Australian Printer November 2022

LEADING THE INDUSTRY FOR OVER 70 YEARS IN PRINT | SPRINTER.COM.AU

Women in Print: Julia Van Der Sommen People in Print: Romeo Sanuri AP’s extensive review of Printing United 2022 The key role of consumables in print

Please pass on our thanks to the team for the quality and service for both prints this week. Arrived on time and in good shape which is a pleasant change from some of the jobs we have received from other places.

Kevin

Thank you for having this order completed so promptly, the print quality is faultless and the blind shipping is very much appreciated

Donna

Great job on the books - client is stoked! Thanks again for suggesting the extra laminate -it really made a huge difference! Appreciate it!

James

I just wanted to say thank you for rushing those 2 banners through for me, I really appreciate how quickly you made that happen, pretty amazing service.

Kelly

The postcards were delivered to them this morning and the client is impressed bordering on disbelief. Not sure exactly how you and the team did it all so fast but thank you.

Tom

Loving the magnetic boxes the velvet cards come in, a great way to present the card to the client.

Sarah

o ^Queen

‘CUSTOMER IS KING AT HERO PRINT’ ...AND

IT SHOWS

GAINING RESULTS WITH PREMIUM CONSUMABLES: How Ball & Doggett delivers consistent, repeatable results

KEEPING PRODUCT RANGES RELEVANT IN CONSUMABLES: Currie Group addresses how consumables can be worked to their optimum

It has been way too long since the industry gathered, and this year was the first time since COVID where people could get together face-to-face at trade events on a global scale. Taking advantage of the opportunities that events present, many manufacturers and printers alike have travelled to these tradeshows, of which Printing United in Las Vegas was the most recent.

Printing United saw tens of thousands of attendees who share common interests, goals, and challenges convene. It was an opportunity for them to create new relationships, see new products and network with industry experts.

With over a million square feet of equipment, technology, and trends on display, attendees discovered new products and innovations to fit their business and customer needs.

This issue of Australian Printer takes a deep dive into the technologies that were on show and the potential that they present to users. Next year also promises plenty of trade events, and we look forward to seeing you there. Until then, happy holidays!

Print-related roles excluded from latest skills shortage list

By Sheree Young

The 2022 workforce update from the soonto-be-disbanded National Skills Commission has again left several print-related occupations out of the Skills Priority List with print finishing and screen printing the only print industry occupations listed as being in a worker shortage.

The Real Media Collective & The Print & Visual Communication Association are looking to change this with GM – Policy, IR and Governance Charles Watson saying the methodology used to determine what occupations are experiencing a worker shortage was not consultative enough.

Watson said the TRMC/PVCA will meet with Jobs and Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor in November to voice the industry’s concerns on vocational training and apprentice support for print. The association will also press for more consultation with the new body, Jobs and Skills Australia, which has been named to replace the National Skills Commission.

“It’s something we are not happy with and we have not been happy with the government’s response to our overtures and submissions,” Watson said of the print-related occupations being left out of the skills list.

“The National Skills Commission is going to be replaced by Jobs and Skills Australia and we are hoping to be working a lot more closely with them. We’ve been critical about the methodology that the National Skills Commission used to determine which skills are in demand. To my way of thinking, it utilised jobs that were advertised online and that isn’t the best way of finding out what is in need.

“We are going to be sitting down with Minister O’Connor in November to try and put some industry viewpoints forward as far as how Jobs and Skills Australia should operate and that it should have a lot more industry consultation.”

This year’s report found occupation shortages were most acute in professional occupations, requiring higher level qualifications and experience, and Skill Level 3 occupations among technicians and trades workers. It also found the unemployment rate fell to 3.4 per cent in July 2022 – the lowest rate recorded since August 1974 – while the demand for workers has increased rapidly.

Ai Group CEO Innes Willox said the findings reflect the skilling and recruitment challenges that employers are experiencing daily.

“Of specific concern, 47 per cent of all trade and technician occupations are in shortage, up from 42 per cent at the same time last year. The ongoing shortage of trade and technician workers has bedevilled companies’ capacity to undertake or complete a range of projects as well as business as usual activities,” Willox said.

“The expansion of trade and technician occupations on the priority list will improve access to apprentice incentives. It’s welcome, but only a small step towards the overhaul of the apprentice incentive system.”

Australian Printer is published bi-monthly by Printer Media Group (a division of Charted Media Group and The Intermedia Group). This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers. While every care has been taken n the preparation of this magazine, it is a condition of distribution that the publisher does not assume any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage which may result from any inaccuracy or omission in the publication.

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Avon Graphics acquires Lorimier

By Sheree Young

Avon Graphics has acquired historic Melbourne-based foil stamping and embossing specialist, Lorimier, in a move which brings together 200 years of finishing excellence together under one brand.

The acquisition was completed on 31 October with all staff to be welcomed to the Avon Graphics team, including Lorimier owner and managing director Peter Johnston, who will be staying on into 2023 to ensure a smooth transition.

Avon Graphics managing director Tate Hone said initial discussions between himself and Johnston were straightforward, open and positive, with both agreeing that the acquisition of Lorimier by the familyowned and operated Avon Graphics made good sense.

“We both felt that the time is right for further rationalisation in the trade supply marketplace, and that provided a sound basis for productive discussions which

Bobst strengthens APAC with two senior appointments

By Hafizah Osman

Bobst has made two key senior appointments in the Asia Pacific region, which includes Southeast Asia, Oceania, Japan, South Korea, India, and China, hiring Cyril Ruiz-Moise and Yasser Oweida into the company.

Ruiz-Moise has been appointed as its APAC general manager and regional business director of the printing and converting business unit.

Ruiz-Moise was previously general manager at Bobst Shanghai, a position he led with great distinction for five years. In his new role, Ruiz-Moise will lead Bobst for all machine product lines in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The Asia Pacific region is a diverse and exciting one, and an extremely important strategic region for Bobst,” Ruiz-Moise said.

greater Melbourne,” Hone said, adding that changes to the Lorimier facility are expected over time, to broaden the range of services offered from that location.

In addition, the companies’ shared commitment to superior quality, personalised service and long-term relationships means the two teams of passionate and professional staff are expected to fit comfortably into the newly expanded operation.

“It’s been great working with Peter, and we thank him for his cooperation and professionalism as we have worked through the detail of this important agreement,” Hone said.

resulted very quickly in a deal which was acceptable to both parties,” Hone said.

Hone also mentioned that the strategic acquisition will strengthen Avon’s offering for trade supply, particularly throughout Melbourne and Victoria.

“Avon intends to continue operations from Lorimier’s Heidelberg West location, in addition to our own manufacturing facility in Rowville, spreading our footprint across

“We are looking forward to welcoming all Lorimier staff to the Avon team as we put our plans into action, including Peter who has agreed to stay on into 2023 to ensure a smooth transition across all aspects of the handover.

“Together, we can now not only look back on a proud combined history of more than two centuries of service, but look forward to a future of even better and more comprehensive support to our industry throughout the Melbourne metropolitan area – and across the country.”

“We have bold ambitions to grow and expand our presence in the region, and our deep knowledge and understanding of our customers and their needs will help us to achieve this goal while helping our customers to achieve theirs.”

Oweida has been appointed as region services director of APAC business unit services and performance.

Oweida was previously head of global sales development at Bobst for three years. Before that, he was head of business unit services for the Africa & Middle East region.

In his new role, Oweida will strengthen the technical and services team in the region and ensure customers receive the highest quality expert service.

“I am very excited to be appointed in this role in a region with so much potential for economic and industrial growth. Having an agile and efficient service team in place is a vital part of our offer, and that is a commitment I can make to all our valued customers in the Asia-Pacific region,” Oweida said.

Ruiz-Moise is based in Shanghai, China while Oweida is based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Avon Graphics managing director Tate Hone

(l-r) Bobst has hired Yasser Oweida and Cyril Ruiz-Moise

Industry collaborates again for Movember fundraising

By Hafizah Osman

Mezographic, Ball & Doggett and Arden Building have come together again this year in support of another Coles Expressled Movember project, which will run all through November.

This year 58 Coles Express sites – 16 in Queensland, 12 in NSW, 14 in Victoria, two in Tasmania, four in SA and 10 in WA – will be donning the “Your Dough will Save a Bro” decal as the company aims to exceed last year’s phenomenal fundraising effort of $366,660.

Last year, the partnership saw 27 Coles Express sites across Australia dressed up for the length of the programme.

The project has grown significantly since 2020, where a similar project was limited to just five sites.

Sydney building wrapped in ‘Ancient Tracks’

Indigenous art

By Hafizah Osman

Mesh Direct has wrapped a striking, large-scale artwork which pays homage to traditional Indigenous navigation and land management around scaffolding on the facade of the historic Woolworths building located on one of Sydney’s busiest intersections.

Mesh Direct said it is the largest piece of Indigenous art to ever be displayed in this way in Australia.

The artwork ‘Ancient Tracks’ was designed by 25-year-old Kungarakan graphic designer Toby Bishop. He created the impressive piece in response to an art competition call out from the City of Sydney in 2021.

‘Ancient Tracks’ was printed on a Building Wrap by Mesh Direct, with the company saying that the sheer size of the artwork meant that the printing and installation

As in 2021, the project involves the generous supply of one-way vision film by Damian Pocock from Ball & Doggett, which will be used for the window decals, while Frank Mezo from Mezographic manufactured, packed and shipped the signage as a donation to the sites.

Richard Pitcher from Arden Building installed the decals and included the future removal of the decals post-campaign as a donation.

“Arden is, once again, proud to supply all labour nationally to the 58 sites involved in this campaign, to install and remove the Movember decals in full support of Coles Express’ drive to promote more awareness of men’s health throughout the nation,” Pitcher said.

The only difference is this year’s decals were a ‘one size fits all’ measuring 2m by 1m.

This was done so that more sites could be fitted as part of the campaign for less cost.

Coles Express project manager Ian Lockwood said, “Frank, Damian and Richard are donating stock, machine time and install/deinstall of window decals across the length and breadth of the country. It is a massive donation to the cause and I am so proud to see this partnership grow and evolve.”

Mezo addressed the importance of men’s health, adding, “Supporting Movember using our industry skills adds extra value to the fund-raising efforts that Ian has coordinated. Men’s health is often underfunded and overlooked. We have had workmates directly affected by some of the issues Movember supports. So, being able to contribute by doing this is an important way for us to put something back into our community”.

“We are happy to be involved and support Movember. The COVID pandemic has highlighted the importance of mental health, in particular with men. Anything we can do to assist with funding is a great thing. Let’s hope we raise the muchneeded funds again this year and hit our target of $500,000,” Pocock said.

“The foot traffic through Sydney meant the installation had to be completed between 10pm and 6am each day, with traffic controllers on-site to guarantee the safety of everyone involved. At over 3500sqm in size, safety was certainly our biggest challenge but one we faced head-on with success.”

required for the project was nothing short of immense. Replicating the detail of the original artwork on such a large scale required particular care and attention and the wrap was broken down into eight huge panels for the installation process and to fit the scaffold.

“One only must glance upon the ‘Ancient Tracks’ artwork to understand the true scope of this job. We were presented with several challenges throughout the process of producing this magnificent piece of artwork,” the company said.

“Firstly, the timeframe was incredibly tight. Commencing the installation just prior to Christmas last year, this job rode a COVID wave as well as unprecedented rain and floods. Then, once installed, we notched winds up to 120km per hour, really challenging the integrity of the product at almost 180kg per panel.

And the nature of the artwork meant that a green approach to production was essential. As a 100 per cent carbon neutral business, Mesh Direct produced ‘Ancient Tracks’ in line with the ‘green’ brief Bishop used to create his artwork.

Mesh Direct said not only is it the largest piece of Indigenous art to be displayed on scaffolding, but it is also the largest carbon neutral wrap in Australia as far as it knows.

Mesh Direct director Andrew Doenicke said, “this was a fantastic opportunity to align our own desire for a greener city with the values bound within Toby’s incredible artwork. The two marry up perfectly and we are incredibly proud to have been part of this project”.

The artwork has been displayed since the start of the year and will remain in place until the end of the year while the Woolworths building is being repainted.

One of the sites dressed up for the campaign

The facade of the Woolworths building with the ‘Ancient Tracks’ wrap

Kwik Kopy Australia celebrates its 40th anniversary

By Hafizah Osman

Kwik Kopy Australia is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and in line with its achievements, the company is making further plans to improve business.

Kwik Kopy Australia CEO Sonia Shwabsky, who recently took on the role in March, said, “We’ve got big plans for the future. We just reached our first milestone, which was delivering a new brand campaign that is going to lay the foundations for the business moving forward”.

This purpose-led brand transformation involves the release of its biggest-ever national marketing campaign that will build on its entrepreneurial spirit.

“Kwik Kopy has the power to transform businesses, not-for-profits, individuals, and communities, and we take that

Kwik Kopy Australia CEO Sonia Shwabsky

www.allkotes.com

responsibility seriously. In the power of print in all its forms, there is no substitute for the tangible, tactile and emotive connection that print can provide, she said.

“So, through this campaign, we’ve set the scene by informing everyone as to what we do, and will continue to build on our legacy.

“Moving forward, we’re about to embark on a large strategic process to redefine our vision, growth plans and cement what the business does for its customers. Personalisation, serving customers by addressing their challenges and needs, and bringing their ideas to life is what we do; it’s not just about having a transactional relationship.”

According to Shwabsky, this strategic process will involve the alignment of approaches across its franchises. Its positioning of being a trusted business partner will be amplified across its channels with a focus on sustainability.

“We take responsibility for our impact on the environment and are committed to a sustainable future. We are proud to say over 80 per cent of our franchises have achieved Sustainable Green Print Industry Certification,” she said.

“This means that we have processes in place to recycle our waste and safely dispose of any chemicals. We offer sustainable options and support our customers with the transition to adopting new sustainable solutions.”

It also involves bringing on new franchises across Australia and setting up new sites, revamping its technology stack such as its back-end data architecture and infrastructure, as well as launching a new website that offers more of its B2B e-Commerce functionality.

It has also introduced a brand book to ensure that messaging, processes and values across all stores are the same.

Fotobase Group buys Autobond machine from Graph-Pak

By Hafizah Osman

South Australia-based Fotobase Group has purchased a high-end Autobond laminating machine from Graph-Pak as the company looks to improve its speed to market performance. The first-time Graph-Pak customer said it selected the Autobond Mini 53 TPH M model as it is a premium, high-speed laminating machine that provides stellar results and consistent performance for decades of use.

The Autobond Mini 53 TPH M is a quick make ready, thermal laminator designed specifically for half size offset, and digital format applications. It has a modular design to add options such as a perfector, automated stacker, in-line UV coating, or in-line magnet production, or an in-line foiling machine. It runs at a maximum speed of 50 m/min and sheets are laminated top and bottom in one pass.

Fotobase Group CEO Jason Gentle said, “Speed and efficiency is always front of mind in our business – and we selected the Autobond as it is a remarkable machine. It opens the doors to increase our turnaround potential.

Out of Home grows by

in Q3

By Hafizah Osman

The Out of Home (OOH) industry has announced an increase of 43.7 per cent on net media revenue for the third quarter of 2022.

