15 minute read
NEWS FRONT
ROUTE 1 PRINT HELP PRINTERS PROMOTE AFTER LOCKDOWN
South Yorkshire trade printers, Route 1 Print, are helping print businesses to get back on top with a host of free resources to boost sales after lockdown.
Route 1 Print’s ethos is to put their customers at the heart of everything they do. As well as working to make the print buying process as simple as possible, Route 1 Print often produce free tools which their clients can use to grow their businesses. Now, as we all get ready for lockdown to end, the company are releasing their biggest resource pack yet.
The launch centres around Route 1 Print’s latest eBook, the Essential Guide to Rebuilding Your Business After Lockdown. This free eBook is packed with advice on how printers can prepare their business for re-opening – not just so that they can re-open smoothly, but also how they can get their print business back to full strength as quickly as possible.
The guide helps printers to form a comprehensive, rebuilding business plan. Readers will learn about important product and pricing considerations, as well as marketing and sales strategies to ensure they are driving a healthy profit margin from the start.
As well as their free eBook, Route 1 Print has released a series of marketing templates. These just add branding templates can be quickly edited by clients, giving them a ready made marketing campaign. It’s just one way printers can save time and money on their rebuild plans!
The trade printer has released three template collections in total, all focussed on ways printers should be promoting themselves to their own clients after lockdown. Each collection includes an email, poster, social media post, and a direct mail piece – everything you need for a cohesive marketing campaign.
Brand Manager, Christie Round, says, “We want to do whatever we can to support our clients at this critical time. This resource launch is just another example of how we’ve been working to support printers over the past year. We will continue to work with our clients to find out how we can best help them at every point in their rebuild plan and beyond.”
Christie goes on to say, “If there is something else that we could be doing to make things easier for print buyers, we want to hear about it. After all, client feedback is the best way we can learn how to improve our service. We’d like to encourage our clients and other print buyers to get in touch if they have any ideas, and we’ll get to work on finding a solution.”
All these resources, the eBook and the marketing templates, are 100% free to download from the Route 1 Print site. Simply head to their COVID-19 Essentials hub and look under Business Support. • Route 1 Print was founded in 2012 as part of the
Bluetree Group. • Since starting, Route 1 Print has grown quickly and now dispatches over 1,000 jobs every day from its 100,000 square foot production hub in
Rotherham, South Yorkshire. • Route 1 Print is the largest online trade print provider in the UK. • In 2018 & 2019, Route 1 Print were national winners in the European Business Awards. • Route 1 Print exists to support, empower and simplify the lives of printers and creatives by putting them at the heart of everything we do.
www.route1print.co.uk
SOLOPRESS ADDS PRODUCTION WITH HORIZON HOF-400
Efficient and flexible production from SoloPress’s new HP PageWide T250 web fed inkjet press is being supported by a Horizon HOF-400 high speed offline feeder from IFS.
The Southend-on-Sea company, founded in 1999 through an informal collaboration between two start-ups, produces a wide range of commercial print including leaflets, flyers and brochures mainly for small businesses.
The HP PageWide T250 inkjet press joined HP Indigo and iGen digital presses and Heidelberg SpeedMaster litho presses. Solopress also operates a range of wide format production systems.
Head of Operations, Jack Clifford, explains the investment: “We wanted something that would help us stitch the short runs from the new HP PageWide T250. We easily manage the long runs with our existing machinery. For short runs we were spending more time setting up the stitcher than running it. The HOF-400 allows us to manage these shorter runs more efficiently by loading collated sets with many different titles.
“It also gives us the flexibility to either complete jobs using the HOF or the hoppers. If there is a run with a high page count it makes more production sense to use the hoppers. If it is a small pagination then it is best to run it through the HOF-400.”
As for choosing the system he says: “When we were making the investment we spoke to IFS to see what would be the best solution for stitched books of low quantity. The HOF-400 ticked all the boxes. We expect it to enable us to achieve a 20% to 30% increase in output.”
The operation has also added a second HOF-400 to its bindery line up to support short run production from other presses.
The Horizon HOF-400 high speed offline feeder provides flexible system configurations such as cover feeding, sheet insert on, variable page count, bleed trimming and creasing for digital printing. The HOF-400 finishing system can also be connected with the finishing devices for the offset outputs to process both digital and offset print.
www.ifsl.uk.com
PROFILE OF THE MONTH: ROLAND DG (UK)
The Roland Authorised Dealer network provides customers with personal expertise
in products for professional printers. Large Format Printers, Printer/Cutters – Roland Truevis VG2 Eco-Solvent Printers and Printer/Cutters. UV Printers and Printer/Cutters – Roland Texart RT-640 Dye-Sublimation. Vinyl Cutters – Roland CAMM-1 GS-24 Desktop Vinyl Cutter. Desktop Cutters – Roland CAMM-1 GR-640, GR-540, GR420. Large Format Vinyl Cutters, Wide Format Cutters. Plus, Benchtop Engravers, Laser Engravers and 3D Printers. Roland is committed to offering the best after-care support in the industry through our dedicated training courses at the Roland DG Academy and our comprehensive RolandCare warranties.
