print illustrated v1-4 | Fujifilm by FUJIFILM print illustrated

Volume 1 Issue 4 Winter, 2017

illustrated

EYEING REINVENTION GREAT COMPANIES ADAPT WITH THE TIMES

INSIDE THE PERFECT WIDE FORMAT FIT INCENTIVIZING INKJET

VOL. 1, ISSUE 4 n WINTER 2017

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IN THIS ISSUE

01 YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL A letter from Todd Zimmerman

06 READY FOR ANYTHING How the Inca Onset X3 positions Edison Retail Solutions to serve more clients

08 INVESTING IN & INCENTIVIZING INKJET Getting your sales team on board

12 WRIGHT ON TARGET How a pair of J Press 720S’ are helping Pocket Folders Fast ‘own the world’

14 FULL COURT PRESS

REINVENTION GREAT COMPANIES ADAPT WITH THE TIMES

SIGN-UP FOR YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO PRINT ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE! www.PrintIllustrated.com

Fujifilm, Xerox fortify North American reseller agreement

16 FORESIGHT Print executives weigh in on their expectations for 2018

18 PRESSROOM PROGRESS FUJIFILM Hunt Chemicals facility is committed to quality and product development

20 2017 REWIND Reflecting on a year of achievements

YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL A LETTER FROM TODD ZIMMERMAN

Can you really have it all in 2018? We believe that you can, and we want to help you get there. While some may be concerned about choosing one avenue over the other, we at Fujifilm often advocate taking multiple paths. Take for example, traditional offset lithography and digital inkjet printing. We believe that having both print technologies puts you in the best possible position. You can continue to utilize offset lithography for longer run static jobs, while reaping the rewards of producing short run, versioned or variable data jobs with inkjet printing. Offering both technologies often results in business growth that far exceeds taking a singular path. Think of it as adding value. Our heritage business is rooted in plates and press room supplies for offset lithography. It’s our core offering and we continue to develop and improve our products and solutions to serve this market. However, at the same time, we are expanding our portfolio of inkjet solutions to better meet the demands of print buyers, retailers and brand owners. We are adding to our offering to respond to the dynamics in the marketplace, and provide the products and solutions you need to succeed.

We see the best commercial printers developing deeper relationships with their current clients by investing in equipment and processes to serve markets beyond general commercial printing. Many of our customers are investing in inkjet equipment, such as wide format presses for the sign and display market, and sheetfed inkjet presses for the commercial and packaging markets. Simply put, these investments better position commercial printers for future success. It’s a natural path. Commercial printers have always been adapting to changes in the print industry. 2017 has been a fantastic year of growth at Fujifilm in both our traditional business as well as our inkjet business. Many of you have invested in inkjet technologies and workflow systems. Our success is the result of our relationship with you, so rest assured that we will keep listening, keep investing, and keep pursuing even better solutions for 2018 and beyond. In many ways this issue of print illustrated is all about having it all. We feature two customers that made investments and are succeeding at growing their business.

WE’LL DELIVER Looking back on the holiday season makes me think how our expectations have changed about having it all. When you can order the products you need—anytime, and those orders are fulfilled—completely, and you get them shipped to you—fast, your expectations change. From an operations perspective, this can be a daunting task. Our product portfolio has over 20,000 active items, and forecasting demand for all these products is tough to predict. But it’s the world we live in, so we adapt, we change, and we strive to meet or even exceed your expectations to ship orders complete and on time. At Fujifilm we operate several call centers with knowledgeable Customer Service teams to help you get orders placed. We also created our on-line order site, www.fujifilmdirect.com, so you can order the products you need, anytime. We ship from strategically located warehouses to get products delivered quickly. We want you to have it all. A broad range of products to serve your needs. An easy ordering process. And fast and cost effective shipping that delivers the products you need when you need them. Place your order today. We’ll deliver.

Our cover feature, Eyeing Reinvention, focuses on the need to adapt and embrace change through deeper connections to succeed in a quickly changing marketplace. Our second feature, Incentivizing Inkjet, discusses sales strategies, compensation models, and ways to motivate traditional sales teams to capture new sales using inkjet technology. I hope this issue gets you thinking about what you want in 2018. We want you to have it all. Warmest wishes,

TODD ZIMMERMAN Division President, FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division Corporate Vice President, FUJIFILM Global Graphic Systems

Press Komori LS 840

Plates Fujifilm SUPERIA LH-PL thermal plates

Screening Fujifilm Co-Res Screening

Coating/Varnish Outside covers: Gloss/Switch UV Reticulating Coating UV Reticulating Varnish Inside covers and body: Satin AQ Coating

Inks UV 4/c process

DAN LARKIN VP of Operations

FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division

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EYEING ENTION GREAT COMPANIES ADAPT WITH THE TIMES

“PROTECTING YOUR EXISTING MODEL IS NO LONGER AN OPTION.”

