Graphic Arts Magazine - DECEMBER 2020 / JANUARY 2021

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Your perfect connection to the printing, graphic arts, sign and packaging industries December 2020 / January 2021 | Volume 23 | No. 10 | $7.95

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EXPLORING THE REALITY OF VIRTUAL EVENTS

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Contents

MAGAZINE

GRAPHIC ARTS

Your perfect connection to the printing, graphic arts, sign and packaging industries December 2020 / January 2021 | Volume 23 | No. 10 | $7.95

December 2020 / January 2021 | Volume 23 | No. 10

8 Strategic planning in 2021 Five resources to help you plan for the New Year Diana Varma

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Our choices for the top news stories of 2020 by month Tony Curcio

16 Three tips for selling simple online orders

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11 The year in review

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EXPLORING THE REALITY OF VIRTUAL EVENTS

The year in review

The importance online business – especially now Dave Hultin

18 What’s next in inkjet printing

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The future and alluring benefits of inkjet Régis Thienard

24 Ontario’s digital marketing and website grants How to access funding up to $2,500 for development Bonny Koabel

26 Out-of-home advertising 101 What it is, how it works, and its benefits and flaws Caterina Valentino

29 Innovative Displays adds more Agfa technology Mississauga wide-format leader installs Jeti Tauro H3300 Staff writers

30 The power of printed newsletters Three tips for selling simple online orders

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More impact, more staying power, more results Staff writers

34 The show must go on Exploring the reality of virtual events Joanne Gore

In every issue

Out-of-home advertising 101

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The power of printed newsletters

For the

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9 20 28 32 33

Print industry news New products Installations List of advertisers Classifieds

of print.

View from the publisher

2020 wrap up All significant chapters written in the history books of 2020 will certainly involve the major impact the CoronaVirus-19 had on all of us. But on these pages, we wanted instead to focus on Canada’s graphic arts and communications industry’s tremendous ability to adapt and evolve to these challenging times.

This pandemic has caused devastation for some, and a major inconvenience to all. But throughout all of this turmoil, leaders just like you, from all across Canada have played their part, by waking up each day, and offering their essential services to market. As a collective, I am thoroughly impressed by the adaptive thinking and downright ingenuity of execution that has been brought forth. So, as we cap off a turbulent 2020, I would like to personally thank all the fantastic people that I have had the opportunity to interact with (both virtually and socially distant alike!) during the year that has been 2020 at Graphic Arts Magazine.

For me personally, the opportunity to learn from, collaborate with and produce for a wide range of industry leaders has been an absolute blessing. I cannot fully express all my gratitude to everyone who has shown support to our team and myself over the past year. As I look back, I admit there have been many learning challenges, and I do have regrets for

certain situations that I could have made better. But as a whole, I am feeling absolutely blessed for every engagement we have had along the way. I will look back at these strange times, and know that my team used this period to reflect, adapt, and relaunch. We have not been perfect, but we have never stopped learning from all the lessons 2020 introduced to us along the way.

As an organization, we have spent months assessing needs, analyzing options and implementing solutions for a generally unpredictable future. After all the learning, we are now into the execution stage. There is no lie in saying that this process has been time consuming and frustrating at times, but I am confident that the strides we are making will be well deserved. Graphic Arts Magazine now has many exciting new possibilities within reach. We look forward to having you join us throughout the continued journey of 2021.

On that note, please be advised that Graphic Arts Magazine’s 2021 Editorial Calendar + Virtual Community Forum Schedule will be delivered to an inbox near you shortly. Please contact for direct inquiries, or stay tuned with more information by visiting page 19, or subscribing for free at www.graphicartsmag. com/subscribe

10,671 industry professionals are using Graphic Arts Magazine as their perfect online connection to the printing, graphic arts, sign, and packaging industries of Canada.

So if you have something to say, join the conversation today!

GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

is published ten times per year by B.K.L.K Inc. 17-17817 Leslie St. Newmarket, ON L3Y 8C6 Phone: 1-877-513-3999 Fax: 905-830-9345 e-mail: info@graphicartsmag.com www.graphicartsmag.com Ad submission deadlines are as follows: January 16 for February 2021 February 16 for March 2021 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40029380 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Graphic Arts Magazine 17-17817 Leslie St Newmarket ON L3Y 8C6 email: circ@graphicartsmag.com 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.

RYAN MULCAHY, Publisher ryan@graphicartsmag.com

All the best to your success.

GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE would like to thank our contributing writers: Tony Curcio • Joanne Gore • Dave Hultin Bonny Koabel • Régis Thienard Caterina Valentino • Diana Varma

@graphicarts /graphicartsmagazine /company/graphic-arts-magazine 2020 ADVISORY BOARD STEVEN APRILE

Grant Thornton LLP

EVAN CAMBRAY

Owner of Fastsigns

TONY CURCIO

Editor of Graphic Arts Magazine

Chairman

CTP supplied by

Joe Mulcahy

AIIM

Publisher

Printing

Ryan Mulcahy

AIIM

Editor

Cover Paper

Tony Curcio

Kallima

RICHARD KOUWENHOVEN

Copy Editor

Text Paper

NATALIA LUMBY

Paul Phillips

APP

Associate Professor at Ryerson University

Account Managers

Bindery

Maureen O’Sullivan Sandy Lee Tim Mulcahy

Specialties Graphic Finishers

Manager of DIA

Production Manager

Brian Gillet

Daniel Mulcahy

Art Director

Web Development

Edward Gorodkine

George Dedopoulos

Circulation Manager

RAY FAGAN

Heidelberg Canada

ANDREW (ANDY) GROUGROU 3M Canada

ROMESH HETTIARACHCHI B&I Legal Counsel Hemlock Printing

MARG MACLEOD PAUL McCARTHY

HP Indigo Country Manager

JOE MULCAHY

Former Publisher of GAM

DANIEL MULCAHY

Production Manager, GAM

PHIL RIEBEL

Two Sides North America

PAUL TASKER Spicers Canada

SERGE TRAJKOVICH President of RRGR

CARL WEGER

Sign Association of Canada We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

WARREN WERBITT CMCA AUDITED

4 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

www.warrenwerbitt.com

SCOTT WILLIAMS

Taylor Printing Group

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Tony's Corner

A New Year’s resolution for myself and all Canadians This column is about people, not printing. As I’m writing this, I’m trying to figure out if we’ve all lost our collective minds! I see nurses trying to help people dying of COVID-19 as patients curse them, declaring that this pandemic is a hoax. I see miles-long lineups at food banks as lawmakers dine on their Thanksgiving turkey. I see national sports stars get tested ahead of nurses. I see people protest the lockdown as cases skyrocket and bodies pile up in morgues. I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. But will we really learn anything from all this chaos? Here’s what I’ve learned.

As a species, we humans can exhibit an almost endless breadth of behaviour – from cruelty to kindness, stupidity to enlightenment, arrogance to humility, greed to generosity, and indifference to compassion. This Christmas, tens of thousands of folks will be visiting friends, relatives and loved ones despite warnings from healthcare experts (albeit while hopefully exercising protocols of mask wearing and social distancing). This reveals one dominant truth about us that I’ve always believed – we simply cannot survive without each other. Think of it! We’re willing to risk our lives to be with those we like or love, even for a short time. We’re also anxiously

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awaiting a vaccine. Too bad there isn’t a vaccine to make us respect each other more. The cliché “we’re all in this together” rings even truer during this exhausting pandemic.

Hopefully during the Christmas season, through our words and actions, we’ll show even more understanding to our fellow human beings. So for 2021, I’m going to try to become a better person and not be so quick to judge. Let’s all start the New Year by letting our behaviour reflect genuine kindness. Finally, just about every friend I have, whether born here or not, agrees that Canada is “a kinder, gentler nation.” This tells me two things. First, they love this country deeply. And second, they’ve never seen one of our hockey games! Let’s keep that image of caring alive into 2021 and beyond.

Until next time, always remember that we’re here to help.

Tony Curcio Editor, Graphic Arts Magazine tony@graphicartsmag.com

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Column

The Essential 5: strategic planning in 2021 Did you know that Play-Doh (as in the children’s moldable putty) was originally designed for a very different purpose?

According to the Strong Museum of Play, it was developed in the 1930’s as wallpaper cleaner, necessary in a time when soot-producing coal warmed homes.

After World War II, new methods for heating were established and the wallpaper cleaning putty business was quickly becoming obsolete. It was in 1954 when an in-law of the company’s ownership (who worked in a nursery school and was looking for inexpensive materials to make Christmas ornaments) used the wallpaper cleaning putty with kids. It was easier for little hands to mold this material versus its plasticine counterpart and the rest, as they say, is history. Not only did Play-Doh’s leadership rethink their product and pivot to find success in a new market, but it’s rumored that they were able to increase the selling price nearly five-fold: from $0.34 per can to $1.50 per can!

