Print World Asia Magazine
Covering the Printing, Packaging and Publishing Industries across Asia. MICA (P) 155/12/2013 - KDN PPS1529/05/2013(025527) (Formally Print Pack Publish Asia)
Issue 1 2015 US$8.50
Asian PrintAwards 2014 th
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Contents Page
Issue 1 2015
4 Bent Serritslev joins Xeikon to lead Asia Pacific Business 6 Raising the Bar with Augmented Reality 8 Fuji Xerox Asia-Pacific Gears Up for 2015 12 Streamline Production with New Apogee Suite 9 14 Hearst Advertising Worldwide purchases ad DEPOT from 5 fifteen 16 Repro in the digital world 20 Coatings lead to healthier performance 24 Package printing perfection 28 Four KBA Rapida Presses for Teckwah Group in Singapore 32 New presses for growing Vietnam Printer 34 Engineering firms up older gravure press 36 Promise of chips as cheap as chips 40 The New York Times new supersize capabilities 42 FESPA CHINA 2014 ACHIEVES RECORD- BREAKING ATTENDANCE 44 World Record-Breaking Large Format Flatbed Printer 46 Domino invests in new facilities and development in India 48 The StreetScooter project 50 News from around the world
57 Ubi Ave. 1, #03-06 Ubi Centre, Singapore 408936. tel+65 6733 5342 fax +65 6733 3586 Publisher Paul Callaghan paul@cpublish.com.sg Events Elizabeth Liew eliew@cpublish.com.sg Advertising sales@cpublish.com.sg Journalist Sha Jumari editorasia@cpublish.com.sg Advertising Sales Matthew Callahan matt@cpublish.com.sg Accounts/Circulation accounts@cpublish.com.sg
Get your BEST work ready for this year's Asian Print Awards (held in Singapore). It will be the hardest event to win in the Awards 13 year History
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Digital Technology
Bent Serritslev joins Xeikon to lead Asia Pacific Business Print World Asia sat down with the industry veteran to talk trends, strategy and future plans for 2015. By Sha Jumari. Xeikon recently announced the appointment of Bent Serritslev, as managing director for the Asia Pacific arm of the business. Serritslev, has spent 33 years in the print industry of which 30 years in Asian locations, including Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Malaysia and Singapore. His previous roles representing among others Gallus, Mark Andy, and Heidelberg, have allowed Serritslev to build up extensive knowledge in the fields of labels and packaging and commercial print, including an in-depth understanding of offset, digital, narrow, wide web, and flexo technologies. “There’s tremendous growth potential for digital in packaging, it’s not a direct competition to offset and flexo, but in fact a fantastic complementary production solution with the ability to adapt as the business environment of our customers keeps changing,” said Serritslev.
“Digital is new, and digital is a must. I’m really excited to be part of this revolution for a company that is not only technology-driven, but very customer and application driven. Xeikon is a market leader in digital printing for labels and packaging, with an extensive proven track record around the world. I look forward to be able to spread my wings more and work with the diverse groups of cultures and people across Asia and be part of further cementing our business in Asia,” he continued. Xeikon’s specialisations in its various suites of applications were a big pull for Serritslev: “What makes Xeikon interesting to me is that we’re not just doing digital printing: We look at every aspect of digital production. Working with industry partners enabled us to offer complete solutions for our customers, offering software tools, finishing equipment, the proper consumables. We specialise within various suites of applications. Within the label and packaging business
we have several customer tailored application suite with focus on the fast expanding market for self-adhesive labels as well as our folding carton business. We are possibly the only digital player in the market with 50% of our business volume going into the label industry, he added. His first order of duty in managing the company’s growth in the region is to ensure that Xeikon puts the most qualified people in front of its customers. “Xeikon already has a strong sales network of dealers and
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Digital Technology
Bent Serritslev
That said, Serritslev asserted that Xeikon’s network has been spread evenly throughout Southeast Asia as well. There is growing demand for enhanced print production capabilities within the region, highlighting the increased need for brand integrity and consistency. “We see an unprecedented growth in the Asia Pacific printing industry. There’s no doubt that run lengths continue to be shorter,” said Serritslev. “There are changes in terms of creativity and increasing differentiation, with decorative aspects like coating, foiling and embossing to grow rapidly.”
agents in the region and plan to further strengthening our support structure to our agents but certainly also to joint customers.” Serritslev continued. Xeikon recently launched the Xeikon Cheetah digital colour press that claimed to be 60% faster than any other models in their arsenal. Serritslev states “We have named 2015 “The Year of the Cheetah” and we have already received positive interest in the Asia Pacific region for this top of the line digital label press.
Xeikon’s direct presence in Asia Pacific has focused on the Japanese market, where the company has its own sales and service station. The Japanese market has long been characterised by very high quality standards and individualism the Japanese market has welcome our product offering for many years matching the markets stringent demands and we have great expectation to the continued development of the market for digital dry toner business in Japan.
Serritslev pointed out that variable data printing in labels is also showing significant growth, especially in the pharmaceutical, beauty and health industries: “Brand protection and security in packaging is becoming increasingly necessary, and digital printing in general, Xeikon specifically has exceptional things to offer. Labelling is a way of trying to differentiate your brand from another and this is happening right now. You can go to the market now, and you will see a lot of hidden features that the end-user can’t see, but the brand owners can recognise.” “If you look at the overall shift of some of the conventional print to digital platform, brand owner safety is the same everywhere. We want to put effort in all countries in Southeast Asia that we believe has the potential,” Serritslev concluded.
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Digital Technology
Raising the Bar with Augmented Reality The creative use of AR technology pushed the pedal to the metal that won Indonesia-based Book & Story awards at the Asian Print Awards 2014. Sha Jumari reports. To most, Augmented Reality (AR) is simply a marketing tool, of which effectiveness in reaching out to consumers still remains debated. For Book & Story, AR is the means of bringing to life the romance and love a newly wed couple had for each other. The Indonesian company’s entry, ‘Movie Book’, for the Asian Print Awards 2014 handed it a Gold and Platinum award. Helmed by Vincent Kusuma, Book & Story is no stranger in the awards Hall of Fame. This time round, the company bagged Golds in two specialty categories; Multi-Piece Production & Campaigns and Innovation Printing. On top of that, Kusuma walked away with the prestigious Platinum Sponsor award for Best in Specialty Printing by Konica Minolta. This would count as the third consecutive Platinum Book & Story has achieved. “It always a pleasure for me to win at the Asian Print Awards, and this year we got our 2nd Platinum. Winning the Platinum award was a great achievement for my company, and the perfect way to mark our 5th year of joining the competition,” Kusuma beamed with pride. “This year’s submission is a really special for me. Since last year, we have expanded our business to more into creating added value to prints.” The winning submission titled ‘Movie Book’ was a wedding photobook, which showcased the company’s excellent printing and binding techniques. The judges however, were enamoured by something else altogether; the use of AR. AR is not new in the realm of print, however its usage has mostly been for marketing and corporate use.
“We have a different approach on the AR technology. We use the technology to enhance the experience of enjoying memories,” said Kusuma. “Photography is always about memories. We freeze the time and capture the moment, so that we can relive it later and share with friends and families. Photobooks are a medium for packaging these special moments. I always love photobooks and the limitless creativities that you can put into it.”
Kusuma continued: “As a memories preservation media, photobooks have the capability to deliver back those memories to its audiences. With AR technology, it is possible to enhance the experience of enjoying those happy sweet memories by adding a real video of the moment to the photograph.” “The ‘Movie Book’ entry in particular, was a very demanding task for our designer. All the images in the book were actually a frame from the actual
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Digital Technology The AR app was created as part of the company’s photobook online design software, in which customers can add on their own homemade videos, which can be self-taken or professional recordings. To enjoy the movies, one only needs to scan the photograph using a smartphone, and the video content attached to the image will play. Customers can also choose to implant an NFC (Near-Field Communicator) tag on the cover. Doing so would allow photobook browsers to easily download the company’s AR-reader app by simply touching their NFCenabled smartphones to the cover.
video file. The designer needed to make sure the resolution from the captured frame is good enough for
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print,” Kusuma added, when asked on challenges in creating the entry.
Kusuma is excited on the prospects of its AR app following the win: “We would like to introduce our photobook design software to Asia market, and also to encourage customer to use more of interactive technology on prints.”
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Digital Technology
Fuji Xerox Asia-Pacific Gears Up for 2015 PWA catches up with the supplier to discuss strategies and game plan for the upcoming year, followed by industry trends and outlook for the graphics communications community. By Sha Jumari. If awards were any indication of a company’s success, then the year has been a triumphant one for Fuji Xerox. Its recent achievements include winning a WorldStar award and being ranked highest in a J.D. Power Asia Pacific Customer Satisfaction Study. On top of that, its latest release, the Versant 2100 Press, was awarded the Minister’s Prize at the 11th Eco-Products Awards as well as the Good Design Award 2014. Within Asia Pacific, the market is expected to grow from 4% in 2012 to 8.3% in 2017. (Source: InfoTrends Global Production Printing & Copying Market Forecast 2012 – 2017)The region is showing no signs of slowing
down, and Fuji Xerox Asia-Pacific is propelling forward. “Digital colour printing will continue to grow rapidly over the next decade,” said Nawata Takashi, senior general manager, marketing, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific. “We will continue to hold the number one share of the market because the reality is that Fuji Xerox has become the most trusted and established brand in the industry today.” “We build a large part of our strategy on our customer asset and having that customer service that responds to their needs,” Nawata continued.
Yamazaki Toru, general manager, production go-to-market, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific.