That’s the call to arms Josh Linkner took to heart when he wrote his New York Times bestselling book, “The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation.” The highly recognized serial entrepreneur and thought leader didn’t pull any punches – rest on prior successes rather than drive purposeful transformation and your brand will fall behind. And, Linkner admits the end result is most often “will” fall behind rather than “could” fall behind. In today’s ever-shifting business and technological landscape, reinvention must be a staple of your business strategies. Transformation demands an ongoing process of discovery and imagination. Here’s your first takeaway – reinvention is the

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necessary process of proactively crafting a new future. The more effectively you drive ongoing innovation and reinvention throughout the entire fabric of your organization, the more natural the process will become. “By challenging even your most valuable core concepts, you can help to ensure that your organization will grow stronger as a result of innovation rather than being consumed by it,” Linkner says. “In the knowledge age, corporate battles are won through creative thinking and fresh human innovation, not by bending steel or cutting costs.” Okay, so who’s missing the boat? Seemingly everyone. According to Forbes Insights’ “Challenge or Be Challenged: How to Succeed in Today’s Business Environment” survey, 70 percent of the 400 CEOs, COOs, presidents and managing directors queried admitted they are “extremely concerned” or “somewhat concerned” as to whether their company will still be relevant and competitive in two years. When business leaders start using terms such as “extremely concerned” or “somewhat concerned,” they start dancing in and around the topic of fear on all levels. Fear of their brand not succeeding. Fear of their brand not evolving. Fear of being stale. In his years as a highly sought-after consultant and thought leader, Stephen Wunker has learned that to succeed in reinvention, you must be able to get past the fear part. As the managing director of New Markets Advisors, he leads a consulting firm that specializes in making teams more inventive and charting new paths for development. The first thing he stresses to his clients is that change shouldn’t just happen because it’s time for change – change must come with purpose and intent. “Brand identities take a long time to shift, and company strategies usually can’t pivot overnight either,” Wunker says. “Recognizing changes coming allows groundwork for new approaches to be laid now, before it becomes too late to respond.” Today, most brands understand the importance of reinvention because they have watched similar scenarios play out again and again as new technologies have developed in the last few decades.

Brent Moncrief, vice president, strategic marketing & brand management at Fujifilm, says it’s really just about keeping your eyes and your mind open. “Whether it’s an individual, team, brand or company, maintaining a keen focus on the environment within which one lives, plays or works is mission critical to long-term success.”

And, a big part of that is understanding that those at the top have to be actively investigating their markets and keeping up with the changing times. “Top leadership has to get out of the office, a lot. It’s too easy to get caught up on working ‘in’ the business, rather than ‘on’ the business,” explains Moncrief. “Those at the top

Here’s an exercise that can help you find just where your company sits in the competitive marketplace. Look around and make an evaluation of what you see. Are all of your competitors doing and saying the same thing? Let’s go back to the Forbes Insights survey: “Nearly three-quarters of companies (72 percent) consider businesses that most resemble them to be competitors.” In a marketplace that seemingly changes on a dime, is that where you want to be? Brian Braudis doesn’t believe you should make the process any more complicated than it has to be. Braudis, president of the Braudis Group, says that building your company for the long haul builds brands that endure. And that means being able to change when change is needed. “Companies that move away from industrial-age thinking invest in their employees as assets rather than treat them as liabilities,” Braudis says. “Those companies are shown to be more able to withstand global shifts and volatile markets and contribute to stronger economies.” As collaboration for his thinking, Braudis harkens back to the boiling frog parable, which states that unless a company actively pursues change for the better, change for the worse happens and goes unnoticed. “That’s the trouble,” he says, “companies become conditioned in the wrong

direction. In very small, infinitesimal ways they adjust and accept loss, degradation and decline as normal.” The bottom line – it takes time. Be patient and stay focused on the long term. “Jettison the quarterly success view,” Braudis says. “It won’t matter if you miss your quarterly targets for a more long-term payoff.” And don’t get discouraged. When change gets too far ahead of your ability to adapt, it can become easy to give up. Okay, so where does the reinvention plan start? And who’s leading the charge? “Leadership sets the tone,” Braudis says. “The initiative begins at the top, but is set into motion and executed from the bottom up.