Adaptability, lateral thinking and nimble leadership are qualities to help businesses thrive in today’s economic environment – for service-based organizations and manufacturers, alike. These traits help organizations pivot when necessary. So how might you take inspiration from a decades-old toy that was originally designed as a cleaning tool? Do you have any products or services that could be reimagined to better serve today’s marketplace? Below are five resources to help you plan for the year 2021 and beyond.

10 Guiding Principles for Leaders [TED playlist of 10 curated videos] https:// tinyurl.com/TEDLeadershipPlaylist - Taking inspiration across a variety of industries, this collection of TED Talks has a 2.5

hour run time. Talks range from how to build businesses that last 100 years to managing for collective creativity to the single biggest reason why start-ups succeed.

Strategic Planning: Examples of What to Start, Stop and Keep Doing for 2021

by Jessica Wishart [Rhythm Systems article] https://tinyurl.com/StartStopKeep2021 - This resource not only provides excellent examples of what to start, stop and keep doing in relation to strategic planning, but it also showcases an effective framework you can use in your planning.

“Start, Stop, Keep” is a feedback framework that can be used to survey your internal and external stakeholders to quickly gauge what’s working and what’s not.

How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist by Amy Webb [Harvard Business Review article] https://tinyurl.com/ HBRPlanFuturist - This HBR article is all about the power of strategic planning without the long-term timelines. As the author writes, “My observation is that leadership teams get caught in a cycle of addressing long-term risk with rigid, short-term solutions, and in the process they invite entropy.” The article explains that futurists use “time cones” and not timelines; a framework that helps examine both short and long-term strategies simultaneously.

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin, 2007 [book] - Seth Godin is a gifted storyteller, marketing thoughtleader and all around neat guy. This gem of a book is nearly 14 years old but its message is just as important today: “Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.” This little

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book can be read in one sitting; on a short-haul flight or in the time between Zoom meetings (a more likely scenario right now).

17 random ways to be kind at work (and why it matters) by Sarah Goff-Dupont [Atlassian article] https://tinyurl.com/ KindessatWork - I love this resource because it takes a step back from thinking about business using only our heads and opens our eyes to the possibilities of thinking with our hearts, too. Personally, this pandemic has opened my eyes to the power of kindness, which has directly impacted my work and relationships in a positive way.

Whatever your short-term or longer-term plans, complex problems rarely have simple solutions. My hope is that these resources can help you think differently and pivot as needed.

One final note - although this past year has been demanding (sometimes very demanding), I’m grateful that I now have a better understanding of problems that some faced pre-pandemic, like balancing working full-time with caring for dependents full-time, as well as the impact of sudden isolation from social groups. Everyone is fighting their own battles, most of which are invisible. I feel lucky to have gained a new perspective as to how we can be more compassionate, show greater empathy and participate more fully in our shared humanity. I wish I’d learned these lessons sooner, but as the saying goes: hindsight is 2020.

Diana Varma is a Lecturer at the School of Graphic Communications Management (GCM) and the Master of Digital Media (MDM) program at Ryerson University.

She also hosts a podcast called Talk, Paper, Scissors. www.talkpaperscissors.info

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Print Industry News

TC Transcontinental invests over $10 million in book printing

Agfa launches new inkjet system for interior decoration

TC Transcontinental’s latest investment is mainly at its Interglobe plant in the Beauce region of Quebec. The investment enabled the plant to improve its manufacturing efficiency to better meet the growing demand from its North American customers.

Most of the investments cover the purchase of robotic equipment installed in the binding and bagging departments to increase production capacity and speed. Other funds have been allocated to modernize colour systems on its web and sheetfed presses to improve register control and colour reproduction. “These major investments demonstrate our confidence in the future of the North American book market and our desire to build our printing platform in growth verticals like this one,” said Jacques Grégoire, Chief Development Officer of Printing & Media at TC Transcontinental.

The timing coincides with the signing of several contract extensions as well as new agreements with major educational publishers. Jacques Grégoire

Agfa’s new InterioJet 3300 is a multi-pass, water-based inkjet system for printing on paper used for interior decoration, such as laminate floors and furniture. The new system enables creation of customized interior decorations, including brand logos, pictures or seasonal themes. The InterioJet builds upon the same technology as Agfa’s award-winning, heavy-duty Jeti Tauro LED UV Press for sign and display printing. It also delivers the same reliability – but now with print heads, inks and a drying system optimized for water-based pigment inks.

The InterioJet can print on two rolls at a time – each with a width up to 155 cm and a weight of up to 600 kg – at a speed of up to 340 m² per hour. It also features the OEM’s traditional low ink consumption that reduces production costs. Agfa developed water-based pigment inks for the new press that are eco-friendly, lightfast, waterfast, and use specific pigments that deliver a high colour coverage. Plus, because of their thin dried layer, they can also be used to print on wood and on natural stone designs, such as marble.

Agfa InterioJet 3300

Canon unveils Arizona 2300 series wide-format printers Canon’s new Arizona 2300 series of UV-curable flatbed printers, is designed to speed up production, improve operational efficiencies and fuel growth opportunities via new applications. The series is built around new Arizona Flow technology – a unique vacuum technique that supports a zone-less, multi-origin table layout. Flow technology offers up to 20% more productivity, said the OEM, as it requires less masking and taping, and is supported by easy-to-use, three-sided pneumatic registration pins to better secure the substrate on the table. The pneumatic registration pins allow users to print from edge to edge on the substrate, to align substrates to either the left or the right edge of the table, or both. Users can also print double-sided and on odd-shaped, heavy, smooth or pre-cut media without the use of a jig. Flow technology also enables printing on canvas, wood and glass. Print speeds up to 1,001 ft²/hr improve productivity, while an automated system offers hands-free print head maintenance by restoring nozzle function in about 24 seconds.

Canon Arizona 2300

@graphicarts

HP announces record Indigo press rollout with Shutterfly HP has announced that Shutterfly is investing in over 60 new HP Indigo digital presses to drive higher productivity for its range of high-quality, photo-based and personalized products – including photo gifts, photo books, school portraits, holiday cards, and home décor – in advance of the holiday season. The agreement with Shutterfly, the leading U.S. supplier of HP Indigo digital print, is the largest single customer order to date for HP. The rollout includes nextgeneration, high-productivity B2 sized HP Indigo 100K digital presses, HP Indigo 12000 digital presses, and a “significant investment” in web-fed photo presses to transform photo portrait printing to digital. The presses will be installed across four manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | December 2020 / January 2021 | 9

Print Industry News

Ricoh Canada installs Pro TF6250 at Ryerson Ricoh Canada has partnered with Toronto’s Ryerson University by integrating its Commercial and Industrial Print (CIP) technology into the general programs for the Faculty of Communication and Design (FCAD). The installation of Ricoh’s Pro TF6250 Wide Format UV LED Printer in Ryerson’s Creative Technology Lab at FCAD will also see Ricoh hosting joint workshops that showcase real-life applications, while providing hands-on experience using its CIP technology. The printer will also enable students to produce a vast range of printed products including course content materials, prototypes and more.

Ricoh Pro TF6250

Canon Canada announces new scholarships Canon Canada has unveiled the Canon Canada Environmental Studies Scholarship that will be presented annually for the next five years to students at York University and the University of British Columbia. The scholarships will help the universities provide financial assistance to students pursuing careers committed to sustainability and protecting the environment.

York University will select two recipients each year from the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change. UBC will make their scholarship available to outstanding students pursuing a Bachelor of Science and majoring in environmental sciences.

Since 2008, Canon Canada has supported Sheridan College’s Honours Bachelor of Photography Program with scholarships. In 2019, Canon Canada launched a new annual awards sponsorship with Ryerson University’s School of Graphic Communications Management.

Epson rolls out first UV flatbed wide-format printer Epson’s new SureColor V7000 is its first UV flatbed printer designed for high quality outdoor signage, promotional goods and more. Delivering “bright, colorful, tactile prints with low graininess and smooth gradations,” the ultraproductive SureColor V7000 4’ x 8’ wide-format printer brings a new level of image quality, productivity and convenience,” said the OEM. Capable of printing on rigid substrates Epson SureColor V7000 up to 3” thick, it’s an ideal entry-level solution. It also offers a unique vivid red ink “never

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before seen in an entry-level flatbed printer,” and provides a cost-effective option for shops looking to expand from roll-to -roll to f latbed printing. Featuring 10 - colour UltraChrome UV Inks (plus gray, opaque white and varnish), it can produce three-layer prints using its eight MicroPiezo print heads. The print heads also include a new circulation system for white ink designed to limit sedimentation while preserving nozzle integrity.

