We don’t want to focus exclusively on book work because it is seasonal so we are building our digital colour base and completing a lot of work with design agencies, including brochures and annual reports. We intend to grow that business over the coming year.”

The Komfi Amiga 36 is ideal for processing small orders of digitally printed output up to B3 sheet format.

Two feeding variants are available – bottom suction feeder or top feeder using Komfi feeding head - as well as a double-sided variant on request. It can laminate 2,800 A4 sheets per hour (basic variant) and 4,300 A4 sheets per hour (top feeder). The Amiga 36 system of guiding plates strengthens thin paper before lamination and helps prevent wrinkling. A paper misfeed sensor protects against film sticking to the pressure cylinder. The laminator also features an adjustable decurling bar for straightening sheets after lamination and an optional decurling roll (instead of decurling bar) to prevent scratches on sensitive duplex printed digital output.

DWS TO DISTRIBUTE DIRECT TO GARMENT DIGITAL PRINTER

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WS Supplies Ltd, which was recently appointed by Brother as the exclusive distributor in Ireland for the GT-3 series direct to garment digital printer, is encouraging print companies to expand their operations to include single pass printing on white and dark garments with the modular garment and T-shirt printer. Featuring CMYK and four white print heads, the GT-3 series is ideal for design checks and short print runs. It features Brother industrial print heads, allowing for up to 1200dpi printing for museum quality results. It is convenient up to a 16 x 18 print area for shirt backs, towels or other promotional items. Printers can enjoy faster data download speeds with Ethernet/LAN connectivity or print directly from their USB flash drive (flash drive not included). The GT-3 series also features a built-in user interface (no RIP required) and a new front-loading ink cartridge system provides a more compact footprint. Well-known point of sale equipment supplier DWS Supplies Ltd has been in operation since 2001.

Based in Tallaght, Dublin 24, the family-run business specialises in POS accessories, double sided tapes, magnetic tape, hook and loop fasteners, wobbler arms, cardboard struts, glue dots, and reflectives.

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Cover Story | IRISH PRINTER

THE ARTFUL

PRINTER A RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK CELEBRATES THE CREATIVE AND COLOURFUL ‘PAINTED BUSES’ PRODUCED BY DUBLIN PRINT COMPANY FREENEY’S GRAPHICS. MANAGING DIRECTOR TOM FREENEY TALKS TO MAEV MARTIN ABOUT THIS UNIQUE TRADITION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RETAINING PRINT’S CRAFT SKILLS BASE. WHILE THE COMPANY IS RENOWNED THROUGHOUT the industry for its signwriting tradition, the modern incarnation of Freeney’s Graphics offers a wide range of print solutions, from vehicle wraps, graphics and painting, to meshes and banners, signage and display solutions, as well as in-store materials.

In fact, Freeney’s Graphics supply and install signage for every conceivable display opportunity, from billboards, magnetic, information and health and safety signs, to siteboards, shop signage, exhibition displays, window graphics, lightboxes, posters, murals, floor graphics, building wraps, printed decals, to totem, hoarding and suspended signs, as well as corporate, retail and illuminated signs.

Freeney’s Graphics flags and banners are supplied finished, ready to go with eyelets and ropes to suit individual requirements. “The sky is the limit for digitally printed PVC and

www.theartofpaintingbuses.com

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Cover Story | IRISH PRINTER

mesh banners,” he says. “Backlit PVC creates effective day-time advertising and maximum night-time impact through the use of back illumination.

Building wraps are achievable through the use of digitally printed wind tolerant PVC mesh, while banners are a cost effective, quick solution for display requirements.”

Freeney’s Graphics’ purpose-built premises in Tallaght in Dublin houses its low bake oven, which can accommodate vehicles up to 20 metres long in a dust-free environment. “When it comes to vehicle wrapping, we can create the initial design or we can work from a client’s draft before printing the vehicle wrap,” says Tom. “Our highly skilled fitters then fit the wrap in-house, thereby offering customers a convenient one stop, cost effective service for vehicle wraps.

Our comprehensive vehicle graphic service caters for everything from the smallest vehicle to the largest ones imaginable.”

PAINTING BUSES

‘The Art of Painting Buses’ is a lavish, beautifully designed and printed publication which celebrates 25 years of Freeney’s painted buses. The 256page hardback coffee table book is written by Tom Freeney and has been described by broadcaster Joe Duffy on his Liveline programme on RTE as “a treasure” and “a social history”.

Michael Dryhurst of Buses magazine described it as ‘a stunner...once in a while a book comes along...and this is it!’ The book, which retails for €35 plus post and packaging, is on sale from Amazon or direct from www. theartofpaintingbuses.com ‘The Art of Painting Buses’ isn’t just a book full of striking images but a social and cultural history of Dublin, and indeed Ireland, before the country was changed irrevocably by the Celtic Tiger boom. Anyone over 40 years of age is likely to become a bit nostalgic as they leaf through the pages of bus advertisements and promotional campaigns. Tom recalls being asked to paint one bus in 1987 to celebrate Dublin’s Millennium. “We were contacted by a good client, Bell Advertising who were working on a project for Dublin Bus to celebrate the Millennium.

We were invited into Dublin Bus in Donnybrook to paint the artwork on

the bus. It was an exciting time and an unusual experience to be working with the eyes of so many upon us.

The finished painted Millennium Bus was met with universal praise and CIE’s outdoor advertising department seized the opportunity to promote all over bus adverts by employing Freeney’s to carry out the work. In fact, in the late 1980s and 1990s the vast majority of advertising buses were hand painted by Freeney’s in the Donnybrook garage.”

‘The Art of Painting Buses’ features high quality, retouched images of many of the painted buses produced

by Freeney’s. However, apart from the stunning imagery, the publication is a pictorial record of the skill and craft involved in hand painting. From 1987 to 1996, all buses were hand painted – there was no spray painting, no decals, no digital printing, no self-adhesive vinyl. The painted adverts were recorded in production by five photographers. “I wanted to record the incredible artistry that went into creating many advertising buses, skills that will never again be replicated,” he says. “When people see the images in this book the most common initial reaction is that the buses featured could not have been hand painted - but they were. People can’t believe that this incredible detail and photorealism was completed by hand. But that doesn’t surprise me because, even when hand painting was standard practice, no one understood the traditional skills and artistry that went into producing a full colour advertising bus.”

More than 27 years later, Freeney’s are still painting and branding buses

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IRISH PRINTER | Cover Story

says. “We operate two HP industrial latex printing presses - the LX600 and LX800 - both supplied by Reprocentre Group, a super wide format Agfa printer, large format solvent and mild solvent machines from HP and Roland, pigmented ink solutions from HP, and two small format Gerber thermal printers supplied by Spectrum Digital.”

NURTURING CRAFT & CREATIVITY

Tom Freeney Snr. 1909-1960 ‘More Bread’ - hand painted signage - national campaign 1955.

but times have changed. Modern spray booth technology allows them to paint over 200 buses every year, as well as printing and wrapping advertising buses.

