PRESSIdeas May 2021 issue

21 vol-21 Issue- 05 May 2021

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Vol.21 Issue 05, 2021

Indian Printers grow with Heidelberg........06 Road to Print4All.................................................13 New President of Intergraf..............................15 Konica Minolta @ virtual.drupa....................18 Green Environment Together........................20

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Siegwerk Toluene free Center ......................22 nyloflex FTM Digital...........................................26 Pratik Mehta interview.....................................28

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Contents FROM THE EDITORS’ DESK..............................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Indian Printers grow with Equipment from Heidelberg Shanghai plant......................................................................................................................6 Ex-AIFMP President, AMSG Ashokan wins 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections from Sivakasi..........................................................................8 Muller Martini expands Printing Expo showroom for Virtual.drupa...............................................................................................................................9 Cradle to Cradle Material Health Gold certified portfolio by hubergroup................................................................................................................ 10 Kodak acquires the assets of ECRM Incorporated’s CTP Business................................................................................................................................ 11 World’s largest producer of Hindu religious books installs Komori............................................................................................................................. 11 Heidelberg increases prices for equipment business....................................................................................................................................................... 12 Komori launches Impremia IS29s ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Road to Print4All: Training and professional updating, while waiting for the 2022 event.................................................................................. 13 OPA launches OPA India App for Android and IOS............................................................................................................................................................ 14 Print Industry loses veteran and humanitarian Shri V.K. Dhir ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Koenig & Bauer announces moderate price adjustment for entire portfolio .......................................................................................................... 14 Ulrich Stetter is new President of Intergraf........................................................................................................................................................................... 15 QIPC celebrates 25 yr jubilee with new order from 1st customer ............................................................................................................................... 16 Global newspaper community mourns death of Scott C. Schurz ............................................................................................................................... 17 Konica Minolta connects with customers at virtual.drupa............................................................................................................................................. 18 HP Indigo Digital Printing accelerates innovation across portfolio ............................................................................................................................ 19 Canon India’s ‘Green Environment Together’ initiative milestone................................................................................................................................ 20 Konica Minolta selected as a DX Certified Business Operator....................................................................................................................................... 21 Minosha India targets Rs 300 cr revenue in 2.5 yrs............................................................................................................................................................ 21 Siegwerk inaugurates Toluene free Blending Center in Bangladesh........................................................................................................................... 22 VINSAK installs ABG Digicon Series 3 at Astron Packaging Industry .......................................................................................................................... 25 XSYS launches nyloflex FTM Digital ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Gallus launches Labelfire Diamond Core Series.................................................................................................................................................................. 27 Technology packed in a compact size: Multiflex Polybags goes for SOMA Optima 880 ..................................................................................... 28 Dario Urbinati is new Head of Sales at Gallus...................................................................................................................................................................... 29 Sustainability in Packaging Asia 2021.................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Digital Room doubles Highcon install.................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Future Factory 2021 will be held in September with a live audience......................................................................................................................... 31 Freda installs intelligent UV line for high-end furniture parts....................................................................................................................................... 32 Oliver Wolff joins Bekum as Sales Director............................................................................................................................................................................ 33 Learn how to run your printing business like a Formula 1 team................................................................................................................................... 33 New home for KODAK prepress technology at W&H........................................................................................................................................................ 34 SMI Coated Products installs Matho solution for waste management....................................................................................................................... 34 Siegwerk and Idealliance partner ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 35 Media Graph expands client base with EFI VUTEk h5....................................................................................................................................................... 36 Kornit’s Atlas MAX takes on-demand production to new heights............................................................................................................................... 37

Jasmeet D. Editor & Publisher (jasmeet@pressideas.com) Vineet K G. Associate Editor (vineetkg@pressideas.com) Jasvinder S. Sub-Editor (jasvinder@pressideas.com) Jacob George Marketing and Sales (jacob@pressideas.com) M.S. Mukundan Advertising and Sales Southern and Western India (aims@pressideas.com) Graphic Designer Anil Kumar

Networking/ Hardware Consultant Sukhdeep Singh USA Correspondents Tensi M., Preeti European Correspondent Rimi, Yadhu Morphine Production Thomas K Alex

PRESSIdeas May 2021 Vol. 21, Issue 05 Printed by Jacob George and published by Jasmeet Singh on behalf of PRESSIdeas Publishing Pvt Ltd. Printed in India at Hues and Colors 363, Industrial Focal Point, Phase-IX Mohali, and published at PRESSIdeas, 437-A 1st Floor, Industrial Area, Phase-2 Chandigarh-160002 (India) Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied.

All material supplied is compiled from sources believed to be reliable or solely an opinion of the authors. PRESSIdeas is not responsible for any steps taken based on the information provided herewith.

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FROM THE EDITORS’ DESK Dear Readers, World’s largest producer of Hindu religious books, Gita Press Gorakhpur, has installed a new Komori GL 437. Gita Press produces Hindu religious books in major Indian languages. The press incidentally also shares the same year of establishment as Komori Corporation, i.e. 1923. The press boasts one of the most modern set ups with a plethora of equipment, machinery spread across prepress to printing to post press divisions.

More Indian printers are placing their trust in the Speedmaster CS 92 built at Heidelberg’s Shanghai plant in China. The proved figures: Heidelberg India has sold and installed a total of 63 printing units of this series nationwide in recent times. Rahul Print o Pack has invested in two Speedmaster CS 92 in past two years. There have been three Speedmaster CS 92 presses successfully installed at Replika Press, which is also going to install the fourth press by October 2021.The packaging printer Rukson Packaging, based in Navi-Mumbai, has been producing on a Speedmaster CS 92-5 + L since August 2020.

Another user of the Speedmaster CS 92 technology is the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). The religious institution, prints “Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the most important sacred scripture of the Sikh community, along with religious books, calendars and other literature with the Speedmaster CS 92 four-colour press.

QIPC celebrates 25 yr jubilee with new order from the same customer who happens to be their 1st customer. The company celebrates its 25 year jubilee with the icing on the cake - First customer, Janssen/Pers Rotatiedruk, places new order after 25 years coinciding with the jubilee celebration.

in a compact size’ even as Multiflex Polybags installs this workhorse from SOMA. Pratik Mehta, Multiflex Polybags, shares the capabilities of their new SOMA Optima 880, installed by DKSH India in an exclusive interview.

SMI Coated Products has installed Matho solution for waste management. The sale of these Matho systems has been handled by Matho’s exclusive agents in India, Weldon Celloplast. VINSAK, has announced the installation of a new ABG Digicon Series 3 at Astron Packaging Industry FZ LLC in Dubai.

Siegwerk has inaugurated its Toluene free Blending Center in Bangladesh. The new state-of-the-art Blending Center for Toluene free inks has an annual capacity of 3,600 MT and will have close to 50 employees working in it. XSYS has launched nyloflex FTM Digital.

The new nyloflex FTM Digital plate with inherent flat top dots has been developed specifically for flexographic printing with water-based inks on different grades of paper substrates.

Gallus has launched Labelfire Diamond Core Series. In four different machine configurations, the Labelfire Diamond Core models are divided up from D1 to D4 in order to acknowledge the market demands. At Dscoop Edge Fusion 2021, HP Inc. announced a new wave of innovations for HP Indigo digital printing, supporting momentum, growth and digital transformation.

Find all this along with our regular updates on the news, events, tie-ups and current happenings from the printing, packaging and graphic arts industry. Enjoy reading!

SOMA Optima 770, according to Pratik Mehta, is ‘Technology packed

- Jasvinder Singh, Sub-editor

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Indian Printers grow with Equipment from Heidelberg Shanghai plant More customers are placing their trust in the Speedmaster CS 92 built at the Shanghai plant in China.

The Speedmaster CS 92 is popular with commercial and packaging printers in Asia and India. The sheet format, plate size and other features are the right answer to the needs of a printing market in which, print runs are smaller and job changes are becoming more frequent. Thanks to the investment in sheetfed offset technology from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg); the print shops in new and emerging markets are increasing their productivity and reducing production costs. More customers are placing their trust in the Speedmaster CS 92 built at the Shanghai plant in China, which offers peak performance along with exceptional savings in plate consumption. The proved figures: Heidelberg India has sold and installed a total of 63 printing units of this series nationwide in recent times.

Heidelberg Speedmaster CS 92 is built on the solid sturdy Speedmaster CD 102 platform. Boosting print speeds of up to 15,000 sheets per hour, this high-end press is integrated with Heidelberg’s exclusive Prinect workflow to make operations simple and intuitive, yet highly productive.

The proved figures: Heidelberg India has sold and installed a total of 63 printing units of this series nationwide in recent times.

Rahul Print o Pack: Two Speedmaster CS 92 investment in past two years The Indian printing company Rahul Print o Pack is

running successfully on two new Speedmaster CS 92 presses from Heidelberg’s Shanghai factory. The company put the first machine into operation in 2018, along with Suprasetter 106 CtP equipment.

Within fourteen months, Rahul Print o Pack had printed 64 million sheets with the Speedmaster CS 92. “This performance is well above average,” confirms, Samir Patkar, President at Heidelberg India.

After two years of successful run with the first Speedmaster, Rahul Print o Pack ordered its second, identical CS 92. Both the presses are working now around the clock for seven days a week, “To our complete satisfaction”, as Rahul Soni, the company’s Business Development Manager, states. “In a 12-hour shift, between 25 and 30 jobs with a total of 146,000 good sheets were produced, he states. Around 75 percent of the orders are in the run between 3,000 and 7,000 sheets.”

Rahul Soni attributes the good performance on one hand to the high level of automation and the stable production of the two Speedmaster CS 92’s. On the other hand, he can always rely on support from the Heidelberg India team. “Even during Covid-19 situation, we are receiving excellent support,” he said.

Key Notes : > Print shops are positioning themselves with the Speedmaster CS 92 successfully in the Indian print market. > Strong growth in commercial and packaging printing. > More than 60 Speedmaster CS 92 printing units so far in India sold and installed.

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Within two years, Rahul Print o Pack has invested in two Speedmaster CS 92 presses.

From left: Mr. Rahul Kumar Soni, Mr. Ajay Kumar Soni and Mrs. Seema Soni.

Vikram Seth and Bhuvnesh Seth of Replika Press will start up their fourth Speedmaster CS 92 in October.

Orders from the packaging segment

company prints more than 16,000 titles per year.

Rahul Print o Pack was founded in 2007

by Ajay Kumar Soni. The company initially concentrated on post-press; the print jobs went to external partners. Today, Heidelberg technology is used for production at all levels, from plate exposure to sheet-fed offset and post-press. Thanks to the investment in its sheetfed offset capacity, Rahul Print o Pack was able to secure not only commercial jobs but also packaging jobs in the folding box and corrugated board segment in the fast-growing market.

At present, Replika Press processes over 20,000 tons of paper and cardboard every year. The production capacity is sufficient for 50,000 hardcover and 150,000 softcover books per day. “We are operating in an extremely competitive market,” says the company’s Managing Director, Bhuvnesh Seth. He added, “Against this background, the right investment in the right technology is extremely crucial for us.”

The range of titles comprises everything from monochrome to multi-colour, softcover to hardcover, medical to scientific, technical to coffee table books, art books to children books, cookbooks, travel guides, dictionaries, encyclopedia’s, bibles and religious books, etc. for reputed international publishers from USA, UK, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, Russia, Africa, and Brazil.

Bhuvnesh Seth, said, “Today the market is challenging, we have to offer best to

With the Speedmaster CS 92, the company is well-positioned for the competitive markets. Thanks to the gentle, contact-free sheet guide, Rahul Print o Pack can print substrates from 0.03-millimeter thin paper to 0.6-millimeter-thick cardboard on both presses.

Three successful Speedmaster CS 92 installations at Replika Press and fourth press to be installed

by October 2021 Replika Press is one of the largest print service providers in India, specialized in book printing, high-end commercial print production, digital printing, and now into packaging segment as well. Operating from three units sprawling over 6,46,000 sq. ft, located at Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) Kundli, Sonepat in Haryana, the They kept their Speedmaster CS 92, a five-color system with coating unit, busy with packaging jobs even during the nationwide lockdown: Father Gobind and son Kishin Panjabi from Rukson Packaging.

pressideas/ commercial printing

Speedmaster CS 92 and production, the customer could count on the support of Heidelberg India. Their technicians were on standby around the clock.

Today, Rukson Packaging serves 80 percent of customers from the pharmaceutical industry, 15 percent from Fast Moving Consumer Goods segment and rest from the cosmetics industry. Orders in the FMCG and pharmaceuticals segment rose sharply during pandemic

Speedmaster CS 92 for the sacred scriptures of the Sikhs

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee on the occasion of the ceremonial inauguration of its SM CS 92.

our customers and in such circumstance, the investment is very appropriate for us.

The Heidelberg has been the obvious choice. Be it the built or the output quality of Heidelberg, we don’t see any deviations from the standard, whether the press is from China or the German plant. The sturdiness of Heidelberg’s is unmatched, and we can see it for ourselves from the merit they have earned. One more evident feature is their resale value.