According to the Outdoor Media Association (OMA), its net media revenue for the quarter was $244.6 million, up from $170.2 million for the same quarter in 2021.

Digital OOH (DOOH) revenue accounted for 62.5 per cent of total net media revenue yearto-date, an increase over the recorded 57.6 per cent for the same period last year.

Year-to-date net media revenue sat at $725.3 million, an increase from 26.5 per cent on 2021 and sitting behind pre-pandemic 2019 by 2.8 per cent.

OMA CEO Charmaine Moldrich said, “Quarter three sees the industry almost on par with prepandemic revenue, only .8 per cent down from 2019. This continued growth is in line with our projections for recovery. Driving our success is

“Having the Autobond machine will allow us to compete in certain spaces more effectively, given the speed at which this machine can run.”

Jason mentioned that the company bought the machine as it had simply outgrown its existing infrastructure and needed a new laminating machine to evolve and grow.

Graph-Pak managing director Tom Ralph said Fotobase needed a long-term solution for its laminating, but as a bonus the machine it ordered has the capability to laminate magnets from a reel to the printed sheets, then sheet them online.

“Speed to market performance, build quality, reliability, and robustness are just some of the qualities of this machine. The magnet application is an extra feature that Fotobase Group will massively benefit from,” Ralph said.

ACCC launches “greenwashing” online crackdown

By Sheree Young

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced it is conducting two internet sweeps to identify misleading environmental and sustainability marketing claims as well as fake or misleading online business reviews.

Around 200 companies are on the ACCC’s hit list with the review looking at a range of targeted sectors including energy, vehicles, household products and appliances, food and drink packaging, cosmetics, clothing and footwear.

“As consumers become increasingly interested in purchasing sustainable products, there are growing concerns that some businesses are falsely promoting their environmental or green credentials. Misleading claims about products or services undermine consumer trust and confidence in the market,” ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said.

our concerted effort as an industry to launch new research and tools into the market.

“To-date in 2022 the OMA has launched a raft of tools making easier to plan and buy Out of Home campaigns. This includes the Neuro Impact Factor (NIF), a qualitative metric which goes beyond attention to measure the impact of Out of Home campaigns. The NIF is part of the upgrade of MOVE which allows for the measurement of digital campaigns; both metrics are supported by industry-wide standards.

“These initiatives, and the building of the new measurement platform MOVE 2.0, have undoubtably spurred the raft of new members, with eight so far this year, bringing us close to representing a 100 per cent of the industry.”

“This sweep forms a core part of our work in actively monitoring for ‘greenwashing’ in the market and industries, and will help inform what steps businesses can take to improve the integrity of their environmental claims.”

Rickard said the ACCC, “won’t hesitate to take enforcement action where we see that consumers are being misled or deceived by green claims”.

The ACCC is also targeting fake or misleading online reviews and testimonials.

Fotobase with its new Autobond Mini 53 TPH M

OMA CEO Charmaine Moldrich

close to 50 per cent YoY

Platypus Print buys Ovato’s packaging business

By Hafizah Osman

was favourable due to it having some good equipment, highly skilled staff and customers in industries where we have less of a presence,” he said.

Lusch confirmed that Ovato’s packaging business will soon come under and be branded as Platypus Print Packaging.

Queensland-based Platypus Print Packaging has purchased the packaging business of troubled catalogue and magazine printer, Ovato.

The move comes following the entire business of Ovato entering voluntary administration in July with its administrators, FTI Consulting, issuing a call for Expressions of Interest to make a bid for Ovato, or parts of it.

In August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approved IVE Group’s proposed $16 million acquisition of parts of Ovato, which didn’t include its New Zealand businesses, nor its packaging business in Brisbane or its printing operation in Cairns. In September, IVE Group completed its acquisition.

A spokesperson for FTI Consulting, confirmed that a sale agreement with Platypus Print Packaging has been signed, but the terms and conditions of the sale remain confidential.

Platypus Print Packaging general manager Aaron Lusch said the company purchased Ovato’s packaging unit to further build on its business.

“Ovato packaging is a good business that has had the challenge of being a small unit within a much larger company. The business purchase decision

As the Ovato packaging unit is in Queensland, it will continue to operate from the existing site in the short-term with key equipment being moved to the Platypus site in December 2022 and January 2023.

“All the plant and equipment owned by the Ovato packaging business will be sold to Platypus under the terms of sale. We plan to retain most of the equipment except where the cost to get the equipment up to our standards is excessive,” Lusch said.

“Platypus will also be engaging the Ovato packaging staff. The Ovato packaging business has some of the most skilled tradespeople in the industry so we will be looking at various ways to retain these skills where we can.”

According to Lusch, having the Ovato unit under the Platypus banner will increase its folding carton manufacturing capacity and allow it to realise the synergies of the two businesses.

“Platypus’ focus is folding carton manufacturing and so we expect to unlock the full potential of the Ovato packaging business by combining the strengths of the two businesses,” he said.

“The Ovato packaging business has had some manufacturing constraints over the past couple of months and so there is a backlog of work for us to get through. Once we do, we expect it to be business as usual for customers, suppliers, and staff.”

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The RMGT 970ST-6 with coater for packaging printers

Cyber and RMGT introduce new products to the market

Cyber and RMGT have had a busy six months with the launch of a range of new products at a series of global events

Cyber and RMGT are on a growth trajectory as the companies have launched new products over the last six months, following a series of global events. These products have spurred a lot of interest in the market, resulting in greater sales.

The companies took to Indoprint 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia in September and supported a series of Open Houses in Japan and Malaysia to show their latest kits, which garnered plenty of attention from attendees.

At the Cyber Open House in Malaysia, Cyber launched the new RMGT 970 series, which is an A1-plus size multicolour offset press, and showcased a number of other RMGT presses and Horizon machines.

With the offset market seeing rising global demands for presses offering greater productivity and cost performance, RMGT produced this machine as it saw a trend towards enhancing production capacity by enabling offset presses to handle a wide range of paper sizes.

The press now has new features that aim to help print service providers improve business. Some of these features include advanced automation and laboursaving mechanisms to assist the operator, short make-ready times to ensure high productivity and instant drying perfection for quick turnarounds.

It also features improved printing stability from thin to heavy stock and varnish coating and special printing for higher added value.

The 970 model is based on a blend of R&D emanating from the 920 series and its 1050 series presses. The range offers versatility, durability, and advanced automation, according to Cyber A/NZ managing director Bernard Cheong, who added that the range will further improve profitability of users.

“RMGT has been combining the two founding companies’ strengths of energysaving designs that incorporate new ideas with high-precision manufacturing technology and highly durable construction for long-term use,” he said.

“The new RMGT 970 has many advanced features based on the 920/940 presses, known for their superior quality and productivity. The new 970 model incorporates the latest technologies in addition to many features found on the flagship RMGT 10 series.

“In the face of rising paper and printing supply costs, the RMGT 970 is perfectly positioned to meet the needs of the times by handling the most popular A1-plus paper sizes used around the world.”

The machine is built for a maximum of 650mm by 965mm sheet size. The series can handle a comprehensive range of

print jobs, such as multi-page materials, displays and packaging.

Cheong said the 650mm by 910mm model is a popular format in Australasia, giving print service providers the ability to generate output without the need to trim. It also has a benderless plate clamp, feeder and delivery operation touch panel, along with other automation features.

“Users are moving to the SRA1 format to stay lean and profitable. The SRA1 format can do both shorter runs and long runs at the volume end of the market, so it’s a very versatile solution,” Cheong said.

Cyber also launched the new RMGT 970 ST5 CC SLD press at its Malaysia Open house. The machine is a five-colour printing machine with LED UV plus coater.

It aims to provide high-value printing such as chemical embossing and metallised paper printing.

Installations in Australia

Meanwhile, the RMGT 970PF-8 LED with PQS-D and Smart Assist Printing, which was scheduled to arrive in Australia in the third quarter of 2022, has been installed at CMYKhub’s Brisbane production centre, with Cheong saying that the machine has yielded many benefits for the business.

The RMGT 970PF-8 LED with PQS-D and Smart Assist Printing isn’t the only recent

local installation by Cyber Australia. It has also installed the 920ST-5, the 750PF-8 + coater LED, and 790PF-4 machines from RMGT in the last six months.

A company that has been a customer of Cyber Australia for more than 16 years is Spot Productions. The company has purchased a range of machinery from Cyber Australia over the years, including seven RMGT presses that includes the first 920PF-10 LED installed in the A/NZ region about three years ago. It has also purchased from Cyber several folders, die cutters and finishing gear.

In the last six months, Spot Productions added to its fleet the RMGT 750PF-8 + coater LED, as well as the RMGT 790PF-4 machine, dramatically expanding the company.

Spot Productions managing director Simon Carmody said, “When we decided to expand the business 16 years ago, we had a wish list of machinery that we required to take our business to the next level. We sought expressions of interest from the major machine manufacturers and Cyber came to us with the best deal, the best options and the most support.

“When we installed the 920PF-10 LED, we needed speed to market, quality and automation. With the ease of printing with LED UV, we were able to create applications in just one pass, with no spray powder. We could use the machine to print on a variety of substrates and it made the printing process so much easier and certainly a lot quicker.

“We also recently added on the RMGT 750PF-8 + coater LED and the RMGT 790PF-4 to our portfolio. With this investment, we have three printing presses side by side, which bolsters our growth plans. Having three presses beside each other and printing two sides at once was a major goal in Spot’s expansion plans, which we have now achieved.

“With the changing landscape in the print industry, there are plenty of opportunities for us to do more. I invested in a 3,500 square metre shed to cater for our growth, which we’ve just about moved into now. I also bought the adjacent one to it, which has a space of 3,000 square metres, which I’ll expand into as well at some point.

“As a business, today, we’re 50 per cent to where we want to be. And Cyber has been a supporter of ours over the years – and continues to be as we grow – and that’s the reason we’ve stayed loyal to them as well.”

Growth, with an eye on the region

Cheong said 2022 has been a busy time for the business in Australia. According to

Cheong, Cyber and RMGT have aligned their goals for the region, to offer their collective customers nothing short of quality when it comes to printing.

“These solutions feature labour saving automation, quality control features, and IoT capabilities which are increasingly becoming important for offset in a digitised world,” Cheong said.

“The machines are designed to bring out the best in their operator, in turn, making the company profitable. The early adopters of these technologies have been reaping the rewards and will continue to grow their businesses. It is a no brainer in choosing offset technology.

“We aim to have an industry where customers are prosperous, relaxed and

invigorated to work by using Cyber’s machinery. RMGT’s corporate message of Irodori, which means colouring the world together, reflects our desire to establish a relationship of trust with our customers and everyone in the printing industry.

“RMGT offers the global market a widerange of printing equipment and services based on unique and original technologies to create this Irodori society.”

Cyber has also got an eye on infiltrating the Southeast Asian region. Indoprint 2022 was one of the global events that Cyber exhibited at in recent times.

Cheong said the company is increasing its efforts in Indonesia as based on the statistical development of the country’s economy. Data shows that in 2050, it

The RMGT 970PF-8 with PQS-D and SAP installed in Australia

The Cyber team at the launch of the RMGT 970 series

The crowds in Cyber’s showroom in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

will be the fourth largest economy in the world just after China, India and America.

“The printers in Indonesia do not focus on export, but the country has a very big domestic demand. That’s why all eyes are on Indonesia now,” he said.

“Moreover, more than 50 per cent of the Indonesian population is under the age of 30 – this is the strength of the domestic economy. Indonesia has skilled workers in many fields, and there are high export opportunities and the vast availability of natural resources.

“The printing industry in Indonesia will get extraordinary opportunities and we must prepare ourselves to be more competitive in the market.”

The Vietnam market, on the other hand, is seeing lots of foreign investments, even from China according to Cheong. As such, the company is also increasing its efforts in this country.

Cyber Vietnam recently installed its first RMGT 1060ST-5 in Vietnam at the end of September. The 1060 is the latest model to be launched in the country.

During the pandemic, Cyber also installed several RMGT presses in Vietnam, including: the 1050ST-6, two machines of the 1050ST-5 and the 920ST-6+C.

An Open House in Tokyo

A key focus for Cyber and RMGT is sustainability. In disseminating the message of its benefits to customers, Cyber supported RMGT’s Open House, named Eco-print 2022, which took place at the RMGT Tokyo showroom for two days in July.

“Under the theme of discovering the new businesses with the latest eco-friendly printing, we collaborated with many printing material suppliers to introduce applications for eco-friendly printing

materials, such as paper, inks, as well as know-how on eco-friendly printing,” Cheong said.

At the event, paper suppliers and RMGT presented a session about sustainable development goals (SDGs) supported by the companies. On the other hand, the RMGT 970ST-5+CC+LED-UV was demonstrated by using biomass ink and eco-friendly paper, proposing environmental load reduction printing by LED-UV.

The RMGT 1050ST-5+LED-UV was also demonstrated with waterless LED-UV for ink reduction and environmental printing by UV and concentric screening.

“Concentric screening is a multi-tone screening process that involves mixing with halftone dots which are divided to suppress ink coverage on halftone dots and reduce ink consumption by five per cent to 25 per cent,” Cheong said.

“The demonstrated biomass inks, ecofriendly paper, and LED-UV showed customers how to achieve prints with reduced environmental impacts using the RMGT 970ST-5+CC+LED-UV.

“In this process, the eco-friendly paper was made from non-edible rice, where about three to five per cent of rice was used in the make of the paper. And to get the texture of rice paper, double-sided instant-dry printing with a straight mode was used on the LED-UV feature of the 970PF-8 machine.

“RMGT also showed off the specific features of the 970 series, highlighting reduced costs such as a 30 per cent reduction in installation space compared to the B1 sized machine, and a 34 per cent saving in its power consumption.”

Waterless printing using specific ecological conscious materials, such as waterless UV ink with waterless plate

and concentric screening with halftone dots was demonstrated.

“It was a successful event and a very useful opportunity for all related suppliers to talk about their sustainability initiatives. Approximately 50 visitors participated in the event and learnt something from each other,” Cheong added.

Productive flexibility shown off at Hiroshima

Cyber also supported another of RMGT’s Open Houses in August – this one was at RMGT’s HQ showroom in Hiroshima.

“For two days, RMGT held an Open House event for the B1 sized RMGT 1060LX model. This latest printing machine incorporates various new technologies and functions to reduce printing make-ready time, as well as improve productivity, print quality control with PQS-D (I+C+R), and operability,” Cheong said.

“The press is thin and thick paper printing compatible, and was introduced through a technical explanation and printing demonstration.

“We also showed the operational demo of the automatic guided vehicle (AGV) named Nipper that saves labour between the material transporting processes and showed how the sheet pallet is automatically transferred to the next postpress process after printing.

“In addition to having the customer directly review the printing machine, we deepened their knowledge through the exchange of opinions with RMGT technical staff who also addressed any challenges that they raised.

“All of these events show the direction that RMGT and Cyber are taking. The new machines that we have introduced are tailored to the needs of today and tomorrow, and we will continue to provide the market with premium products and exceptional service.”

