Irish Printer

MAY/JUNE 2016 || THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY || WWW.IRISHPRINTER.IE

GPMI

we have

tweaked our

DNA

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See Digital Print through new eyes Discover the Konica Minolta advantage with MJ Flood Ireland

Industry Leading Productivity 350gsm Duplex Extremely Precise Front-to-Back Registration Over 3000 SRA3 sheets per hour on all stocks Experienced Technicians Nationwide Service www.mjflood.ie Visit our website and learn more about the new bizhub PRESS series.

bizhub PRESS C1100

Phil Schueler Production Print Manager M: 086 171 4421

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bizhub PRESS C1070

Athlone | Belfast | Cork | Galway | Limerick | Sligo | Waterford | Wexford

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MAY/JUNE 2016 CONTENTS

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News

10

Behind the Scenes

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The latest news from the Irish print industry.

Find out why MJ Flood believes its service ethos and operation sets it apart from the competition.

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The Big Picture

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Packaging

New hardware and software solutions are increasing the creative options for large format print providers.

Cavan Box extols the virtues of Zund cutting technology.

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Textile Print

18

Sublimation specialists and Epson reseller Serigraf gear up for their open days this month, the highlight of which is the Epson SureColor F series of dye sublimation printers.

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Profile

Find out why Canon technology is bringing major productivity gains to a Dublin 4 print company.

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Interview

Label Tech’s James Costello talks international acclaim and future investment strategies.

Cover Story GPMI’s acquisition of Reprocentre has made them the biggest supplier to the print industry in Ireland.

Enda Brophy and Brian Crawford talk to Maev Martin about the merger.

Awards Preview

Irish Printer profiles some of the major industry players who are supporting the 2016 Irish Print Awards.

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Drupa 2016

32

Talking Technical

34

Go Digital

Innovation and Collaboration are the halmakrs of this year’s drupa exhibition in Germany.

Print inspection specialists Futec looks at some of the key issues affectig print businesses.

Michael Seidl examines why growing numbers of producers and customers are now recognising the benefits of digital packaging print technology.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

technologies. Interestingly, they also hosted digital publishing demonstrations, showing print companies how they can meet all of their customers’ print needs.

Sign & Digital in Tallaght are also following up on the success of their open day last year as they get ready to host the third All-Ireland Vehicle Wrap Championships at their premises in Airton Close, Tallaght on May 24th The wrap championships are the highlight of Sign+Digital’s day long open house where customers have the opportunity to view live demonstrations and new product launches from Roland and HP, as well as experience hands-on exploration sessions in the company’s creative centre.

Notwithstanding the difficulties that many print companies continue to experience, these events are a reflection of the buoyancy that has returned to some sectors of the industry. What has become clear, particularly since the beginning of this year, is that access to finance has improved and print companies are investing again. This augurs well for the future of Irish print and for the industry’s ability to remain competitive in a tough and constantly evolving market.

elcome to the May/ June edition of Irish Printer magazine.

Irish printers and print supply companies have been welcoming the advent of summer by hosting open days at their premises. It started with our friends at Masterphoto in D4 (see Page 20) and other companies are following suit. At the time of writing, Epson reseller Serigraf is getting ready to host a week-long event at the end of this month to showcase its new showroom and the Epson SureColor F range of sublimation printers (see Page 18).

Xeretec, Xerox’s largest production reseller in Western Europe, followed up on the success of its free print exhibition in February by hosting a demonstration day at the Xerox Innovation Centre in Ballycoolin Business Park on May 5th to showcase the latest hardware and software solutions from Xerox. The Xeretec event aimed to help the graphics, publication and printing sectors to unlock new business opportunities and drive new revenue streams from their customers. Visitors could see the Xerox Versant 2100 and Versant 80, as well as the Xerox C60 and D95 machines in action, and Xeretec specialists demonstrated workflow solutions and variable data software. On-site demonstrations of Morgana finishing equipment showed how Xeretec’s solutions have evolved to meet the challenge of rapidly developing digital print

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

THE TEAM Editor: Maev Martin Editorial Manager: Mary Connaughton Creative Director: Jane Matthews Layout: Antoinette Sinclair Production Manager: Mary Connaughton Production: Claire Kiernan Printed by: Walsh Colour Print on Novatech Matt 150gsm supplied by Antalis Ireland.

Contact: Irish Printer, Ashville Media Group, Old Stone Building, Blackhall Green, Dublin 7 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 2016.

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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EXPERTISE IN. QUALITY OUT.

NEW RANGE

SureColor™ SC-S Series At Epson, we believe you get out of your printer what we put in. Our extensive experience in high quality printing has gone into the engineering of the SC-S large format printer series – designed from the ground up, with all component developed and manufactured by us.

Precision, quality and productivity with every print.

To find out more visit www.epson.ie/signbyepson or call one of the Epson resellers listed below.

Tel: 0906 628929 www.ipsolutions.ie

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Tel: 061 43 99 58 www.infinity2.ie

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TEN TOP STORIES

The exhibition has been financially supported by the design and print industry; Colorman was the print sponsor and design sponsor was Catalysto; other design and print companies who supported the exhibition were Trimfold, Walsh Colour Print, Spectrum, Vermillion, Impress Printing Works, DLRS Group, Gill, Watermans Printers, The Irish Times and Kenny’s Bookshop in Galway.

Seditious Types, Legacy of the Printers of 1916 runs until September.

Admission is free of charge.

Seditious Types at National Print Museum The Seditious Types, Legacy of the Printers of 1916 exhibition opened at the National Print Museum in Dublin on May 6th. The exhibition explores the role of printers active in 1916 and the central role of printed media in shaping the image and meaning of the Rising.

In 1916 print had a prolific presence, with broadsheets, newspapers, posters, fliers, handbills and postcards evident on every street corner. Print forms were divided into stationary, advertisements, popular media newspapers, journals, books and academic publications. The press industry was thriving in Dublin, meeting the demands of the growing middle and upper classes. And the print industry was producing large amounts of material for nationalist and unionist organisations.

The ever growing militaristic tone of these organisations is evident in the text, illustration and branding of the surviving print. From the outbreak of the first World War, the Dublin Castle administration closely monitored all printed works and employed the Defence of the Realm Act to

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suppress any which were seen to incite sedition or discontent within the lawful authority.

The print industry produced vast amounts of stationary and advertising for the main political parties and the British administration. This often resulted in material from varying political points of view being produced in the same printing shops.

However, a number of print shops were associated with the Gaelic League and the nationalist literary movement. This group of printers actively published works which would not have been printed by the mainstream printers of the time, including works by Yeats, Synge and O’Casey. In recognition of the power of print to inform and win public opinion, a nationalist print counterculture existed in the form of journals, pamphlets and books. This ‘mosquito press’ circulated mainly in Dublin among radical political activists. In the case of the more seditious groups and individuals, small printing presses were often established in secret locations. By 1916 many of the key political activists were printers, compositors and editors.

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TEN TOP STORIES

Sign+Digital Hosts Vehicle Wrap All-Ireland At the time of writing Dublin-based Sign+Digital is gearing up to host the third All-Ireland Vehicle Wrap Championships at its premises in Airton Close in Tallaght, Dublin on May 24th The winner will represent Ireland at the FESPA Digital World Wrap Masters.

The wrap championship will be the highlight of Sign+Digital’s day long ‘Open-House Spectacular’ where customers will have the opportunity to view live demonstrations and new product launches from Roland and HP, as well as experience hands-on exploration sessions in the company’s acclaimed creative centre. Vehicle wrap demonstrations will take place throughout the day, given by expert vehicle wrap instructor Justin Pate while leading window tinting trainer Ole Solskin will do window tinting demonstrations. Thirty two contestants will compete face-to-face for the All-Ireland Vehicle Wrap Championship 2016 title, completing a number of timed challenges with only the best progressing to the next round. Contestants will use a variety of digitally printed cast vinyls and the material will be applied to Volkswagen Caddy vans. The judging panel will then determine the best from each group and the contestants will continue to compete until he or she is eliminated, leaving just one winner who will be announced on the day. Hope to see you there!

(L-R): Chris O’Brien, Structural Engineer, Tony Roe, Managing Director, with the Fespa award, and McGowan’s Senior Graphic Designer Gillian Barry.

The winning entry and Durst 1030 are in the background.

McGowans Triumphs at Fespa 2016 McGowans Print flew the flag for the Irish printing industry at the Fespa Digital 2016 exhibition in Amsterdam (March 8th to 11th) where they claimed a Gold Award in the digital print category of Point of Purchase Products – Paper & Board. Fespa holds an annual exhibition, which includes a gala awards ceremony, to showcase and recognise the best printers in the world. McGowans received the top prize, which was presented in Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, on March 9th, for their palette arch which they produced for Coca Cola Ireland. Designed to draw attention to Coca Cola products in stores across Ireland during the Christmas period, the arch proved to be so successful that it even went viral on Coca Cola’s social media platforms. The arch palette was designed by Gillian Barry, Senior Designer at McGowans, using Adobe’s creative cloud suite of products, predominantly Adobe Illustrator. The structural side of the project was produced by Chris O’Brien of McGowans using Artios CAD. The job was printed on McGowan’s Durst 1030, a large format inkjet flatbed printer, and cut on the Kongsberg XP digital cutting table. “40% of the points awarded were based on print quality and colour appearance so Durst can justly claim some of the credit for this Gold Award!” says Managing Director Tony Roe. “Our cutting edge equipment is capable of printing everything from business cards to banners. The company posted a turnover of over €12m last year and continued reinvestment will ensure that McGowans remains as Ireland’s leading digital printer for many years to come.”

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(L-R): Leigh Feery, IT Director, Grant Engineering, Dermot Gath, Print Room Operator, Grant Engineering, Gary Fisher, MJ Flood Athlone Branch Manager, and Phil Schueler, MJ Flood Production Print Manager.