SIXTH GENERATION SIGN WRITER Long before computerised digital printing presses and automated spray booth technology generations of Freeney’s signwriters gained a reputation for quality hand painted signs. Since the early 1900s, generations of Freeney’s signwriters have passed on their skills from father to son, ensuring that the proud tradition of quality craftsmanship lived on. While the art of hand

painted signs is all but extinct, the tradition of quality remains and Freeney’s Graphics describes itself as modern day ‘signwriters’.

Tom Freeney is a sixth generation sign writer and Tom’s signwriting father Ned and mother Carmel met while they were both employed by printers, Hobson Morris. Ned and Carmel recently celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary. “As sign writers, Freeney’s always worked with and for printers,” says Tom. “This proud tradition of quality is alive today, although in a marketplace that differs greatly from the one that existed a century ago. The sign and graphics business has been changed and revolutionised through the relatively recent introduction of digital technology and Freeney’s have embraced these changes.”

LARGE FORMAT, MASSIVE IMPACT

Guinness Gill’s Pub, Russell Street, Dublin, 1960

In January 2005 Freeney’s moved into modern, purpose-built premises in Tallaght in Dublin. “We filled the 12,000 square foot facility with the latest equipment to reflect the revolution that was taking place in our industry,” says Tom. “We installed Ireland’s first full size, automated, commercial low bake oven and a spray booth capable of spraying vehicles larger than double deck buses.” The plant is also home to an impressive fleet of eight large format printing presses. “Each of our digital printers has been chosen for its ability to produce a variety of applications to a very high quality standard,” he

Since investing in large format printers in the late 1990s, Freeney’s have continued to offer a discreet trade service to Ireland’s sign makers and printers. “The continued success of Freeney’s Graphics is, in large part, due to the dedication and commitment of 15 enthusiastic staff who continually strive to improve the quality of our painted and printed products,” says Tom. “I believe that an apprenticeship spent hand painting buses has been time well spent.

Although the business has evolved, the same artistic values shape what we do today. I don’t believe that we could achieve what we are achieving today with digital technology if it was not for the apprenticeship served and the values learned painting buses.”

Is he concerned that technological advances are hastening the disappearance of the industry’s traditional craft skills? “There are so many people in our industry now and from all walks of life. Some of my competitors are accountants, upholsterers or sign fitters by trade.

I don’t have ink in my veins but I do have paint in my veins. I grew up with signs - I can recall every milestone of my life by the work we were completing at the time so I can recall how we used to complete the work before computers. Most of my staff can’t. Computers are fantastic but they have limitations! Human skill has to intervene every now and again to correct computer output. For example ‘typesetting’ by computers is limited in its ability and I can spot the software that produced text when I’m stuck in traffic and have nothing better to do than study vehicle graphics. I often correct my team because the computer generated type spacing can be improved. It is the same with colour - the pantone book is very limited in its range. It is often preferable to use paint over ink to achieve the desired effect. I studied

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Mesh banner

at the National College of Art and Design. I paint, mostly portraiture. My father has painted all his life and is now painting full time. My sister is a full time artist. When you have paint in your veins you are driven to create.

The computer is only as good or as creative as the person who controls it.

Computers cannot replace creativity but they produce their best work when they are used to create.”

Tom points out that the demarcation lines between sign companies and silk screen printers and between general and digital printers has blurred in recent years. “Printers of all traditions are being asked to produce roll ups, signs, displays, vehicle graphics, vehicle wraps, and more,” he says.

“The advantage that we have in the current market is the level of care and attention that we offer our customers.

Wallpaper

With generations of experience and the most advanced fleet of digital printing presses, we are well placed to further expand our quality print offering, whether it is small format self-adhesive labelling or super wide

format building wraps. We will be embarking on a recruitment drive this year – we recently recruited an IT professional to work with digital medias – and we will be launching our new Web2Print site shortly.”

FREENEY’S GRAPHICS LTD

B1 Southcity Business Centre, Whitestown Way, Tallaght, Dublin 24

Phone: +353 1 452 0352 | Fax: +353 1 452 0350 | Web: www.freeneys.ie or follow Freeney’s Graphics on Facebook B1 Southcity Business Centre, Whitetown Way, Tallaght, Dublin 24

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IRISH PRINTER | WIde Format

MIMAKI SHOWCASED ITS LATEST TEXTILE PRINTING technology at Heimtextil 2015. The international trade fair for home and contract textiles took place at Messe Frankfurt, Germany, from January 14th to 17th, 2015.

The manufacturer demonstrated a number of solutions dedicated to textile production, ranging from the Mimaki TS500-1800 which is ideal for producing furnishing fabrics as well as sportswear, T-shirts and apparel,

to the Mimaki TX500-1800DS with its ability to print on polyester-based materials, and other fabrics. The JV300-160 dye sublimation printer is suitable for everything from garment marking to fashion, with the JV400160LX delivering high-quality latex print for wallpaper applications with its six-colour printing, including orange and green, for a broader colour gamut.

“Huge technological advancements have brought about a major leap in

the quality of digitally printed textiles and with the ability to produce samples, short run and custom textiles much more cost effectively, the digital proposition is becoming increasingly attractive to designers, retailers and marketers,” says Mike Horsten, General Manager Marketing EMEA at Mimaki Europe. “Many major retailers are using digitally printed textiles to differentiate themselves by producing really eye-catching limited edition pieces.”

MIMAKI WINS BEST OF 2014 AWARD AT VISCOM VISCOM RECENTLY PRESENTED MIMAKI with a ‘Best of 2014 Award’ in the Large Format Printing category for two of its print solutions - the JFX200-2513 and the UJV500-160 LED UV printers. Mimaki received the accolade as it continued its ‘Let’s Create… Together’ showcase at the three-day Viscom Frankfurt show in November. Mimaki’s portfolio also includes the new CJV300 and CJV150 ranges of integrated inkjet printer/ cutters and the new Mimaki JV150 inkjet printer. These were all on show at Viscom Paris 2014 and will shortly be available in the UK and Ireland via Hybrid’s network of authorised resellers.

The Mimaki JFX 200-2513

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WIde Format | IRISH PRINTER

THE POWER OF PROMOTIONAL PRINT

MIMAKI TOOK ITS EUROPEAN-WIDE ‘LET’S CREATE…TOGETHER’ showcase to PSI in Düsseldorf, Germany, from January 7th to 9th.