Manroland signs new sales partnership with MPN Manroland Sheetfed North America’s new sales and marketing partnership with My Press Needs (MPN) will see the OEM represent MPN’s Crest Clamshell product line throughout Canada, the U.S. and Mexico – with exclusivity in the packaging, corrugated, publishing, commercial printing, POP and display/retail markets. Sean Springett, Manroland Sheetfed NA CEO & Managing Director, said the addition of the Crest Platen Die Cutter to Manroland’s product portfolio is “a partnership rooted in a mantra ‘know your value.’

Over the years, MPN has leveraged knowledge of its customers' businesses to design an industry-leading, feature-rich machine with technological breakthroughs in platen design. Simply put, it’s the most well engineered platen die cutter in existence.

We’re proud to represent the Crest product line and look forward to developing synergies between Manroland and Crest clients alike.”

Sean Springett

Fujifilm to sell Zund digital cutting systems in Canada Fujifilm North America and its Graphic Systems Division will collaborate with Zund America to allow Fujifilm’s printer customers to obtain access to Zund America’s collection of cutting technologies that provide comprehensive solutions for packaging, marketing materials and signage. Under the new partnership, Fujifilm North America will market and sell all of the digital cutting systems available from Zund America to printers in Canada and the U.S., offering solutions across multiple markets including signage and display as well as packaging. Zund America’s cutting systems will complement the expansive portfolio of Fujifilm solutions – from Acuity LED 1600 Printers to the modular OnsetX Series of printers and beyond, said Fujifilm.

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Cover Story

2020 Year in review: COVID-19 changed everything On December 31, 2019, the China Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of cases of pneumonia in Hubei Province. The outbreaks began in a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, a city of 11 million. The newly detected coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) was zoonotic in nature (i.e. could be transmitted from animals to humans). Without travel restrictions, worldwide human-to-human transmission quickly followed and on March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 virus a worldwide pandemic with 189 countries reporting outbreaks.

So it’s no surprise that COVID-19 was our 2020 story of the year – by far.

At press time, deaths in Canada were just over 12,200 and climbing in various regions as some lockdowns were eased, then re-imposed as cases escalated.

Most fatalities were seniors in crowded and understaffed nursing homes and other for-profit, long-term-care facilities.

Meanwhile, the U.S. was approaching 267,000 fatalities with only four states trending down in cases. The pattern was the same when it came to the number of deaths per million. With about 227 deaths per million, Canada fared better than the U.K. (382), Ireland (351) and the U.S. (382). But we did poorly compared to Japan (7.7), New Zealand (4.5) and Australia (4.1).

government who are still providing financial assistance to businesses, employees, caregivers and others. Many printers repurposed their production lines to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to our frontline healthcare workers.

Antibacterial products and signage encouraging social distancing were rolled out almost overnight. Meanwhile, various helpful resources were made available on the websites of industry organizations and individual printers.

Printers came together and dealt with the harsh realities of laid-off staff, remote working and reduced sales. Inperson tradeshows and other events were postponed and rescheduled as online-only events.

Some of the most incisive reporting at that time came from The Human Resources Professional Association of Toronto. Key takeaways from its second COVID-19 survey revealed that 38% of organizations planned permanent restructuring, reduction of physical workspaces, and changes to the ways employees interact.

New programs included modified work schedules (25%), flextime (19%) and rotating shifts (18%). About 81% planned to expand remote-working options. And, business travel remained on hold as 85% confirmed changes to their policies.

With all this as a backdrop, here are Graphic Arts Magazine’ selections for the top stories of 2020 However, none come close to the pandemic and this industry’s ongoing heroic responses that are far too numerous to mention in just four pages – as well as our governments’ ongoing financial aid packages. Be well, stay safe, and we’ll emerge from this pandemic stronger, more informed – and hopefully more compassionate – than ever.

JANUARY Fast-forward to today, and our industry is replete with inspiring stories of how printers across Canada are still stepping up to the plate – along with our federal

@graphicarts

• TC Transcontinental’s Isabelle Marcoux, Chair of its Board of Directors, was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. This was the second generation of the Marcoux family to earn this honour.

Her father Rémi, founder of TC

Transcontinental, was appointed into the Order of Canada in 2007. Her career has been marked by numerous professional and philanthropic achievements.

Isabelle Marcoux

• The ongoing melodrama of Xerox’s planned takeover of HP continued.

Xerox wanted to nominate 11 independent candidates to replace HP’s Board of Directors in an unsolicited proposal to acquire HP, that the HP Board unanimously rejected. HP responded: “We believe these nominations are a self-serving tactic

by Xerox that significantly undervalues HP and creates meaningful risk to the detriment of HP shareholders. Its proposed transaction attempts to use HP’s financial capacities for the benefit of Xerox shareholders.”

• The price of a postage stamp rose by 2¢ to 92¢ for a domestic lettermail item of 30 grams or less purchased in a booklet, coil or pane. Canada Post estimated that the impact for small businesses that use stamps would be only $6 a year.

FEBRUARY • Jones Packaging (London, ON) invested $20 million in its business while unveiling a new corporate identity as the company celebrated 100 years of service to the health and wellness markets.

GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | December 2020 / January 2021 | 11

2020 Year in review: COVID-19 changed everything At the center of the new identity was a corporate name change to Jones Healthcare Group. Jones was founded on packaging for the healthcare industry over 100 years ago.

• Konica Minolta launched the MGI JETvarnish 3D One Digital Print Enrichment Press that provided a host of sensory print embellishments. In a study by NAPCO, brand owners said that, on average, they’d pay a 40% premium for 3D, variable-data textures. “This product is an affordable solution for printers to offer these services,” said the OEM. • Agfa and TFL entered into a strategic partnership to develop Alussa – an industrial inkjet-printing solution to decorate leather. Agfa will develop the inkjet printer, dedicated inkjet inks and the software to manage the printing. TFL will provide custom-developed coating chemistry. Alussa will enable the leather industry to decorate high-quality leather that’s both flexible and scratch resistant.

• SupremeX (LaSalle, QC) acquired Royal Envelope for $27.4 million. Royal Envelope had reported $30 million of revenue in its most recent financial year, primarily from the sale of envelopes and printing services. SupremeX now has 13 facilities across seven provinces and three production facilities in the U.S.

MARCH • Drupa, the world’s largest tradeshow for the print industry scheduled for June 16 – 26, 2020 in Düsseldorf, Germany was postponed to April 20 – 30, 2021.

Show organizer Messe Düsseldorf was following the recommendations of the German federal government regarding in-person events. The city of Düsseldorf had also prohibited live events with over 1,000 participants.

• Delphax Solutions (Mississauga, ON) announced its PrintingStrong Program.

The new initiative offered qualified printers who produce more than 12 million letter impressions per year the opportunity to acquire one of a limited number of Delphax Solutions’ Elan 500 HD cutsheet digital inkjet presses for a minimum of two years with no equipment lease or purchase costs. The program provided access to a production press on a pay-as-you-go basis

without the typical financial commitments associated with capital equipment.

Delphax Elan 500 HD Press

• Agfa’s new Offset Technical Competence Center (TCC) in Wilmington, MA began accepting visitors. The TCC is a fullyequipped lab that features Agfa’s integrated prepress and pressroom solutions aimed at high-performance commercial, packaging, newspaper and UV printing applications. Also available for demonstrations, the TCC showcased innovations that reduced waste, lowered ink consumption and saved energy.

APRIL • Xerox announced that it would be dropping its hostile takeover bid of HP. Valued at $8 billion when its plans were first revealed, Xerox had offered to finance a $34 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of HP, which was valued at $31 billion at the time. The “war” between the OEMs started in the fall of 2019.

• Family-owned trade-only printing leader SinaLite (Markham, ON) celebrated 21 years in business in 2020. The company now prints from its 100,000 square foot production facility and helps over 10,000 businesses and print brokers maximize profits by continuously rolling out innovative print products. With offices in both Canada and the U.S., SinaLite has invested over $20 million in state-of-the-art technology and equipment.

• Mimaki USA announced its Wide Format Investment Program that offered up to six months of payment relief at an approved 3.99% fixed interest rate for 60 months – which was below the current market rate at that time.

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• The U.K.-based Global PrintExpo became the first post-COVID virtual exhibition and conference for the printing industry. Set to open in June of 2020, organizers emphasized that the online event will work in the same way that a live tradeshow does – except that anyone can visit the show 24/7, 365 days a year, from anywhere in the world. Many more events would go online in the months to come, including into 2021.