Spot Productions’ Simon Carmody and Cyber Australia’s Bernard Cheong

Spot Productions’ Simon Carmody with the RMGT presses at his premises

Building a unique business

Melbourne-based Pattern Room is not your average business. It bridges the worlds of printing and fashion, combining the work of the textile industry with dye sublimation and direct-to-garment (DTG) printing. In short, the company offers a catalogue of more than 200,000 patterns, many of which are the common styles custom printers might want.

At the helm of this distinctive company is its director, Julia Van Der Sommen.

“My career has been a journey. Since I was very young, I sewed my own clothes and with a creative, but numeric mind, found myself in pattern making roles for several well-known labels. This resulted in me starting a pattern making and development business, Sample Room,” Van Der Sommen said.

“But then I grew increasingly aware of the frustrations of people, especially in the custom sportswear industry, who struggled to get patterns for the styles their customers needed.”

This was the catalyst for Van Der Sommen to create Pattern Room – a catalogue of digital clothing patterns that are created and tested by her team.

“For my entire career I have seen myself as being in the textile industry, but Pattern Room has us working mostly with printers – dye sublimation and DTG. The team is constantly working on bringing more to the catalogue, so that you can get Ai and DXF files in less than 48 hours,” she said.

“From there, it is a case of applying graphics, printing, cutting, and sewing.

Traditionally the biggest challenge is getting access to digital patterns in a timely fashion and which work. We think Pattern Room will solve that challenge.

“It is a shift in my thinking from Sample Room, but the industry has been so welcoming. In my 30-year career, I have seen huge advances in digital printing which has changed the game in fashion. Now, there isn’t a need to have to print 300m as before with rotary or screen printing, which allows people to create unique products.”

Technology has been the biggest driver for Van Der Sommen’s business. She said the constantly evolving technology in printing machinery and inks has made it easier to access amazing print capabilities. Advancements in fabrics and paper have also supported its growth.

“Sure, there are some tech changes but nothing, until now, which has challenged the norm. More importantly, our clients aren’t afraid of new technology,” she said.

“I am passionate about showing that the technical side of developing product is just as rewarding as the design roles in the industry. There is so much for people to learn so I hope the way I talk about the process, our workroom and the success we have in our business will inspire people to consider the technical roles in our industry to be a great career choice.”

Van Der Sommen believes in supporting people in having strong career pathways and in achieving their career goals.

In her career, she said she found it hard to progress because she did not know

how, so now takes the time to nurture her team in their goals.

“It is important that we create training opportunities and support for our staff so that they can grow in their careers but also have guidance if anything is out of their reach. For me, this extends beyond career growth into personal growth,” she said.

“I have also always been an advocate for mentoring young women. But it is not possible to mentor young women if they are resistant to enter the industry in the first place. This is something that I have turned my mind to increasingly of late – how do we make the industry more attractive for young women to work in?

“This can only be done through guided career pathways, training, having more inclusive workplaces and flexible working. There is plenty of scope for change and now is the time to make those changes.”

Van Der Sommen said in her career, she found it hard to find mentors, which is one of the reasons why she has stepped up to help others.

“I found it very hard to find good mentors as in my line of work, there are not many women running businesses or challenging the conventional. I observe people from afar and carefully watch how they operate and act,” she said.

“I also look to women in other industries that have an entrepreneurial spirit and the courage to act on big ideas. I am inspired by people who look at problems in a different way and are willing to take chances and trust their instincts. I translate that to my own career and business.”

Pat tern Room director Julia Van Der Sommen

Creating anything but ordinary solutions:

Romeo Sanuri

With a mission to seek out the latest digital printing technology, Next Printing managing director Romeo Sanuri explains what makes the company tick

As one of Australia’s leading large format digital printing companies, Next Printing is committed to the highest standards of visual communication. The result is in the work that is produced, that is both inspired and inspirational. AP spoke to its managing director Romeo Sanuri about the company’s solutions and future plans.

Q: What is the history behind Next Printing?

Romeo Sanuri (RS): Next Printing started in 2004, with Photo King as its parent company. The owner of the company was my uncle, along with his two other business partners. But when they saw a decline in the photographic market

– with the advent of digital cameras – they revised their strategy to grow the business in different areas, such as advertising, which was always done through print back then. I joined the company in 2003, just before we set up Next Printing. It was an interesting start for us, without any prior knowledge of large format printing.

Q: How did you grow the business from that point on?

RS: We initially worked with a lot of signage companies as we thought that was the quickest way to grow our business. We printed for companies like Signarama, Sign Wave, and a few other agencies. We also wanted to be at the forefront of the next big thing, so in 2004, started with

flatbed printing and UV technology when the market was still using solvent. But at that time, there were some bigger flatbed printing businesses that had made a name for themselves, so we eventually scaled down to focus on indoor applications that required very quick turnaround times and high-quality prints. That led to us entering the cosmetic, fashion and exhibition spaces, which now makes up 40 per cent of Next’s work.

Q: What sorts of products and solutions does Next Printing produce for these customers?

RS:: About eight years ago, we decided that we wanted to do better for our environment. We invested heavily in people and research to identify sustainable solutions. What started simply as an initiative has become our main purpose. Our customers are now becoming increasingly conscious about recycling and sustainability. As a result, we have been recommending the use of ReBoard (an eco-friendly engineered paper product) in which we specialise. Many of

Nex t Printing produced solutions internationally for XeroCon in London, New Orleans and Sydney in a few months ago

The W+ Playground project Next Printing created for Westfield

Nex t Printing managing director Romeo Sanuri

our projects combine Re-board with envirofabrics and other paper-based products.

Q: What is fuelling Next Printing’s upward momentum?

RS: It is two things – sustainability and the growth in labels. Sustainability, because it is becoming more important to a lot of clients who want something that has less impact on the environment. The last time we were at FESPA, we connected with a company called Carbon Quota which has developed a mechanism that can assess the environmental impact of print matter including displays and activations.

Together with them, we can educate the market about what carbon emissions within the printing industry look like and how we can improve them. Today, non-sustainable approaches can produce 10 times the carbon emissions of more sustainable options.

The growth of labels is also a focus for us. We started our labels division, Next Labels, in 2020 and this has resulted in good growth for the company. We previously acquired a small labels business called Rentons Labels, and last year also acquired another label company that was looking to exit the market. We have brought all these businesses together and

since 2020, the company has grown about four times from what it was. We intend to further expand it in the near future.

Q: What is the most memorable and unique project that Next Printing has worked on?

RS: There are a few unique and memorable projects we have produced. In retail, one of the most memorable ones was for a women’s clothing company –Jigsaw, which is no longer in Australia.

At the time the business commissioned this project, because the brand is UK based, it wanted to include some of the iconic British landmarks in its ‘pop-up’ project –think along the lines of a massive ‘pop-up’ greeting card. We had the Big Ben ‘pop up’ which we produced using different materials and blew it up in scale, in 3D to 2.4m. That project won us a global FESPA silver award in point-of-sale.

Some other projects that were unique are those we have produced with Sephora – as it has been a client of ours since 2018. At that time, sustainability was very low on its radar but since becoming an early adopter, using our sustainable print solutions for its Press Day events, it has become par for the course.

Q: What is your short-to mediumterm vision for the company’s future?

RS: With businesses still recovering from COVID, our short-to medium-term plans involve ensuring that the business can go back to where it was – not so much in terms of revenue, but with regards to performance instead. We understand that profit is one of the keys to making our business sustainable, but in order to do that, we need to perform. And for optimum performance, we need to attract good talent. That has been our focus for the last six to 12 months.

Medium-term, we want to grow the labels side of our business. That entails a bit of focus on using marketing as our driver to bring in more clients. We intend to use the expertise of our recent acquisitions to support this strategy. The machines we own are new and cutting edge with a higher capacity.

Q: What is your assessment of business requirements for print in 2023?

RS: I always go back to the importance of sustainability. Sustainability can carry a slightly higher price tag. We need to educate clients that it is possible to be sustainable without breaking the bank. We want our customers to be brands that have an environmental purpose. We will continue to educate them on the long-term benefits of sustainability and how they can build affinity with their own clients by showing that they care about their future. Data continues to show that customers will choose to buy from brands that support the same causes they do.

Q: What can the market expect from Next Printing in the next few years?

RS: In the next few years, on the large format side, Next Printing aims to continue to look at areas where we can make more of an impact in the marketplace. One of those areas is collaboration with brands and how we can align with their corporate values. This is quite a big challenge in a lot of companies as logistics is an issue.

I also want to expand our business to include more international projects with our local customers. This is something that we were given the opportunity to do this year with accounting software company Xero at its Xerocon 2022 events in London, New Orleans and Sydney earlier this year.

The company wanted something green and sustainable across all three locations. As the global lead for this project, Next Printing successfully executed it, which included over 200 custom booths made from Reboard – this was a first of its kind in the world.

Working with Next Printing, Sephora has adopted sustainability into its Press Day set-ups

The Jigsaw Big Ben and St Paul’s Cathedral project produced by Next Printing

Flint Group A/NZ targets growth with key appointments

One of the largest suppliers to the printing, packaging and labelling industries worldwide, Flint Group, has put A/NZ on its radar with the appointment of key personnel, taking the number of its local team to about 120 people.

The company recently promoted Paul Lamberti to the role of A/NZ general manager earlier this year following the retirement of Thorsten Schauer, who headed that role previously.

Prior to taking up this role, Lamberti was the A/NZ director of commercial, publication and sheetfed (CPS) inks at Flint Group, where he oversaw the business producing web and sheetfed inks to the local printing industry and the manufacture of coldset, heatset and sheetfed inks.

“I’ve been with Flint Group for over 20 years. I have a science and business background and started with the company as a technical manager in 2002. I then progressed through several commercial roles with the business and ran various business units within Flint Group before being appointed to this role,” he said.

The company also recently named David Mitchell as its new key account manager of narrow web in Australia and appointed Grant Tychsen to a newly-created role –New Zealand narrow web sales manager – in September.

Tychsen had many years of experience working in South Africa before he moved to New Zealand five years ago. Some of the companies he has worked for include Liquid Colours, Huber Group, Damar Industries and Cambridge Steel Fabricators and Engineers.

As for Mitchell, he has had several years’ experience in print having worked for Maxcess International as its sales director and customer service manager.

“Grant’s sales and technical experience lends itself very well to his new role. He is a good fit for our New Zealand market as it bolsters the commercial component of New Zealand,” Lamberti said.

“David has a lot of sales experience within the narrow web print market. His understanding of the narrow web market,

and his sales experience will assist Flint Group in providing growth for our business.

“Our plan is to execute our strategy, which is to grow our business in the Australian and New Zealand market, especially within our packaging business. So, the recent hires and appointments are key to the development of this strategy.”

Lamberti added that the company hires people with diverse experience, talent, and ideas to achieve business objectives.

“At Flint Group, we invest in people, and we look for long-term employees that understand and work with the Flint strategy. This is to deliver premium products and services to the to the print markets in Australia and New Zealand,” he mentioned.

“We encourage continuous learning and creative thinking, we promote team-based problem-solving, and we recognise and share successes. Continuous improvement drives performance and supports our aspiration to achieve excellence.”

With compliance and sustainability high on the company’s agenda, Lamberti said this will be central to Flint Group’s longterm engagement.

“A continuous improvement culture helps to reduce our current and future environmental footprint. Making progress on our sustainability journey would not be possible without the dedication of our employees,” he said.

“We strive to stay ahead of evolving regulations on chemicals, packaging and labelling. Over the years, we have maintained a strong focus on building and consolidating our sustainability culture. We have taken some important steps to reduce our environmental footprint, and we only partner with trusted suppliers who adhere to our high standards and uphold rigorous human rights and environmental standards.

“We’ve also globally launched a lot of sustainable products recently. Our customers are looking for innovation to offset inflationary costs, as well as solid partnerships. This will result in the needed stability in the market, especially with the ongoing disruptions to supply chains.”

According to Lamberti, Flint Group A/NZ will also focus on new product development, which includes the digitisation of the business.

“This means providing our customers with digital service solutions. We recently launched Flint Link, which is an app for our customers to do business using this program,” he said.

“We also have our global Colour Centre, based at Flint Group Poland, which we work with to support our customers through various digital packages like our Vivo Colour Solutions.

“We are here to partner with our customers and provide them with value-added solutions. The industry can expect stability with Flint Group and our dedication to our customers is and will remain unparalleled.”

Hires David Mitchell and Grant Tychsen, and promotes Paul Lamberti in A/NZ as the company continues to support further growth in the region

Grant Tychsen, Flint Group’s New Zealand sales manager

David Mitchell, key account manager of Flint Group narrow web in Australia

Paul Lamberti, Flint Group A/NZ general manager

Smartech equips Global Signs with robust kit

Global Signs has improved on its speed to market and environmental efficiency after it purchased two HP Latexes and a Neocut 2516 from Smartech

Lagana mentioned that the service support from Smartech has been second to none.

“There are many resellers of HP machines, but we found Smartech’s technicians to be the best in their field. I’ve been around print since I was young but when it comes to the technical side of things, you need that support. And that’s where Smartech carries itself exceptionally as it has some good technicians,” he mentioned.

“They’ve also got colour specialists who’ve helped us get rid of colour inconsistency; we’ve got colour management across both the Latexes now.”

Moving forward, Lagana expects these machines to support Global Signs as it heads down a growth path.

NSW-based company Global Signs has purchased several machines from Smartech Business Systems over the past six months, alleviating challenges that it was facing previously and transforming its business.

Global Signs owner Joseph Lagana said the company initially invested in a HP Latex 700W from Smartech Business Systems around the middle of this year as it needed a machine that produced quality results while being environmentally friendly.

“Our business has evolved from being a vinyl plotter many years ago to expanding into wide format – predominantly servicing retail, and more recently moving into the online space also,” he said.

“Increasingly, over the last few years, we were being asked by clients about our printing processes and how environmentally friendly they were. Our industry is quite notorious for being the opposite – from its use of solvent inks and plastics, even through to some of the installation processes.

“So, one thing we could never get was the green process of printing. That got our minds ticking, because we wanted to be more conscious of the environment but also have a solution that was safer for our staff to operate. This drew us to HP and its Latex range.

“After we used the HP Latex 700W, we found that the results we were creating were

of better quality. It also allowed us a much better print process and was greener. It was a big change for us, but a positive one.”

Lagana said the business had a lot of options at that price range but picked the HP Latex as it is the only Latex flatbed in the market and seamlessly worked with its Onyx workflow system that it had in place since it started operating 15 years ago.

Not long after installing the HP Latex 700W, Global Signs wanted to take advantage of the growth opportunities that presented themselves and further boost the company’s productivity. It then invested in a HP Latex R1000 and Neocut 2516, also through Smartech, at PacPrint.

“This investment just skyrocketed our productivity. We decided quite quickly to go with the R1000 and the reason we ended up with the Neocut was because we said we wouldn’t buy another flatbed without a cutter. We never had an automated cutting system and used to outsource this work, which resulted in us losing speed as we were always relying on someone else to do it for us,” Lagana said.