Teamwork Creates Winning Formula at Grant Engineering Gary Fisher, MJ Flood Athlone’s Branch Manager, first approached Grant Engineering in February 2015 regarding a possible new Managed Print Services (MPS) deal for the company. As the conversation progressed, he realised that Grant Engineering was also interested in being able to print brochures to a high standard within the business itself. Gary was impressed with the Grant team’s can do attitude and invited them to attend the Digital Print Gathering event that was being organised in Galway on March 4th. “We chatted at the event and ran some of their pdf’s through the various devices that were on display that day and we made plans to visit the Grant Engineering operation again in order to talk through the benefits further,” says Gary Fisher. “Leigh Feery and Andy Murphy gave us a full tour of Grant’s amazing manufacturing facility and explained how being able to produce their own marketing material, such as manuals and brochures for their various boiler models, would fit in with their goal of keeping everything on-site and in-house. We discussed how this print-on-demand approach would also eliminate wasted or outdated marketing material and manuals that they currently ordered in from the UK and they were very keen to see some machines in action. After demonstrating the proposed systems and Grant Engineering’s visit to another large print-on-demand customer of ours, Sprint Print, we discussed various configurations. In the end we installed a KM bizhub Press 1052 mono production system, as well as a bizhub Press C1060 colour production system.

Grant Engineering also took our advice, opting for offline finishing equipment, working with Larry Murphy of DBC and William Condron of Print & Graphic Equipment. I knew Larry Murphy and William Condron quite well from doing print shows together. I think a critical factor in our success on this project was that all three companies worked together as a team to build a lasting partnership with Grant. We could have recommended inline finishing along with our machines but we recognised that Grant Engineering would be far more productive and get more manuals and brochures printed per hour with offline binding equipment.”

Grant Engineering also became an MJ Flood MPS customer, investing in one high-end office device so far – the bizhub C364e office printer - following a print audit. Grant Engineering’s IT Engineer, Leigh Feery, says they were asked by their General Manager to look into bringing their

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print service in-house. “He had a feeling that we could save money but it was a hunch more than anything, but the more we investigated the more we discovered he was right,” says Leigh. “We had a huge amount of desktop printers here when I started here in January 2015 and the first thing we did was get rid of those and look for proposals from companies for a MPS. MJ Flood gave us a really good proposal and demonstrations. They also guided us in our search for production print presses. We received an excellent service from MJ Flood. Our toners are delivered ahead of time, we are very comfortable in terms of stock and we have a full overview of our printing.

The service calls have been few and far between but where they have occurred the MJ Flood team have been very fast to react – we have had a service engineer from MJ Flood out to us within an hour. “ The KM bizhub Press 1052 mono production system and bizhub Press C1060 colour production system were installed in October 2015. “We have close to 20 different technical manuals that we print and they are updated regularly so we print about 500 copies at a time,” says Leigh. “We have cut our costs by 20% as a result of bringing our print in-house.”

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TEN TOP STORIES

Managing Director Peter Thomas

New Name for TALL Group Subsidiary

Busting Myths About How Paper is Made Two Sides North America celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd with the release of an engaging new infographic that illustrates key facts about how paper is made. Designed to bust myths about paper production, and about other forest products, the new infographic (www.twosidesna.org/TwoSides-Infographics) reveals that in North America less than 36% of the annual timber harvest is directly used for paper and paperboard. In fact, more trees are harvested to make lumber and other solid wood products essential for construction such as building homes and furniture.

The infographic spotlights other key facts about paper, recycling and other forest products, including the fact that every year North America grows many more trees than are harvested, paper is one of the most recycled products in the world with recovery rates of 65% and higher in North America, about 35% of our paper products use recovered fibre as a raw material, and forest products, such as paper, are based on a highly renewable and natural raw material – wood from sustainably managed North American forests.

Two Sides is an independent, non-profit organisation created to promote the responsible production, use and sustainability of print and paper.

DLRS (NI) Ltd has changed its name to DLRT Ltd, effective since May 1st, reflecting the company’s continued integration into, and strengthening business relationships within, the TALL group of companies. The acquisition of DLRT Ltd, based in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, in May 2015, further strengthened the TALL Group’s position as a market leader in secure printing. “Becoming part of the TALL Group last year, and now adopting a closer identity with the Group, will see us develop closer relationships with our key business partners, built on the same experienced Lisburn team, but now with the added resources available to us across the three sites,” says Peter Thomas, Managing Director of DLRT Ltd. DLRT Ltd is an established CPAS accredited cheque printer with an annual turnover of around Stg£3m.

The company produces high volume standard, personalised cheque and credit books. DLRT also produces secure documents for government applications in Northern Ireland and further afield. This acquisition enables the TALL Group, which comprises Runcorn-based TALL Security Print Ltd and Hinckley-based Checkprint Ltd, to add a range of standard personalised cheque and credit books to its portfolio of products and services.

LEFT: This engaging infographic explains how paper is made.

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Delta Feels the Force with High Speed Press

Ennis Printer Gets Real Boost with Neopost Real Print, based in Ennis, Co Clare installed a Duplo DBM-600 bookletmaker in November 2015 and the machine has been boosting trade at the family-run print house. The company, which has been operating in Ennis for over 20 years, supplies small format print work as well as signs and large format material to a range of businesses throughout Clare and the rest of Ireland.

“We decided to make the Duplo investment with Neopost Ireland because the previous bookletmaker was outdated and wasn’t an efficient machine to run,” says Real Print’s Kenneth Butler. “However, the new DBM600 bookletmaker is fast and efficient. It is also very user friendly and is managed from a PC. And multiple stacks saves on time when you are loading up a job. Based on our experience with the DBM-600 we would definitely consider doing business with Neopost again in the future.” Real Print produces a wide range of printed material and features a strong in-house finishing operation. Kenneth has noticed a pickup in business in recent months. “We are finding that large format printing, as well as booklets and programmes, are generating the most business for us at the moment.”

Belfast-based Delta Packaging is targeting a capacity increase of 75% at its European Packaging Solutions plant in south west Poland with a new Drupa specification Rapida 145 six colour press from KBA. The investment is the latest stage of an Stg£40m investment programme, announced 18 months ago, which has brought new customers and contracts worth over Stg£8m within two years, with the potential to develop into Stg£10m per annum in the medium term. The press, which will have a double coating capability, is equipped with an 18,000 sheets per hour ‘High Speed Plus’ package, which includes KBA’s Sensoric Infeed System (SIS). Other features targeted at high performance output include Fully Automatic Plate Changing (FAPC), a CX package for board up to 1.2mm, a full logistics system at the feeder and delivery, and simultaneous roller washing (SRW), which allows colour changes during production or other make ready activities. For quality control, the press has ErgoTronic ColorControl with LAB function for spot colour measurement and KBA’s Auto Camera Register system (ACR). The press will produce folding cartons and nested trays for McDonald’s, KFC and Kellogg’s, alongside packaging products for the likes of Nokia, Tesco, Sainsburys, Greiner Pkg, Nestlè and Guinness. The investment is Delta Packaging’s first purchase of a KBA sheet-fed press, having previously invested in Heidelberg sheet-fed equipment at its 320 employee, 200,000 square foot site in Belfast. However, the group does have experience of KBA products following the purchase of a KBA/Flexotecnica EVO XG LR 10 colour flexo press for the Belfast site in 2013.

ABOVE: The Duplo DBM-600.

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TEN TOP STORIES

Hackett’s Score UK & Ireland First Hackett Digital recently installed a Roland TrueVIS VG-640 which it purchased from Tallaght-based Sign & Digital. This is the first installation of Roland’s latest print and cut machine in Ireland and the UK. “Hackett’s specialise in providing the highest quality digital print solutions for our clients and this new investment really seems to fit the bill,” says Hackett’s Print Manager Chris Brien. “The quality of print produced by the VG-640 was the main attraction for us. When we saw what the printer could deliver using the new printhead technology we were instantlly impressed. The new Versaworks Dual RIP software was also a big plus for us, especially when we encounter files with layers and transparencies.” Derek O’Mahoney, Sales Manager with Sign & Digital, says that Roland have taken their technology to the next level with the TrueVIS VG 640. “The new ink and printhead technology is delivering outstanding print quality. With the new printhead, every drop of ink lands exactly where it is intended and the results are instantly recognisable.”

Sign & Digital have installed a TrueVIS VG-640 in their recently expanded Creative Centre.

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BELOW: Gary Hopwood, General Manager, Ricoh Ireland.

Ricoh Named as European Leader in Managed Workflow Ricoh was recently named a leader in Managed Workflow Services by IDC. Key factors that contributed to Ricoh’s positioning include strong overall strategy and structure for a services-led organisation; the ability to provide real-life examples of business transformation from its own workplace in discussions with customers; and investment in personnel and acquisitions to build industry-specific expertise. That’s according to the new IDC MarketScape: Western Europe 2015 Managed Workflow Services Hardcopy Vendor Assessment — Building on MPDS (managed print and document services). The IDC MarketScape focuses on managed workflow services, the most mature type of MPDS. This encompasses an evolution to a set of professional and managed services that automate and optimise vertical and horizontal documentintensive workflows and business processes. The research evaluated vendor offerings through extensive business briefings and demonstrations, as well as responses from in-depth interviews with customers throughout Western Europe. The report acknowledges that Ricoh remains close to the market by sharing experiences and expertise globally for regional implementation. It also states that the company’s consulting group is structured around four practice areas – business process agility; enterprise mobility; governance, risk and compliance (GRC); and organisational change management – with principal consultants assigned to each area.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

AT YOUR

SERVICE Every company claims that their customer service is second to none. But MJ Flood, the exclusive distributor in Ireland for Konica Minolta’s range of production print presses, believes that its service ethos and operation sets it apart from its competitors in the commercial print space.

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“Our company was founded on the principle of providing top quality local service to our customers,” says MJ Flood Managing Director Michael Power Jnr. “With eight offices around Ireland, MJ Flood can provide local service to printers all over the country. Combine this with the latest equipment from Konica Minolta and we have a winning formula. When we decided to pursue this market in earnest we knew from the outset that the demands on our service department were going to be far higher than those expected by our traditional customers. When a commercial printer’s machine isn’t operating properly their whole production line stops. We need to respond immediately.

By responding in this manner we have generated a high degree of loyalty among our commercial print clients.”

Phil Schueler, Production Print Manager at MJ Flood, says the company’s biggest asset is the “excellent service and support we provide for our customers. I work closely with the production team, which is broken up into production colour and production mono products.

Keeping the two sub-teams separate is important. Having guys who specialise only in colour or mono means they

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BEHIND THE SCENES

are experts at what they do and are therefore better able to diagnose issues and get our customers up and running quickly. Another fundamental strong point for us is our localised service and support. For example, if you are a customer in Cork and you ring our Cork branch you’ll never be re-directed to some call centre in a far off land. I think our customers appreciate that!”