“Our most distinctive quality is that we offer an unparalled end-to-end value proposition for our customers, from technology, workflow, business development, solutions, services and partners. We have the most comprehensive service and support infrastructure in Asia Pacific that is able to deliver support tailored to our customers’ needs.” In short, Fuji Xerox listens to its customers. As a result, the company is able to offer a full lineup of products in a wide range, to cater to all customers’ requirements. Its current portfolio is able to serve not just the graphic communications market, but the
Nawata Takashi, senior general manager, marketing, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific.
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Digital Technology
More Performance. Built in automation plus unique press
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technologies take the finite resource of time and multiply it for you. You get more out of every shift and enhanced relationship with your clients.
The Versant™ 2100 Press allows you to manage colour more easily and simply with automated calibration and proofing. The result is higher quality without operator involvement, a positive impact on your productivity as well as your print output.
Do More. With More. For more information: www.fxap.com.sg/product/production/versant_2100p.jsp The Versant™ 2100 Press
Xerox, Xerox and Design, as well as Fuji Xerox and Design and Versant are registered trademarks or trademarks of Xerox Corporation in Japan and/or other countries.
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Digital Technology corporate market as well. Fuji Xerox’s suite of applications and solutions, from its variable data handling software to its seamless workflow, allows their customers to transform their business models to one that can minimise overall costs, boost productivity and drive profitability. Going beyond simply paying attention to customer needs, Fuji Xerox takes it one step further with the Production Remote Service (PRS) that was launched in 2014. The PRS connects the customer’s production printing system with the support center via the Internet, enabling Fuji Xerox engineers to respond immediately. This service also means that hardware issues can be detected and corrected before the customer’s business is affected. This predictive approach is set to revolutionise the typical or traditional service modes. “It’s a predictive technology that has been proven to minimise operator intervention increasing productivity and device uptime for our customers, and we are the only vendor in the market to be able to provide such a service,” added Nawata. Fuji Xerox’s priority on customer service gives the company its competitive edge, along with its strong
culture of innovation. This ethos is one that is constantly impressed upon its customers. After all, the innovation that is put into practice is the driving force of the printing industry. Fuji Xerox introduced the annual PIXI Awards seven years ago in an effort to encourage its customers to push the boundaries of print by recognising innovative print applications. This was a formula that worked; the recently concluded Asian Print Awards 2014 saw Fuji Xerox customers taking home the highest number of awards out of any other supplier. “These are some sensational applications and PIXI allows us to reward the innovation and excellence of our customers. The increased quality and number of new entries every year indicates that recognition is important,” said Nawata. “Our customers’ continued success at the Asian Print Awards adds another dimension and further enhances their position as some of the best printers across Asia, while also providing Fuji Xerox the opportunity to better understand how our customers are using our solutions.” The achievements and innovations that Fuji Xerox’s customers have accumulated signify the proliferating development growth of digital printing.
While, conventional offset print volume still makes up a majority of the global print volume, the year-onyear growth of digital is high. By year 2021, there will predictably more than 1.2 trillion digital colour pages, with collateral, direct marketing materials, transpromotional documents and books making up the largest number of digital colour prints. (Source : Caslon & Company) Though the projections look favourable, there is pressure for printers everywhere to evolve and be ‘more than just a printer’. Value-add is no longer a buzzword; it is a business imperative to move from being a traditional print provider to becoming an all-inclusive communications provider in order to thrive. “This transformation is key to growth and a sustainable business model that delivers true value in a highly competitive market, characterised by falling price. Print vendors, such as Fuji Xerox, must offer their customers with more advanced workflow and solutions, and consulting capability to further the digital press business,” Nawata emphasised. “The challenge now is in moving print volume from the traditional to that which incorporates a new approach.
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Digital Technology
Fuji Xerox helps our customers manage both aspects: the transition of their current business and opportunity that awaits in digital – this goes beyond print to include all forms digital communication,” continued Yamazaki Toru, general manager, production goto-market, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific. “In response to this, we have developed a Business Development team to support our customers in various ways,” said Yamazaki. “For example, the 1:1 Experience service enables customers to reach corporate clients by using relevant customised messaging to reach their target audience. We have seen this being a great marketing tool for our customers in the banking and insurance industry.” Another approach is Fuji Xerox’s Premier Partner Program, which assists customers in making informed business decisions by providing market research, best practices in the industry and latest innovative solutions. A key aspect of the program is to give members global reach and the opportunity to network with peers to encourage an exchange of ideas and the formation of partnerships. Rising to the Occasion: The Versant Faster turnaround, increased productivity, profitable growth; these were concerns the print industry had, and remain relevant today. In a bid to tackle these challenges, Fuji Xerox introduced the Versant platform in 2014. The launch marked an important milestone, as the Versant platform TM
replaces the company’s long successful DocuColor family of presses. The Versant platform gives customers precise control over all of their printing output. It brings together automation from beginning to end, make it possible and productive to produce a greater number of shorter jobs. A trend that is prevalent in today’s marketplace that now characterise today’s print marketplace. “The Versant platform is designed to meet the fundamental challenges that our customer presently face,” said Yamazaki. “Our slogan is ‘Do more, with more.’ The Versant exemplifies that by providing customers with more productivity, more image quality, more versatility, and more results,” said Yamazaki. The Versant™ 2100 achieves the above through an innovative approach of combining proven technologies, such as Full Width Array (FWA) and the Automated Color Quality Suite (ACQS) as found in the existing Color Press Family, with exciting new technologies such as Production Accurate Registration (PAR) and Auto Sheet Clearance (ASC). Delivering offset-like image quality is achieved through a new EA Eco Low-Melt Toner, as well as Ultra HD Resolution, which allows the press to deliver 1200x1200x10-bit processing with 2400x2400x1 output quality. The Versant 2100 was the first release in the lineup, and by the end of 2014, the press has already garnered a number
of accolades. It received the “Minister’s Prize, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry” of the Eco-Products category at the 11th Eco-Products category at the 11th Eco-Products Awards, organised by the EcoProducts Awards Steering Committee. The award is the top honour of the Eco-Products category and this is the second time for Fuji Xerox to win this prize since 2007, when the company’s five models of multifunction devices developed for the office market. In addition, the Versant 2100 was given the Good Design Award 2014 by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion. The award was given for its compact body design that is harmonious with the environment in which it is installed, as well as for concentrating all of its operator-related principal features in the blue area for user friendliness, and for its overall decorum design. Latching onto the momentum of the Versant 2100 launch, Fuji Xerox released the Versant 80. It caters more for the needs of the print-on-demand, and corporate markets (CRD), in line with the company’s all-encompassing vision. The production printer boasts most of the same professional technologies the Versant 2100 possesses, but delivered in or even more compact footprint designed to appeal to corporate and SME offices.
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PrePress
Streamline Production with New Apogee Suite 9 Agfa Graphics' award-winning PDF workflow, the graphic arts industry’s first production hub, helps commercial printers and hybrid print service providers innovate, interact, and optimize their customers’ print projects. Commercial printers and hybrid print service providers who produce both commercial print and wide-format signs and displays, are now using the new Apogee 9, that serves as the production hub for their graphic reproduction. Agfa Graphics refers to it as the “Innovate-Interact-Optimize” solution, bringing printers new levels of workflow simplification, relationshipbuilding and task automation. “Apogee Suite 9 is our comprehensive tool that eliminates bottlenecks in the print production process,” said Andy Grant, Global Head of Software, Agfa Graphics. “It makes commercial printers and hybrid printers more responsive to their customers’ needs." Apogee 9: What’s New Apogee 9 offers more features that allow users to innovate and expand their business. With drivers for Anapurna, Jeti and a wide variety of other brands, Apogee 9 communicates with a greater
number of inkjet printers supporting a multiple-device inkjet operation. This is the universal production hub where users can run every device—CtP systems, wide-format printers, digital presses—from a single interface, and set parameters for each press including finishing options, cut paths and more. With the new color management feature built in, they can adapt or generate a dedicated color profile based on media type, quality mode, and inkjet output device in a fraction of the time needed by others. Both features bring a high degree of standardization to the prepress, which makes their production more reliable. The new version of Apogee Impose now supports perfect-bound books imposition with automatic glue-line support and impositions for perfecting presses with ease. It also enables the imposition of different page sizes in web production schemes.
Apogee 9 allows printers to enhance customer interaction and build strong relationships. A brand new interface for WebApproval makes it easier for occasional print buyers to upload content using drag & drop. WebApproval’s new HTML5 design makes it more efficient as it avoids typical browser incompatibility issues and lets the print buyer interact with his printer at any moment via his PC or smart device. With the new Apogee Storefront service providers can also start selling electronic products like PDFs, ePub files or website banners. It also lets them generate customized invoices with ease and build new types of stores. "When the workflow is optimized, tasks are automated and operations are streamlined. The staff is then free to be more proactive with clients," Andy Grant adds. "This ability to Innovate your work, Interact easier, and Optimize customer relationships results in higher quality, more creativity and eventually increased profits.” Apogee 9 was designed to further optimize the workflow. Because there is more and more demand for different versions of the same documents, the versioning option was enhanced with new features like automatically print these versions on digital presses as separate jobs. This heavily reduces costs because the job handling is much easier. "Until now we used the digital film concept to 'double burn' our data to do versioning", said Mr Mähringer (Prepress Manager Mediengruppe Oberfranken). "With Apogee 9, the versioning feature on PDF level is the standard now. Adding a new version, change or adding a page is done with greater ease." Finally, a new Apogee InkSave feature lets users know exactly how much ink they are saving, eliminating manual calculations or guesswork.
