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CONTENTS Volume 52, Number 4 Feature

15

Iron Index 2013 The heart of the Canadian printing industry remains with commercial printers rooted in offset production, even as they shift their production mix toward inkjet and toner technologies

Print

6

NEWS Ron Voigt becomes President of X-Rite, CCL Industries acquires Avery Dennison assets, and Stephen Harper turns his hockey book over to an American publisher

8

CALENDAR April 2013 Grafik’Art Montreal occupies 120,000 square feet of space, BCPIA hosts G7 in the real world, and IDEAlliance presents the Luminaires at the Pierre Hotel

10

EDUCATION RyeTAGA Innovation Students from Ryerson’s GCM program share their challenges and triumphs in producing an award-winning journal for the TAGA conference in Portland

Column

12 14

VICTORIA GAITSKELL Newborn Print Owners After a year of planning, the newly formed National Print Owners Association is ready to host its first, sold-out conference in April MARTIN HABEKOST Technically Speaking, Print is Alive and Well Innovation is still on the printing horizon according to four high-profile keynotes at the 65th annual Technical Association of the Graphic Arts conference

No one has wider choices for wide format. Produce more powerful messages on POP signage, display graphics, vehicle wraps, and more. Indoor or outdoor, rigid or flexible, only Agfa Graphics offers: t The most comprehensive portfolio– entry level to high volume industrial inkjet printers and inks t Wide format experts to help you increase productivity, streamline workflow and achieve higher profits t Environmentally-safer products– cleaner, high quality durable printing at unrivalled printing speeds

VISIT US AT ISA BOOTH #4253 Archive

42

March 1988 Wayne Gretzky passes Gordie Howe in the record books, Oliver North is indicted and Ontario trade shops form a prepress association

Contact us at: 800 540-2432 x 858 0288 www.agfagraphics.com

Resources 34 Services to the Trade Cover photo: Clive Chan

41 Marketplace MARCH 2013 • PRINTACTION • 3

PERSPECTIVE

The Graceful Hippo ne of the key advantages for PrintAction in producing the Iron Index on an annual basis is that, over a few weeks, we are afforded the opportunity to directly speak with dozens of Oprinters of all shapes and sizes across the country. The PrintAction team unanimously agrees that 2013 represented one of the most-positive series of responses from Canadian printers in a number of years. Conducting the Iron Index survey had become somewhat of a harrowing experience with printers answering their phones and emails in an understandably negative state of mind about lingering economic woes. This year’s more positive outlook within Canada’s printing market can be directly linked to a well-governed Canadian economy that has more than held its own relative to the travails of several European economies and the United States. In conjunction with these rough economic waves initiated out of the late-2008 United States banking crisis, it has likely taken the past four or five years for many Canadian printers to wean themselves off of the U.S. market, or find new avenues into it, as dictated by a long run with a strong Canadian dollar. At the beginning of March, however, the Canadian dollar fell below 97 cents U.S. for the first time in eight months, which economists tie to the softening of commodity prices, decreased retail spending and – perhaps, most alarming – an ever weakening housing market. Home sales in the Greater Vancouver area fell by 29.4 percent in February 2013 relative to the corresponding period of a year earlier, according to the city’s realtor association. The weakening dollar also acknowledges Canada’s third straight quarter of holding a current account deficit – the difference between a country’s total exports and its total imports, which has plagued the United States for a number of years now. Several economists suggest the loonie remains overvalued. The Federal government also recently released its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers for 2012, which included a very sluggish growth of just 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. This is still the best such result of all G7 countries, which prompted Douglas Porter, Chief Economist at BMO Capital Markets, to comment, “[It’s] akin to being the most graceful and lithe hippo in the zoo.” For 2012 as a whole, GDP growth in Canada reached just 1.8 percent, which Richard Blackwell of The Globe and Mail reports to be the first time in six years that Canada’s full-year numbers were lower than those of the United States. Blackwell points out that the Canadian economy grew by 2.6 percent in 2011 and by 3.2 percent in 2010. Looking out to 2013, Blackwell’s report claims several economists expect Canada’s economy to remain sluggish with an expansion of no more than 1.5 percent. The Bank of Canada’s current projection stood at two percent GDP growth for 2013. It is likely the Bank of Canada will soon raise interest rates if it takes stock in what most economists are predicting for the year ahead. Given the sluggish predictions for Canada’s economy in 2013, there is certainly a lot of work ahead for many printers facing the continuing maturation of digital communications. After successive years of a relatively stable domestic economy, and healthier results coming out of the United States, printers in Canada clearly hold a much more positive attitude about their future, which is the ultimate ingredient for success. Jon Robinson, Editor