“HP is ahead of its time with its technology and is the benchmark for any serious business. It has spent a lot of money on R&D, and has perfected its Latex machines. The R1000 gave us roll-to-roll and flatbed capabilities, and the Neocut has added to that as well. It has been a huge, positive change for our business.”

“We’re trying to grow the business and we’ve got our eyes on the next 20 to 30 years, not just tomorrow. My aim is for Global Signs to be one of the biggest wide format printers in Australia. And to survive today, especially with labour being scarce or costs being extremely expensive, you need machines that can deliver on productivity,” he said.

“So, we need to be smart with how we purchase equipment and make sure that we take the right path.”

In addition, Lagana said Smartech will continue to be its trusted partner.

“We’ve always had them as our main supplier; our relationship will continue as it always has. Going down the HP route will help them and help us in the future,” he said.

“Looking forward, whether it’s an additional machine or a larger one, I foresee that relationship with Smartech to be there.”

Global Signs’ Joseph Lagana with the Neocut 2516 machine

The HP Latex R1000 gives Global Signs roll-to-roll and flatbed capabilities

Lagana with the HP Latex R1000 (l) and HP Latex 700W (r)

Large Format Printers & Finishing Equipment

Designed for Today’s Market

NeoCut-2516

Flatbed cutter

Automate your cutting and creasing solutions with the Neocut 2516 (2.5m x 1.6m). Automatic flatbed cutting machine for rigid and flexible substrates. Features include Auto roll feeder, Automatic contour recognition, and Jwei cutting program. Optional extras include high frequency router and OptiScout Software.

Suitable for: cut paper card, coated paper, PVC, special paper, corrugated paper, grey cardboard, honeycomb paperboard, ABS , PVC , EPE, EVA , light box pieces, KT board, posters, light boxes, display racks, personalized signs, flags, banners, car stickers, magnetic stickers, billboards.

HP Latex 700w

Grow your business with high-value, profitable jobs and high-productivity printing with white ink. All while at the same time as improving your sustainability edge. Produce the highest value jobs, robust, smart, and productive printing, sharpen your sustainability edge with HP Latex.

Suitable for: Banners; Displays; Exhibition and event graphics; Exterior signage; Indoor posters; Interior decoration; Light boxes - film; Light boxes - paper; Murals; POP/POS; Posters; Textile; Vehicle graphics; Window graphics; Stickers.

HP Latex R1000

Help grow your business by printing high-value jobs on one device with white, rigid and flexible. The HP Latex R1000 Plus Printer allows you to transform rigid printing in ways you never thought possible..

Suitable for: Signage: indoor, flat, backlit, thermoformed; Decoration: wall coverings, window decoration; Vehicle decoration: fleet graphics, wraps, decals; Textile: soft signage, front lit, backlit; POS and Packaging: corrugated displays, short-run customised packaging, prototyping.

Agfa showcases next-gen tech at Printing United

At the Las Vegas exhibition, Agfa had a range of its largeformat inkjet printers in action, as well as several software solutions for inkjet and offset printing on show

high-quality long-runs with consistency and reliability.

“We are committed to the digital printing industry, with solutions for both sign and display and industrial applications. Visitors that were looking to step up their game dropped by our booth to explore our offering and we believe they found the solution they were looking for,” Agfa director of industrial inkjet Tom Cloots said.

Agfa also showed two of its Pinnacle Product Award winners at the booth, the first being the Avinci CX3200, a 3.2m dye-sublimation printer.

This roll-to-roll printer prints directly on a wide range of polyester-based media, as well as on transfer paper. It lets users create vibrant, high-quality prints on polyester-based fabrics up to 3.2m wide, to be used for a broad range of indoor and outdoor soft signage applications, as well as interior decoration.

“A rich colour gamut with deep blacks and vivid reds makes this printer the perfect solution for making retail banners and other instore advertising,” Agfa textiles business manager Mike Horsten said.

Agfa took to Printing United again this year with an offering that is bigger and bolder than it has ever done before. It showed a broad range of its large format inkjet printers, as well as several software solutions for inkjet and offset printing.

After the announcement that Agfa won five Pinnacle Product Awards this year –four for the Jeti Tauro family and another one for the new Avinci CX3200 dyesublimation textile printer – it was clear that Agfa is a force to be reckoned with. Agfa is the first digital inkjet company to win five awards at one show.

Agfa global business manager for Interiojet Mike Horstern said, “Our inkjet solutions have won five Pinnacle awards from the Printing United Alliance. This is testament to our dedication to deliver innovative technology with superior performance and reliability.

“We see great possibilities for our inkjet solutions in Australia and New Zealand, especially in the big population centres where there is a lot of retail going on. Textiles is a growth market and the Avinci has good possibilities.

“At Agfa, we are a full service provider. We build the inks, the machines and the

software. On top of that, we have great international service. Agfa has a great heritage in software; you can build high end workflow into your systems. For us, covering everything is important. These big presses are major investments and our machines have high uptimes that is extremely important these days.

“We also have a heritage in offset and we have translated those offset attitudes into inkjet as we look to get an equal offset quality on inkjet. But most importantly, we have an honest relationship with our customers.”

Agfa had several of its presses on display, including those from Inca Digital Printers, the UK-based manufacturer of flatbed inkjet printing technology that Agfa acquired in May of this year.

The OnsetX3 HS was showcased with a full-fledged robot feeding system. This printer can produce 600+ full sized boards (1600mm by 3200mm) per hour – or 1440 m²/h – in an amazing quality.

The OnsetX3 HS features three CMYK ink channels plus the choice of white or orange, sitting at the pinnacle of productivity. With this printer, users of analog screen-printing lines can take the digital route, confident they can print

“The new Avinci inks finally allow you to have perfect solids, accurate spot colour mapping and smooth tonal rendering that is particularly noticeable in skin tones, at high printing speeds. Through the process of dye sublimation, soft signage prints look amazing and are produced sustainably. In addition, they are easy and efficient when it comes to transport.”

Finally, the Jeti Tauro H3300 HS with varnish was shown for the first time in the US. The high-speed UV LED wide-format inkjet hybrid printer is capable of printing full flood varnish at 75 m²/h, and can be used to print on a range of rigid and flexible media.

Producing detailed prints up to 3.3m wide at up to 600 m2/h is possible thanks to the unique UV LED curing technology of Agfa’s signature high-pigmented UV inks and the smart colour management features of the Agfa Asanti workflow software.

The Jeti Tauro H3300

The Inca Onset X3HS

(l- r) Agfa’s Mike Horstern and Dries Hublin with the Agfa Avinci CX3200

Durst redefines excellence at Printing United

Durst has showcased the calibre of its technologies at Printing United 2022, with the company winning several product awards for Durst and Vanguard Digital Printing Systems, as well as selling its first P5 500i in the US to AMI Graphics and the first P5 350 HS – D4 in Oceania to Cactus Imaging.

The company received seven coveted Printing United Alliance 2022 Pinnacle Product Award across multiple output device categories.

Output devices are judged by measuring colour charts and then comparing them to industry specifications.

“This is the only competition I know of that reports on the percentage of Adobe RGB a printer can hit. Some categories were decided by tenths of a point, so fierce was the competition this year,” Printing United Alliance program manager for the Pinnacle Awards Dawn Nye said.

“The Pinnacle Product Award competition represents the best of the best among commercial hardware, software, consumables, and industrial and screen equipment. Congratulations to all the winners.”

The following Durst and Vanguard Digital Printing Systems products won the 2022 Pinnacle Product Awards:

• Durst P5 Tex iSub: awarded Roll-to-Roll Direct Disperse Ink on Textile category

• Durst Delta SPC 130: awarded Single Pass printer category

• Vanguard VR6D-HS: awarded UV/ Latex Flatbed ($100K-$200K) category

• Vanguard VR6D-HS: awarded UV/ Latex Flatbed + White ($100K-$200K) category

• Vanguard VR5D-E: awarded UV/Latex

Flatbed (under $70K) category

• Vanguard VKH900-HS: awarded RTR/hybrid/flatbed new technology category

• Vanguard VKR3200: awarded Rollto-Roll UV (over 80-inches) category

Durst North America marketing manager

Becky McConnell said, “We are always happy to take part in the Pinnacle Product Award competition, as it allows us another opportunity to highlight our exciting technologies – and we couldn’t be prouder to have won so many awards this year”.

At the tradeshow, Durst sold its first P5 350 HS – D4 in Oceania to Sydney-based Cactus Imaging. The company’s general manager of operations Keith Ferrel was at the tradeshow to purchase his machine.

When asked why he invested in this highspeed hybrid press, Ferrel responded by saying it was because of its versatility. Speed (708 square metres per hour in two-pass mode) was the next reason, quickly followed by the super easy way the machine can be switched between a roll-toroll and flatbed application (10 seconds).

“We’ve been looking at flatbeds for years, but they were printing at 20 square metres an hour and that was just a waste of time for us,” Ferrel said.

“This one will do up to 700 square metres an hour but the beauty of it being a hybrid means we can print billboards, street furniture, vinyl, and a multitude of things so it is versatile and diverse in what it does. It is the first one in this part of the world too – in fact I think it is only the second one anywhere in the world.”

Durst Oceania managing director Matt Ashman said, “It was so good to see such

a busy Printing United with so many great customers from all around the world. Durst was showing three of its latest additions in its UV and die sublimation ranges. The high calibre of customers was incredible.

“There were so many visitors from A/NZ and to have Cactus Imaging purchase the first P5 350 HS – D4 in Oceania was the icing on the cake for me.”

Durst also sold its first P5 500i in the US to AMI Graphics, a US-based large format print manufacturer. Investing in its second Durst printer, the increased demand for high quality branded signage, quickly, led AMI Graphics back to its trusted partner, Durst.

AMI Graphics president Peter Wensberg said, “Durst makes industrial equipment that’s designed and built for 24/7 production.

“We went with the P5 500i because of the mesh printing capabilities and speed. Its double-sided and multi-roll printing capabilities will allow us to continue to maintain the highest quality products and speed to market to meet the needs of our customers”.

The Durst P5 500i is built on the awardwinning P5 platform and has added a Superwide Format to the portfolio with a printing width of 5.25m.

“We are incredibly pleased that AMI has invested in the new P5 500i. AMI purchased the P5 Tex iSub last year and have now added our new 5m printer to their fleet,” Durst LFP and fabrics director of sales Larry D’Amico said.

“We find with many customers, once they experience a Durst printer, they understand the true value that we bring to the table.”

The company received seven coveted Printing United Alliance 2022 Pinnacle Product Awards and sold its first P5 350 HS - D4 in Oceania to Cactus Imaging

The P5 500i is built on the P5 platform and has added a Superwide Format to the portfolio with a printing width of 5.25m

Cac tus Imaging’s Keith Ferrel with the P5 350 HS – D4 at Printing United

EFI showcases expansive offerings at Printing United

Its production LED inkjet, dye-sublimation inkjet, and Fiery digital front end and workflow offerings were on display, giving PSPs a competitive edge

for the VUTEk h5 printer featuring an enhanced vacuum, material edge guides and a dynamic roller subsystem for superior board throughput.

EFI partners LexJet and Nazdar SourceOne also showed EFI Wide Format LED inkjet printers at their booths. LexJet’s exhibit featured the 1.6m EFI Pro 16h hybrid LED printer, a system with a low total cost of ownership that delivers highquality output at speeds up to 44 square metres per hour.

Worldwide provider of products, technology and services, EFI has showcased its expansive portfolio of innovative display graphics solutions at Printing United 2022 including its production LED inkjet, dye-sublimation inkjet, and Fiery digital front end (DFE) and workflow offerings, giving signage and display graphics businesses a stronger, competitive edge.

The new EFI VUTEk FabriVU Plus series of soft signage printers, including the VUTEk FabriVU 340i+ printer with inline fixation was shown at the event, offering the next level of high-end dye-sublimation efficiency and opportunity.

EFI said soft signage is the fastest-growing application for many of its customers, including North America’s high-volume trade supplier Orbus Exhibit & Display Group – an industry leader that recently purchased the VUTEk FabriVU 340+ and currently owns four FabriVU printers.

The new printer, now running at Orbus’ Las Vegas facility, marks an important milestone for EFI as it is the 300th VUTEk FabriVU printer installed worldwide.

Designed for high-end direct-to-fabric or transfer paper production, the FabriVU Plus series achieves better saturation and more density for soft signage and flag printing – thanks to new electronics as well as eight high-performance printheads in a new CMYK x 2 configuration.

The in-line fixation feature on the VUTEk FabriVU 340i+ model eliminates the need for a separate heat press in directto-fabric production.

The new soft signage printer is part of a broad portfolio of EFI display graphics inkjet solutions at the show, which included:

• The 3.2m EFI Pro 30h hybrid flatbed/ roll-fed LED printer, created for businesses targeting production sign and display graphics as a growth opportunity. Running at speeds up to 230 square metres per hour, it features four colours plus dual channels of white as standard, prints in resolutions up to 1,200dpi, and includes an EFI Fiery proServer Core DFE with FAST RIP acceleration technology.

• The 3.5m EFI VUTEk Q3r LED inkjet printer, which is EFI’s fastest superwide-format roll-to-roll solution in its class. It is part of a VUTEk Q series that also includes a 5.2m Q5r model. A new inline UltraClear Coat option for the VUTEk Q3r, Q5r and other EFI roll-to-roll LED inkjet printers offers superior protection for outdoor graphics and high-quality gloss or matte spot enhancement in premium POP work – capabilities that earned UltraClear Coat the 2022 Printing United Alliance Pinnacle Award for UV digital inks.

• The VUTEk h5, a highly advanced, high-productivity 3.2m hybrid roll/ flatbed LED inkjet printer which delivers top-tier image quality at speeds up 109 boards per hour. With its automated media handling options, including a ¾ automated media loading and stacker system and super duty winders, the VUTEk h5 is ready to drive efficiency in high-quality print. To meet growing demand for corrugated board printing, EFI has launched a new corrugated media management system

The Nazdar SourceOne booth had the EFI Pro 30f, a dedicated flatbed printer with a large bed size for a maximum printable area of 3.05m by 2.04m. Operating at speeds up of up to 198 square metres per hour, this versatile flatbed system is the first EFI printer to give users the ability to print on media up to 10cm thick.

In Australia and New Zealand, working with a world-class partner, Currie Group, EFI has installed three VUTEk FabriVU machines, four Pro 30h hybrid flatbed/ roll-fed LED printers, a VUTEk D3r rollto-roll, a VUTEk h5 and a Pro 30f flatbed in the last few months.

The EFI stand at the Las Vegas tradeshow also included a preview of the next Fiery digital front end platform for commercial printing. This included new automation technologies that can allow operators to always produce accurate and consistent colour even with little colour management knowledge.

The Fiery preview also featured nextgeneration, highly accurate spot colour processing technology that delivers more accurate and cleaner brand colours, and a print scheduler solution to help operators better plan job sequencing for optimised production capacity. A new intelligence technology coming to EFI Fiery’s HyperRIP processing feature gets jobs out faster by automatically choosing the optimal processing mode.