Rukson Packaging: Investment at the right time The packaging printer Rukson Packaging, based in Navi-Mumbai, has been producing

on a Speedmaster CS 92-5 + L since August 2020. “The five colour Heidelberg Speedmaster with coating unit, is an ideal machine for packaging and pharmaceutical jobs,” said Gobind Panjabi, Owner of Rukson Packaging.

The Speedmaster CS 92 went into operation at the right time after the government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 in spring 2020. While the commercial printing suffered a severe slump due to the pandemic, Rukson Packaging was able to utilize the new sheetfed offset press to a large extent with packaging jobs. During the commissioning of the

Another user of the Speedmaster CS 92 technology is the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). The religious institution, prints “Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the most important sacred scripture of the Sikh community, along with religious books, calendars and other literature with the Speedmaster CS 92 four-colour press.

The DSGMC distributes the printed literature to Gurudwaras, the place of worship for Sikhs in India and rest of the world. The new Speedmaster CS 92 investment at DSGMC has moved the conventional monochrome operations into highly automated four-color printing. “Thanks to the Speedmaster CS 92, we have achieved excellent print quality with high productivity,” said, Manjinder Singh, who chairs the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee

Ex-AIFMP President, AMSG Ashokan wins 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections from Sivakasi Congress candidate for Sivakasi Assembly constituency. A Commerce-graduate, Mr. Ashokan has been with the Congress party since 1996. He has held top positions in the associations of fireworks manufacturers, match manufacturers and master printers.

A leading industrialist and printer, Mr.A.M.S.G. Ashokan, is the winner as a

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Ashokan has been into manufacturing safety matches, fireworks, aluminum powder for fireworks as well as commercial Printing – The Jeyagraham Offset. Ashokan’s Arasan Group runs a Diploma College with various disciplines including courses in printing technology. His father was dedicated to the public activities in the area. He also was the Vice Chairman in the Sivakasi Municipality

(2006 to 2011) and chairman, CAPEXIL (from 2003 to date). He was the president of All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP) too in the recent past. He has also represented many government and business organisation advisory committees like department of labour and employment, fireworks, national safety council, match industries, Tamil Nadu chamber of commerce, tiny and small scale industries etc. to name a few!

We as printers, feel rather nice to have one of them as am elected representative from Sivakasi! Best of luck Ashokan ji.

pressideas/ commercial printing

Muller Martini expands Printing Expo showroom for Virtual.drupa Muller Martini introduced five new machines and showcased them at Printing Expo for Virtual.drupa.

Muller Martini designed a large 2 storey showroom to accommodate its state-ofthe-art equipment plus a hospitality suite where visitors could discover all they needed to know about the Future of Finishing with Muller Martini.

The additional machines included a Sigma Line III digital book block solution, an Alegro perfect binder and a Publica Pro perfect binder, a Ventura MC160 sewing machine and a Diamant MC Digital bookline.

Adrian Mayr, Head of Project Management and Corporate Marketing, states: “Printing Expo’s virtual exhibition is giving us a unique platform to showcase our latest machines. Everyone is looking for new ways to communicate. Muller Martini is convinced that we benefit most from a mix of physical and online interaction with our audiences.

We do not see Printing Expo’s online initiative as a choice but an opportunity – it is a complementary option and of huge benefit to us. The Printing Expo platform showcases our machines to the widest audience. Our participation in Printing Expo’s 3D visual browsing experience is already having a positive impact on our business. Since November of last year, we have been tracking and analysing our stats and the numbers are impressive. For us this proves that exhibiting with Printing Expo was the correct strategy. The demand for customisation and personalised printed products is driving interest in our latest range of finishing equipment.”

Muller Martini worked with Printing Expo’s design team to create the showroom. The company’s 3D graphics have been rendered on a ‘real world’ scale into the Printing Expo space. Visitors found Muller Martini’s latest machines plus detailed information on the technical capabilities of the equipment along with the advantages they can offer for business growth. Mayr continues, “We have also established virtual demonstrations on the stand and the sales figures and leads are evidence of how well this strategy is working for us. Visitors showed a lot of interest as they dropped by every day to take a look at our machines in our virtual showroom.

We offered them content which showed our capabilities and the additional value of our products. We also displayed content on our website with links back to Printing Expo. The complementary information explains more about our cooperation and gives visitors opportunities to engage with us and learn more. The interesting thing is people are now coming online and interacting by adding new content. Muller Martini’s goal is to provide content to attract and engage. The strong link with Printing Expo is enabling us to reach new audiences.”

Muller Martini’s aimed to present a complete product portfolio online. For over 70 years the company has provided machines and system solutions to the graphic arts industries. They are renowned for their high quality engineering and innovation and their continuing development of new systems to meet the ever-changing market requirements.

When it’s about converting printed paper into a finished product, be it a book a magazine or a catalogue, Muller Martini is known as a market leader in high quality and heavy duty print finishing equipment.

Adrian Mayr goes on to discuss Industry 4.0 “With the trend for producing ever smaller orders cost effectively and efficiently within the means of mass production, the graphic arts industries, in particular, has a lot of potential for the approaches of Industry 4.0. With our new and innovative machines Muller Martini is making it possible to utilise industrial solutions to economically produce individualised and variable print products.

We call this development strategy - Finishing 4.0. It is based on our 4 pillars of automation, connectivity, variability and touchless

workflow. These four pillars underpin the capability of all of our machines to produce a stream of products with variable content and differing physical dimensions.”

Wayne Beckett, Event Director, concludes, “Muller Martini’s success at Printing Expo is an example of the benefits of taking the broad overview of all the possibilities at this time. Companies who see the advantage of utilising virtual as well as physical resources to market themselves and engage with their audience are benefiting from continual engagement. Printing Expo was not designed to replace live events but to compliment them. I should add that we see Printing Expo as an on-going opportunity for companies to invest in a digital asset that can be used for their own digital marketing campaigns, like Virtual.drupa. They can also be shared by the company’s sales teams around the globe.”

Printing Expo Creators and event organisers Wayne Beckett and Chris Watson partnered with V-Ex Virtual Exhibitions to launch printingexpo.online in the second half of 2019. This immersive and interactive online exhibition is designed on a ‘real world’ scale to be accessed anytime, anywhere. Bringing true reality to each physical aspect, the 3D visual browsing experience works the same way as a live exhibition. The technology is cloud based and provides a unique showcase for any company’s product and services. The halls and stands are rendered out to real physical dimensions. Stands are built using a combination of 3D rendering, photography and HD video. The online exhibition has its own fully interactive auditorium that has been designed to host live and pre-recorded panel sessions, seminars and conferences.

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pressideas/ commercial printing

Cradle to Cradle Material Health Gold certified portfolio by hubergroup Packaging and commercial offset printing on gold level: hubergroup further enhances the sustainability of its portfolio.

Driving the circular economy, hubergroup Print Solutions now offers a complete Cradle to Cradle Material Health Gold certified portfolio for commercial and packaging offset printing. For this purpose, the international printing ink specialist formulated a new ink range which is based on the low-migration MGA NATURA series and, therefore, suitable especially for printing food packaging.

Moreover, the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovations Institute certified a number of water-based coatings of the ACRYLAC series with Gold status. As hubergroup produces a large proportion of the raw materials in its own Chemicals Division, the company can ensure sustainable action along the value chain in addition to that.

Sustainability incorporated In 2017, hubergroup was the first international ink manufacturer to receive a Cradle to Cradle certificate in the sheetfed offset sector and thus significantly advanced sustainability in the industry. Since then, the company has continuously improved the environmental performance of its products.

While hubergroup’s commercial series ALPHA viva has already carried the Gold status since 2018, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovations Institute now also certified a variant of the ink series MGA NATURA and various water-based coatings of the ACRYLAC series with the gold level of its Material Health Certifications. Thereby, the institute confirms that the inks and coatings do not contain any substances which pose a high risk to humans or the environment (i.e. none x-assessed or unknown chemicals).

Josef Sutter, Product Manager Sheetfed/ UV Europe at hubergroup, says: “The sustainability of printed products has been in the focus of our research activities for a long time. We want to offer our customers environmentally friendly products and thereby help to make their products ready

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for the circular economy. Consequently, it was important for us to provide them with a complete portfolio certified Cradle to Cradle Gold for both commercial and packaging offset printing.”

Defining own environmental standards In addition to that, hubergroup ensures its customers high environmental standards

throughout the value chain. This is possible as the majority of raw materials originates in the company’s own Chemicals Division.

Josef Sutter elaborates: “We know that we bear a great responsibility as printing ink manufacturer and want to live up to it.

Taking a holistic view of sustainability, it is important to us that we meet high standards throughout the value chain – beginning with the raw material production.”

pressideas/ commercial printing

Kodak acquires the assets of ECRM Incorporated’s CTP Business The transaction includes the equipment, contracts, inventory and intellectual property of the acquired business. of the acquired business. The financial terms

of the transaction were not disclosed.

Kodak provides leading solutions for commercial print, offering a comprehensive portfolio of traditional and digital solutions for printers. The acquisition will further strengthen Kodak’s position in the CTP segment of the commercial printing industry.

“This acquisition reflects Kodak’s commitment to the printing industry and our focus on investing in growth,” said Jim Continenza, Kodak’s Executive Chairman and CEO. “Acquiring these assets of an impressive company like ECRM makes us

an even stronger player in the CTP category, and we will continue to look for ways to better serve customers across the spectrum of traditional and digital print.”

“In the wake of a challenging pandemic year, and on the anniversary of ECRM’s 50th year, we decided that this is a good time to rest on our past successes, yet protect and service our many long-term customers with an established company of appropriate size, CTP competence and resources. We are pleased today to place our company assets with Kodak,” said Rick Black, Chairman and CEO of ECRM.

World’s largest producer of Hindu religious books installs Komori Gita Press Gorakhpur, the world’s largest producer of Hindu religious books in major Indian languages installs New Komori GL 437.

Gita Press Gorakhpur is the world’s largest producer of Hindu religious books. Founded in 1923, the press shares the same year of establishment as Komori Corporation. The press boasts one of the most modern set ups with a plethora of equipment, machinery spread across prepress to printing to post press divisions facilitating production of

religious books in all major Indian languages including Sanskrit, Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu, Urdu etc. and also in English and Nepali.

Since 1923 it has been propagating and promoting morality and spirituality through its literature throughout the world. Adding up to its vast capabilities is a new Komori GL 437. The new press features a high-speed

stable operation at up to 15,000sph and can handle sheet of thickness ranging from 0.04 to 0.6mm. It is ideal for producing high page-count products with high print quality.

It is a perfect machine for printing items in the international standard A1 poster size, plus total flexibility in layout criteria such as bindery register marks.

The 15,000 sheets per hour maximum printing speed and stable operation afforded by automated systems with KHS-AI at their core make the Lithrone GL 437 the ultimate high technology machine for outstanding productivity and consistent bottom-line performance. It is the second Komori press installation by Gita Press. The earlier Komori is an Enthrone 429.

Plant Manager, Mr. Lal Mani Tiwari (right) with Mr. Ashutosh Upadhyay

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pressideas/ commercial printing

Heidelberg increases prices for equipment business Sharp rise in raw material costs leads to price adjustments at Heidelberg.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has announced that it will be moderately increasing the prices for its equipment business with immediate effect.

The decision has been made in order to cushion the disproportionately sharp rise in material, logistics, and other procurement costs.

“The current price development of raw materials shows an unprecedented upward momentum,” said Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of the company. “Primarily due to the high demand from China as well as the global megatopic of electromobility, procurement costs have risen significantly in the short term. In recent months we have exhausted

all possibilities to avoid an imminent price increase. We want to grow together with our customers and continue to be a reliable partner to them in a changing market environment. The moderate price increase that is now necessary will allow us to further expand our innovation leadership and is therefore also an investment in the future.”

Heidelberg, through its state-of-the-art technologies, innovative solutions and with new business models, focuses on the optimal development and utilization of the customer’s business potential. With smart print shop, it offers process optimization and intelligent, operator-independent productivity.

All Speedmaster models in small, medium, and large formats are equipped with the new Push to Stop functions and a cloud connection as standard. With this the customers can enjoy a full range of cloudbased present and upcoming software solutions.

Customers will be contacted directly by the Heidelberg sales team.

Komori launches Impremia IS29s 29’’ Sheetfed UV Inkjet Digital Printing System with enhanced compatibility with special substrates beyond the range of digital printing systems.

Komori has launched the 29’’ Sheetfed UV Inkjet Digital Printing System Impremia IS29s sales. Impremia IS29s 29” Sheetfed UV Inkjet Digital Printing System is a professional digital printing production machine that delivers high quality, reliability, and stability. The Impremia IS29 professionalspec UV inkjet digital printing system has further evolved and upgraded as Impremia

IS29s. In addition to the highly-received basic features—such as suitability with a wide range of printing stocks and sheet thicknesses, stable high print quality thanks to its superior tone reproduction and register accuracy, and instant curing, onepass double-sided printing for immediate finishing— optional functions can be selected to further increase usability and create added value.