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Management/General
Hearst Advertising Worldwide purchases ad DEPOT from 5 fifteen 5 fifteen, a leading UK software company supplying publishers throughout the world, today announced the purchase of its ad booking and processing software, ad DEPOT, by Hearst Advertising Worldwide (HAW). HAW offers advertisers and clients direct, centralised and simplified access to an expanded and exclusive international portfolio of 335 magazines, 188 websites, radio and TV channels owned by Hearst and its partners.
derstood our unique and complex requirements. We were impressed with the depth of functionality available, and also by 5 fifteen's personal, professional service and commitment to deliver."
Designed and produced specifically for the publishing industry, ad DEPOT is an integrated cloud solution for advertising sales, order processing and billing.
The ad DEPOT system will handle display advertising bookings for both print and online media. The software enables users to track and sell advertising directly and on behalf of representatives, as well as manage billing, contracts, marketing and salesforce automation, providing true end-to-end control of advertising sales, production and delivery processes.
"Our need for a HUB based solution and the ability to support operations in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and elsewhere creates a unique dynamic with specific workflow processes," states Robert Schoenmaker, Managing Director Hearst HAW. "Of all the systems we reviewed, ad DEPOT most closely meets our requirements and 5 fifteen clearly demonstrated they un-
Specific enhancements for HAW include the ability to define the commercial relationship not just with thirdparty publishers but also other sales companies and agents. ad DEPOT
will control the full financial scope of every booking in the system, also managing the integration with both accounts receivable and payable. Flexible workflow management accommodates differing relationships between sales reps, publishers and even other hubs. Phil Pavier, Business Development Manager, 5 fifteen, comments, "We have been working with the selection team at HAW to deliver a solution that includes significant enhancements in a fast-track timescale and at low cost. We are delighted to have been awarded this important contract and are proud to be part of Hearst Magazines' exciting vision for the future." Implementation at Hearst Advertising Worldwide begins immediately.
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Management/General 15
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Management/General
Repro in the digital world What happened to repro? Around a decade or so ago most photographs were still taken on film and getting them into halftone print required highquality scanners together with repro operators with the skill and experience to get the best from the resulting digital files. Now digital cameras have all but killed off film, nobody makes high-quality film scanners and it’s rare to hear about preparing pics for print. We do hear about profiling and colour management, but that assumes that the original images are identical and fit to print straight out of the camera. Anyone who’s ever wielded a camera in anger knows that they’re not. Film scanner operators and repro technicians used to enhance images to
get the best results in print as a matter of course. But with a few exceptions trade repro houses have died out, so who’s responsible for making sure the pics look their best? Photographers? Designers? Workflow operators? Automation Some of the old manual skills have been automated and built into prepress workflows. The pre-press developers that used to build scanners, such as Fujifilm (which took over Crosfield)
and Screen, have tended to incorporate elements of their scanners’ image enhancement programs into the preflight and file preparation modules of their all-digital workflows. Newspapers have to deal with large quantities of images from a range of sources, from professional agencies through to amateurs with phonecams. Time constraints mean that batch enhancement of images is an attractive option. Agfa is one supplier, with its specialist Enhance Intellitune module within its Arkitex newspaper workflow product range. “There are sometimes a lot of pictures for a news event, coming from various sources,” says Paul Adriaensen, Agfa Graphics PR manager. “Enhance Intellitune will get all the pictures in the same colour ‘mood’, and tonal specifications, detect faces and do global image corrections in a completely automated way.” Dutch developer Elpical Software developed its Claro batch enhancement software package for similar high-volume requirements. Elpical managing director John de Jong explains: “In Claro, the human assessment of images is replaced with artificial intelligence. Images get a thorough analysis, and based upon that the image gets enhanced. Every image is different and needs different treatment. If images are already very good, maybe manually enhanced by the photographer, you will see only subtle changes when processed through Claro, where on other images the difference is much bigger. Claro allows you to set target levels rather than fixed adjustments.”
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Management/General 17
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Management/General However, Precision Printing managing director Gary Peeling says: “Today in general our clients’ designers will take care of the traditional reprographic function in terms of page make-up, so the images will be prepared and they’ll be presented, normally in a PDF file. We pre-flight the files before they are imposed in an automated procedure. We use Fujifilm XMF when receiving native files, or the whole process can be completely automated with applications like OneFlow, our own print-ondemand automated software.” Photographs aren’t usually touched once they come in, he adds: “In most cases the images will have been colourcorrected and the adjustments that the designer requires have already been made. One of the things that’s helping tremendously is the uniformity of the ISO 12647 colour standard. We run to a set of profiles in each of the devices, whether digital or offset, so we have a predictable result. As long as the originator of the file has the correct competencies, then what they see on their screen is what we print here.” Software success It’s not that the designers and photographers need repro abilities, he feels, more that today’s desktop publishing software does a lot of the work for them. “I can’t remember when we last had a colour issue with an image, with someone who was producing something on a professional DTP system,” Peeling says. “It’s largely due to the advancement in the front-end software, but also that the profiling at most commercial print plants is now standardised. The whole subjectiveness of adjusting colour on-press has been completely removed.” Paul Sherfield’s Missing Horse consultancy helps both originators and printers to set up colour-managed workflows. It is possible for clients to do good work on their own images, he says: “Adobe Creative Cloud, used correctly, is a repro shop in a box.” However, correct use can’t always be relied upon. “Photographers may just output CMYK with Fogra 39 and think that’s enough, without actually understanding it. The client wants the lower prices but often won’t take responsibility if it goes wrong.”
To help his printer clients, he gives them a sheet called Image Policy that contains the basic settings to set up colour-managed files correctly. The printers can pass this along to their clients. “It contains instructions for file sizes, resolution, profiles, etc,” he says. Modern pre-press workflows contain good colour management, he says. “The trouble is, not all the operators are now trained to understand colour. On the other hand companies working with high quality colour, such as Pureprint, will use Eizo screens and they employ retouchers to do an amazing job. There are still some pre-press houses left that have retouchers who work with photographers, mainly for things like cars, watches and fashion ads. There are also some freelance retouchers who work for agencies.” Bill Greenwood is one such freelance. He used to work for London trade repro houses before becoming selfemployed four years ago, setting up his own home studio. “I’ll go in, take a brief, pick up the job, take it away and do it, then send it back. With highspeed internet it’s a lot easier to shuffle big files around,” he says. Is there still much of a demand for retouching? “Most definitely,” he says. “A lot of catalogue work is swatchmatched and still needs a human eye to look it over. For clothing, say, you’re going to be looking at slight creases in garments, maybe, or it’s a pre-production model where you’re taking a
label off to match the later real world garments. I still do a lot of that, and for packaging. Less so for magazine work.” He says that raw files from digital cameras are the modern equivalent of scanning and retouching. “With raw files, the photographer or anyone they pass the raw file to can be in control of output. To a degree you can change exposure, swap your hue around, without much damage to the file when you output. “Some photographers won’t give the raw files and you’ll get RGB or CMYK TIFFs. Or some will happily say I’ve taken the shot, there’s the raw files, get on with it.” One of the surviving London trade repro houses is Idea Digital in London. Director Martin Orpen still has three old drum scanners and a couple of prepress flatbeds, and a stock of old Macs to drive them via SCSI cables. Most of the scanning work is from photographers who still work with film or prints. However, there’s still traditional trade repro work around. “The most common call I’ll get from a new client is when a job’s gone wrong on press,” Orpen says. “It’s ‘oh, we’ve heard you may be able to fix it.’ That’s the call. “It’s a shame, but it’s the end result of a history where clients didn’t want to spend the money on repro. The end clients, who pay the bills, don’t know what we do. They don’t see the point
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Management/General 19 of pre-press, and they don’t see why they should have to allocate a budget for it when everyone else has said for years that if you choose the right photographer and printer, that’s all you need. That just highlighted that there is a massive gap in the knowledge of the printers, who having the end device, had no interest or need to bother about repro.” Fashion photographer Clive Booth loves print and make sure he gets the best results by handling his own raw conversions in Adobe Lightroom. “Ideally the photographer will have a reference monitor,” he says. He has a 30in NEC SpectraView Reference 301 monitor, costing about £2,000, plus an X-Rite i1 Pro 2 colour calibration kit. “It’s the same as a pre-press house. I’ve also got a daylight viewing system and I use printer profiles and screen profiles. It’s vital to have a colour-managed workflow. Then nine tenths of the time what you see on the screen comes out as expected. On my own Canon I can also do pretty good CMYK proofs using the Fogra 39 profile.” Booth previously trained and worked
as a designer. “I spent a lot of time sitting behind presses and learned enormous respect for those people,” he says. He works with printers that still have true repro facilities when he can – he’s recently worked with Print4 in Nottingham on four-colour black and white work, printed on a Heidelberg press with 350lpi screens, which the company calls SuperHD print. “It was very impressive, with huge detail,” he says.
“I still work with the repro guy I used to work with when I was a designer 10 years ago. If I have work from a reputable magazine or book publisher, I’ll give them a low res image to lay out, and they’ll send me a PDF or InDesign file that I pass to my repro guy. He has the same reference monitor as me and he’ll work on it for print, and send it back to the publisher. Sizing and sharpening is vital. But most people will just drop files into a workflow and let the automatics take care of everything.”
