Vision Asia Magazine Issue 8 - Sep 2014

inside

VISION

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a s i a • d i g i ta l p r i n t i n t e l l i g e n c e

Permit MCI (P) 090/03/2014

ISSUE

local scene: Thailand HP CoE OPENS latest 3d stuff new media software update

These boots were made for printing HP is demonstrating the variety and complexity of digital printing services available with its new Centre of Excellence opened recently in Singapore. The centre provides real life output from their complete range of production equipment so, the next time you need some bespoke sneakers, see your printer Read about the CoE on page 12

Over 1,900 unique, print involved visitors came to our website in the last 3 months - if your advertising was on the Homepage it would have been seen 7,453 times

To make sure your brand gets the exposure it deserves call 8120 2492

the Vision Asia website seen by thousands monthly, updated daily, informative always

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COVER Centre of Excellence The twenty first century printer may be printing your entire wardrobe as well as your brochures if HP have their way. The company’s new Centre of Excellence opened recently in Singapore and showcases the huge variety of products that their equipment can produce. See page 12 for a visual report.

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VISIONasia C O N T E N T S

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New Products

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News

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3D

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HP - CoE opening

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concepts

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media

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Feature Location: Thailand

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inks

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software

VISION asia magazine the changing face of print in asia Published by Vision Asia Media Pte Ltd 57 Ubi Avenue 1 #03-06 Ubi Centre Singapore 408936

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+65 8120 2492 +65 8120 2492 +65 8120 2492 +65 6711 8303

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new Products

Canon Europe mono Océ PlotWave 500 for AEC/CAD sectors

Features • 2 roll, expandible to 4 rolls, for up to 730m2 of uninterrupted printing • Instant warm up - first printout in 30 seconds from sleep mode • Up to 10 x A1 pages per minute • Print volumes between 7,000 and 25,000m2 per year Canon Europe have launched the Oce PlotWave 500, a multifunctional, cost effective and cloud ready monochrome printer with optional colour scanner that offers mid volume instant document printing and energy efficiency in a single footprint.

The PlotWave 500 bridges the gap between the low volume Océ PlotWave 340/360 Series and Océ PlotWave 750 production systems with an improved processing unit and the latest generation of print heads. It is targeted at the CAD, AEC, government/utilities, manufacturing and commercial reprographic sectors.

• Scanning with Oce Colour Image Logic software automatically compensates for wrinkles and light colours • Flexible workflow with user-friendly ClearConnect multi touch screen • Top delivery tray will collate up to 100 A0/E-size plots neatly and in order with air-separation technology • Low ozone, heat and noise emission printing with energy only used for each print job

• Easy diagnostics for remote servicing

Epson SureLab D700

EFI Cretaprint alarm system

EFI Cretaprint, the company’s digital ceramic printing system, has introduced an alarm system that sends an alert message via SMS direct from the printer to mobile phones.

Epson launched their SureLab D700, a mini desktop version of their Surelab D3000, at The Digital Playground exhibition being held in Luna Park, Sydney, Australia from 12-14 September, 2014.

The D700 is designed for high-quality photo printing of up to one metre in length and is Epson’s first 6 colour compact photo production printer with inkjet technology.

It utilises the Micro Piezo printhead and specially developed UltraChrome D6-S ink, providing sharp, www.visionmagazine.asia

vibrant colours, intense blacks, sharp contours and smooth gradations. This results in a low cost per print and a high resolution of 720dpi x 1440dpi, The SureLab D700 will produce quality photo printing on media from 89 mm – 1 m in length on a wide range of media and formats including glossy, lustre and matte roll paper from 102 – 210 mm wide.

The printer will produce photos, art reproductions, cards, Invitations, flyers and promotional materials, as well as on-demand print jobs.

The kit can be fitted to new machines or retrofitted to existing installations (C2, P2, C3 and P3) allowing users to track any incident or warning in real time when the EFI Cretaprint printer generates a report to their mobile phones.

The message contains an alarm code and description and can be sent via SMS to an unlimited number of mobile phones. Users can define an order of priority to determine which mobiles receive the message first and the telephone numbers can be from any mobile operator.

