January 2012 - A glimpse into 2012 by Graphic Arts Magazine

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December 2011 / January 2012 Magazine

A glimpse into 2012

GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE is published ten times per year by B.K.L.K Inc. 72 Main St. Mount Albert, ON L0G 1M0 Phone: 905-473-9111 Fax: 905-830-9345 Outside Toronto: 1-877-513-3999 e-mail: info@graphicartsmag.com www.graphicartsmag.com Submission deadlines are as follows: January 16 for February 2012 February 14 for March 2012 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40029380 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Graphic Arts Magazine, 72 Main St. Mount Albert, ON L0G 1M0 email: circ@graphicartsmag.com

Publisher: Joe Mulcahy Associate Editors: Natalia Gilewicz

Kristen Read Copy Editor: Mandy Bayrami Senior writer: Tony Curcio Columnist: Diana Brown Production Manager: Genevieve Doucette Account Managers: Maureen O’Sullivan Sandy Lee Tim Mulcahy Classified Manager: Bruce MacLean Creative Director: George Dedopoulos CTP supplied by: Sina Printing Paper: SNZ Trading Inc. Printing: Sina Printing GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE would like to thank our contributing writers: Diana Brown • Tony Curcio • Peter Dulis Natalia Gilewicz • Peter Muir • Myrna Penney Kristen Read • Anita Windisman

CMCA AUDITED

Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily intended to reflect those of this publisher. Graphic Arts Magazine accepts no responsibility or liability for claims made for any product or service reported on or advertised in this issue. Graphic Arts Magazine also reserves the right to limit liability for omissions and errors to a printed correction in the next issue. SUBSCRIBER’S NOTICE: From time to time we may rent our mailing list (names and addresses only) to select third parties whose products or services may be of interest to our readers. Please contact us should you wish to be excluded from these mailings using the contact information at the top. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activites.

Tony Curcio

Highlights and comments from industry leaders

24 Mood upbeat as over 8,000 visit Graphics Canada Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tony Curcio

Highlights, photos and personal picks from the show

28 Top challenges in the wide-format printing industry today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Peter Dulis

The good and not-so-good news

30 Today’s market realities: Planning for success . . . . . . .

Myrna Penney

The challenges for printers

34 Product Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diana Brown This month’s topic: Prepress software

38 Social media 101 for print shop owners . . . . . . . . . . .

Anita Windisman

How to use LinkedIn to promote your business

2011 EDITORIAL BOARD

Ernie Bardocz Danny Ionescu, HP Evan Cambray, Spicers Steve Klaric, Heidelberg Canada Jana Lucatch, Magnum Fine Commercial Printing George Mazzaferro, RP Graphics Group Brian O’Leary, Kwik Kopy Angus Pady, Digital Solutions Paul Tasker, Spicers

A glimpse into 2012 and a look into the year that was . .

40 Entrepreneurship 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diana Brown Top ten reads and a case study

46 Helping you help your customers: Strategy Planning . . .

Peter Muir

Getting started

Installations and investments

44 List of advertisers 45 Classified

When making submissions, please forward to the following email addresses: ADS ads@graphicartsmag.com NEWS news@graphicartsmag.com CLASSIFIED classified@graphicartsmag.com ARTICLES articles@graphicartsmag.com INSTALLATIONS installations@graphicartsmag.com SUBSCRIPTIONS circ@graphicartsmag.com

PRINT SMART, PRINT WITH CONFIDENCE.

Joe Mulcahy

View from the publisher Every month in this column, I’ve ended with the words “stay positive and stay focused.” However, there’s a lot of anxiety and uncertainty in our industry right now. So as we head into a challenging new year, my advice is simple: concentrate on what you CAN DO to improve – and don’t worry about events you CAN’T CONTROL.

Ltd. and Tower Litho of Toronto, celebrated 50 years and 40 years in business, respectively. My personal congratulations go out to Alexander (Sandy) Stephens for his election as Chairman of the CPIA (Canadian Printing Industries Association), the respected national voice of Canada’s $9 billion printing industry.

A helpful book I’m currently reading describes anxiety as “uncertainty multiplied by powerlessness.” So ask yourself, “what do I know and what don’t I know” – then do your best to move forward by dealing with what you DO know and what you’re in control of. Forget about events occurring around you that you’re powerless to change. This, I believe, will help reduce your anxiety. It’s helped me.

I also wanted to mention Jay Mandarino, founder and President of Toronto’s C.J. Graphics – not just for his wonderful open house in early December that raised over $16,000 for his Skateboard Park and $1,500 for the Daily Bread Food Bank – but for his participation as a keynote speaker at our Printing Survivor Event in October. About 15 minutes before he was to give his talk, he was informed that his dear friend and business partner of almost 20 years, George Hurley, passed away. Yet he still managed to give one of the most inspiring presentations I’ve ever heard.

Over the years, Graphic Arts Magazine has always tried to help printers with timely information and business-building ideas. For example, our first-ever Survivor Event in October in Toronto and our new “Helping You Help Your Customers” column by Peter Muir have been well received. We will continue these efforts throughout 2012 and beyond. For me and for others in our industry, the cup must always be half full – never half empty!

On behalf of Graphic Arts Magazine and its staff, and myself and my family, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a joyous and healthy new year. And, needless to say, stay positive and stay focused.

Most of 2011’s good news involved successful companies reinventing themselves by offering marketing services and/or getting into other growing markets such as wide-format and variable. Other companies just kept giving great service and putting out quality products, and as a result, kept their core customers. Companies like Nova Scotia’s Farnell Packaging

Joe Mulcahy Publisher, Graphic Arts Magazine joe@graphicartsmag.com

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Natalia Gilewicz

Optimism for 2012 What a productive November! Hopefully you had an opportunity to step out to enjoy Graphics Canada. The atmosphere at the show was very positive. I had an opportunity to chair a session about Social Media. A big thank you to Slava Apel, Lee Eldridge and Anita Windisman (whose article you can read in this very issue) for participating in an exceptionally informative panel. We celebrated the session by having a bit of fun at the Xerox booth taking silly photos. There were also many evening events, including a successful Ryerson reunion event hosted by the OPIA.

were able to connect with Terence Tse, Account Director at Bridgemark. He spoke to a lecture hall full of future leaders about designing for packaging. His message, I thought, carried well for all business people. From an aesthetic perspective, but also when considering innovation in your business, successes are often seen to achieve what Terence called “dramatic simplicity”. Life is full of those, “oh-that-is-so-obvious” and “I-wish-I-hadthought-of-that” moments. Hopefully, participating in all of these great industry events this past month will have you brimming with ideas for the start of 2012! Wishing you happy and healthy holidays and an idea-filled new year!

I very much enjoyed the Apple certified training provided by Witz. Charismatic and knowledgeable teachers certainly make it easier to learn all about the software technology available today. The exhibitors brought their A-game and it is a good thing because it certainly seemed like attendees were not there to have the typical “save us money” conversations. Innovation and diversification were the buzzwords for this show. As an example, it was great to see the Esko exhibit, along with other interesting packaging solutions. It is important for us to be open to a variety of future opportunities. Simply, this show felt broader in scope.

Natalia Gilewicz is a full-time Assistant Professor in the School of Graphic Communications Management at Ryerson University. Her teaching concentration is in areas of prepress, typography, and layout. In her research, she studies e-print and its applications. Contact her at ngilewic@ryerson.ca

I have the opportunity to supervise a group of students called RyePack who have a specific interest in the packaging industry. This month also marked the first time this group held a speaker event. With the assistance of the PAC, we

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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Installations & Investments

Martin Yung, owner of Better Printing Service, and Mr. Lu, an engineering manager at Hans-Gronhi Canada, with the new YK4700 offset press

Standing with the new cutter are ABC Printing’s operators: (L to R) Fernando Aragon, Dan Peters, Ron Lippert and Jim Loree

ABC PRINTING

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ABC Printing, a commercial printer that has been servicing the Kitchener area for over 50 years, has just installed a brand new Polar 92X Cutter from Heidelberg. The programmable high-speed device cuts a range of products from paper, paper board, plastic foils and more. The guillotine has an 18.5-inch colour display and touch screen operation.

Better Printing Service, situated in Markham, Ontario, has an 18-year printing history. The company has recently invested in a Hans Gronhi offset press – the YK4700 model. The company says that the press is easy to operate, and the quality it produces leaves the customer with a lasting impression. “This press has become our main machine for one or two colour jobs,” says company owner Martin Yung.

Bryan Hall, digital graphic sales specialist, Fujifilm; Doug Peterson, Screen Craft owner & production manager; and Cvetlin Hristov, Screen Craft digital graphics manager, with the new Acuity Advance

Normand Limoges, president of Contact Image, with the company’s new HP Scitex LX800 Printer

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SCREEN CRAFT INDUSTRIES

Contact Image, a Montreal-based large-format digital printing business, installed an HP Scitex LX800 Printer earlier this year. The company said it chose the LX800 for its environmental benefits, as well as its flexibility. “Not only does the press give us greater resolution and therefore a better quality product, it also gives us more flexibility,” said company president Normand Limoges.

Screen Craft Industries, a screen, digital printing, decal and sign maker, has recently installed a Fujifilm Acuity Advance UV flatbed printer at its Edmonton-based facility. With the new Acuity, the company says it has made significant productivity improvements and enhanced customer service. The white ink option has also opened the door to some speciality printing products for their customers.

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

www.graphicartsmag.com

Kristen Read

News and comments manroland AG files for insolvency

tion committees based in Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster. (The New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew text, while the Apocrypha were translated from the Greek and Latin.) The original printing was published by Robert Barker, the King’s Printer, in 1611. It was sold looseleaf for ten shillings, or bound for twelve.

In late November, manroland AG filed a petition to initiate insolvency proceedings with the jurisdictional court at Augsburg, after negotiations with a potential investor failed on the home stretch.

The King James Bible was often read aloud daily — it was a very public text. Its language was absorbed by millions of people throughout the English speaking world. The Bible even introduced around 1,000 new words and over 250 familiar phrases into spoken English that have stuck around until modern times. A few notable examples are:

The decision to file for insolvency was triggered by a “dramatic downturn” in orders since mid-July. manroland said in a statement that its customers are finding it difficult to obtain financing in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

“The powers that be” “Sign of the times” “The apple of his eye” “Biting the dust” “How the mighty have fallen”

The news release reads: “The market size is now only 50 percent of the level before the beginning of the crisis in 2008. After showing initial signs of recovery from the beginning of the fiscal year and well into the summer, the market took another downturn, particularly in the USA and Western Europe, and in the segment for sheet-fed presses.”

The Queen (who actually holds the copyright to this version of the Bible) was recently at Westminster Abbey to mark the 400th anniversary occasion. Ancient copies of the Bible were carried during a procession to the Abbey’s altar.

The announcement also says that the company’s executive board aims to rescue key units within the framework of ongoing restructuring efforts. “The initiated insolvency procedure affords the opportunity to step up the restructuring process and guide the company through this difficult phase. Despite all the disappointment over the path that now has to be taken, the insolvency procedure as debtor in possession offers plenty of prospects because the company has compelling products, the necessary know-how, and an excellent team.”