Shorter Runs, Quicker Turnaround

Phil Schueler points out that the changes in their service support operation have been influenced primarily by the trend towards increasingly shorter run lengths and the requirement for faster turnaround times on print jobs. “Some former litho houses have even gone completely digital now so the growth is continual and comes from several different angles,” he says. “As a service provider that means we have to be able to respond quickly to these demands and get our customers up and running in short order. We understand this industry well and all our production engineers in the field are knowledgeable about and have experience in the print industry. That means we can relate to our customers because we understand that when a machine goes down it is potentially their livelihood that is at stake as well as that of their customer base.”

MJ Flood’s Service Manager Jimmy Lynch points out that customer expectations have evolved quite dramatically in recent years. “Their customers are more demanding of them so they become more demanding of us,” he says. “That means we have to respond to their needs very quickly – a speedy and efficient response is vitally important.”

Jimmy Lynch has worked with the company for over 20 years. “My background is as a field service engineer,” he says. “I worked my way up to supervisor and then to service manager. My experience has always been fieldbased so that is why we are very service orientated here. I have 40 engineers in my team around the country, including four in the production print team in Dublin. Each of our branches has one print production specialist engineer, as well as a person who can back them up, and further back up is available from HQ in Dublin. We deal with different types of print companies, from the largest to the smallest, and with all of our customers we try to bring a level of personal service to their experience. Of course, not every problem involves a call out - a lot of our engineers can resolve the smaller issues over the phone.”

ABOVE: Jimmy Lynch, Service

ABOVE: Phil Schueler, Production Print

Manager

Manager at MJ Flood

Accessibility is Key

Jimmy believes that MJ Flood provides its commercial print clients with a level of access to the company that its counterparts and larger organisations don’t offer. “With larger supply companies people end up in a call queue but we don’t deal with customers in that way,” he says. “Our customers will always find themselves dealing with a person and we have call out and a backup service. Customers know when we will have someone on site to deal with their problem. I know other companies do that so it doesn’t make us unique but we like to think that we are one of the leading, if not the leading, service and support operation in the commercial print space in Ireland.”

Common Concerns

BELOW: Quality and media issues are the most common problems that MJ Flood is required to address.

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Since MJ Flood set up its production print operation in 2010, what are the most common problems that print companies have been contacting them about? “Generally it is quality and media issues but it varies from day to day,” he says. “From an operational point of view, they might have stock difficulties with different types of media. People are trying to replicate quality standards and keep their customers happy so that is why our engineers call out to customers on a regular basis to clean and service their machines, to maintain the quality that users require.” Phil Schueler points out that a drum change or charge corona is often what is required to address a customer’s specific problem. “In a lot of cases the types of issues that I am contacted directly about are often RIP or software-related,” he says. “This brings me to another key area of differentiation within MJ Flood’s production printing department - our customer can ring me directly and I can usually talk them through those types of issues over the phone. For example, I have been working with Fiery and Command WorkStation since 2001 so by now I can see exactly what the customer is attempting to do in my head and quickly take them through it, whether it be assistance with a calibration, making a booklet in-line, or even creating a quick profile to accommodate a specific customer. I guess it boils down to the fact that I’m not just out selling machines - my position crosses over into technical service and support and training as well. I think that gives us a great advantage in the print industry. Our customers appreciate our expertise and are confident that we will look after them.”

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COVER STORY

The new Mimaki UJV55-320 UV roll to roll printer.

MEGA

MERGER

GPMI became the largest independent paper merchant in Ireland following an MBO last June. Now their recent acquisition of Reprocentre has made them the biggest supplier to the print industry in Ireland. Reprocentre’s Brian Crawford and GPMI’s Enda Brophy talk to Maev Martin about the merger.

S

Agfa’s Jei Mira flatbed printer.

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o how did the union of these two Irish print industry giants come about? “Reprocentre identified GPMI 18 months ago as a potential partner because we could see the benefits for both companies,” says Brian. “We believed that an alliance with another key player with a complementary product portfolio would help us to broaden our customer base - and the range of services that we could offer our existing clients.”

While it was Reprocentre that made the initial approach, Enda Brophy is enthusiastic about the benefits that the acquisition will bring to GPMI. “The potential synergy is massive because the product range is complementary – there’s almost no cross-over,” he says. “Also, we used to sell some large format equipment but we would lose out by not having a reliable service back-up compared to our competitors. However, following the acquisition we can now offer the industry an expert support service. In addition, GPMI are the only paper and signage merchant in Ireland with a dedicated sales team and warehouse in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland so the Reprocentre acquisition is a great fit for us. The fact that the Reprocentre office in Northern Ireland is close to our offices is another benefit. And, with the latest information from the campaign front in the UK

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COVER STORY showing a 50/50 split between Britons who want to stay in Europe and those who want to leave, GPMI believe that this merger makes both companies strongly prepared in the event of Brexit!”

At the time of writing (May 9th) Reprocentre will move into the GPMI offices in Fonthill Business Park in Dublin 22 in the next six to eight weeks. Sixteen staff from Reprocentre’s Dublin office will join the GPMI team in Fonthill. GPMI employs 10 staff in Belfast and the new company will employ 14 people in Northern Ireland. With the new staff members coming to Fonthill, as well as Reprocentre’s range of consumables, printers and software packages, the GPMI building will finally be used to its full potential. “We have plenty of room in the warehouse for the Reprocentre stock,” says Enda. “And our state-of-theart showroom will be ready at the end of June.” They will also have plenty of room for the Reprocentre service department, where Brian is actively seeking to grow staff numbers. “So far the interaction between staff is great and from Reprocentre’s point of view the customer benefits are terrific,” says Brian.

Unrivalled Range Brian points out that the merger with GPMI gives Reprocentre exposure to a much wider customer base. “Our suppliers are delighted with the 10 or 12 extra sales people who are now offering their products into new accounts,” he says. “The other side of that coin is that the GPMI sales team is now selling a wider range of products into our existing customer base,” says Enda. Is GPMI planning any more acquisitions in 2016 or 2017? Understandably, Enda isn’t revealing specific details of any future acquisition plans but he predicts further consolidation in the Irish print and signage industry in the years to come.

“Our combined operations address the needs of both the litho and digital markets and we are the biggest supplier in Ireland to the print and signage trade,” says Enda. “This is all about more products going to a combined customer base. Apart from the continued growth being experienced by our sign and display division, we have specific areas that we want to target for growth, including the industrial plastics sector and the LED area.”

On the coated paper side, GPMI has successfully built up the Lumi brand in Ireland over the past few years and continues to be its largest distributor. They sell the Magno brand of uncoated paper and also stock recycled, alongside a full range of copier and digital, papers. Their sign and display division offers a wide product range to the sign and graphics, digital wide format and plastics industry. Big names include Stora Enso, Sappi, Brett Martin, Avery, NI Plastics and Mactac. GPMI also offer a dedicated industrial packaging range to the commercial print, sign and display and industrial plastics trade. Their offering includes corrugated boxes, packing and specialised tapes, stretch films, polythene sheets and hoods, postal packaging, protective packaging, shrink films, pallet wrapping machines and heat shrink chambers. GPMI also supports the retail and shop-fitting industries with its Bright Green Technology LED range.

Reprocentre Group boasts an equally impressive portfolio that spans large format printers from the likes of Agfa, Canon and Mimaki, and a wide range of media and inks, as well as the full range of Agfa CtP systems and printing plates. Finishing equipment from Watkiss, Morgana, and Kongsberg is also available. On the software end of the business they offer wide format workflow solutions from Esko, Agfa, Onyx and Caldera, as well as the latest colour

BELOW: Agfa’s Anapurna M2050i.

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ABOVE: Esko’s Kongsberg C cutting table.

management and proofing systems from global colour specialists GMG. They also stock a wide range of litho consumables.

“The feedback from customers about the merger is very positive,” says Enda.

“And, of course, Reprocentre has an excellent reputation in the industry. Since 2010 there has been no change to the composition of the paper merchant supply chain or to the equipment supply side of the market. So this new entity is a game changer as it encompasses commercial paper, signage and printing technology, and is the only supplier on the island that can offer printers and signage companies a one-stop-shop for all three aspects of the industry.”

Planning Your Exit Strategy Blackthorn Capital acted for GPMI in the acquisition of Reprocentre Group and managed the MBO for PaperlinX in June 2015. A Dublin-based corporate finance and wealth management consultancy specialising in mid market mergers and acquisitions, Blackthorn Capital has noticed a significant trend emerging in Ireland’s post recession business landscape. “Business owners are now pondering their exits, having held on during the recession,” says Dermot Grant, Director Corporate Finance with Blackthorn Capital. “They are reviewing their options and we can help them structure their exits in a way that generates the maximum value from their assets. This doesn’t just apply to distressed businesses. This is an increasing trend among a lot of solid businesses because shareholders are often 50 plus years of age. They are wondering who will buy their business, if their management team is strong enough, and what they can do to maximise shareholder value because it can be difficult to find a third party buyer. There is a lot of consolidation going on in all sectors so how shareholders in businesses can exit the markets they are in is a big issue. I would estimate that 50% of companies in Ireland are in this situation and the other 50% are those who can find a competitor who wants to buy them.

There are a number of ways in which a buyout can be managed. For example, there are alternative lenders and there are imaginative ways to structure a buyout such as deferred consideration, where the buyout is funded by the business.”

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THE BIG PICTURE

Stretching the

New hardware and software solutions are increasing the creative options for large format print providers and their clients. Irish Printer reports on some recent launches and on the print company that is pioneering Mimaki’s latest technology.

D

ublin-based W.C. O’Brien Sign & Print recently placed an order for the first Mimaki UJV55-320 to be installed in Ireland during the Sign & Digital UK exhibition at which the new grandformat, roll-to-roll UV printer was heralded as the star of the show.

“We flew in specifically to have a demo on the new UJV55-320 from

ABOVE: Andrew O’Brien of W.C. O’Brien Sign & Print and the Reprocentre’s Bernard Hoey shake hands on the Mimaki UJV55-320 deal at Sign & Digital UK.

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Mimaki, having seen the printer at Fespa Digital in March,” explains the company’s Director, Andrew O’Brien. “We spoke to Mimaki reseller, Reprocentre and found out that the printer was only Stg£60k.

We realised this was an investment we simply couldn’t miss out on.” The company’s own print files were produced at the exhibition on the UJV55-320

by UK and Irish Mimaki distributor, Hybrid Services, and Andrew O’Brien quickly realised that the print quality, size and productivity of the UJV55, along with its keen price point, meant that it was an opportunity for developing the business further.