Thanks to all our valued Sponsors
26th August - 29 August 2015 Bangkok Thailand
Go to www.printworldasia.com for many more photos of the 2014 Asian Print Awards
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Coatings lead to healthier performance Leafing through an in-flight airline magazine at 35,000 feet is something many of us might do to pass the time during a plane journey. But what perhaps most of us don’t consider is how many pairs of hands a product like this will pass through, and the potential for spreading bacteria. But emerging technologies such as British-developed and manufactured coating additive BioSeal and other antimicrobial coated products are starting to become more popular in industries where it is important to keep the level of bacteria down. This includes healthcare items, printed products for schools and GP surgeries and other highly circulated or potentially germ-laden items such as banknotes. Middlesex-based printer Geoff Neal Litho has recently become the UK’s first BioSeal certified sheetfed printer, meaning that when it uses antimicrobial coatings on printed products its clients will be able to display a BioSeal ‘Safe to touch’ logo on products that use the coating. The business decided to seek the certification to set itself apart from com-
petition and enable it to attract new clients and offer additional services to existing customers. The move marks a natural progression for the firm, which has been offering aqueous coatings to customers since it invested in its first coating press, a five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 with inline coating, in 2010. It has since installed a six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 and a fourcolour Heidelberg SM 52 Anicolor, both of which also have inline coating. “Cross-infection control is a massive area, not just in the healthcare sector but in any public space, from schools to airports. BioSeal is still quite a new product, so it gives us a chance to be innovative as a business,” says Geoff Neal sales manager Gareth Davies. BioSeal is a biocide in the form of micro-particles suspended in a resin. The particles are harmless and dormant until touched, at which point they kill
harmful bacteria including MRSA and E. coli. The technology has been found to reduce harmful bacteria on surfaces by 99.999% and it remains effective for the lifetime of the product. The BioSeal technology is distributed to approved ink manufacturers who incorporate it into their existing products. It can be used in print-based sealants, varnishes and coatings to offer up to a Log 5 reduction against harmful pathogens without significantly increasing costs. “The important thing about BioSeal is that there is no difference to the look and feel of your print. You’re not changing anything, but for very little cost you’re removing a problem that most people don’t want to have; the transfer of germs. There’s very little additional work to do and very little cost associated with it,” explains Geoff Neal managing director Sam Neal. The method To achieve BioSeal certification the firm had to print sheets with BioSeal coating and send them off to the manufacturer, which ran a range of tests with two different bacteria it applied to the sheets. The manufacturer, and then an independent laboratory, then tested against
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Sheetfed Offset a standard uncoated sheet as well and counted platelets at the end of the process to analyse the reduction in the number of bacteria. Davies explains: “The process took about eight weeks overall. We passed with a greater than Log 5 reduction over 20 hours on both reference organisms. Put simply, the number of bacteria on the sample was reduced by more than 99.999% by the BioSeal coating. “Now we’ve got the certification our clients can add the ‘Safe to touch’ logo to the back of their work. It’s a very new and innovative product and there’s a lot of interest out there from both print management companies and end-users that are looking at this product.” The firm can now offer antimicrobial coating alongside its other standard aqueous coatings, which include gloss, silk and matt, water- and oil- resistant barrier coatings, fragrance coatings and drip-off gloss coating. One of the major benefits of offering inline aqueous coatings, according to Davies, is the relative low cost in comparison to offline processes such as lamination and spot-gloss UV varnish. And Neal says it has proven useful for firms requiring longer run lengths. “Spot-gloss UV varnish for run lengths of 500 copies is cost-efficient and it gives you a very startling effect. But a drip-off gloss coating enables you to do that on a brochure or longerrun, multi-pagination work and it gives a client huge cost savings. “If you had 5,000 copies of three or four sections of a brochure that you wanted to highlight pages of with a gloss UV varnish, you’d be talking about two or three days lost. You won’t be losing that time with drip-off gloss coating because it’s done inline.” Another major advantage of aqueous coatings are the green credentials, adds Neal. “These products are recyclable with low or no environmental impact, but you’ve also got a quality improvement.” The result Since introducing aqueous coatings an
increasing number of clients have used the service for a wide range of different applications. “We’ve used it for things like innovative direct mail products, high-end auction house catalogues and fine art books. The automotive and property industries also highlight pictures using the drip off gloss coating,” reports Neal. Davies adds: “We have done some long leaflet runs as well; some big retail clients have used coatings to highlight and enhance a piece of print. We can now enhance a lower value product without adding expensive offline processing.” The company’s most used coating is the standard silk, which Neal says the company uses “all day, every day”. And Davies says that while fragrance coatings and antimicrobial coatings are relatively new, the firm is already developing a number of possible applications. Neal explains that the business has tended to buy some coatings far more than others, in line with its customer demand. “We use a variety of regular coatings like premier, silk and gloss coatings. The drip-off, BioSeal and fragrance coatings are asked for less frequently, but we can still source these in sensible quantities and timeframes.” Since starting to offer aqueous coatings four years ago, the firm has found that there are a number of added benefits. As well as the cost savings and the environmental benefits, Neal reports that some customers also prefer the subtlety of an aqueous coating.
“Spot gloss UV varnish gives you a higher gloss result, but being a little bit more subtle can be more appealing for a lot of people. A lovely corporate folder with a matt lamination and a high gloss spot UV varnish on it looks great and is quite hard-hitting, but it doesn’t work when you want to be a bit more subtle,” he says. The business has also found itself able to work with a number of new highend clients. “Buying the Heidelberg XLs with coaters has definitely boosted our turnover and enabled us to win contracts that we wouldn’t even have been considered for before,” says Neal. One happy customer, recalls Davies, was car manufacturer Toyota for whose Lexus brand Geoff Neal recently produced a direct mail piece with a soft-touch coating. A spokesman for Toyota said: “We’re really pleased with the effect the softtouch coating has achieved. The addition of the coating on this mailer has given an extra dimension to the piece, the tactile feel enhancing the overall quality and reflecting well the brand positioning of Lexus.” Geoff Neal Litho has found a way to add value at low cost by using aqueous coatings. And with demand for products treated with antimicrobial coatings looking like it will grow and grow, the company may be the UK’s first sheetfed printer to be BioSeal certified, but others will almost certainly follow its lead before long.
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Game changer The HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press will take your packaging business to the next level with offset-quality digital printing. Engineered for folding carton packaging printing, the HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press is the next big thing in packaging. Versatile, efficient and cost-effective, it will bring offset-matching quality to your operation, while introducing new opportunities enabled by digital. Get ready to expand your business with HP Indigo 30000. Find out more at hp.com/go/hpindigo30000 or contact Edcent Chan; Hp: +65 9862 6092 or Email: edcent.chan@hp.com
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Four KBA Rapida Presses for Teckwah Group in Singapore As its motto goes – “Best People, Best Solutions”, Teckwah Group along with KBA, two leading companies in the printing industry, worked closely together to develop the best-in-class solutions for Teckwah’s regional headquarters in Singapore.
Again Teckwah Industrial Corporation Ltd (Teckwah) installed two state-ofthe-art KBA Rapidas in the B1 format at its new regional headquarters Pixel Red, after two Rapidas were commissioned the previous year.
Pixel Red – Teckwah’s Print Media Hub Teckwah recently welcomed two brand new Rapidas at its new Print Media Hub - Pixel Red, which serves
as Teckwah’s high value technologydriven output centre for new markets such as packaging design, prototyping and testing as well as digital data management. This modern and architecturally distinctive Pixel Red complex is aimed to attract other print media businesses and related industries that will complement each other to create an eco-system of print related services within one location. A six-colour KBA Rapida 105 with coater was installed in Pixel Red early June, followed by a KBA Rapida 106 four-colour perfecting press with coater in July. Both presses are equipped with state-of-the-art technology along with highest automation. The two new Rapidas are connected to KBA’s Logotronic production management system and the KBA supported MIS Optimus Dash to further increase performance, flexibility and economic efficiency for Teckwah. “The project was completed within a very tight time frame. When Teckwah shifted into the new Pixel Red building, we needed to ensure that the production will not be interrupted. Together with Teckwah, we worked out a plan and everything was spoton”, said Stefan Segger, Managing Director of KBA Asia Pacific. “We knew that it was a major investment for Teckwah to move into Pixel Red, meanwhile it is surely the right move to also invest in new technology in order to be successful in a very competitive print market”, he added.
Teckwah Group’s New Print Media Hub in Singapore
Over the past two years, Teckwah has
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invested substantially into its print related business. “These investments were necessary for the sustained and continuous growth of our business and to keep pace with customers’ constant demand for faster, better and more cost effective services as well as cutting-edge solutions. Our trust in technology from KBA has never been disappointing. Increasing automation helps us to achieve higher levels of productivity and further increases in efficiency. We are confident that the new technology will continue to help us in our growth”, said Thomas Chua
Kee Seng, Chairman and Managing Director of Teckwah Group. About Teckwah Industrial Corporation Ltd. Since its inception in 1968, Teckwah has evolved from a producer of plain paper boxes to a group of companies today offering integrated visual communications and marketing solutions. Teckwah provides flexible interchangeable supply chain solutions – delivery of 1 to millions with full life-cycle management from print/ packaging/fulfilment/reverse and
spare parts logistics/asset recovery and recycling - a single destination for brands looking for integrated solutions. With facilities in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, India and Australia, and a global network of 96 locations, Teckwah offers the most advanced, relevant and sustainable solutions for global brands across sectors including, pharmaceutical, lifestyle electronics, food & beverage and technology.
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Packaging Technology
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M-600: World’s best selling 16-page commercial web press
Goss print quality, reliability and high-speed performance features combine with sheetfed quality and run lengths to make the 16-page M-600 press a leader in application versatility.