Speaking before the service, the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr. John Hall, said the Bible’s impact was not immediately recognized: “It took some time to establish itself. It wasn’t really till the reign of Charles the First that it became universally used. But for the 350 years, certainly until about 50 years ago, it was the only translation of the Bible that everyone who spoke English knew. And it’s been the biggest-selling book in history.”

HP launches Print Excellence Awards

As it stands, manroland’s business activities continue to run as normal. The general representative and the provisional insolvency administrator are now going to review the possibilities for a restructuring. manroland employs 6,500 people — 5,000 of that number are in Germany.

Hewlett-Packard is calling for entries for the HP Print Excellence Awards, a new worldwide competition honouring graphic arts printing produced on HP Designjet, Indigo, Inkjet Web Press and Scitex systems. An international panel of print experts will select winners in 16 categories of commercial print, wide-format graphics and label and packaging applications.

Most printed book in history’ turns 400

In addition to evaluating print quality, the HP Print Excellence Awards will also recognize innovative examples of environmentally responsible printing.

First printed in 1611, the impact of the King James Bible can still be seen in the way we speak and write today – four hundred years later. It is said that no other book has influenced the English language as much as this one.

“The HP Print Excellence Awards will show how customers fully express their ingenuity, creativity and skill using HP solutions,” said Christopher Morgan, senior VP, HP Graphic Solutions. “We look forward to seeing how our customers are advancing the analog to digital transformation and achieving new levels of colour quality and innovation.”

“It was printed at the moment in history when English was said to have reached ‘its brief perfection.’ No other writing has penetrated idiomatic speech more deeply or for so long. By one linguist’s estimate, three times as many of its words and phrases have entered common usage as have those of Shakespeare,” noted the Toronto Star in a recent article.

The HP Print Excellence Awards are free to enter. Entries are due by March 15, 2012, and winners will be announced at a gala held during drupa 2012 next May in Dusseldorf, Germany. More information, including entry details and forms, is available at www. hp.com/go/printexcellenceawards

A little history lesson: King James VI of Scotland, who went on to also become James I of England, commissioned the translated Bible in 1604 to help forge unity between religious factions. According to the BBC, the book was the work of 54 scholars working in six transla-

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Your perfect connection to the printing and graphic arts industry

Standard Finishing named Xerox Colour Finishing Partner of the Year

SGIA’s Product of the Year Awards

Standard Finishing Systems has been named Xerox’s partner of the year, in the colour finishing category, for its continued contributions to Xerox, its customers and the printing industry. The award was among 15 that Xerox presented to partner firms for superior finishing and digital workflow software solutions.

SGIA’s Product of the Year competition showcases digital imaging products that keep the specialty imaging industry moving forward. Entries were showcased and evaluated by a team of digital imaging professionals during the Expo. “Winners represent the best consumables and output devices that offer faster, higher quality output for the wide-format digital market,” says Michael Robertson, SGIA president and CEO.

Standard has received the coveted “Xerox Partner of the Year” award in different categories for seven consecutive years. The company offers a range of in-line and off-line feeding and finishing solutions in cooperation with Xerox.

Part of the competition is a Test Print Shoot Out in the Output Device category. Open to any inkjet output device available for sale during the competition, entrants were required to print and submit a test image created by the Association. The image was designed to make output devices run through their paces by printing a number of challenging images and test patterns.

The Xerox Partner of the Year awards are presented annually at the Xerox Business Innovation Partner conference. The awards honour business partners that contributed most significantly to the business success of Xerox and its customers. “Standard is proud to share this award with Horizon International, our world-class manufacturing partner, who continues to apply their engineering vision and expertise to develop innovative finishing solutions for customers who use Xerox digital presses,” said David Reny, EVP, Standard Finishing Systems.

The judges look for colour, appeal, detail and tonality, and the output is also judged on how closely it matches the test print. Let’s take a look at the devices that came out on top: Category: Flat Bed – Rigid Substrate UV (<$200K MSRP)

Standard has been a Xerox Business Innovation partner since 1992, offering a range of paper handling, post-press and mail inserting systems that compliment Xerox monochrome and colour printers in every production class.

Winner: Mimaki JFX-1631 Category: Flat Bed – Rigid Substrate UV (>$200K MSRP) Winner: EFI VUTEk GS3250 LX

xpedx to close Canadian operations

Category: Flat Bed – Rigid White Ink UV (>$200K MSRP)

xpedx announced in early November that it will close its Canadian locations by the end of the year. The facilities supply printing papers and graphic supplies to commercial printers in Toronto as well as in the Western Canadian markets of Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

Winner: Oce Arizona 360 XT A full list of this year’s winners, including the inks, media and finishing categories, can be found on the SGIA website at www. sgia.org

“The closure of our Canadian facilities is a reflection of the structural decline in the print marketplace,” said Mary Laschinger, president, xpedx. “Going forward, our xpedx growth strategy will focus on our US and Mexico operations where our business is strongly positioned as we serve a wide variety of customers across multiple industries.”

HP introduces 2 Designjet printers to its Latex printing portfolio

Hewlett-Packard has recently introduced two new HP Designjet printers that it says are capable of handling a broader range of indoor and outdoor signage applications. The printers, featuring HP’s Latex Inks, are said to produce work that boasts better durability than eco-solvent inks.

xpedx Canada was established in Toronto in 2007, before the economic downturn, with a local headquarters and distribution centre.

HP Designjet L28500

“xpedx has international customers with operations in Canada that we will continue to support. We are evaluating service options with them on a case by case basis,” said Laschinger. “We will also work closely with our Canadian customers to ensure a smooth, professional transition to alternative suppliers and to minimize any disruptions.”

This 104-inch-wide printer delivers speeds up to 70 percent faster than the familiar Designjet L25500 model. HP Designjet L26500 This printer, at 61-inches-wide, is ideal for customers entering the growing soft-signage market.

xpedx Canada facilities will continue to fill customer orders until their date of closure. Four distribution centres in Toronto and Western Canada will close by December 31, 2011. Walk-in store locations in Brampton and Markham will close by November 30, 2011. The closures will affect approximately 110 employees across Canada.

Both systems feature new HP 792 Latex Designjet Inks, which produce rich blacks and glossy results on banners and selfadhesive vinyl. The inks, compatible with more than 500 media solutions, also offer double-sided printing capabilities with less user intervention and more accurate registration. The new devices produce 1,200-dpi output with outdoor display permanence of up to three years unlaminated or five years laminated. The output dries inside the printer, allowing immediate finishing or use.

“We recognize this is a very difficult decision affecting our employees, their families and the communities surrounding our Canadian facilities,” added Laschinger. “Despite the talented and experienced team of employees we have across our Canadian locations, the abundant supply and significant decline in the print marketplace made it difficult for xpedx to grow in Canada.”

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

“With about 9,000 HP Latex Ink systems installed worldwide, HP is offering a superior alternative to eco-solvent solutions that delivers the versatility and ease of use our customers demand, while lowering their impact on the environment,” said Santiago Morera, VP and GM of HP’s Large-Format Printing Business.

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www.graphicartsmag.com Grahics_canada_2011_Graphic-Arts_RECONDITIONEDAD_DEC-JAN2011_4x7.pdf 2 24/11/2011 3:19:57 PM

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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HP Latex Inks produce odorless prints. These water-based inks are nonflammable and noncombustible. They also do not require hazard warning labels and contain no hazardous air pollutants. Additionally, no special ventilation equipment or external dryer is required.

The group intends to host events, facilitate competitions, run a blog and enrich students’ knowledge of packaging at GCM. If you would like more information, or would like to be involved, contact faculty advisor Natalia Gilewicz at ngilewic@ryerson.ca.

Avanti named Xerox’s Print MIS Partner of the Year

“By allowing customers to cost-effectively print a wide array of new applications and providing the training required to succeed, our updated HP Latex portfolio helps PSPs differentiate their business and seize new growth opportunities,” continued Morera.

Toronto’s own Avanti Computer Systems was named Xerox 2011 Print MIS Business Partner of the Year for its continued contribution to Xerox, its customers and the printing industry as a whole. The award was presented to the company at the recent Xerox Partner Summit in Tampa, Florida.

Availability of the HP Designjet L26500 Printer will vary by region beginning Nov 3. The HP Designjet L28500 Printer is expected to be available January 20, 2012.

The Xerox Partner Conference is an opportunity for Xerox to recognize the partner community and highlight their partners of the year. With over 100 industry-leading software and hardware providers participating in the Xerox Business Innovation Partner Program, Avanti said in a news release that it was honoured to receive this recognition in the Print MIS category for the fourth time.

GCM students take an interest in Packaging Industry

Last month, students at Ryerson University’s Graphic Communications Management degree program launched a new student group called RyePAC. The group is dedicated to creating opportunities for students to learn about the packaging industry.

“The running of a the print shop has changed dramatically over the years,” says Stephen McWilliams, EVP of Avanti. “Ten years ago, a shop would have ten jobs that had to get out in the next ten days. Now they have ten jobs that need to get out in the next hour! The only way to do that, without throwing people at the problem, is through automation. Xerox customers realize Print MIS plays a key role there.”

Led by fourth-year student Andrew Wong, the student group has been planning the launch all summer. According to the latest GCM newsletter, the launch drew a crowd of more than 70 students – showing that packaging is important to current students. James Dowham, president and CEO of the Packaging Association (PAC) helped kick off the event by speaking to the students about careers in packaging. He congratulated them on a positive step toward an exciting field.

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December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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People and events

People and events C.J. Graphics’ Open House a huge hit

It was billed as the C.J. Social, but it was much more than that – it was a family affair! The head count was lost after 1,250 people (yes, including competitors!) arrived Friday evening December 2 for an open house at Toronto’s C.J. Graphics, an industry-leading printer and top North American award winner. C.J. Graphics’ President Jay Mandarino doubled as host and auctioneer and asked those in attendance to “lend a hand by raising yours.” During the evening, both live and silent auctions were held, with all proceeds going to the C.J. Skateboard Park and School founded by Mandarino. The park is a not-for-profit facility offering year-round supervised skateboarding, as well as lessons, camps and classes to all kids in the community, including those with special needs.

Jeff Ekstein, President & CEO of the Willow Printing Group and co-chair of CPISC.

Fifteen items were scooped up at the live auction while 67 were available to bid on during the silent auction. When the cheering subsided a whopping $16,180 was raised for the park. Also on hand were hard-working volunteers from Daily Bread Food Bank, who accepted dozens of donations of both food and cash ($1,500). The event was also the official launch of the George R. Hurley Scholarship with Ryerson University. Hurley, Senior V.P. and Partner at C.J. Graphics, passed away in October. This was a family affair in every sense. On hand were members of C.J.’s family, neighbourhood children and families that use the park, volunteers and their families, and employees from the C.J. Graphics family of graphic arts professionals. Mandarino thanked all those who came, especially those who donated their time, and sponsors who donated merchandise.

(L-R) Brian Ellis of Fujifilm Canada, Tom Oldfield from Xerox Canada and Antimo Clarizia, Fujifilm Canada.

Sandra Dimini, Volunteer and Ambassador for the Daily Bread Food Bank.

Nice job Jay. George would have been very proud.

Ken Wood with son Kristian (aka Eminem at the event!).