“We are not only going to bring our own grandformat print work in-house, which will speed up our workflow and give us greater control, but we will be providing a trade service too, working with independent exhibition companies and sign and graphics installers throughout Ireland to deliver a high-quality printing service for display and exhibition graphics,” says Andrew. “We were blown away by the quality - even when our own files were printed at the highest speed the output was exceptional.” According to Hybrid Services, the Mimaki UJV55-320 wowed visitors to Sign & Digital UK with its price tag and array of features such as twin-roll simultaneous printing, an internal lightbox for proofing backlit applications on the fly, and grand format UV printing onto rolls up to 3.2m wide.

Meanwhile, Mimaki descended on drupa 2016 with its full product portfolio of solvent and UV printers and cutting tables, which included the new 110sq m/h 3.2m wide UJV55-320 printer. Mimaki also showcased the UJF-7151plus flatbed printer for direct printing on various substrates at an industrial

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THE BIG PICTURE

production level of quality, as well as the UJF6042 flatbed printer. Its high-performance flatbed printers - the JFX500-2131 and JFX200-2513 - along with the UJV500-160 UV roll-to-roll industrial printer were also present, in addition to a selection of JV and CJV solvent-based production printers and printer/cutters. A unique solution from Mimaki on display at drupa was the Kebab option which can be used with the UJF-3042HG and the UJF-6042 for 360-degree direct UV printing on cylindrical objects ranging from 30mm to 330mm in length and 10mm to 110mm in diameter.

Mimaki will be making a new ink available this summer. The LUS-350 is a stretchable ink suitable for a wide range of thermoforming applications.

It is compatible with the Mimaki UJF-7151plus and JFX200-2513 printers and will be available in CMYK, white and a unique clear ink. Mimaki claims that the new ink is set to change the way vacuum moulded, or thermoformed, applications are created.

Up until now, it was necessary for objects to be formed prior to the images being applied manually or by screen printing. This new ink technology now allows thermoformed objects to be imaged before forming, using Mimaki digital printers running inks that will not crack or otherwise be damaged during the heat-based forming process. This process will provide a finish for a wide range of applications such as car parts, mock-ups, moulded signs and more.

Mimaki LUS-350 ink will stretch up to 350% when heated to between 120 deg.C and 200 deg.C. After cooling to room temperature, the ink’s rigidity is restored, while securely adhering to the moulded product without cracking or peeling.

Images are initially printed on flat substrates using specialised imaging software and then formed into the desired shape using vacuum, thermoforming or other moulding techniques. Intricate textures and designs in fine decorative prints are retained even after moulding, with the additional benefit of being able to apply multiple layers of ink to create raised areas in the image for further enhancement, without having concerns about cracking or quality of adhesion.

HP introduced the HP Latex 500 printer series and the HP Latex 1500 printer on May 4th. Designed for medium to large printers with increasing volumes, HP says that the 64 inch HP Latex 560 and 570 printers enable customers to manage a variety of print jobs and peaks in production at a low upfront investment. New features include unattended printing with a new spindle-less pivot table and automatic skew adjustment to load rolls in one minute or less, heavy-duty roll handling of rolls up to 55kg, as well as a status beacon for real-time production monitoring from a distance. It offers print speeds of up to 23 metres square per hour at indoor mode and highly saturated prints using new vivid print modes with 50% more ink density. The 126-inch (3.2 metre) HP Latex 1500 printer offers a super-wide printing solution on a broad range of indoor and outdoor applications, including PVC banners, self-adhesive vinyl, textiles and doublesided prints. Printing at speeds of up to 74 square metres per hour in outdoor production mode and up to 45 square metres per hour in indoor mode, the printer features 1200dpi thermal inkjet printheads, an optical media advance sensor and an embedded spectrophotometer. The HP Latex 1500 is expected to be available by July and the HP Latex 500 series

by August. Both were demonstrated at drupa 2016.

Spandex has become the latest major printing technology and media supplier to sign up to exhibit at The Print Show (October 11th to 13th, NEC

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ABOVE: The HP Latex 1500 super-wide printing solution.

ABOVE: Mimaki’s LUS-350 stretchable ink will provide a finish for applications such as car parts, mock-ups, moulded signs and more.

Birmingham) and will be showcasing its wide format print technology portfolio, which includes HP, SwissQPrint, Roland DG, Epson, Rollsroller, Avery Dennison, 3M, Arlon and ImagePerfect. In particular, the company regards The Print Show as the perfect platform to demonstrate the SwissQprint flatbed printers, as well as its latest range of wrapping films, wall coverings and décor films.

SA International (SAi) released a free Version 12 download for all existing licenses of the SAi FlexiPrint HP Latex Edition software.

The new version includes a suite of major new features for FlexiPrint Premium and FlexiSign-Pro Editions, as well as enhancement of the company’s FlexiPrint Basic Edition software, available on HP bundles worldwide for customers of the HP Latex 310 and 330 printers. New features include an artwork approval tool that sends designs to customers so they can review and comment on the artwork through their web browser. The tool also tracks each project approval and revision and notifies print businesses when their customers have reviewed or approved artwork.

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PACKAGING

NEW CUTTER CREATES

EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY FOR CAVAN BOX

Packaging specialist Cavan Box has invested in a new Zünd G3 L2500 from Zünd UK to produce samples it describes as ‘exceptional’.

stablished as a small sheet plant in Cavan in 1981, 100% Irish-owned Cavan Box has developed over three decades into a box plant, supplying the food industry, as well as the medical and general engineering sectors. Its production facilities meet all the necessary accreditations demanded by leading blue chip clients but also cater for the requirements of small manufacturers.

Cavan Box frequently upgrades its conversion machinery, typically every seven years. Anselm Lovett, Managing Director of Cavan Box, says the purchase of the Zünd G3 L2500, installed at the end of 2015, was “the obvious progression” for sample-making. “We noticed the machine in some of

Cavan Box is using its new Zünd G3 to produce cardboard box samples for customers in the UK and Ireland.

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the well-known independents in the UK and a day with Zünd customer Atlas Packaging in Barnstaple sealed the deal for us,” he says. “We moved up from another UK supplier who didn’t have the back-up assistance that Zünd offers. The training from Zünd was also light years ahead of our previous supplier - we have a full complement of people who can now use the table.

The turnaround for samples was always quick but now the quality of the sample is exceptional.”

Anselm Lovett also praised Greg Heather, appointed as Zünd UK Sales Account Manager for the Midlands, North-West England, Wales and Ireland in May 2015, for his “very good” knowledge of the technology.

“Cavan Box is a savvy investor, always keeping an eye on new developments in conversion equipment and choosing the very best machinery for its needs,” says Peter Giddings, Sales Director, Zünd Plotting Systems (UK) Ltd. “As a designer of bespoke cardboard boxes, it needs to offer the highest quality samples for its customers. The Zünd G3 L2500 is therefore an ideal choice.”

Zünd UK’s G3 digital cutting system has a modular configuration, enabling users to choose the right combination of tools and material-handling options based on their requirements at the time of purchase and to make alterations retroactively. “Swiss engineering has created versatile, durable systems able to handle materials up to 50mm thick with minimal user intervention and maximum efficiency and safety,” says Peter Giddings. “British expertise provides the knowledge and experience required to help Zünd users reach their machines’ full potential.”

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TEXTILE PRINT

Epson’s SureColor SC F7200

Epson’s SureColor F series of dye sublimation printers will be centre stage at the launch of Serigraf’s new showrooms in May when the reseller will highlight Epson’s unique total solution package and the almost unlimited range of customised and personalised applications that printers can now offer their customers. erigraf’s showroom launch will take place over four open days that the company is hosting for customers and potential customers at Unit E1, Crag Avenue, Station Road in Clondalkin, Dublin 22. The open days will run on Wednesday, May 25th, Thursday, May 26th and Friday, May 27th from 10am to 5pm and on Saturday, May 29th from 10am to 3pm.

“Apart from the Epson SureColor F series of dye sublimation printers, we will have our full product range on display and we will be providing demonstrations on a number of items, including the Epson Sure Color SC-F7200 64 inch dye sublimation printer, the Sawgrass Virtuoso VJ628 25 inch sublimation printer, and

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the Kala DS-67 calender press,” says Serigraf General Manager Ciara Yeates. “Visitors will be able to view our new range of printable textiles, from flag, signage and display substrates to soft furnishing and sportswear material. Of course, we will also be demonstrating our full range of heat transfer systems and media, including the Epson SCF-2000 direct to garment printer, the OKI C711 white toner printer, SEFA heat presses, Forever transfer papers, SEF print and cut materials, and Unisub photogift products. There will be a variety of substrate and print technology options for print and signage companies to view so we would encourage people to come by and meet our team, view our extensive product portfolio, and experience some of our machines in action.”

Serigraf have constructed an additional space in their factory to act as a second showroom which will be dedicated to highlighting the Epson SureColor F series range of wide format dye sublimation printers.

The new showroom will also host seminars, workshops

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TEXTILE PRINT

Epson’s SureColor SC F9200

and training. “So there will be an opportunity to learn about a number of print processes - not just wide format sublimation - but direct to garment and heat transfer as well,” says Ciara. “We have been the Irish agents for the Epson SureColor F series for nearly two years now. As soon as the range was launched in Ireland in March 2014 we came on board as their distributor, so we want to highlight the fact that we are the exclusive Epson distributor for the SureColor F range and for Epson’s direct to garment printer in Ireland. Sublimation printing is bigger in Ireland on the desktop side but the wide format end has been growing.

However, when you visit exhibitions like Fespa you see a large emphasis on wide format sublimation and we are experiecning increased interest in that end, hence the new showroom.”

A World of Opportunities

Sublimation means different things to different companies.

To some it means the ability to produce photo-quality gift products. To others it means making custom performance apparel. “Whatever your focus, sublimation allows for a versatile interpretation of product solutions across many market segments,” says Ciara Yeates.”Whether you want to sell personalised phone cases and mugs or produce sports apparel or exhibit graphics, sublimation digital printing solutions empower creative businesses to produce customised and personalised products that excite and amaze. Until now wide format sublimation was limited to soft signage, textiles and sports apparel whereas now it can be applied to a range of applications and sectors, including art exhibits, gallery printers, signage, furniture, retail displays, museums, and to the hospitality and restaurant sectors. We would encourage print and signage companies to get creative and explore the potential of superior dye sublimation printing with the SureColor SC-F series. The SureColor F-Series has reinvented the dye-sublimation transfer printer by designing every component to work together, from the print head and ink technology to the printer mechanism and software. Capable of achieving speeds of up to 682 square feet per hour, these printers dramatically increase your daily production while freeing-up valuable floor space by reducing the number of printers required. They also offer photographic print quality with resolution up to 720x1440dpi.”