EFI also took to the tradeshow to present its enhanced IQ cloud solution as well as its Fiery Prep-it display graphics workflow solution, and featured exhibits from two of the company’s newest acquisitions – Inèdit Software and CADlink Software.

The EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340i+ printer with inline fixation was shown at the event

Heidelberg takes customers’ businesses to the next level

With an innovative ecosystem of solutions designed to take its customers’ businesses to the next level, Heidelberg exhibited at the recent Printing United expo, featuring an end-to-end modular Smart Print Shop.

This Smart Print Shop, which integrates people, process and technology, demonstrated to customers the potential for digital transformation across the entire manufacturing supply chain.

“Our customers today are facing a plenitude of issues – inflation, supply chain interruptions, and lack of skilled labour,” Heidelberg North America president Felix Mueller said.

“At Printing United, we showed them that three elements – people, process and technology – are key to surviving not only today’s challenges but whatever arises in the future. Heidelberg is invested in helping our customers thrive in these areas and accelerate their businesses to the next level.”

Highlighting its technology solutions, Heidelberg demonstrated a scalable Smart Print Shop, which includes the new Speedmaster CX 104, Versafire EP digital press, Polar N 137 Pro cutter, and Stahlfolder 66 SSP – all connected via Prinect Production and Business Manager.

At the show, the Speedmaster CX 104 was equipped with IST UV and the patented, navigated Push-to-Stop technology. The new press has quickly become popular amongst commercial and packaging printers due to its flexibility and key features that drive performance.

Offering a new format size and ergonomic design, the CX 104 includes the Heidelberg User Experience, which together with the Intellistart 3 system and a whole host of assistance systems, ensure short makeready times and the best possible support for operators.

The company also featured the Versafire EP with Prinect Digital Front End in its Smart Print Shop. The Versafire boasts highquality digital print, versatile substrate range, and low cost of ownership.

Downstream in the Smart Print Shop, print jobs were finished on the Polar 137 N Pro cutter with image process visualisation, which aids operators even with complex cutting sequences, and the Stahlfolder 66 SSP.

The Stahlfolder SSP boosts process efficiency thanks to its three shafts for scoring, slitting, and perforating combined with folding and feeding from a flatbed feeder.

While individual products were available for demonstration, Heidelberg’s Smart Print Shop seamlessly connected each part of

the manufacturing process via its Prinect Production Manager.

This integration gives customers the ability to control and optimise their production and business processes intelligently. Using cloud-based tools to drive print shop analytics and artificial intelligence to make performance recommendations, Heidelberg is helping its customers maximise both efficiency and output.

To integrate people into the mix, Heidelberg recently restructured its Print Media Center with a strong focus on training programs designed to build and grow the skills of current and future operators and print industry professionals.

The newly named Print Media Performance and Training Center, located in Georgia, US, officially opened its doors to customers earlier this year. Seeing training as an industry critical need, the company will offer most of the classes in the Performance and Training Center to participants for free.

Further efforts to build up the pipeline of new workers in the industry include Heidelberg’s active Apprenticeship Program. Additionally, at Printing United, the company donated $1.00 for every badge scan in its booth to SkillsUSA, a non-profit national education association that serves middle-school, high-school and college/post-secondary students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, which includes graphic communications.

“Many companies in our industry have focused solely on developing technology and process solutions for their customers. What they’ve neglected, and what some would say is the most important element of the ecosystem, is people,” Heidelberg USA executive vice-president of product management Clarence Penge said.

“As an industry leader, we are obligated to educate and train our workforce in a new way – from a manufacturing performance mindset – to ensure they know what is possible both now and, in the future.

“It is our responsibility to link the people, process, and technology to ensure our customers’ success.”

The company links the three elements of people, process and technology to its showcase to help its customers thrive

Heidelberg’s new Speedmaster CX 104

The Versafire EP digital press

HP launches its biggest large format offerings

Additionally, the whole portfolio uses HP Eco-Carton, which involves cardboardbased ink cartridges that reduce plastic by using 100 per cent recycled and recyclable cardboard containers, as well as recycled plastics from HP’s closed-loop recycling process, including post-consumer beverage bottles and U-validated oceanbound plastics.

HP also used the Printing United tradeshow to unveil its HP Professional Print Service Plans, which are designed to enable business agility, maximise uptime and productivity, and to provide learning opportunities and support.

PSPs have a choice of two different HP Professional Print Service Plans – Basic and Plus – with each containing a portfolio of service and software solutions tailored to business needs. New and enhanced features include:

• Print Beat Live Production – giving users a single, real-time view of all jobs queued and in production across multiple sites. This helps the user monitor work, anticipate issues and save precious time

• Print Beat Jobs API – making printer data available to businesses’ external ERP/MIS systems. Users can monitor HP printers alongside non-HP hardware, automate processes and combine with other operational data for richer business insights

HP Inc. has launched new solutions to help Print Service Providers (PSPs) meet high levels of demand, optimise work processes, as well as grow their businesses by delivering innovative applications.

The company was at Printing United in Las Vegas, taking the wraps off its new HP Latex 2700 portfolio and HP Professional Print Service Plans which aim to improve margins without compromising on sustainability.

“To reach higher margins, PSPs are always on the hunt for efficiency gains, and technology that allows them to say yes to more jobs with the confidence to deliver exceptional results,” HP large format general manager Daniel Martinez said.

“Our latest offerings are designed to enable this. The HP Latex 2700 family delivers increased print quality, raw speed and white ink capabilities that will amaze customers. Meanwhile, our new Professional Print Service Plans give PSPs a range of ways to manage fleets and operations – improving workflow and maximising the potential of their business.”

The new 3.2m-wide HP Latex 2700 printers take production efficiency to the next level, offering vivid colours at

up to 89 m2/hr via symmetrical double printheads, which come equipped with automatic printhead cleaning technology.

The roll-to-roll wide format printers are designed to tackle high-volumes of large format signage and decorative applications, ensuring high-quality printing.

Users can take on high-margin jobs with 30 per cent wider gamut at high speed, preserving media gloss and feel across a range of signage and décor applications – including thin films, vinyl and paper.

Meanwhile, the HP Latex 2700W printers aim to offer the whitest white ink on the market at speeds of up to 54 m2/hr, allowing PSPs to produce high-margin applications on pre-coloured and transparent media.

Automatic ink recirculation and white printheads that can be stored in an offline rotating chamber eliminates waste between white jobs.

All devices in the Latex 2700 series run on fourth generation HP Latex ink – bringing UL ECOLOGO certification, while also meeting UL Greenguard Gold and Toy Safety requirements. This allows PSPs to embrace jobs in even the most sensitive environments.

• HP Learn – a digital learning platform with free and premium training modules depending on the service plan PSPs choose, allowing users to upskill and keep ahead of challenges

• Enhanced HP Service Center –proactive troubleshooting to improve uptime, including smart diagnostics that alert your service representative when action is needed

The HP Latex 2700 portfolio is available in all major markets, with pricing available on request from local HP teams and partners. HP Professional Print Service Plans are also now available globally.

HP also announced that its HP PageWide commercial press platform has reached a milestone of 750 billion pages printed.

HP PageWide global head and general manager Annette Friskopp said, “This major milestone of 750 billion pages printed on PageWide commercial presses shows that our continued investment in innovation is paying off for our customers as they continue to utilise PageWide technology to meet their customers’ needs.

“Print Service Providers using HP PageWide Presses are printing almost double the annual market growth rate, which is a testament to the quality and reliability of PageWide presses.”

The new HP Latex 2700 portfolio and HP Professional Print Service Plans launched at Printing United can improve margins without compromising on sustainability

The HP Latex 2700 is designed to tackle high-volumes of large format signage and decorative applications

The HP PageWide Advantage 2200 on display at Printing United

The HP Latex 2700 family delivers increased print quality, raw speed and white ink capabilities that will amaze customers

Kornit Digital promotes sustainable, on-demand printing

At the tradeshow, the company showcased its high-volume digital production portfolio, which focuses on sustainable, on-demand printing

Textile printing specialist Kornit Digital extolled the virtues of sustainable ondemand printing at the recent Printing United Expo in Las Vegas. The company actively encourages retailers and brands to “be the change” by embracing digital production to succeed in a rapidly transforming fashion and textile industry.

Kornit Digital CEO Ronen Samuel believes the company can empower the industry to adapt for what he calls, “the new rules of supply and demand, unleashing unlimited creativity at the speed of e-commerce”.

He said, “Across the industry, the laws of supply and demand are quickly reversing. No longer must retailers and brands try to sell what’s already been produced, carrying unnecessary inventory and relying on supply chains that are often damaged or broken.

“High-volume, on-demand production effectively addresses this challenge, all while providing the highest levels of quality, efficiency, and sustainability. For the first time in three years, we’re very excited to be in Las Vegas live to showcase how Kornit is powering this industry change.”

The company showcased its complete portfolio of high-volume digital production saying its direct to garment and direct to fabric solutions reflect the company’s dedication to ensuring brands and retailers can succeed in an industry often defined by waste and overproduction.

The Kornit Atlas Max targets high quality mass customisation for textile printing, for example, printing polyester and polyblended sportswear with vibrant colour, and custom fabrics for fashion, homedécor, and other applications. The Kornit Apollo platform delivers highly automated, digital mass production on demand.

Kornit said this end-to-end system ensures optimal total cost of ownership and the highest output per operator, with expected availability in mid-2023.

Also at the show was the KornitX workflow solution, which enables “the industry to realise the promise of on-demand, endto-end fulfilment and production”. Kornit’s new Smart Curing solution targets highly durable and high-quality finished products.

Kornit said its integrated portfolio enables companies to adopt lean and agile, ondemand fulfilment more effectively, from pixel to parcel to doorstep.

Samuel said, “Through the power of high volume, on-demand production, companies are now better able to adopt nearshoring. Massive overproduction is a problem with so much product thrown away to landfill, creating more pollution. The digital world enables us to change this situation. We can see a movement from large quantity offshore production in say China or Bangladesh, to keeping it onshore”.

In conjunction with the Printing United Expo, Kornit has issued its second annual Impact Report, reinforcing a commitment to long-term sustainability and underscoring its forward looking strategy across the environmental, social, and corporate governance framework.

This year’s report further expands the company’s long-term roadmap for evolving the world of fashion and textiles into one that is more sustainable and highly efficient with the aim of creating a better planet for everyone.

Samuel said, “This long-term sustainability strategy reflects our dual role as an agent of change and a driver of disruptive innovation. To achieve this, we’re committed

to not only enabling change via on-demand, sustainable production, but also being the change across business operations and employee satisfaction, green chemistry, and measurable reductions in energy.”

The company has made some key accomplishments and outlines these in detail in the report. In climate action and waste management, it reported that it has achieved a 16 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions intensity; a 39 per cent reduction in hazardous waste intensity; and a 57 per cent reduction in non-hazardous waste intensity.

In green chemistry, Kornit has achieved complete elimination of Acute Toxic Amines; 20 per cent reduction of VOC level in Robusto Inkset and 30 per cent of VOC in Eco Ink/Green.

Also in diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as community engagement, Kornit saw an increase in women in management, from 30 per cent to 35 per cent. The company reported 88 per cent of employees feeling respected and free to be authentic at work.

Propelled by an ambition to make a positive impact across all areas of its business and throughout the fashion and textile industries, Kornit has further adjusted its Impact Strategy this year towards more expansive, longer-term goals and objectives.

Kornit’s refined strategy reflects its dual role as a change agent in the industry across two fundamental pillars – Enable the Change and Be the Change. It incorporates both social and environmental KPIs designed to meet the company’s goals and respond to stakeholders’ input, as well as industry and ecosystem needs.

Kornit has a commitment to long-term sustainability and underscoring its forward looking strategy

Kor nit Digital’s Don Whaley and Ronen Samuel

An immersive experience with Ricoh

and strategic solutions vice-president of professional services Derrick Rankin said.

“There is a great opportunity for solution providers to use innovative technologies like AR to amplify print and empower their customers with more impactful and effective marketing campaigns.”

The Ricoh Pro VC70000e offers advanced technologies and automation tools, driving continual improvement and enabling users to pre-program and run make-ready tasks unattended. It allows for the capitalisation of market trends with the speed and quality of offset for high-quality short-run jobs, personalised communications and ondemand premium applications.

Ricoh took to the recent Printing United tradeshow with its line-up of innovative services and solutions that elevate print output, enabling organisations to expand into new markets and deliver more customer value.

Ricoh’s booth was staffed with experts highlighting applications and workflow processes that pair today’s most advanced digital technologies with print to unlock the power of information and uncover profitable new opportunities for business growth.

In addition to hands-on, interactive demonstrations from workflow intelligence to holistic colour management, attendees explored market expansion opportunities with short-run digital packaging and special effect design.

They also experienced how augmented reality (AR) enhances campaigns by creating a custom video message with an AR Holotwin. This was particularly timely as the company attributed research which found that the AR market is expected to surpass $50 billion in the next two years with revenue expected to reach $340 billion by 2028.

“Bridging the physical and digital world to extend the reach of information is imperative to delivering a holistic customer experience that makes an impression and influences purchasing behaviour,” Ricoh USA software

Attendees to Ricoh’s booth were also treated to an Inkjet Theater that showcased samples and virtual demonstrations featuring the latest inkjet innovations and trends in production automation, as well as conversations about the forthcoming Ricoh Pro Z75 B2 sheetfed inkjet. The Ricoh Pro Z75 will harness the company’s efficient drying technology, auto-duplexing, reliable paper transport and a new DFE controller architecture to bring high levels of productivity and speeds.

Offset-quality images are achieved through Ricoh’s own printhead, aqueous ink and dynamic drop size technology, providing users with a printing solution that will surpass the expectations of their clients.

The press, which is about 12.5m long, can handle standard uncoated offset papers from 60-400gsm, or 73-400gsm coated. It can also handle sheets down to A3 size. In addition, it prints in CMYK with a top speed of 4,500 sheets per hour straight printing, or 2,250 sheets per hour in perfecting mode.

Ricoh specialists were also available to discuss new routes to revenue, such as moving into high-end luxury applications using the Ricoh Pro VC70000e continuous feed inkjet press.

The Ricoh Pro VC70000e joins the company’s award-winning continuous feed inkjet portfolio. This highly capable system is fully loaded with a suite of automation tools, a new Undercoater (UC8100) and the same cutting-edge features first introduced on the Ricoh Pro VC70000.

With selectively engaged undercoating, the Ricoh Pro VC70000e is designed to give printers an edge in the world of luxury applications, while the Ricoh Pro VC70000 is paramount for its ability to print high ink coverage jobs on offset coated stock at 492 fpm.

Visitors also explored how to boost productivity and control costs with Ricoh’s business software and professional services solutions. In addition, its specialists showcased Ricoh’s e-commerce and MIS platforms, as well as its awardwinning production and workflow management software, which provide visibility into operational data to help produce consistent output more accurately and efficiently.

“It wouldn’t have been Printing United without a focus on enhanced printing techniques and embellishing technologies that can create impactful marketing materials,” the company said.

“Ricoh highlighted the value of spot colour and blending specialty toners with the Ricoh Pro C7200X to deliver unique applications thanks to an expanded colour gamut. Additionally, visitors viewed the powerful substrate range of the Ricoh Pro TF6251 wide format UV LED flatbed in action.