Canada’s Graphic Communications Magazine. Proudly published for two generations. Editor Jon Robinson • 416.665.7333 ext. 30 • jon@printaction.com Associate Editor Clive Chan • 416.665.7333 ext. 25 • clive@printaction.com Contributing Writers Zac Bolan, Clint Bolte, Peter Ebner, Chris Fraser, Victoria Gaitskell, Dr. Martin Habekost, Nick Howard, Thad McIlroy, Gordon Pritchard, Josh Ramsbottom, Nicole Rycroft, Trish Witkowski Publisher Sara Young • 416.665.7333 ext. 31 • sara@printaction.com Associate Publisher Stephen Longmire • 416.665.7333 ext. 26 • stephen@printaction.com Production Manager Anders Kohler • 416.665.7333 ext. 37 • anders@printaction.com Advertising Sales Sara Young • 416.665.7333 ext. 31 • sara@printaction.com Stephen Longmire • 416.665.7333 ext. 26 • stephen@printaction.com Circulation ADPIC Subscription Services • 800.363.3261 • subscriptions@printaction.com PrintAction is published by Youngblood Publishing Limited and is Canada’s only national monthly publication serving the graphic arts industry. ISSN 1481-9287. Annual Subscriptions: Canada: $39.99 ($35.39 + $4.60 HST) United States: CN$69.99; Other Foreign: CN$139.99

Notice: PrintAction, Youngblood Publishing Limited, their staff, officers, directors and shareholders (hence known as the “Publisher”) assume no liability, obligations, or responsibility for claims arising from advertised products. The Publisher also reserves the right to limit liability for editorial errors, omissions and oversights to a printed correction in a subsequent issue.

This issue of PrintAction is printed on 80lb Sterling Premium Gloss and 70lb Velvet Text available from Unisource Canada. Youngblood Publishing Ltd. 610 Alden Rd., Suite 100, Markham, ON L3R 9Z1 Tel: 416.665.7333 • Fax: 905.752.1441 www.printaction.com Publications Mail Agreement Number 40010868 • ISSN 1481-9287 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to subscriptions@printaction.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. 4 • PRINTACTION • MARCH 2013

In today’s printing presses sheets are zipping through at ever increasing speeds. This means that as the sheets pass from one set of cylinders to another any slippage or shift will result in printing problems. Everything from slurring to doubling can result. KOMORI understands that a stable transfer is one of the keys to high quality print. Using diamonds that never wear is one of the solutions to this problem and KOMORI has it! As the totalizer increases, the wear and tear on grippers and pads show up in print problems and presents you with high maintenance costs to resolve. Not so with KOMORI! Why? It’s also in the timing. At the transfer point, each set of grippers remains closed on the sheet for a period of time and this is measured in degrees. You may be surprised to learn that most leading press manufacturers build in only one to two degrees of closed travel. KOMORI took a different approach and employ four degrees. This means that taking into account rapid opening and closing times, KOMORI gives almost four times more time for the sheet to transfer. Consider the Relay race when the baton must be passed from one runner to another. If the runners had the ability to run together for a longer period of time, wouldn’t the potential for a dropped baton decrease? Of course, it would and that’s another reason why, over the life of a KOMORI, it just keeps on giving you incredibly lower operating costs!

Tel. (905) 286-5155 Fax. (905) 821-0055 Email: info@k-north.ca Website: www.k-north.ca