Particularly, Komori has strengthened compatibility with special substrates, beyond the range of ordinary digital printing systems.

In addition, delivery unit can be equipped with tape inserter or interface enabling connection to post press machines.

The Impremia IS29s pushes the boundaries of digital printing, meeting the needs of not

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only commercial printing, where short runs of many different printed products and short turnarounds are required, but also those of package printing, with increased productivity and efficiency.

The IS29s gives a resolution of 1,200×1,200 dpi at printing speed up to 3,000 (singlesided) or 1,500 (double-sided) sph.

Supported sheet thickness range from 0.06 ～0.6 (single-sided) to 0.06～0.45 (doublesided).

To coincide with the start of sales, Komori’s latest solutions got presented at the Komori Web Session in virtual.drupa.

pressideas/ commercial printing

Road to Print4All: Training and professional updating, while waiting for the 2022 event A series of training events will be organised to accompany the professionals of the industry to the trade fair.

A long journey, rich in contents. While waiting for Print4All, the event dedicated to the world of printing, that will be held from 3 to 6 May 2022 at Fiera Milano, a multitude of initiatives are being organised by the two main associations of the sector, ACIMGA and ARGI, that are organising the event together with Fiera Milano. A series of training events will be organised by ARGI and Acimga, the associations promoting the event, to accompany the professionals of the industry to the trade fair.

Sustainability, ecological transition, innovation, digitalisation, care for the person and professional training are some of the topics of the meetings that will be held during the year leading up to Print4All 2022, the ideal destination of a long journey that we are going to share with the professionals of the entire printing industry.

At a time of deep change, when training and professional skills can make the difference, these events are a unique opportunity to discover how to stay ahead of the change curve and not be caught unprepared, focusing on sustainable innovation.

“Let’s shorten the distance”

by ARGI: The voice of the communities The Working Groups of ARGI(Associazione Fornitori Industria Grafica), the Italian Association of the Suppliers of the Graphic Industry, have already held internal discussions to identify the most meaningful topics and tools to provide to the players of the supply chain to face the new challenges and do business in the current scenario.

The result is a communication and training programme, which started last April and will continue over the next 12 months in a sort of run-up to the Print4All 2022 event. The claim “Let’s shorten the distance” - meaning the distance between the present day and the time when the market will recover, as well as the distance between today and 3 May 2022, when Print4All will start - will identify all the sessions that will be held to explore five main topics representing the sectors of ARGI members and their Working Groups (Plates,

Pre-Press, Press Room; Press Offset; Digital Printing; Labels; Finishing). A sixth Working Group is currently being prepared, dedicated to Wide Format & Industrial.

The focus will be on sustainability and ecological transition, efficiency, productive innovation and digitisation, training, employment and social inclusion, technological acceleration and multi-channel integration. ARGI is inspired by and has adopted Next Generation EU guidelines and interprets the most significant areas of development in such a way as to be useful and close to the printing and communication market.

A number of activities are being planned for each sector, that will deal with the relevant trending topics, i.e. innovations useful for business improvement and growth. For each topic, ARGI will produce 3 videocasts, i.e. interviews with testimonials who are experts on the subject, a webinar and special projects such as surveys, glossaries and contests, for a total of 20 appointments and 5 publications, which will accompany the market over the next 12 months.

“Future Factory” by ACIMGA: The keys to a possible future Another important step in the run-up to Print4All will be the 2021 edition of the Future Factory, the event organised by ACIMGA in collaboration with ITA-ICE. After the preview at the end of April, the Future Factory will return in September, this time in presence. The 2021 edition, The future at human service, will deal with the needs of the industry and the main economic, market and vision issues that underlie change. The discussion will focus on sustainability, digitalization, the centrality and role of human resources, servitization.

Nowadays, the sector’s business models are shifting towards human-centric perspectives, where service becomes a key component in the sale of a product, which is being increasingly delivered in association with a high level of personalisation. In short, what’s being sold is always more a relational

context, which fills technological content with new meanings and new expectations. This human centricity extends to every level, and spreads throughout the production chain, from production to the end consumer, who obtains a service with high added value. The entire supply chain is therefore at the centre of change and it is exactly from an integrated vision that Future Factory moves to intercept the dynamics of this evolution underway.

High-profile international speakers will also take stock of corporate, legislative, socioeconomic and production scenarios in order to understand what has changed and where the manufacturing and economic world is going. The debate, chaired by the Italian journalist Matteo Bordone, will see the participation of Bertrand Badré, CEO and Founder at Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital; Elisabetta Bottazzoli, Sustainability and Circular Economy Manager; Andrea Briganti, Director of ACIMGA and Federazione Carta e Grafica; Paola Mariani, Associate Professor of International Law at Bocconi University in Milan and Lawyer; Ivana Pais, Associate Professor in Economic Sociology at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Paolo Pizzocaro, Exhibition Director of Print4All at Fiera Milano; Alec Ross, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Bologna Business School.

It will be a significant discussion at global level, which will be taken up at the various stages of the Future Factory’s international roadshow and represent a further step towards Print4All 2022.

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pressideas/ commercial printing

OPA launches OPA India App for Android and IOS OPA App available at Google Play Store and Apple App Store to better serve the Printing fraternity.

For better serving the People-in-Print, Offset Printers’ Association (OPA) has recently launched its App (OPA India). The App is available to download free of cost at IOS for Apple iPhones and tabs and Google Play store for Android phones and tabs.

“OPA is committed to serve the printing and packaging industry. The purpose of releasing this App is to reach maximum number of printers. Now a days, due to the pandemic the industry is not working properly and many units are observing WFH. In such conditions it is essential to remain in touch and this App can serve this purpose to some extent,” Mr. Parveen Aggarwal, President OPA said, explaining the purpose of the OPA App.

“OPA has refabricated its website making it more user friendly and with the inclusion of many unique features for the benefit of the Printers, Print Students, Engineers and Mechanics in printing and packaging and spare part suppliers,” continued Mr. Aggarwal.

Earlier launching the App, Prof. Kamal Mohan Chopra said, “I recently visited the OPA website. It is extraordinary – the printers can be highly benefited and I appreciate the gesture of OPA for the People-in-Print.

The ‘OPA India’ App being released today is again a great help to the printing sector, the information and required details are available at your fingertips on your phone/tab all the

time. We all are passing through tough times.

Many printers are facing challenges. This is the time to remain constantly in touch with each other and to share our challenges and requirements. I feel, OPA App can serve not only businesses but also social responsibilities. I hope maximum printers will be benefitted from the OPA India App and OPA website.”

Print Industry loses veteran and humanitarian Shri V.K. Dhir He served as General Secretary of IPAMA for three consecutive terms and was also one of the architects of the association.

Printing Industry lost a great visionary, and a kind-hearted human being with the passing away of Shri V.K. Dhir on 27th May 2021.

Mr. Dhir was the Director of M/s Perfect Rotary Offset Pvt. Ltd., Noida. The Indian Printing Packaging & Allied Machinery

Manufacturers’ Association is deeply saddened on the demise of its beloved Shri V.K. Dhir, who was one of the architects of the association.

In his professional capacity, Mr. Dhir was the Director of M/s Perfect Rotary offset Pvt. Ltd. He spent over four decades in the Indian Printing Industry. He was associated with IPAMA since inception. He served the Association as General Secretary for three consecutive terms 2002 to 2008 and one

term as Treasure from 1990-1993.

He had been a source of inspiration to Indian Packaging Fraternity. As the whole industry knows, he was not only a great businessman or leader, but also a humanitarian and his contributions to Industry are memorable. His dedication and inspiring nature will long be remembered by those who were privileged to work with him. IPAMA and its members have extended their heartfelt condolences to the family of Shri Dhir.

Koenig & Bauer announces moderate price adjustment for entire portfolio Koenig & Bauer has announced a moderate price adjustment for its entire product portfolio. The price hike has been attributed to reduced availability of raw materials such as copper, plastics, additives, sheet metal and wood, and higher shipping and logistics costs. There has also been global chip shortage, which is leading to reduced capacities and long lead times for industrial customers, including those outside the automotive sector.

“The price adjustment comes in an

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environment of increasingly scarce resources and is a necessary step to enable us to continue offering our customers the quality, customised solutions and reliable service they expect from us,” says Ralf Sammeck, Member of the Executive Board at Koenig & Bauer.

“The global challenges facing the industry would have to be

mastered together in order to maintain our innovative strength,” Sammeck continues.

pressideas/ commercial printing

Ulrich Stetter is new President of Intergraf Following approval by the members at Intergraf’s 2021 General Assembly, Ulrich Stetter (DE) replaces Cees Verweij (NL) as President.

Following approval by the members at Intergraf’s 2021 General Assembly Ulrich Stetter (DE) takes over as the new President of the association. Ulrich replaces Cees Verweij (NL).

Ulrich Stetter has been the Board Member since 2018. He is Managing Director of printing companies within the Druckhaus Mainfranken group – the production part of the flyeralarm group, based in Würzburg, Germany.

Ulrich said, “One of the companies I am responsible for was founded in 1849. We cannot imagine what massive changes this company and its employees has gone through during this very long period: new technologies, huge crises, wars, and much more. The printing industry had a lot of disruptions in the past and we see one such disruption during these difficult days of the pandemic. But, as always, these situations enable changes for the sector. So I am sure that by standing together and being well informed, the printing sector can create a lot

of new possibilities out of the current crisis.”

Ulrich replaces Cees Verweij as President.

Cees has been a key member of the Intergraf team for 12 years with 4-year tenure as President, and a further 8 years as Board Member and Vice-President. The knowledge, dedication and strong leadership of Cees has greatly enhanced Intergraf’s work.

Cees commented, “The office of Intergraf plays a crucial role in promoting print and safeguarding the industry from harmful legislation and I thank the team for their excellent cooperation with the Board. I am leaving Intergraf convinced that print will remain essential.”

Intergraf has also announced the new VicePresident Jesper Jungersen (DK). Jesper takes over this function from Ulrich Stetter (DE).

Moreover, the General Assembly approved the re-election of Ian Wilton (UK) and Giovanni Olivotto (IT) to the Board, as well

as approving a new Board member: Katalin Orgován (HU). They join existing Board members: Dick Naafs (NL), Janina Bluma (LV), Kaarel Ausmes (EE), Ulrijk Wehtje (SE), and Wim Buyle from FTA Europe.

All existing Steering Committee members were re-approved by the General Assembly: Monica Scorzino (IT), Carmen Kulpe (DE), Katalin Peller (HU), Katre Savi (EE), Ravindra Parasnis (SE), Theresa Borba (PT), and Thomas Torp (DK).

Intergraf’s General Assembly took place virtually on 27 May 2021. The next Intergraf General Assembly is scheduled to take place in-person in Stockholm, Sweden on 19 May 2022.

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QIPC celebrates 25 yr jubilee with new order from 1st customer QIPC celebrates 25 year jubilee with the icing on the cake - First customer, Janssen/Pers Rotatiedruk, places new order 25 years after date.

Q.I. Press Controls, the Dutch specialist in automation solutions for the printing industry, celebrates its 25 jubilee. Since the start in 1996, operating from a garage box, the company has grown to an internationally operating organisation with a worldwide network of offices and agencies. An extensive global client base relies on QIPC’s press automation solutions for enhanced print quality and efficiency on a daily basis.

“I would like to thank our loyal customers for their trust in us and we will certainly make sure that in the next 25 years everyone will be just as happy with our systems as they have been in the past 25 years.” - Menno Jansen, Chairman QIPC

Key Notes : > Starting from a garage box in 1996 to an internationally operating organisation.

QIPC’s founders Erik van Holten and Menno Jansen started in 1996 in the garage box of Erik van Holten.

Both having gained experience in the graphic industry, they wanted to bring their own vision to the market. With their first patented IRS solution for automated colour register control in 1997 and the, successful, first installation with Janssen/Pers in Gennep, The Netherlands, they gained their first of many milestones.

QIPC kept on introducing innovating solutions for print quality enhancement and production efficiency.

They had many firsts: ‘True colours’ introducing markless colour control, the patented 3-D technology and the IDS-3D solution that was the first to fully automatically control both colour register, density and damp with one single camera.

In addition to product-related milestones, QIPC has also received recognition in relation to its business operations on several occasions, for example by being in the Fast 50 and the Technology Fast 500 EMEA ranking from Deloite and Touch and obtaining the Brabant Economy award.

2014 was the year of the acquisition of EAE Engineering Automation Electronics GmbH in Ahrensburg Germany. With this QIPC underlined their commitment to the printing industry. By joining the abilities of both companies, QIPC-EAE could make even bigger steps in automating the printing process through the use of innovative concepts.