MAY • The Sign Association of Canada (SAC/ ACE) chose the International Sign Association (ISA – Alexandria, VA) to assume management of the association and its annual event, Sign Expo Canada. Both parties added that this new partnership should strengthen and grow the visual communications industry across North America.

• Torstar, publisher of Canada’s largest daily newspaper, the Toronto Star, was sold to NordStar Capital, a firm run by entrepreneurs Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett, in a deal worth about $60 million.

Torstar runs newspapers and websites across the country, including thestar.com.

• SGIA (Specialty Graphic Imaging Association) and PIA (Printing Industries of America) merged to become the largest printing industry association in the U.S. SGIA primarily served the graphics, industrial and apparel decorator segments, while the PIA served the commercial printing segment. Ford Bowers was named President and CEO of the combined organization. The new association was subsequently named Printing United Alliance.

• Heidelberg introduced new contract options to improve the performance of its customers. The OEM’s subscription model, under which printers no longer pay for the equipment they use but the number of sheets they produce, had been very successful. The new options involved consumables, services, software, consulting, training, and equipment

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2020 Year in review: COVID-19 changed everything solutions – all in a single package.

• UV industry associations in the U.S. were compelled to dismiss the use of UV light on the human body to disinfect against COVID-19, countering statements from U.S. President Donald Trump made April 23. The International Ultraviolet Association and RadTech North America said that there were no health protocols to permit the safe use of UV light directly on the human body to kill viruses. They added that UV light can cause severe skin burns, skin cancer and eye damage.

JUNE • Koenig & Bauer released its new “performance benchmark” in industrial printing – the Rapida 106 X high-performance, 8-colour sheetfed offset press for medium format (740 mm x 1,060 mm), with a perfecting unit and an additional coater. The Rapida 106 X “meets every conceivable demand that today’s market makes of a press in terms of automation, digitization and workflow solutions, thereby defining the future of industrial offset,” said the OEM. Taking productivity to “an unprecedented new level of profitability,” it provided a huge array of improvements including shorter makeready times, higher speeds, reliable processes for more stable production, reduced maintenance and digitalization for improved profitability.

Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106 X

• Mitchel Lincoln Packaging became the first printer in Eastern Canada to install an Agfa Jeti Tauro H3300 UV LED wideformat inkjet press at its production facility in Montreal. Mitchel Lincoln produces specialty corrugated cartons and displays, packaging and shipping products, custom boxes and pop-up displays. The investment allowed the firm to continue as a major player in the corrugated market by expanding services, improving print quality and reducing turnarounds.

• Ricoh introduced its new monochromeonly Ricoh Pro VC40000 model. It empowered printers to produce

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high-volume B&W applications 50% faster than the platform’s maximum performance press at original launch, while driving down costs. At speeds of 180 m/ min (590 ft/min), users could meet faster turnaround times and deliver increased throughput for a huge range of B&W applications.

JULY • Heidelberg set up a dedicated business unit for the manufacture and sale of printed and organic electronics at its Wiesloch-Walldorf production site in Germany, investing about five million euros. Sensors developed at this new InnovationLab (iL) for use in dental technology, will be printed first. Heidelberg’s focus on sheetfed printing also continued with the sale of its Gallus Group subsidiary to Swiss packaging business Benpac, selling its narrow-web rotary and rotary flexographic printing technology, while still remaining a major supplier to the growing label market with its sheetfed offset presses.

• Flora Graphics (Brampton, ON) serving primarily the restaurant and food industries with brochures, flyers, menus and interior/exterior signage, became the first printer in Ontario to install a Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 190 Label Press, along with a Scorpio 3500 Label Finisher, to help meet the growing demand for

various label products, which had increased by a huge 40%.

Konica Minolta AccurioLabel 190 Label Press

• Koenig & Bauer opened a new hall offering over 3,000 square metres of floor space for print demos at its Radebeul location near Dresden, Germany. The upgrade of its existing press demo facility into a global Customer Experience Centre added about 33% more space for the

latest equipment for press demos, application testing, development of new technologies, and for training purposes.

Sections focused on packaging, commercial print and label production.

AUGUST • RMGT launched its 8-up+ RMGT 970 Offset Press, growing its sheet size to the popular 25” x 38” format and adding RMGT’s new ASAP (Automated Smart Assist Printing) System that allowed operators to experience “an entirely new level of automation and autonomous press operation in the 8-up press format,” said the OEM.

RMGT 970 Offset Press

• Hazen Paper (Holyoke, MA) pioneered a two-sided promotion to demonstrate cutting-edge holographic technologies.

Specific visual effects using nano-holography delivered a more dramatic 3D effect than lenticular printing. The front featured a fire-breathing dragon with glittering scales. The effect of a blast of moving flames was achieved with registered, custom colour-motion and multi-channel holography. On the back, a shimless random repeat custom hologram created a moving, 3D flash backdrop for a flock of butterflies. The most unusual aspect was that the promotion featured, for the first time, two-sided custom holography, transfer-metallized on both sides.

• Kodak partnered with Uteco to launch the Sapphire EVO W digital flexible packaging press. Characterized by Kodak as “the first digital packaging press to match the productivity of flexo and the quality of gravure,” the new press used Kodak’s continuous inkjet technology. With a print width of 49.2”, it could inkjet print on flexible plastic films, paper and more in full-colour at 600 x 1,800 dpi.

• Italy-based Lombardi Converting Machinery appointed Matik (West Hartford, CT) as the distributor and service provider for its printing and converting equipment in North America. The product line

GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | December 2020 / January 2021 | 13

2020 Year in review: COVID-19 changed everything included modular narrow-web and mid-web flexo presses, hybrid inkjet presses and label-finishing equipment.

SEPTEMBER • Associated Labels and Packaging (Coquitlam, BC) installed Canada’s – and the world’s – first Ares 400-SUP Pouch Machine from bag-converting equipment manufacturer Hudson-Sharp (Green Bay, WI). The installation of the newest narrow model stand-up pouch machine provided additional capacity, supported Associated Labels’ growth into new markets, facilitated faster changeovers, and produced recycle-ready structures with low scrap rates.

• thINK, an annual event for Canon Solutions America inkjet customers, shifted from an in-person to an online event. The 6th annual thINK Ahead Conference then broke all previous attendance records, reaching a record number of participants across the globe, even though it was their first online venture.

new ways to address critical safety and brand-protection issues like counterfeiting, while also engaging with consumers remotely, and discovering much more about customer buying journeys and product lifecycles.

OCTOBER

• HP announced a record HP Indigo digital press rollout. Shutterfly invested in over 60 new HP Indigo digital presses for its photo-based, personalized products in advance of the holiday season. The agreement was the largest single customer order to date for HP’s graphics business.

• The first Printing United Digital Experience three-week online global event began with daily programming that focused on new products, market trends, areas of expansion and insights into every imaginable printing industry sector.

Visitors listened to panel discussions, heard first-hand how companies have navigated the pandemic, and learned how OEMs and suppliers have successfully made the leap across market segments to expand their capabilities.

Ares 400-SUP Pouch Machine

• Canadian Print Scholarships announced 76 scholarships had been awarded to students in five graphic communications programs across Canada for the 2020/2021 academic year. The financial support helps cover the high costs of a college or university education. Upon graduation, students bring the skills, energy and ideas needed to keep our industry moving forward.

• Intergraphics Decal ( Winnipeg) became the first printer in Canada to acquire an EFI Pro 32r Plus from Konica Minolta, and expected to triple its current output of large-format printed materials.

Intergraphics was founded in 1969 by Conrad Desender, who still serves as its President and CEO. The company currently operates out of a 45,000 sq ft facility.

• Printful, one of the world’s largest custom on-demand printing and warehousing companies, and G et t y Images, announced a partnership that saw Getty Images integrate its API into Printful’s Mockup Generator, allowing Printful customers to easily access over 80 million images at low cost.

• Drupa previewed its new digital platform for knowledge transfer, networking and presentations. The new online platform, drupa preview, offered exhibitors and visitors an additional channel for connecting with the global printing industry, discussing trends and presenting new products. The portal consisted of “Conference,” “Exhibition” and “Networking” formats and enabled continuous exchange of information until the live tradeshow take place April 20 – 28, 2021 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

• Heidelberg’s Innovation Week virtual event featured five days of product demos, talks with industry experts, and 1:1 sessions with Heidelberg reps covering topics from commercial print to packaging/label production. The new online event also revealed how to cope with today's challenges and prepare for the future – using smart technologies and end-to-end production solutions.