PRINT NEWS CCL INDUSTRIES of Toronto, a global packaging power, primarily in the label sector, is spending around $500 million to purchase two business units of office products maker Avery Dennison Corporation. CCL Industries is acquiring Avery Dennison office and consumer products, as well as its designed and engineered solutions businesses. These Avery Dennison businesses had combined revenues of approximately $910 million in 2012. Led by President and CEO, Geoffrey Martin, CCL IndusRON VOIGT becomes President of X-Rite tries consists of three divisions: CCL Inc., the parent company of Pantone LLC, Label, CCL Container and CCL Tube with following the March 1, 2013, retirement of over 70 manufacturing facilities in North Tom Vacchiano, who takes on an advisory America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, role. Largely under Vacchiano’s leadership, Australia and Africa operated by approxiX-Rite became the world’s dominant mately 6,600 dedicated employees. player in colour imaging science and technology, first by acquiring Amazys, owners of Gretag-Macbeth, in 2006, and then Pantone in 2007. X-Rite itself was purchased in April 2012 for approximately $625 million by Danaher Corp., which is the parent company of Esko and Videojet. Today, Danaher employs over 59,000 associates working with customers in more than 125 countries. In 2011, the company generated $16.1 billion of revenue. KATHY ABUSOW, CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), announced plans to deliver up to $400,000 to support research into responsible forestry practices in 2013. This amount includes ongoing multi-year research grant commitments for projects awarded to groups like Ducks Unlimited Canada and the World Resources Institute. Ducks Unlimited Canada’s grant supports developing and testing best management practices for forestry roads on SFI ANTHONY CLARKE becomes the Director program participant managed lands that of Sales and Marketing for Mitchell Press serve to protect wetland ecosystems in the of Burnaby, British Columbia. Clarke Western Boreal Forest. Results to date first joined the company, described as the include the construction of five monitored largest commercial heat-set web facility wetland-crossing sites. A sixth wetland in Western Canada, in 2010. In June crossing is planned for 2013. 2012, Mitchell Press purchased the assets of nearby Teldon Print Media. Mitchell Press, now in its third generation of family ownership, was founded in 1928 by Howard Mitchell Sr. In 2008, the company moved from its Kitsilano facility in Vancouver, where it had operated for over 50 years, to a new, custom-built printing plant in south Burnaby. KODAK on May 1 is to end its distribution agreement with Heidelberg Canada, which will no longer resell Kodak imaging products. Kodak announced it has partnered with Spicers Canada as its national distributor. While Spicers had previously distributed Kodak plates, CTP and workflow in addition to the NexPress line, the company will now have additional access to Kodak’s inkjet printing and packaging portfolios. A Kodak statement reads: “Kodak is expanding its relationship with Spicers Canada because we believe it will support the best interests of our customers. Our top priority is helping our customers make a successful transition to purchase Kodak plates, CTP, workflow, and other leading solutions from Spicers.” 6 • PRINTACTION • MARCH 2013

FLASH REPRODUCTIONS and Unisource Canada partnered to launch Wayward Arts magazine, a new publication to highlight Canadian design studios, which was celebrated at the Revival Bar and Lounge in Toronto by Rich and Carl Pauptit of Flash Reproductions with Dave Jackson and Tom Deighton of Unisource. The first issue of Wayward Arts features work by Typotherapy, a boutique design studio founded in Toronto by Creative Director Noël Nanton. Each month, a different award-winning Canadian studio is given access to paper and print craftsmanship to produce the magazine of their dreams.

ND GRAPHICS with nine stocking locations across Canada, entered into new distribution agreements with Seiko Instruments USA Inc., which primarily develops printing systems for the signage sector, and FiberMark, a manufacturer of specialty cellulose and synthetic fibrebased printing medias. The distribution partnership with FiberMark is an exclusive Canadian master agreement. ND Graphics was formed in the Toronto area in 1981 to focus on the large-format sigPETER LI, VP of Operations for Sing Tao nage market. Today, the company also Daily, Canadian eastern edition, oversaw has Canadian branches in Dartmouth, the installation of a new six-tower Goss Montreal, Ottawa, London, Winnipeg, Community press. The operation, which Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. recently moved into a new printing plant in Markham, Ontario, is controlled by Sing Tao News Corp. Founded in 1978, Sing Tao Daily is described as the largest Chineselanguage daily newspaper in Canada. Its new press is to consist of six four-high towers and two folders for printing the Toronto daily editions, as well as five weekly supplements and two independent weekly magazines. Comprising five broadsheet sections for each daily edition, the main eastern edition achieves readership figures in the region of 200,000 copies per issue.

MARI ELIA becomes an Account Executive with Prime Imaging, which primarily focuses on large-format and commercial printing markets. With over a decade of professional experience within distribution, supply chain, manufacturing and retail industries, Elia is described by Scott Currie, owner and Managing Director of Prime Imaging, as having a deep understanding of print project management – “a perfect fit for our company culture.” Now celebrating its 30th year of operation, Prime Imaging is housed in a 12,000square-foot facility in Toronto’s east end.

STEPHEN HARPER, Prime Minster of Canada, is to have his book about hockey history published in the United States because of what a report by The Globe and Mail refers to as “prohibitions embedded in the government’s own cultural policy.” Publishing of the book was awarded to U.S.-based Simon & Schuster because of its willingness to distribute throughout North America. The current Investment Canada Act forbids foreign companies from publishing books in Canada alone, but allows them to distribute here if the book is actually published outside of Canada. The book is to be released in November, with author royalties going to Military Families Fund of the Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support Services. IPEX 2014 organizers, Informa Exhibitions, in response to numerous companies pulling out of the United Kingdom trade show, have cut the exhibition by two days and reduced the show floor size from 100,000 m2 to 60,000 m2. Most recently, Kodak, Komori and Roland DGM announced they would not participate, joining earlier withdrawals by key technology suppliers like Agfa, Heidelberg, HP and Xerox.