Total Solution

Daniel Rafferty, Ireland Sales Manager for Epson UK, points out that Epson is the only manufacturer in the textile printing space that can offer print and signage companies a

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total solution. “From hardware and ink to media and software, the SureColor SC-F series delivers superior textile, soft signage, interior and promotional printing,” he says. “Essentially, the SureColor SC-F9200, SC-F7200 and the SC-F6200 models offer a complete Epson solution for customers that includes hardware, software, printhead, ink, sublimation papers, warranty and service to ensure that everything works together. The printer is even supplied with Wasatch software, meaning users are ready to start printing straight away, without the need for further investment. Epson and our partners Serigraf can match your business needs with a choice of models in formats up to 64 inches printing at 100 square metres per hour and the option of High Definition HDK black ink for specialist fashion and apparel printing.”

Epson cites two major pieces of technology which they believe are vital to the quality and low cost of ownership that the SureColor SC-F series can offer print and signage companies – Epson’s HDK black ink and Epson’s PrecisionCore printhead. “We can offer the industry low total cost of ownership courtesy of our HDK black ink, which reduces total overall ink consumption, and the reliability of the PrecisionCore printhead,” he says. “Epson’s specialist HDK black ink for fabric printing achieves truly outstanding colour performance by incorporating high density HDK black ink into your total printing solution. Specially developed for the textile market, its superior black density means more natural shadows and hues and easier control of grey scale. It can even help to reduce overall ink consumption.

However, the high performance dual PrecisionCore TFP printhead is at the heart of our printers. This delivers exceptional quality at high speed and works with our specialist inks, large after heaters and accurate take-up and rewinding systems to ensure exceptional results at high speeds.”

Unrivalled Range

The SureColor SC-F9200 makes long print runs easy and offers fast printing up to 100 square metres per hour in draft mode, 56 square metres per hour in production mode, and 27 square metres per hour in quality mode. It prints on a wide range of dye-sublimation transfer papers up to 64 inches (1,625mm) wide.

With the SC-F7200 Epson is targeting textile production companies that produce medium to high volume production runs and signage print service providers. The SC-F7200 is used for creating medium to high volume runs of rollto-roll textiles, including clothing, sportswear and home textiles. The product can also be used in the production of soft signage. The SureColor SC-F7200 prints up to 64 inches (1,625mm) wide and up to 58.9 square metres per hour.

The SC-F7200 comes with a HDK black ink, which has been created primarily for use with textiles to help produce deep, neutral blacks and dense shadows.

With the SC-F6200 Epson is targeting low to medium textile producers, photographic studios and companies producing promotional goods. This printer is used by manufacturers for producing cut sheet sportswear/tshirts and various promotional goods including phone covers, tablet covers, mugs and other items. It is also used by photo labs for high quality photo reproduction onto metal, wood and other hard substrates. It prints up to 44 inches (1,117mm) wide and up to 63.4 square metres per hour.

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PROFILE

MASTER When I visited Masterphoto on May 28th posters for a major supermarket client were being printed as the company hosted an open day for customers – evidence of the productivity gains that Canon technology has brought to the D4 operation.

asterphoto installed the Océ Colorwave 650 printer a year ago, followed by the purchase of an Arizona 660 GT flatbed six months later. “This open day, under the theme ‘Life is Not Black & White’, is all about allowing our customers to explore the new colour printing technologies on the Arizona and Colorwave machines and the opportunities that the Canon technology can offer them,” says Managing Director Barry Delves. “The

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possibilities are endless – we can now print on everything from corri board, card and banner materials, to slate, stone, wood, clingfilm and ceramics.”

At Masterphoto the Océ Colorwave produces mainly posters but also prints onto wallpaper, magnetic media, ferris paper, vinyls, coated stocks and Tyvek material. “We are currently printing a poster job for a supermarket customer that would have taken four days on two HP machines but we can now produce it in 14 hours on the OcéColorwave 650,” he says. “This is a regular contract for us so being able to reduce a 64 hour job to 14 hours has allowed us to make significant improvements to our productivity. The Arizona is also bringing major benefits to our operation – with our latex technology we had to babysit work whereas the Arizona beeps when it is finished a job so it offers unattended printing.”

Apart from the productivity gains that they have enjoyed since installing the Canon technology, Masterphoto are now in a position to offer print jobs on a much wider variety of substrates. During the open day examples of this type of work were on display throughout their premises. “We wanted to offer our customers something different and to open their minds to the range of

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PROFILE

MAIN IMAGES: Colorwave and Arizona technology offers photographic quality at realistic prices.

options that the latest print technology can give them for producing their promotional materials,” says Barry. And Masterphoto’s customers responded enthusiastically, with the company receiving 36 replies to the 42 invitations issued. At the time of my visit they had already welcomed 19 customers and were expecting another 16 later in the afternoon.

“Essentially, the Colorwave and Arizona are offering our customers photographic quality at realistic prices in realistic timeframes,” he says. “The Canon technology can print directly onto clingfilm. We tried this on the HP technology and it wasn’t successful but we can now execute it successfully on the Canon printers.” The Canon technology complements Masterphoto’s three HP latex printers, which can print up to 63 inches in width by any length on a variety of substrates, including matt, gloss, satin paper, vinyl, duratran and all rigid material.

Masterphoto has operated its three HP latex printers for nearly four years and Barry describes them as “excellent machines. We use them to print high end fashion material as well as display posters and graphics. However, we have transitioned all of the material for a couple of our clients to the new Canon technology as we are finding that it is more efficient and provides us with a better cost per sheet than the HP printers.”

Large format accounts for just a small percentage of their turnover but Masterphoto are looking at increasing that percentage. “These two Canon machines have already brought extra turnover to the company, and our two Ricoh devices on the small format side have also generated major savings,” says Barry. Masterphoto has also been investing on the small format side of the business and Barry has nothing but praise for the recently installed Ricoh technology. The company operates two Ricoh printers – a ProC9110 and ProC7100x. He has no hesitation in describing

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ABOVE: Canon Application’s Manager Andy Rockall delivers a workshop on display graphic applications.

the Ricoh technology as “better than any Indigo press we have ever had in the factory. The ProC9110 was launched about six months ago, we installed our model two months ago, and I think we are only the second one in the country.

It has near offset colour quality thanks to a newly-designed toner and offers a wide range of paper options.” Masterphoto says demand for their work has been increasing by 15% year-on-year for the past two years. “That is because of our latest technology investments and, of course, the general pick-up in the market,” he says. Their finishing kit includes Borg bookletmakers, a Wohlenberg guillotine, and Morgana digital cutting and folding equipment, but they aren’t resting on their laurels. “We will invest in more finishing equipment in 2016 – a cutting table and an additional bookletmaker,” he says.

Donnan Cullen, Key Account Manager with Canon Ireland’s Production Printing Group, says that the ability to deal directly with Canon was a major factor in Masterphoto’s decision to make their wide format investments with the manufacturer. “Other flatbed manufacturers operating in Ireland sell their products via resellers or Irish dealers and Masterphoto had a bad experience with that arrangement in the past so they were happy to be dealing directly with the manufacturer,” he says.

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AWARDS PREVIEW

CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN

The 39th Irish Print Awards will take place on Friday, November 25th in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry, Dublin. In the second in our series of sponsor profiles, we showcase some of the industry’s big players who have renewed their support for the awards.

Lifetime Achievement Award, Sponsored by Close Brothers Commercial Finance

Sheetfed Colour Offset Printer of the Year, Sponsored by Heidelberg

Close Brothers Commercial Finance specialises in injecting cash into companies throughout Ireland. “We are a leading, independent provider of asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending (ABL) to both SMEs and large businesses,” says Adrian Madden, Head of Sales at Close Brothers Commercial Finance. “We provide funding for new and used assets such as commercial vehicles, construction plant and a wide range of machinery. Our products can also release cash from your outstanding invoices to help you achieve strategic objectives such as business growth or acquisitions and mergers, in addition to supporting your everyday cash flow needs. We specialise in providing financial support to the print industry and our asset finance product is particularly appropriate for the purchase and re-finance of print equipment. Close Brothers has extensive coverage throughout Ireland, with offices in Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Galway. “Having worked very closely with the print industry for many years, Close Brothers has seen the sector change dramatically in recent times with, for example, the ever-increasing reliance on digital technologies,” says Adrian. “We have helped many print firms to thrive and grow and for that reason we are delighted to once again be able to sponsor the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Irish Print Awards.”

“Sponsoring the Sheetfed Colour Offset Printer of the Year Award reflects Heidelberg’s confidence in the future of litho,” says Heidelberg UK Managing Director Gerard Heanue. “Heidelberg loves the buzz and camaraderie of the Irish Print Awards and it is great to see excellence in print recognised at such a high profile event.” The quality capability of Heidelberg’s Speedmaster range and its flexibility across a range of stocks is well recognised. Continuing innovation in automation, workflow, spectral measurement and other production and control tools ensures the future of the technology. “Heidelberg is exceptional in being able to offer objective advice to printers deciding between conventional, UV, LED-UV, LE-UV or anilox litho, and between these options and our digital portfolio, rebranded under the Fire name, and including the commercial Versafire CP and CV (formerly Linoprint), Omnifire 250 and 1000 (for printing onto 3D objects), Labelfire 340 (formerly Gallus DCS 340 for label printing) and the Primefire B1 industrial level inkjet press launched at drupa,” says Gerard.

“Heidelberg also offers web to print, MIS, workflow solutions, Suprasetter CtP devices and Stahlfolders, as well as other products through partners like Polar and Masterwork. Advisory and training services, as well as unmatched service levels, mark Heidelberg out from the crowd.”

