COVID-19 News
COVID-19: Printing Industry Update The current Coronavirus pandemic is not only changing the way we live, it’s also changing the way we do business. Here’s a brief summary of recent industry efforts to fight the virus, event re-scheduling, and other related news items. More detailed information can be found at www.graphicartsmag. com and in this May online issue. NEW INITIATIVES • Delphax is offering printers in Canada and the U.S. who produce more than 12 million letter impressions per year a chance to acquire the OEM’s flagship Elan 500 HD Cutsheet Digital Inkjet Press for a minimum of two years with no equipment lease or purchase costs. Plus, the cost of consumables and tech support will remain at 2019 levels. • Trade printer SinaLite is creating low-cost face shields that come with a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) visor and meet FDA requirements. Indoor and outdoor vinyl floor graphics and removable vinyl decals are also available to promote social distancing, hand washing, covering coughs, etc. • At the Sainte-Justine Children’s Hospital in Montréal, employees are making protective visors for non-medical personnel to wear. The clear part of the visors is made from GBC’s 10 Mil Clear Covers. • The Association for PRINT Technologies released a free online Disaster Recovery Toolkit that provides best practices to help printing businesses. • The FuturePrint Summit will now take place online only June 2 – 4 and will provide a free platform to connect the international printing industry. • SGIA, NAPCO, PIA and their affiliates have launched a COVID-19 Resource Channel that provides up-to-the-minute news and other helpful tools. • Mimaki USA released its Wide Format Investment Program that will offer up to 6 months of payment relief at a 3.99% fixed interest rate for 60 months. • Drytac released a series of tips to help your graphics and signage withstand deep cleaning during the pandemic. • Sandy Alexander, a U.S. printing and marketing company, is producing 5,000 PETG face shields per day to help front-line healthcare workers. • The UK-based Global PrintExpo will now launch as a fully virtual exhibition in June. It will work the same way that a live tradeshow does, except that anyone can visit the show online 24/7, 365 days a year, from anywhere in the world. • Canon and Thomas Printworks have partnered to help U.S.
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foodservice providers. They’ve teamed up to create thousands of high-impact printed public service announcement banners and carry-out menus as restaurants have been forced to shift to take-out solutions. • Color-Logic has suspended its enrollment fees for its Licensed Printer SMART Program. Printers whose renewal came due in February, will have their enrollment fees suspended until August. • Kodak is supplying tanker loads isopropyl alcohol to New York State for production of hand sanitizer for use primarily in the hardest-hit area, New York City. • Konica Minolta is uniting globally to support communities and help customers. The OEM is re-directing everyday innovations – such as digital workplaces, security solutions, infrared thermography solutions, on-demand teaching materials, and diagnostic imaging equipment – to help customers solve urgent issues arising from the current pandemic. • Durst is producing “community masks” at its Brixen headquarters in South Tyrol, Italy. The masks are for employees at Durst and its sister company Alupress, and will soon be available to other companies. The production expertise will also be available to interested printers worldwide. • Xitron now has a plan that allows printers to purchase necessary RIP and workflow software with little cash outlay and interest-free payments. NEW AND RE-SCHEDULED EVENTS • Dscoop Edge set for March 29 to April 1 in Orlando, Florida will be moved to a later date, still to be determined. • The 13th annual Converters Expo will now take place August 24-25, 2020 at Lambeau Field Atrium in Green Bay, Wisconsin. • The 2020 Digital Signage Expo which was to occur at the Las Vegas Convention Center March 31-April 3, has now been postponed until late summer or early fall. No specific date was released. • The SGIA announced a new webinar series designed to address critical issues facing the printing industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The free COVID-19: Ask the Experts webinar series will be offered twice a month in May and June and will feature key updates on a variety of topics to help businesses overcome operational challenges. • Xplor International has rescheduled its Xplor2020 Conference to September 17-19 at the TradeWinds Island Grand in St. Pete Beach, Florida. • The International Sign Association’s popular ISA Sign Expo 2020 will now occur August 23 – 25, with pre-conference sessions on August 22, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
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