4over opens Mississauga plant with Tom Hogan as Manager

4over, one of the largest North American trade printers (with 440,000 sq. ft. of office and production space in eight American states), has added another 40,000 sq. ft. with the opening of its new plant in Mississauga, Ontario, earlier this month. Local resident Tom Hogan was named Plant Tom Hogan Manager. Hogan graduated from Niagara College Engineering School and began his career as a Computer Engineering Technologist, working in a variety of positions in the printing industry. He has a wealth of experience in start-ups, having played a key role in The Globe and Mail’s outsourcing of its production to Interweb Ontario. He was also instrumental in the start-up, development and design of Transcontinental Metropolitain, the printer for LaPresse newspaper in Montreal.

Kids from C.J. Skateboard Park celebrate with Jay as he conducts the Live Auction. Host and auctioneer Jay Mandarino.

Tony Curcio ajg.curcio@gmail.com

Jay Mandarino’s mother Joan (seated) with long-time family friends.

(L-R) Marika, Rick and Mary Ann Sato with Chloe Vera.

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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Kristen Read

Tech and design news

ation and delivery of content from a single source to multiple channels, including print, the Web, mobile, and digital devices. If you are a Quark user, you might be interested in some of the free and discounted software that the company is offering its customers as thanks for choosing its technology. Check out the company’s 30th anniversary press release at www.quark.com (near the bottom) for more information.

New concept product: vanishing labels

A new look for Transcontinental

Transcontinental has recently launched a new brand, logo and positioning: “TC. Transcontinental.” The company says its new brand reflects its comprehensive and integrated marketing communications offering, including print, media, digital, interactive and mobile.

Rumours of an interesting new concept product are circulating around the internet: FruitWash Labels. The brainchild of Amron Experimental Inc., these labels dissolve into organic, fruit-cleansing produce soap when washed. The labels can even be printed with price look-up codes and barcodes for accurate check-out.

“As our customers’ needs have evolved, so have we,” says Francois Olivier, president and CEO of TC. Transcontinental. “What customers rightly expect is proactivity, creativity, innovation, strategy, customization and market intelligence. Our new brand launch is a logical milestone in the disciplined roll-out of the development plan we began implementing in 2008 to strengthen our core operations and build new marketing communication services.”

Washing and rubbing the fruit with water triggers the transformation from label into soap. They are water resistant and can stand up to picky shoppers and check-out counters at the grocery store. When they are dissolved, they turn into an organic, fruit-cleansing produce wash that helps remove wax, pesticides, dirt and bacteria. This is a great example of how a little thinking outside the box can open the door to a new printed product! Check out Amron Experimental’s website at www.amronexperimental.com for more intriguing concept products.

In a recent news release, the company explained the deeper meaning behind the new brand image: - the ‘T’ in the new ‘TC’ stands for technology - the letter is bold and upright, symbolizing confidence and solidity - the ‘C’ in the new ‘TC’ represents community - the letter has a generous opening, signifying willingness to communicate - the red dot from the former logo is transformed into a black one, representing the digital economy as well as the point of contact between the company and its customers. - the logo itself is black or white, depending on context and usage - the company will use colours to illustrate sub-brands

Quark celebrates 30 years of publishing innovation

Thirty years ago, Quark was founded in Denver, Colorado. Today, the company is well known for revolutionizing graphic design and page layout with its QuarkXPress software that millions of people use around the globe.

“For 30 years Quark has been dedicated to driving innovation in publishing,” said Ray Schiavone, Quark CEO. “Our team is proud today to continue our work to improve the entire publishing process – from content creation to delivery across any channel. We are happy to thank the Quark community of designers, enterprise organizations, education establishments, government agencies, and many others who have been an integral part of our longevity.”

“This is as much about change as it is about continuity,” continues Olivier. “Printing, mixed with other platforms, is still the primary driver of marketing communications today. It remains the most efficient channel to drive traffic to the internet; new media perform best when associated with printing. Our expertise in these areas provides our clients with the best of both worlds by smartly combining the proven and the upcoming.” TC. Transcontinental worked with two Montreal-based companies to develop the new brand: Cohesion Strategies, a consultancy specialized in brand strategy, and Bleublancrouge, an advertising and design agency.

Here are some things you may not have known about Quark: -Quark was first to incorporate WYSIWYG postscript into desktop publishing software which replaced manual layout processes and served as the catalyst for a revolution in publishing.

The company’s website, tctranscontinental.com, features a new video about its core company values, calling itself a “marketing activation company.”

-Quark was first to bring to market colour separations and trapping which streamlined the process of preparing layouts for press and created an immediate return on investment. -Quark was first to offer very granular and precise control over typography, first to introduce the accurate placement of geometries – down to a hundredth of a millimeter, and first to offer multi-ink: the ability to specify a colour based on a combination of ink and apply it as a single colour. -Quark was first to integrate vector illustration tools into page layout software, allowing designers to create shaped boxes. -Quark was first to allow designers to create content for print, Web, interactive, and digital media from one application and with the advanced functionality of layout spaces, synchronized text, Job Jackets, and composition zones.

WELCOME TO THE MARKETING ACTIVATION ERA www.tc.tc

A marketing activation company

-Quark was the first publishing software provider to define and enable dynamic publishing as the process of automating the cre-

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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AWARDS

OCTOBER

JULY

APPOINT

NOV

CLOSINGS JANUARY

Tony Curcio

DECEMBER

AUGUST

AND A LOOK INTO THE YEAR THAT WAS

Here are insights from some industry leaders looking back at 2011 and ahead to 2012, followed by selected monthly headlines from 2011.

Tony Karg, Senior Director of Business Development & Marketing, Fujifilm Canada, Graphics System Division

Richard Armstrong, President, Heidelberg Canada Graphic Equipment Limited

It was a challenging year. Contracting demand for print, substitution of digital technologies for traditional print, and declining profitability were three key blows to our industry. The reality is that print must carve out its distinct niche within the marketing communication space and struggle hard for continued relevancy and mindshare from the print and digital-buying community. Fujifilm Canada’s value proposition of technologies that enable high-quality printing, backed by outstanding technical service, will enable printers to stay relevant and compete in the marketplace of 2012.

I would consider 2011 a turnaround year for equipment sales in Canada. Our level of prospects and equipment sales in Canada increased in 2011. Our customers are seeing the need to improve productivity and this is the primary driver in equipment decisions today. I see this trend continuing into 2012 as a lead up to drupa, so I am quite optimistic about our opportunities. Regarding areas of challenge, a few points come to mind. Pricing has always been a challenge, but it seems to be acute right now for the industry. The commercial print market has become smaller while companies are trying to maintain previous sales levels. That helps drive this trend.

Fujifilm invests heavily into R&D for future products. This enables us to offer market-leading quality and environmentally sustainable products and consumables, and support them with a national technical service organization that is an attractive value proposition to printers in an unstable market. We see 2012 as the year of digital inkjet technologies with both commercial and wide-format inkjet markets leading the way at tradeshows such as ISA, FESPA and drupa 2012. These technologies enable printers to deliver high-quality printed material to compete with digital and mobile delivery of information in a profit-enabling way.

Another challenge I see is the rate of technological change. This will be positive for some firms and have a negative impact on other companies. All companies in our industry need to be continually self-evaluating and looking for new products/markets and opportunities. Even though the last few years have been difficult, I still believe there are opportunities out there and we will have a strong and vibrant industry in the future.

Fujifilm Canada continued to enjoy market share growth in 2011 in our wide-format inkjet and offset plate segments. Our wide-format successes included the installation of four Onset-class presses. We have achieved industry recognition of our technologies achieving market penetration with over 100 installations of Onset, Columbia Turbo, Spyder and Acuity presses in Canada.

At Heidelberg Canada, we continue to work with our customers on adding value through our comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and services. We are finding that this package of products and expertise is helping our customers achieve new levels of productivity. When you couple this package with our Productivity Consulting Services, I think we have a unique solution in the market. Over the next year, we will continue to help our customers in this way and expand our business at the same time.

We also introduced the LH-NN2 newspaper plate with tremendous success – as it offers higher quality and less environmental impact than any of its thermal newspaper plate competitors. Major newspaper chains across the country implemented this technology in 2011, with more expected for 2012. Canada’s top-selling thermal plate, the LH-PJ, con-

With respect to drupa 2012, I cannot tell you anything specific, but I can assure you that Heidelberg will display our latest technology and services at this important event. I am looking forward to seeing our customers in Düsseldorf.

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

JUNE

CONFERENCES

ANNIVERSARIES

2012 A GLIMPSE INTO

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Ye a r i n r e v i e w

tinued its market-share growth in Canada.

for “value added” opportunities, desperate to move away from “commodity priced” competition.

Offering the highest possible quality result, at an affordable price, is how print will stay relevant in an increasingly digital world. That will continue to be a winning formula for the print industry in 2012.

Our business model has always centered around understanding the marketplace, listening to our customers and providing solutions to work smarter, maximize output and drive more results through a creative value chain. I believe we achieved our goals in 2011 utilizing many of our exclusive technologies to help grow our clients’ opportunities and revenues.

Kevin McKay, Marketing Manager, Graphics Solution Business, HP Canada HP graphics emerged strongly in 2011. Our Designjet Latex technology, ideal for the growing soft-signage market, saw exciting new products that demonstrated the continuing popularity of our Latex Ink. Our flagship high-performing Indigo digital presses for high-production added the PageReady finishing system – resulting in an enhanced end-to-end solution. Our Indigo Inkjet Web Press technology was seen as a bold new production solution, especially by book publishers.

Mail is changing – no doubt about it. The high volume “shotgun” marketing approach has been replaced by a more focused personalized offering. Our approach of enhancing DM through multiple personalization technology and read-&print greatly benefited our customers by providing their clients with tangible, improved results that perpetuate best practices. Combining multiple media, QR codes and website in DM has broadened the creative opportunities for the printer/mailer, not only driving volume, but spawning opportunities in creative fields. The year 2012 looks to be focusing on “smarter, faster, less costly” with “results, results, results” being the key phrase. We see Insource continuing as an industry leader, helping our customers win the tough battle in finding “a better way.”

Of course, our breakthrough Latex Ink technology, combined with our customer training programs, continued to reflect HP’s commitment to helping clients reduce their environmental footprint – a commitment we take very seriously at HP. Print service providers who previously purchased HP products, particularly Designjet Latex devices, were poised to grow into more revenue streams due to the application versatility, while printers with eco-solvent devices could not expand beyond traditional business.

Stephen McWilliam, Executive vicepresident, Avanti Last year was our best year ever! We saw a positive mindset change in the market. Many print shops exhausted their cost-cutting opportunities. “Doing more with less” has translated into a very lean, overworked team, with no real room to reduce the number of people any further without negatively impacting customer satisfaction. The new focus was on how to grow business by increasing the effectiveness of the sales team, adding new services and finding ways to differentiate themselves from their competition.

For 2012, I see more printers transitioning into wide-format, its associated costs declining and an increase in profit opportunities. Digital shops will adapt and grow and workflow software will become more flexible and seamless for all types of print service providers. One example, our SmartStream workflow for digital production that provides end-to-end workflow management from job creation to fulfillment, has already had a big impact.

Avanti’s most popular product in 2011 was our CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Module. Unlike standalone CRM systems, having a CRM system that is incorporated into the Print MIS is key. In addition, being able to have a system that integrates with other software applications in the print shop, such as a company’s website (for capturing leads) or Microsoft Outlook (for streamlining contact management) is critical.