This performance package definitely proves its worth in numerous projects worldwide. The expansion of activities continued. With sister company EAE Solutions they made their entrance in the logistic market, also here evolving as a valued and innovative partner for large international parties.

Now it is 2021 and for 25 years QIPC has served its customers with great dedication and concern and has built partnerships for life.

A memorable moment in turbulent times Although large-scale celebrations are unfortunately not possible, it is a special marker in the company’s history. The icing on the cake is that the first customer in 1997, Janssen/Pers Rotatiedruk in Gennep, The Netherlands, placed yet another order 25 years after date. How extraordinary that both companies are still more than thriving in a market that has been so turbulent and subject to change over the years.

> With 1st installation with Janssen/Pers in Gennep, The Netherlands, they gained their first of many milestones. > Now it is 2021 and for 25 years QIPC has served its customers with great dedication and concern and has built partnerships for life.

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First customer, Janssen/Pers Rotatiedruk, places order 25 years after date.

pressideas/ newspaper

“QIPC and Janssen/Pers have been stable partners in a turbulent market for 25 years.

We also feel confident about the future by investing once again in a new colour register system with people we can rely on,” says Joost Swenne, Technical Director Janssen/ Pers Rotatiedruk.

“What better compliment can one get. It gives prove that our philosophy Quality and Intelligence (QI) still stands. This in combination with our vision of continuous partnership and commitment proved to be a golden combination in the success of our

company,” adds Menno Jansen, Chairman QIPC. “Only 25 years young and we just keep on counting. Growing from an adventurous start in the garage into a global player is like the fulfilment of a boyhood dream. Our continuous motivation to innovate and listen to our customers’ needs has driven us to an absolute number one position in the newspaper industry.

The spirit of 25 years ago has certainly not disappeared and this can be seen in our growth in the intra-logistics market. I would like to thank our loyal customers for their trust in us

and we will certainly make sure that in the next 25 years everyone will be just as happy with our systems as they have been in the past 25 years”, Menno Jansen concludes.

“I am really proud and thankful that for 25 years our highly motivated staff and partnering customers made us become respected innovators, helping our worldwide customers improving their printing processes. We will stay on our innovation path and help our customer to become even more efficient and sustainable in the future,” says Erik van Holten, Chairman QIPC.

Global newspaper community mourns death of Scott C. Schurz Scott, chairman emeritus of Schurz Communications, and a former Board member of both WAN and WAN-IFRA passed away on 26 May 2021.

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Scott C. Schurz.

Scott was chairman emeritus of Schurz Communications, and a former Board member of both WAN and WAN-IFRA. On behalf of the World Association of News Publishers, we extend the condolences of the entire global newspaper community to his family and colleagues.

“We developed a long friendship through our Board meetings. He had a soft spot for me.

Scott was a courageous man, and he always called a spade a spade. He loved to travel with his beloved wife, Kathryn. It is a personal loss to me. May his soul rest in peace,” said DD Purkayastha, Director of the Board of ABP Group and member of the Supervisory Board of WAN-IFRA.

Scott C. Schurz was recognised for his dedication, achievements, and leadership in the field of journalism. He devoted his whole life to journalism and was widely known as a strong defender of press freedom and freedom of expression through his many endeavours over a career that spanned more than 60 years in the service of the press.

WAN-IFRA mourns the passing of a respected colleague, a legend in the world of newspapers, a high spirit and a perfect friend. Our thoughts are with Kathryn, his wife and the bereaved family. Heartfelt condolences.

“The message reached us this morning that our beloved friend and colleague Scott Schurz has left us. We served together as a board and executive committee members for many years. During my six years as Vice President and President of the newly merged WAN-IFRA he was a key person to hold the organisation (s) together during challenging times. Scott was never afraid to speak up when he thought it was right to do so. He was also a necessary “glue” among us with his extraordinary social skills. Always close to big laughter. Scott Schurz is not with us anymore, but his memory and his legacy will be with us for a long time,” said Tomas Brunegård, former President of WAN-IFRA.

Scott C. Schurz acted as the chairman of Hoosier Times Inc. and as the director and vice-chairman, then chairman and publisher of Schurz Communications.

Scott C. Schurz had served on the board of governors and the executive board of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) and chairman of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation. In 2006 the NAA board appointed him to be their U.S. representative to the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). He also chaired WAN’s Young Readers and Newspaper in Education Committee. As a representative of NAA, then News Media Alliance, Scott Schurz served on the executive committee of both WAN and WAN-IFRA until 2019. He was a member of the executive committee and board of the Inter-American Press Association and

honorary president. He was also a member of the International Press Institute and the World Press Freedom Committee. He served as president of the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) in 1986, and held the office of treasurer 1997 to 2004.

Other past association affiliations had been with the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Newspaper Advertising Bureau.

He was honoured with their Silver Shovel Award in 1988. Schurz served as president of the Inland Press Association in 1985-86 and was honoured with Inland’s Distinguished Service Award in 1994. Schurz had been a member of the Hoosier State Press Association board and served as president in 1989 and 1997 and was awarded the HSPA Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and the First Freedom Award in 2002. In 2003 he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, and in 2005 received the Indiana Journalism Award presented by Ball State University. Scott C. Schurz had served on the board of the Indiana University Foundation since 1986, and in 2000 received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Indiana University.

(By Vincent Peyrègne, Chief Executive Officer of WAN-IFRA)

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digital printing

Konica Minolta connects with customers at virtual.drupa Presentations covered the power of embellishment in conjunction with business partner MGI.

Presentation representing Konica Minolta’s AccurioJet KM-1e entitled “Unexpected Printing”.

The B2+ inkjet sheetfed production press, formally launched at drupa in 2016, has been dubbed the “Swiss Army Knife” of printing because it has so many uses.

Key Notes : > Konica Minolta showcases latest innovations to grow customer business. > Experts from the company provided examples of how customers’ businesses have been really transformed through its technology and software. > Discussion themes also included how multi-channel communications such as QR codes, Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are taking print into a new world.

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Greater automation, sustainability and increased demand for embellishment technologies and software solutions were among key messages from customers who joined Konica Minolta for its online presence at ‘virtual.drupa’.

The technology leader showcased latest innovations to demonstrate to the global print community how customers can grow their business with highly automated systems, increased productivity and efficiency with advanced digital solutions.

Experts from Konica Minolta played an active role in web sessions covering a wide array of topics.

They provided examples of how customers’ businesses have been really transformed through its technology and software, with the shift towards digital in some areas accelerating in the pandemic.

Discussion themes also included how multi-channel communications such as QR codes, Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are taking print into a new world, connecting directly with digital media and the internet. Intuitive software to improve performance – such as AccurioPro Dashboard, AccurioPro Flux in combination with the Trimming unit TU-510 and the intelligent quality care unit IQ-501 – were also highlighted in order to show how easy workflow automation can be.

Presentations covered the power of embellishment in conjunction with business partner MGI, an in-depth look at automated digital print production and a special focus on the MOTIONCUTTER Digital HighSpeed Laser System.

The fast-growing sectors of digital labels and

packaging production were also spotlighted. A key spotlight was the AccurioLabel 230 roll-to-roll digital toner press, which now has 800 units installed across the world. Konica Minolta only started its adventure into the labels business area five years ago and now has a top-ranked labels market share of 33.9%. Two defining trends are e-commerce and sustainability, according to Edoardo Cotichini, Senior Manager, Professional Print at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe. Labels and packaging are specific growth areas for Konica Minolta, which announced its European launch of the PKG-675i inkjet press for the fast-growing short-run corrugated packaging market earlier this year.

Another feature was Konica Minolta’s AccurioJet KM-1e, which provided the basis for a presentation entitled, “Unexpected Printing”. This B2+ inkjet sheetfed production press was formally launched at drupa in 2016 and has been dubbed the “Swiss Army Knife” of printing because it has so many uses. It was also revealed that Konica Minolta now has around 200 installations worldwide, of which 20% are within Europe, revealed Hidetoshi Omo, Konica Minolta’s Head of Competence KM-1, from the Industrial PanEuropean Showroom in Bratislava, Slovakia, one of the venues for product demonstrations.

Prokom, the global user group of Konica Minolta print customers, also had a presence at ‘virtual.drupa’.

‘Connect, learn and grow’ were the central messages for the presentation.

“Although a ‘virtual.drupa’ will never be a match for the physical presence of being at a show, as an online platform it gave us an opportunity to

pressideas/ digital

engage with and help our customers rethink possibilities. We also did take away a number of sales leads and new ideas to develop and are happy – since the date for the next

‘live’ drupa has just been announced – we are happy to build on the success of this virtual version of the most important fair in the industry in 2024.” - Olaf Lorenz, Senior

General Manager Digital Transformation Division, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe.

HP Indigo Digital Printing accelerates innovation across portfolio Introduces new technologies at Dscoop Edge Fusion Graphic Arts community showcase.

At Dscoop Edge Fusion 2021, HP Inc. announced a new wave of innovations for HP Indigo digital printing, supporting momentum, growth and digital transformation.

HP Indigo’s new commercial portfolio gained significant momentum, including long-term investments in new fleets by Cimpress and Shutterfly. HP has installed more than 30 units of its Indigo 100K Digital Press.

Print service providers (PSPs) worldwide continue to adopt HP Indigo digital printing, with more than 125 HP Indigo presses already installed to date from the new technology portfolio announced in March 2020.

HP Indigo has announced a new set of features for its drupa portfolio: • The new Automatic Alert Agent 2.0 for HP Indigo Series 4 presses (HP Indigo 12000 and 15K).

• Expansion of HD printing capabilities, with the new Fine Line RIP. • New capabilities on the HP Indigo 100K, including Automatic Pallet Replacement (APR).

• Introduction of the new HP Indigo 6P Digital Press for photo and publishing applications.

• HP Indigo Certified Pre-Owned Digital Presses.

• HP Indigo 15K value pack for the HP Indigo 12000 press.

“Despite the challenges of the past year, Indigo customers have continued to lead the transformation of the graphic arts industry.

Our R&D labs continue to deliver on our promise, releasing new capabilities, products and solutions to support the growth of our customers,” said Haim Levit, HP Indigo vice president and general manager, in a keynote address to Dscoop Fusion, a global gathering of HP Graphic Arts print service providers and solution partners with over 8000 members.

Value packs and options are also available

for HP Indigo 20000, 30000 and 6000 series users. The commercial availability of HP Indigo 35K for folding cartons has also been announced. Great Little Box Company of Canada has installed the first unit of the commercially released HP Indigo 35K Digital Press at its site near Vancouver.

HP has announced the Spot Master released for HP Indigo 25K and HP Indigo 35K. It enables converters to reach brand colours within 5 minutes, with an accuracy of less than 2 delta E, and less than 3 meters of waste.

The narrow web HP Indigo V12 Digital label Pressis the first HP Indigo press built on next-generation HP Indigo LEPX architecture.

HP also announced HP Indigo Secure, a new suite of security and brand protection solutions, to help security printers and print service providers protect their customers from counterfeiters and other product threats.

HP Indigo 6K Secure Press is HP Indigo’s first secure digital press.

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Canon India’s ‘Green Environment Together’ initiative milestone As part of the initiative, Canon India plants a tree each for a Laser Copier or MFD sold to direct customers; achieves 20,000 trees milestone in 2 years.

Strengthening its commitment towards environment and sustainable business, Canon India has announced the successful plantation of the 20,000th tree as part of its ‘Green Environment Together’ (GET) Initiative.

The organization strongly advocates giving back to mother nature, for which, along with taking care of the business and the customers, it takes care of the environment too. In July 2019, the ‘Green Environment Together’ (GET) Initiative was launched by Canon India as a positive step towards nurturing the environment. As part of the initiative, Canon India plants a tree on the purchase of every laser copier/ multifunction Device (MFD) on behalf of its direct customers.

In 2019, Canon India had pledged to plant over 10,000 trees annually and in line with this vision, in less than two years, the company has successfully planted their 20,000th sapling on June 2, 2021.

Talking about the initiative, Mr. Manabu Yamazaki, President & CEO of Canon India said, “The spirit of giving back to the society has been an integral part of Canon India’s corporate culture. In addition to offering excellent products and services worldwide, we have always strived to protect the global environment and support holistic development of communities. We are elated to witness the success of our ‘Green Environment Together’ (GET) initiative as we plant the 20,000th sapling today in less than two years of its commencement.

This initiative has enabled us to create an ecosystem with our customers where we can build a greener and better future together.”

He further adds, “Such initiatives allow us to drive meaningful impact and help nurture a sustainable tomorrow that makes our communities future ready. Our ‘Kyosei’ philosophy which refers to ‘living and working together for the common good’ is at the heart of these efforts and forms the basis of Canon’s commitment to act responsibly across supply chains, within the communities we operate in, as well as through the products we develop.”

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The announcement comes shortly after Canon India achieving the leadership position in the A3 & A4 laser copier-based MFP segment for five years in a row, the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, 2020Q4. According to the tracker, Canon India ended 2020 as the market leader with a 30.7% overall market share: 30% market share in the mono segment and 35.4% in the colour segment.