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Web Offset Technology
Engineering firms up older gravure press KBA-FT Engineering, based in Frankenthal/Pfalz and member of the Koenig & Bauer Group, has given a 26-year-old gravure press belonging to European gravure printing giant Prinovis a new lease of life. The electrical control system of the press, which is in operation at the firm’s site in Ahrensburg, Germany, was brought into line with cutting-edge technology. The retrofit was carried out within a short period of time to the firm’s satisfaction and means that this old, yet mechanically fully functional press is now fit for the future. Prinovis ordered retrofits on two large gravure presses from KBAFT Engineering some time ago. The first press went into operation again at the end of March. Along with updating the second press’ electrical control system, provision is made for extensive mechanical add-ons, whereby the assembly work is scheduled to begin soon. In the current market environment such retrofits pay off since the continued high level of availability
of robust presses is guaranteed at a fraction of the cost of a new press. The retrofit carried out comprises the replacement of several control components from the previous vendor, EAE, with the latest technology from Siemens. The existing wiring could be kept thanks to a Plug & Play architecture developed specially for the interfaces affected thus reducing the installation time at the reelstands, printing units, superstructure, folders and switchboards to a few weeks. Numerous servo-assisted drives were also exchanged including the corresponding controls as well as the complete control level. KBA-FT Engineering’s broad expertise in gravure has already been proven with other orders in the growing business for
retrofits. Recently a gravure reelstand with Reliance controls and drives was rebuilt with Siemens technology in Thann, France. In the near future the firm will carry out an extensive upgrade on a press console close to Paris, which comprises the implementation of cutting-edge devices from HMI. The specially designed retrofit concept will facilitate the work of the client and deliver precise information about the status of the machines. KBA-FT Engineering has the knowhow and the best references to perform retrofit and upgrades in the field of electronics and mechanics on older gravure presses competently and reliably, regardless whether the components are from Siemens, BoschRexroth, ABB, Wago or other wellknown electronic manufacturers.
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Wide Format / Proofing Technology
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Packaging Technology
Promise of chips as cheap as chips Question: what do solar panels, banknotes, cars and Monopoly all have in common? Answer: they all feature, or are expected to soon start featuring, printed electronics. The most widespread use of printed electronics is currently in healthcare, reports Das, specifically in glucose test strips. Here printed electrodes take a measurement from the biological layer on top back to a reader to test blood’s glucose levels. “Something like 20bn of those are being sold each year,” he reports. Much research is being done to expand this product into other similar applications such as pregnancy tests. And other developments in the healthcare and cosmetics sectors include packaging with circuitry that’s broken when a pill is taken, skin patches that supply a small tingle to remind someone to take a pill, and similar patches, developed by L’Oreal, applied to the face to improve the look and feel of skin.
Around 10 years since R&D activity in this area began, the technology is now really coming of age, according to experts. Electrodes, conductors and thin-film batteries: all can and are being printed, with the print processes being used as varied, potentially, as those used within graphic arts. Which means, in the words of Steve Jones, business development director at Printed Electronics, the technology can now be found, to some extent, in pretty much “everything”. “This is everything you can think of. Everything from missiles to toys – and everything in between. This is a very exciting area,” says Jones, whose company assists businesses with the R&D stages of developing printed electronics applications.
“There’s now an acceptance that it’s just a matter of time before print is involved in all corners of manufacture,” he adds. The benefits of switching from traditional etching and additive manufacturing to printed electronics are generally recognised to be circuitry that weighs much less and, eventually, costs less to manufacture. “The cheapest chips are in the region of a few US cents each,” reported Raghu Das, chief executive of emerging technology consultancy IDTechEx, when presenting on this subject at Fespa’s Global Summit in Munich, back in May. “So eventually we will move from tens of billions of electronic devices, to trillions of electronic devices. We can really start to have disposable electronics for the first time.”
“If you look at something like HIV and a six-month treatment period, if you take a single pill a day too late the whole treatment’s effectiveness can fall by half, so taking your pills on time is very important,” said Das back in May, of how critical it is to develop applications to monitor prescription-taking. Another application already very much out there is solar panels. “Almost all solar silicon cells use printed conductors. So you make the silicon cell but you don’t want to damage the very expensive silicon by having an etching process on it,” says Das. “That’s a phenomenally big market.” There’s also the potentially huge vehicle market, or more specifically printed circuitry for car dashboards. Then there’s the research underway at consumer electronics companies into
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Packaging Technology
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Packaging Technology
moving the membrane of phone, tablet and TV displays towards being printed OLED displays. And it’s rumoured that the new polymer banknotes will feature printed electronic anti-counterfeiting measures. “Almost every major consumer product company we talk to has someone dedicated to working on printed electronics, mainly at an innovation and research level. They’re all looking to create IP around new application ideas,” reports Das. Which might sound a huge opportunity for printers. With printed electronics not only gradually starting to replace existing circuitry but creating new, never before possible or economically viable applications, surely there’s a chance for printers to get involved. But doing so may not be quite as straightforward as the term ‘printed electronics’ perhaps suggests. The first hurdle is that many of those looking to develop printed electronics applications are doing this in-house. This is particularly the case with healthcare products, where the approval process is particularly stringent. Toy story And although games and toy manufacturers are actively looking into light-up boards and counters, most, including Hasbro, like to keep all game and packaging production in-house. Hasbro, however, is apparently the
exception to the rule here. Jones reports that, while most brands are indeed dedicating significant resources to printed electronics R&D, most aim to eventually outsource mass manufacturing of various components, as they’ve always done. “While Unilever and the like are multimillion-pound companies, they’re not interested in manufacturing the printed electronics – they want to buy
the stuff in,” reports Jones. Then there is the opportunity presented by introducing printed circuitry to products printers already deal with. Perhaps the biggest opportunity here is packaging, with more brands potentially following in the footsteps of Bacardi-owned gin brand Bombay Sapphire and Japanese cigarette brand Kent (the opportunity for cigarettes manufacturers to find a way around
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Packaging Technology stricter branding guidelines with lightup graphics only visible at the push of a button, is a particularly interesting one). “One day you’ll walk into a supermarket and everything will be screaming out at you – there’ll be moving and flashing displays,” predicted Das back in May. The problem here, as with light-up magazine covers, is still that the cost is too high, so that light-up packaging seems confined for now to short, sharp marketing pushes and lightup magazines to sponsored pages or special issues. Das adds that Duracell battery packaging featuring printed battery testing electronics, has, despite being manufactured in volumes of 2.5bn per year at one point, now fallen out of favour in the US market at least, due to making packaging fractionally pricier to produce. Of course the price of printing electronics on such products will hopefully soon start to come down. But the other, potentially larger obstacle may prove to be printers’ own technical know-how. “Printers don’t usually spend a lot of money on R&D and that’s a problem if they want to get involved in printed electronics,” says Das. “Some of the printers we deal with, their knowledge of print is just breathtaking. But they’re dealing with the human eye. When you’re dealing with electrons it’s different. The inks used are complex and there’s a new skill set to learn,” warns Jones. Which isn’t to say it can’t be done. Just take the example of Yorkshire’s Ryedale Group, which recently won the Stationers’ Company’s inaugural Innovation Excellence Awards, for developing a low-cost gas sensor with litho-printed electronics, designed to test for diabetes (and potentially other conditions, depending on the direction of future R&D). Perfect partner Ryedale is a great example, though, of how printers need to be careful to go about getting involved in just the right way. Ryedale has in fact partnered with Leeds University and, on the copper ink side of things, Hampshire-based
Intrinsiq Materials. And it has been careful not to compete directly with the healthcare giants, and ensure that the product is economically viable to produce. Steve Buffoni, director of operations, explains that, because the sensors are produced on the company’s existing Komori kit, the product has to be ripe for mass manufacture, so economies of scale stack up. This is why the company has refocused slightly in recent months, on disposable rather than reusable breathalysers. “Even in developing countries a lot of people seem to have smartphones, so we’re looking now at disposable sensors with a mouthpiece attached that can be hooked up to an app to take the reading. The sensors would be less sophisticated so would only have one sort of biological layer, so would test for one condition at a time,” reports Buffoni. On the economies of scale issue he adds: “People are asking if we can test other things that we’d never thought of. It’s quite difficult because you’ve got to be careful you don’t get sucked down blind alleys. Unless there’s the potential for mass manufacture it’s not really what we want.” Das agrees that printers need to think carefully about the technology they’re
using, and how this matches demand. “Things like flexo, gravure and offset printing have all been trialled and used to some extent. But the issue is that usually the volumes haven’t been high enough to justify widespread use of those processes,” he says. “What we’re seeing is companies making smaller, slower kit for the first time,” he says, adding that Fujfilm and Ceradrop (part of MGI) are key inkjet vendors active here, while Screen and Asada Mesh are active on the screen printing side of things. So to the question ‘can printers get involved in printed electronics?’ the answer seems to be: perhaps. Certainly this area of manufacturing is booming, with furious activity in all kinds of sectors reasonably justifying the description ‘printed electronics revolution’. Whether printers get involved will depend on who they are. The ability to carry out extensive R&D and a willingness to concentrate on a very specialised component or product will be critical. Printers need to realise that, while they might be experts in the print side of printed electronics, the latter half of the equation constitutes a whole new world. And one they will need to be very brave, and savvy, to enter.
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The New York Times new supersize capabilities Goss International has completed a press enhancement project with Innotech involving the installation of full-color panorama gatefold capabilities for The New York Times. The new formats allow the publisher to offer advertisers innovative placement opportunities to create maximum impact. Completed to a tight schedule of around 20 weeks from initial order to the first test run, the project involved retrofitting each of two existing Goss Colorliner press lines with a customconfigured Innotech Panorama Gatefold System. According to Dan Picco, regional sales manager at Goss, the project called on the full and combined expertise of all parties involved: "Obviously, for a publisher operating on the scale of The New York Times, there is no time to lose and there can be no disruption to ongoing daily production. We had to establish failsafe processes from the outset and make sure we achieved the highest level of teamwork. The fact that The New York Times is already enjoying the benefit of the new capabilities testifies to our joint success."