Mimaki’s JFX200-2513 UV LED flatbed printer was the stand flagship at PSI. It runs at 25 metres per hour and has a maximum print area of 2.5m x 1.3m. Mimaki’s LUS-150 newly formulated CMYK LED curing ink with high speed curing properties is flexible up to 150% and delivers elasticity on a wide variety of media and substrates without the cured ink cracking or fracturing during

handling, cutting or other post-print processing. The JFX200-2513 LED UV printer was equipped with white ink and clear varnish, allowing the creation of multiple effects on 200 to 300 items in one go. The UJF-3042HG LED flatbed printer can print directly onto substrates up to 150mm thick for end uses ranging from coloured pencils to USB sticks. At the show, it was equipped with the Kebab option that uses rotary rollers to enable print to be placed on the entire surface of cylindrical items made from a wide range of materials

and in a variety of sizes. Mimaki’s A2 format UJF-6042 LED UV flatbed printer is ideal for a host of applications, including gifts and novelties, 3D lenticular printing, photo albums and name plates. Also on display was the new CJV150-75 print and cutting solution, Mimaki’s entry-level model, and the CG-60SRIII cutting plotters which feature cutting pressure of 500g, significantly increasing the range of materials that can be processed.

QR CODE & FINISHING TOOLS FOR SIGNAGE SOFTWARE SA INTERNATIONAL (SAI) has introduced a new range of finishing tools, an integrated QR code creator, and new drivers and upgrades for its SAi Flexi signmaking software.

With the new tools for SAi Flexi, sign and large format print providers can reduce the time taken to finish pop-up and hanging banners.

Through SAi Flexi RIP software, printers can add grommet, fold and stitch marks, as well as bleeds to their banner jobs. By handling this operation in the RIP, the design step in the workflow is eliminated, making it much faster and more cost-effective to produce pop-up signs that require bleeds or pole-hanging banners needing fold areas. Even complicated mirror and duplicate bleeds can be handled with ease. By eliminating manual design and measuring, printers can save between five and 15 minutes on each banner, while accuracy is also greatly improved.

The new QR code creator

automatically converts text into a QR code.

Designers can generate codes for weblinks, email addresses, phone numbers and SMS messages without the need to download QR code images. The new QR code creator integrates with Flexi’s auto serialisation tool for printing a sequence of interactive banners.

Through Sai Flexi RIP software, print service providers can add grommet, fold and stitch marks as well as bleeds to their banner jobs.

SAi Flexi offers a new QR Code Creator, which enables fast and easy QR code creation by automatically converting text into a QR code.

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IRISH PRINTER | What’s New in Print?

Agfa Launches Automatic Cutting Plotter AGFA GRAPHICS HAS ADDED AN AUTOMATIC CUTTING PLOTTER to its Anapurna and Jeti wide-format printer portfolio, extending its product offering for sign and display makers. Acorta is an automatic cutting and finishing plotter that responds to the requirements of the cardboard, digital printing and signage industries. It helps sign and display printers to turn a wide variety of printed rigid and flexible sheet media into finished decoration, containers, banners etc. “Delivering POP/POS materials is more than just printing on the right substrate,” says Dominiek Arnout, Vice President for Inkjet at Agfa Graphics. “We are developing an integrated approach in which our customers can add an extra in-house finishing step, all driven from Asanti. Rendering, printing and cutting in one workflow allows them to be more productive, more efficient suppliers with a higher return on investment for their business.” Acorta uses an auto recognition system that automatically localises the printed objects and the position of the reference points on the cutting

table, as well as the substrate’s height, to avoid manual set-up of the job parameters. Acorta features cutting speeds of up to 102 m/min and has 40 vacuum zones that are

automatically activated where and when needed. Acorta, which made its worldwide debut at the SGI 2015 trade show in Dubai (January 11th to 13th), is available now.

INTEGRATED POUCH PRINTING SOLUTION DANISH FLEXO TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER TRESU GROUP has introduced a customised flexo printing solution for integration into a water-soluble detergent pouch filling and converting line.

Developed in collaboration with a large global consumer goods manufacturer with plants at several locations, the integration solution enables household detergent manufacturers to comply with a new European safety directive requiring individual capsules to carry warning messages.

Contained within a space-saving printing module before the pouch-filling stage, the integrated Tresu F10 iCon ink supply system constantly feeds the printing units and maintains optimum viscosity, temperature and pressure. Sealed, pressure-controlled chambered doctor blade systems enable direct, foam-free transfer of ink or coating to the anilox rollers, ensuring a consistently clean printed image. To enable the brand owner to integrate the process, Tresu Solutions optimised the unit to operate at only 10m/s - a relatively low speed necessitated by the subsequent pouch filling process. To further reduce manual intervention, a register module after the printing stations maintains precise positioning of fine text automatically, on the fly. Furthermore, a control system stores and, in the case of repeat jobs, instantly recalls job recipes so no re-entry of ink and calibration data is needed. Accommodating multiples of pouches in the cross direction, the unit prints in-line on the substrate, ensuring integrity of the printed message through the packing or logistics process.

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What’s New in Print? | IRISH PRINTER

CHEMISTRY-FREE DIRECT-ON-PRESS PLATE AGFA GRAPHICS ANNOUNCED ON DECEMBER 1ST the worldwide availability of its new chemistry-free direct-on-press Azura TE plate.

With a direct-on-press workflow, time to press is considerably shorter and the waste is drastically reduced. As the Azura TE plates are cleaned out on-press, the system requires no processor, no chemistry and no water.

Mounted on the press, Azura TE behaves very similarly to a traditionally processed or chemistry-free plate, limiting the variables in press room operations. The plates clean out rapidly and ink acceptance is immediate, both resulting in sellable sheets after only a few copies. “In fact a ‘direct-on-press’ plate is ready for use after exposing on the platesetter”, says Guy Desmet, Head of Prepress Marketing, Agfa Graphics. “Azura TE shows an outstanding image contrast thanks to our patented Thermochromic Dye technology. That makes visual inspection easy and means that dot measurements or plate detection can be done with standard devices. In addition, Azura TE has an excellent daylight stability, which comes in handy if the plates cannot be mounted on the press immediately.”

New Folding Concept from Friedheim SPECIALIST FOLDING MANUFACTURER HERZOG + HEYMANN has introduced the KL 45 Miniature folding machine, which is being described as a new concept in the lightweight paper folding sector.

Immediately available, the new Herzog + Heymann KL 45 is supplied in the UK and Ireland by Friedheim International. Based on the long-established and wellproven KL 112.1 technology, the

newly-designed and developed model now incorporates a number of basic technical differences that include a belt drive instead of a gear drive, slimmer folding plate construction, and capsulated control. The new Herzog +Heymann KL 45 also incorporates an integrated batch counter and double sheet detection and it can be optimised to suit most production requirements, with either a pile feeder or continuous

feeder for short or long job runs. Additionally, this system can be configured with fold plate combinations of 8/6, 8/4, 6/6 and 6/4 for different job applications.Folding speed is up to 150 metres per minute.

Existing production units (eg. knife units, pressing unit, labeller, etc) can be used behind the KL 45. It is also expandable with gluing or quality control systems.

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IRISH PRINTER | What’s New in Print?