Commenting on BIS GET’s milestone achievement, Mr. K Bhaskhar, Senior Vice President – Business Imaging Solutions, Canon India said, “As a leading player in the printing segment and a socially responsible company, we believe that our business footprint on the environment should be balanced. In the current times, becoming sensitive towards our surroundings and community has picked up even more momentum and continues to be our priority.

While advanced technology and solutions can greatly benefit our customers’ lives and caring for them is our key focus area, the environment too demands our attention.

Therefore, it is equally imperative to care for the environment and give back in whatever way we can.”

He further adds, “We started the ‘Green

Environment Together’ (GET) initiative with a vision of planting 10,000 trees annually, and today, we are proud to have achieved our goals in the stipulated time. This milestone showcases our ongoing commitment towards the environment as a responsible corporate, as well as our continued business focus because every sapling sowed reflects our customers’ faith in Canon’s best-inclass offerings and solutions. Without their continued support, our milestones and leadership would not have been possible.”

With their unchanged philosophy of ‘Business can be simple’, Canon aims to bring to the fore effortless, and sustainable ways of doing business. In today’s modern world of advanced technologies and unhindered business solutions, it falls upon businesses and leaders to stay grounded and work towards environmental-conscious methods. In this regard, Canon’s range of eco-friendly business offerings help reduce the carbon footprint on the environment through low electricity consumption. These products are a boon across industries ranging from SMEs to Healthcare and can help bring the next wave of supremacy and conscious customer offerings.

pressideas/ digital

Konica Minolta selected as a DX Certified Business Operator Shifting to highly profitable businesses through DX and evolving into a company clearly committed to solving social issues.

Konica Minolta has been designated as a DX Certified Business Operator under the DX Certification System established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This designation signifies official recognition of Konica Minolta’s across-the-board initiatives towards digital transformation (DX), which include: promoting DX efforts to shift to highly profitable businesses; incorporating a clear commitment to solving social issues in its corporate management policy; developing specific plans for use of its digital technologies, such as a plan to create new values by combining its proprietary imaging IoT platform with relevant data; and establishing a post of Executive Officer responsible for Digital Transformation.

The DX Certification System was established to promote DX on a society-wide basis, especially in the industrial sector. Under this system, the national government certifies companies that comply with the basic matters of the Digital Governance Code under the Act on Facilitation of Information Processing.

Being a DX Certified Business Operator will be a prerequisite for applying for selection under the DX stock selection program conducted jointly by METI and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Based on DX2022, its medium-term business strategy, Konica Minolta is currently in the process of shifting the focus of its business from selling products to offering high

value-added service: DX as a Service. To be specific, Konica Minolta is striving to evolve its products into Smart Connected Products that are networked with various devices and allow information collected at customers’ sites to be converted into digital data and analyzed by imaging IoT technologies, in which the company excels. In so doing, the company aims to visualize the invisible to meet the customers’ desire to see, and to offer services that help customers solve their issues.

Konica Minolta is resolved to shift to highly

profitable businesses through DX and, at the same time, create solutions to social issues based on its five material issues. For each of these issues, the company has set a vision for 2030 and formulated measures to achieve the vision as part of DX2020. The company thus aims to promote efforts to create value through its business on the one hand and through its corporate activities on the other, with a view to creating environmental and social value as well as economic value.

Konica Minolta plans to set KPIs for each material issue in terms of the “impacts of solving environmental and social issues,” and “contribution to profitability” and manage the progress of its initiatives in light of these KPIs.

Minosha India targets Rs 300 cr revenue in 2.5 yrs OPA App available at Google Play Store and Apple App Store to better serve the Printing fraternity.

Minosha India, formerly Ricoh India, has set for itself a revenue target of Rs. 300 crore in the next 2.5 years. The Digital Printing Solution provider firm would be reaching its target by servicing globally managed accounts and sale of multifunction printers.

300 crore from the sale of printers and GMA business service in the next two and a half years,” says Atul Thakker, MD, Minosha India.

Minosha India is also planning to expand its direct sales soon.

Due to stability and improved margins enabled by reduced pricing war in the market, Minosha India plans to boost its margins which will also be facilitated by the recent globally managed accounts of Ricoh in India.

“We expect to generate a revenue of Rs

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Siegwerk inaugurates Toluene free Blending Center in Bangladesh The new state-of-the-art Blending Center for Toluene free inks has an annual capacity of 3,600 MT and will have close to 50 employees working in it.

Siegwerk is about colours. Ink is nothing without colours. Siegwerk has 190-year history of providing tailored ink technology and services. The group today produces over 280 KT printing inks per year.

Currently focusing on inks for packaging, Siegwerk serves over 100 countries with over 1 billion Euro net sales per year and 1141 million euro group revenues for the year 2020. 95% of the revenues came from packaging. And 53% of packaging constituted the EMEA region. Asia region comes second with 20%.

Headquartered at Siegburg, Germany, Siegwerk has primary production through its 16 Centres of Excellence, has 50 blending centres and 12 centres of competence for development. Committed to principle of sustainability, Siegwerk strives to create a balance between ecological, social and economical needs without compromising resources of future generations. Besides, its efforts towards helping disadvantaged children and young adults too need no introduction.

The new Bangladesh Blending Center India excluded the use of Toluene as a solvent in food application inks in 2020. The industry moves towards eliminating rather than mitigating the Toluene risk.

Key Notes : > Siegwerk commissioned the latest Bangladesh plant in January 2021. > It is a 100% Swiss Ordinance compliant Blending Center set up in an area of 65000 square feet in the Dhaka region. > The blending center will supply Toluene free safe inks and is at par with global standards.

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The latest plant at Bangladesh got commissioned

by Siegwerk in January 2021. It is a 100% Swiss Ordinance compliant Blending Center set up in an area of 65000 square feet in Meghna Industrial

Area in the Dhaka region. The Plant with an annual capacity of 3600 MT employs 50 people. “One of the key reasons for us to establish the Bangladesh plant is to be close to our customers,” says Ashish Pradhan, President Asia, Siegwerk.

Siegwerk is supplying printing ink in Bangladesh since the mid-nineties. “Besides being close to our customers in Bangladesh, the Blending Center will also allow us to expand our offerings. We can now offer customized, individually formulated safe ink solutions through our latest blending technology,” adds Ashish Pradhan.

Siegwerk used to supply inks from its plant in India until recently. The new center is already commissioned and has completely taken over the supply of blended inks from February 2021.

The blending center will supply Toluene free safe

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inks and is at par with global standards.

The inks produced will be compliant with global regulatory and brand owner requirements to ensure products are safe for end-use packaging applications.

Siegwerk manufactures its basic colors and varnishes in a standardized process at the fifteen dedicated Siegwerk - Centers of Excellence worldwide. The raw materials and intermediate products are as close to identical as possible, ensuring consistent product quality. With the addition of this center in Bangladesh, Siegwerk currently has more than 31 Blending Centers worldwide.

Product Safety and Packaging – safe inks for safe packaging Siegwerk has been aware of the need for safe printing inks for packaging applications from the beginning and has made ink safety one of its guiding principles. Today, the company is a global leader in providing product safety guidance and has an expert team exclusively dedicated to this.

Siegwerk’s product safety guidance includes global regulatory compliance, brand owner requirements, and risk assessments. This ensures products are safe for the end-use applications.

Food contamination is not essentially something which moves from the outside of a package to the inside of the package.

At times food gets contaminated from the package itself. Considering the package as the source of contamination, there have been numerous cases where we see toxic or banned materials leaking in to spoil or contaminate the food contents of packages.

Therefore, every content or material used in manufacture of a package has to be foodsafe. In other words, food can remain safe as far as the package is safe. “Apart from the papers, films, boards etc., the inks used in packages can also affect the safety of food.

And this is what makes Siegwerk different, with the safest inks that are safe not only for health of people coming in direct contact or consuming goods coming in contact of our inks but also safe for the environment. We

care about consumers’ health – we provide safe inks for safe packaging,” says Ashish Pradhan.

binder solutions, additives and solvents as ingredients. Keeping in view the critical characteristic of inks being a part of packaging which comes or may come in

“Siegwerk inks are safest inks because for us, consumer safety comes first. In line with our commitment, we don’t only maintain high level of transparency in our supply chain, but also have strict compliance with legislations.”

contact with the contents – especially in flexible packaging like chips where it is in direct contact – inks must have the safest ingredients. Now, Toluene – one of the solvents that can be used in inks – is a clear colourless liquid with excellent solvent properties like capability to nicely dissolve substances and evaporate readily. What makes it unsafe is its bad toxicological profile, besides, of course, other negative effects.

Being a member of EuPIA – European Printing Inks Manufacturers’ Association – Siegwerk is committed to supply food packaging inks that comply with various safety norms. “We are responsible; we provide transparency, guidance and support; and all this is evident from our dedicated ‘transparency label & ink safety portal’,” says Ashish Pradhan.

Toluene-free inks To know about Toluene, we must understand that composition of inks for printing necessarily have pigment bases,

Toluene has both social as well as occupational health risks. Speaking of its general bad effects on people’s health, it can easily cross blood barriers and can lead to various health problems ranging from cardiac, memory, eyes and skin issues to foetal health and even possible sudden death. As a major concern for civilized

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societies, it has been reported as being used as a sniffing drug with addiction tendencies. About 3-4 percent American children/ adolescents/ teenagers were found as regular users of Toluene as sniffing substance. While we consider occupational hazards of Toluene, it is a high risk material requiring personal protective equipment (PPE) or risk management measures to be safely used by workers. It not only creates bad odour or taste if residual seepages contaminate food, but it is also an environmental risk for being a VOC – notoriously creating Photochemical Ozone to higher degrees than other solvents.

It should be noted that Toluene is a rogue ingredient as far as food safety is concerned.

EuPIA excludes Toluene for food packaging inks. China had banned Toluene from food packaging material many years ago. Sri Lanka is Toluene-free packaging country.

India excluded the use of Toluene as a solvent in food application inks in 2020. The industry moves towards eliminating rather than mitigating the Toluene risk.

Bangladesh market and global food packaging safety requirements Bangladesh is marching towards becoming a developed market as regards packaging growth. It has to address the global food packaging safety requirements as it moves ahead to realize the vast potential the growing market presents. Sharing more details, Ashish Pradhan says, “Of the total flexible packaging market in Bangladesh, only 7% is Toluene-free. It is a matter of great concern as most of this remaining 93% Toluene-based market is used for food packaging.”

“Siegwerk has a strong commitment to exclude Toluene from food packaging inks worldwide. In principle, we don’t use Toluene in any ink as intentionally added ingredient and have completely stopped using Toluene in our inks,” he stresses.

To this end, Siegwerk has also invested in its global production facilities – converting them to Toluene-free sites. “Our Bangladesh Blending Centre is also a one hundred percent Toluene-free facility. With many Global Brand Owners’ packaging specifications also prohibiting the use of Toluene, our commitment to bring the latest

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in technology as well as sustainable humansafe production know-how to customers is well evident in the Bangladesh facility.

Siegwerk cares about future generations,” says Pradhan.

“Toluene is a substance with hazardous properties with possible severe impact on environment and human health. The only 100% safeway is ‘Toluene Elimination’. That’s why, we at Siegwerk, have gone in for a 100% Toluene-free facility in Bangladesh from dayone. It is a first in Asia facility to go Toluenefree from day-one,” declares Ashish.

Siegwerk enjoys a strong customer base and a robust market presence in Bangladesh since mid-nineties. With the latest production capabilities in Bangladesh, Siegwerk will be able to significantly improve lead time. “Our Bangladesh customers will now be able to get Siegwerk products faster and they wouldn’t have to maintain high inventories.

Our technical support will be available on site to our customers to help them use our inks effectively. Now we can also offer customized inks as per individual customer requirements.

They will enjoy competitive advantage,” he adds.

Bangladesh’s conducive environment, fantastic workforce, excellent talent, high GDP and packaging growth, along with industrial parks like Meghna, make the country an attractive destination for foreign investors. Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Packaging is growing faster than GDP and it will be

significant contributor in GDP for at least next two decades. As per-capita consumption of packaging in Bangladesh (and also in India) is far below and only a fraction of what it is in Europe, the growth potential is enormous. The new Siegwerk Blending Centre is a world-class facility with some of the latest features that are uncommon in similar facilities. For example, the automatic dispenser of the Bangladesh facility is something we don’t have in Indian facility. In the next couple of years Siegwerk expects to utilize 80% capacity of the facility and further expansion plans would come accordingly, says Ashish. With a target to achieve a 30% market share in a couple of years, Siegwerk looks forward to employ local talent as workforce. “Our two-part strategy to maximize market share and growth trajectory would be: • To be as close to our customers as possible and develop customized solutions for them as per their specific needs.

• To keep consumer safety on top of the agenda.