The gatefold system now running at The New York Times enables the Goss Colorliner presses to produce an additional four-page wide centerfold or a separate eight-page pull-out section, up to a maximum format of 48 x 22 inches (1219 x 559 mm). In addition, it is possible to make smaller gatefolds or coupon folds at one or both edges for special promotions providing new display areas for advertisers. It is also possible to make gatefolds in the cover page or have the gate folded section as a wrap around the main section. The new capabilities have already been used to maximum effect by select advertisers in The Times. Vinod Kapoor, president at Innotech concludes, "Goss and Innotech engineered a solution that gave The New York Times ultimate flexibility with regard to the positioning of specialized
sections within the newspaper, without the need to purchase a new press." About Innotech (www.innotechequip. com) Innotech, a New York based manufacturer of press auxiliary equipment, has been building customized equipment for commercial and newspaper printers for the past 25 years with installations in America, Europe and the Far East. Panorama System uses "INNOFORMER", the geometric air bar plow, for high speed folding with no set-up time. Innotech has installed many such systems in China, India, Germany and Colombia. Most of these systems were retro-fitted on existing presses.
KBA Sheetfed Offset
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Finishing Technology
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KBA Rapida 106 Triple world champion in medium format
KBA.R.642.d
Capable of printing fifteen 500-sheet jobs per hour, the Rapida 106 has been the world makeready champion since Drupa 2008. Now it has broken the records for speed and length as well. Its output of 20,000sph in straight printing or 18,000sph in perfecting mode, and configurations of up to 19 printing and finishing units, are virtually unrivalled. While simultaneous processes that include automatic changes of coating formes and anilox rollers have trimmed costly down times. So drop by and test the medium-format world champion for yourself. KBA Printing Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., +86 10 8447 5909, w.zehner@kbachina.com KBA Koenig & Bauer AG (Asia Pacific) Sdn. Bhd., +60 3 788 588-60, KBA@KBAasiapacific.com KBA Asia Pacific (Singapore Branch), +65 6562 8582, ssegger@KBAasiapacific.com KBA (HK) Co. Ltd., +852 2742 8368, jkwan@kba.com.hk Intergraphics (Thailand) Co. Ltd., +66 2 259 3071, jtsuwan@igraph.co.th www.kba.com
Koenig & Bauer AG
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Management/General
FESPA CHINA 2014 ACHIEVES RECORD-BREAKING ATTENDANCE FESPA China 2014, which took place from 19 – 21 November 2014 at the Guangzhou Pazhou Poly World Trade Centre, Guangzhou, China, attracted 11,667 individual visitors, making it the bestattended FESPA China and CSGIA event to date. This represents an increase of 32% compared to the last CSGIA event held in Guangzhou in 2012 and a 23% increase on the first FESPA China exhibition which took place in 2013 in Shanghai. Over the three days, attendance reached 15,166, with visitors returning to the event over multiple days to see a wide range of international manufacturers and local suppliers showcasing technology and applications for screen,
digital and textile print. With over 500 exhibitors, this year’s event was 30% larger than the 2013 edition, providing more screen and digital wide format solutions than ever. This year’s event was also the most international FESPA China & CSGIA event to date, with visitors travelling from 91 countries, compared to 62 countries for the 2012 event and 76 countries for the 2013 event.
Nigel Steffens, Board Advisor, FESPA, comments: “It is great to see such growing interest in the FESPA China event and we’re thrilled to have expanded the event and its audience to make it the biggest FESPA China and CSGIA event to date. Feedback from exhibitors was that they met with more overseas visitors than previous years, and that the decision making calibre of visitors was high. With every FESPA event we build on past shows to ensure that we meet the requirements of
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Management/General 43 today’s printers. With the number of visitors in attendance in Guangzhou, it’s clear to see that Asian printers value FESPA events as an environment to see technological developments and access educational content that will support their business growth.” Rosaria Pozzoni, Business Operation Manager, J-Teck3 srl comments: “FESPA China 2014 was a very successful show for J-Teck3. China is a major market for us, we have a distribution centre in Shanghai as well as a sales office and warehouse. We collected over a hundred leads during the show. The majority of visitors to our stand were Chinese, however, there were also visitors from Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt. Visitors appreciate J-Teck3’s constant commitment to develop new innovative digital inks in line with market requests and expectations.” William Barker, Sales Manager at Watts Urethane Products Ltd, comments: “FESPA China 2014 was a very successful show. FESPA has begun to make an impact on the appearance and way the show is run, which is great. This is the key yearly show for us and I met with distributors from 30 countries, as well as generated a lot of new opportunities, so it was a productive few days.” Elisa Beretti, Marketing & Communication Department, Kiian Digital, notes: “Out of all the FESPA shows we have attended this year,
FESPA China 2014 has been the most interesting in terms of new and fruitful contacts. We’re expecting new business opportunities on the horizon.”
The next FESPA China exhibition, will take place from 21-23 October 2015 at the Shanghai New Int’l Expo Centre, in Shanghai, China.
Federica Beretta, Operative Marketing Manager, Reggiani Macchine SPA, explains: “Visitor numbers at the Reggiani booth were encouraging and staff welcomed numerous customers to the stand who were sincerely impressed with the performance and superiority of Reggiani machines. Throughout the event the Group had the opportunity to introduce new products, meet potential customers and create awareness about our brand. All in all, FESPA China 2014 was a success for us.”
About FESPA Founded in 1962, FESPA is a global federation of 37 member associations for the screen printing, digital printing and textile printing community. FESPA’s dual aim is to promote screen printing and digital imaging and to share knowledge about screen and digital printing with its members across the world, helping them to grow their businesses and learn about the latest developments in their fast growing industries.
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Wide Format / Proofing Technology
World Record-Breaking Large Format Flatbed Printer World's largest digital flatbed printer, the Dip-Tech AR18000, driven by SAi's acclaimed print-to-finish production software SA International (SAi), a leading provider of solutions for the professional signmaking, large format digital printing and CAD/CAM for CNC machining industries, has announced that its award-winning PixelBlaster print-to-finish production software has been bundled with the world's largest digital flatbed printer, the Dip-Tech AR18000 digital ceramic in-glass printer. Dip-Tech, the world's leading provider of digital ceramic in-glass printing solutions, has set a new world record for printer size with the Dip-Tech AR18000 - an achievement officially recognized by Guinness World Records under the category of "largest digital flatbed printer". The Dip-Tech printer stands at an impressive 18m (59ft) in length - more than double the length of Dip-Tech's next-longest printer - and can print a single pane of glass with a total area of up to 64m2 (688.89ft2). Typical applications of digital ceramic printing
include color-printed architectural glass for exterior projects, as well interior usage and transportation glass. Covering pre-flight to production, SAi's PDF-based PixelBlaster is a genuine end-to-end software that is designed to reduce bottlenecks, streamline workflows and increase profitability for users. SAi and DipTech already enjoy an established collaboration, which saw SAi develop the exclusive PixelBlaster Dip-Tech Edition software to specifically address certain unique characteristics and challenges of Dip-Tech's in-glass printers. As Dip-Tech's technology uses naturally pigmented ink and therefore doesn't use the CMYK colour set (instead using orange, red, blue, green, black and white, as well as any required special spot color), PixelBlaster is used to match the designer or architect's CMYK files into language
the Dip-Tech printers understand. A complete, simple to use, in-glass printing solution for an efficient workflow The SAi PixelBlaster Dip-Tech Edition software comprises a PixelBlaster RIP, color management and full colour workflow support and is bundled
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Wide Format / Proofing Technology
with all of Dip-Tech's in-glass printers, which offer six-color plus spot color capability to the architectural and transportation glass market. The special edition software was also developed to deliver the higher level of control needed for the opaque ceramic inks used on Dip-Tech in-glass printers. Printing on transparent glass and applying colors with varying levels of opacity demand a special level of control that SAi engineers incorporated into the software. Another challenge for SAi was to develop a way of controlling the application of white ink in the way Dip-Tech needed it. White is important when it is used as the base colour onto which other colors are applied; it is a means of controlling opacity, but at the same time, designers need to be able to use a reliable white in their designs. The SAi PixelBlaster Dip-Tech Edition software enables different levels of white to be applied so that this control exists. As well as fulfilling these specific requirements, the SAi PixelBlaster DipTech Edition carries out the more
standard jobs of SAi PixelBlaster software, including tiling, step-andrepeat, and colour library functions. "SAi congratulates Dip-Tech on the impressive achievement of being welcomed as a Guinness World Record title holder and we are proud that our PixelBlaster software should play such a pivotal role in contributing to the overall performance of this record-breaking printer," says Sarit Tichon, Senior VP Worldwide Sales at SAi. "Dip-Tech's expertise in glass application, together with SAi's industryleading image processing knowledge has generated a powerful graphic platform for glass processors that symbolizes the strength of our ongoing collaboration," adds Aliza Edry, Director of Applications at Dip-Tech. "Both Dip-Tech and SAi R&D teams continue to work closely to meet the unique imaging and workflow needs of our customers and fulfil their objectives in the field of printed architectural glass applications," Edry concludes.
True shape nesting is just one of the functions in PixelBlaster’s new Layout feature
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Packaging Technology
Domino invests in new facilities and development in India Domino has opened a state-of-the-art factory in Manesar, India, dedicated to the manufacture of inks and printers for coding and marking, and located in a leading business hub in the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. Replacing Domino’s existing two facilities 25km apart, the new 4,050 sq. ft factory has been built to strict green building design specifications and will also house an integrated warehouse and billing centre. The team behind the new location will consist of 35 employees, with three new roles being created (Fluids Plant Manager, Printer Plant Manager and Logistics Manager), underlining Domino’s commitment to grow its workforce in a region with fastgrowing business opportunities. Taking three years to construct, the factory was officially opened by Nigel Bond, Domino’s Group Managing Director. Observing local customs, a coconut was cracked at the opening ceremony to symbolise the Indian custom of bringing health and success.