First Installation for Automatic Flexo Plates CLARKSON SERVICES HAS COMPLETED THE FIRST INSTALLATION of ‘Easy to Plate’ equipment in the UK. SGS Packaging Europe Ltd, one of the UK’s leading pioneers of pre-press technology, has the first components of a modular line at its main plant in Kingstonupon-Hull. The equipment, which has been supplied by Vianord’s UK agent and pre-press specialists, Clarkson Services Ltd, consists of three elements of the manufacturer’s modular system, the EVO 5 BPD, EVO 5 E, and EVO L/F. These are, respectively, a batch processor with inline automatic dryer, an exposure unit, and a light finisher.

SGS is a major player in the flexo platemaking market, with a turnover of £40m turnover in Europe, of which 25% is derived from flexo plates. “After researching the market for additional capacity, increased automation and ensuring plate manufacturing consistency and quality, I decided that Vianord’s EVO automated flexo system was the leading solution available today,” says Steve Babb, Managing Director of SGS’s Hull plant.

“The installation was completed ahead of time and after producing over 2,000 plates in the first three weeks, we have been delighted with

The ‘Easy to Plate’ technology is a modular system that will allow SGS to add other processes as required.

the performance and high quality of the end product.”

The wash out section has servo drive that gives a soft start with progressive adjustment of the oscillating and rotating brushes that is determined by the speed of the plate. Internal workings are visually viewed by internal micro cameras located at the processor exit, and at the plate transfer, which are displayed on a screen mounted on the dryer system known as ‘Live Process Control’. The monitor is equipped

with multi-screen viewing and remote technical camera assistance. The line has an automatic integrated plate punch, another industry first. The dryer has ‘intelligent plate transfer,’ which includes automatic aligning and selection of the closest drawer available to avoid unnecessary movement and loss of time. Each drawer is monitored so that the operator knows what is being stored, and where. Temperature uniformity is controlled by separate interfaces with high-speed airflow to speed up plate drying.

Major New Updates for Fujifilm Software FUJIFILM RECENTLY RELEASED WORKFLOW XMF V6 (XMF V6) and the web portal system XMF Remote R10.

XMF V6 includes the Adobe PDF Print Engine 3 (APPE3) and is also the first workflow system in the world to incorporate Mercury RIP Architecture, a technology developed by Adobe for high speed operation. As a result, XMF V6 achieves dramatic improvements in file processing times. In addition, XMF Remote R10 is designed for utilisation in a wide range of environments through various improvements, including complete

compatibility with HTML 5.

The most significant characteristic of the Mercury RIP Architecture, incorporated in XMF V6, is that the system can conduct load balancing by processing each page of a single job simultaneously during rendering. This results in higher processing speeds to maximise the utilisation of system resources, which in turn deliver significant productivity improvements when outputting pages to a digital press or when producing variable output.

XMF V6 can also harness the Mercury RIP Architecture to allow parallel processing of multiple

jobs. It is also possible to assign different orders of priority to different processes and actively adjust the resource allocation for each respective process. Even if the output to a platesetter, proofer or digital printer overlaps, the system can reduce processing ‘standby time’ to a minimum, ensuring that each output device is used efficiently. As a single XMF unit is capable of executing the volume of RIP processing equivalent to five platesetters (e.g.

Luxel T-9800, 67 plates per hour), the number of RIP devices can be greatly reduced.

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17/12/2014 16:55 16:34

IRISH PRINTER | Packaging

– ARE THEY COMPLETELY SAFE FOR USE ON FOOD PACKAGING PRINT? RADTECH EUROPE’S FOOD PACKAGING SEMINAR IN STUTTGART DEBATED THE PROPER USE OF RADIATION CURING IN FOOD-SAFE PRINTING IN ORDER TO ENABLE THIS TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE ITS MAXIMUM POTENTIAL.

To address food and pharmaceutical label requirements, Agfa Graphics supplies low-migration UV-curable inks, which have proven their performance for food-safe printing in direct print applications.

THE PERFECT RECIPE FOR RADIATION CURING for food packaging has not yet been proposed or defined by the EU legislators.

All that exists today are the GMP and Framework Regulation, as well as Swiss Ordinance, respected and now widely adopted across the food packaging supply chain, but still something less than the definitive answer. This situation was the driving force behind the Food Packaging Seminar held in Stuttgart in September by RadTech Europe, the regional association promoting the radiation curing technologies across all markets. The event brought together around 90 participants, all experienced specialists from the

various disciplines related to the food packaging value chain (raw materials, printing inks, equipment, materials, and brand owners), who discussed the proper use of radiation curing in foodsafe printing.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Stephen Harrod, author of many specialist market reports for Smithers Pira on aspects of packaging and print, set the scene with an overview of the global packaging market and its current ‘megatrends’. He forecast 2014 growth in the revived global economy at ±3.5%, and annual global growth to 2018 at four per cent. Food packaging - a €55bn market in 2013 - will, he said, show 2.1% real annual

growth to 2018, led by the meat, fish and poultry; chilled foods (including ready meals); and fresh food and vegetable sectors. UV curing has much to offer in this dynamic environment: good environmental credentials (no VOCs or solvents); fast turnaround; and high performance. Current barriers to its use are cost – in terms of inks, varnishes, and energy usage; perceived lack of ease of use; heat from standard UV lamps; healthcare ‘scares’ involving migration of print through the packaging substrate; and recycling challenges.

Mr Harrod drew attention to the strong growth in inkjet print. UV inkjet is already enjoying a CAGR of 14.8%, and there are considerable

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Packaging | IRISH PRINTER

and continuing refinements in the technology base – printheads, inks, curing systems, android integrations, and presses. He described packaging as “a great opportunity” for this versatile print technology.

THE APPLIED CHEMISTRIES

Francis Bergiers, technical service and development specialist at Allnex, provided a comprehensive overview of the applied chemistries involved in printing and packaging. The partner UV and EB curing inks must deliver viscosity, pigment wetting, cure speed, adhesion, flexibility, scratch resistance, and resistance to chemicals such as solvents. For food packaging print, additional requirements are low odour, no taste transfer, and low migration.

All this must come, he underlined, at an acceptable price. Mr Bergiers highlighted recent innovations with particular relevance for food packaging, such as self-curing acrylates, acrylates that deliver higher purity, acrylates with an improved compromise between high molecular weight and viscosity, and the ability to achieve higher acrylate functionality while using lower viscosity systems.

‘THINK LIKE A FOOD COMPANY!’

With the technology base clearly explained, it was time to hear from the customer - Dr Stephen Klump, Global Head of Packaging Quality and Safety, for Nestlé. He outlined the many risks associated with the different materials that come into contact with food items. Conveyor belts, plastic moulds, pipes and hoses are among the risks involved in food processing, and packaging materials - paper, board, plastic, metal, glass, coatings, inks, and adhesives - are risks to finished or semi-finished products, as are a host of auxiliary items, such as straws, ice cream sticks, and drinks dispensers.