If team members and frontline managers don’t receive clear, unambiguous communication, evidence of support and a solid commitment from the top, the entire initiative can fail.” Stephen Wunker believes that getting your entire team involved and making them accountable can make all of the difference: “Linking the change agenda to specific action steps allows obstacles to be overcome. Once people are accountable for change, it happens far more rapidly than general exhortations from leaders could ever induce.”

TAKING THE ‘WHAT IF…’ APPROACH TO REINVENTION If you’re looking for ways to boost your reinvention process, Josh Linkner, author of “The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation,” suggests brainstorming questions instead of answers. ASK YOURSELF: WHAT IF YOU...

› Encourage your team to take risks and try new ideas?

› Celebrate new ideas as much as near-term financial performance?

› Don’t let fear and imaginary barriers hold yourself back from reaching your brand’s true potential?

› Inject your coworkers with positive energy three times a day? cannot expect their managers and staff to be actively engaged with macro and micro forces influencing their markets. It’s up to them to be accountable for gaining perspective from large/influential current customers, prospective customers, vendors and trade associations.” And here’s the thing – change is not

going away. “The pace of change isn’t going to slow down,” Wunker says. “Linking the change agenda to specific action steps allows obstacles to be overcome. Once people are accountable for change, it happens far more rapidly than general exhortations from leaders could ever induce.”

› Remove regret and realize that setbacks are simply the pathway to progress?

› Prioritize creative thinking over tasks? › Tap your full creative potential? › Refuse to accept mediocrity?

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READY FOR HOW THE INCA ONSET X3 POSITIONS EDISON RETAIL SOLUTIONS TO SERVE MORE CLIENTS

KEVIN NEUREUTER ADMITS IT. When

it comes to the equipment in his company’s portfolio, his expectations are pretty high. And why wouldn’t they be? When Neureuter first arrived on the scene at Edison Retail Solutions in April 2016, he was not only tasked with helping the Pennsauken, New Jersey-based company navigate through the industry’s ever-evolving changes, but also find ways to help the company grow. Over the past 55 years, Edison has earned a reputation for its uncompromising standards of quality, creativity and fast turnaround. The signage and in-store décor provider has always taken the necessary steps to ensure that its customers are offered the highest quality products and services. So, when the Edison Retail Solutions team was looking to bring in new equipment to complement its existing portfolio and workflow, Neureuter and his team turned to an old friend, Fujifilm Graphic Systems Division. Edison already was running an Onset S40i, which it purchased in May 2011. As an emerging leader in the retail market, the Edison team needed a high-speed flatbed printer that could handle a number of different substrates. The Onset X3 high productivity UV flatbed printer was the perfect fit. “It gives us the flexibility to meet all of our customer’s needs,” says Neureuter, who was named CEO in January 2017. Thanks to the Onset X3, Edison now can run work for its high-end cosmetic and fashion clients who have previously turned down the quality of digital prints. “In my 15-year experience, I haven’t seen anything that gives the throughput that this machine does,” says Tony Hernandez, Edison’s digital print supervisor. “The Onset X3 meets every expectation that I’ve had of

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the press. It fits into our business really well because the machine has the speed and quality capable to produce runs that

the client needs.” Edison was previously outsourcing some of its work, but even with great supplier

R ANYTHING

Tony Hernandez, left, digital print supervisor, and Kevin Neureuter, CEO, alongside the Inca Onset X3, in Pennsauken, N.J.

partners, the workflow was complex. “Bringing all the work in-house simply gives us more control, simplifies workflow

and enables us to turn jobs faster,” Neureuter says. With a maximum throughput of nearly

10,000 ft²/hour, equating to 180 beds per hour (126.8 inches x 63 inches), the Onset X3 is the best solution for quickly turning around retail graphics. Edison Retail Solutions’ Onset X3 also features the addition of white ink, the first of its digital presses to provide this application. “With white ink on our Onset X3, we’re going to be able to print white digitally, which we haven’t been able to do up to this point,” Neureuter says. “This is especially important to our retail clients around the holidays, when we experience a significant need for printing white on colored substrates, clear media and foils.” Neureuter says this helps save his clients a lot of money and time because it eliminates the previous make-ready times and waste that we see when producing work on its offset presses. While Edison continues to produce longer run, high-quality large format displays on its offset presses, it plans to transition shorter run length jobs over to the Onset X3. “Our crossover to inkjet was previously around 300-500 sheet runs,” Neureuter says. “The speed of the Onset X3 now allows us to cost effectively run jobs up to about 2,000 sheets. The Onset X3 changes the way we look at jobs, and our customers are the ones who are going to benefit. We understand the fast paced world of in-store marketing, where timing is everything. With the Onset X3, we’re ready for anything.”