Another growing area in 2012 will be “cloud” printing solutions where companies (especially in the architecture, engineering and construction industries) will be able to save time, improve collaboration and reduce review cycles. We have already seen this happening with our HP ePrint & Share program that allows design teams to easily access, share and print large-format project files online anytime, anywhere. The bottom line is that most print service providers will have to reinvest in themselves in 2012, and indeed beyond, if they want to prosper.

Many printers have implemented, or are thinking about implementing, a web-to-print solution that offers customers an e-commerce site for submitting jobs or ordering products. That is a great start but a lousy finish! In 2012, we see shops taking that to the next level and leveraging their web-to-print environment to offer their customers “a one-stop shop” – a portal where they can submit jobs, have 24/7 access to the shop to track the status of jobs, look up real-time inventory levels, make billing and invoicing queries, etc.

Tim Wakefield, President, Insource Corporation Many events and factors shaped 2011 as far as the mailing sector. The Canada Post strike certainly was a negative for valueadded mailers involved in the direct-mail (DM) marketplace. On the positive side, new markets were being established with more printers considering mailing – or at least looking to understand the landscape, knowing there is opportunity in the DM market to, at the very least, increase print volumes. Digital print technology was being used more and more for variable print rather than simply short-run litho. Forward-thinking companies were looking

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Secondly, the concept of cloud computing is gaining traction. With cloud computing, IT resources, software and information are provided as a utility (like the electricity grid, paid for on an “as needed/as used” basis) over a network (typically the Internet). This represents a great opportunity for print shops to take advantage of the flexibility this model provides – reduce the IT resources required in-house, deploy and scale quickly and leave the IT issues to “the experts” so printers can focus more on their businesses.

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A glimpse of the year that was JANUARY

MAY

• U.S.-based Danaher Corp. is new owner of EskoArtwork. • C anada Post raises lettermail/postcard rates 2¢ for pieces up to 30 grams. • S tephen Harper announces new Red Tape Commission from pressroom of Harmony Printing. • A mazon.com sales of Kindle e-books surpasses hardcover books sold on its website. • C PISC releases “Bridging the Gaps” report examining industry skill shortages. • M IT’s Media Lab creates new, 3D-printed, fully functional flute. • A ntoine Fady named CEO of major ink supplier Flint Group. • N ikos Kallas becomes President of Metropolitan Fine Printers (Vancouver).

• S cott Bloxham becomes Regional Sales Manager in Canada for the Flint Group. • Don LeBlanc assumes the role of Chief Marketing Officer for Vistaprint N.A. • Dollco Printing (Ottawa) changes name to Dollco Integrated Print Solutions. • Robert Beaudoin becomes Western Canada Sales Manager for NuStream Graphics. (Montreal) • Q uebecor Media signs a five year, $50 million deal with Jean Coutu Group (Montreal). • B rad Clement assumes ownership of Pacific Bindery (Vancouver). • Printcrafters (Winnipeg) closes its doors, leaving over 125 people out of work. • Agfa names Brian Paradis as Business Manager for Central Ontario and Western Region Sales. • M cAra Printing (Calgary) marks Earth Day by activating its 48 new rooftop solar panels.

FEBRUARY

JUNE

• Xerox adapts its business-class solid ink technology for the inkjet production sector. • R upert Murdoch’s News Corp. launches “The Daily” – the first iPad-only newspaper. • H .B. Fenn, Canada’s largest book distributor, files for bankruptcy protection.

• H emlock Printers and Blanchette Press receive Gold Awards in the Sappi Fine Paper North American Printers of the Year Competition. • Lowe-Martin’s Mississauga plant becomes the first in Ontario to achieve carbon-neutral status. • C anada Post Workers return to the job after back-to-work legislation. • 250 publishers tour Webcom Inc.’s $12-million Toronto book-manufacturing facility. • Richmond Hill, Ontario’s Acuity Solutions Group closes its doors. • K rista Nicholds, V.P. of Marketing, Dollco (Ottawa), joins Board of Directors of CPISC. • Family-owned PolyCello (Amherst, NS) becomes the first print shop in Canada to earn certification from the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership. • Advertek opens a new 30,000-sq.-ft. facility in Vaughan, Ontario. • Transcontinental says it will close its Spot Graphics plant in Winnipeg by December. • Transcontinental, Tembec, Domtar, Cascades and Catalyst are named Top 50 Corporate Citizens by Corporate Knights Magazine.

MARCH • P rinted game manuals eliminated from many new releases of video games. • P atrick Bolan, President and CEO of Avanti, joins the advisory board of CIP4. • R udi Lenz, CEO and President of Sun Chemical, becomes an Executive of DIC Corp. • IAPHC hands out Canadian and Int. awards at Gallery of Superb Printing convention. • B rian Ellis joins Fujifilm Canada as Marketing Manager, Graphic Systems Division. • O ntario’s Barney Printing Ltd. and Aylmer Express Graphics Group will amalgamate. • N ew York Times creates Paywall, a digital pay format for its online content. • H adi Mahabadi, V.P. and Director of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (Mississauga), receives the Robert F. Reed Technology Medal.

JULY

APRIL

• C .J. Graphics of Toronto wins three Bennys in the Premier Print Awards. Hemlock, Kallen and Metropolitan also win a Benny each. • A mazon.com allows students to rent textbooks through its Kindle service. • EPN releases a new sustainability report on paper production and consumption in N.A. • Transcontinental buys Canadian Assets of Quad/Graphics. • Parker Pad of Markham, ON celebrates its 65th anniversary. • Pacific Bindery Services and Anstey Book Binding are named best print finishers by winning Product of Excellence Awards from the Binding Industries Association.

• A mazon to release cheaper version of its Kindle e-book that includes advertising. • Xerox Research Centre of Canada earns its 1,500th patent. • C IP4 updates its free, 162-page JDF Marketplace book. • W innipeg-based Printcrafters shuts down. • S tudents from Gordon Graydon Memorial S.S. in Toronto are top winners again at Phoenix Challenge Int. Flexographic Skills Competition in North Carolina. • T I Group integrates with all Account Management functions of Total Graphics

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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Tony Curcio

Ye a r i n r e v i e w

AUGUST • Fujifilm North America hosts a hands-on look at its new J-Press 720 technology. • Q uark purchased by Platinum Equity, a California-based private equity firm. • Xerox names Paul Smith as the head of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada. • H al Stratton becomes Market Development Manager for Komori America (K-North in Canada). • Students from Ryerson win two top prizes at Walmart Sustainable Packaging Conference. • Transcontinental Media buys publishing assets of Groupe Le Canada Français.

SEPTEMBER • G raph Expo is held Sun., Sept. 11 – Wed., Sept. 14 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. • Pazazz Printing (Montreal) is the only Canadian company to win an award in the “Books” category in Xerox’s Best-of-the-Best Program. • H P appoints Meg Whitman (former eBay CEO) as its Chief Executive Officer. • N ova Scotia’s Farnell Packaging Ltd. celebrates its 50th anniversary. • Lloyd Bryant, VP of HP Canada’s Imaging & Printing Group, is named to the Clean16 program. • Tower Litho of Toronto celebrates 40 years in business. • Isabelle Marcoux becomes Chair of Transcontinental. • The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership celebrates its 3rd anniversary. • C anadian Printing Industries Scholarship Trust Fund awards over $80,000 to 61 printing students.

OCTOBER • G eorge Hurley, Senior V.P. and Partner at C.J. Graphics in Toronto, passes away. • Xerography inventor Chester Carlson is inducted into the Paper Industry Int. Hall of Fame. • PIA releases “Competing for Print’s Thriving Future” report about printing’s financial future. • H P Canada makes new executive appointments in its Imaging and Printing Group. • B ob McCrea joins manroland Inc. as Regional Sales Manager for Toronto (sheetfed) and Western Canada. • G illian Mothersill joins CPISC’s Board of Directors. • Doug Aldred named President of Flint Group’s Packaging and Narrow Web Div., N.A. & Europe . • Transcon combines Media and Interactive Divisions under “Transcontinental Media.” • G roupe BO Concept large-format printing (Quebec) buys Sign-A-Rama franchise.

NOVEMBER • manroland files to initiate insolvency proceedings in Augsburg, Germany. • C PISC announces that the federal government will begin phasing out its core funding. • The most printed book in history, the King James Bible, turns 400. • Standard Finishing Systems is Xerox partner of the year in colour finishing category. • O nline printer Vistaprint acquires Amsterdam’s Albumprinter for 60 million Euros. • X pedx says it will close all its Canadian operations by December. • Transcontinental appoints Nelson Gentiletti as CFO. • F ilip Buyse, former President and CEO of Prism Group, becomes G.M. of EFI’s Digital StoreFront and PrintSmith. • H oward Graphic Equipment (Streetsville, ON) donates Heidelberg T Platen Press to Niagara’s Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum. Tony Curcio ajg.curcio@gmail.com

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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D V

E R T O

HP = “Huge” Possibilities When it comes large-format printing, HP leads the way in so many categories – range of substrates, output sizes, environmental responsibility, workflow flexibility, and above all, productivity. Here are four specific technologies that have helped (and will help) print service providers take their businesses to an entirely new level.

ity among traditional commercial printers for their ability to print directly on virtually any rigid or flexible media, including corrugated plastic, from one device. With both rigid and flexible media printing capabilities, print service providers have the opportunity to offer more applications to their customers and in doing so, command more business.

HP Scitex LX850 Printer

HP T300 Colour Inkjet Web Press

This 126-inch latex-ink printer delivers maximum versatility and productivity with an impressive array of accelerated large-format workflows including dual-roll, roll-to-free fall and roll-to-collector handling. The roll-tofree fall and roll-to-collector ability is a real time saver for print service providers as it allows you to start the finishing process while still printing on the remainder the roll. Both workflows can be combined with dual-roll capability that lets you print two 60-inch rolls side-by-side, taking advantage of the printer’s full production speed.

The HP T300 Colour Inkjet Web Press, based on proven thermal inkjet technology, provides high productivity at a breakthrough cost for a range of applications including books, direct mail, transactional and newspapers. The HP T300 Colour Inkjet Web Press helps publishers reduce costs while increasing the number and type of profitable titles they offer. Print services providers enjoy uncompromising colour at full press speed and will pay only for the ink they use – with no click charges. With environmentally responsible advantages such as the elimination of chemicals associated with traditional analog technology, and better power consumption for short-run lengths, print service providers are able to reduce their carbon footprint.

The printers’ innovative differential system accommodates rolls of varying widths and lengths by automatically adjusting the tension between them. The HP Scitex LX850 Printer also delivers high image quality at production speeds – 6 colours, up to 1,200-DPI resolution and text reproduction as low as 4-point.

With a high-volume capacity of up to 70 million pages per month, the HP T300 Colour Inkjet Web Press is costefficient for print runs of thousands or hundreds of copies. The press is compatible with a wide range of paper types and weights, including uncoated offset, coated and ground-wood, ideal for the publishing industry.

The printer’s HP water-based latex inks are Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) free and require no special ventilation – producing odourless prints of stunning quality that are ideal for the most demanding environmentally responsible customers. Its wide range of printable media includes self-adhesive vinyl, paper, wallpaper, PVC banners and film. Latex inks also provide direct-to-fabric printing on unlined flag fabrics.