Report & Accounts Printer of the Year and Brochure Printer of the Year, Sponsored by Swan Paper

For details of sponsorship opportunities

086 821 0203 Contact: Fiona Larmon fiona.larmon@ ashvillemediagroup.com

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“Swan Paper has sponsored the Report & Accounts category for many years and we are delighted to do so again this year,” says Managing Director Tony Swan. “We enjoy the largest market share in coated and uncoated folio sheets and substrates, which are primarily what is printed on in this category, and our involvement in the Irish Print Awards helps support that position. We decided to continue sponsoring the Brochure Printer of the Year category because we believe that, going forward, promotional print, of which brochures will be a major part, will play an increasing role in the advertising/promotional mix, along with digital and social media. The Irish Print Awards are important to us as the major print awards event on this island. They enable us to support the industry through award sponsorship and our paper/board substrates are profiled on many of the submitted and winning entries. The event itself is a lovely night of networking and good humour and this year will be one of special significance for us as we commence our 40th year serving the industry on October 3rd.” Founded in 1977, Swan Paper is the largest independent wholly Irish-owned fine paper merchant, stockist and distributor on the island of Ireland today.

National Newspaper Printer of the Year, Sponsored by Manroland Ireland Manroland Ireland provides sales and service in Ireland for manroland sheetfed and web offset printing products. The company is the official agent for a comprehensive range of world class print finishing equipment, including GUK, Baumann and Wohlenberg. Manroland Ireland also offers a portfolio of certified consumable products under its Printcom brand and is the only authorised dealer for Westland rollers and Trelleborg blankets in Ireland. “The newspaper industry operates in a demanding and rapidly changing market where printed news media must excel not only in content but in the quality and innovation of its products,” says Manroland Ireland Managing Director Martin Lockley. “The National Newspaper Award provides the only platform on which to acknowledge the tumultuous efforts of those involved in the Irish printing industry in the presence of their peers. With approximately 70% of all Irish newspapers printed on manroland presses, Manroland is the leading supplier of newspaper presses in Ireland and it is therefore with great pleasure that we continue to sponsor the National Newspaper Award. The Irish Print Awards are instrumental in nurturing new and existing talent in the Irish print industry.”

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INTERVIEW

Label Tech has weathered the changing economic climate and is now well placed, through innovation and substantial investment in technology, to maximise new opportunities both domestically and in the UK. Managing Director James Costello talks about recent international acclaim and future investment strategies.

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ince winning the Digital Self Adhesive Roll Label Printer of the Year category in the 2015 Irish Print Awards for ‘Screaming Banshee’, the craft beer label for the Irish Craft Brewery Company, Santry-based Label Tech has been receiving plaudits for its innovation, creativity and originality, as well

as its use of printing techniques, on a number of global websites, including TheDieline.com, retbaildesignblog. net, packagingoftheworld.com, createlaboratory.com and lovelypackage.com. “The Screaming Banshee label has really made an impact and we are delighted with the positive media coverage internationally,” says James. “The ethos of the business has always been based on quality and service and through innovation we are now punching above our weight on the international scene. As our name suggests, Label Tech has a strong interest in the technical side of printing. Our team are continuously researching and reviewing the latest technological innovations to deliver the best labelling solutions possible. Speed and capacity have allowed the company to deliver a range of labels, from small digital runs to large multiple deliveries for global organisations.” Founded in 1992, Label Tech supplies selfadhesive labels to businesses in the food and beverage, logistics, pharma and retail sectors. Employing 40 staff and with revenues in excess of €8m a year, the company has recently launched an embossing and foil finishing service which it believes will open up new market segments, particularly in the growing food sector, as well as in the drinks, beauty, household, pharma and medical, transport, logistics, and health and nutrition sectors. Significant investment in the last three years has been in the order of €2m on the equipment side, with projected spend in 2016 in the region of €500,000.

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INTERVIEW

Big Spender “We invested in a digital HP 60800 press last year, which is the latest technology released from HP in relation to their digital label production offering,” says James. “It can handle short- to medium-sized runs. The technology that we had before - the HP 4500, which we operated for almost a decade and is being replaced by the HP 60800 - was more focused on short runs, so this new press allows us to expand our product offering on the digital side and do jobs more efficiently and cost effectively. We also invested in a new foiling and embossing machine, which was the unit we used to run the Screaming Banshee. We have quite a collection of finishing units which we plan to expand on, including an AB Graphics unit for slitting, as well as our Digicon digital finishing equipment, turret finishers, and an offline sheeting capability. In addition, we upgraded our three Mark Andy flexo presses with UV drying technology.”

Over the past two years, the organisation has implemented an MIS/ERP system which has automated many aspects of the customer service process, including ordering and production processes. “We invested in a system called Label Traxx in 2014 and it has been a great addition to the business,” he says. “It enables staff to track jobs, which in turn leads to better communication with customers, speeds up delivery dates, and promotes much more efficient use of time, and we are constantly reviewing and broadening the scope of the system.”Printers aren’t known for their willingness to embrace self promotion but Label Tech makes ongoing investments in marketing, with a recent brand refresh, a new website, and a strong social media presence.

“We have embraced social media in order to broaden our range of touch points with customers,” he says. “Our blogs offer them advice and our presence on LinkedIn and Facebook keeps customers abreast of developments at Label Tech on an ongoing basis.”

2016 & Beyond BELOW: Label Tech has invested €2m in equipment over the last three years.

IP_May_June_2016_Interview.indd 24

For 2016, Label Tech is looking at making investments in several ancillary areas to its main production facility. “In particular, we want to broaden our finishing capability and improve our capacity to respond to bespoke and unusual demands that customers are placing on us in terms of finishing, packing and order breakdown,” he says. “Customers are more discerning when it comes to the manner in which they want their products produced and finished so we have to look at expanding the range of finishes that we can make available to them. Foiling and embossing is just the start of our plans on the finishing side. I may pop over to drupa for a day and have a look at what they are offering. We are looking at investing in a variety of pieces of finishing kit and it is all very bespoke, not off the shelf. We are working with specific customers to address the particular challenges they face so we will take a collaborative approach to expanding our finishing services, maybe working with a number of manufacturers.”

So far this year they have carried out a complete energy audit and review of their operations, which has resulted in lower energy requirements and a more efficient plant. They have also invested in standards. “Following our British Retail Consortium audit earlier this year we were awarded a double A rating,” says James. “We are the first company in Ireland to achieve this so that is a very exciting accolade for us and one that has come on the back of the technological investments that we have made in our plant over the last year.” Chairman and Finance Director David Keogh is also delighted with the recent successes. “We are seeing the return on our significant investment in people, new technologies, and production capabilities and we are excited about the new phase in the company’s development.”

23/05/2016 09:32

INTERVIEW

ABOVE: Label Tech’s Managing Director James Costello.

Label Tech’s award-winning label for the Irish Craft Brewery Company.

IP_May_June_2016_Interview.indd 25

According to James, Label Tech has been working with a growing number of premium FMCG customers in the last six to nine months.

“Consumers want a more premium look and feel from their packaging and that is what we specialise in,” he says. “We take pride in the work we do. Nothing is too much trouble for our customers, whether that means pulling together to rush out a last minute order or taking the time to find the perfect finish. It is this commitment that has allowed us to retain our longstanding customer base, which includes Aldi, Dunnes, Centra, Spar, Bewleys, Butlers Chocolates, Kepak, St Ives, Carton Brothers, Callan Bacon, DHL, Fastway, ABP and Microsoft. A recently completed customer satisfaction survey highlighted the quality of our labels and our knowledgeable and helpful staff as the main reasons for our continued success and customer loyalty.”

Label Tech operates a mix of digital and flexo technology, with an 80%/20% split between flexo and digital. “That 20% digital will increase to 30% in the next two to five years because digital technology is moving ever closer to its flexo counterpart in terms of quality and it offers greater flexibility than flexo,” says James.

Commenting on activity levels in the market, he reports that 2016 started slowly but that business has been steadily gaining momentum over the last few months. “It would appear that the economy is improving but I’m not sure if the printing sector booms as much as other sectors do when that happens,” he says. “However, people are prepared to spend a bit more on their packaging now - and that is because they see it as helping to improve their sales and achieve stand out in store, creating that vital point of difference on shelf.”

25

23/05/2016 09:33

26

COMMERCIAL PROFILE

NEW HOME FOR When we talked to Trimwel Managing Director Nick Little earlier this year, the company was preparing for its big move to Parkwest Industrial Estate. Now that they are settled in their new home, Irish Printer gets an insight into their expanded operation.

T

rimwel, which began trading in 1983, is one of the oldest sign suppliers in Ireland. The company started out in a small shed in Rathfarnham before moving to Sandyford Industrial Estate in 1992 and then on to its new address in Parkwest this year. “Originally, we were just a 3M distributor and the only competition that we had in the Irish market was from Avery Dennison,” says Nick. “Today, as well as 3M and Metamark, Trimwel is the main Irish distributor for Rollsroller, the original signmaking flatbed applicator, a full range of Spandex post and panel systems, and the Shield sign laminator 1650.” Their portfolio also features the Sword cutter - a vertical cutting system for signmakers with high cutting volumes on cardboard, Forex, aluminium composite panels, Plexiglas, and even glass. More recently, they were appointed the new supplier for SloanLED who develop lighting products such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) that are suitable for commercial, industrial and high tech industry use. They have also been the main agents in Ireland for the industry-renowned Graphtec plotters for the past 20 years.

“Now that we are firmly ensconced in our new 10,000 square foot premises, which includes a showroom, our objective is to grow sales and to further expand our product portfolio,” says Nick. The company will also offer vehicle wrapping courses at its new premises in Parkwest.

“I feel that there is much more specification from architects, builders, designers etc so it has never been more important for a material supplier like Trimwel to engage with both the end user and the printer/sign maker to ensure that the best materials are used for specific jobs,” says Nick. “To this end we are basing our showroom around high-end aluminium signage and LED lighting that can be viewed by the customer. We can also introduce our customers directly to 3M, who have an office in Ireland and are happy to meet clients and potential clients to discuss projects on a one-to-one basis. In addition, we have just released a new brochure that printers and sign makers can show their customers. We can then involve manufacturers such as 3M who can match colours where needed and individualise their products to ensure that the customer’s signage is unique. However, the best way for us to tell you about Trimwel is to visit our operation so feel free to call us to arrange an appointment.”

IP_May_June_2016_Commercial Profile Trimwell.indd 26

PICTURED ABOVE: The Trimwel team, (L-R) Ross Douglas, General Manager, Nick Little, Managing Director and Keith Stephens, Sales Manager

MAJOR MILESTONES March Company formed in Rathfarnham selling 1983 3M 100 series cast against Avery 900 - both are still very strong brands in the Irish market.

1990 Nick Little begins working in Trimwel for the then owner Derek Welsh.

1994 He leaves to pursue a career in advertising and sales in the UK. 2008 Nick purchases Trimwel. The main objective is to grow the company’s portfolio of digital media to reflect the rapid growth in the digital print sector 2016 Trimwel moves to Parkwest Industrial Estate.