• Jones Healthcare Group (London, ON) released CapX NFC Connected Packaging, elevating omni-channel marketing to entirely new levels. Brands now have

14 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER

• The Printing United Digital Experience wrapped up its first week with impressive numbers. Over 6,600 attendees from 4,700 companies in 97 countries consumed more than 30,000 page views and 3,000 hours of videos.

• Ryerson University students earned a first-time international packaging award for Canada. Fourth-year Graphic Communications Management (GCM) students Dorotea Bajic and Laura Rendell-Dean worked together on a sustainable packaging design that won first place in the annual Student Design Challenge hosted by the Paperboard Packaging Alliance.

Laura Rendell-Dean

Dorotea Bajic

Tony Curcio Editor, Graphic Arts Magazine tony@graphicartsmag.com

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Column

Three tips for selling simple online orders Print orders that show up at your digital doorstep ready to print are simple online orders.

These orders are placed on your website by customers who are at their desks, in their office, or at home. Even though today’s print buyers have been doing business online for decades, it’s still surprising how many printers see online ordering as “nice to have.”

Well, there’s nothing like a pandemic to reveal how critical it is to be able to do business online these days.

Best-selling author Tien Tzuo observed: “Being stuck at home has normalized e-commerce for practically everyone.

We’ve all been trained to be able to buy something as soon as we can think of it.

Just look at all the new infrastructure and learned behaviour we’ve developed around grocery and package delivery, and how the big box stores have essentially turned into fulfillment centers and pick up/drop off locations.” Is your online presence up for the same challenge?

Have you adapted to the business environment Tzuo described? If launching or fine-tuning your online presence seems daunting, take a deep breath.

Your approach to capturing your share of simple online orders may benefit from a real-world perspective.

TIP 1 Automate simple online orders for new customers. How can a first-time customer easily order printing on your website? You need to provide the tools for them to create their own success – such as an online design tool with a library of ready-to-customize templates, or a virtual printer that allows customers to make print-ready PDFs from any

application. These tools are often beyond the reach of all but the largest printers to implement on their own, but they’re still available. More likely, you’ll be able to find some industry friends that have already figured out how to make this work as a service for printers.

Marketing Ideas For Printers provides such tools, but we’re not the only ones.

So I’d encourage you to do your research.

TIP 2 Lock in “forever” customers with simple online orders. Your regular customers will return to your website for “the usual” – but only if you make “the usual” available for them as a simple online order!

Just as your favorite food at your favorite restaurant is an exact repeat, your customers’ favorite orders are exact repeats too. The way to lock in these repeating “forever” customers is to make it so easy to order the repeat items that they’d never ever think about going elsewhere.

Offer these clients order forms customized to their exact reorder patterns and preferences. The technology is readily available.

TIP 3 It’s not an order until you’re paid.

Remember, if you don’t get paid, everything you’re doing is just a hobby! At the risk of sounding obvious, you won’t get paid until you’ve accounted for the selling price of creating the printing, any shipping charges, and any tax liabilities.

Then, when you have all the ingredients available to create an accurate selling price, you can get paid. The internet has trained us to expect everything to happen in real time. That’s why it’s so very important to provide your prospects and customers with a purchase price as close as possible to the time your customers commit to making the purchase.

Hopefully, that happens at the exact same time! Is your website up to the challenge of easily accepting payments?

Real-time payments need to be supported by real-time calculations and transactions, and that takes work. Again, you likely have friends in the industry that can help you with that.

Remember, we’re talking here about customers placing simple online orders.

Bottom line: The key to success is to make your website support your customers' ability to do everything they need to do to place an online order – with no extra help from you. In future articles, we’ll explore another type of key customer – one who places simple offline orders.

Dave Hultin is the President and visionary behind Marketing Ideas For Printers. He’s on a mission to lead printers to success by providing powerful, innovative online ordering solutions and impossible-to-ignore content. If you’re looking to sell more printing and grow your business, please follow Dave on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davehultin

16 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

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Column

What’s next in inkjet printing In this edited article from the drupa 2020 Essentials of Print series, Régis Thienard, a print industry inkjet specialist who owns various inkjet patents (and is one of the JETVarnish inventors), explores the fascinating future and alluring benefits of inkjet printing.

Contactless printing Today, digital printing eliminates most of the inefficient downtime of a printing press. There are almost no intermediate steps. Printers become more productive and increase their responsiveness.

The future of printing is set for digital and for inkjet. Xerography and offset can’t go where inkjet can go with very large widths and printing on objects and fabrics. Inkjet technology allows printing without contact, eliminating the risk of distortion of the image or deterioration of the substrate. Plus, manufacturers are redoubling their efforts to manage those tiny drops of ink – whether it means the ejectionheight compared to paper, the fragility of the heads in terms of friction, their interchangeability, the speed of ink ejection, the limitations of ink penetration into the substrate, and so on. We see many print head suppliers delivering higher resolutions, higher speeds and lower costs. Therefore, inkjet machine suppliers are serving more markets – from labels to large-format, textiles, packaging and industrial printing.

Software, AI and 3D printing While the print head itself requires advanced technologies, the inkjet magic taking place is also thanks to other technologies – such as 3D printing, advanced software and artificial intelligence (AI). Some print head manufacturers are using 3D printing technologies to integrate all the components into a small space with the highest level of precision, delivering compact print head clusters for use across numerous technologies. New algorithms help digital press builders search for nozzle failures, detect air bubbles inside the print head’s ink tank, achieve a constant ink-ejection

rate coupled with the fineness of each drop, or with ink-shot correction by diverting to the jet adjacent to the missing jet, etc. In short, AI in advanced software is helping to remove imperfections in print head engineering.

Régis Thienard

showcase digitally-printed books with integrated augmented reality and printed electronics, connected packaging delivering advanced safety features across the entire supply chain, fabrics with health sensors for tension and dehydration, and so on.

Variable data versatility Brand owners are demanding more personalization. They want the package to be the product. Digital enables any packaging item to be unique. Moreover, as data becomes the backbone of Industry 4.0, digital printing and inkjet will, by their nature, cope with this new reality. So, whatever is printed can be all the same, but at the same time, be all different as well.

Sustainability Colour in abundance With up to 12 colours and drop-sizes varying by a factor 10, all colours are printable as the gamut is at the top of any printing system. It’s no longer the human eye that judges and compares the original to the output. It’s the system that applies its own patterns. Recent announcements by Landa in achieving close to 97% of Pantone and claiming that spot colours may eventually become something of the past, are setting the scene for drupa 2021, where we expect inkjet to be the star of the show.

Application versatility Inkjet is an evolutionary driver of printing techniques, and such evolution enables printing on increasingly complex materials. The contactless nature of inkjet opens up a myriad of new market s – such as glass, ceramics, tiles, even printed circuit boards. Disruptive innovations are coming. I expec t drupa 2021 to

18 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

The acceleration of inkjet adoption is also driven by the fact that it can be water-based, with all the associated environmental benefits. For example, HP in corrugated printing is making major claims about the sustainability of its inks, especially for food packaging.

Others will follow with water-based inks, as was shown recently at Labelexpo 2020 by the Bobst Group, with their up to 100-metre-per-minute Mouvent Label Press.

Costs Today, manufacturer research required to produce inks involves ongoing investments, especially as print heads are constantly changing and ink formulations must be adjusted. While it’s true that the development of inks for inkjet is more costly than offset or flexo, it’s just a question of time before inkjet becomes more affordable. And when its production volume surpasses offset inks, it could indeed be at cost parity.

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New Products

The OEM’s first RTR resin signage printers

A high-volume tabletop barcode label printer

Epson’s SureColor R-Series of 64” RTR (roll-to-roll) signage printers – the SureColor R5070 and SureColor R5070L – use 6-colour resin ink to deliver high quality prints on a variety of substrates, delivering output ready for immediate lamination at speeds up to 290 ft²/hr. Both feature 1.5L ink packs, while the SureColor R5070 L has 3L per colour bulk-ink system with hot-swap technology for uninterrupted printing. Both, available in January, use resin ink to ensure that each print, panel to panel and job to job, yields repeatable and consistent colour. The SureColor R-Series is ideal for high quality printing of wallpapers, fabrics, uncoated papers, traditional signage and more. UltraChrome RS Resin ink delivers instant-dry, scratch-resistant output at a lower cost per mL, said Epson.

New 2.6” user-replaceable PrecisionCore Micro TFP print heads, and a new Quality Print Mode that can create a stable base layer, result in high-quality output with crisp lines and outstanding details.

Both printers utilize a three-heater system to promote even drying with pre, platen and post-heating.