Here’s what Canada’s first full-service book manufacturer, Webcom (www.webcomlink.com), using the HP T300 Colour Inkjet Web Press, has to say:

One of the many companies reaping the benefits of HP’s latex technology over the last few years is Signage Source (www.signagesource.com) of Pickering, Ontario.

“We installed our HP Indigo T300 Colour Inkjet Web Press in December of 2010 and began producing saleable printed book pages within the first month,” says President Mike Collinge. “Our book publishing customers have been impressed with the high-quality colour reproduction, registration accuracy and substrate flexibility.

“We currently have the HP Scitex LX800 Printer and are looking forward to an upgrade to the 850,” says President Rob Press. “We have always been very pleased with HP’s latex ink technology as far as speed and printing quality. Another big plus is that we’re now able to print on both sides of the sheet. This technology is continuing to have a long-term positive impact on our business,” he adds. HP Scitex LX850

HP T300

In addition, the HP Scitex FB500 and FB700 flatbed printers are gaining popular-

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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For many of our publishers, HP’s inkjet digital print quality has bridged the gap with offset and is accepted as a 100% substitutable today. Digital technologies are reshaping our book production and publishing models as we develop new applications with our customers. Consistent T300 print performance has been the cornerstone to move forward with them and increase Webcom’s share of their business,” he adds.

graphics. The HP Designjet L26500 and L28500 Printers offer double-sided printing capabilities and can print on a broad range of materials including vinyl, paper, film, fabrics and low-cost uncoated options. Both printers feature water-based HP 792 Latex Designjet Ink that produces superior quality, environmentally responsible, odourless prints ideal for any location such as hospitals, restaurants, office buildings and schools. In fact, HP PVC-free Wall Paper printed with HP Latex Inks is GREENGUARD Children & Schools CertifiedSM and meets AgBB criteria for health-related evaluation of VOC emissions of indoor building products.

HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press HP’s flagship press, the HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press, announced at the 2011 Graph Expo Tradeshow, leads the way in streamlined, end-to-end high-production environments with its newly available PageReady finishing system from Lasermax Roll Systems. The in-line slitter/ cutter/stacker solution uses fully automated job set-up features to help customers go directly from file to finished product.

You can expect rich blacks and vibrant glossy outputs across a variety of substrates (especially for banners and self-adhesive vinyl). The new inks can also print on softsignage materials including polyester and fabrics such as cotton in a simple, one-step process. The 104-inch-wide HP Designjet L28500 Printer further reduces turnaround time with speeds up to 70% faster than the HP Designjet L25500 Printer. The 61-inch HP Desingjet L26500 Printer is especially ideal for customers entering the competitive soft-signage market that need to fulfill extremely short turnaround times.

In short, the HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press is the most flexible, technologically advanced high-volume sheetfed digital printing solution on the market with intelligent automation breakthroughs delivering unprecedented quality, productivity and ease of operation. Designed for high-volume production, it can print up to 120 letter pages per minute (ppm) in full colour or 240 ppm in either monochrome or two colours. Enhanced with a patent-pending Vision System for hands-free automation (that keeps downtime to a minimum), it can deliver up to 3.5 million colour pages or 6.5 million monochrome pages per month. This pushes the economic crossover point with offset to the level of thousands.

HP Designjet L26500

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An unequalled graphic arts portfolio

The colour gamut is unprecedented, offering up to 7 ink stations and allowing 4, 6 and 7-colour Pantone emulation, and off-press mixing, matching up to 97% of Pantone colours. The additional colour stations also enable 6-colour printing with light cyan and light magenta for professional photography applications.

HP offers the broadest range of graphic arts solutions to help companies meet the ever-increasing business challenges of today’s tough economy. Scalable technology supported by powerful end-to-end software and finishing solutions, ePrint & Share cloud-enabled collaboration, and HP’s business acceleration support programs empower customers to enter new markets, expand their businesses and increase profits.

HP Designjet L26500 & L28500 Printers These exciting new products demonstrate HP’s expansion of its Latex portfolio. Both are ideal for the growing soft-signage market as well as for producing high-impact point-of-purchase displays, bus shelters and vehicle

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

HP Designjet L28500

Your perfect connection to the printing and graphic arts industry

Tony Curcio

Trade shows

Mood upbeat as over 8,000 visit Graphics Canada Show Exhibitors and visitors I spoke with at this year’s show in Toronto were very positive. I heard good comments about the steady flow of traffic as well as the wide range of technologies and helpful seminars. “Attendance topped 8,000 and the Graphics Software Theatre seminars (sponsored by Witz Training Centre) were packed every day,” said show Manager Dan Mustata. “Also well attended was the Printing Sales Training Day presented by print sales expert Dave Felman and the Digital Imaging Association breakfast meeting with keynote speaker Jeff Jacobson, Chairman and CEO of Presstek.”

The biggest draw was the Snake Skin Wire-O System – a new packaging innovation for wire-o-wire featuring cost savings in production time as well as reduced waste. We also had a new product for making gift cards that contains no PVC, is recyclable and FSC-certified. Its eco-friendly features generated a lot of interest. Overall, we felt that it was a very good show and are looking forward to 2013.” – Bob Brickell Sr., President, Terry C. Stapely Co. Ltd. Graphics Canada really delivered this year! Not only was traffic way up from the last show, but the mood was different. Last time it was about “how can you help me cut my costs?” This year, the conversations revolved around “I’m focused on building the top line” – so the demos of Avanti’s Automated Lead Management were by far the most requested and most popular. Lots of traffic from not only Ontario but western Canada, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.” – Chantelle Bani, Marketing Communications Manager, Avanti

Here are some comments from selected exhibitors along with my personal picks from this year’s show: Feedback from visitors to our booth was very positive. The Saphira Café gave people a chance to rest, chat or discuss business over a cup of coffee or a soft drink. The newest additions to our product portfolio proved to be very popular. The Ricoh C901 Graphic Arts Edition printer, the EFI Rastek H652 wide-format printer and the EFI VUTEk GS200 grand-format printer demonstrations were busy all three days. Our colleagues at both EFI and Ricoh provided great support for our Canadian launch of these machines. We did sell a number of Suprasetter CTPs, presses and cutters at the show, including one of our large XL162 VLF presses to Annan and Bird. – Ken Freek, V.P., Product Management, Heidelberg Canada Graphic Equipment Ltd.

Our production line featured Bourg BB Adventure PUR and BB3002 EVA Perfect Binders manufacturing book blocks covered with Library Binding Supplies (LBS) endsheets that were glued and pressed using on-demand equipment and finished on a Challenge trimmer. Booth visitors left with an actual hardcover, case-bound copy of “Bookbinding Made Simple.” Our Canadian launch of the Bourg BSFx in the Xerox Canada booth, was a showstopper. The Bourg BSFx, the print industry’s first dual-mode sheet feeder for digital-print workflows, enables a user with a production line dedicated to a single digital print engine to also handle printed output from any number of different presses in an off-line mode, maximizing productivity and equipment ROI. Toronto’s Marwood Bookworks, through our dealer Robert E. Thistle Ltd., purchased a Bourg BB Adventure PUR Binder while Ken Cook Co. in Milwaukee ordered a Bourg BB3002 Perfect Binder. – Donald J. Schroeder, Vice President of Sales, C.P. Bourg Inc.

While we had some direct sales, the true value was the high level of interest resulting in above-average lead generation from previous years. The interest was varied across workflow, CTP, display graphics, digital cutting and consumables. The new Acuity LED 1600 wide-format inkjet printer was demonstrated live for the first time in Canada and generated a high level of interest. We secured multiple strong leads for this product, which will be available in a few months. While we were not able to showcase the JPress or Onset products, customers still showed a lot of interest in our support displays. tWe had a couple of new products exhibited for the first time.

CPIA saw excellent traffic at our booth. In particular, attendees seemed to be very interested in our group-buying-power programs such as discounts available with Adobe, Apple, FedEx

Larry Lippert from BCT Waterloo showing printing solutions for interested prospects

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Carolyne Daly, national marketing manager of PaperlinX Canada with Paul Tasker, vice-president of Spicers. 24

www.graphicartsmag.com

Konica Minolta’s Kelli McCarthy, Corey Gill, Marie Novakis, Andy Mezzaluna, Denise Healey, Ron Lizee, Mike Pavia, and Chris Ng, who brought Bryan Berg for a three-day card stacking project.

4over

Steve Antoni, Chantelle Bani, Jack Lafler and Stephen McWilliam from Avanti. Kenneth Freek, vice-president, product management; Peter Aston, manager, business consulting; Richard M. Armstrong, president; and Manuel Gutierrez, product manager, consumables from Heidelberg.

The show was a huge success. Thanks to all who stopped by the booth to say hello and celebrate our 60 years in business! This meant a lot to us. Sales were excellent with creasers and paper cutters being the stars. The newly redesigned Autocreaser Pro 33 was our best seller (4 sold) followed by the New EBA 485EP programmable 18.5” paper cutter (3 sold). Our Reconditioned Booth had plenty of traffic and several pieces sold, including our Titan 200 20” programmable paper cutter.” – Michael Steele, President, Sydney Stone Patrick Girard, sales manager, Quebec, Nustream Graphic; Jonathan Rogers, sales manager, Ontario, Nustream Graphic; Peter Wainberg, president, Pemla Inks; Steve Daigle, vice-president sales, Canada, Nustream Graphic at the Nustream Graphic booth.

and others. Many also asked about our new Trial Membership that, at $200 for a full year, provides many of the benefits we offer. – Bob Elliott, President, Canadian Printing Industries Association (www.cpia-aci.ca)

Presstek featured its full-line of consumables including CTP and DI plates. Booth visitors received a $50 coupon toward a future supplies’ order. In addition, visitors that registered for the Presstek Awards Program (a points for purchase program) were entered into a draw to win $500 in free supplies. Many were excited to learn that they can obtain supplies from Presstek’s local Canadian warehouse by visiting shop.presstek.com or by calling 1-800-387-3143. – Brian Wolfenden, Director of Marketing Communications, Presstek Inc.

We were very busy all three days and handed out hundreds of tote bags. We also received a lot of positive feedback about our customer service and inquiries about Sinalite.com, our fast online service. Our Tradeshow15 Promotion, where printers saved 15% on everything until the end of November, was also very popular. – Mike Meshkati, Sina Printing/Sinalite.com

EskoArtwork was exhibiting in Toronto for the first time and demonstrating our extensive range of solutions for packaging, sign and display, and commercial print providers. There was a lot of interest from wide-format printers who were examining the EskoArtwork i-cut Suite of pre-production software for digital printers and/or digital finishing systems. i-cut Suite tackles all bottlenecks in a workflow, from preflighting PDF files,

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Your perfect connection to the printing and graphic arts industry

Tony Curcio

Special event

preparing graphics and creating layouts, to printing and finishing in perfect registration. i-cut Automate, which ties the pieces of the i-cut Suite together, was demonstrated for the first time in Canada. It automates the entire production process from design to print to cut, allowing users to build dynamic workflows that can automate repetitive prepress tasks.” – Marc Raad, Account Manager, EskoArtwork

12, they celebrated their 60th Anniversary with friends and colleagues with free wine, beer and cake. Joining in the celebrations was Dorothy Kent, widow of former owner David Marsh. Best Posters: Heidelberg and KBR Graphics Every poster I saw at this show exuded creativity and quality. However, Heidelberg’s monstrous map of the world and KBR’s numerous colourful posters were absolutely stunning and went like hotcakes. Honourable mention to Proveer (different substrates) and the Drawing Centre (HAP-free wide-format).