Dr Klump said that “consumers are very aware that there are problems out there with their food,” highlighting the recent horse meat scandal, and reminding participants that governmental, NGO, and media coverage means that the consumer focus “goes viral.” In such a complex supply chain, involving many specialist suppliers of chemicals and raw materials, as well as converters,

Images courtesy of Miller Graphics

packers, brand owners, and retailers, a publicly-identified safety problem can have serious consequences for a brand. Nestlé’s outstanding and continuing commitment to mitigating such brand risk through its packaging safety and compliance programme is long-established and proven. Dr Klump encouraged the seminar participants to join him and “think like a food company.”

THE NESTLÉ COC

Suppliers across the value chain do not always deliver what they promise.

If there is a problem, he said, it is the supplier’s responsibility to “find out before someone else finds out for you.” He listed the problems his company has experienced in the packaging arena since 1991, a list which, of course, includes mineral oils, BPA and ITX, and odour issues.

He detailed an agenda through which suppliers can ensure that they perform to the standards of the Nestlé certificate of compliance, in parallel with EU and FDA regulations and directives. All the CoC’s requirements are clearly and transparently communicated to the supplier base, and all are regularly updated.

TESTING AND LEGISLATION

The next seminar session focused on the current state of legislation and testing. Dr Andreas Grabitz, technical and legal expert at Eurofins Consumer Product Testing, presented two scholarly and instructive papers: the first on the principles and specialities of analytical testing of UV inks and coatings in a variety of situations,

and the second on the extant diverse legal requirements relating to food packaging from a safety viewpoint, including detail on the Swiss and upcoming German Ordinances.

EUROPEAN PRINTING INKS ASSOCIATION’S VIEWPOINT

Putting the science into action was the topic addressed, appropriately, by the Chairman of the European Printing Inks Association’s Energy Curing Work Group, Nick Ivory, who is also Technical Director of Sun Chemical. EuPIA is actively supporting the ongoing use of energy curing products in food packaging print.

In this regard, he welcomed the work being done by various acrylate and photo-initiator suppliers on dossiers for submission under the Swiss and German Ordinances, a move that will help establish more lenient migration limits for common photo-initiators and acrylates. This initiative is supported

by EuPIA through the supply of migration data. After detailing all the practical concerns and issues, he expressed the difficulties the industry has in pinpointing the correct way forward in the imprecise legal framework. “In the absence of recognised EU legislation, it’s a bit like global warming,” he remarked.

He concluded, however, that energycuring products can be used safely in food packaging scenarios as long as their suitability is fully assessed.

LOW-MIGRATION INKJET INKS

Dr Marc Graindourze of Agfa Graphics focused on low-migration

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IRISH PRINTER | Packaging

inkjet ink technology for printing food packaging which, he said, is offering a raft of new possibilities for today’s brand owners and is also environmentally friendly.

Opportunities include mass customisation, just-in-time printing, promotions, and variable data printing - all using a print technology that is versatile, fast and reliable, and whose set-up can be customised for specific applications.

Agfa Graphics’ low-migration ink technology is delivering a printed result that is “testing positive” for eliminating migration and set-off in a variety of food and pharmaceutical packaging applications. It is a solution for direct print on to a packaging substrate. The new Agfa Graphics inks will, Dr Graindourze concluded, constitute an element in an integrated system involving partnership along the supply chain.

THE CARTON INDUSTRY SPEAKS BPIF Cartons’ Technical Director,

IRISH

is taking the initiative and creating its own consensus.

General Secretary Mark Macaré concluded that the RadTech Europe seminar “brought the industry closer to achieving full clearance for UV/ EB curing in the food packaging segment.”

John Wilson, who is also Product and Applications Manager at Sun Chemical, completed the formal programme with a view from the mainstream packaging industry on the safe use of radiation curing.

Printers in the food packaging arena choosing to take the radiationcured low-migration inks route are facing a number of new challenges and many questions for which they need answers, both from their brand owner/retailer and their own suppliers. The BPIF are actively supporting their members with the creation of a low migration questionnaire which they can use with their suppliers as a discussion document, creating a technical focus at meetings and exploring the new barrier boards that the board mills are now introducing to the market.

Mr Wilson admitted that BPIF Cartons are also closely following the Nestlé and EuPIA guidelines - proof that, in an industry sector where there is still no legislative clarity, the supply chain

ABOUT RADTECH

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Packaging News | IRISH PRINTER

XEIKON’S UNVEILS FOLDING CARTON SUITE AT EMBALLAGE 2014

Xeikon showcased its enhanced folding carton suite, along with its recently launched web varnishing module, at Salon de l’Emballage 2014 in Paris (November 17th to 20th). The company also worked with its partners Zünd and CERM, and customers Imprimerie Bouley and 5Sept Etiquette, to present a wide range of applications specifically developed to address the changing needs of brand owners and packaging converters.

Xeikon’s folding carton suite now offers a basic press configuration where the print stations are equipped with orange toner, in combination with CMYK. The extended colour gamut achieved with this configuration ensures the accurate production of a wider range of brand colours.

Producing folding cartons digitally is perfect for specific seasonal packaging, intensive test marketing, just-in-time delivery contracts and customisation of shorter runs and appeals to smaller geographic and demographic market segments.

At Labelexpo Americas, Xeikon expanded the inline finishing options available for its digital presses with the launch of the web varnishing module. This unit can apply UV or aqueous varnish on one side of a wide range of substrates, making the module

the perfect fit for folding cartons that require varnish-free areas for glue strips and production data. The module can also apply spot varnish on a large variety of substrates, including self-adhesive label materials, coated papers, unsupported films and coated paper board. The new inline module enables the operator to see the results immediately and to make any corrections, if required, in order to achieve the desired effect. At Emballage 2014, the web varnishing module ran inline with the Xeikon 3050 Digital Press, fully equipped with unwinder and in a roll-to-sheet configuration.

Xeikon also printed wet-glue wine and champagne labels in cooperation with its customer, Imprimerie Bouley, a family-run label converter located in

the heart of Burgundy that specialises in wine, spirit and beverage labels.

With ever shorter print runs and delivery requirements, Imprimerie Bouley switched from offset to digital in 2013 and opted for a Xeikon 3030 Digital Press, now upgraded to a Xeikon 3300. The benefits of wet-glue labels include high quality graphics, high speed applications and volume runs, and easy label removal on returnable containers. Also, on display were Clics Boxes from Belgian toy manufacturer Clics. These folding carton toy boxes can be customised with photos and text, creating an original gift for kids. They were produced at Emballage by a folding carton suite powered by a Xeikon Digital Press and finished by digital cutting specialist Zünd.

MGI WINS PACKAGING INNOVATION AWARD

The Pack Experts Committee at the Packaging/Emballage exhibition in Paris awarded MGI’s iFOI its Innovation Award. This year’s 1,500 exhibitors submitted over 208 products to the Pack Experts Committee. The Committee consists of industry experts, many from large international companies with worldwide expertise, such as L’Oreal, Coca-Cola, and Nestlé. The top eight entries were given the prestigious ‘Innovation Award,’ including the MGI iFOIL solution. Working inline with the JETvarnish 3D, the iFOIL uses a 100% digital process to

The iFOIL solution by MGI.

create embossed hot foil effects.