Tel: 01275 335540 • www.rolanddg.co.uk
CPI Group has invested in the Canon ColorStream 6700 and imagePRESS C9010 as part of its long term strategy to deliver a fully automated proposition to its customers.
Supporting its plans to expand further into the publishing sector, the new purchases will allow CPI to cover every element of the book printing process, providing a true end to end solution for its customers.
CPI Group is one of the biggest book and journal printers in Europe, with seven of its manufacturing sites based in the UK. The business has a long standing relationship with Canon after first purchasing a VarioPrint 6250 in 2008. The new devices purchased by CPI will help to support its ambitions to further expand into the publishing sector, adapt to evolving trends and meet the increased demand for agile solutions.
In June 2020, CPI announced a joint venture with American owned, Wiley Distribution, delivering on-demand printing and inventory management. The new partnership will allow CPI to continue its expansion into the on-demand market through a sophisticated, automated process – with Canon devices being installed in Wiley’s European Distribution Centre facility in Bognor Regis. The new venture forms part of an ambitious growth plan that will see CPI invest a total of £3m and seek to hire forty new members of staff over the next three years.
The ColorStream 6700 will allow CPI to meet increased industry demands for short-run and zero inventory orders. As a result, when it was looking to invest in an appropriate solution, CPI knew it needed something that that was intuitive and easy to use and would offer customers a seamless solution. With its advanced image processing technologies and running speeds of up to 150 metres per minute, the ColorStream was the perfect choice. Its built-in technology will also allow the business to remain cost effective by keeping paper wastage to a minimum, whilst also reducing a publisher’s stock holding.
CPI has also opted to purchase an imagePRESS C9010, as well as Canon’s PRISMA workflow technology – this will provide a fully automated Print Workflow solution that will help to further increase productivity.
Alison Kaye, Managing Director, STMA & Colour, CPI UK, said: “We’ve had a strong working relationship with Canon for a number of years and after installing a ColorStream printer in our Eastbourne site in 2019, we knew that the device would be the perfect solution for our latest partnership with Wiley Distribution.
Since announcing the partnership in June, we have already started working with two publishing companies, Edward Elgar Publishing and John Hunt Publishing. The publishers have already started to see the benefits from the new print system and we’re looking forward to working with more publishing firms in the future.”
Stuart Rising, Head of Commercial Print, Production Printing Products, Canon UK Ltd., said: “CPI’s move to supply print on demand from Wiley’s distribution centre is revolutionary and will provide its customers with an exciting new proposition.
www.canon.co.uk/colorstream-6000-series www.canon.co.uk/imagepress-c910-series
PRONTAPRINT WIMBLEDON INSTALLS TITANIUM CUTTER
Prontaprint Wimbledon has invested in an International Graphics Supplies (IGS) Titanium 2.5 x 1.6 metre cutting table, to eliminate a finishing bottleneck arising from the installation of a Mimaki UV flatbed printer.
This high street, wide format and digital printer has seen a significant increase in wide format sales since the UV printer installation last June. However, this increase in production led to a finishing bottleneck due to their manual cutting processes.
Shankar Umashankar, owner of Prontaprint Wimbledon said, “We had looked at a range of cutting machines but, after thorough testing and visiting DecTek and Zenith Packaging both very happy Titanium customer sites, the Titanium 2516 stood out as “robust, adaptable and very competitively priced”.
“The Mimaki and IGS Titanium 2516 combination has enabled us to offer a varied range of products including short run and prototype packaging, point of sales displays, kiss cut labels and social distancing products.”
“The IGS team managed the installation with ease considering we are on a very busy main road. The training for the new machine, including optimising the router for a wide range of rigid materials and rotary knife for our short run and prototype textiles customers has been excellent”.
The Titanium 2516 was purchased from International Graphic Supplies who are a Monmouthshire based machinery supplier.
The Titanium series offers an impressive range of cutting tables that start with the Titanium 0604 and Titanium 0806 for the B3 and B2 digital print and litho press users looking to enter the lucrative short run packaging market.
For the wide format print customer cutting tables are available from 1.1 x 1.3 up to 3.5 x 2.0 metres.
With an automatic precision cutting tool, the exact cutting depth can be achieved quickly, precisely and efficiently. Supplied as standard with all titanium cutters is a high resolution registration camera which ensures cutting printed jobs accurately to register.
A range of specialty tools are supplied with each cutter. These tools offer speed, power and flexibility to handle a wide variety of materials, such as Dibond, corrugated, folding carton, solid board, foam, coating blankets, textiles, wood and a long list of plastics.
Peter Flynn, Managing Director IGS comments on the installation “ I’m very pleased to see Prontaprint are already enjoying the many benefits of moving to a Titanium cutter. As Shankar identified our price / performance is hard to match and this powerful combination is allowing us to build a very impressive portfolio of customers.