READER’S DIGEST’s parent company RDA Holding Co. filed for bankruptcy on Monday after struggling to contain its $465 million debt. This is the second time in less than four years it has done so. The company says the filing will allow it to cut its debt and keep restructuring. RDA Holding ONLINE PRINT DECOR of Toronto pur- aims to emerge from Chapter 11 within six chased an Agfa :Anapurna 2540FB, which months. RDA Holdings publishes 75 pubwas celebrated by Agfa’s George Henry lications around the world, including with Online Print Decor’s Ray Garcia and 49 editions of Reader’s Digest. In 2011, President Timothy Faught. The six- the company generated $1.38 billion in colour UV device with an independent revenues. In Canada, it publishes Reader’s white ink channel is built on what Agfa Digest Canada, Our Canada and most refers to as a true flatbed architecture. recently announced, Taste of Home Canada.

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sauga company and operates out of an 11,000-square-foot plant. It is described by RP Graphics as a single-source supplier for a range of large format inkjet and point of purchase applications. In December 2012, RP Graphics purchased all outstanding shares of Data in Motion Marketing, a variable data imaging and specialty finishing company. That acquisition added significant capacity for RP Graphics to manage and process direct-mail work. TED MARKLE becomes President of TC Media, which employs around 4,000 people and in 2012 generated $712 million in revenues for the Montreal-based TC Transcontinental Corporation. Markle joined Transcontinental in 1999 and since 2011 served as Senior Vice President, Content Solutions, for TC Media.

IAN CAMPBELL, owner of a Kwik Kopy franchise in Toronto, added a new Morgana DigiFold PRO and Matrix-370 laminator, purchased from Sydney Stone. The DigiFold PRO, using a crease matrix and flying knife-fold technology, is designed to overcome the difficulties of cracking toner when folding full-cover brochures.

BRAD NOEL, a 17-year veteran of the graphic arts industry, has joined Unisource in its Wide Format segment as Sales Manager for the Eastern region of Canada. He most recently served as a sales executive with Proveer. “We are happy to have Brad Noel on our team. His experience and his passion for what he does make him great for this role,” said Angela Olsen, Director of Sales at Unisource Canada.

FUJIFILM opened its new inkjet ink manufacturing facility located at its existing plant in Broadstairs, United Kingdom. The new ink facility has been in the works for two years with an investment of over €4 million, as well as an additional €2.5 million invested to upgrade the R&D department. More than 340 MARC FORTIER, President of RP Graphics employees work at the Fujifilm Broadin Mississauga, led the acquisition of stairs site and today more than 80 percent Canadian Impact Imaging Corporation to of them are involved in inkjet ink R&D expand the company’s presence in large- and manufacturing. All of Fujifilm’s format production. Founded in 1998, inkjet ink supplies sold in the Canadian Canadian Impact Imaging is also a Missis- market come from this facility.

SFI Certification for Healthy Forests and Strong Rural Communities For more information: http://www.sfiprogram.org

MARCH 2013 • PRINTACTION • 7

PRINT CALENDAR The Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue in New York opened in 1930, precisely at the lowest point of the Great Depression. Though it cost $15 million to construct, it went bankrupt in 1932 and was sold in 1938 for $2.5 million and later turned into cooperative apartments. Its residents over the years included Elizabeth Taylor and Yves St. Laurent. In 2009, the hotel underwent an 18-month, $100 million renovation.

APRIL 4

More than 550 exhibitors will be on hand at the 2013 ISA Sign Expo, held in Las Vegas. The show, expecting over 18,000 attendees, will also have more than 40 education sessions ranging from digital signage to sales and marketing. $40 (Education sessions extra)

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Now in its 24th year, the Printing Industries of America presents its Continuous Improvement Conference with the theme of Driving Organization Excellence. Attendees will learn the latest concepts in lean manufacturing to reduce costs, drive down waste and increase profit. $1,295

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The Binding Industries Association Annual Conference will feature tours of three major binding operations in the Indianapolis area: D.E. Baugh, Eckhart & Co., and Rosee Gage. The conference will present strategies both on and off the production floor as well as induct two new members to the BIA Hall of Fame. $950

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The International Converting Exhibition, a biannual show touted as North America’s leading exhibition for converting machinery, is held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The show features over 300 exhibitors and has technical conference presentations by converting trade organizations. $79

15

IDEAlliance presents the 2013 Luminaire Awards at The Pierre Hotel in New York, an event to recognize individuals whose spirit, creativity, commitment and inspiration have led to the transformation of the industry. The awards will also raise funds to assist the next generation of graphic communications members. $425