The kit is installed by EFI Cretaprint staff anywhere in the world and installation requires approximately two hours, during which the machine will be shut down for no more than half an hour.

new products

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COOLER ENGINES BOOST PROFITS

EFI’s “cool cure” technology lowers temperatures across our full line of roll-to-roll, hybrid and narrow web LED printers, enabling you to print on thinner and specialty substrates. Plus, you’ll lower energy and consumable parts costs. Pretty cool, right?

Fuel your success at http://vutek.efi.com/LED2 ©2014 EFI. All rights reserved.

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new Products

Riso US ComColor 9150/7150 Features • Secure and Confidential:

Barcoding and intelligent inserting is eliminated. Reduced operator intervention minimises processing errors especially if mail is subject to regulations like HIPAA/SOX/GLBA in Healthcare, Insurance, and Finance industries.

• Automatic Print, Fold, Insert and Seal:

RISO Kagaku Corporation Japan, manufacturer and distributor of high speed inkjet printers and digital duplicators has announced from its RISO Inc US headquarters, the release of the industry’s first in-line full colour inkjet cut sheet print-to-mail solution – the Riso ComColor 9150 and 7150 printer.

The company says that when combined with the new wrapping envelope finisher, it can automatically personalise documents and envelopes, then address, fold, assemble and seal up to 150 page per minute single pass full colour variable data mail pieces.

Riso says this product suits direct mail houses, commercial print service providers and trans promotional providers and available now from Riso and their worldwide sales network.

Up to five tri folded letter sized pages or three quad folded legal sized pages (20 lb. bond) can be wrapped and sealed in a single pass.

• Productivity:

With single page insert speeds up to 2,220 per hour, all pieces can be printed, wrapped and sealed.

• Economical:

The system provides low cost colour on both envelope and inserts.

Postal discounts may be available through the integration of address hygiene and pre-sort, CASS/PAVE Certified Mailing software.

• Space & Energy:

The compact design allows a fit into tight mailrooms, mail centres and print shops. Power is from a standard wall outlet rather than a dedicated line and it doesn’t generate heat during use.

Roland DG 3D printer and milling machine sequentially curing layers of resin from a liquid resin vat. Simultaneous production of multiple objects can be accomplished within the same work area to reduce modeling time in comparison with methods where lasers expose specific areas. Roland’s imageCure resin becomes semi-transparent when cured and post-processing procedures such as support removal and polishing are simple to do.

By adopting a suspended build system, resin consumption is minimized.

Roland DG Japan have announced the release of the monoFab series, including the company’s first 3D additive rapid prototyping machine, the ARM10, and a new 3D subtractive prototyping and manufacturing machine, the SRM-20.

Roland said the monoFab series desktop fabrication solutions are the company’s first foray into 3D www.visionmagazine.asia

printing and the culmination of over 25 years of experience in 3D milling.

The ARM-10 3D printer is most suitable for quickly checking a design in the initial stage of prototyping or modelling a complex shape. Incorporating a stereo-lithography process with a UV-LED projection system, the ARM-10 builds models by

The SRM-20 desktop milling machine incorporates several subtractive rapid prototyping (SRP) features to meet the needs of a new era. The SRM20’s strengths lie in providing accuracy and smooth finished surfaces. With its new milling spindle, collet, circuit board and firmware, the SRM-20 delivers maximum speed and precision while retaining a compact desktop size. The SRM-20 can mill a variety of non-proprietary materials typically used for prototyping, including acrylic, ABS, wood and modeling wax, making it possible to check the feel and weight of materials that are similar or the same as final deliverables. An interlocked full cover prevents dust from escaping during milling for a safe and clean environment.

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news

HP Czech Republic’s inkjet corrugated packaging system is world first

Obaly Morava, a privately owned corrugated board producer in the Czech Republic, has installed the world’s first HP high speed inkjet corrugated packaging solution.

Based on the HP T400 Simplex Color Inkjet Web Press, the system has been implemented to digitally preprint high quality corrugated liners.

Obaly Morava became the first user of the new solution when it installed the press in June to service the demand for a broad range of corrugated products in the Czech Republic and surrounding markets, including up to nine-layer corrugated board and boxes.

Using the high speed inkjet solution, Obaly Morava digitally produces preprinted corrugated top liners in back-to-back runs on the same substrate rolls for maximum efficiency. It then transfers the preprinted rolls to its corrugator to produce corrugated board for packaging applications.

with a Harris & Bruno International near-line coater, ideal for aqueous priming and overcoating printed substrates. The company plans to eventually move this coater inline for priming and add a second coater for inline overcoating.