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INVESTING IN & INCE

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ENTIVIZING

GETTING YOUR SALES TEAM ON BOARD uick: Name the area where many print providers and many print industry suppliers are investing. Did you say inkjet? Many manufacturers, even the traditional suppliers of offset equipment and supplies, are investing a lot of R&D dollars, time and talent in inkjet. And many print providers are investing in inkjet too. This is the type of information that Elizabeth Gooding tracks every day. As president of Inkjet Insight, she has a front row seat to the billions of dollars that manufacturers are pouring into inkjet technology. More devices. More options. And she works directly with print providers to sort through all the options to make an informed choice on which inkjet option would fit best for the type of production needed to serve their clients. Annual page volume for production inkjet devices is growing into double digits, overshadowing the volume produced through toner and offset technology. Over the past year, industry numbers show that inkjet has surpassed toner as a percentage of digital print volume. According to PRIMIR’s “Megatrends in Printing Applications” report, the bulk of this growth has taken place within the transaction print, direct mail and book production segments and, taken all together, represent less than five percent of printed pages. “Here’s where all the R&D comes in,” Gooding says. “The next frontier for inkjet

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is in commercial printing and packaging. Tremendous investments have been made to improve color gamut, colorfastness and speed to support these markets. But, most importantly, investments have been made to enable printing on the media types that these markets required, including uncoated and gloss coated offset stocks.” Big? Yes. Growing? Check. Opportunity? Absolutely. So what’s the next step? That’s where Inkjet Insight enters the picture. By providing a slate of valuable tools and resources, the Inkjet Insight team helps companies objectively evaluate the potential of inkjet for their businesses, optimize their operations and grow their businesses using production inkjet. In addition, many OEMs are offering business development support, along with paper companies, which are providing tools designed to drive print sales. “We recommend that companies invest in customer education tools that demonstrate the quality that is achievable on different types of media using inkjet and other types of technology supported in the shop,” Gooding says. Every printer should have sales and marketing materials that can educate their sales teams about new capabilities when moving from offset to inkjet – things like fast turn-times, personalization, versioning and linkable print. “From the sales perspective, print companies must help their sales teams understand that this is not the inkjet they were looking at five years ago – even two years ago,” Gooding says. “The quality is tremendous and, in some cases, even surpass offset quality. In addition, the color is incredibly consistent and the technology is very reliable. This is the same message that needs to be delivered to potential customers.” DESIGNING YOUR SALES STRATEGY In their book, “Naked Sales: How Design Thinking Reveals Customer Motives and Drives Revenue,” authors Ashley Welch and Justin Jones outlined ways that sales organizations can reinvigorate sales, create new

opportunities and build competition-proof customer relationships. The secret to their success lies in the ability to activate a salesperson’s curiosity and creativity. “The world out there is changing faster than any clichéd way we can phrase it,” says Welch, who along with Jones co-founded Somersault Innovation, a Design Thinking consulting firm providing a unique approach to sales development. “It’s truly a case of disrupt or be disrupted.” That’s why Welch and Jones say salespeople need to adjust. So, when you look at a segment like inkjet, where the opportunities are not only growing, but hold

“YOUR SALES TEAM MUST BE INCENTIVIZED TO SELL WHAT’S PROFITABLE TO THE COMPANY. UNLESS THE PRICING STRATEGY GOES WILDLY WRONG, INKJET SHOULD BE THE MOST PROFITABLE DEVICE ON THE SHOP FLOOR.” – ELIZABETH GOODING, PRESIDENT, INKJET INSIGHT

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the potential to cut a new path, you have to take advantage. And that means getting engaged in the process. “Salespeople have an especially hard time even keeping abreast of what their own company is selling,” Jones says. “It can be overwhelming.” To survive, salespeople must be able to shift from experts to collaborators. Learn what your customers want well enough to codesign solutions for their ever-evolving needs. It is no longer a seller-buyer world. If inkjet is what people want to know about, your sales team has to have the answers. “Success in this new world is achieved by sitting on the same side of the table,” Welch says. Perhaps the most important key in the selling process is cluing your salespeople into the fact that inkjet is something they can make money on – with the right mindset. “Your sales team must be incentivized to sell what’s profitable to the company,” Gooding says. “Unless the pricing strategy goes wildly wrong, inkjet should be the most profitable device on the shop floor.”