This new investment in the Indian market is a result of Domino’s continued strength and success in the region, being the market leader since its entry in 1996. By housing separate divisions in one location Domino customers and employees will benefit from a more efficient and simplified business process. “I’m delighted to officially open our new India facility, which demonstrates Domino’s commitment to maintaining our market leader position,” says Bond. “The facility will have improved technologies and processes that will allow for a seamless approach, from manufacturing through to the final logistical stages.” He concludes: “Environmental performance is a crucial part of Domino’s evolution, and by designing
an environmentally sound factory, we can continue that process. As a result, our energy consumption will reduce dramatically, while our employees benefit from increased natural light and a cleaner environment.” About Domino Domino is the leading business within Domino Printing Sciences plc. Founded in 1978, the company has established a global reputation for the development and manufacture of coding, marking and printing technologies, as well as its worldwide aftermarket products and customer services. Today, Domino offers one of the most comprehensive portfolios of complete end to end coding solutions spanning primary, secondary and tertiary applications designed to satisfy the compliance and productivity requirements of manufacturers. These include innovative ink jet, laser, print & apply and thermal transfer overprinting technologies that are deployed for the application of variable and authentication data, bar codes and unique traceability codes onto product and packaging, across many industrial sectors, including food, beverage, pharmaceutical and industrial products.
Division ContiTech of Continental AG Print World Asia • 1 / 2015
Packaging Technology
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Wide Format / Proofing Technology
The StreetScooter project Aachen University uses world's largest multi-material 3D printer, Stratasys' Objet1000 3D Production System, to build a fully functional prototype electric car in just 12 months Objet1000 Multi-material 3D Production System for all its exterior plastic parts, including the large front and back panels, door panels, bumper systems, side skirts, wheel arches, lamp masks, and a few interior components such as the retainer instrument board and a host Representing a new breed of of smaller components. Parts car, the Short Distance Vehicle were 3D printed using Stratasys' Using revolutionary design was built using the large format tough Digital ABS material, and production methods, the StreetScooter project was developed by the Production of Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) of Aachen University.(1) The company StreetScooter was founded in 2010 with the goal of developing an electric car that rivalled conventional vehicles on price with realistic performance, safety and sustainability. While
Stratasys Ltd., a global provider of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, today announced it will feature the paradigmbreaking StreetScooter C16, an electric production vehicle available for under â‚Ź10,000
specifications vary from model to model, a StreetScooter C16 is expected to typically weigh 450kg - (1000lbs) excl. battery, has a range of min. 100km (80 miles) and delivers a top speed of 100km/h (60mph), making it an ideal city vehicle.
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Wide Format / Proofing Technology enabling the engineering team to build a prototype car that could perform in strenuous testing environments to the same level as a vehicle made of traditionally manufactured parts. Throughout the development of the StreetScooter C16, the Objet1000 3D Production System was used for making prototype parts, as well as enduse manufactured parts and production tools in the final development stages. The 3D Production System's huge 1000 x 800 x 500mm (39.3 x 31.4 x 19.5in) build tray gave it the ability to 3D print the full range of components up to a meter in length. Revolutionary from the start Very few aspects of the StreetScooter project were conventional. Funded by university professors and leading German automotive suppliers, StreetScooter brought together more than 80 companies, including Stratasys, to work with "Lead Engineering Groups" dedicated to different areas of StreetScooter's development.
Aachen University has the world’s largest multi-material 3D printer from Stratasys, the Objet1000, with the ability to produce parts combining hard and soft materials, all in a single build
that perform like the final parts, accelerated testing and design verification, enabling us to bring to market a prototype electric car in just 12 months - something that is just unimaginable with traditional manufacturing." 3D printing technology had been used before by Aachen University for StreetScooter. Various components of the StreetScooter were 3D printed in the early design phase of the car for the fast realization of geometric and functional prototypes. These included, for example, the retainer instrument board, the drive mode switch panel, the mirror compartment, and the Deutsche Post bonnet logo. The final production model of StreetScooter was developed for Deutsche Post AG and is 4.3m3 capacity delivery van version that is now operational in Germany.
"The Objet1000 is the largest multi-material 3D Production System on the market and Aachen University was the first university in the world to have one," says Achim Kampker, Professor of Production Management in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aachen University. "Being able to use it in the development of large and small parts for StreetScooter was exciting in itself, but the contribution the 3D printed parts "With the advanced multimade to the construction of the material 3D printing technology car was enormous. The ability available to us from Stratasys, to produce full-scale prototypes
vehicles can be easily customized for specific customers, enabling us to design on-the-fly," adds Prof. Achim Kampker. "These cars can be developed from scratch and ready in a matter of months, not years, as with traditional automotive production processes. The StreetScooter project has demonstrated to us how a whole new approach to car design and manufacturing is possible with 3D printing." "The StreetScooter is the latest example of Stratasys' leadership in additive manufacturing for automotive design and production," concludes Shelly Linor, Director of Global Education at Stratasys. "With StreetScooter, the Objet1000 3D Production System not only enabled the very rapid design and development of the vehicle, but also demonstrates the capabilities of additive manufacturing for producing final parts used in demanding applications."
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NEWS Agfa Graphics Launches Acorta Automatic Cutting Plotter with Auto Recognition Acorta is an automatic cutting and finishing plotter dedicated to respond to the requirements of the cardboard, digital printing and signage industries. It helps sign and display printers turn a wide variety of printed rigid and flexible sheet media into finished decoration, containers, banners etc. that truly stand out. "Delivering POP/POS materials is more than just printing on the right substrate," said Dominiek Arnout, Vice President for Inkjet at Agfa Graphics. "We are developing and all-integrated approach in which our customers can add an extra in-house finishing step, all driven from Asanti. Rendering, printing and cutting in one workflow allows them to be more productive, more efficient suppliers with a higher return on investment for their business." Acorta uses advanced technologies such as an innovative auto recognition system; it automatically localizes the printed objects and the position of the reference points on the cutting table, as well as the substrate’s height to avoid manual set-up of the job parameters. Acorta features cutting speeds of up to 102 m/min with maximum automation and minimum operator intervention. Its robust build and 40 vacuum zones that are automatically activated where and when needed, further add to the cutter’s great accuracy and stability. Acorta is available now and will make its worldwide debut at the SGI 2015 tradeshow in Dubai
Label Converter Suzhou Advance Fuji Xerox Offers Professional Quality and Affordable Versatility with Newest Light Production Printer Capabilities range from basic office functions to high-value colour printing on diverse media. Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd unveiled its latest light production printer, the Color C60/C70 Printer, to provide users with a flexible and cost-effective all-inone solution with high quality prints. Besides simplifying the process of capturing, editing and storing documents to enhance organisational productivity, the device is capable of professional finishing to facilitate business growth. Suitable for any print environment, including quick print shops, in-plant operations, agencies, small businesses and manufacturers, the Color C60/C70 Printer answers organisations’ call for a hybrid of an adaptable multifunction device and a lightweight high-quality press with robust media latitude. With this printer, users can easily enhance and expand their digital printing capabilities from basic office prints to complex collaterals such as rugged polyester labels, magnets and vinyl window clings. A first for a device in this category, the Color C60/C70 Printer prints on linen
for unique applications like event planning, appliques and luxurious embellishments. Fuji Xerox’s Emulsion Aggregation (EA) toner, with its unique low-melt technology, navigates the traditionally difficult peaks and valleys in linen and other specialty substrates like polyester. The Color C60/C70 Printer offers sharp, consistent and accurate image quality with a 2400 x 2400 dots per inch (dpi) resolution and enhanced front-to-back registration accuracy, qualifying for credentials such as the Fogra certification and Pantone matching system. Apart from generating precise image quality at continuous printing speeds of up to 70 pages per minute (ppm) in colour and 75 ppm in black-and-white, the device also offers flexible inline finishing options, such as stapling, hole-punching, folding and face trimming. For users working with sensitive or private documents, the Color C60/C70 Printer extends security features that allow holding of print jobs in queue until a password is entered. The device also helps protect data with an image overwrite function that automatically erases images. Packed with easy set-up, multitasking and automated workflows features, the device eases manual tasks and cumbersome steps, enabling productive workflow. In addition, the C60/C70 Printer is compatible with a number of print servers to fit different workflows and boost colour management while streamlining labourintensive processes. Engineered to meet a diverse range of printing requirements, the Color C60/ C70 Printer helps businesses enhance cost efficiency by keeping high-value color printing in-house.
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NEWS
Accompanied with the Xerox Standard Accounting software, the device’s extensive accounting features allows companies to track, analyse and control device usage and spending to positively impact its bottom line. ROLAND 700 EVOLUTION launch a resounding success On the 5 & 6 November 2014, over 450 delegates attended the launch of the much anticipated new press from Manroland Sheetfed. At the company's Print Technology Centre in Offenbach, Germany the ROLAND 700 EVOLUTION was unveiled to wide acclaim With it's sleek and futuristic new look, the state-of-theart EVOLUTION incorporates a raft of technological developments the company says will give printers unprecedented levels of efficiency, productivity, operation and quality. The event drew delegates from as far afield as USA, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Canada and the UK, together with most European countries. Demand was so strong that the event had to be extended from one to two days.Even then applications to attend had to be closed with many interested parties disappointed. The company plans to run a series of seminars to show the new press early next year. The EVOLUTION’s first pilot customer, Gerhard Aichhorn, owner and Managing Director of a leading Austrian print house, Samson Druck, gave guests a first-hand account of the new press: “I have been a Manroland customer since 1992 for very good reasons. I have come to rely on their capability and I trust their tradition. This modern new interface is very intuitive for our printers and it is giving us excellent production.”