The company is optimising its finishing processes

Printing on uncoated and coated corrugated substrates, premium offset media, and recycled and thin liners with speeds of up to 183 metres (600 feet) per minute, the HP High-speed Inkjet Corrugated Packaging Solution delivers faster turnaround times. The solution also includes new HP Priming Agent technology with four-colour HP A50 aqueous pigmented CMYK inks that provide exceptional print quality.

With the new OEM agreement, the Highcon Euclid now offers an onboard software tool, the Highcon Light Editor, that allows Euclid operators to take advantage of the benefits of digital technology by editing crease and cut lines in the structural design

of the job at the point of production, including the ability to incorporate last-minute changes. It also enables optimising of nicks by increasing or decreasing their size or adding or removing them and; adding, removing or editing stripping lines.

This new packaging operation enables the company to transition high value jobs from analogue litholamination and flexographic processes to digital, taking advantage of faster time to market, short and medium runs, versioning and reduced environmental footprint.

Esko and Highcon partner for packaging

OEM partnership brings unique software and finishing capabilities to digital workflow for folding carton production Esko and Highcon, developer of the Highcon Euclid digital cutting and creasing machine, have expanded their cooperation with an OEM agreement. Highcon will distribute, install and support the Esko CAD Digital Front End (DFE) software as complement to the Highcon Euclid system, a solution that will be available immediately on a worldwide basis.

Esko’s CAD software is already the standard for processing structural designs for production on the Highcon Euclid. It converts packaging structures to the finishing format required by the Euclid, which receives its CAD cutting and creasing information from ArtiosCAD prepared or converted DFX files. www.visionmagazine.asia

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VISION

news

Cadlink new online subscription based image library

Fuji Xerox Japan highest in customer satisfaction for 5th year Fuji Xerox have confirmed that global marketing information service company, JD Power Asia Pacific Inc, have ranked Fuji Xerox Japan highest in both the 2014 Japan Colour Copier and the Colour Printer Customer Satisfaction Index Studies for the fifth consecutive year.

CADlink Technology Corporation, a developer of design and production software, has partnered with Ingram Imaging to introduce CADlink Design Elements, an online image and artwork subscription service.

CADlink says their Design Elements website provides 24/7 worldwide access to over 2 million royalty free images with new images and artwork updated regularly. The site search engine filters the files to a manageable size, making e-store selection simple and quick. Subscribers are able to download up to 200 high resolution photographs/bitmaps and

“vinyl cut” or “engrave ready” vector files per month.

CADlink’s Michael Chramtchenko, Director of Marketing says “An annual subscription costs USD $299 and should pay for itself after a few uses.”

Once purchased, a link to the site along with temporary login credentials will be provided via email.

The company says Design Elements is available now and will suit sign makers, screen printers, engravers, wide format digital print producers, vehicle graphics, garment decorators and more.

APN Outdoor Australian Xtrack TV launched

The JD Power Asia Pacific survey in May 2014, targeted businesses in Japan with 30 or more employees and received the following responses: Colour copier: 6077 Colour printer: 2173

Results were released at the end of July with both studies placing Fuji Xerox highest across the four survey factors: Product Cost

Dealer sales response Maintenance service

The study results cited a purchasing trend between multifunction devices and their related cloud services, noting that the higher the customers satisfaction with the copiers they are currently using, the higher the interest in purchasing cloud services offered by their manufacturer or sales agent.

Fuji Xerox says it aims to continue cloud service integration and maintain and develop their high standard of customer support, business solutions, products and devices.

Epson Singapore Football Epson, official platinum sponsor for the friendly match between Italian football giants Juventus Football Club and a Singapore selection team on 16 August 2014, provided company support for the live match as well as participating in a series of activities including: • Organising 20 children from Lakeside Children’s Home to attend a day before match Juventus football clinic.

Australian based APN Outdoor says it plans to introduce XtrackTV, a new rail advertising facility in Australia that will offer advertisers a digital broadcast network of LED screens, featuring full motion video, directional audio and television commercial compatible capabilities.