16

Xplor presents its annual user conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, with a theme of Breakthrough ’13. The event will feature more than 60 sessions covering best practices, case studies and solutions about print, Web, social media and mobile as well as presentations from 34 industry vendors. $1,795

8 • PRINTACTION • MARCH 2013

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The BCPIA presents certified G7 Experts Ernst Vegt, John Rodgers and Guy DuHamel in a discussion titled G7 in the Real World. The seminar, presented in Burnaby, will focus on actual G7 experiences “from the trenches” while outlining how colour management impacts a printer’s bottom line. $70

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Now entering its seventh iteration, the Grafik’Art Montreal trade show will feature 120,000 square feet of show space covering all aspects of print production. According to event organizers, the show fills a need in the Quebec printing industry, a sector which employs over 32,000 people. $10

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PRINT EDUCATION MARKETING & FuNDRAISING

RyeTAGA Innovation welve students from Ryerson University’s Graphic Communications Management (GCM) program in early February travelled to Portland, Oregon, to participate in the 65th annual conference hosted by the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA). Accompanied by professor Dr. Martin Habekost, the group of enterprising students, collectively working within the RyeTAGA initiative, presented their technical journal featuring four research topics: Colour consistency in flexographic substrates and inks, reproduction of spot colours on

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varying substrates, potential impact of ink metering rollers on anilox, and the viability of latex inks in packaging. PrintAction magazine asked the RyeTAGA team to describe the development of their journal, which TAGA judges awarded for Best Publication Design, and the hundreds of hours they dedicated to its production. (Please see Dr. Habekost’s TAGA report on page 14, where he discusses four key technical presentations from the conference.)

This year, RyeTAGA focused on promotion through social media channels like the dedicated RyeTAGA Website, Twitter (@RyeTAGA) and Facebook (facebook.com/RyeTAGA). In order to support our journal production efforts, RyeTAGA put together a promotional swatch-book calendar, as well as hosting and participating in many different events. Some of these events included: pub night fundraisers, holiday events and charitable initiatives like Toronto’s CIBC Run for the Cure. These events allowed our student chapter to take advantage of invaluable support, expertise and learning opportunities available to us from students, faculty, and industry.

Photo courtesy of John Bodnar.

TAGA CONFERENCE

– Sommer Johnson, Marketing Director, and Alina Esmatyar, Fundraising Director

TAGA’s 65th Annual Technical Conference was the pinnacle of our year as a RyeTAGA team. Everything we have been working on since last April came together in Portland, Oregon. As a group of 12 students, we travelled together from Toronto to arrive in Portland on February 2. Our treasured journals traveled alongside us in cardboard boxes, marked FRAGILE, to present to the TAGA judges, student chapters, and TAGA members. Portland is a beautiful city with many unique qualities, and was a great location for our technical conference. Professionals and industry members presented research on topics such as colour, print processes, packaging, paper, ink and print evaluation. The conference ended February 6 and we brought home with us the award for Best Publication Design. With this educational experience now past, we have a greater respect for the graphic arts industry and look forward to contributing to the field in our future.

Members from the RyeTAGA team in Portland, Oregon at the 65th Annual TAGA Conference.

– Steph Murray, Finance Director

TOURING NORPAC On our final day of the TAGA conference we were given the opportunity to attend a plant tour at the North Pacific Paper Corporation (NORPAC) in Longview, Washington. Several RyeTAGA members joined in and learned how the plant produces newsprint, uncoated printing and publishing papers. We learned that NORPAC’s three paper machines use pulp consisting of residual wood chips received from sawmills and recycled newspapers. We started our tour with the newest paper machine at the headbox where the pulp slurry is sprayed onto screens. As we walked along the process, we were able to see the paper dry and roll up onto a reel weighing approximately 30 tonnes. The paper is then slit into smaller roles and transported by conveyors to be wrapped. To bring the tour to a close we saw the remaining two machines and a paper machine operator’s office. – Emily House, General Member

THE2013 JOURNAL

Our journal was designed as a 10 x 8-inch landscape book and perfect bound on the short edge at RP Graphics, using a Heidelberg Quickbinder. This allowed the spreads to have larger margins and easier readability, which resulted in greater tolerances for printing, folding and binding. The content pages of the journal were printed in-house using Ryerson’s Xerox Docucolor 7000 press – around 15 hours of press time. The 4-page signatures were folded on our Stahl folder for binding. A challenging aspect during this stage of production was to overcome low humidity and high static when folding due to the toner printing process, including paper jams and difficulty in jogging.