Apart from Toluene, mineral oil is one ingredient that has issues with Offset printed

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products. Speaking about the presence of mineral oil in offset inks, Ashish assures, “By January 1, 2022, India sub-region will be mineral oil-free for Siegwerk. Since India also supplies 100% sheeetfed offset inks to SE Asia, by that time, the SE Asia will also move to 100% mineral oil-free inks.”

Siegwerk only supplies products for food packaging which are manufactured without Toluene on global level. The new Blending Centre will enable packaging printers or converters from Bangladesh, whether they are into sheetfed packaging or cartons, corrugation, flexible packaging, pressure

sensitive labels or any other packaging using inks, to use Siegwerk’s environment- and

health-safe Toluene-free inks from their own neighbourhood facility.

VINSAK installs ABG Digicon Series 3 at Astron Packaging Industry VINSAK, has announced the installation of a new ABG DIGICON SERIES 3 at ASTRON PACKAGING INDUSTRY FZ LLC in Dubai.

Brand Awareness, Physical Protection and Convenience, these are the three significant foundation stones, on which the Astron Packaging, commenced its operation in India in the year 2002. Astron believes that the product is more than its content and the well thought packaging drives the customer to buy the product. The plant for manufacturing corrugated containers suffice the needs of varied industries like Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Household Appliances, Cosmetics, Pharmaceuticals and many more.

Astron began its operations in the UAE in 2019 with the installation of a Lombardi Synchroline press and after adding a digital system, immediately felt the need to add a finishing line. Based on their positive experience of installing multiple ABG lines

in their India plant, Astron decided to install the latest, state of the Art Digicon Series 3 for their UAE facility.

For over 15 years, Digicon digital finishing equipment have been proudly and successfully installed at over 1000 customer sites worldwide. The Digicon Series 3 system is able to work faster and capable of adding an even wider range of valuable finishes to labels, packaging and shrink sleeves. They are modular in design, so that they can be tailored to meet individual needs and create a clear competitive advantage for any print business. Here are the key features and benefits of just a few of our most popular modules and options: Fast Track Die Cutting: the world’s fastest

semi-rotary die cutting system – able to run at 150 metres per minute and work in-line with the world’s fastest digital print engines, two complete Semi-Rotary Flexo units with GEW UV system, Spot Varnishing feature, Cold foil / lamination & super gloss unit, Matrix rewind, Slitting unit, Dual Re-winder are a few of the options that Astron has opted for currently..

With a global installed base of 11000 machines over more than 2500 customers, ABG has installed over 150 machines including the Flagship Digicon Series 2 & 3 Digital finishing, Turrets, Booklet makers, slitter re-winders, camera systems and Turret re-winders in India.

Mr. Ross Hollaway, Sales manager for the region added, “We are very happy that Astron Packaging has reinforced their relationship with ABG with this new Kit. Along with Mr. Malkhan Ram of VINSAK, this sale has reinforced our team work in opening up a new series of equipment that Label printers in the region would find very useful in expanding their product offerings.”

>>> Mr. Niraj Darji (President, Astron Packaging, on the left) inspecting the equipment Handover from Mr. Nitin Thakur of VINSAK

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XSYS launches nyloflex FTM Digital - flexo plate for printing with water-based inks.

The new nyloflex FTM Digital plate with inherent flat top dots has been developed specifically for flexographic printing with water-based inks on different grades of paper substrates. The trigger for the development of this new plate solution is the acceleration in the demand for more environmentally friendly packaging production. As the market moves towards more sustainable substrates in response to those demands, XSYS is introducing the nyloflex FTM Digital plate which enables printers to use waterbased inks on coated and uncoated paper for aseptic food packaging and corrugated preprint liner.

“This latest addition to the nyloflex plate portfolio will have a broad appeal for printers serving different segments of the packaging production wishing to move to a more sustainable operation, but still retain the ability to produce the highest quality products.”

– Simon Top, XSYS.

Key Notes : > Suitable for printing on paper substrates to meet sustainability demands. > Enables printers to switch from solvent to water-based inks. > Offers superior ink laydown and reduced costs.

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“This latest addition to the nyloflex plate portfolio will have a broad appeal for printers serving different segments of the packaging production wishing to move to a more sustainable operation, but still retain the ability to produce the highest quality products,” said Simon Top, Product Manager at XSYS. “The nyloflex FTM Digital will help to fulfil the brand owners’ sustainability requirements by allowing printers to switch from printing on plastic film materials to printing on paper substrates with water-based inks.”

The nyloflex FTM Digital is a medium hard plate with a smooth surface, bringing a good ink transfer and ink laydown out of the box and capable of reproducing sophisticated surface screenings in case this is required. With no need for additional equipment or auxiliaries, the plate can be exposed in existing systems with standard tube lights or LED UV-A light exposure, before solvent processing.

XSYS innovative inherent flat top dot technology ensures minimum dot wear and significantly less dot gain compared to round top dot plates, thereby also greatly improving press uptimes to reduce costs and start-up waste in the press room.

Featuring advanced dot sharpening, the nyloflex FTM Digital presents fine highlights and a high solid ink density in print, increasing the shelf appeal of the final product.

“The nyloflex FTM Digital

can be considered as the flat top dot counterpart of our well known nyloflex ACT Digital plate,” explained Top. “The plate enables printers to easily tackle both coated and uncoated papers without the need to use two different plate types. In the past, a hard plate like the nyloflex ACE UP and medium hard plate like nyloflex ACT were often combined to achieve the optimum result. At one customer case, we were able to reduce this complexity for up to 60% of the print jobs by using the nyloflex FTM Digital.” An additional benefit is the better plate filling that could be achieved and thereby reducing the plate waste and total plate cost in the plate making process. nyloflex FTM Digital plates are commercially available in 1.14 mm (0.045 in) to 2.84mm(0.112 in) thicknesses and in varying plate sizes. The nyloflex FTM Digital plate material will be available for shipment as of May 31, 2021.

“As the optimum choice for long high-quality print

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runs on more sustainable substrates, the nyloflex FTM Digital is the perfect response to the pressure from the market to find solutions that are better for the environment, but also cost efficient,” Simon Top concluded.

Formed in January 2021 as a new division

of Flint Group, combining Flint Group Flexographic and Xeikon Prepress into a single division, XSYS has been designed to bring more brilliance into the packaging industry – into the lives of its customers and colleagues – using brilliant products and services for brilliant print results and business

success. It combines under one umbrella well-known flexographic and letterpress brands like nyloflex, Xpress, nyloprint, nylosolv, rotec, FlexoExpert, ThermoFlexX, Catena, Tfxx and Woodpecker, to provide a complete flexographic and letterpress prepress solution.

Gallus launches Labelfire Diamond Core Series Print on an industrial scale, stable, reliably and quick, direct from roll to roll with D1 and D2.

High productivity combined with perfect quality is the USP of the Gallus Labelfire. In order to meet constantly changing customer demands Gallus is launching the Diamond Core Series. From now on, four models of the Gallus Labelfire are available, concisely and clearly defined and tailored to the different market requirements. Digital white with high opacity is optionally available for all models.

The Diamond Core, the heart of each Labelfire The heart of each Gallus Labelfire is the digital print unit, the so-called “diamond core”. This Digital Print Unit (DPU) enables high-quality 1200 x 1200 dpi UV inkjet printing with the proven for years Samba printheads by Fujifilm. Perfect printing results with pinning modules specially adapted for the inks and printheads as well as the outstanding simulation of the Pantone Plus colour scale enable a print quality that does not need to fear a comparison with

other providers at this level. In addition, all models of the Labelfire Diamond Core series convince with their high production speed with up to 70 m/min and the ability to print a variety of substrates. This means that these machines are ideally suited for various print applications.

In four different machine configurations, the Labelfire Diamond Core models are divided up from D1 to D4 in order to acknowledge the market demands.

Gallus Labelfire D1/D2: Digital production on an industrial scale The models D1 und D2 are the working horses of this series. They print on an industrial scale, stable, reliably and quick, direct from roll to roll. Clearly defined, with or without digital white, they are suitable for all printing companies, which have no need for inline finishing.

With the Gallus Labelfire Diamond Core Series, Gallus offers a suitable range for all types of printers, regardless of their level of experience and scope of requirements

The Labelfire D1 is the 4-colour entry level machine system into the 1200 dpi digital printing and perfectly suited for commodity labels with changing small run lengths.

The Labelfire D2 is the alternative with 7 colours CMYK plus gamut extension Green, Orange and Violet for highly challenging designs for e.g. cosmetic and body care products or whenever perfect colour matching is key. With the seven colours the D2 enables up to 94% of the simulated Pantone Plus colour scale.

Unbeatable Hybrid Gallus Labelfire D3/D4 Whether 4-colour or 7-colour, with or without Digital White: The hybrid technology offers an expanded flexibility due to integrated inline finishing- and embellishing modules.

The Labelfire D3, the UV inkjet press with 4colours, (CMYK) and the Labelfire D4 with 7 colours (CMYK GOV) are always equipped with a flexo and a die-cutting unit for easy single-pass printing – from file to finished die-cut label in just one printing pass. In addition, as required, with either a laminating/ varnishing module or a cold foil unit, a costeffective production of finished labels is thus guaranteed even for very small print runs.

“With the Gallus Labelfire Diamond Core Series, we offer a suitable range for all types of printers, regardless of their level of experience and scope of requirements,” explains Thomas Schweizer, Head of Business Management at Gallus. “In addition, we offer a fully comprehensive service. With buying this machine, all maintenance work is included in the price for the first year of operation and thereafter our customers can choose from three service basic packages with the option of flexible expansion, from the low-cost basic rate to the all-round carefree package.”

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Technology packed in a compact size: Multiflex Polybags goes for SOMA Optima 880 Pratik Mehta, Multiflex Polybags Pvt. Ltd. shares with PRESSIdeas the capabilities of their new SOMA Optima 880, installed by DKSH India.

PRESSIdeas: Congratulations on the latest SOMA Optima 880 installation.

What went behind the decision to install this particular brand and model?

Pratik Mehta: The readily available machine which could fit in terms of space availability, power and the infrastructure of our existing factory space with us without doing much changes and of course “Its latest technology” became an ace card for us.

PRESSIdeas: What is the range of products you offer and what type of machines and infrastructure enable the production at Multiflex Polybags?

Pratik Mehta: We have a complete range of surface printed five-layer and three-layer PE based packaging material for personal hygiene products, food packaging industry, medical industries and bulk packaging industries. We have a full-fledged range of reverse printed laminates both PE + PE and PET+PE, BOPA +PE, BOPP+PE, all under one roof right from extrusion to finished pouches in all shapes and sizes. We also offer a full range of paper based sustainable and recyclable packaging material.

PRESSIdeas: How has been DKSH and SOMA support prior to, during and after the installation?

Pratik Mehta: The support both from DKSH and SOMA was excellent in terms of technology transfer and service. They have demonstrated an impressive level of professionalism.

PRESSIdeas: What are the key features of SOMA Optima 880 that have been opted by Multiflex?

Which of them attracted your interest the most?

Pratik Mehta: The main feature attracted us was the size of the press, very compact and purposeful with a full range of automation. And the best part is that

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the machine rewinds the used print setting film back and for reuse again with a click of a button, without removing the rolls from its position; so with this we use just a few meters of initial print setting film and it is very helpful for a precise short run job.

PRESSIdeas: Optima is equipped with several automated features that minimize time and waste during changeovers. How have the features benefited Multiflex Polybags during your day to day operations?

Pratik Mehta: These new features are very helpful for our short run jobs where we do at least 8-10 changeovers with very minimal time for washing colours and makeready decks.

PRESSIdeas: What are the key differences between ARUN and FALCON II features of Optima?

Which of these are featured in your installed machine?

Pratik Mehta: Our press is equipped with FALCON II. ARUN is a fully automated

system like GPS where the job is registered right from the first print, whereas Falcon II is auto-impression and auto-register is provided by smart register.

PRESSIdeas: Given the environmental impact of materials being one of the key focus areas globally, how do you

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place SOMA Optima regarding the use of material, waste, power, inks etc.?

Pratik Mehta: Given the new advance features for shorter job setup time and auto wash systems that are much quicker and efficient, the carbon footprint of the machine is very less.

PRESSIdeas: What are the advantages of capability to use both water based and solvent based inks on the same press?

Pratik Mehta: Since we have an inhouse capability to produce sustainable paperbased packaging material, this press gives a big advantage to us to print water-based inks in flexo.

PRESSIdeas: What are the key markets that SOMA Optima at Multiflex is going to cater to? How are the customers going to benefit from Optima capabilities?

Pratik Mehta: Our customers require

short runs and precise short runs and this is where SOMA gives us an edge above our competitors and in turn this helps us to retain our customer base.

PRESSIdeas: What exactly is the bounce control feature of Optima?

Pratik Mehta: It controls the “bounce” due to its mono-frame built body, which controls the vibration at very high speed. A 3up artwork in plate sleeve of as small as 300mm also doesn’t give any sort of bounce.