5 STRATEGIES FOR INCENTIVIZING YOUR SALES TEAM

This isn’t anything you don’t already know – a motivated sales team is the backbone of your company’s success. And with today’s ever-evolving technological advances seemingly at every turn – keeping them energized, educated and happy is critical. Here are five strategies you can employ as ways to keep the sales fires burning:

Goals, goals, goals (and a stretch goal) Set a goal and a stretch one. Even after your team hits the goal, the stretch goal will keep the momentum going. Once you reach the goal, throw a celebration.

Implement commission tiers The accelerated commission tier strategy works, i.e., the higher the sales, the higher the commission percentage. This will encourage your

sales reps to always strive to bring in one more customer toward the end of the quota period.

Reward the masses Set aside a percentage of new revenue each quarter toward a reward that the entire team gets to vote on. The choice is up to them. Incentivize your whole organization to root for and support your sales team.

Make the results public All too often in sales, “out of sight, out of mind” is the norm. To keep sales numbers top of mind, post the results where people can see them. Create some healthy competition within your team and use your top performers’ numbers to motivate people.

Don’t be afraid of the bonus Establish bonuses for achievement of specific results. You can offer bonuses for quarterly numbers, exceptional performance, most new clients, highest volume, or other measurables aligned with your goals. SOURCE: ENPLUG

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WRIGHT ON TARGET HOW A PAIR OF J PRESS 720S’ ARE HELPING POCKET FOLDERS FAST ‘OWN THE WORLD’

THE GOAL IS TO BE THE BEST. Operating

with a small, but highly determined team of experienced print professionals, Pocket Folders Fast, a division of Wright Printing and Barnhart Press, set out early on to raise the bar in the presentation folders game. The edict was clear: The fastest turnaround times. Top quality. Great prices. Amazing options. A responsive service team. So, when owner Mark Wright was looking for ways to give his print shop an advantage, he struck out to find the best allies in the field. His search brought him to Fujifilm, where the J Press 720S jumped to the top of his “must have” list. With a half-size format and a production speed of less than one second per sheet, the J Press 720S would enable him to dramatically lower operational costs and reduce turnaround times – all while boosting offset-quality color consistency throughout the run. “The J Press allows us to do two things to stand out from the crowd,” says Wright, whose grandfather started Omaha-based Wright Printing in 1927. “One is, of course, the short run capability. In my opinion, from zero to 2,000 copies, I own the world. The other thing it does is the variable print aspect. We’re running a lot of different SKUs of the same size package, and we can run them in order without any stop, without any change, and they come out perfect every time. And in packaging, that’s a great savings.” Just how much was Wright sold on what the J Press 720S could do? Pocket Folders Fast purchased two. In the past, the printer would have to run one in front of the other and try to match them on offset. Now, it can run them simultaneously on two different machines and get the exact same results. “We felt that the J Press would be the exact machine we needed because of its ability to do 5,000 sheet runs and less at a very low cost point,” Wright says. “We are constantly running folders at the level of 100 and 250 daily, and it’s worked well for

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us because no plates, no waste.” In addition, the J Presses enable Pocket Folder Fast to produce directly from the website, short-run folding carton jobs and produce on one or both of the J Presses. “We’ve had this website in our pocket for

several years,” Wright says, “but it just didn’t work on offset. I don’t think it would have been possible without the J Press. Being able to go directly from the website to the J Press is going to cut our costs significantly and make our turnarounds faster.”

“THE J PRESS 720S WAS PURELY A CUSTOMER-DRIVEN INVESTMENT. WE LISTEN TO WHAT THE CUSTOMERS NEED: SPEED, SHORT-RUNS AND HIGH QUALITY. THE J PRESS 720S WAS THE ANSWER.” – POCKET FOLDERS FAST CEO MARDRA SIKORA

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION In a highly competitive marketplace, having the best equipment is critical to not only keeping your customers happy, but also to keeping them coming back for more. That was one of the biggest selling points for Pocket Folders Fast CEO Mardra Sikora. “The J Press 720S was purely a customer-driven investment,” Sikora says. “We listen to what the customers need: speed, shortruns and high quality. The J Press 720S was the answer.” “Uptime is fantastic,” says Andy Cowles, digital department manager. “To the effect of 99.8 percent.” Cowles says he can run a job today, the next day, and the same job three months from now, and it will be the exact same as it was when it first ran. “Sheet to sheet, job to job, consistency is unbelievable; it’s second to none.” For Pocket Folders Fast, the race to be the best is paying off. In the near future they will be launching a new division specifically for short-run folding cartons. “I’m often asked how the J Presses have transformed my business,” Wright says. “I guess that’s hard for me to answer, because they didn’t transform my business. It’s the reason I got back into the business.”