The most popular attraction at our booth was a ‘panelled’ door that we printed on. We made excellent connections and as a result we have several future meetings that could lead to large, ongoing partnerships. We believe in quality partnerships with our trade partners built over the long term. We also promoted our full-time designers that can assist our trade partners. – Mohamed Dhanani, High Print Co.

Most creative handouts: Robert E. Thistle Ltd./C.P. Bourg and Therm-O-Type Foil Tech Robert E. Thistle’s clever, informative “Bookbinding Made Simple” booklet produced on a C.P. Bourg Perfect Binder during the show was a perfect-bound book about bookbinding – perfect promotional idea! Therm-O-Type also wins for its ingenious 4-page folder featuring a transparent holographic-pattern foil covering that simulated a fish underwater. A small piece with a big ‘wow’ factor!

It was a very successful show with a steady flow of traffic visiting our booth each day. Our team and our vendor partners did a super job enabling us to differentiate the value EGS brings to our customers. Our HP Latex Wall enabled our customers to think of what they can do ‘outside the box’ to grow their business. We sold a couple of latex printers and Graphtec cutting equipment. We continue to sell more and newer solutions in our vendor partners’ comprehensive line of equipment, software and consumables. – Douglas E. Green, President & C.O.O., Ernest Green & Son Ltd.

Nicest booth personnel: Heidelberg I don’t think I’ve ever been to a trade show recently where everyone was so affable. But if I had to pick one, it would be the Heidelberg booth with its Saphira Café and wonderful staff.

There was a lot of traffic in our booth all three days and we’re looking forward to contacting all the leads we scanned. This year we showcased the new Seiko W-64s Colour Painter. It was the most popular attraction at our booth. The W-64s is the first high-resolution wide-format solvent ink device without HAPs (Hazardous Air Pollutants). The process doesn’t require baking. – Brittany Daneliak, The Drawing Centre

Best Outside-the-Box Visuals: Ernest Green and HP There were so many breathtaking creations, but the HP Wall in the Ernest Green Booth stands out in my mind. HP-latex-printed lampshades, pillowcases, colour and B&W wall posters and much more. I think the only thing not printed upon were the booth staffers!

My personal picks…

Busiest Booths: All Graphic Supplies and Value-Rite Business Products

Best overall deal: Kozzi.com stock photos While there were some fabulous show specials, you can’t get better than “free!” Kozzi.com, a new company, featured familyfriendly (i.e. vetted for good taste) stock-photo images destined to be a real hit within the industry as well as with consumers. The photos are high quality and new images are constantly added.

All-Graphic’s Chris Desouza and Value Rite’s Jay DeGenova should create holograms of themselves for the next show. They were busier than gophers on a golf course!

Most Visible Handout: Sina Printing/Sinalite I saw hundreds of visitors carrying Sina’s yellow and black tote bags every day. Basic design, but high visibility! Fastest sale (I’m aware of): Sydney Stone They sold a Titan 200 (20” programmable cutter) to Paris Printing at 11:15 am the first day of the show. Then, on Sunday, Nov.

Gerry Chvatal, technical advisor, digital print equipment and Brian Ellis, marketing manager from Fujifilm Canada with the first Canadian showing of the Acuity LED 1600 wide format UV inkjet printer. Tony Curcio ajg.curcio@gmail.com

Brennan Wright standing with a Duplo DSC-10/20 that was sold at the show. December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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Te c h n o l o g y

Top challenges in the wideformat printing industry today There can be no doubt that the global economy and the large format print industry have been tested over the last few years. The overall business climate of the last 12 to 24 months cannot be sugar coated. Several challenges face print service providers, yet opportunity still exists for those who can change their businesses.

decisions and then expect the print provider to turn these jobs around quickly. Here is another reason why workflow efficiencies must get better: companies such as Canon spend lots of money in research to develop software and equipment to help in areas just like this. “New technology provides speed and efficiency like never before. We need to view this as an opportunity for workstation consolidation. A new high speed printer can replace two or three old printers. Newer technology takes up less space, needs fewer people to run, uses fewer resources and has lower operating costs, but it takes courage and capital to set all this in motion. If we do not embrace these concepts then we will become less competitive. In this respect, the last 12 years have been relatively easy since most of the growth came from a shift from analogue to digital. Now that the industry has matured, we need to become as efficient as possible. It is not as much fun, but it is what is required for future success,” remarked Peter Spring, VP Sales TI Group & SCL Imaging Group.

The attraction for commercial printers to move into wide-format printing is great and one of the oft-cited benefits is that it requires relatively low capital expenditure, compared to gigantic-sized litho wide-format presses which come with a big price tag to match. So at a time when banks still do not want to lend money for larger capital investments, it is nice to know that wide-format printing is still affordable to get into and this only heightens the sector’s attraction. So what are the challenges for commercial printers wanting to get into this printing sector?

Positive News: Increased Spending for Printed Goods

Let’s look at the upside first. In June 2011, InfoTrends executed a wide-format print buyer study in North America to look at trends in demand for wide-format signage and graphics. This kind of input helps us understand some of the challenges that face print service providers in the wide-format digital graphics market. As the study goes, almost four times as many wide-format print buyers reported that they expect to spend more over the next 12 months than they did over the last 12 months. This is good news for print providers, yet if you want to get in on that growth you need to be prepared to offer these print services and provide the goods at a price the customer is willing to pay. There are no two ways about it -- you need to properly position your company with the right skills and equipment to get the job done efficiently. So what are some of the challenges? Let’s have a look!

“Wide Format printing will parallel what has happened in commercial offset printing. To survive in commercial offset today, a company needs to be highly automated, lean on labour and must keep up with technology changes. Workflow is becoming the ‘elephant in the room’ for wide format companies. WF Prepress processes today are disjointed, redundant and error prone. Workflow automation can improve quality, reduce re-work and labour”, explained Marc Welch, North America VP of Sales at GMG Americas.

Printing Technologies to Consider

InfoTrends is projecting about a 20 percent growth rate in wide-format UV-curable inkjet. The advances we have seen in UV-curable inkjet are delivering a lot of these advantages. So if you are looking at industrial type printing, UV offers a lot of advantages.

Challenges of Price vs. Quality

Durable aqueous printers will also continue to grow as more vendors offer ink sets that provide high quality prints plus durability while also offering lower prices and enhanced environmental properties.

A positive factor from the InfoTrends survey was that print buyers placed greater priority on quality than on price. I have always said that you do not necessarily have to be the cheapest on the block to have a successful LF printing business. What is needed is top quality service, quality product and a good work ethic. It is a good sign that the buyers are placing a greater priority on quality than on price, even though price remains one of the top considerations.

Conclusion

As seen above, customers are looking for high quality, low prices and a fast turnaround time. The wide-format printing business is becoming more competitive than ever before. This is certainly a time we must gain the maximum efficiencies in our businesses. Larger companies like Canon, OCE, etc. spend millions on developing solution based technologies.

Challenges of Commodity and Raw Materials

“Fuel, silver, and aluminum, were volatile in terms of cost and this directly affects our product costs. These commodities affect the prices our customers pay for necessities such as paper, fuel, and electricity. Plus, the dollar shifted, which is relevant for international companies such as Agfa Graphics,” explains Peter Wilkens, president, Agfa, North America. So challenges exist in keeping the cost down even while raw prices may be going up. This is where efficiencies in business operation come in.

The last piece of good news from the InfoTrend 2011 wide-format print buyer study is that these buyers strongly endorse wide-format graphics as an effective way to communicate their advertising or informational messages. That is, they plan to buy wide-format graphics because it is a cost effective way to communicate advertising or their informational messages. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

Challenges in Turnaround Times

Peter Dulis Wide Format Printing Specialist Canon Canada pdulis@rogers.com

The InfoTrends survey result pointed to the fact that customers are requiring a faster turnaround time than ever before. A whopping 70 percent of orders need to be fulfilled within two days of being ordered! Customers take forever to make their purchasing

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Your perfect connection to the printing and graphic arts industry

Myrna Penney

Management

Today’s market realities: Planning for success

The challenge for printers

The Digital Imaging Association hosted a breakfast presentation on Friday November 11, 2011 at Graphics Canada. Keynote speaker, Jeff Jacobson, Chairman and CEO of Presstek addressed the survival tactics used in a tough economy by printers who are thriving.

Printers need to adjust their business model to the new dynamics. Print, said Jacobson, is still by far the largest piece of the multi-media market spend today. However, the role of print is changing. The major changes are to shorter runs, faster turnaround, and more colour. The print and distribute model has been replaced. People print what they want for the short term – and they want it done quickly. 80% of colour runs are now 5000 impressions or less. Changes in printing technology have enabled marketplace demands. With the right production platform, printers can profitably deliver the short-run, fast-turn work the market is demanding.

Jacobson began his presentation by highlighting how the continuing digital transition has changed the way we communicate. He defined “the good old days” with relatively limited choices – print consisted of ads, brochures, catalogues and bulk mail. All were mass produced and aimed at a general market. Ads are now targeted to very specific markets. Brochures and catalogues have been refined by interest and personalized mail has replaced bulk mail distribution. Further delivery options now include email. Technology has enabled this and is also giving us the ability to refine point of purchase materials to deliver product information. Websites facilitate e-commerce and are augmented through search engine optimization and search engine based marketing. Radio and TV are now competing with YouTube and Podcasts. The multi-media marketing message is prevalent. It seems like a new channel arises almost every day. Marketing budgets remain relatively flat, which means, said Jacobson, that the same number of dollars are being spent over a larger number of channels.

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Our job, Jacobson told the DIA audience, as owners of printing businesses and suppliers to the graphics art market, is ensure that media buyers understand all their options. We want them to turn to us as the experts and we want to be able to guide them toward the best media mix for a given project. Jacobson prefaced his next statement to DIA listeners as perhaps the most important thing he had to say at the morning session: “We want to position print as the igniter for the overall multimedia marketing message.”

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Myrna Penney

Management

He further explained that we have to understand that print may not be the most important media in a given campaign. The significant role of print is to ignite the message and to drive people to other parts of the media spend. If we do this, we will be vibrant and we will stay relevant.

upstream into the decision process. If you do not have a seat at the customer’s table upstream in the organization, said Jacobson, you will likely be relegated to the role of commodity sales. Jacobson told the DIA audience that he has found that the best sales people he has understand their customers so well... as if they are part of that customer’s operation. The best sales people are fighting for their customers and, said Jacobson, telling us internally what their customers need. That, he said, makes us – and will make you – a better company. The seat at the customer’s table puts valued sales people in a position to influence the media mix chosen – making print the igniter of the overall multi-media message. This type of influence requires that companies make a greater investment in the people who can drive it. But...the peak ROI is longer term relationships with higher margin accounts.

The challenges to remaining profitable

First and foremost, Jacobson believes, we must have the right infrastructure consisting of people, processes and technology. One of the most important things any business needs to do in today’s world is ensure that business and production processes are as streamlined as possible, taking any unnecessary steps out of the process to make the workflow as lean as possible.