Rafael Peñuela, Manroland Sheetfed group's CEO, said that despite the old company's troubles in 2011, the new Manroland Sheetfed had been (albeit modestly) profitable in every year since and placed the new press firmly in the context of the company's tradition of industry-leading technology: “Manroland has been known for its legendary technological development, from the first rapid press Albatross in 1875 to the launch of Direct Drive technology in 2007. Today I am proud to present another milestone in our long tradition of technological progress in the printing industry – the ROLAND 700 EVOLUTION.”
Spandex Adds New Self-Adhesive Wall Textile to its ImagePerfect™ Digital Materials Range Spandex, the one-stop supplier of innovative solutions to the sign, architectural and display industries, has expanded its family of ImagePerfect materials with the launch of a new selfadhesive wall textile. ImagePerfect Self-Adhesive Wall Textile (IP 2324) has been specifically designed for printed wallpapers, wall graphics and decals. It is a self-adhesive, opaque and water-resistant fabric which offers high print quality, remarkable text definition and a broad colour gamut to ensure colourful and vibrant images.
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NEWS The latest addition to the ImagePerfect digital range has been designed for large format inkjet printing and is suitable for printing with eco solvent and solvent inks, as well as UV-cured and latex inks. The textile-like wallpaper is ideal for full wall coverings and can be kiss cut or die cut. It can also be used for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications such as POS displays, billboards and posters. Self-adhesive wallpapers are ideal for applications in retail outlets, trade events, offices and other textile applications in lifestyle and event locations. Steve Jacques, Category Manager, Spandex, comments: “The ImagePerfect 2324 Self-Adhesive Wall Textile is great for indoor and outdoor wall coverings and graphics. It has a very high level of dimensional stability so no overlap is required, meaning the wallpaper can be applied side by side with no risk of pull-back. The adhesive used with the ImagePerfect Wall Textile means the product is easy to reposition for clean and problem-free installation and is simple to remove.” “We constantly review our product range for innovations to provide the best solutions for our customers. This new addition to the ImagePerfect range is ideal for textile interior decoration applications, a market where we’re seeing increasing growth at the moment. It is the ideal complement to our existing range of textile products.” The ImagePerfect Self-Adhesive Wall Textile is the latest addition to the ImagePerfect digital range, which consists of over 160 products including self-adhesive vinyls, laminates, banners, textile, paper, backlit, window films and other specialities.
Muller Martini’s entry into a new market segment. Whether for medium or short runs, right down to runs of one copy, the all-rounder stands for flawless quality, regardless of whether brochures are produced using offset or digital printing. The compact perfect binder’s wide range of features enable it to be used extremely flexibly. Photo books, personalized catalogs and high-quality brochures can be produced cost-effectively thanks to short setup and production times, which are indispensable for ultra-short runs and book-of-one production, as will be demonstrated impressively by the production of four different products at Muller Martini’s booth S3. Saddle Stitching of Digitally Printed Products Muller Martini will also present an innovative solution for saddle stitching. The Presto II Digital saddle stitcher will be displayed with a Heidelberg Stahlfolder TH 56 folding machine featuring a flat pile feeder. The complete system provides new options for the industrial finishing of digitally printed products.
Muller Martini will showcase a new perfect binder for the lower and medium performance range at Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne. A new solution will also be presented for saddle stitching: the Presto II Digital combined with a Stahlfolder TH 56 folding machine from Heidelberg.
The Presto II Digital saddle stitcher not only processes digitally printed content from flat pile sheets or web, but can also be used for products using conventional printing methods. That means graphic arts companies are equipped for both offset and digital, providing them with a particularly high degree of investment protection. Three different products will be produced continuously and live at Muller Martini’s booth S3 at Hunkeler Innovationdays 2015.
The new perfect binder, whose name will be revealed at the trade fair, marks
New appointments strengthen KBA’s position in Greater China
World Premiere: Muller Martini to Present its New Perfect Binder
“Change” is a key word for KBA in 2015. A substantial general strategic realignment of product lines and the organizational structure has been in place since the introduction of KBA’s Fit@All programme at the end of 2013, whereby KBA is to push ahead with new market orientation more actively while enhancing and optimizing core businesses. KBA will focus more on digital printing, packaging printing, flexographic and specialty printing, among others. It is without a doubt that this project will bring more innovative ideas to China’s printing enterprises and help provide better products and services. As KBA’s largest single market, KBA Greater China is of the utmost importance. KBA has experienced rapid growth of its printing machinery market in Taiwan in recent years, marked by the establishment of KBA Taiwan Co. Ltd. on 9 October 2014. Taiwan is a vibrant market with high demand for KBA’s highly automated and efficient sheetfed presses. It is also an important backbone in the business development of KBA Greater China.
Eric Wong
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NEWS heights”, said Eric Wong upon his appointment.
Joseph Kwan Joseph Kwan new general manager of KBA Taiwan Co. Ltd. In order to cope with growing customer demands, Joseph Kwan, former general manager of KBA (HK) Co. Ltd., has been appointed general manager of KBA Taiwan Co. Ltd. and will switch his focus to the new team and new business opportunities in Taiwan. With his outstanding managerial competence, rich industry experience and enthusiasm, he and his team will provide KBA customers in Taiwan with innovative technologies and professional services. In order to strengthen KBA’s leading market position and sustainable development in the Greater China region further, KBA announced the appointment of Eric Wong as general manager of KBA (HK) Co. Ltd. He succeeded Joseph Kwan in managing the overall operation and marketing activities in Hong Kong and South China on 2 January 2015. 32 years in the printing industry Eric Wong has devoted himself to the printing industry in Greater China for more than thirty years. He has witnessed various development stages in China’s printing industry since the 1980’s from its inception to the take-off in the past decade. Having been with manroland for 32 years, joining the young and ambitious KBA Greater China team is a new and promising challenge in Eric’s professional career. “Joining a company with two hundred years history of technical innovation, a strong and broad array of product lines, and positive entrepreneurial team spirit I am proud to have become a member of the KBA family and will do my utmost to continue leading KBA in Greater China to new
Walter Zehner, CEO of KBA Greater China, congratulated Joseph Kwan and Eric Wong on their appointments and extended the warmest welcome to Eric Wong on joining the KBA family. “I believe that Eric with his over three decades of excellent managerial and marketing experience as well as his amazing ability to respond to the great challenges in China's printing industry will strongly contribute to increasing the market share of KBA Greater China. After Joe Kwan’s outstanding contribution to gain a firm and sustainable foothold in the Greater Chinese market, Eric Wong is now in a position to make dreams come true for our customers by providing the latest technology and application platforms engineered by KBA”, said Meech and Xeikon meet up for a coffee Meech International is set to attend Xeikon Café – Packaging Innovations in Antwerp, Belgium (10th – 12th March), an informal knowledge exchange platform where guests can discuss different trends and topics affecting the print, packaging and converting sectors. As an Aura Partner for Xeikon, Meech will treat the event focusing on digital production as an opportunity to illustrate the important role that static control and web cleaning play in digital production. “We are very much looking forward to being present at an event that is quite different from the larger exhibitions we usually attend,” explains Ralph Simon, Area Sales Manager at Meech Elektrostatik. “Xeikon Café is a more informal experience where we are given the opportunity to take part in interesting workshops and presentations, as well as network with members from the industries we deal with.” Ralph elaborates further on Meech’s presence at the event: “Both the print and packaging industry benefit greatly from our web cleaning and static technologies. Our systems have successfully answered the needs of a wide assortment of customers and we expect they will attract a good deal of interest at Xeikon Café as well.”
One of the company’s objectives is to highlight the importance of capitalising on the strengths of web-cleaning in order to help minimise wastage and achieve higher levels of productivity on digital print applications. For example, in the recent years the label market has seen a move towards non-contact web cleaning systems, such as Meech’s CyCleanTM. CyCleanTM can be used with all substrates, which improves the flexibility of the press and it is not affected by high contamination levels like a tacky roller system. With no consumable costs, CyCleanTM is capable of removing contamination to below 1 micron and incorporates fluid dynamic principles to provide higher levels of cleanliness for digital print applications. For the removal of contamination from filmic substrates, tacky roller systems like Meech’s TakClean prove to be an efficient alternative. Jeroen van Bauwel, Director Product Marketing at Xeikon, comments on the relationship between Xeikon and Meech International: “As an innovator in digital-printing technology, Xeikon is committed to delivering web-fed digital colour presses of the highest quality, which also means ensuring that our presses are spotless. For this reason, we wanted to partner with a company that understood the importance of minimising contamination and could supply web-cleaning systems that delivered on their promise. Meech ticks both of those boxes.” He concludes: “With Xeikon Café, we want to demonstrate to visitors the numerous possibilities that digital production can mean for their business. It’s an event where you can discuss trends and hopefully set some new ones as well. With talented partners like Meech present, we expect that will be the case.”
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More Results. Everyone’s results are different. But, whatever your goals may be, the Versant™ 2100 Press is the ideal solution to help you achieve yours.
• Grow your business with new applications enabled by the incredible media latitude. • Reduce your costs by automating critical tasks. • Produce more jobs with state-of-the-art innovations included as standard. • Delight your customers with a new level of image quality.
Do More. With More. For more information: www.fxap.com.sg/product/production/versant_2100p.jsp The Versant™ 2100 Press
Xerox, Xerox and Design, as well as Fuji Xerox and Design and Versant are registered trademarks or trademarks of Xerox Corporation in Japan and/or other countries.