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FULL CO PRESS

ujifilm and Xerox are expanding the scope of their North American reseller agreement in the United States and Canada to include several key Xerox presses – the Xerox Trivor™ 2400 Inkjet Press, the Xerox Rialto™ 900 Inkjet Press and the Xerox Brenva® HD Production Inkjet Press. The presses will join Fujifilm’s current inkjet portfolio, which also includes the J Press 720S, a B2 sheetfed production inkjet press, as well as industry-leading hybrid inkjet presses for the tag and label market and wide format inkjet platforms for the sign and display market. “This agreement expands an existing and successful long-term dealer agreement between Xerox and Fujifilm,” says Todd Zimmerman, division president, FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division. “It leverages each company’s strength

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and presence in both graphic communications and large enterprise printing operations.” Under the expanded agreement with Xerox, both Fujifilm and Xerox will market the J Press 720S to their respective client base. Previously, the platform was only available from Fujifilm. Here’s a look at the new expanded line-up of inkjet solutions now available through Fujifilm and Xerox.

XEROX TRIVOR 2400 INKJET PRESS The Xerox Trivor 2400 Inkjet Press (pictured below) is the next generation 20-inch Continuous Feed Production Inkjet platform. Coupled with a brand new digital front end, its increased speed provides customers with more capacity and the ability to turn their jobs around more quickly. Working from a base of proven imaging technologies, the Trivor 2400 can achieve speeds up to 551 feet/168 meters per minute, delivering over 2,400 full color impressions per minute. Its monochrome speeds are capable of 656 feet/200 meters per minute, producing more than 2,850 impressions per minute.

OURT XEROX RIALTO 900 INKJET PRESS The Xerox Rialto 900 (pictured above) was designed to bridge the gap between high-speed production inkjet and toner-based cut sheet devices, combining inkjet speed and per-page economics with attractive image quality and a low capital investment cost. At 15-feet 1-inch long, it takes up to six times less square footage than other digital platforms available on the market today. The Rialto 900 is a single pass duplex, tight web press that runs at up to 157 feet per minute (48 m/m). That translates into 171 one up letter size sheets (160 A4) duplex per minute. It supports paper weights from 60 to 160 gsm, on a web roll of up to 3.28 feet (100cm) in diameter.

FUJIFILM AND XEROX EXPAND NORTH AMERICAN RESELLER AGREEMENT

XEROX BRENVA HD PRODUCTION INKJET PRESS The Xerox Brenva HD Production Inkjet Press (pictured below) is the first cut sheet printer that incorporates the economics of inkjet with the flexibilities of a cut sheet, all with a small footprint. The Brenva HD has a maximum sheet size of 364 x 520mm and a print speed of 197 A4 images per minute (or half of that in duplex mode). In addition, the throughput in full-size sheets per hour is 3,960sph simplex, or 1,860sph duplex. Features include an inline spectrophotomer, missing jet correction on-the-fly, front-to-back registration scanning, and vector halftoning. Users can also set up their own media profiles.

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ROUNDTABLE

FORESIGHT PRINT EXECUTIVES WEIGH IN ON THEIR EXPECTATIONS FOR 2018

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? In a time when technological innovation is driving the print

industry, it’s a great question to ask; print illustrated asked several industry leaders to give us their insights on what they expect to see on the road ahead. Our panelists include: Raymond Ballew, VP of Administration, Floor Productions; Steve Zick, Executive VP, Innomark; Jeff Wettersten, President, Karstedt Partners; and Brad Scull, Owner, Yorke Printe Shoppe. Q

WHAT DOES 2018 LOOK LIKE? FLOOR PRODUCTIONS’ BALLEW:

Based upon several of our customers’ growth projections and marketing plans to which we been have made privy, we are optimistic for a great 2018. We’re still above ground, still looking forward to next year. We’ve not run down to hide in the basement and wait for a report of the next and final fiasco that will send us reeling into oblivion. America is strong and capable, still. We’re going to do our part to keep it that way. A

INNOMARK’S ZICK: We are cautiously

optimistic. Some key clients are planning for growth in 2018 and new business signs are good. There will also be a strategic shift in our product mix to match the market opportunities. KARSTEDT PARTNERS’ WETTERSTEN:

There are a number of major development efforts due to go out of Beta or go into Beta in all sectors of package printing. Folding cartons, corrugated and even flexible packaging converters are eagerly awaiting the release of these new systems. The label sector is even ripe with innovation coming out of Label Expo that will move that sector into new levels of productivity and quality. Early adopters are waiting to see if these new systems will live up to the promises given and if they will truly change supply chains and business models in their respective sectors. Next year will be a watershed year for digital packaging from single pass corrugated to direct to shape keychains and everything in between. YORKE PRINTE SHOPPE’S SCULL: We are

looking forward to hopefully having a stron-

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ger year but it is something we really can’t predict. We are looking into other ways to grow our business and market ourselves. We are excited about our new capabilities with the J Press and what we can offer to our higher end shorter run projects. Q A