Selling the graphic industry to investors

The world has changed. Volumes are not where they used to be – thus driving unit costs up. Every company needs to look at each part of its operation, no matter the size, and ask how can we do it differently and how can we drive costs down? The DIA audience was able to hear examples of how Jacobson suggests companies work to achieve this. He truly believes that your own people can be key contributors to your company’s ultimate success.

Presstek is a public company, so selling to investors is something Jeff Jacobson does every day. He told DIA listeners that the most frequent question potential investors ask is if print is going to be here in five years. Their perspective is that newspapers are on-line, books are on-line, everyone is going to iPads – what is left in print? You can then show them some facts such as what percentage print still enjoys in the overall multi-media marketing message. Print is still into the well-solid 40% spend range. It is still huge, it is still significant and it is still relevant.

Where investments are involved, it is even more necessary than ever to do a detailed and realistic ROI analysis and to track outcome once the investment has been made. Technology enablers must include a web to print solution, some form of automated workflow. Savvy printers are investing in efficient bindery according to Jacobson.

Certainly, he said Canada has fared better in this economy than the US, but financing is still hard to acquire. He further stated we need to do a better job of selling our industry to investors. It will be a different market as we go forward, but, Jeff Jacobson believes, Print is an industry in which we can still thrive. There is still too much capacity in this industry and some of it has to go by the wayside. But somehow we still have to make print even more relevant to utilize that capacity. The challenge here is that, statistically, about five years ago press capacity utilization was tracking at 82%. Now it is at 62%. That forces lower pricing into the market and it forces costs to go up at the same time. That’s why we need to streamline our processes to take cost out of the industry and drive a positive message to investors.

When demand first started moving to shorter runs and consistent high quality colour, many printers started to invest in toner technology to bridge the gap with jobs where offset was no longer cost efficient. This move created a new gap – between toner-based digital technology and traditional offset. DIA is the technology Presstek recommends to bridge that new gap and to compliment other production options. In addition to downward run lengths, the toner technology enables variable production. Jacobson shared his own statistics with the DIA audience. He said that when he asks what volume of a printer’s business is variable production, he gets one of two answers: “I don’t know,” or, “probably less than 10%.” There certainly are companies that might be doing 50%-70% variable, he said, putting them in that mid range between the efficiencies of toner technology at the short-run end of the scale and offset for the larger runs – the new gap.

To sell a compelling story about the industry’s future and about your company, Jacobson advised, you need to explain how your company is well-positioned for the future. Tell stories about your customers and how you have made a difference in their businesses. Jeff Jacobson proceeded to do just that for the DIA audience – summarizing some reallife cases and demonstrated returns on analysis for three of Presstek’s customers, showing how they have become more successful than their competitors. His examples identified companies that migrated to complementary platforms, utilizing a hybrid digital and offset strategy, demonstrably increasing business volume, utilization capacity – and profit.

In Jacobson’s opinion, however you configure your pressroom, your focus should be on how to profitably handle the range of runs your customers are asking for.

The role of people in profitability

In most companies the structure consists of an owner, a leadership team, a vision, and a company culture. Once you have defined a company culture and have put systems in place, how, asked Jacobson, can you fire your people up to drive and achieve your vision? It is all about moving the needle forward, not staying in the same place forever.

Jeff Jacobson ended his presentation by tasking the DIA audience with sharing their own success stories that demonstrate how having the right people, process and technology in place can drive innovative ways to meet their customers’ needs and to drive profitability in today’s ever changing market.

One of the areas in the people equation that requires special consideration, Jacobson told DIA listeners, is sales. Today’s sales professionals need to develop deeper more connected relationships with customers, sell programs not project and add value to customers’ marketing programs. Solutionsbased selling requires a different skillset from that required for transactional sales. The foundation of this is the ability to move out of procurement into marketing, moving further

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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Product Profile

Product Profile This month’s topic: Prepress software

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colour conversions so that settling for unexpected spot colour conversion issues is no longer a problem.

Xanté’s iQueue 5.0 prepress workflow is a comprehensive system for Xanté’s digital print solutions and it has the ability to manage multiple jobs across multiple Xanté devices, employ advanced screening options to reduce waste, monitor consumables across multiple devices, estimate job costs, provide imposition templates and much more.

Job cost estimating is also available at one’s fingertips, whereby clicking on the Job Ticket and entering the desired quantity will provide an estimated consumables cost. Detailed consumables usage across multiple devices is another great feature that provides a detailed view of toner levels, drum life, belt life and fuser life of active Xanté ILUMINA devices. iQueue 5.0’s Print Queues allow jobs to be removed, prioritized and moved between devices with the simple drag and drop feature on the user-friendly interface. When it comes time to archive a job, simply create a folder and drag and drop all projects for the customer. Job Ticket information will be saved in the folder that include customized settings, thereby allowing the operator to simply “press print” when it comes time to reprint. All of these automation and functionality features provide opportunity for greater bottom-line profitability and a better night’s sleep!

Xanté’s iQueue 5.0 enables the operator to set custom screening options including desired linescreen, screen angle and halftone shape. Additionally, Xanté’s colour management allows for colour adjustments on-the-fly and custom profiles to be saved and stored for later use. New to iQueue 5.0 is the Right-On spot colour matching system. This feature uses a visual gamma matching system providing a visual comparison for the operator who can then make the necessary changes. This enables the operator to maintain complete control over

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

XMPie, A Xerox Company

Creating one-to-one marketing campaigns is at the heart of XMPie’s functionality. XMPie was established in the year 2000 to make it easier for people to produce personalized communi-

www.graphicartsmag.com

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December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Your perfect connection to the printing and graphic arts industry

Diana Brown

Product Profile

cations. Their prepress technology integrates the Adobe Creative Suite to create personalized marketing pieces that can be executed across multiple mediums. Designs can include personalized images, graphics and data-driven charts and graphs. From a crossmedia standpoint, this technology is extremely valuable because it incorporates personalized web pages, response URL’s, personalized emails and mobile messages. As our world becomes more and more hyper-customized (and arguably less driven by messages in print), XMPie’s software solutions allow for intense personalization across a range of mediums to remain relevant to customers. XMPie promises “reach.relevancy.results”.

operator, manager or any level employee can easily use. The Automation Engine also supports JDF communication between devices for increased productivity. It avoids the need to provide the information more than once, as well as avoiding conflicting double entries. MIS integration allows for job milestones to be communicated to key individuals, such as “approved”, “plates ready”, and so on. Advanced job management tools provide a complete overview of the entire prepress process, providing better visibility and control of a given job. The Automation Engine also has a unique “report card” functionality, whereby a report card can be generated for a given job based on predefined custom templates. 3D PDF files can be generated to accurately show how a package will look when complete. The 3D PDF files can be merged into the report card for a comprehensive document relating to all job specifications, images and customer information for easy reference.

Kodak

XMPie’s uDirect VDP and personalization software suite is available in three options: Classic, Studio and Premier. uDirect Classic allows the user to link to data sources (like Microsoft Excel), as well as incorporate static images, text and graphics from InDesign and make them variable. On the higher end, uDirect Studio and uDirect Premier are ideal for VDP projects that are more image and data-intensive (incorporating Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop) that allow advanced variable data image, graphics personalization and customized business data rules.

Kodak’s Prinergy prepress workflow has been in existence for almost 13 years and incorporates job proofing, imposition and RIPing into one cohesive workflow. JDF integration enables increased efficiency as job parameters are set up only once early in the workflow and communicate job specifications to other, third-party devices. Kodak says it best: “With zero-touch automation and connectivity to the widest range of digital presses, the Prinergy Digital Workflow allows you to do more with your digital print system – for less.” Kodak’s Intelligent Prepress Manager (IPM) is a unique way to save time, reduce waste and improve productivity in the plate room. The IPM allows Kodak plate-making equipment to operate continuously without operator intervention. It eliminates the need for manual checks at regularly scheduled intervals so that operators can attend to more important work. The system continuously monitors the equipment and if anything needs attention it will send an email or SMS to various addresses based on the issue. For example, if the platesetter is in need of restocking, the IPM will alert the operator. When preventative maintenance is required or the chemistry needs replacing, an operator or service technician can be notified. In addition to the obvious time savings and productivity increase opportunities, the IPM also provides custom reports about actual costs of a job. This information can be used by the management team to help calculate job profitability. Estimators can also benefit from this feature to draw from more accurate job costs and apply them in the early stages of future projects.

Another fantastic benefit of the latest XMPie software is the comprehensive ROI reporting capabilities to better measure campaign success. This includes their exclusive technology for up-to-the-minute monitoring of an entire cross-media campaign from one, comprehensive database. This information can then be used to prompt a phone call from sales or customer service, for example, to capture the optimum window of opportunity. Marketing efforts should always be measurable and XMPie helps get the right information into the hands of marketing executives.

EskoArtwork

EskoArtwork provides a broad-range of prepress software solutions for the commercial print market. More specifically, EskoArtwork specializes in prepress solutions for the packaging market.

EskoArtwork’s Automation Engine is a prepress workflow system that helps printers “increase quality, reduce errors and drive cost out of the process.” The system is designed to be transparent by allowing for a simple user interface that the

Diana Brown is the Owner of ON-SITE First Aid & CPR Training Group, a health & safety company who provides training to the Graphic Arts industry. diana@onsitefirstaid.ca

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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Your perfect connection to the printing and graphic arts industry

Anita Windisman

Marketing

Social media 101 print shop for owners With all the buzz about social media and the speed at which it progresses, it is sometimes hard to separate the hype from the real help. It can be intimidating to understand because there are so many tools available to use. For anyone starting out in social media, I always advise them to start with one tool, and learn how to use it well before moving on to the next. In this three part series, I will make the case as to why printers should choose LinkedIn.com as the first platform you should be on. I will show you how to optimize your personal profile, how to increase your visibility and also how to use it to promote your business through Company Pages.

and your company do. For example: Account Manager at XYZ Printing Company, specializing in variable printing and database marketing solutions.

Upload a professional photo

You know the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Make sure you upload a professional photo of yourself, preferably in colour and against a light or neutral background that includes only yourself – no pets or kids! A friendly photo of yourself will draw people into you. Plus, LinkedIn statistics show that a profile with a photo is seven times more likely to be viewed than one that without a photo.

What is social networking?

Tell your story in the summary

If you are a print shop owner, you know that having that personal touch in business is important. You strive to have meaningful business relationships with your customers and value the interaction you have with them on a one-on-one basis. You take an active interest their businesses and in turn are rewarded by their loyalty in the long run. If this sounds like what you are doing now, that is great. Now you can take that personal approach and apply it online through social networking, which is extending your presence and interacting with your customers and prospects online with tools such as LinkedIn.

The summary section is the place where you can shine and “tell your story.” Are you passionate about printing? Do you have a certain philosophy about how you serve customers? Definitely state it here and show how you are unique. Also, make sure that you summarize your experience here to back it up. For this section, make sure you write in full sentences in the “first” person, using the word “I”. Two or three short paragraphs will be enough.

Add specialties and skills

Why LinkedIn?