“Once again, Ricoh and Heidelberg also joined forces to show #PrintCares at Printing United again this year to support Ricoh’s partnership with Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and Heidelberg’s collaboration with SkillsUSA.”

Ricoh’s interactive booth

at Printing United highlighted new opportunities for business growth, market expansion and competitive agility through augmented reality

The Ricoh Pro Z75 is a B2 sheetfed inkjet press

The Ricoh Pro VC70000e continuous feed inkjet press can be used for highend luxury applications

RMGT showcases at Printing United as part of its world tour

Ryobi MHI Graphic Technology (RMGT), together with its North American distributor GSNA recently showcased the latest of its technologies at Printing United. This included the RMGT 9-series presses that was demonstrated live at the tradeshow, with the 970 model being exhibited for the first time in the region.

RMGT’s Printing United exhibition was part of a series of showcases held by the GSNA, which it called its World Tour. This involved several open houses in major cities in North America, such as St. Louis, Minneapolis, Lancaster, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles, as well as Printing United in Las Vegas.

It also includes the International Graphic Arts Show (IGAS) 2022 that will take place in Tokyo as the final leg of the tour, which is scheduled for the end of November.

Attendees at Printing United had the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of RMGT technology, the RMGT 9-series, and the future of offset printing.

The RMGT 9-series predominantly includes the latest A1-plus size offset press (the 970 model), as well as the popular SRA1 offset press, the 920 model. The presses can be configured further to meet specific business needs.

The new 970 model is based on combining the best know-how of the 920 series and 1050 series presses. With the combined technology, the series offers versatility, durability, a high-level of automation and aims to further improve the profitability of its users.

The RMGT 970 is an A1-plus size offset press range that can handle a maximum sheet size of 650mm by 965mm.

The range can perform a wide range of printing work, including printing of multipage materials, posters and packaging.

“The 970 series can provide maximum versatility for printing companies. Firstly, the maximum paper size of 970 series is 650mm by 965mm which can be most suitable for several countries,” RMGT said.

With 650mm by 910mm being a very popular paper size in Australia, users can now print on this size without trimming.

Some of its other features also include a benderless plate clamp, feeder and delivery operation touch panel, and other automated functionalities.

The 920 model, it is a SRA1 offset press for sheet width up to 920mm (900mm printing area). This model enables printing of international A1-size posters as well as eight-up printing for international A4-size.

Some of its other capabilities include significantly lowered printing plate costs, power consumption, and space requirements than a B1-size press, an inline coating system that adds value to printed work, as well as many of the same features as the flagship RMGT 10, including stateof-the-art sheet transfer technology and a function for quickly and easily checking the roller nip.

With various superior features such as highspeed printing of 16,000 sheets per hour, one-pass perfecting printing, and in-line coating capabilities, the press is said to meet the diversified need of printing companies.

Plus, the LED-UV dry-to-dry printing system with one module over the perfecting device and another over the delivery section enables one-pass four-over-four or fiveover-five instant dry duplex production.

Like all RMGT presses, the 920 model comes with an optional newly developed press information display with a large 55inch screen and tablet, which enables an operator to easily monitor printing quality and operating status in real-time – both from the PCS-G console and within the vicinity of the press through the portable tablet.

RMGT said, “Following the world tour in North America, we already have some 970 orders and shipments scheduled for the region.

“Even in COVID-19 situations over the past years, we were fortunate enough to be able to exhibit our presses at several major exhibitions in North America like Print Chicago and Printing United, and these shows contributed to the success of our machines.

“We believe in the concept of ‘seeing is believing’, which has and will continue to strongly enforce the presence of RMGT in the global market and contribute to the orders and promotions of our products.”

An open house showcasing RMGT’s 1060LX-6+CC+LD was also held on the eve of the Printing United tradeshow in Las Vegas.

RMGT’s popular range of technology and solutions are distributed locally through Cyber Australia.

The RMGT 9-series’ 970 model was exhibited for the first time in North America at Printing United

The RMGT 970 model is based on combining the best know-how of the 920 series and 1050 series presses

Gaining results with premium consumables

By Ball & Doggett graphics division general manager Sam Varughese

The last 12 months have seen severe shortages of consumables, with limited availability and a higher cost for these products. However, Ball & Doggett has successfully been able to navigate through this period and has always carried adequate inventory to meet customer needs while minimising price increases through optimising shipping costs where possible.

The company has been at the forefront of technology trends and continually sources and introduces solutions that meet the current and foreseeable demand for a range of products that adhere to the changing needs and trends of customers.

The use of high-quality consumables products that deliver consistent, repeatable results is the key to any print service provider’s success. This means that there are no surprises for the printer when running a job, ensuring they deliver quality end products consistently.

Using a good quality product also means that there may be a marginally higher upfront cost when compared to cheaper alternatives. But, it will deliver a lower costin-user outcome and avoid costly mistakes.

Ball & Doggett has continued to invest in products and technologies that will help support the print industry as it evolves to meet the ever-changing demands of its customers.

Some of the newer products it has introduced recently include:

• Rapida Eco – a new range of mineral oil free process ink

• Huber & ECS – aqueous coatings for direct and indirect food contact and specialty applications

• Non yellowing overprint varnish – for sheetfed and heatset web application

• Huber water-based inks – for Flexo applications

It also carries the widest and most comprehensive range of inks and other press consumables, representing leading global

manufacturers such as Huber, Megami, Actega, TechNova, ECS, KSL, Prisco, PRI, Sunshine Paper, Folex, Varn (Flint), ContiPhoenix, and Trelleborg-Printec.

The range includes offset inks, varnishes and aqueous coatings; printing blankets for all applications including sheetfed, web heatset /coldset, coating and roll label; waterbased flexo inks; LED and HUV inks; spray powders; press chemistry consumables such as founts, washes, and cleaners; washcloth rolls and lint free wipes; anvil covers and accessories.

It also includes impression and transfer cylinder jackets; Pantone Books and X-rite spectrophotometers; and Sauer printing rollers.

While there are shifts in the print industry – from commercial print to packaging – the opportunities for the business are tremendous. The company will continue to diversify its product offering to cover all segments of print, which will include offset, flexo, packaging, and other verticals.

The company is seeing several trends that are shaping the consumables that it delivers to market. The move towards shorter run lengths means that the industry requires more inks that dry faster, enabling quick turnaround times.

It has also noticed a higher acceptance of LED technology for offset presses, a high demand for inks and consumables that are environmentally friendly and ‘green’, as well as an increasing demand for low migration products suitable for direct and indirect food contact printing.

As a business, Ball & Doggett does not see itself in a declining market. On the contrary, it is gearing up for growth through diversification and backward integration.

It believes that the market has undergone a ‘correction’ in terms of capacity –whether it be in print or supplies. It expects the demand for consumables to become stable over the next few years.

With diversification plans in place, it expects business to continue to grow. To support that growth, the business will

Ball & Doggett has continued to invest in products and technologies that will help support the print industry

continue to work with its supply partners to constantly innovate and bring to its customers the latest and greatest that technology has to offer.

It will further strengthen its logistics and distribution to ensure that its customers are able to get what they want, when they want it.

Ball & Doggett’s commitment remains to provide its customers with the highest level of technical support through its experienced print technicians that will enable customers to get the best outcome from the use of its products.

Beyond Colour Density Seminar

Ball & Doggett and X-rite will be hosting a seminar on achieving optimal colour control on 16 and 23 November. Join us as we explore how to achieve predictable, repeatable colour excellence.

During the presentation you will learn more about how to achieve optimal process control on your offset press, beyond the density of your solid inks, as well as tools and methodologies to help you move toward a more controlled press environment, reducing waste and make-ready times and reduce production issues.

To register your interest to join this free seminar go to: http:// www.ballanddoggett.com.au/ beyondcolourseminar/

The use of high-quality consumables products that deliver consistent, repeatable results is the key to any print service provider’s success

Keeping product ranges relevant

By Currie Group national sales manager – ink, Colin Edwards

2022 has been yet another challenging year for consumables. It is still seeing the effects of COVID, but this time around, international freight has been heavily impacted from a cost and supply perspective.

Product costs have also continued rising over the past two years due to transport, raw materials and supplier increases which has proved challenging for distributors, suppliers and customers.

However, in saying that, there will always be a need for consumables within the offset market. So, Currie Group supplies the products that work for our customers from a quality and price perspective.

We have been consistently working for months behind scenes to ensure that we have sufficient products in stock to supply our customers.

We are always working to get the best fit for our customers’ needs and this means that we have had to continually push our suppliers to continue R&D to improve the products

that we offer as it needs to specifically work for our customers’ requirements.

In the last 12 months, Currie Group has been providing a variety of conventional, UV, LED inks and a full array of consumables into the lithographic printing market for both conventional and UV users. We are always looking to supply the products that work for its customer’s needs.

Currie Group supplies a full range of Sava Blankets, Hi Tech Coatings, Toyobo Plates, UV/LED Katsura Rollers, Tyre F Coating Blankets, Finito Packings, Pavan Super Packings and a full range of chemicals including Hurst chemicals, in addition to other products. It supplies almost anything that is used in an offset printing factory.

The offset market has been in decline for many years now, but the key is to investigate new markets.

The industry needs to continue to talk to its customers to see if there are any new requirements or where they see their businesses heading with machinery purchases or the creation of new jobs that have specific product needs.

Over the past few years, low energy requirements and products have increased

as well, such as UV low migration inks. So, companies need to see where the trends lie and do more in those areas.

It is all about keeping the products relevant and working to their optimum. There are many niche markets in the printing industries, so understanding what our customers are doing and what specific products they need is key.

We also need to work hard on keeping our product ranges relevant and understanding what our customers require, while maintaining strong customer relationships.

Currie Group has noticed a growing trend within the consumables space for UV Low Migration inks for food packaging. As such, it has introduced a new T & K Toka UV161 UT product. Not only does it excel in adhesive property but also in drying property and solvent resistance.

Currie Group is selling its UV161 UT Low Migration product to several customers in the packaging sector. The UV161 is a very versatile product for paper and a large variety of non-absorbent stocks.

This ink, often used for non-absorbent substrates like PET, BOPP, treated aluminium-laminated paper, PVC films, synthetic paper, PE and PP films, as well as paper, is suitable for both films and paper. Further, it is widely used in printing of labels (stickers), food labels and packaging and in-mold labels.

Currie Group’s Sava Blankets, which offers dimensional stability, good resilience and impact resistance combined with a long working life and excellent print quality, and Hi-Tech coatings are also performing very well in the market.

However, not all inks and consumables are the same. At Currie Group, we look for quality products at competitive prices. Running quality products may incur a higher price when purchasing, however quality products are generally stronger and have better lithographic properties which equates to less waste and less downtime. While the initial dollar outlay is higher once you consider all the factors, the more expensive quality products can work out cheaper overall.

Currie Group has proven this with many of its products but the T & K Toka Best One Premium Process ink that users pay more for upfront costs them less in the end.

When it comes to consumables, it’s all about keeping the products relevant and working to their optimum

In the last 12 months, Currie Group has been providing conventional, UV, LED inks and a full array of consumables into its lithographic printing market

Don’t hesitate to create emotional content

Emotional content may sound difficult

The idea of creating a design that produces emotions sounds difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. There are a lot of emotions on offer, and some are relatively easy to trigger. Humour, surprise, knowledge, arousal, fear can all be triggered by an image, a punchline, or valuable information.

Knowledge is a very practical emotion to aim for. Every business is asked the same handful of questions every day. These FAQs are low-hanging fruit for creating content that is valuable to the end user and creates emotion.

To return to my pest control fridge magnet example, questions about dangerous spiders are undoubtedly an FAQ for those in the pest control industry. The images on that fridge magnet I grew up with were valuable to my mother and ultimately to me years later.

I used this approach on a job recently for a martial arts academy. The academy wanted a flyer promoting an upcoming open day for prospective students. We used one side of the flyer to promote the open day; on the reverse side, we put a class timetable and tips for first-time visitors.

Not long ago, I moved to a new house with an old garden shed slumped in the back corner of the yard. Spreading from a corner of the shed was a messy pile of surplus fence palings flat on the ground, taking up space I wanted for my lawn mower.

I set about picking them up and piling them outside. Right at the bottom of the pile, I came across what looked like a long grey stocking lumpy with snail shells. I thought it odd but not significant.

As I lifted the next and last paling, something gleaming black about the size of a cricket ball scuttle across the floor.

I was looking at a wild Funnel Web spider for the first time in my life. The ‘stocking’ I had found earlier was its nest.

Humour, surprise, knowledge, arousal, fear can all be triggered by an image, a punchline, or valuable information

Highly venomous spiders are a reality in Australia. My mother equipped my childhood home with a fridge magnet from a local pest control company. The artwork included photos of and information about all the dangerous spiders common in our area, featured prominently was the deadly Funnel Web.

That magnet sat on our fridge for easily a decade. I must have looked at the photo of the Funnel Web a thousand times. When I saw that spider, inches from my feet in the dim light, I knew what it was, thanks in part to that magnet.

A flyer lasting years on a fridge is not a rare story for a printer. Print marketing has an exceptionally long tail, and it is not uncommon for flyers to bring home customers years after their distribution. Print can exist for years within a home or office.

The thinking is that people would use the flyer for the open day and keep it on the fridge to get them to their first class. All the while it is on the fridge, it is being helpful, creating the emotion of knowledge, and quietly building emotional capital and perceived value of the brand every time they look at it. It keeps the academy in the conversation and may bring in new students or help reactivate past students.

Paper and print have been a part of our culture for hundreds of years, and it has become deeply embedded. Every household has a place designated for the storage of printed paper and others for the display of it.

Familiar places are in the hallway near the front door, on the kitchen bench, on a set of shelves next to a desk or on the side of the fridge. When print enters a space, it has a place to go and can spend a long time in a person’s possession. The length of the stay allows for multiple impressions on a person, satisfying the requirements for brand building.

Print also has two sides, allowing for two different messages to be sent on the same piece of paper. One side can be devoted to emotional priming, while the other is devoted to short-term activation. These satisfy the marketing best practice of supporting long-term campaigns with short-term campaigns.

The idea of creating a design that produces emotions sounds difficult, but it doesn’t have to be

Daniel Edwards is the account manager at Posterboy Printing. He has worked in the printing industry since 2002. He has worked on thousands of print jobs with hundreds of Australia’s top marketers, and is also the author of The Power of Print.

www.thermotype.com

www.thermotype.com

You quoted the work competitively to get the order. Now you need to produce the work quickly and efficiently to maximize your profits. The proven NSF Excel foil stamping, embossing and die cutting press can run at speeds up to 5,500 impressions per hour. So smile, with an NSF Excel, your slow production days are over.

You quoted the work competitively to get the order. Now you need to produce the work quickly and efficiently to maximize your profits.

The proven NSF Excel foil stamping, embossing and die cutting press can run at speeds up to 5,500 impressions per hour. So smile, with an NSF Excel, your slow production days are over.