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU SEE EVOLVING FOR THE INDUSTRY? FLOOR PRODUCTIONS’ BALLEW:

We see technology, improvements in equipment and methods, manufacturing and business communication improvements, and potential gains in market share and steady growth in our target industry. As for challenges, frankly, recruiting and retaining capable people who are willing to commit themselves in a career with a good company and its mission, people who have the “want to” to learn and grow in our forward-evolving industry. And, where needed, finding people who are willing to learn a trade skill and work at it with pride for a company that takes good care of its associates. KARSTEDT PARTNERS’ WETTERSTEN:

These both go hand and hand. The latest wave of digital solutions is truly positioned to change the supply chain. Single pass web systems up to 110-inch wide running at close to 1000 feet per minute can be real game changers in some corrugated packaging sectors. Full digital 40-inch sheet fed presses running at analog press speeds could also have great impact on where and when printing is done. We work with many innovators that are taking long hard looks at some of these game-changing technologies. I see these kinds of discussions going on through 2018 and 2019. An entire line of thinking can go to smart packaging with innovations in printed electronics and

innovative inks and coatings only being the tip of the iceberg. INNOMARK’S ZICK: The easy answer is

packaging. That seems to be the direction that many are heading in search of sustainable activity. The trick will be to stand out from the crowd. YORKE PRINTE SHOPPE’S SCULL: I think

there are opportunities, as you begin to see more and more companies exit that are not in a place to reinvest or just don’t have longer term goals. As for challenges, there are plenty, but I think that is true in all small business’ and we just have to respond and do what we think is right. I can’t worry about the results, as that is most of the time not under my control. I know that is very strange to most but that is the reality here.

Q A

WHAT’S ON YOUR COMPANY’S TO-DO LIST? FLOOR PRODUCTIONS’ BALLEW:

We are expanding our operations into an additional product line and service that’s related to our current business. We’ve added an experienced and very effective sales representative. We are making positive advances in our current business model, improving productivity, increasing throughput rates and maintaining superior accuracy in our finished product. And, of course we’re continuing to improve our equipment line, investing in new technology as it makes sense. KARSTEDT PARTNERS’ WETTERSTEN:

We have been aggressively connecting dots for the past 22 years helping clients to understand where and how their business

can be impacted by innovative and disruptive technologies. Looking past the obvious and identifying opportunities that often do not materialize until markets have matured is a value we bring our clients. The next few years will have no shortage of innovative and disruptive “dots” to connect; we just need to identify them and bring them to our clients in the most effective manner. INNOMARK’S ZICK: Chasing trends is an

expensive proposition, so our mission is to identify the best category for investment. YORKE PRINTE SHOPPE’S SCULL: The to-

do list for this year is to market ourselves well and really push to see what we can do to gain new customers. I really hope to get into a better position and see what we can do to be successful in our niche.

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PRESSROOM PROGRESS THE FUJIFILM HUNT FACILITY IS COMMITTED TO QUALITY AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The 196,000-squarefoot-facility, located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, produces 1,900 different SKUs of finished products and 6 million gallons per year. The wholly-owned subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation is a diversified developer and manufacturer of a wide range of sophisticated chemical products and complex manufacturing processes. Its seamless approach and work are evident in a number of industries, including: printing, traditional photographic, x-ray and contract manufacturing (agriculture, floor coatings, hydroponic fertilizer, engine coolant, among others.) Today, the facility handles water and solvent-based blending and filling, formulation, reverse engineering, product development and commercialization. With a 90-plus member team working two shifts, five days a week, the facility has 19 filling lines, 58 bulk storage tanks, 32 mix tanks and 19 hold tanks. It also offers rail and tank truck capability.

Fountain solution bottles are filled along the production line, pictured above; while bulk tanks, right, are filled at the FUJIFILM Hunt facility in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

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Pictured above: At Fujifilm’s Pressroom Chemical Technical Center, pictured (l-r) Lhang Vang, Formulations Chemist, and Korzior Tam, Director.