The innovative technology used by the pair has garnered a lot of international awards due to the unique inkjet technology and the 100% digital process. The iFOIL and the JETvarnish 3D perform the following jobs: spot UV varnish 2D/3D; from 3 to 200µm embossing;

hot foil embossing process for up to three simultaneous colours; variable data for spot UV varnish and foiling; up to 3,000 B2 size sheets an hour. MGI claims that the iFOIL and JETvarnish 3D are the first 100% digital solutions available for this industry worldwide.

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IRISH PRINTER | Exhibition Preview

PRINT & SUBSTRATE

INNOVATION

AT SIGN & DIGITAL

FROM SMALLER DEVICES FOR POSTER AND POS PRINTING, TO LARGE INDUSTRIAL PRESSES THAT CATER FOR AN ARRAY OF INDOOR AND OUTDOOR DISPLAY OPPORTUNITIES, SIGN & DIGITAL 2015 (MARCH 24TH – 26TH, NEC, BIRMINGHAM) IS STILL THE INDUSTRY’S ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR ALL THINGS WIDE, AND SUPER WIDE, FORMAT.

SUPER FAST, SUPER WIDE

The Anapurna M3200i RTR, one of Agfa Graphics’ enhanced Anapurna i-series, will be on show for the first time in the UK at Sign & Digital 2015.

The dedicated industrial roll-to-roll UV printer is built for 24/7 highvolume operation. Incorporating the latest generation of six colour (CMYKLcLm), high resolution print heads, the 3.2 metre wide roll-to-roll UV-curable Anapurna M3200i RTR printer achieves an output of up to 123m² per hour.

At Sign & Digital UK the Anapurna M3200i RTR will be shown with two additional options. The dual roll option makes it possible to simultaneously print jobs on two rolls of the same media type, each up to a maximum of 1.52 metres wide.

The mesh option makes it possible to print on mesh without liner, thanks to a special gutter underneath the printing area containing an ink absorbing medium.

Agfa Graphics says that its thin ink layer technology allows its UVcurable inks to print on a broad range of flexible materials, including top quality banners, self-adhesive vinyls, and front- and back-lit graphics. The manufacturer claims that these inks deliver “the highest quality prints with the lowest ink consumption per square metre” in the industry.

All Anapurnas come with Agfa

LEFT: The Anapurna M3200i roll-to-roll UV printer. ABOVE: All Anapurnas come with Agfa Graphics’ Asanti workflow for the sign and display market.

Graphics’ Asanti workflow for the sign and display market, which adds colour management and automatic preflighting. Asanti is complemented by the Asanti StoreFront cloud-based web-to-print system, which comes as an optional low investment SaaS solution.

A RAFT OF NEW HYBRIDS

Mimaki’s exclusive UK and Irish distributor, Hybrid Services Ltd will be using Sign & Digital UK to launch a raft of new wide format printers for the sign and graphics sector.

New products across all sizes, speeds and price points will feature on the

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Exhibition Preview | IRISH PRINTER

from 75cm up to 1.6m and the price/ performance ratio is extraordinary.

We fully expect this new printer to take the show by storm as we are confident that it fits the needs of the sign maker perfectly - and at an excellent price point too.”

SOLVENT AND DYE SUB SOLUTIONS In addition to the integrated machine, Mimaki’s JV150 solvent or dye sublimation printer will be making its first UK outing alongside its ultrafast sister machine - the JV300. “We’ve installed a significant number of JV300 printers in not just the sign and graphics market but in the dye sublimation sector as well,” says John de la Roche. “As a highly productive fashion and sportswear printer, it fits the needs of companies that are seeking to ramp up their manufacturing capability.” The final part of the new wide format jigsaw from Mimaki is the CJV300, the company’s top of the range integrated printer/cutter which features speeds of up to 105 metres square per hour.

“Print providers seeking to really achieve volume production of labels and shaped stickers need look no further than the new CJV300,” says

company’s stand - situated at the entrance to the show - including all new printers and integrated printer/ cutters.

“Sign & Digital UK 2015 will be the first opportunity for most visitors to see the completely new line up of ten solvent printers and printer/ cutters from Mimaki and they’ll feature very heavily on the Hybrid stand, as well as among our reseller network at the show,” says John de la Roche, Hybrid Services’ National Sales Manager – Sign and Graphics.

“The new CJV150 range of printer/ cutters from Mimaki includes four different sizes of machine,

The new CJV150 range of printer/cutters from Mimaki includes four different sizes of machine, from 75cm up to 1.6m.

John de la Roche. “With Mimaki’s peerless heritage in this sector, it again moves us up to a new level of performance and quality.”

LED UV Mimaki’s flatbed and roll-to-roll LED UV portfolio is expected to be a major draw for visitors. Following a debut at the 2014 show, where the first machine was sold within 10 minutes of the doors opening, the JFX200 8’ x 4’ flatbed is already building on its reputation. “The level of installs simply grows and grows,” confirms Stuart Cole, National Sales Manager – Industrial Products. “Uptake of the JFX200 is unprecedented and this year’s exhibition allows us to demonstrate to more people why it is the perfect solution for so many businesses looking at investing in flatbed printers. With an 8’ x 4’ bed size which matches standard material sheet dimensions, ultra-low running costs, a choice of inks, including white and clear varnish, ozone-free lamps that are guaranteed for 5,000 hours, and 75% lower C02 emissions than alternative UV technologies, the Mimaki leads the way with its ease of use, compact footprint and peerless quality.”

Hybrid will also be featuring three of Mimaki’s small format LED UV flatbed printers from the UJF range for printing direct to object on small items. “We are seeing more and more manufacturing companies investing in the Mimaki UJF range,” says Stuart.

“With a choice of A2 or A3 beds and an incredible array of inks, we’re installing these machines across a broad variety of businesses, giving them the capacity to add bespoke print to their operation.”

Mimaki’s top of the range integrated printer/cutter - the CJV300 - features speeds of up to 105 metres square per hour.

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IRISH PRINTER | Exhibition Preview

inks. This media is printable direct to the surface with no over lamination required. It moulds naturally, without heat, and can be applied to virtually any rough or smooth textured surface, offering interesting and profitable new opportunities for printers and marketers.

THE CUTTING EDGE

Soyang’s SoFlat banner material for frontlit, backlit and blockout applications will feature at Sign & Digital.

Intercoat, the premium quality, German-manufactured self-adhesive vinyl, will also feature heavily at the show.

EVERY SURFACE COVERED

Soyang Europe returns to Sign & Digital UK 2015 with an expanded range of wide format media for sign and graphics professionals.