Text pages: Williamsburg 70lb offset smooth Cover: Neenah Paper 80lb cover: Red Eggshell finish Binder’s board: Zebra Paper converters 100 pt binders’ board black

– Alyzza Szeto, Production and Editorial Director

RYETAGA SPONSORS Without the support of our industry sponsors, the production of this journal would not have been possible. The following organizations played a large part in the success of yeTAGA and we are continuously grateful to them: • The Craftsmen’s Club of Toronto, • Fujifilm Canada, • Ryerson University (GCM), • P-FACS, • RP Graphics Group, • PNH Solutions, • Kallima Paper, • Don Black Linecasting, and • Emotional Photons. RyeTAGA is always looking for new sponsors to connect with. Our sponsors provide us with financial support as well as production capabilities. If your company is interested please do not hesitate to contact us through www.RyeTAGA.com.

ted our journal to VER This year weandwanweig O C L ht of a hard cover. A feel I the have SPEC casting, Line k With a lead die casted at Don Blac

binder’s board. Working we individually hand debossed each many challenges for the with the binder’s board presented sure applied to the pres h muc team. When there was too We overcame this ils. deta fine the in k crac ld wou board, it d to soften the fibres boar the ng peni problem by slightly dam d, however, it would before debossing. As the board drie oss became less deb the and e expand to its original stat the team used white e, leng chal this e com over To . apparent and inked it across kit k kpee Quic a opaque offset ink with d was then glued boar the deboss for the final affect. The adhesive, to y spra a g usin k stoc r onto the red cove ensure full and even coverage.

RYETAGA RESEARCH TOPICS FOR 2013

– Trung Nguyen and Mark Brejnik, Co-Presidents

Topic 1: Colour consistency between flexographic substrates and inks Many companies use brand recognition through a variety of different marketing materials such as the metal cans a soda is held in, the paperboard packaging, the plastic labels that wrap around bottles, or in-store displays, just to name a few. It is imperative that all colours used to identify the company or products are consistent on all printed materials from brochures to product labels. However, not all substrates reproduce colour the same way. Likewise, the method used to achieve proper colour varies depending on the substrate being used. This test determines the ways in which the printing industry maintains colour consistency across a wide variety of unique substrates.

Topic 2: Proof-a-cola Consistent branding and brand recognition is important for any company, locally or globally. Coke, the subject of our research project, is one of the most renowned brands in the world, relying heavily on its infamous red colour to be recognized amongst numerous competitors. From boxes to bottles to cans, “Coke Red” is always consistent as Coca-Cola invests millions of dollars to build and sustain their brand. To this point, inconsistency can be very costly for the company, both financially and in the marketplace. Through testing we can deduct which substrates are the most difficult and which are the most accurate when reproducing colour. By using Coca-Cola Red, this test compares the consistency of their brands not only across varying substrates, but across geographical borders as well.

Topic 3: Are latex inks ready for the packaging industry? This test identifies the strengths and weaknesses of latex ink in a number of diverse situations. Along with testing the performance of latex inks, we are testing how well Xerox and HP printed samples will perform. In order to reach a conclusive decision on how well the latex inks have bonded to the substrate, we must compare the results to other methods of printing. The properties that have been measured are: rub resistance, how well the ink bonds to the substrate and water resistance. By comparing the results, we are able to make a decision on whether or not latex inks have a place in the packaging industry.

Topic 4: Apex’s GTT Ink Metering Rollers Anilox rollers play an integral part in the quality of a printed image. They are designed to control the volume of ink that is transferred from the fountain roller to the plate during flexographic printing. This test was conducted to determine whether a printed output on a narrow-web Comco Cadet flexographic press, when using channeled Genetic Transfer Technology (GTT) ink metering rollers, would result in reduced dot gain in detailed halftones and increased solid densities. The results are compared to a printed output using traditional 60º hexagonal cell anilox rollers. Related tests may include run-length (roller longevity), ink volume savings, solvent volume savings and cleanup time.