There are two places in your profile where you can list your expertise. One is in the “specialties” section underneath your summary and the other is under “skills” – where you can add up to 50 of them. Make sure you pay extra attention to skills, because this one of the key ways in which you will be found when someone conducts a search. Be specific, using terms such as: digital printing, wide format printing, print on demand, event graphics, banners, etc.

The first step in your social media journey starts with YOU. If you are the owner, partner or employee of a printing company then you need to have a professional profile on LinkedIn.com. With over 131 million members in over 200 countries and over 4 million users in Canada, LinkedIn is where you will find your target audience. Whether it is VPs of Marketing, Directors of Marketing, Brand Managers or Procurement Managers, they can all be found on this social networking site. Based on the concept of 6 degrees of separation, this is the site where you start to connect directly with people you know and can research the people you want to get to know – such as decision makers who can purchase your products or services. Consider it an online Rolodex that is always kept up to date.

Get recommendations

In order to have a 100% complete profile on LinkedIn you will have to add at least three recommendations to your profile. This is the place where you can ask your satisfied customers to provide a short testimonial for you. After all, nothing beats a word of mouth referral.

5 Tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile

In the next article, I will cover how you can increase your personal visibility on LinkedIn. But first make sure you complete your profile. See you on online!

LinkedIn is the place to put your professional foot forward. Your online profile is the place to showcase your business background, your expertise and credentials. Here are five tips to help you present your best self online:

Anita Windisman is the President of One of a Kind Marketing where the philosophy is building business relationships one at a time through social media. The company specializes in providing LinkedIn training for sales teams and business professionals. anita@oneofakindmarketing.com

Write a descriptive headline

Your headline is the sentence that appears just below your name. Rather than just stating your title and company, make it a short descriptive phrase that provides a snapshot of what you

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

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Diana Brown

Education

Entrepreneurship 101 Entrepreneurship is an exciting adventure that I have recently leapt into. The idea of creating your brand, signing your first customer, the smell of fresh ink on your business card... this is the stuff dreams are made of! Once you have your great idea, the next big question is: “What do I do now?” Here are some insights that I appreciated learning during my start-up and now I want to pass them on to you.

outlets (Twitter, Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn), blogging and PR opportunities all provide amazing outlets to reach prospective customers for free. Creating lots of outstanding content for your target market and continuing to stay relevant with the material you provide helps strengthen your position as a thought leader in your industry. You should already have customers onboard and additional prospects in the pipeline before you open your doors. These first few customers will be instrumental in helping to establish your credibility and can be invaluable references moving forward. Depending on how willing they are to give feedback, these customers can also help you refine and shape your offering to make it stronger moving forward.

You need to understand your offering and identify what differentiates your business from your competitors’ businesses. Your offer needs to be compelling and solve a problem for your customer. You need to be excited about your offering and believe it provides true value in a way that is different from your competitors. If you don’t believe in your offer, you cannot expect your customers to either.

Focus on your strengths. If you are a phenomenal sales representative but you are bad with numbers, hire a freelance bookkeeper to ensure your finances are in check. It is generally recommended to outsource your weaknesses to someone who can do it quickly and efficiently for you. The time and energy it would take you to learn the skill and apply it correctly, as well as the lost opportunity cost of not spending that time selling, make it worth paying a professional to handle it for you.

You need a plan! It does not matter if it’s a formal document or a photo collage on your wall. What is important is that you have a plan in place that helps you understand your marketplace (including your competitors and prospective customers), as well as where you fit in, how you will bring your offering to market and your vision at the end of the road. There is nothing saying that you have to stick to your plan, but you need a starting point and this is it.

Don’t be afraid to try something new. If you have an idea, the hardest part will be taking the leap of faith and giving it a try. Once you try it, refine it, then try it again, refine it and so on. Because starting is the hardest part, do not get stuck on trying

You don’t need to spend a lot of money (or any money at all) marketing your services. There are so many free and almost free avenues in which to market your business. Social media

December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

www.graphicartsmag.com

Sherbrand Industries

Tel: (519) 621-1729 • 866-621-1729 • Fax: (519) 621-1936 E-mail: sherbrand@rogers.com • www.sherbrand.ca

WE NEED USED EQUIPMENT - PRESSES, BINDERY, CONVERTING, ETC

SHEET FED PRESSES 1993 KOMORI L240II, 96 MIL IMPS 1988 KOMORI L440 112 MIL IMPS 1998 KOMORI L440P, 4/ COLOR 28X40, PQC CONSOLE, ESS SYSTEM E500, IVT COMBI, AUTO BACK CYLINDER WASH, AUTO PAPER SIZE, AUTO INK KEYS WITH PQC, 42 MIL IMP, 2/2 PERFECTOR CUTTERS 2002 POLAR 115ED CUTTER, AIR TABLE, INFARED LIGHTS , FACTORY COMPUTER 1987 POLAR 115 EMC MON CUTTER, INFRARED RED SAFETY LIGHTS, AIR TABLES, 1995 POLAR 115ED CUTTER, W, POLAR R-4 JOGGER, POLAR LIFT 2001 WOHLENBERG (54”) PAPER CUTTER SYSTEM, BAUMANN PNEUMATIC RETRACTABLE SIDE-GAUGE, BAUMANN BFS-1 GRIPPER TRANSPORT SYSTEM, BAUMANN BA-3 UNLOADING SYSTEM (55” STACK HEIGHT), BAUMANN AUTOMATIC JOGGER W/AIR EXPULSION 2006 WOHLENBERG CUT-TEC 155 (61”) PAPER CUTTER SYSTEM, WOHLENBERG TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY & CIPS3 INTEGRATION, BAUMANN TOUCH BSB-6L (41 X 67”) AUTOMATIC JOGGER W/AIR EXPULSION ,BAUMANN NUP-100L PILE HOIST W/ AIR, BAUMANN BSB-6L & BFS-1 PREPARATION BAUMANN PNEUMATIC RETRACTABLE SIDE-GAUGES, BAUMANN BFS-1 GRIPPER TRANSPORT SYSTEM, BAUMANN BA-3 UNLOADING SYSTEM (55” STACK HEIGHT),BAUMANN APS AUTO WASTE REMOVAL SYSTEM, WOHLENBERG ASE RETRACTABLE AUTO WASTE REMOVAL SYSTEM, C & P COUNTING SCALE SYSTEM, ELECTROGRAPHIC WASTE CONVEYOR/INCLUDING 114” X 11.8” CROSS CONVEYOR, INCLINE WASTE CONVEYOR 108” X 11.8” 2000 LAWSON 60" MPU CUTTER ,LAWSON COMPUTER, DOUBLE END PULL 1986 LAWSON MODEL MPU100, 70" GUILLOTINE CUTTER, WITH LAWSON DIGITAL SPACER; SEYBOLD HYDRAULIC 85” GUILLOTINE CUTTER, MICROCUT COMPUTER, AIR TABLES 1987 LAWSON 87: CUTTER, MICROCUT COMPUTER 100” SEYBOLD CUTTER, MICROCUT COMPUTER LAWSON 110 ‘ MILL TRIMMER (CUTTER), LAWSON MCC COMPUTER, SAFETY LIGHTS, BINDERY 2006 MULLER MARTINI BOLERO BOOK BINDING LINE (HIGH SPEED DOUBLE PRODUCTION LINE) 21 STATION GATHERER X 3695 GATHERER, 1 MULLER MULLER MARTINI BOLERO21 CLAMPS, MULLER MARTINI BOOK SAW, PLUS TURNER BELT (WITH IN LINE DIVERT, 2 MULLER MARTINI ZENITH S 3672 THREE KNIFE TRIMMERS, (COLOUR CONTROL PANEL (CO-PILOT), 2 MULLER MARTINI CB 16 COMPENSATING STAKERS 1989 NORMBINDER BINDER NB2,20 CLAMPS, 24 STATIONS, 3670 THREE KNIFE TRIMMER, 1504 ASTRO STACKER, 3 PUMPS 1994 STAHL FOLDER MODEL KC66 4KZ W/CONTINUOUS FEEDER & PCS100 BATCHCOUNTER, #48834 1994 A CONTINUOUS FEED “HIGH SPEED” SIGNATURE FOLDER – WITH ELECTRONIC MONITORING AND FAST SET CONTROLS. 26” X 45” MAXIMUM SHEETS, 4 BUCKLE PLATES IN PARALLEL SECTION

1997 MULLER MARTIN PRESTO STITCHER, 4 POCKETS, COVER FEEDER, TRIMMER, BELT DELIVERY, 10+ HRS 2005 BOURG COLLATOR 2 10 BIN TOWERS,STITCHER, FOLDER, SHEETER, STITCHER, FOLDER, SHEETER STAHL FOLDER , 20” W/ R ANGLE, KNIFE FOLD UNIT SULBY VACUUMATIC PAPER COUNTER DIE CUTTERS 1981 GEITZ FSA 720 FOILER AND DIE CUTTER BUSCH MODEL A, 7 X 7 DIE CUTTER HEIDELBERG 10 X 15 WINDMILL HEIDELBERG 10 X 15 WINDMILL W/ FOIL HEIDELBERG 28” CYLINDER DIE CUTTER HEIDELBERG SBG CYLINDER DIE CUTTER 22” X 30” HEIDELBERG SBD 35” CYLINDER PRESS HEIDELBERG SBG CYLINDER DIE CUTTER 30” 1996 BLUMER PB-18-1 LABEL HIGH DIE CUTTER, FEEDER, BELT CONVEYOR DELIVERY, COMPUTERIZED 1978 BOBST 102E,2 CHASES,2 PLATES,NICE MACHINE 1994 THOMSON 29”X 41”, CLAM SHELL DIE CUTTER THOMSON 28” X 41” CLAM SHELL DIE CUTTER THOMSON 44 X 64 DIE CLAM SHELL DIE CUTTER FOLDER GLUER 1999 BOBST MEDIA GLUER 100-11 STRAIGHT-LINE, NORDSON GLUE SYSTEM/ LOCKBOTTOM 1988 PERMAFOLD - POCKET FOLDING SPINE FOLDING & GLUE HEADS SERIAL #811407 PURCHASED SHEETERS & SLITTERS 57” MAXON SHEETER, VOLTAGE, 460/3/60, 100 AMPS, CUSTOM UPGRADE 2003, CONSISTING OF TWO ALLEN BRADLEY 1336 IMPACT VECTOR DRIVES AND TWO ALLEN BRADLEY VECTOR DRIVE MOTORS WITH ENCODER FEEDBACK. (ONE EACH FOR THE KNIFE ROLL AND THE DRAW ROLL). ALLEN BRADLEY SLC 500 PLC CONTROL WITH SCANPORT MODULE FOR DRIVE SYNCHRONIZATION.,ALLEN BRADLEY PANELVIEW 300 FOR OPERATOR INTERFACE.,1 MARTIN ROLL STAND WITH WARNER PNEUMATIC BRAKE SYSTEM AND WARNER MSC2000 CONTROLLER., 1 MARTIN ROLL STAND FOR PARTS. BECK 45 SHEETER, W/ LAYBOY DELIVERY SMALL SILK SCREEN SHOP EQUIPMENT FOR SALE PLEASE CALL

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December 2011 / January 2012 | Graphic Arts Magazine

Your perfect connection to the printing and graphic arts industry

Diana Brown

Education

Founder of DT Print Solutions, to discuss his thoughts on entrepreneurship.