“While the recent success of our new grand format products has been hugely exciting and opened up all sorts of new opportunities for the business, we are committed to continuing support of our core markets with an ever-expanding range and exciting new developments to our media portfolio, which we’ll be showcasing at this years’ Sign & Digital UK,” says Managing Director Mark Mashiter. “Our closeness to the end user, and a real understanding of customer needs and expectations means we are uniquely placed to bring ideas and product development into play, enabling us to have a very strong influence on the technical development of the new Soyang production facility in China, providing the capability to bring great value products to market with European quality standards.”

Soyang Europe will be showcasing a wide range of different media at the show, including their ‘own brand’ range of SoFlex banner materials, SoStick One-way vision media, and the SoFlat banner material for frontlit, backlit and blockout applications, as well as the much expanded range of SoMagic wallcoverings.

Intercoat, the premium quality, German-manufactured self-adhesive vinyl, will also feature heavily at the show. This is ideal for a range of applications, from stickers to product labelling, to signs, badges, window and vehicle graphics. It is printable with any latex, eco-solvent, solvent or UV curable wide format printer, and has great eco-credentials thanks to the lack of solvents used in any part of the production process and waterbased adhesives.

Soyang Europe will also showcase AlumiGraphics, a 100% recyclable wide-format media made from pliable aluminium foil with a white finish that accepts a wide range of solvent, eco-solvent, latex and UV

Exhibiting at Sign & Digital UK for the fourth successive year, finishing equipment specialist Friedheim International will be demonstrating the Lasercomb ProDigi NEO 2517 large format multi-functional digital cutting system for the first time at a UK event. This model is one in a range of larger format machines specifically developed by Lasercomb for the high demands of the signage, packaging and display industries.

On the ProDigi NEO a new front end PC featuring a colour touch screen allows the operator to choose between automatic or manual modes, as well as accessing the tool database.

The PC also provides operational diagnosis. A modular tool concept is a key feature of the ProDigi NEO multifunctional digital cutting system, and the machine being demonstrated on the stand will incorporate a 1 kW milling spindle with tooling for handling several different types of materials, as well as an oscillating cutting unit.

Friedheim will also be able to provide information on a variety of alternative finishing processes and solutions from the other companies within its converting division, including Kama (die-cutters and folder gluers), Kohmann (window patchers, Pick & Place, PrintChecker and SpeedPlacer), Vega Group (folder gluers) and Stock (wide format board mounting and laminating), as well as from its other divisions covering commercial print, digital print, binding and packaging.

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IRISH PRINTER | MIS Report

POWERFUL NEW PACKAGE FOR CARTON MANUFACTURERS A NEW ‘PRODUCTION PLANNING’ SYSTEM GIVES REAL TIME FEEDBACK DIRECTLY FROM THE SHOP FLOOR, PROVIDING CRUCIAL INFORMATION AND CONTROL FOR THE MODERN PACKAGING ENVIRONMENT. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS’ (MIS) SUPPLIER SHUTTLEWORTH WILL BE DISPLAYING THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS to its integrated MIS package - the ‘Production Planning’ system tool for customer-focused carton manufacturers - at the Packaging Innovations Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham on the February 25th and 26th.

Also on display will be Shuttleworth’s Product Management functionality which is designed to help the workflow process. Multiple products or items can be added to a single ‘enquiry’ and the system

produces a single quote. This is ideal for managing different types of work, ensuring that several orders can be easily managed and tracked as a single enquiry if required.

Other enhancements on display at Packaging Innovations include a new job tracking functionality, ‘Milestones’, which makes it quick and easy to view the status of any job as it progresses throughout the business, the latest Production Scheduling module, including the new option for automating the entire production planning process, a new ‘Mobile Stock app’, which allows users to update stock transactions

using a mobile device with bar code scanning if required, and a fully integrated CRM package, which includes a mobile app enabling anyone working remotely to access and update vital information.

“We are aiming to use this occasion to inspire the packaging industry by providing new MIS developments and solutions that can be used to help customers,” says Dawn Safford, Marketing Executive at Shuttleworth. “We will show how delivering powerful technical solutions improves efficiencies and reduces administration and costs, thereby increasing profit.”

LIVE WEBINARS

SHUTTLEWORTH IS KEEPING ITS CUSTOMERS UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS with a series of FREE webinars to be held throughout 2015. Customers can view a live demonstration to see how they can improve business performance. “Webinars are an ideal way for customers to increase their knowledge of Shuttleworth’s MIS without having to leave the office,” says Dawn Safford. “It is all part of our strategy to help our customers improve their businesses through better use of MIS technology”. The latest webinar has been designed to bring users up to date with all the general developments that have been added to the recent releases. The webinar also includes lots of hints and tips that will help users save time.

Functionality demonstrated in the latest ‘What’s New…’ webinar include being able to ‘attach any external file to any record within the Shuttleworth MIS’ (This means that all vital information can be centrally stored and accessed from one database.) and New Customer Audit logs, which give essential data that is then used to create a ‘New Business Dashboard’. The Dashboard shows vital information on new prospect activity and includes a summary of new customers gained each year together with estimate and job values. The webinar also demonstrates the Communication Look Ups feature which was added to the system to make it easy to recognise which contact name and company a communication number is associated with, and the Shortcuts function, which was added to make it easy to update multiple ‘events’, print a job bag and view estimated versus actual price comparisons.

The ‘What’s New…’ webinar is free for customers and takes around 30 minutes. For further information, contact Dawn Safford at Shuttleworth via email: Dawn.S@shuttleworth-uk.co.uk

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Marketing | IRISH PRINTER

GLOBAL REBRAND FOR NEOPOST

NEOPOST, A GLOBAL LEADER IN MAILING SOLUTIONS AND A MAJOR PLAYER IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS AND SHIPPING SERVICES, LAUNCHED A GLOBAL REBRVAND ON FEBRUARY 2ND. THIS MOVE REFLECTS NEOPOST’S NEW POSITIONING IN THE DIGITAL WORLD AND ENSURES BRAND CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE ENTIRE ORGANISATION. “THIS REBRANDING IS ALIGNED WITH OUR BUSINESS STRATEGY TO DEVELOP MAIL-RELATED ACTIVITIES and accelerate growth in digital communications and shipping solutions,” says Denis Thiery, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Neopost Group.

The new logo, based on the letter ‘N’ for Neopost, has been re-designed and reinvigorated for the era of multichannel communications. It visually suggests physical or digital mail, as well as the symbol for infinity. “This reflects our mission to create never-ending interactions by sending the right message, to the right person, via the right channel”, says Denis Thiery.

The new ‘Send. Receive. Connect.’ slogan sums up Neopost’s vision of a rapidly changing world. It communicates the company’s role as a link creator that guides and supports organisations in how they send and receive communications and goods, helping them to better connect with their customers.

“From our traditional mailing offers to our digital communications and printing solutions, everything is focused on linking people,” says Duncan Groom, Managing Director of Neopost Ireland. “This desire to help people share and interact expresses Neopost’s commitment to developing hardware, software and services to bring people closer together.”