Our showroom is also busy with online demonstrations for prospects looking to invest in a digital cutter and UV flatbed printer to meet their customers’ requirements for social distancing signage.”
www.prontaprintwimbledon.co.uk www.igs-digital.com
PETRATTO LAUNCHES ENTRY LEVEL PACKAGING SOLUTION
Creative print finishing systems manufacturer Petratto has responded to demand from printers looking to enhance and expand their portfolio of short run services with the launch of the Petratto METRO
Startup. Petratto is distributed in the UK by Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS).
Petratto is a leading innovator in the development of industrial post-press paper and board processing and converting solutions. Its hands-on understanding of the challenges and requirements of this fast evolving sector informs the often unique character of its innovations – from feeders and scorers through to complex automated die-creasing and folder-gluing systems. It is continuously looking to develop new solutions, often in partnership with clients to address specific requirements.
The 200 metres per minute compact footprint, single operator, entry level, Petratto METRO Startup, semi-automatic folding and gluing machine is the latest addition to its growing portfolio. It is ideally suited to the production of short run packaging, including cartons, boxes and sleeves. It supports a maximum format of 78cm x 78cm and grammages up to 400gsm. The Petratto METRO Startup can be upgraded at a later date to a Petratto METRO MINI or a complete Petratto METRO 78 model providing operations with a clear and supported growth path.
“This entry level, low cost, folding and gluing solution is perfectly positioned to help printers diversify and enter new markets,” explains Eric Keane, IFS Managing Director. “Operations can cost effectively explore new opportunities with the confidence of knowing they can scale up operations as and when their business grows.”
www.ifsl.uk.com • www.petratto.com
DURHAM BOX HELPS FISHING COMPANY DIVERSIFY
In collaboration with solid fibreboard specialist, Northumberland based CRT Packaging, leading corrugated packaging manufacturer, Durham Box, is supplying the Ethical Shellfish Company, with e-commerce packaging to support the fishing company’s online fresh seafood delivery service.
Using sustainable methods, the Isle of Mull based Ethical Shellfish Company’s core product is hand dived scallops, fished from their own boat around Mull and the surrounding islands. They also supply lobster, langoustine and crab, all creel caught and guaranteed 100% ethically sound, there being no damage to marine plants or animals. The shellfish is then delivered to some of the best chefs throughout restaurants across the UK. Since the start of the pandemic, the restaurant industry has been hit particularly hard by the effects of lockdown. Like many others SMEs, this has meant that the Ethical Shellfish Company has needed to diversify.
The company set out to expand its reach by establishing an online facility, meaning that in addition to top chefs, the UK public could also benefit from the fresh produce and have it delivered direct into their homes. To complement this new service, Durham Box was asked by CRT Packaging to design and supply an e-commerce packaging solution that would provide the Ethical Shellfish Company’s new customers with an excellent first impression.
“Since Coronavirus hit the UK in March 2020 we have had to think on our feet and reinvent,” said the Ethical Shellfish Company’s founder, Guy Grieve. “We are now very proud to say that as well as supplying our restaurant market, we are also delivering our top quality ethically fished shellfish and other produce direct to home cooks. We deliver to our customers with just the same respect and care as we do our chefs and are so excited to be helping people create Michelin standard meals within their own homes!
Commenting on Durham Box’s packaging solution, he added: “It was important that we paired with a company who could provide e-commerce packaging to meet the same top quality as the shellfish we provide. It was critical that the packaging would ensure that the shellfish and other products arrived with the customer in the same condition as when they left us. Durham box was recommended to us by CRT Packaging to supply the required packaging - it was a good call, as they have excelled in meeting our expectations and the feedback from our customers has been superb.”
Named as one of the fastest growing companies in the North East, Durham Box make in excess of 40 million products per year from their 120,000 sqm factory. Central to their offering is a Nozomi C18000 single pass, ultra high speed LED inkjet corrugated packaging press, providing Durham Box with the ability to produce short run, well designed corrugated boxes for e-commerce businesses and start-ups, printed with 100% low migration food safe inks.
“With the Ethical Shellfish Company being one of CRT Packaging’s longstanding customers, we were delighted to be asked to provide an e-commerce packaging solution. As the demand for high quality e-commerce packaging continues unabated, we are actively supporting businesses to diversify in the pandemic by working quickly to sample and produce final packaging,” said Durham Box’s business development directorPOS, Andy Smith.
“Many businesses like the Ethical Shellfish Company have been quick to respond and reinvent their offering - our own response needs to be equally quick and efficient. It has been a pleasure working with a company that, despite these challenging times, has been able to offer something different. We are delighted the packaging matched their high expectations and that of their customers.”
www.crt-packaging.co.uk www.durhambox.co.uk
Expand your business offering
There has never been a better time to enter the market for producing personalised apparel and customised gifts such as sportswear, cushions, mugs, phone cases and coasters. Businesses can easily and cost-effectively produce small promotional goods on hard substrates and textiles with the SureColor SC-F500, SC-F501 and SC-F100.
These compact dye-sublimation printers are easy-to-use and produce outstanding results that will keep your customers coming back time and again. In addition, our inks are fully compliant with safety and environmental legislation, including OEKO-TEX certification.