‘Tis the season for print

a single material, typically locally made and recyclable cardboard that contains no celloglaze or plastics. It is important to ensure the entire unit can be placed in a household recycling bin, and that it contains clear directions for disposal.

Paper bags

Kellie Northwood is the executive secretary of Women in Print, the CEO of The Real Media Collective and incoming CEO of the Print and Visual Communications Association.

For more information contact: 03 94212206 or hello@thermc.com.au. www.therealmediacollective.com.au.

As sales and shopping increase throughout the season, so inevitably does the consumption and use of bags for retail. Paper bags are created from a renewable resource and are a cost-efficient option for non-food packaging. While textile bags are a common choice, research has shown that they would need to be reused at least 50 times to achieve the same climate change performance as paper.

By providing paper bags you will also be meeting customer demand, as they remain the most preferred and resonant option. A survey by Two Sides found that 69 per cent of Australian respondents preferred paper and cardboard packaging due to it being better for the environment, 72 per cent preferred its compostable nature, and 50 per cent preferred it for being easier to recycle.

Catalogues

With the summer season acting as an opportune time to increase your brand’s market share, catalogues are a powerful channel to help you do so.

Across the sectors of print, the role that our industry plays throughout the summer sales season is significant

The weather is warming up, the summer ranges are hitting the racks and with Christmas just around the corner, retailers – the largest print buying group – are coming in hard with their festive season campaigning. And they are exploring colour, size, substrates, sustainability and more.

As retailers and brands are looking for their edge, it is our role to offer creative print solutions and technologies to help our customers stand out and kick their sales goals with print. Let’s explore some trends across each sector to assist your sales teams when communicating with clients across summer campaigning this year:

Print marketing

Print marketing has a unique capacity to make an impression on customers and draw their attention to your products and offerings through its tactility, variety, and potential for creative and memorable content. Often online channels can lack emotional connectivity and recall but offline can fill in the gaps, building trust. It is important to note that when it comes

to offline and online channels, it by no means needs to be one or the other. At a time when marketers and advertisers have a range of sophisticated tools, these print and digital solutions receive the best results when used cooperatively with one another.

The largest global marketing platform company, Salesforce, knows this well and uses offline channels and print despite their digitally-led approach. According to their research, 43 per cent of consumers prefer offline channels, and that is 10.75 million Australians we brands shouldn’t be ignoring.

Signage

It is well-known that consumers prefer environmentally conscious options and products, and meeting this demand means extending your sustainable approach to the signage you use. More and more brands and retailers in the world of POS and signage are focusing on reducing waste and producing displays that consider end-of-life materials and manufacture, and so should you. The best practice now for sustainable in-store signage is to craft signage from

This has been proven by retailers who have chosen to divert from their letterbox catalogue distribution.

In September 2020, a major grocery retailer publicly discontinued its distribution. This led to an extensive, 14-week research program by a large competitor to study the effectiveness of catalogues. They discovered that affluent suburbs realised double-digit sale declines when catalogues were removed, and that metropolitan suburbs realised no difference, but that recall was reduced.

Despite the grocery retailer’s heavy investment in digital marketing after their catalogues were discontinued, they received a mere one percentage point increase in market share. Compare this to their competition, who grew 4.4 points in market share in the same period, simply by keeping their catalogue and letterbox marketing in place. Never under-estimate the power of the letterbox.

Across print, the role that our industry plays across the summer sales season is significant, and understanding the reach, environmental and effectiveness qualities of print is vital in our approach. Keep your customers informed about the industry’s strengths and enjoy the festive season.

As retailers and brands look for their edge, it is the role of print to offer creative solutions and technologies to help customers stand out and kick their sales goals

Want to boost profits? You need a Talent Bible

A Talent Bible creates a ‘single source of truth’ about what your company does, what the vision and mission are, why this matters and what must be done to turn

The bottom line is that this lack of shared clarity and focus always costs money and often costs opportunities.

A Talent Bible solves this problem by creating a ‘single source of truth’ about what it is your company exists to do, what the vision and mission are, why this matters to the world and how things need to be done to turn this vision into a reality and ensure that the work they are doing every day really makes an impact.

You can include as little or as much as you feel is relevant and use mixed media to tell the story in a way that brings your brand to life for your team.

This Talent Bible will unite and inspire your existing team – and help you to attract, align and activate future team members too.

So how do you get started?

• Create a committee with representatives from each department

• Appoint a committee chairperson to run the project

• Set aside a day to capture key information and decide on the timeframe and format of the Talent Bible (in a workshop style setting)

Hav

ing a Talent Bible will align your entire team and using it well will activate their full potential

Heading into the last quarter of 2022, it feels like the buoyancy we all felt at the start of the year with COVID restrictions lifting has been replaced by the heaviness of economic trouble ahead.

With monthly interest rate rises, cost of living increases and everything in the supply chain getting more expensive by the day, cash-flow and profitability have once again become the primary focus for all businesses.

There’s only so far cost-cutting can get you though, so the next step has got to be about finding creative ways to maximise revenues and improve productivity.

Human beings are hard-wired for a sense of both individual and shared purpose. We crave a clear mission and to belong to a group.

The Human Operating System (the way we’re hard-wired) drives everything we do, but most in business don’t understand this and do things that fail to harness the power of their people.

That’s why we created the Talent Bible.

To win in the market today, businesses need a way to get their teams individually motivated, and then working together focused on the same goal, doing things the right way, coming up with new ideas, taking advantage of opportunities and not wasting time on the wrong stuff.

Some of the most common issues our clients have had include:

• Lack of a shared set of guiding principles to follow

• Lack of belief in the mission the business exists to fulfil

• Lack of connection to the business through shared customs

• Lack of understanding of how the business makes money

• Lack of awareness about their specific role in creating value in the business

• Lack of clarity and buy-in among team members about the vision for the business

And the impact of these has been everything from disengagement and lack of motivation through to lost sales, unhappy customers and management wasting time on performance issues.

• Step 1 Capture: Discuss and collate the company vision, mission, business model, competitive strategy, customs, key values or guiding principles as well as the founding story and any other relevant customer or team member stories that illustrate why you do what you do or the importance of doing it the way you do it

• Step 2 Communicate: Get the information written in a way that you’re happy with (on brand) and then use a tool like Canva for document layout inspiration (customise for your brand colours), add images and video if you’ve got it

• Once your committee have all approved the document, start the process of sharing this with your entire team. The way you do this will depend on your business size and structure.

Once you have a Talent Bible, use it to regularly reinforce key content in team meetings and feedback discussions. Always refer to it when giving team members feedback on why something worked or didn’t work.

Remind people of the vision and mission at every opportunity (bonus points if you can do this with your actions and not words), foster important customs and reward behaviours that live the values.

Having this document will align your entire team and using it well will activate their full potential which will help you to boost your profits.

this vision into reality

To unlock profitability through emotional engagement in marketing and communications, Meqa Smith launched The Unforgettable Agency, which she currently heads as its strategist.

Collaborate with your print customers

Projects created with level one collaboration have always run smoother and turned out better

Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse at Print Media Centr, a Print Buyerologist, international speaker and blogger, host of Podcasts From The Printerverse, cultivator of Print Production Professionals, Head Girl in Charge at Girls Who Print, host of #PrintChat, the founder of International Print Day and the founder of #ProjectPeacock.

The secret to earning referrals and long-term loyalty with print customers for their printing and print marketing needs is really no secret. Creative collaboration is the key to success.

On the lowest end, we have information exchange and administrative collaboration: emails, calls, job status, pricing, billing, and so on.

The next level is a contribution collaboration: suggestions for improvements cost savings and so on for supplied estimate requests and project files. The pinnacle, level one, and the Holy Grail of collaboration is collaboration before a project is conceived.

In my personal experience, projects created with level one collaboration have always run smoother and turned out better.

In many cases, better than anyone expected because our agency printing partners brought us ideas we didn’t have, presented better ways to execute, and introduced new printing and finishing techniques and technologies we didn’t know existed.

Phygital partnerships

As we move closer and closer to a meta-world, human relationships will be the significant differential in how a print customer purchases, and why.

I believe collaboration is so critical to the future of print, that I have invested the last six months developing the Project Peacock Network, streaming printspiration for printing and marketing professionals, and playing at ProjectPeacock.TV.

The first series, Project Peacock: Print Production, is original programming produced in partnership with Inkish.TV, and shares collaborative success stories featuring print customers, their printers, and the paper, press, finishing, and technology partners of the printers.

Several episodes are live, with more to follow in the coming weeks. In the first three episodes, we learn three ways to successfully collaborate with print customers, and even win an award for it!

The first episode focuses on collaboration using multiple substrates and variable data in a multi-piece campaign and features Trekk director of client services Emilee Christianson, Copy General vice-president and general manager Laura d’All and production inkjet printing technology from Canon Solutions America.

The second features collaboration on paper choice with Midland fine paper sales manager Marie Langdon talking about creating complicated crossovers for typography that required testing. J&J account executive Tom Latendresse addresses the topic of precise finishing and how his team achieved the result intended by Nathaniel Cooper, creative director at Design Ranch for their client.

The third episode addresses the topic of collaboration for replicating the colour of Astrobrights Lift-Off Lemon with ink to match across multiple substrates and print samples. It features Neenah marketing manager Michele Pistone and FEY Printing president Scott Gasch, and includes how Neenah collaborated with Design Army on the concept, and the colour testing Fey initiated and provided.

Tell your own story

In the process of developing the first industry streaming network for Printspiration, I realised an amazing content library of free how-to information is also being aggregated. In that, I also know it can get complicated to share content starring another printer, paper mill, merchant, press, finishing, and technology partner that isn’t in your eco-system, no matter how much the story of collaboration would resonate with your customers. So, get your own!

Industry partners can bring us ideas that we didn’t have

Project Peacock: Print Production is back on the road to film in 2023. Visual Impact Sydney / Label & Packaging Expo in May 2023. Coincidence? I think not.

We must plan our filming schedule now, especially if Project Peacock is heading Down Under.

Visual Impact Sydney / Label & Packaging Expo exhibitors, we can create Project Peacock episodes in your booth or in your demo centre with your team and customers.

You already have ecosystems, so get together with your partners and show the rest of the industry how it all works and benefits print customers, marketers, and creatives.

While ‘muster’ is the most common collective noun for peacocks, a group of peacocks is also referred to as ostentation or a party, or a pride.

Pride is the reason a peacock was chosen to represent this ongoing customer education initiative. I wanted to show off the amazing things we can do, that customers are completely unaware of, and give them the resources, connections, and tools they need to create and produce printed materials that delivered or exceeded their intended results.

After engaging with more than 4000 print customers worldwide since 2017, the mission of Project Peacock continues because it is working. And through the streaming platform, we can now reach, educate, and share prinspiration around the world.

LIA NSW enjoys Penrith Museum tour

Nearly 40 people attended the recent Lithographic Institute of Australia NSW get together which included a print demonstration from Penrith Museum of Printing president Bob Lockley and dinner and then enjoyed watching the nearby harness

Another event is planned for 24 November, from 6pm to 10.30pm at the Sydney Rowing Club in Abbotsford. This not-to-be-missed social event promises to bring the industry together over dinner with no formalities, announcements or speeches.

racing afterwards.

Here’s a photo gallery from the Penrith Museum of Printing and harness racing event below:

Stephanus Peters runs some print jobs as part of the demo in October

LIA NSW guests gather at the Penrith Museum of Printing in October 2022Bob Lockley and John BerryBob Lockley’s demonstration

John Berry addresses the gathering at the LIA NSW eventBob Lockley steps the group back in time with printing history

Guests watch on at the Penrith Museum of Printing demonstration

Wal Sadlo makes a presentation

PMG’s Carmen Ciappara was there along with Wide Format Online’s Andy McCourt

Penrith Museum of Printing president Bob Lockley

HP and ePac sign record deal for 50 digital presses

HP Inc. and ePac Flexible Packaging have announced the purchase of 50 new HP Indigo digital presses to be deployed in existing and new sites around the world, as part of ePac’s continued global expansion plan. It’s the largest deal ever for HP Indigo.

ePac has been a principal adopter of HP Indigo digital presses since the company’s inception in 2016 and has since upheld a strong and deeply rooted collaboration with HP. Over the past six years, the company’s fleet of HP Indigo digital presses has grown enormously, overseeing large-scale investments of HP Indigo 20000 and HP Indigo 25K digital presses.

The new wave of 50x HP Indigo digital presses, the largest single order in HP Indigo’s history, will accelerate ePac’s record-breaking production capacity as it continues to disrupt the global flexible packaging market.

Focusing on global expansion, this new fleet will be distributed within 36 new and existing sites across five continents. These presses, which incorporate HP Indigo’s latest technologies, will also support ePac’s strategy to expand its share and business in existing markets.

New Epson factory to triple inkjet printhead production

Akita Epson Corporation, a subsidiary of Seiko Epson, will invest 3.5 billion yen ($37 million) to build a new factory that will triple its production capacity of PrecisionCore printheads for inkjet printers to meet the predicted growth in demand. Construction work on the new factory on the Akita Epson lot has begun and is scheduled for completion in December 2023.

“Epson’s printing solutions business provides products and services based on original Micro Piezo inkjet technology to customers in the office, home, commercial, and industrial markets,” Epson said.

“Global demand for inkjet printers in the office and home inkjet printer markets is forecast to continue growing over the medium and long terms. The need for distributed printing that arose with COVID-19 is helping to fuel this demand, as is the strong demand for high-capacity ink tank printers in North America and other developed economies.

“The new factory will be used to manufacture and assemble inkjet printheads, the core devices

(l-r) ePac’s Virag Patel and HP’s Haim Levit ink the deal

“As we recently announced, ePac aims to accelerate its growth and expand its global footprint. Our 50-press acquisition will enhance ePac’s record breaking flexible packaging production on HP Indigo Digital Presses, further rooting our longstanding collaboration with HP. This transition will leverage ePac’s vast market experience together with HP’s unique digital printing technology,” ePac COO Virag Patel said.

ePac Flexible Packaging’s latest investment of HP Indigo technology is an example of how HP is continuing to promote the advances of digital printing and serving more brands and communities around the world. HP Indigo digital presses are sold and serviced in Australia and New Zealand by Currie Group.

“ePac Flexible Packaging is leading the global digital flexible packaging movement as it continues to replicate its HP Indigo-based business model in new locations around the world,” HP industrial print business general manager Haim Levit said.

Serious Fraud Office closes FXNZ investigation

New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office has closed its lengthy investigation into Fuji Xerox New Zealand (FXNZ) after determining it was ‘not in the public interest’ to continue an inquiry launched six years ago.

In August, the company – now Fujifilm Business Innovation NZ – settled a civil case against former auditor EY and three former executives.

The investigation focused on allegations that former executives at FXNZ used inappropriate accounting mechanisms to inflate the company’s total revenue between 2011 and 2016.

These revenue figures were used in reporting to its Japanese parent company.

The SFO began looking into FXNZ in October 2016, after the company reported a pre-tax loss of $51 million for the year.

used in inkjet printers. The investment plan will ensure that Epson has enough production space to meet the predicted future growth in demand. It will also enable Epson to strengthen its product line-up and expand printhead sales to third parties, with a view to increasing the supply of inkjet printers equipped with cutting-edge PrecisionCore MicroTFP printheads.”