New product development. Raw materials testing and approval. Evaluation of new ingredients and sample analytics. When it comes to the heart of the innovation that Fujifilm puts in each and every one of its products, you can count on Lhang Vang, Korzior Tam and Len Dugad being involved. Vang, Formulations Chemist, Tam, Director, and Dugad, Chief Scientific Officer, sit within the technical group at Fujifilm’s Pressroom Chemical Technical Center in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The trio work hand-in-hand with the sales team to serve the printing industry. The lab is equipped with analytical instruments that allow staff to perform both physical and chemical analyses, not only on the products that Fujifilm manufactures, but also on other variables used in the pressroom, such as paper and ink. This allows Fujifilm to provide valuable information internally, including to the field technical representatives, as well as customers.

Large capacity holding tanks, left, at the FUJIFILM Hunt facility.

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HIGHLIGHTS

2017 REWIND REFLECTING ON A YEAR OF ACHIEVEMENTS

NEW BEGINNINGS. Memorable moments. Innovative endeavors. This past year was filled with a slate of accomplishments and achievements that continue to make Fujifilm one of the print industry’s premier brands. While there are a number of highlights that flashed across the scoreboard, here are some of the most memorable: PRINT ILLUSTRATED

We challenged the status quo and tradition of producing our award-winning magazine, formerly called energy, and ultimately decided that the magazine needed a new name to better position its value in our industry. We believe that print illustrated does just that. Featuring articles on industry trends and topics, new technologies and innovative products, and printer success stories, this quarterly publication is provided free to qualified print providers throughout North America. PRINT 17

Held every four years, PRINT 17 showcases the industry’s latest digital inkjet technologies, products and services. Stealing the show were Fujifilm’s J Press 720S (named a “Must See ’Ems” for digital presses), the Samba printhead solutions (acknowledged as the “Future of Print”) and the processless SUPERIA ZD offset plate technology (named Printing News 2017 “Top Product” award for consumables). Also drawing raves was the debut of the Acuity 3200R super-wide format roll printer for production of high quality display and exhibition graphics, the ColorPath Brand Color Optimizer, which quickly and accurately

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develops a brand color library, and the OnsetM, a B1 format sheetfed digital UV inkjet printer. FUJIFILM & XEROX PARTNERSHIP

The reseller agreement, which enables Xerox to market and sell the Fujifilm J Press 720S in the United States and Canada, is an expansion of a long-term dealer agreement between the two brands in both graphic communications and large enterprise printing operations. The agreement also expands Fujifilm’s distribution of Xerox inkjet products, including the The Xerox Trivor™ 2400 Inkjet Press, the Xerox Rialto™ 900 Inkjet Press and the Xerox Brenva® HD Production Inkjet Press. SGIA 2017

Fujifilm was one of only six exhibitors to be a Platinum sponsor of the expo, which featured more than 19,000 attendees and nearly 600 exhibitors. Along with showcasing several advanced inkjet innovations, Fujifilm was represented by product marketing managers Rebecca McConnell and Kaz Kudo, who both gave presentations for attendees. McConnell discussed the future of digital corrugated technology,

while Kudo weighed in on the application possibilities with flatbed printers. LABEL & PACKAGING

During Label Expo Brussels, Fujifilm introduced its Illumina LED Retrofit System, which converts any traditional UV or waterbase flexo press to LED-UV curing. Along with its new Series 300 UV LED flexo inks, the system reduces energy consumption and opens up new application opportunities such as thin films and shrink sleeves. Fujifilm also became a member of the Independent Packaging Association (AICC), presenting Production Inkjet for Corrugated at their Summit in Louisville, Kentucky, and industry trends at their national meeting. INKJET SUMMIT & DIGITAL PACKAGING SUMMIT

Fujifilm returned as a sponsor of the fifth annual Inkjet Summit, an invitation-only event that offers senior managers and business executives strategic insights into what printing industry leaders should do to improve and optimize their business. In addition, Fujifilm returned as a sponsor of the Digital Packaging Summit 2017, where product marketing manager Mike Barry joined a panel of suppliers to discuss the impact that hybrid flexo/ inkjet printing technology will have in packaging. He also won the award for “Best Case Study” presentation for the corrugated segment.

SpyderX: the ultimate in versatility and performance. With the ability to go from flatbed to roll-to-roll in a matter of seconds, and the speed to get jobs produced rapidly, the SpyderX is redefining versatility and productivity for sign and display graphic printers. Designed and manufactured by Inca Digital and integrated with Fujifilm Dimatix printheads and Fujifilm Uvijet UV inks, the robust 126” (3.2 m) wide, 6 color plus white SpyderX can produce boards up to 2” thick on a wide variety of substrates – paper to plastic, vinyl to acrylic. If you need a way to produce everything from rigid signs and displays to flexible banners in less time, visit www.fujifilminkjet.com and discover how the SpyderX can help you adapt to win more business.