Duncan Groom, Managing Director of Neopost Ireland, at the launch of the global rebrand for Neopost.

CBA, a branding agency based in Paris, partnered with Neopost on this project to explore the brand’s personality, identify its values, and build a new brand story.

NEW STRUCTURE FOR BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

The rebrand has enabled Neopost to explain to SMEs and large enterprises how its major areas of activity are now organised: Neopost Mailing helps enterprises with all aspects of mail preparation, from filling envelopes and collating content to personalisation and postage.

Neopost Digital offers document management software and data quality solutions to ensure that organisations deliver the right message to the right person via the right channel.

Neopost Shipping helps enterprises streamline their shipping process with tracking solutions, updates on deliveries and the status of inventory and equipment. Neopost ID, known

for its shipping, delivery and tracking, has now changed its name to Neopost Shipping.

Neopost Graphics offers a range of finishing equipment that ensures endless printing possibilities, from booklet making, creasing and cutting, to folding, binding and coating.

ABOUT NEOPOST

Neopost is a global leader in mailing solutions and a major player in digital communications and shipping services. Neopost Ireland is the local subsidiary of Neopost Group and is a leading provider for mailing and printing solutions in the Irish market. Established in 1979, the company serves over 6,000 Irish customers, ranging from SMEs and large enterprises to the public sector.

With headquarters in Dublin, Neopost Ireland employs over 50 people in the areas of sales, support and administration. Globally, Neopost is present in 31 countries with a network of partners in more than 90 countries and a turnover of €1.1bn (2013).

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IRISH PRINTER | Profile

The Print Show has hit its first stand sales target ahead of schedule.

THE PRINT SHOW

ORGANISERS OF THE PRINT SHOW ARE BULLISHLY CONFIDENT OVER THIS YEAR’S INAUGURAL EVENT AFTER HITTING THEIR FIRST TARGET FOR STAND SALES TWO WEEKS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.

D

ue to take place at Birmingham’s NEC from October 13th to 15th, The Print Show will be a ‘cultural celebration’ of all things print. From the significant impact that quality printed work can have through to the lasting legacy that printed media can leave, the event will welcome visitors and exhibitors from all corners of the industry.

Since being launched in November last year, The Print Show has generated a high level of interest in the industry, with a number of major companies, suppliers and organisations having already confirmed their backing for the event. “This success has been driven by a trend that is seeing suppliers and manufacturers send in their signed contracts much earlier than anticipated,” says Event Director Chris Davies. “This will not only help them ensure a good stand position at the

show, but also allows them to take advantage of the special deals on offer for those who commit early.”

The latest raft of exhibitors include key print mailing equipment and solutions provider AMS-GB, which recently confirmed its attendance at the show. Managing Director Kevin McPheat says the company has identified the event as one that will offer both the firm and visitors a number of new business opportunities. “We’ve decided to exhibit because we believe that the event will offer us access to new business opportunities, as well as new customers,” he says. “We’re also attending because, frankly, there aren’t many other events like this currently out there for printers. As there is a dearth of print shows lately, if the organiser gets the show right, and keeps the exhibitors and visitors happy, then they could corner the market

as there is no real focal point for an annual event at present.”

Meanwhile, leading trade supplier and manufacturer of portable exhibition solutions, Ultima Displays, has also signed up to exhibit at the show.

Speaking about the decision to attend, Managing Director Andrew Burdett says the show will attract a host of visitors from a range of areas and will give Ultima Displays the opportunity to interact with these attendees. “This is a new show dedicated to the print industry and we offer a wide range of printing services to the trade, so having exposure at shows like this gives us access to strong potential leads,” he says.“The Print Show features many different aspects of printing which will attract a lot of customers from areas that we don’t usually get to sell to, which means we can expand further and, potentially, into new markets.”

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IRISH PRINTER | Profile

AMS GB will bring a wide range of its specialist print mailing and finishing equipment to the show.

EVER-EXPANDING LIST In addition to Ultima Displays and AMSGB, a number of other companies have also signed up to exhibit. Management information systems supplier Clarity Software has confirmed that it will be in attendance, as has bespoke digital inkjet printing solutions provider Copytrax Technologies. Bespoke software solutions provider Touch

Speaking about the show’s expanding exhibitor list, Event Director Chris Davies believes the continuing uptake of stand space is solid evidence that the UK and Irish print markets are clearly in need of a focused event like The Print Show, which will be benefit both exhibitors and visitors. “It is great to have so many companies sign up at such an early stage of the organisation

IF THE INDUSTRY IS TO THRIVE AND PROSPER INTO THE FUTURE, TODAY’S BRAND MANAGERS, MARKETERS, AND MEDIA BUYERS FROM ACROSS THE UK AND IRELAND NEED TO UNDERSTAND PRINT’S LEGACY AND THE VALUE OF PRINTED PRODUCTS IN A MODERN CONTEXT.

Systems has also taken a stand at the NEC and will be joined by lamination and encapsulation technology specialist D&K Europe. Folder gluing and finishing expert B&R Moll, bindery technology specialist Perfect Bindery Solutions, and print equipment reseller Signmaster Systems will also be in attendance.

These companies will join the likes of Premier Paper Group, Learn2Print and Ashgate Automation, all of which have already confirmed that they will exhibit at the Print Show this October. At the time of writing, the event organisers, Link Exhibitions UK Ltd, say they will reveal two further major exhibitors who have signed up to attend by the end of January.

process,” he says. “To have generated this high level of interest shows just how much the UK and Ireland needs an event that focuses on the existing print market and demonstrates to visitors how they can get into profitable new markets. We have been billing the show as a ‘forward-thinking’ event and, to be honest, if you look at the companies that have signed up so far, we’re definitely on the right track.

It’ll be great to see all these suppliers showing off their latest kit to visitors at the NEC. Once again, I encourage all print companies to come along, check out this new gear, and take advantage of the knowledge of those industry experts that will be in attendance. I also

encourage those interested in exhibiting to get in touch with our team to secure their desired stand as space is filling up fast!”

ABOUT THE PRINT SHOW Taking place for the first time in October, The Print Show is an annual exhibition designed to provide the key tools that print and print-related companies need to remain competitive, whether they are small high-street print shops or big conglomerates. One of the UK’s top exhibition venues, Birmingham’s NEC, will play host to the event, which will span the entire spectrum of print industry technology. “Rather than being just another corporate-orientated event, The Print Show will work to provide a fun and entertaining celebration of the industry’s culture and history, and will feature a series of on-going live demonstrations of traditional print and finishing techniques, from letterpress, to intaglio, relief, and stone litho printing,” says Chris Davies. “This is of key importance because, if the industry is to thrive and prosper into the future, today’s brand managers, marketers, and media buyers from across the UK and Ireland need to understand print’s legacy and the value of printed products in a modern context. As it celebrates the history and culture of our wonderful industry, The Print Show’s mission is also to provide UK and Irish printers with a clear blueprint for the future.”

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