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23/05/2016 12:34 09:53 05/05/2016

DRUPA 2016

The

In this issue we continue our look at the innovations and technological partnerships that are the hallmark of drupa 2016, including the latest line of nanographic printing presses from Benny Landa.

L

anda is providing visitors to drupa 2016 with live demonstrations of its nanographic printing presses, including the S10 sheetfed press for folding carton and POP, the Landa S10P perfecting press for commercial printing, and the Landa W10 web press for flexible packaging and paperboard. “Fourteen years of nanotechnology research has enabled us to make tremendous breakthroughs in the quality, speed and cost of printing,” says Benny Landa, Chairman of the Landa Group. “Landa nanographic printing presses produce offset quality, and now at offset speeds and offsetcompetitive cost per print, on virtually any paper stock. This research has also spawned a new technology, nanometallography, which will enable metallisation graphics at less than half the cost of foil, with zero waste - and is quicker and simpler to use.” Landa is taking orders for its products at drupa and it expects presses to start shipping in early 2017.

Komori’s launch of its new Impremia NS40, developed using nano technology under license from Landa Corporation.

The press combines Landa’s digital imaging and nano ink system with Komori’s heavy engineering expertise. Printing in CMYK, the NS40 is capable of hitting 71% of Pantone colours. This new product will perform high-speed printing at 6,500 sph as the world’s first B1 digital printing system.

The press employs Landa NanoInk colorants, a proprietary water-based ink with nano-pigment particles that measure

tens of nanometers in size. The ink can be used with all common commercial substrates (coated and uncoated paper, paperboard, plastic and specialty substrates). Although it will not be available to purchase in the current calendar year and Komori isn’t taking orders at drupa, visitors can see the new press in action as it prints a

ABOVE: Fujifilm’s new Acuity LED 3200R wide format inkjet printer. BELOW: Komori’s Impremia NS40 – the world’s first B1 digital printing system

Pioneering Partnership Without doubt one of the highlights at drupa 2016, if not the highlight, is

IP_May_June_2016_Drupa.indd 29

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DRUPA 2016

variable data-driven art poster.

Komori’s Impremia IS29 inkjet press is available to purchase at drupa. The IS29 can be bought as a complete package or on a click charge model. Jointly developed with Konica Minolta, the Impremia IS29 digital printing system has a maximum sheet size of 585mm x 750mm and is capable of printing on ordinary offset printing paper. In addition, Komori says that the printing unit incorporates their offset press manufacturing technologies, resulting in “excellent tone reproduction and register accuracy and realising high quality printing that approaches offset.

This suitability with stocks and high print quality brings about the fusion of offset and digital and enables the ideal seamless combination of equipment.

Also, by taking advantage of UV inkjet characteristics, the system is ideal for not only commercial printing but also package printing.”

Colour Confidence Alwan Color Expertise showcased inline profiling technology that allows printers to automatically calibrate and profile their print devices without any dedicated resources or print sessions.

The new Alwan Color Suite Version 6 software - ColorHub, PrintStandardizer and PrintVerifier - enables printers to calibrate and profile their print devices during production.

“Device calibration has been successfully used by printers for years now, allowing them to match ISO 12647, G7, or custom curves,” says Alwan’s Elie Khoury. “PDF colour management has also been used for years, allowing printers to optimise incoming files to their printing process. However, profiling has been and still is the pain point and the missing link in the colour managed workflow. Long, costly, complicated and off-production, profiling conventional or digital devices is something that many printers do not do often enough or even at all.

By bringing this new and industryfirst technology to the market, Alwan intends to remove the last obstacle that prevents printers from profiling their presses. This new Alwan technology works for all printing processes: flexo, digital, offset, screen, gravure etc. and for all process colours: CMY, CMYK, n-Color, Extended Color gamut etc.”

Inkjet Advance Fujifilm is launching its new Acuity LED 3200R wide format inkjet printer at drupa. Offering a maximum print width of 3.2m, the printer has a top speed of 110m2 per hour (1,184 ft2/hr) and features eight ink channels as standard (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, light magenta, white and clear).

It utilises Fujifilm’s Uvijet ink range - these instant-curing UV inks enable multi-layer printing that reproduces designs with two-layer or three-layer printing. The addition of a clear ink

IP_May_June_2016_Drupa.indd 30

Finishing Touches B1 ENHANCEMENT PRESS MGI Digital Technology is launching its JETvarnish 3D Evo, which it describes as the world’s first B1+ scalable sheet-fed digital enhancement press. It features digital foiling and an upgradeable inkjet expansion system with three available substrate size options ranging from 52x120cm (standard) to 64x120cm and 75x120cm. The production speed of JETvarnish 3D Evo 75 achieves more than 4,000 B2 sheets an hour. The B1+ size format option is designed to give printers and converters the ability to run fully personalised short, medium and long runs without expensive tooling for packaging applications. Every piece finished on all of MGI’s JETvarnish 3D Evo systems can be a blend of digitally embellished images, text, data and brand designs using spot varnish, 3D raised varnish and digitally embossed foil in one pass.

CUTREADY SOLUTION Tecnau’s CutReady solution showcases its ability to cost-effectively cut and stack output from HP Indigo digital presses. CutReady supports a broad array of applications, media types, and paper weights – completing one up, two up, and three up output in standard photo sizes including 4x6, 5x7, 6x8, 10x8, and 12x18 inches. Running at speeds of up to 100 m/min, it delivers lay-flats for offline finishing, book covers with inline or offline lamination, calendars, canvas and other specialty products, as well as long-sheet applications such as posters and banners.

means high gloss spot varnish effects can also be created, enabling sign and display printers to produce added value print. The Acuity LED 3200R will take media weighing up to 100 kilos (220 lbs) and can handle the printing of two rolls simultaneously, boosting productivity as two different images can be printed at the same time.

Offset On Demand Komori is showcasing its new Lithrone G29 offset printing press. The manufacturer says that the new Lithrone G29 29-inch press has been renovated as a high-end machine meeting the printing needs of increasingly advanced and complex markets. They also state that in the future, this base machine will be developed into a system with productivity surpassing digital printing systems. The Lithrone GX40RP is a dedicated double-sided press for offset on demand printing. Maximum printing speed is 18,000 sheets per hour. One-pass double-sided configuration with no sheet reversal helps reduce paper cost since the sheet size can be minimised because the margin on the tail edge of the sheets is not necessary. Short makeready and printing with H-UV instant curing make the press capable of handling very small lots and short turnarounds.

Digital Dominance HP overtakes Heidelberg as the single biggest exhibitor at drupa 2016. Their equipment array includes five HP Indigo digital presses and three HP PageWide web presses. The new HP Indigo portfolio includes three sheet-fed presses, the HP Indigo 12000, 7900 and 5900 digital presses, the oversize B1-format duplex HP Indigo 50000 digital press,

the HP Indigo WS6800p digital press for photo specialty applications, as well as an improved HP Indigo 20000 digital press, now equipped for commercial applications. HP says that the new HP PageWide web presses T490 HD, T490M HD and T240 HD provide customers with increased print quality and higher productivity than was previously possible, leading print companies to transfer more high-value commercial print applications from offset to inkjet.

HP claims that customers are able to eliminate up to 50% of pre-press work with HP SmartStream Production Pro 6.0 and increase throughput up to 40% per shift with the HP Indigo Optimizer, which supports non-stop printing with on-press job sequencing and proofing during production. HP PageWide web presses are suitable for colour trade books, journals, retail catalogs, brochures and marketing collateral. For example, the 42-inch HP PageWide web press T490 HD digital colour duplex press delivers up to 1,000 feet per minute (fpm) in performance mode and 500 fpm in quality mode. Its monochrome variant, the T490M HD, offers equivalent offset-class digital monochrome productivity.

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23/05/2016 11:55 10:14 11/05/2016

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TALKING TECHNICAL

F

Futec is one of the leading manufacturers of 100% print inspection systems for the commercial, packaging and label markets. We caught up with Silvio Neumann, one of the company’s European Sales Managers, to get his thoughts on some of the key issues affecting print businesses.

Q A

What does 100% inspection actually mean?

Inspection of the web is nothing new, but inspection systems have become increasingly sophisticated since they were first introduced in the 1980s. 100% inspection offered by the leading solution providers today provides quality assurance by monitoring the web, continuously, across the entire press width and throughout the entire production process, while comparing the print to a perfect job master. Software applications then analyse the captured data and deploy advanced algorithms to detect any defect. These defects are then displayed on a monitor, showing full web views, allowing the operator to determine the exact location of a fault and rectify it.

Leading systems can typically detect all faults inline, including defects that come from material suppliers.

IP_May_June_2016_Talking Technical.indd 32

Q

With the ever growing interest in standardisation and quality control, what advice would you give to printers wanting to achieve higher margins?

A

More than ever, printing is a global business. Printers must be able to compete with the print shop down the road, but possibly with a print shop half way around the world, too. As a result, print houses are working in a fiercely price sensitive market. Printers constantly battle with the question ‘How do I minimise costs, maximise profits and still deliver consistent quality?’ All good inspection systems available detect random material faults as well as variation in colour, mis-register, streaks, spots and so on. Eliminating those defects means reducing waste, as well as claims and returns. Streamlining the production process with a 100% inspection system guarantees that the required quality of a product is never at risk. In return, printers will maintain the best possible reputation and establish themselves as preferred suppliers. Furthermore, offering a product that has been inspected and monitored 100% of the time, and throughout the entire production process, puts a print house in a much better position. Not only can it tightly control its production workflow and costs, but it can also use this capability to assure brands of consistent print quality through detailed reports and reduced waste, which is key for adherence to most marketing and environmental aspirations.

23/05/2016 09:41

TALKING TECHNICAL

Q A

About Futec

How can you help printers to better achieve this or accelerate the process?

Founded in 1977 in Japan, Futec is a pioneer of 100% automatic flaw detection systems for print and surface inspection for commercial, packaging and label markets. Futec invests up to 10% of its revenue into in-house R&D to continuously remain at the forefront of technological developments.

Futec has over 250 employees and more than 9,000 customer installations worldwide. The company recently expanded its European business operations by opening a European business hub to further improve the sales and technical service support in Europe. The business hub, which is headquartered in Germany, is also used as a dedicated customer training centre. Silvio Neumann is one of Futec’s European Sales Managers and has over 10 years’ experience working with optical inspection systems.