PRESSIdeas: What are the capabilities of the Central Drum Thermal stabilization system and PPP plate protection system?

Countries like India need this system. PPP system protects the plates when there is some sort of joint/thick unmelts on the roll, it moves the print decks to stand by position in order to protect the plates from any sort of damage.

PRESSIdeas: What makes SOMA a better suited brand for Indian customers?

Pratik Mehta: It’s technology packed in a compact size!

PRESSIdeas: What message would you like to convey to the customers and the readers?

Pratik Mehta: Central Drum Thermal

Pratik Mehta: For customers: Flexo is the future for sustainable packaging - so go for it.

(CDT) stabilization system is a unique feature which stabilizes the temperature at the optimal required level around the drum when the ambient temperatures are too high.

For Readers: Flexo is fun. If you really want to showcase your capabilities, then “FLEXO” is your answer.

Dario Urbinati is new Head of Sales at Gallus Dario Urbinati takes over as Head of Sales at Gallus, starting from 1st June 2021.

Gallus has appointed Dario Urbinati as the Head of Sales. He is a familiar face and has already worked for Gallus in his professional career, from June 2007 to August 2016 as Managing Director of the then Gallus South East Asia.

During the last few years, he has been working in leading positions within the graphic industry and chemical industry, most recently as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at the ACTEGA Metal Print GmbH in Germany.

starts working from St. Gallen, the Swiss headquarters of the Gallus Group. In his function as Head of Sales he reports as member of the management board directly to the Head of Gallus, Dr. Frank Schaum. “We are delighted that we have won Dario Urbinati for the position of Head of Sales. He knows the needs of our markets and also knows many of our customers personally. Both our customers and our sales team will benefit from his many years of sales experience and industry knowledge,” comments Dr. Frank Schaum.

Beginning 1st June 2021 Dario Urbinati

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Sustainability in Packaging Asia 2021 Veolia, GSK, CJ CheilJedang, Colgate-Palmolive, WestRock, SABIC, HAVI, Johnson & Johnson, Amcor and more confirmed to speak at Sustainability in Packaging Asia this June.

Recognised as the go-to event for the entire packaging value chain, Smithers’ Sustainability in Packaging Asia conference returns online on June 7-9, 2021 to once again ignite important discussion around the challenges, opportunities and innovations making waves across the packaging market.

Attendees to the event will access key learnings around the End Users Progress on Sustainability in Packaging, Regulatory Landscape and Initiatives for Circular Packaging, Designing Packaging for Sustainability, New Technologies & Innovations Facilitating Higher Performance/ Added Value, Innovations in Packaging Materials, and more.

Presentations include: • The importance of brave goals of a brand owner, Ted Bailey, Packaging Sustainability Manager, Asia Pacific at Colgate-Palmolive • Regulatory update for food packaging in ASEAN region, Edwin Seah, Head of Sustainability & Communications at Food Industry Asia • Loop: A sustainable alternative to disposability and driver of circular economy, Eric Kawabata, APAC General

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•

•

•

•

•

•

Manager at TerraCycle Japan Sustainable collection for plastic recycling, Xavier Jean, General Manager, Plastics Recycling at Veolia New technologies for chemical recycling, Sreepadaraj Karanam, Director, Sustainability and Circular Economy Strategy, Asia Pacific at SABIC Investing in recycling infrastructure to advance plastic circularity, Karina Cady, Operations and Investment Director at Circulate Capital Uncluttering packaging sustainability & design influence to decision making, Swaminathan SV, Senior Director Sustainability, Innovation & Packaging Development (APAC) at HAVI To overcome the difficulties of processed food packaging design for sustainability, Olivia Park, Manager of Global Packaging R&D at CJ CheilJedang Much more…

In addition to three jam-packed conference days, delegates to the conference will also be able to benefit from the insightful panel

discussions taking place on each day.

For more information on Sustainability in Packaging Asia visit: https://www. sustainability-in-packaging.com/ sustainability-in-packaging-asia.

Sponsorship and exhibition opportunities are still available.

Join UPM Specialty Papers and Smithers’ Experts in Free Webinar dated 15 June 2021 on GoToWebinar Hot Topics that will be covered in the Webinar Include: • The brand challenge: meeting consumer requirements for sustainability, performance and food safety in packaging • Meeting food safety requirements through fibre based packaging • Sustainability benefits and advantages for fibre based packaging • Co-creation across the value chain to deliver the whole package

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Digital Room doubles Highcon install New Beam 2 for folding carton installed at Van Nuys site.

Following the successful installation of a Highcon Euclid IIIC digital cutting and creasing machine at their Brook Park, OH site at the end of 2019, Digital Room has now increased production with a newly installed Beam 2 machine at their site in Van Nuys CA. For over 25 years, Digital Room has been a trusted leader in online printing. As an industry innovator, they offer a vast range of print and packaging products for dozens of branded online sites. By leveraging the latest manufacturing and e-commerce technologies Digital Room can provide high value products in whatever quantity their customers need in a delivery turnaround time as short as 24 hours.

According to Chase Cairncross, COO, Digital Room: “With the constant increase in e-commerce, customers want to be able to decide the shape, size, color and quantity of the items they need – they do not want to be limited to what they are told they can have. By using digital finishing technology, we eliminate the need for physical dies, we dramatically shorten the cycle time from order to delivery and we offer our customers unlimited design creativity, all benefits that are extremely challenging or practically

impossible using conventional finishing equipment. That is how we started using the Highcon Euclid IIIC machine for corrugated.

As our business grew, we realized the potential of extending the digital finishing revolution would allow us to expand the range of products for other categories we are able to offer our customers.”

Cairncross added, “The experience we had with the Highcon team was outstanding. We were up and running, delivering customer jobs within 4 days of the equipment arriving at our facility. In less than four months we are already operating three shifts per day.

Highcon’s consultative approach is making a significant difference in our ability to maximize the value of their digital finishing technology and accelerate our return on investment while increasing our customer satisfaction”.

Mike Ciaramella, VP Sales & GM Highcon Americas added:” Digital Room has built their business around the concept of offering customers creative products combined with ultra-fast delivery, while ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction. Today’s consumers require the flexibility, customization, and variety that Highcon systems deliver. We are proud of the confidence Digital Room has in our technology and are committed to helping them grow and succeed.”

Future Factory 2021 will be held in September with a live audience.

New dates and location for Future Factory 2021 will be announced soon.

Andrea Briganti, General Manager of ACIMGA and Federazione carta e Grafica has announced that the event scheduled for June 10-11, 2021 is postponed to September. This came from a fundamental assumption: a steady reopening of all activities for the coming months, to which Future Factory looks at with optimism, hoping to organise a physical event that can constitute a real meeting moment for the entire supply chain.

The organizers also expect to expand the target to a larger community, allowing creative agencies and marketing departments of Italian, European and international companies to join and bring their contribution, opening the dialogue scenarios.

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Freda installs intelligent UV line for high-end furniture parts Having ICAD on its first UV LED line has shown the value of full width inline UV monitoring, making ICAD a “must have” for its second line.

Lithuania-based Freda is known for its high-end furniture components. As a supplier to a global Swedish Furniture Supplier, the company recently invested in a new intelligent UV coating line to be installed shortly. It matched the unique ICAD Technology from EFSEN UV with the highend coaters and system integration from Hymmen.

Having ICAD on its first UV LED line has shown the value of full width inline UV monitoring, making ICAD a “must have” for its second line. A robust UV solution should be matched with robust application equipment, and Freda has experienced the reliability of Hymmen GmbH Maschinenund Anlagenbau machinery through years of production meeting the highest quality standards.

UV technology is often associated with high productivity and quality, something that is also greatly valued at Hymmen and EFSEN. Hymmen is a specialist in customised solutions utilising its industrial expertise, ensuring an efficient and flexible production process. The innovative UV-LED technology is the perfect match, with reduced energy consumption and higher process stability.

EFSENs ICAD® technology provides an efficient automated solution for ensuring all the thousands of UV-LED diodes in

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the line are monitored continuously. This ensures a constant UV output, a necessity for maintaining a steady, high output of topquality products.

For Freda it is important to ensure the highest possible quality of all the products it sends out to the market. Hymmen has a long reputation of manufacturing some of the best coaters and line handling systems in the world of furniture coating. Combining this line setup with the intelligent W-LED system from EFSEN that controls itself during production with inline and continuous measurement gives Freda the possibility to reliably secure the quality and curing performance of each single product. With ICAD® from EFSEN and the coating line from Hymmen, UV curing control can be taken to the next level: The system can document the curing conditions for each batch, as a proof that it has cured according to the global Swedish Furniture Supplier’s standards. Freda is currently the only producer that can offer this documentation and that is in line with the company´s strategy of being the best supplier of pigmented furniture.

Freda’s new production line ensures an outstanding flexibility concerning the sizes of production material: From single large boards to a high number of small parts that can be processed in one single batch. To ensure the reliable high surface quality it is critical to success to position and fix the small elements exactly on the transport belts – especially with the high cycle rate at a speed of 50m/min. This causes a high level of complexity in plate handling with which the Hymmen technology can cope.

With an overall length of approximately 100m the whole finishing line includes the EFSEN W-LED technology, the feeding and stacking system, portals, transports, roller coating machines and direct printing machines, as well as the process automation from Hymmen.

“We are confident that the Hymmen line with EFSENs UV will provide the optimal conditions for efficient production, pushing the boundaries of the technology,” said Audrius Cicirka – Technology and Development Manager, Freda.

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Oliver Wolff joins Bekum as Sales Director Oliver Wolff (53) has joined Bekum as Sales Director at the Traismauer location. Wolff has a degree in business administration and can look back on more than 20 years of experience in leading positions in sales, business development and marketing with special machinery manufacturers in the packaging industry. Most recently, he was a member of the management team and responsible for sales and marketing at a leading global manufacturer of plastics and packaging machinery.

Mr. Wolff will be responsible for the entire

sales division at Bekum in Berlin and Traismauer. His main responsibilites include managing strategic sales, expanding the sales organization, optimizing sales processes and structures, and expanding market presence through global digitization and marketing strategies. Regarding the new challenge, Mr. Wolff says, “Bekum has held its own in a difficult market environment and has made very positive progress in all areas over the past few years. As Head of Sales and Marketing, I have the opportunity to actively shape and develop Bekum’s further growth.”

Founded in Berlin in 1959, Bekum Maschinenfabriken GmbH is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of extrusion blow moulding machines. Founder Gottfried Mehnert conceived the name Bekum as the acronym (Berliner Kunststoff Maschinen). The Bekum Group serves approximately 100 countries around the world directly or through representatives.

Learn how to run your printing business like a Formula 1 team MPS to host virtual event: Grand Prix of Performance event on June 10th.

MPS invites the industry to join their virtual ‘Grand Prix of Performance’ event on June 10th. During this event, MPS will reveal their new vision, branding and logo. By looking beyond the machine and addressing all aspects involving the printing press, MPS enables customers to achieve the best performance and maximum return from their machine investment. To accommodate this live event for all time zones around the world, the virtual event is held in two sessions of four hours each.

Atze Bosma, CEO MPS: “With ‘Connect to Grow’ as our new brand promise, MPS enables customers to unleash the full potential from their printing presses. We are excited to share our expertise in connectivity and performance and show what Connect to Grow means to our customers.”

Pick your session!

MPS offers two event sessions to accommodate this live event for all time zones around the world: • 8 - 12 AM CET / 2 PM WAST (Asia Oceania, EMEA) • 3 - 7 PM CET / 9 AM EDT (Americas, EMEA) During the Performance Challenge, one of the event highlights, MPS will practice what they preach: running the optimal performance in producing real customer label- and packaging jobs using the pit stop strategy.

Attendees are invited to learn more about performance, connectivity, and best practices in press efficiency. Part of the event program are expert talks, including special guest former international Formula 1 driver and 24

Hours of Le Mans winner, Jan Lammers (in session 2).

To get in-depth tips & tricks from the MPS experts, visitors can choose two informative seminar sessions out of four: 1. Treating your change-over like a pit stop 2. Need for speed 3. How to calculate your Total Cost of Ownership 4. Efficiency & sustainability: lower your waste!

The entire event program and more information can be found on: https://www. mps4u.com/news/mps-grand-prix-ofperformance/ For direct registration, go to: https://insights. mps4u.com/en/grand-prix-performance

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New home for KODAK prepress technology at W&H KODAK FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution moves to its new home at the Windmöller & Hölscher Technology Center.

Renovations at the Windmöller & Hölscher (W&H) Technology Center in Lengerich, Germany, have been completed, and included moving their in-house prepress technology – a KODAK FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution from Miraclon – to a brand-new plate room for quicker and easier accessibility.

Providing a fast and solvent-free and VOCfree option to predictable, consistent and top-quality flexographic plates, the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution is used at W&H for a broad range of applications, including platemaking for press demonstrations and printing tests, as well as customer events.