MARCH 2013 • PRINTACTION • 11

VICTORIA GAITSKELL

Newborn Print Owners Three-month-old National Print Owners Association holds sold-out conference in April n January 2, 2013, over 30,000 owners of small independent commercial printing companies, mostly in the United States, received an e-mail inviting them to join a brand new trade association, the National Print Owners Association (NPOA) Inc. The e-mail explained that over the preceding four months, 19 printers like themselves had founded NPOA to meet their own business needs, after many of them had become frustrated by the failure of existing associations to understand and serve their sector of the industry. Often referred to as quick printers in the past, this large subgroup consists of companies with annual sales roughly in the range of $500,000 to $3 million. The e-mail added that not only had NPOA already set up a Website that was growing its content almost daily and already acquired numerous members since its offcial introduction on December 21, 2012 on the popular PrintOwners list server. The new association has also already scheduled its first Owner’s Conference in New Orleans from April 19 to 21, 2013. Besides being impressed by such quick work in setting up the NPOA, I was curious to know more for several reasons. One primary reason is that, from 1999 to 2004, I managed the Ontario Association of Quick Printers (OAQP), the Canadian chapter of the U.S.based National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP, founded 1975). The OAQP seems to have lapsed into complete inactivity since my departure and the NAQP responded to the general decline in association memberships over the past two decades by merging in 2005 with the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), a larger U.S. trade association for management education and research. This history reinforces a second reason for my curiosity: NPOA was founded at a stage when the goal of most trade associations is not independent growth but consolidation. Two further cases in point are the 2012 merger of the Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC) with the Canadian Printing Industries Association (CPIA), and the recently discontinued merger talks between NAPL and Printing Industries of America (PIA). Of course the current size and structure of the PIA is the result of an earlier merger with

O

12 • PRINTACTION • MARCH 2013

Jace Prejean

John Henry

the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation in 1999. A third reason for my curiosity is that, although the founding of NPOA raised considerable controversy in the United States’ trade press, thus far media interviews with the founders about their motives seem to be in short supply. So with many questions begging to be answered, I spoke separately to three of NPOA’s most-active founders to uncover the reasons and events behind NPOA’s sudden rise. They are: Jace Prejean, Owner of Bayou Printing & Graphics in Houma, Louisiana, who is the new association’s President; John Henry, Owner of Mitchell Printing & Mailing in Oswego, New York, NPOA’s Treasurer; and Scott Cappel, Owner of Sorrento Mesa Printing in San Diego, California, one of NPOA’s three Conference Co-chairs, who also manages one of NPOA’s communications forums, an open LinkedIn discussion group that attracted 320 members in its first six weeks of operation. Successful printers

At age 12, Prejean started sweeping floors at a printing company and has never left the business. Straight out of high school, he went to work for a printing company for nine years, then in 1983 he opened Bayou Printing & Graphics Inc. with one small offset Chief 17 press in a 24 x 30-foot building in his backyard. From there his business has gradually expanded into a little bit of everything, including direct mail and wide format. (He also currently owns Dooley’s Neighborhood Bar in Houma, an hour outside New Orleans.) Henry’s grandfather, Wier (W.P.) Mitchell, started Mitchell Printing as a letterpress operation in 1930. Henry has worked there since his student days at Rochester Institute of Technology. The business now employs nine people, including Henry and his wife, doing general commercial printing and mailing, with emphasis on certain niches, including health care, hospitals, and colleges. Five years ago, Henry merged Mitchell’s Speedway Press into his company after purchasing it from the Caruso brothers, who besides being printers were owners of Oswego’s automobile racetrack and printed for racetracks around the country. Speedway now generates about a third of Henry’s profits, and he travels the racing circuit with his son and staff mem-

Scott Cappel

bers on weekends between March and October. During university, Cappel ran presses and sold printing until he graduated with a Bachelors degree in chemistry. He worked in the science field for three years, then started Sorrento Mesa Printing in partnership with a printing colleague, whom he bought out six months later. His company now consists of five highly seasoned staff, an advanced workflow-management-integration system, and colour-managed toner and offset production. They do B2B work for a carefully selected clientele of corporations based mostly in the San Diego area, with a number of these accounts served nationally, many in biotechnology and biomedical fields. “Niche business is where the opportunities for printing companies are these days, and the Internet has enabled us to develop corporate-branded portals that transformed us from a vendor into a strategic extension of our clients’ operation,” says Cappel. From at least the 1990s until the NAPL/NAQP merger, Prejean, Henry, and Cappel were all active members and committee and/or board members of NAQP. Additionally, through NAQP’s annual owners’ conferences and various dedicated list servers they met and forged close-knit friendships with many other small business owners from whose number NPOA’s 19 founders emerged. Regardless of whether or not they have maintained their memberships in NAPL/NAQP, all 19 founders maintain frequent contact and mutual support for each other via phone, e-mail, list servers, and social media. “Almost to a person, NPOA’s founders all very successful printers, tested by time, with many years and changes under our belt. It’s a savvy bunch,” says Cappel. “Nineteen busy people wouldn’t be wasting time on NPOA if we didn’t think there was value in it.” A small get-together