Brother Mobile Solutions’ Brother Titan Industrial Barcode Label Printer is a high-volume, 4” industrial barcode label printer engineered to meet the more rigorous and long-term demands of today’s fast-paced operations. The printer features easy drop-in integration and is ideal for long-term use across a wide range of barcode labeling applications in warehouses, e-commerce distribution centres, manufacturing facilities, transportation and logistics centres and retail operations. The tabletop printer delivers crisp barcode labels up to 300 dpi at speeds up to 10 ips. It also offers a complete set of software connectivity choices and seamless integration with existing ERP & WMS systems using a full suite of included emulations, SDKs and drivers. It comes standard with Ethernet/ LAN, USB 2.0, Host-USB and RS232C serial, plus options to add a Wi-Fi module. An optional Shift & Print Subscription Service includes the printer and all acces so r ies fo r o ne monthly fee. Users can view printer status and make selections on the fly with a 3.5”, full-colour Brother Titan HVGA touch-panel display.

Industrial Barcode Label Printer

Epson SureColor R5070

A high-end 7-colour digital label press Xeikon’s PX30000 Digital UV Inkjet Label Press has eight printing stations, two for high opaque white layers. This rollto-roll, full rotary label press is driven by Xeikon’s X-800 DFE to maximize production, and is a cost-effective solution for short to medium-run flexo jobs. It can produce a wide range of labels with a glossy tactile look, optimum durability, and resistance to scuffing and scratching.” The 7-colour press is ideal for label printers working in health and beauty, chemicals, premium beers and more. Label printers looking for faster turnaround times, reduced production costs and lower complexity can open up new business opportunities. Users can also opt for an entry-level solution (5-colour engine) or a fully geared, high-end production press (7-colour engine).

Xeikon’s X-800 workflow uses intelligent imposition algorithms to position labels on the web, thereby reducing overall costs. With a maximum speed of 70 m/min (229 ft/min) and using opaque white, the PX30000 can print on substrates as wide as 340 mm (13.4 inches).

Xeikon PX30000 Label Press

20 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

New automation technology for print finishing Characterizing its technology as “a milestone for autonomous print finishing,” Polar Mohr’s new Polar AirGo Jog processes entire paper layers automatically. Driven by autonomous end-to-end print finishing, the AirGo Jog fully automates the loading and jogging process via an integrated blower unit.

First, a Transomat Loading Unit takes an entire paper layer from a pallet and transports it into an automatic jogger. There, the usual jogging process begins utilizing a key new component – a blower system. While jogging, two blower units blow air into the layer to ensure a fast and stable jogging result. The jogged layer is then immediately ready for cutting. With a cycle times from 60 to 90 seconds for the autonomous processing of a complete layer, the technology can “support every post-press department because retrofitting is possible on any cutting system,” said the OEM. In addition to its intuitive operation via a newly designed user interface, the AirGo Jog also features improvements in ergonomics, as the heavy lifting of paper layers is no longer necessary. Release is scheduled for mid-2021.

Polar AirGo Jog

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SPONSORED SOLUTIONS Connecting Printers to New Products via Online Engagement A Hybrid Blend of New Product Promotion, Branding & Thought Leadership Introducing GAM’s New Sponsored Solutions Webcast Series – Connecting You to Specifically Identified Printers

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• GAM provides details and specifications for your new product demonstration / promotion campaign.

• You provide the information used in the live webcast presentation.

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• Your presentation is broadcast live. It is also recorded for distribution online via all of GAM’s channels.

• Marketing initiatives will drive printers to your new product promotion.

• Lead inquiries will be directed to your designated contact.

A Multi-Media Approach for Distributing Your New Product Webcast Session

• 360 Degree Video Tour of your Facilities (If based in GTA/Golden Horseshoe) • Hosted on GAM’s YouTube channel • Posted on GAM’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages • Hosted / posted on the newly launched www.graphicartsmag.com • Included in one GAM’s e-news update to entice the community to engage.

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Column

Digital marketing and website development grants up to $2,500 With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, many businesses plan to redesign their website to encourage online ordering as part of a new digital marketing strategy.

One funding program that will assist businesses with these costs is Digital Main Street – part of the Digital Transformation Grant funding program. It provides funding for training, advisory support, and grants up to $2,500 to small businesses that are implementing digital marketing strategies. The Digital Transformation Grant is available in Ontario and provides digital literacy skills to execute business transformation by completing an online training course that provides the basics of how digital technology will transform their business.

How does a business qualify for a Digital Transformation Grant?

In order to qualify for funding, the small business must be located in or close to a downtown main street or a business improvement area and must employ one to 10 people (or fewer than 25 employees if they’re a café, restaurant or bar).

These employees must be on payroll, with tax deductions. The small business must be paying commercial property tax (commercially assessed), either directly or through commercial rent, and must be a registered business in Ontario and/ or incorporated. It must be open for business or operating at the time of application, and cannot be a start-up.

The business will NOT be eligible for funding if it’s online only, a franchise (individually owned and operated), a not-for-profit or charitable organization, or someone renting office space on a temporary basis (month-to-month). The small business must be owned by an Ontario resident operating a business in the province, by a person or group of people 18 years age or older at the time of application, and by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. To get started go to https://digitalmainstreet.ca/ marketing-new-economy/.

Once on the website you’ll need to complete the Digital Main Street Assessment, The Digital Main Street eligibility quiz, The online training and the Developing of a Digital Transformation Plan. Under the Digital Main Street grant the following costs are eligible: • Digital marketing costs including hiring a consultant, agency or person to execute Digital marketing initiatives.

• Website costs including the redesign or improvement of an existing website or development of a new website.

• Software purchases including graphic design software, productivity software (LastPass, Hootsuite, Dropbox, etc.), social-media software (Hootsuite, Buffer, etc.), security software and purchases of other website-related software that may qualify for funding. You’ll need to be approved by Digital Main Street prior to your software purchases.

• Digital training costs including ongoing courses (in-person and online) • Hardware costs. Must be hardware deemed necessary for digital marketing expenses. The following costs are NOT eligible for funding: purchase of Microsoft Office; website hosting; domain name and software subscription (including Microsoft) renewals; signage and printing; logo redesign and rebranding; business owner’s salary or current employee salary for executing the project; costs related to land, building or vehicle purchases; costs of intangible assets such a goodwill, whether capitalized or expensed; depreciation or amortization expenses; interest on invested capital, bonds or debentures; bond discounts; monthly mortgage, loan and/or rent payments; refinancing of an existing debt; losses on investments, bad debts and any other debts; payments of fines or penalties; costs related to litigation; hospitality and entertainment costs; franchise fees and/or franchise license costs;

24 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

lobbyist fees and new capital expenditures.

Additional funding and final thoughts If your small business has previously received funding through the Digital Transformation Fund, you may apply for funding a second time as long as all of the reporting and project receipts have been submitted for the previous funding received. The Digital Transformation fund is focused on small businesses; large corporations should not apply.

Small businesses with multiple locations are only eligible to apply for one Digital Transformation Grant. Likewise, owners with multiple businesses may only apply for one Digital Transformation Grant.

French translation assistance is available to applicants upon request. The Digital Transformation Fund has been available for a few years now. If your company is new to digital technology, or would like to learn more, a compiled list of tools, howto guides and tutorials are available.

Please visit https://digitalmainstreet.ca/ case-studies/.

Bonny Koabel CPA, CGA is President of AKR Consulting Canada, a Mississauga, ON firm specializing in government grants, rebates, refunds, subsidies and tax credits.

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Out-of-home advertising 101 Printers have no problem understanding Marshall McLuhan’s axion that the medium is the message. Advances in print finishing and the integration of technology with paper has transformed messages into virtual reality experiences.

Together, time and technology have pulled and shifted print to radio, radio to television, television to the internet and the internet back to print. That’s a full circle. Where the circle joins is called out-of-home (OOH) advertising.

Out-of-home advertising is any visual advertising media found outside of the home. It’s big, bold, and in one’s face.

Second only to word-of-mouth advertising, it’s the oldest and most enduring method of advertising known to man. Why the resurgence in OOH advertising? Well, it went digital. And, while OOH advertising includes digital products, printers are normally interested in billboards, street furniture (like park benches, bus stops, and kiosks), public transit placements (like bus and taxi wraps or subway trains), and point-of-sale (POS) displays.

But there is a symbiotic effect between print, OOH and digital out-of-home advertising.

Digital-out-of-home advertising (DOOH) Digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is a broad category that includes anything digital and out-of-home. The most common types of DOOH advertising are digital billboards, small digital sign boards and TV screens used to serve up content in public transit stations, malls, professional offices, school and university corridors.