Before we talk to print houses about print inspection we first help them to analyse and evaluate their business and production processes.

For example, when investing in an inspection system, customers need to consider reliability.

Many printers operate 24/7 production, so any system would have to be extremely reliable and easy to handle. Then there’s the issue of ‘substrate’. What substrates does the print house typically use and what do they cost?

What are the risk and costs involved in wasted print and which print inspection system would be most suited to reduce or eradicate this? We partner with our customers from the outset. In addition to being a technology supplier, we also consider ourselves to be in the business of brand management and client relations. In terms of ROI, our customers often use a very simple measure for our services - no customer/brand complaints.

Q

Automation, digital end-to-end workflows and Print 4.0 were the drupa buzz words. How relevant is this to your offering?

A

As industrial devices become more intelligent and connected, they are producing huge amounts of data that can be collected and used to generate new business ideas and drive a new digital value chain.

Smart factories, which are at the heart of Industry 4.0, will take on board information and communication technology for an evolution in the supply chain and production line. The results are a much higher level of both automation and digitisation. You just need to look at the announcements in the run up to drupa. It was all about automation and internet connectivity.

For us, connectivity with Industry 4.0 is a key driver when developing our new software. Our systems already offer smart features such as AnyWhere/AnyTime, allowing users to access data and reports from any network. Meanwhile, we continue to closely watch and evaluate Industry 4.0 developments.

ABOVE: Futec’s 100% inspection also delivers real time information on monitors

Q

Futec recently opened a new European business hub in Germany. Where do you see the biggest opportunities in the European markets you serve?

A BELOW: Achieving maximum print quality

IP_May_June_2016_Talking Technical.indd 33

Our company was one of the first to pioneer inspection technology in Japan, almost 40 years ago. The expansion of our operations in Europe means that we can provide even better on-site maintenance of our new technical developments and deliver better care for our European customers. The printing industry continues to evolve and change, taking advantage of technology and innovation to provide improved products and services. However, many European print houses have been forced to close in recent years, with unemployment levels within the print sector at an all-time high. But the print houses that continue to succeed are those that have adapted their business or technology set-up to meet increased customer demand for faster turnaround times, shorter print runs and personalised printing. One of the biggest opportunities for us is in supporting and better equipping European flexographic print houses.

No longer just a low-cost option for the production of industrial goods, flexo has become a very popular choice with brand owners for other flexible packaging, thanks to improvements in print quality.

As a result, we are seeing an increase in demand for 100% print inspection systems. So while we continue to serve our customers in the gravure market, our new European business hub means that we are now in a much better position to support our growing flexo customer base.

33

23/05/2016 09:41

34

GO DIGITAL

Digital Dynamic Gathers Pace

Michael Seidl, publisher and editor-in-chief of various specialist print and packaging publications in Central and Eastern Europe, looks at why growing numbers of producers and customers are recognising the benefits of digital packaging print and implementing the technology.

W

ith the exception of the label printing market, the players in the slightly conservative packaging industry have taken a little more time to buy into a digital future than their commercial printing counterparts.

But the tide is beginning to turn. One of the breakthrough moments was the now legendary Coca-Cola Share-a-Coke campaign. Just a few months following Coke’s innovative approach to placing names on coke cans, Ferrero followed its lead with variable Nutella labels. And visitors to the drupa 2016 exhibition can see several solutions that demonstrate the implementation of digital technology in the packaging industry, not least of which is Benny Landa’s nanotechnology - this time shown with a complete system for packaging production.

According to the latest forecasts, the volume of the

IP_May_June_2016_Go Digital.indd 34

worldwide print market is set to grow to €420bn by 2020 from a current level of around €407bn, following the significant sharp decline from €438bn to €407bn in the years between 2008 and 2010. Within the global print market, packaging print is the only area that will grow significantly, with an increase of 3.3% per year, for a share of the overall market of €141bn by the year 2020.

This includes folding boxes, labels and flexible packaging. In terms of specific printing processes, flexo printing is projected to see 2.6% growth, and digital printing eight per cent. Today, only seven per cent of packaging is printed digitally, but the report - The Future of Package Printing to 2019 - by Vlad Savinov, Smithers Pira, 2014 - anticipates an annual growth of 17% for digital printing. This makes it the fastest growing technology within packaging print, projected to reach a volume of US$19bn by 2019.

Labels, Flexible, Folding, Corrugated The packaging market - including the related digital printing solutions - can essentially be divided into four sectors: labels, flexible packaging, folding cartons and corrugated. The label market was the first to recognise the benefits of digital printing. The other markets are now following suit, but not at the same speed or via the same route. The label market has a 10- to 12-year head start on corrugated in terms of digital printing implementation.

HP has now installed more than 1,000 digital presses in the label market and believes that digital printing has become mainstream. Xeikon has well over 300 systems installed and more than 50% of its sales now come from the packaging industry. Traditional companies such as Heidelberg have gone down the digital path via Gallus and, since Labelexpo 2015, are fully on-board with digital with the Gallus DCS 340. This converting system, developed in a joint project by Heidelberg and Fujifilm, is equipped with the latest generation of inkjet print heads and prints at a quality level that was previously only achievable in offset printing. It delivers high-end UV inkjet print quality with a native resolution of 1200 dpi at a speed of 50 metres per minute, with the flexibility and efficiency of digital printing combined with the benefits of flexo printing. Also unique to this solution, in addition to outstanding print quality, is the integration of inline finishing modules. The Gallus DCS 340 prints digitally from roll to the finished, die-cut label; all in one pass. French company Autajon bought and tested the first system, and has now ordered

23/05/2016 09:27

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23/05/2016 17:23 11:48 09/03/2016

36

GO DIGITAL

three further systems. Label print shops increasingly recognise that digital printing can be used as a logical adjunct to the long print runs in flexo or offset printing. Designs can also be changed rapidly. It’s almost as if label design is turning into fashion design. Some wine bottles are becoming style icons as a result. And the next digital wave is already on the horizon: flexible packaging, folding cartons and corrugated will also be riding this tide.

The market for flexible packaging is significant and will continue to develop digitally in the next five years. Flexible packs are increasingly replacing fixed packaging. In the food sector, in particular, flexible packs are easy to handle, and they fulfil the current trend for less waste and a smaller carbon footprint.

The convenience factor cannot be ignored in this segment either. Digital printing provides manufacturers of flexible packaging with the opportunity to grow their businesses. The formula is a simple one: high quality packaging, produced digitally, with just-in-time delivery. This is why the technology is currently gaining ground, supported by presses such as the HP Indigo 20000 that issued a clear signal to the packaging market with its launch. Swiss firm O. KG was the first company in the world to install an Indigo 20000 and specialise in the production of flexible packaging using flexo, gravure and, more recently, digital printing. “Digital printing is gaining importance in flexible packaging printing,” says CEO Martin Kleiner. “The HP Indigo 20000 introduced a quantum leap in digital production of flexible packaging and opens up many new opportunities for flexible packaging print with its printing width of 736 millimetres.” O. Kleiner KG has leveraged its HP Indigo 20000 to produce small runs as add-ons and to provide new options for customers in the smaller run sector. A good example of this is closures for small jam jars. While flavours such as strawberry are produced in large runs, other flavours such as raspberry have smaller batch sizes. These will in future be produced using digital printing. Further applications include test packages or personalised packaging. Digital printing is still relatively new in the folding carton sector of the packaging world. The folding carton industry tends to use the technology for small and differentiated runs. Print runs before or at the end of large, conventional runs are another application. Digital folding carton printing is currently still considered to be in the early adopter stage - in other words, the users who have recognised the trends and developed the first applications. To date firms processing corrugated have been slow to adopt digital printing technologies, with the exception of those using flatbed systems (HP Scitex, Durst, Mimaki). However, this is more due to the fact that until now there had not been many systems available on the market that could be used for corrugated. But this will be changing relatively quickly due to providers such as Bobst or the HP/KBA joint venture, both of which were on display at drupa 2016.

BELOW: HP and KBA’s PageWide Web Press T1100S is opening up new options for the flexible production of corrugated packaging in sizes and run lengths that were not economically feasible before.

IP_May_June_2016_Go Digital.indd 36

ABOVE: Digital folding carton printing is still considered to be in the early adopter stage.

Digital Colossus in Pre-Print Following barely two years of development, HP and KBA presented the world’s first HP PageWide Web Press T1100S to a group of visitors in Würzburg in November 2015. This gigantic inkjet rotation, with a web width of 2.80 metres and with digital pre-printing of the top layer, is opening up new options for the flexible production of corrugated packaging in different sizes and run lengths that were not economically feasible before. “With the combined expertise of HP and KBA, we have now launched the world’s most productive roll printing press for corrugated,” says Eric Wiesner, General Manager, PageWide Web Press Division at HP. “The HP PageWide Web Press T1100S allows finishers in the high-end sector to offer added value by combining pre-print and digital printing in one machine.” The first customer for the HP T1100S was DS Smith Packaging. The company was interested because, in comparison to standard analogue printing technologies, the system offers considerably greater productivity and flexibility, particularly with small and medium sized runs. Thanks to its high productivity of over 30,000 square metres of printed area per hour, the press can be used cost-effectively for large runs as well.

Another current example in the corrugated card market comes from Bobst. At drupa 2012, CEO Jean-Pascal Bobst announced that his company was developing a digital printing system. The project, shrouded in secrecy, is now in use with beta testers just a little over three years later, specifically at Model in Switzerland and at Schumacher in Germany.

This industrial digital solution for printing packaging and displays made from corrugated material uses Kodak’s Stream Inkjet technology and offers not only intense colour reproduction and one of the highest print resolutions available, but also functions with food-compatible printing inks. The digital sheet press designed for four-colour printing on a wide range of uncoated and coated corrugated permits the personalisation of runs large and small of packaging and displays at high speeds. At an outstanding speed of up to 200 metres a minute, the new press delivers high quality on sheets up to a maximum size of 1.3 x 2.1 metres.

“The impact of digital print technologies on production depends on how quickly digital printing presses for the industrial production of packaging are developed,” says Hubert Marte of the Autrian Corrugated Cardboard Forum. “A further factor is the cost of procurement, maintenance and repair, as well as the cost of printing inks. Also, it has not yet been possible to achieve all Pantone colours with digital printing. And printing onto coated papers and the drying that requires remains a serious challenge. Once these issues are resolved, digital packaging printing will impact production significantly, even revolutionise it.”

23/05/2016 09:28

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