“We really value our partnership with the team at W&H, who shares a similar vision

about where the flexo industry is moving to,” says Grant Blewett, Chief Commercial Officer at Miraclon. “Since the equipment has been installed in 2019, it has worked virtually uninterrupted for demonstrations and application development tests. We look forward to seeing more customers face-toface again in the near future to showcase the capabilities of FLEXCEL NX Solutions on W&H’s state-of-the-art flexo presses.”

Ulrich Harte, W&H Product Management, adds: “Our 10,000 square-meter Technology Center is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world and it’s equipped with cutting-edge technologies. We can demonstrate the entire packaging printing value chain including prepress here in one place to existing and

potential customers in a live atmosphere that is closely aligned to practical needs.

The availability of innovative technologies like Miraclon’s FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution is crucial to our ability to present high quality flexo packaging printing as an efficient endto-end process.”

SMI Coated Products installs Matho solution for waste management Weldon Celloplast installs Matho waste management systems at SMI Coated Products.

Mumbai headquartered SMI Coated Products Pvt. Ltd., a family managed company headed

by Ajay Mehta as Managing Director, India’s largest amongst the indigenous labelstock manufacturers has recently acquired three Matho waste management systems that were installed at their Ambernath unit. Rohit Mehta Director of SMI says, “We continuously strive to invest in sustainable, clean room manufacturing and environmentally conscious practices. Installation of Matho waste management systems is a step in that direction.”

SMI that was setup in Daman in 1993 on a 750 square meter industrial plot, is now operating out of 25000 square meter plot with 13000 square meter shopfloor converting 1350 tons per month of paper with seven coaters and producing 100 million square meters of labelstock per annum. SMI is exporting to 22 countries and have setup a slitting cum distribution company in Jebelali Dubai UAE. In an evolving current scenario, the labels industry is more concerned than ever with having a cleaner and green workplace.

Environmentally and socially responsible

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manufacturers of self-adhesive label material or converters of labels simply do not wish to dump their production waste as garbage, in open or covered spaces. The slitting trims or matrix waste which has tacky adhesive on it and is voluminous is waste that attracts dust and bacteria so is a health a hazard and also occupies expensive space that can be used for productive purposes.

German manufacturers Matho offers waste management systems to extract the trims and matrix by suction from the slitting machine or die-cutting station to transport it the main equipment to shred the selfadhesive waste without letting it stick to the sides and clogging the pipes and further blow it on to either collection bags in highly reduced space or compact it for easy disposal.

MATHO Konstruktion & Maschinenbau GmbH manufacturs granulators and waste extraction systems for the packaging, converting, and labels industry.

Headquartered in Ellwangen, Germany, and with more than 25 years of experience the company focuses on the entire waste handling process. This focus includes the project planning, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of waste extraction systems.

The sale of these Matho systems has been handled by Matho’s exclusive agents in India Weldon Celloplast. Commenting on this sale, Kanwardeep Sahni (KD) Managing Director of Weldon says, “SMI is an industry leader who is demanding and opting for the best.

It is a prestigious sale for us to have been preferred by industry stalwart Ajay Mehta.”

pressideas/ plc

Siegwerk and Idealliance partner - to offer G7 Training & Certification to Printing Converters and Brands worldwide.

Siegwerk is a global provider of printing inks and coatings for packaging applications and labels. Idealliance is a transformational industry association providing global standardization, training, and certification programs for the printing and packaging supply chain. Siegwerk and Idealliance have recently entered into a partnership.

Within this collaboration the two partners will co-host ‘G7 Expert Live Online Training & Certification’ courses enabling Siegwerk to directly train its customers in Idealliance’s universal calibration methodology for achieving a visual similarity across all print processes.

“Visual colour consistency across all marketing media of a brand – whether online or print – is key for a successful brand recognition,” explains Kiran Deshpande, Global Senior Expert Color Management at Siegwerk. Thereby, the control of consistent colour shades across several media channels confronts print service providers with a variety of challenges based on different printing types, substrates, process issues and corresponding varying ink requirements. “Here, a uniform colour management process based on the G7 methodology offers brand owners a proven concept to ensure an effective quality management even throughout a complex print supply chain,” adds Kiran Deshpande.

Under the new partnership, Siegwerk’s certified G7 Experts will now help to qualify leading providers of print, creative, and prepress services in the G7 methodology by offering G7 Master Qualifications through Idealliance for its customers worldwide.

printing standards and additional metrics while ensuring color consistency from proof to print for similar appearance of reprints regardless of printing specifications and materials used. It works across multiple presses, plants and locations significantly increasing consistency and efficiency in print quality offering all substantial benefits of a uniform and predictable color management process: Lower operational costs throughout the supply chain by reduced ICC profiling and re-profiling demand, reduced make-ready or press set-up times, and subsequently a reduced time-to-market for the variety of printed deliverables within a marketing campaign.

the G7 method serves as a foundation for precise colour management. “Being able now to offer our customers the Idealliance’s training programs, supported by Siegwerk’s own certified G7 Experts is a key milestone for us to further widen our global colour management strategy called COLORWERK,” explains Kiran Deshpande, Global Senior Expert Color Management at Siegwerk.

COLORWERK is one of the company’s Process Management and Consulting services with which Siegwerk supports customers in increasing transparency, improving productivity, and realizing cost savings to secure their long-term sustainable company development.

“Brand owners care about print quality more than ever before and are asking print partners to utilize standards to achieve visual brand continuity across entire global packaging supply chains,” said Mike Grady, Vice President of Global Partnerships at Idealliance. “G7 Experts and the team at Siegwerk play a critical role helping print suppliers simplify workflow processes, save time and meet the needs of global print quality programs through G7 Master Qualification.” Going forward, Siegwerk will offer two sets of Idealliance G7 Certification programs targeting individuals and manufacturing plants both applied to all ink series from Siegwerk’s business units including Flexible Packaging, Sheetfed and Narrow Web.

Interested in becoming a G7 Expert or G7 Professional? Then register now for the next G7 Live Online Training hosted by Idealliance in collaboration with Siegwerk!

Siegwerk aims to support standards-based colour management to enable customers to deliver reliably high-impact printed packaging for optimal cost ratio. Here,

Gain instructor led hands-on training and join Dr. Kiran Deshpande, G7 Expert Trainer and Global Color Expert for the next online training. Learn how to analyze colo and print-related issues and take corrective action to bring systems and processes in control to a set method, standard or specification with repeatable, predictable results using G7. The multi-day training focuses on G7 based print and packaging applications, and G7 integration, maintenance, and process control across all print and proofing applications. The sessions are held in English and open to registrants from all over the world.

The G7 methodology is Idealliance’s global industry-leading set of specifications for CMYK printing process for ensuring a common visual appearance in all printed elements across multiple devices and facilities. Thereby, G7 is not a colour management system, it rather is a universal calibration methodology that can be used to adjust any press or printing system to a common neutral appearance, regardless of inks, substrate, or printing technology. As calibration methodology for CMYK printing processes, G7 allows to implement ISO

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signage printing

Media Graph expands client base with EFI VUTEk h5 Media Graph’s new EFI VUTEk h5 Printer opens a world of opportunities and creativity.

The recent investment in a new EFI VUTEk h5 UV LED hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll printer from Electronics For Imaging will help Montrealbased Media Graph expand its client base, “opening up the possibility to offer clients a whole new range of products and solutions in retail, hospitality, and office space,” according to Media Graph President David Sellam.

comprehensive range of lightbox and display graphics offerings in a recovering economy.

Like many businesses across the globe, Media Graph has had to make some adjustments during the coronavirus pandemic. But that hasn’t stopped the 26-year-old print and display company from keeping its mission to “always push the boundaries of innovation and maintain the highest quality equipment on the market.”

“The advantages we bring to the market are based on a few elements, including our inhouse capabilities as a print shop, metal shop, and lighting division, which is very unique here,” he added. “So we can combine and provide for our clients a onestop shop and quality control in managing and distributing complete campaigns.”

Adding the advanced, 126-inch wide highvolume production printer for premiumquality display graphics addresses a number of key applications. The company specializes in high-end digital printing, along with fabric frames, surface lighting, and light boxes with a large client base of retail and architecture companies. With an eye to the future, Media Graph President David Sellam planned a year ago to expand and began researching UV and UV LED print solutions that would have the potential to help the company grow its client base.

Media Graph’s capabilities with the VUTEk h5 stand out locally, as the company is one of the first few businesses in Quebec to adopt this advanced superwide-format digital print production platform.

With the new hybrid print solution installed, Media Graph is preparing to take advantage of future opportunities, leveraging its

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“When the pandemic hit, we believed there would be fewer competitors down the road, which is sad, but a fact,” said Sellam. “But we are a strong company that has different divisions and will survive this and be ready for the day after.

The printer’s “cool cure” UV LED technology cures prints at lower temperatures, giving Media Graph the ability to run thin or challenging substrates that cannot withstand the heat required in UV or latex printing. The lower-temperature curing also translates into lower energy costs compared with similar UV and latex printers.

According to Sellam, the versatility possible with the printer’s UV LED inkjet imaging was

a key motivating factor. “The printer can print on almost any substrate, so it really can take us to different domains,” he said.

“Because we deal with architects, they can lead us to any kind of request and solutions that their clients might require. Interior design applications are endless.”

“We did a survey among our clients to see what they use,” Sellam added. “Substrates like Sintra, different kinds of cardboard, adhesive vinyl, plexiglass – all of those will be part of the samples we create on the new printer.”

Media Graph team members have also contacted major substrate manufacturers with whom they would like to partner.

Currently, the company is designing new branding and marketing materials as Media Graph speaks with new and existing clients about the expanded capabilities the new printer delivers.

The EFI VUTEk h5 printer provides superior efficiency and quality in eight colors plus white, and up to nine-layer print capability.

With a resolution of up to 1,200 dots per inch, the printer’s eight ink channels can be employed in a faster CMYK x 2 mode capable of producing up to 109 boards per hour. Media Graph’s printer runs with an EFI Fiery proServer digital front end, combining faster RIPing with enhanced color management and screening features.

pressideas/ signage

Kornit’s Atlas MAX takes on-demand production to new heights The company’s recently launched system raises the bar for high-volume fashion and retail production.

The fashion and retail market has never been more demanding, with customers presenting detailed requirements to brands and fulfillers.

• Quality: The fabric, color match, and print durability must be consistently excellent.

• Durability: Fabrics and prints must remain vibrant despite weather conditions and multiple laundries.

• Service: On-demand consumerism and supply chain shifts demand quick response and production.

• Creativity: Garments should allow consumers to stand out from the crowd and express themselves.

• Values: Brands are tested on their products and values, including fair trade and sustainability.

• Online-first: In the digital era, trends are born every minute according to the latest social media posts.

Achieving these goals at scale is no easy task, making high-volume production even more challenging.

The Atlas MAX raises the bar and boosts business growth Each and every one of these challenges was taken into consideration when designing and building the Atlas MAX. Powered by Kornit’s revolutionary new MAX Technology, the Atlas

MAX answers every ondemand production need and offers creative freedom and growth opportunities you’ve never dreamed of.

Textile printers and brands gain a new level of quality, consistency, efficiency, and uniqueness.

On the one hand, production becomes more accurate thanks to precise colour-matching capabilities, smart ActiveLoad automation, and robust production. On the other, it’s more flexible thanks to versatile design options, a wider color gamut, the use of multiple fabrics, and Kornit’s new XDi decorative applications that create never-before-seen effects of simulated embroidery, vinyl heat transfer, and other high-density prints.

Kornit’s signature sustainable approach is present in the MAX technology and the Atlas MAX. On-demand capabilities eliminate overproduction, excess inventory, and waste; Kornit’s single-step waterless procedures save energy; and finally, in addition to GOTS and OEKO TEX approvals, the company’s commitment to plant trees makes the Atlas MAX CO2-neutral.

Events Calendar Wan-Ifra Virtual Newsroom Summit

India Media Leaders eSummit 2021

Date: 08 JUN - 21 to 10 JUN - 21 Venue: Virtual

Date: 28 JUN - 21 to 30 JUN - 21 Venue: Virtual

China Print 2021

ProPak India 2021

Date: 23 JUN -21 to 27 JUN-21 Venue: New China International Exhibition Center, Beijing, China

Date: 30 SEP -21 to 02 OCT - 21 Venue: Venue:Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai

India Sign & LED Expo 2021 Date: 20 DEC -21 to 24 DEC - 21 Venue: India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, NCR Delhi

Labelexpo India

Wan-Ifra Indian Media Leaders eSummit 2021 Date: 28 JUN - 21 to 30 JUN - 21 Venue: Virtual

15th Printpack India Date: 20 DEC -21 to 24 DEC - 21 Venue: India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, NCR Delhi

Date: 16 NOV -21 to 19 NOV-21 Venue: India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR, India

Readers are required to confirm the dates of the exhibition from the organizers. This is a reader service provided by PRESSIdeas and the company cannot be held responsible for any error or omission.

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