DOOH advertising can work in unison with other modern technologies. Pairing a DOOH display with facial recognition technology allows one to instantly match content to the demographics of an onlooker on the spot. The integration of tickertapes along the bottom of a screen allows one to push out the weather, news and amber alerts. And, digital provides endless opportunity for creativity for on demand changes. While the upfront costs associated with DOOH

advertising are high, in the long run the costs are recouped.

However, DOOH advertising has one fatal flaw – the ads can be blocked on personal devices.

Digital’s fatal flaw An ad blocker is a piece of software that blocks ads. It’s equivalent to using a weighted coin in a coin toss. On one side of the coin, it blocks out sections of a website where the advertisement would appear. On the other side of the coin the sheer volume of ads that crosses one’s mobile and computer screens overwhelms the viewer, making it difficult for any company’s ad to stand out.

So, why all the hype about OOH? Because an ink on substrate advertisement can’t be blocked and the research indicates that the majority of customers clicking online ads were pulled there by a previously viewed print advertisement. Media buyers and marketers are acutely aware of the market pull factor of print advertising.

Media buyers are linchpins in their organizations because they manage all the media inventory of radio, television, print and digital advertisements. Still, media buyers are frustrated with online advertising whose reach is stymied by digital ad blockers.

Print media pull Media buyers leverage their print advertising dollars to pull customers to their digital advertisements. In 2018, Ocean NeuroScience found that “consumers are 48% more likely to click on a mobile ad after being exposed to the same ad on an out-of-home ad first.”The Out of Home Advertising Association of America found that 46% of surveyed adults had conducted an online search after first seeing the object of their search in an OOH print ad. The Nielsen Global Trust reported that 65% of print readers typically take some form of action after viewing a newspaper ad. Why? Because…

• Print readers don’t typically multitask when they read a print advertising,

26 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

making them far more receptive to the ad’s message.

• More people are unplugging themselves and turning to print messaging for education, entertainment and engagement.

The bottom line is that a strategically placed print message delivered at a specified time through a specific media outlet acts like a skilled shooter who repeatedly hits the bull’s eye with single shots. Whereas, DOOH advertising is a shogun that uses a scattered shot approach with multiple pellets fired at once in an attempt to hit any place on the target.

Print messaging is primed to remain part of every company’s integrated marketing plan. Savvy printers who consistently produce high-quality jobs not only increase their client’s brand value but also gain a reputation of trustworthiness that drives and pulls work their way.

Caterina Valentino, PhD, is an Instructor at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and the Faculty of Health Disciplines at Athabasca University. She can be reached at caterina.l.valentino@gmail.com.

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Lowe-Martin installs an Agfa Jeti Tauro H2500 wide-format printer Lowe-Martin has significantly upgraded its wide-format printing capabilities with the installation of an Agfa Jeti Tauro H2500 UV LED wide-format printer from Agfa Graphics Canada.

Headquartered in Ottawa with production facilities in Mississauga, ON, Lowe-Martin provides a huge array of innovative, integrated and progressive communication solutions and services. These include wide-format and sheetfed offset printing, digital printing, direct mail, direct marketing and multi-channel marketing, online ordering, security printing, in-house prepress and bindery services, e-business solutions and warehousing/logistics. The company continues to focus on superior service, high performance and sustainable growth that have earned it recognition as one of North America's premier print providers.

Taking advantage of the latest UV flatbed printing technologies, the Agfa Jeti Tauro H2500 wide-format printer will deliver high-quality print on just about any material available – from rigid substrates to flexible media. The H2500 is an 8-foot-wide industrial hybrid printer that can produce up to 76 boards an hour, depending on the specific application. It features an integrated roll-to-roll system and continuous and automated feeding of rigid and flexible media. Ideal for high-end sign and display printing with its UV curing, prints up to 2.54 metres

wide, and print speeds up to 275 m²/hr, the H2500 can accommodate an extremely wide range of applications. Driven by Asanti workflow technology and optimized to perform with Agfa’s high-pigmented UV inks, the H2500 outputs highquality, vivid prints on a consistent basis. It utilizes UV curing to offer exceptional 6-colour-plus-white or primer prints. Its advanced automation boosts productivity while reducing operator downtime.

From left are John Sullivan, Lowe-Martin Operations Manager of Large-Format Production, and Charbel Najem, Agfa Graphics’ Digital Systems Sales Manager for Western Canada.

E.B. Box accelerates growth with its Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106-6+L A leading food-grade packaging company located in Richmond Hill, ON, E.B. Box is experiencing exponential growth this year despite the pandemic. It’s seen a huge increase in both volume and the demand for shorter turnaround times from its customers. Manufacturing custom boxes and folding-cartons since 1972, the company caters to food product packaging, bakery and confectionary items, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical packaging, retail-ready displays and custom boxes for a variety of other industries.

to the future, E.B. Box then began building its own custom facility and invested heavily in its growth by replacing its older press. According to Director of Business Development, Irfan Rajabali, selecting the Speedmaster XL 106 was an easy choice. “If we were going to take our growth seriously, we needed to invest in technology that would reliably exceed the expectations of our customers,” he said. “It only made sense to invest in Heidelberg, the market leader, if we wanted to be the market leader.”

E.B. Box’s new Speedmaster XL 106-6+L offset press with Push to Stop technology increased capacity by 50% to 60% per shift while improving speed to market. The company was primarily a carton finisher until 2015 when it installed a 2001 press from another OEM. This led to significant growth. Looking

Today, the XL 106 has increased capacity while providing makereadies that take 75% less time and running speeds that can reach 18,000 sheets per hour. The company even eliminated a full production shift due to the increased throughput it’s currently achieving.

Front row centre (beside the Speedmaster XL 106-6+L) is E.B. Box’s Plant Manager Jeff Morrow.

Back row, left to right, are: Irfan Rajabali, Director of Business Development; Fawad Faeiz, E.B. Box President; Amin Rajabali and Reza Sohrabi, Production; and Shafreen Munjee, Director of Sales & Strategy.

28 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

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One of Canada’s most inspiring and successful printers adds more Agfa technology Agfa Canada continues as a key supplier to Mississauga’s Innovative Displays by installing a third Agfa wide-format printer – the award-winning Jeti Tauro H3300 LED Quietly operating under the radar since 2007 when it set up shop in Mississauga with 10 employees, one wide-format printer, and one laser cutter/engraver, Innovative Displays has experienced year-over-year growth that’s quite unique and inspiring in our industry.

Today, under the guidance of President Michael Foley, the company invests about $250,000 each year in R&D, has a staff of 60, can print on just about every substrate imaginable (from paper to acrylic to cement to metal), and has a huge cutting-edge equipment repertoire capable of handling virtually any print project. This includes cylindrical objects, POS/POP displays, digital signage, vehicle and building graphics, and many others. With its custom fabrication capabilities, the company has also become a trusted turnkey solution for all types of signage and displays.

Innovative Displays currently has U.S. offices in Columbus, Ohio; Orlando Florida; Walpole, Massachusetts and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Agfa’s Jeti Tauro H3300 LED fuels continuing growth With all this success, Foley has never lost sight of the core values that allowed his company to expand in the first place: service, expertise and equipment. “I’m so fortunate to have great client-focused employees and equally great equipment suppliers,” he said. “Our Jeti Tauro H3300 from Agfa joined our Jeti Mira from Agfa. And because these printers are durable workhorses, we can actually push them a bit beyond their usual limitations. Due to this, we were also able to ship our other Agfa wide-format printer, the Jeti Tauro H2500, to our U.S. office in Columbus, Ohio. Agfa has been a trusted partner and a huge part of our success. And, their presses’ ability to print on almost any substrate has helped to make us a North American leader in wide-format. In short, customers come to us because they want something truly unique. And our expertise and equipment help us to deliver that each and every day.”

Innovative’s latest installation, Agfa's Jeti Tauro H3300 LED, is a hybrid, largeformat inkjet printer that combines high print quality with extreme productivity, cutting-edge automation and low ink consumption. It comes in 4-colour and 6-colour versions (plus white or primer) and produces smooth, crisp, detailed UV LED-cured prints up to 3.3 m wide at up to 453 m2/h. The heavy-duty, ruggedly built ‘workhorse’ easily handles extreme workloads, multiple shifts and 24/7 printing. Able to accommodate a huge variety of rigid and flexible substrates, it can be deployed in six configurations, from manual to fully automatic.

Innovative Displays' President Michael Foley (right) and Production Manager Angelo Luongo with their Jeti Tauro H3300 LED from Agfa.