The plan is to construct the new factory adjacent to the existing factory. By consolidating PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead production at Akita Epson, the company aims to maximise efficiency. Production equipment and processes will be arranged to further increase human productivity and space productivity.

“As a production site with high technological capabilities, Akita Epson works closely with other Epson R&D sites,” Epson said.

Two months later, the office closed its inquiry saying it would take no action. The investigation was relaunched a year later after parent company Fujifilm released a report revealing that “inappropriate accounting” at its FXNZ and Fuji Xerox Australia (FXA) subsidiaries had overstated revenues by about $450 million between 2011 and 2016.

FXNZ was ultimately required to restate its accounts by $355 million in 2017. As the investigation continued, the SFO defended its actions in 2019. In August 2022, Fuji Xerox New Zealand (now renamed Fujifilm Business Innovation New Zealand) settled a civil case brought against its former auditor EY and three of its former senior executives.

An artist impression of the new Akita Epson printhead factory

Inflation drives up prices for Graphic Art Mart, Sun Chemical, Flint

Industry supplier Graphic Art Mart has announced five to 10 per cent price rises on most products from 7 November. Global manufacturers Sun Chemical and Flint Group also outlined new price increases caused by “unprecedented” inflation.

“The conflict in Europe, raw material supply shortages, escalating transport, energy and fuel costs, currency devaluation and general inflationary conditions have impacted all aspects of business,” Graphic Art Mart executive general manager Mousa Elsarky said.

“While we have made every endeavour to insulate you from the impact of these inflationary pressures, it is necessary for our business to now pass on the increases that have been implemented by our suppliers.

“It is also necessary to increase some freight charges in line with rises from our freight providers. Our freight free threshold will increase slightly to $350 with normal metro freight charges for orders below the

Mesh Direct wraps Hymix silos with Indigenous designs

Mesh Direct used several substrates to transform Hymix Australia’s newest site in Sydney with custom Aboriginal designs.

“We were immensely excited to be part of this project. Hymix Australia’s newest premier site at Banksmeadow in Sydney was absolutely transformed with custom Aboriginal designs. We used several substrates for this mammoth project but the results from the Silo Wraps were maybe our favourite,” Mesh Direct, a 100 per cent carbon neutral construction and event signage company, said.

The complex project presented several challenges, according to Mesh Direct. The first challenge was the silos that needed covering, as they would reach temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees and potentially even hotter during the summer months. This is a considerably hot surface, which it needed to consider when considering materials. The second challenge was the walls at the site which needed covering.

threshold increasing to $15 per order and $30 for regional orders.

“We remain committed to offering you the industry’s highest service levels across our 10 branches Australia wide. The Graphic Art Mart business continues to support its customers by not charging small order handling or pick up fees and will not impose a minimum order value for purchases.”

Flint Group said it would implement a global price increase effective 1 January 2023, to respond to continued inflationary pressures across multiple cost drivers.

Flint Group CEO Steve Dryden said, “We are used to successfully meeting macroeconomic challenges, but we are entering a new environment of relentless cost inflation of a magnitude not witnessed in decades.

“Despite the continual implementation of an extensive range of efficiency programs, the magnitude of the cost increases means that the company is reluctantly compelled to raise prices. The company will be implementing a general price increase to recover inflationary costs, primarily related to labour.

“The company is also cognizant of events in Europe, which have restricted the availability of natural gas from Russia.

“The mechanisms to ensure continued supply of products to our customers in this region will be the subject of a separate communication.”

Sun Chemical also said it would increase prices immediately across its portfolio of packaging, commercial sheetfed, and screen inks, coatings, consumables, and adhesives in Europe, Middle East, Africa.

“The current geopolitical situation in Europe continues to upset the unprecedented inflationary trends further, with severe impact onto operating costs, including utilities and labour costs, through the entire supply chain,” the company said.

“Sun Chemical continues to strive for finding ways of mitigating these costs, but the magnitude and speed of cost increases requires the company to further increase prices.”

The artwork features a custom Aboriginal design. Hymix approached MGM Australia, a company that with indigenous artists and indigenous youths within the area, to create the piece.

“We opted to use Laminated Aluminium Composite board for the area surrounding the children’s playground,” Mesh Direct said.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to get the permission required to attach signage to them, meaning we needed to build fencing in front of them. There was a children’s playground at one area of the site that this was particularly important. Lastly, we were working in an area of high graffiti. This was also a consideration when choosing materials to ensure the signage wouldn’t be damaged,” it said.

“We landed on using almost every substrate from our range. For the silos, we used a high temperature-rated SelfAdhesive Vinyl (SAV) which was able to withstand well above the anticipated temperature. Our SAV has extremely high adhesive and is designed to withstand all weather and extreme conditions. We were confident that it was going to be the right solution.”

“This product has a great surface for vivid high-quality printing. It also provides longevity thanks to the robust nature of the substrate. In addition, we installed a couple of blank ACM boards so the kids could paint and draw on them whilst playing. This was a great solution to the initial brief for creating an engaging area.”

Due to being an area prone to graffiti, Mesh opted to use a graffiti-proof heavy-duty vinyl for the large areas where the client wanted to display information as this product allows graffiti to easily be wiped away.

“This project tested us in many ways, but the results speak for themselves. Hymix were extremely pleased with the topquality results that were produced. We utilised several substrates from our range to create an interactive and attractive space that can be enjoyed,” it added.

Graphic Art Mart’s branch at North Rocks, Sydney

Hymix silo signage featuring Aboriginal artwork

swissQprint celebrates 15 years of growth

swissQprint, the Swiss manufacturer of large format printers – distributed in Australia by Pozitive – is celebrating its 15th anniversary. What began as a six-man operation in 2007 has since blossomed into a leading global developer and producer with 200 employees. More than 1600 swissQprint machines are in operation worldwide.

“It was on 17 September 2007 that Reto Eicher, Roland Fetting and Hansjörg Untersander had the swissQprint company entered in the commercial register. With a crew of six, the company was under way. Already on board was the present CEO, Kilian Hintermann. The following year, notwithstanding the financial crisis then in full swing, the team launched the first swissQprint flatbed printer,” the company said.

“swissQprint has since grown to employ around 200 people. 130 of them, the founders included, work at headquarters in Kriessern, Switzerland. Just under 70 staff are employed at subsidiaries in Germany, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the USA and Japan.

New Fujifilm printheads for aqueous ceramic inks

Fujifilm Dimatix has introduced Starfire 1024 AQMF and AQLF printheads designed for printing on ceramic tiles using eco-friendly aqueous inks.

“The new Starfire 1024 printhead is a highperformance, easy to integrate, drop-ondemand product that offers single-colour operation at a resolution of 400 drops per inch,” US-based Fujifilm Dimatix said.

“As the tile industry grows, ceramic tile manufacturers are evolving their production processes to meet emerging environmental standards.

“Additionally, these manufacturers address demand for large ceramic tile slabs with improved colour vibrancy. One of the key enablers of such evolution is the use of aqueous inkjet inks. These inks are designed to meet new environmental sustainability goals and reduce air pollutant and volatile organic compound emissions, as well as to produce vibrantly coloured tile designs.

“As a supplier of printhead technology to inkjet printing system suppliers in the ceramic tile industry, Fujifilm Dimatix continues its pioneering development of the Starfire printhead to meet

“The company continued its growth through the pandemic years and pressed ahead with development projects. The latest product is Kudu, a high-end printer launched in May this year.”

Today’s product range comprises eight models: six flatbed and two roll to roll printers. More than 1600 swissQprint machines are in operation worldwide. Sales and service are handled by six subsidiaries in concert with over 30 distribution partners around the globe. Development and production of the machines stays seated in Switzerland. Company headquarters also recently began managing sales to the Swiss home market.

“In adtech and digital printing circles especially, swissQprint is an acknowledged brand: a byword for precision, reliability and durability,” the company said.

Victoria’s Action Labels a finalist in UK Digital Printer awards

Melbourne’s Action Labels & Nameplates, owned by Label Power, has been named a finalist in Digital Printer Awards (UK) for a label entry printed on an Epson SurePress L-6034VW inkjet press.

“We’re thrilled to congratulate Melbournebased company Action Labels & Nameplates on becoming finalists of the Digital Printer Awards (UK) 2022 for their brilliant label entry, printed using the SurePress L-6034VW inkjet label press,” Epson Australia said.

Action Labels & Nameplates, Australian owned and operated for over 75 years, manufactures small, medium and large runs of labels, vinyl decals, signage, domed labels, core flute signage and metallic nameplates. The Digital Printer Awards, organised by UK-based Digital Printer Magazine, will be held on 23 November at the InterContinental London Park Lane.

increasing demand for aqueous-based ink chemistries while also maintaining its acclaimed, core technology capability such as ink recirculation.”

Fujifilm Dimatix CEO and president Martin Schoeppler said, “As a leader in innovative printhead technology, Fujifilm Dimatix is committed to providing industrial inkjet solutions to its OEM customers to support the transition to aqueous ink ceramic printing.

“This is a significant step forward not only for the ceramic tile industry but also for the environment, and we are pleased to offer the new Starfire printhead to our OEM partners to help them to serve the needs of these end user customers. We are pleased to continue this journey with our OEM partners who develop print systems designed to support a sustainable ceramic tile printing future.”

Fujifilm Starfire 1024 AQ printheads are now commercially available.

Category: Digitally printed labels and packaging

Company name: Action Labels & Nameplates

Job name: VI Corpus SARMS Labels

Customer: VI Corpus Software: Adobe Illustrator

Press/Printer: Epson Surepress L-6034VW

Finishing equipment: A B Graphic Digicon Series 2 Substrate(s): PP metallised 50 TC permanent glassine Run length: 500m Designer: VI Corpus

Action Labels & Nameplates was acquired by James Malone’s Label Power in 2020.

(l-r) swissQprint’s Kilian Hintermann, Roland Fetting, Hansjörg Untersander and Reto Eicher

Fedrigoni partners with Mohawk in paper industry consolidation

Italian paper giant Fedrigoni – acquired this year by equity firms Bain Capital and BC Partners – has signed a manufacturing partnership with US papermaker Mohawk to strengthen its position in the global specialty paper market for graphics and packaging. The deal “carries the potential” to lead to an acquisition.

“The Fedrigoni Group and Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc. have entered into a manufacturing agreement to expand the reach of their specialty papers globally,” Fedrigoni said.

“Mohawk’s offer presents a mix of papers in line with Fedrigoni products, favouring luxury packaging and offering solutions particularly oriented to designers, companies, printers and converters. A similar policy of attention to sustainability, at every stage of the process production, represents a further common element with the Fedrigoni Group.

“The strategic agreement will enable Fedrigoni to expand its presence in the

Mutoh takes out five Printing United Pinnacle 2022 Awards

Mutoh had added to its haul of Printing United Pinnacle Awards with a new collection of five ‘best of’ categories in the latest 2022 series, announced prior to the Printing United expo. The Awards cover roll-to-roll, flatbed and hybrid models.

Mutoh has once again been honoured at the USA Pinnacle Awards, for the 11th year in a row. In 2021, Mutoh also collected five awards. Having received five new Pinnacle Product Awards, 2022-23 looks to be a very promising year for Mutoh.

For the 2022 year and announced by the Printing United Alliance, Mutoh won awards in the following output categories this year:

• ValueJet 2638X 104” in Eco-Solvent Printer – Roll-to-Roll Solvent/Latex (over 80-inches)

US market and consolidate its position as a world leader in specialty papers for luxury packaging and premium labels for wine, and Mohawk to reinforce its commitment and focus on developing increasingly high-performance, innovative, and sustainable solutions.”

“The agreement with Mohawk is a further element in our growth strategy in a market with excellent prospects such as specialty papers, where we intend to consolidate our global primacy,” Fedrigoni Group CEO Marco Nespolo said.

“Many synergistic opportunities are also present for our self-adhesive materials division, which will expand its leading position in premium labels for the wine market in the US.”

Mohawk, founded in 1931, is family owned and operated, manufacturing some of the world’s most recognised specialty papers for designers, consumer brands and printers.

Mohawk’s early innovation in digital printing and sustainability secured its leadership position in these two significant growth sectors.

Mohawk CEO Thomas O’Connor, Jr. said, “We are pleased to build upon our family’s legacy of manufacturing and distributing paper recognised and trusted around the world for the many uses of our customers.

“Like Mohawk, the Fedrigoni Group is focused on expanding the specialty papers market. Our partnership will allow us to continue our commitment and focus on the development of increasingly high-performing, innovative, and sustainable solutions.”

The alignment between Mohawk and Fedrigoni carries the potential to “formalise a strategic transaction” over the next several years, Fedrigoni said.

In July 2022, Fedrigoni entered global wrap film market with the acquisition of Unifol – a Turkey-based manufacturer of self-adhesive PVC films. Ritrama, Fedrogoni’s adhesive film arm, is sold in Australia by HVG.

• XpertJet 1642WR Pro 64” in Dye Sublimation Printer – Roll-to-Roll Dye-Sub on Textile (under US$50K)

• XpertJet 661UF 19”x23” UV-LED Flatbed Printer – Tabletop Flatbed (Industrial/Small Item Decoration)

• PerformanceJet 2508UF 4ftx8ft UVLED Printer – UV/Latex Flatbed (under US$100K)

• ValueJet 1638UH Mark II 64” UVLED Hybrid Printer – UV/Latex Hybrid (under US$100K)

On receiving the awards, Mutoh America Inc. president and general manager Brian

Phipps said, “Mutoh is happy to accept five more Pinnacle awards this year for our best-in-class printers. We know we have great products but it’s nice to have the industry recognition with these beautiful pinnacle awards supporting us”.

Its Australian managing director Russell Cavenagh said, “Mutoh is committed to constant innovation and leading advancements in technology”.

Mutoh printers and inks are sold through a network of dealers across Australia and by Uniscreen and Fujifilm in New Zealand.

Fedrigoni plans to strengthen its position in the global specialty paper market

Mutoh’s ‘fabulous five’ of 2022 Pinnacle Award winners (note: the PJ 2508 flatbed UV is not yet available in A/NZ)

Labelexpo Asia 2022 December 7-10, 2022 Shanghai, China labelexpo-asia.com

Labelexpo Southeast Asia 2023 February 9-11, 2023 Bangkok, Thailand labelexpo-seasia.com

International Sign Expo 2023 April 12-14, 2023 Las Vegas, USA signexpo.org

Visual Impact Sydney May 3-5, 2023 Sydney, Australia visualimpact.org.au

Interpack 2023 May 4-10, 2023 Düsseldorf, Germany interpack.com

FESPA Global Print Expo 2023 May 23-26, 2023 Munich, Germany fespa.com

Labelexpo Europe 2023 September 11-14, 2023 Brussels, Belgium labelexpo-europe.com

Foodtech Packtech 2023 September 19-21, 2023 Auckland, New Zealand foodtechpacktech.co.nz/

Printing United 2023 October 18-20, 2023 Georgia, USA printingunited.com

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