Prejean describes how NPOA started with his original suggestion to hold a small, casual gathering: “Around last September I called John Henry and said, ‘Why don’t we get together in the spring in New Orleans with maybe half a dozen of our other good friends with successful shops to exchange ideas and share some social Continued on page 36

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MARTIN HABEKOST

Highlights from the 65th annual Technical Association of the Graphic Arts conference

Prototype of a flexo printed LED light from Nth degree. Through an additional yellow layer the colour of the light will change to white.

he Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA) celebrated its 65th anniversary in Portland, Oregon, the site of its annual conference from February 3 to 6. The conference, arguably North America’s most important event focusing on technical issues in printing, traditionally opens with four keynote presentations. This year, TAGA brought in two researchers and two top industry speakers who captivated the audience. More than anything, these four speakers, including Dr. Martin Schmitt-Leven from Heidelberg, Professor Fritz Bircher from the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Gilad Tzori from Landa Digital Printing, and Dr. Bill Ray of Nth degree technologies, illustrated that print is alive and well from a technological perspective. The four speakers showed there is still a great deal of innovation being pushed into the printing industry.

T

Capacitive inks

Dr. Martin Schmitt-Leven from Heidelberg, Germany, presented the first keynote of the TAGA conference, focusing on new applications for print. He spoke about offset printing, but also a combination of offset printing and other print processes. This can happen in-line, for example, with a combination of flexo and offset print units. Together with in-line cold foiling, many special effects can be applied to paper with just one pass through the press. Schmitt-Leven was also responsible for the innovation gallery that Heidelberg showcased this past May at the drupa 2012 tradeshow in Germany. Examples of effect-varnishing and various coating techniques were shown at drupa and were also presented to the conference attendees. Raised coating, printed on an offset press, was shown as a possibility to achieve a more appealing printed product. An example of capacitive ink was demonstrated, which was able to interact with an iPad or iPhone. 14 • PRINTACTION • MARCH 2013

How does this work? The capacitive ink is printed onto a piece of cardboard, which is later cut to the size of a business card. A special app (touchcode) needs to be loaded on the device, so it can read the interactive printed ID card. Another example shown was a film-based lighting element. The lighting can be achieved either by electroluminescence or printed OLED (organic LEDs). These elements can be applied to folding cartons for example. The main point from the presenter is that print can be used for so many more applications, and that modern printing machines can be profitable even for short runs. More information about these topics can be found online within Heidelberg’s press lounge. Future inkjet

The second keynote presentation came from by Professor Fritz Bircher of the Printing Competence Center at the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Fribourg. His topic concentrated on printing beyond the standard inkjet applications. Bircher opened his keynote by pointing out how inkjet technology is getting faster and faster and that it will reach offset quality sooner than expected. One of the excellent developments is the Stream inkjet technology used in Kodak Prosper presses. With inkjet we will go from print-on-demand to produce-on-demand, Bircher explained, which will see an individualization of products. Inkjet can and will be used for dispensing of materials in the life science area, such as inkjetting skin and skin growth factors for burn victims. Professor Bircher said that ceramic printing with inkjet has a market share of 50 percent, while textile printing with inkjet technology holds a five percent share and printed electronics is still in its infancy. Bircher also spoke about laser sonic printing, which allows for nozzle-free inkjet printing and also the inkjetting of larger particles and of materials with a higher

viscosity. He showed examples of printing on the street with a latex type material. Two models of street printers were shown in pictures and video. The second model was a GPS controlled system that could help decorate a parking lot with much human intervention. Professor Bircher also spoke about the inflight mixing of two components that have been inkjetted, much in the way that two separate components of epoxy glue are jetted at each other in order for both droplets to mix and form the active glue. Research is being conducted to find out what is the optimal angle to shoot these droplets at each other to achieve proper mixing. Inkjet type printing is possible with material having a temperature of around 1,400°C. This technology is used to jet gold or silver and, therefore, can produce highly conductive tracks. The most unusual jetting technology presented by Bircher was used to jet grains of flower seeds. Since seeds do not have a uniform size and shape, the maximum particle size of 20 microns limited the type of flower seeds that could be used. The FlowerJet, as professor Bircher called this technology, was used to create an image on a meadow, that will develop after flowers start growing and bloom. Landa reproduction

The third keynote was provided by Gilad Tzori of Landa Digital Printing. Conference attendees who did not attend drupa 2012 received an overview of how the company’s nanography printing process differs from conventional inkjet printing technologies. This includes how nanography uses inkjet-type water-based inks, but yet the ink does not soak the paper with water so the sheet does not come out wavy at the end of the press. Many have experienced this wavy-sheet problem when they print a sheet of paper with heavy coverage on their home or office inkjet printer. The nanography Continued on page 40

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