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Key supplier to major brands Foley’s company is also a 3M Gold Select Graphic Provider. This elite program

ensures the highest print quality to qualify for 3M's Matched Component System (MCS) Warranty. 3M Gold printers must also have the in-shop capacity to execute local and national campaigns for major brands and events – and Innovative Displays has certainly accomplished that in a major way.

Innovative Displays’ eye-catching retail displays for Mondelez are among tens of thousands of its projects for leading brands.

It has created stunning props and backdrops for Disney Studios and shows like Star Trek and The Handmaid's Tale, and recently helped execute a multi-million-dollar rebrand of the El Mocambo building in Toronto. The company has successfully rolled out tens of thousands of wideformat creations, including corrugated and temporary pop-up displays, high-end textile printing, and vehicle graphics for brands like McDonald’s, Best Buy, Pepsi, Kraft, Nestle and others. It’s also a trusted partner in creating event and facility graphics, such as those installed at the Columbus Convention Centre in Ohio.

For more information about Innovative Displays, please visit www.innovativedisplays.com, phone 416-855-3390, e-mail info@innovativedisplays.com, or fax to 1-877-977-1705.

GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | December 2020 / January 2021 | 29

Column

Printed newsletters: More impact, more staying power, more results In several previous issues, we’ve highlighted the high engagement and response rates of printed newsletters versus the daily barrage of messages that arrive in your inbox. Bottom line: According to several online searches, email newsletters can average click-through rates from .5% up to 1.6%. However, a printed direct-mail newsletter can generate a 3% to 5% response rate. To put this into perspective, Mailchimp pegs the average click-through rate for all emails across all industries at 2.62%. Plus, e-mail messages have a small “opening window” that begins to decrease after the first hour of sending. Direct mail’s physical nature also means that it’s likely to stay around in the home for longer – 17 days according to the Royal Mail study The Private Life of Mail. What’s more, direct mail has a perceived value and importance that virtual media simply doesn’t.

Today, with most people spending the majority of their days at home due to COVID-19, receiving a direct-mail piece or a printed newsletter is a huge advantage for any print shop – particularly at a time when possible customers are becoming tired of television and being online each

and every day. Plus, blogs, email messages, social media posts and other online messaging come and go so quickly, that it’s almost impossible for them to make a lasting impression. However, the staying power of a professionally designed, personally addressed printed piece in the right hands at the right time has been proven over time.

Tips for successful content creation First, a printed newsletter conveys both authenticity and authority. It gives readers exclusive information about what’s happening at your shop and in your industry. It positions you as a perceived leader and lends authority to your voice.

Unlike sharing social media or sending an e-newsletter, a printed newsletter immediately demonstrates a much higher level of commitment to your customers.

In fact, it can even flatter them – especially during these times of self-imposed quarantine.

Second, look upon your printed newsletter as “mini-magazine” for a select community – your current and potential customers. Include both in your mailing list to further your business relationship

and reinforce the feeling of being part of a special community. Third, printed newsletters give you an opportunity to showcase not just your creativity and print quality, but also your journalistic quality, which places them above traditional advertising. Much of your content can be news-oriented, intended for a specific community of readers: those who would be interested in buying print from your company and those who have already done so. When written and designed properly, printed newsletters can convey useful, interesting and entertaining information – not just sales messages.

Fourth, printed newsletters can run the gamut of creativity. Some of the most successful printed newsletters have featured a client success story or a human-interest article, new products and services announcements, special events such as open houses or meet and greets, useful money-saving tips on a variety of topics, a touch of humour, guest-author articles, how-to features and much, much more. In this way, you can better retain your current customers while reaching out to potential new clients.

Many successful printed newsletters have included coupons that feature a variety of special offers – from percentages off a particular product to a specific dollar amount off a major purchase. Next, by providing multiple coupons, you increase the likelihood of one of your customers or prospects making a purchase. As far as creativity, your content should be proactive (not passive) and convey excitement. Use attention-grabbing language and make sure your message is short and crystal clear. Bright colours can also yield more impactful messaging. All these strategies can make your printed newsletter a regular revenue generator. In short, printed newsletters can reflect your shop’s professionalism and a commitment to your clients and potential customers that’s almost impossible to convey with e-newsletters on a computer screen.

Finally, if you feel you don't have the time or the staff to create a professionally designed and engaging newsletter each month, we can definitely help. Please be sure to read the next page.

30 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

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Established in 1991, this established company is located in Northern BC. It serves its loyal client base by offering both offset and digital services. Business has low overhead and a huge potential for growth. Only reason for sale is due to the death of a part owner. For serious inquiries, please give us a call at 250-261-2469.

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GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | December 2020 / January 2021 | 33

Column

The show must go on: Exploring the reality of virtual events Virtual events have increased 1,000% since the outbreak of COVID-19, according to Forbes. Among organizers forced to cancel 2020 events, the shift to digital has grown to 81%, based on info from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research conducted in June – compared to 69% in its April survey. With pandemic concerns pushing more and more companies to pull out of drupa 2021, the print industry’s event landscape has been completely altered.

There are pros and cons to virtual events. On one hand, they provide several cost-saving benefits – no travel costs, no hotel accommodations and no physical booths or equipment to ship.

Anyone can attend from anywhere in the world and at any time. And the recorded assets become a library of high-value content that can be shared through any number of channels. On the other hand, getting folks to attend – and keeping those who do engaged – is not an easy task. The physical element of shaking hands, making eye contact and talking in-person are missing. In a survey conduc ted by Bizabbo, 55% of respondents said that customer relations, education and retention are the main goals for their virtual events. Meanwhile another survey by Markletic showed that 45.7% of marketers said that the primary goal of virtual events is to generate a pipeline.

Getting butts in seats ‘Screen fatigue’ is real, making it harder to attract attendees. Once registered, getting them to show up “live” is the next hurdle, followed by keeping them engaged throughout the event duration.

According to Markletic, 89% of event planners use social media to engage people before the event, 49% of event planners use social media to engage attendees during events, and 13% use it for interaction with speakers. Embracing the power of direct mail can help create

an engaging, global community experience – in the comfort of your own home. Just because physical events are on hold doesn’t mean giveaways are too. So do them! Mailing program guides, VIP invitations and swag (like lanyards, pens, t-shirts, or an “all-access pass”) are great incentives to show up – and show off – your brand. This encourages attendees to participate, take photos, share, enjoy, and return for the next event.

Keeping attendees engaged With virtual events, it’s critical to keep the conversation flowing both ways.

Many attendees will only be listening passively, or will not show their faces on a webcam, which results in lacklustre engagement. A 2020 report by Amex revealed that 54% of event planners are spending more of their time and attention on the attendee experience, instead of logistics. Plus, 81.8% of event planners used event polling to improve interaction, and 61% used videos to keep people engaged. Frequently reminding attendees to engage and participate is key.

Encourage them to submit questions, raise their hands, or simply “type x in the chat if…” for active listening and participation. Another 68% of B2B companies hire external moderators for their virtual roundtable discussions.

Technology Having a bad connection is the biggest annoyance in a virtual event, according to Markletic, followed by audio and then camera quality. This means that even if the video quality is subpar and there are no subtitles, folks can still rely on clearly

34 | December 2020 / January 2021 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE

hearing the content if audio quality isn’t compromised. The study also reports that 41% of event organizers use Zoom for their small virtual events, followed

by Microsoft Teams at 29%. Some 31.6% of B2B marketers use Intrado as their virtual event hosting platform for large conferences, while 20.1% use ON24.

Many event tech platforms are also used to plan and coordinate teams in the weeks leading up to the live event – an efficient way of managing an event during the planning stages.

A look towards the future This year has forced us to rethink every aspect of business, including where and how it’s conducted. Research shows that the virtual events industry will grow nearly ten-times (yes, ten times) by 2030 – from $78 billion to $774 billion. Conferences, networking events, corporate seminars, user groups and tradeshows have transitioned from large convention centres to home offices, kitchen tables and parked cars – via laptops, tablets and mobile devices. With no clear “return-to-normal” date in sight, virtual events have taken over and are reshaping how we network, learn, share, collaborate and showcase our products and solutions.

Joanne Gore is a B2B marketer who’s passionate about print and has spent the last three decades helping companies maximize their marketing and communications efforts. Founder of Joanne Gore Communications, she helps companies tell their story to a new generation of print and business buyers.

Email: joanne@joannegorecommunications.com Follow her on Twitter: @joannegore121

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TOGETHER THANK YOU

.....for your perseverance, passion and professionalism, as we support our businesses, loved ones and each other during this holiday season and during this pandemic. BE WELL – AND BE WELL INFORMED. – From all of us at Graphic Arts Magazine