XtrackTV will be sold in packages comprised of 62 panels; 32 in Sydney and 30 in Melbourne with 15 second increments with weekly, 6 month and 12 month purchasing options. The company believes that with its high dwell times and access to the unique commuter audience, XtrackTV will deliver www.visionmagazine.asia

over 8.4 million gross contacts per week.

APN Outdoor management said that the debut of XtrackTV at this scale is an Australian industry and worldwide first and its introduction means that advertisers now have the flexibility to change messages throughout the day and extend their TV campaigns by repurposing their TVC creative on XtrackTV. The build program has commenced with a completion date scheduled for October.

• Held Facebook contests from June until mid August for tech-savvy fans. Prizes included Juventus meet and greet as well as training session passes and match day tickets.

• Arranged a special photo booth inside stadium gates 3 and 15 for fans to pose with life sized standees of Juventus players, then print their complimentary pictures using on-the-spot Epson printers.

The sponsorship is part of Epson’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) outreach program which aims to engage customers and partners by using its technology to give back to the community through the promotion of football.

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Graph Expo 14 EFI, HP and Canon win big in ‘Must See ’Ems’ awards Graph Expo 14 organisers have announced the winners of the 2014 Must See ’Ems awards in advance of the show being held September 28 - October 1, 2014 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

Chosen by a panel of industry experts, these technologies represent the most compelling advances in 11 categories spanning the entire graphic communications industry.

EFI sets all-time record with 11 Must-See-Ems wins EFI have earned 11 awards in the ‘Must See ‘Ems’ graphic arts technology competition - winning the most honours ever presented to a single company for the fourth consecutive year and recognise the company’s excellence in inkjet, productivity software and Fiery products. The 11 awards are the most ever presented to any company, surpassing the eight Must See ‘Ems that EFI was awarded in 2013.

In addition, “Best of Category” winners for each of the 11 categories will be revealed during the pre-show Executive Outlook conference, which takes place on Sunday, September 28, 2014, from 8 am to 12:00 noon, immediately prior to the noon opening of the exhibition. Also to be announced at Executive Outlook will be the Legacy Award, which is given to a previous Must See ’Ems winner that has had a lasting and profound impact on the graphic communications industry.

Below, listed in alphabetical order, are the 2014 Must See ’Ems award winners in each of the 11 categories.

EFI’s 2014 Must See ‘Ems-winning products - categories shown in parenthesis EFI CRM for Monarch ERP software

(Sales and Order Entry)

EFI IQuote

(Sales and Order Entry)

EFI Fiery proServer for Cretaprint, version 1.4 (

Prepress and Premedia)

EFI Fiery Color Profiler Suite, version 4.6 - Express Profiler (Colour Management and Quality Control) The EFI H1625 LED printer

The EFI VUTEk GS2000lx Pro printer with UltraDrop™ Technology

The EFI VUTEk HS100 Pro UV inkjet press material edge guide system

The EFI Monarch Mailing Module

EFI SmartLinc software

The EFI Enterprise Automated Workflow

(Pressroom: Wide-Format)

(Pressroom: Wide-Format) (Pressroom: Wide-Format)

(Imprinting, Mailing, Shipping and Fulfilment) (Imprinting, Mailing, Shipping and Fulfilment)

EFI Fiery Digital Embossing

(Management Systems) (The Future of Print)

Sales and Order Entry

Pressroom: Wide-Format

• EFI – EFI CRM for Monarch • EFI – EFI IQuote • Rochester Software Associates – WebCRD

• Canon U.S.A. – Océ Arizona 6100 • EFI – EFI H1625 LED Printer • EFI – EFI VUTEk GS2000LX Pro with UltraDrop Technology • EFI – EFI VUTEk HS100 Pro UV inkjet press Material Edge Guide (MEG) system

Prepress and Premedia Postpress and In-line Finishing • EFI – EFI Fiery proServer for Cretaprint Version 1.4 • Enfocus – Switch 12, Update 2 • Hybrid Software Inc. – PACKZ 2.0 • MetaCommunications, – Workgroups DaVinci 2015

• MBO America – Variable Book Production System • MGI USA Inc. – JETvarnish 3D “T2” • Scodix – Scodix Ultra Pro Digital Enhancement Press • Standard Finishing Systems – Standard Horizon RD-4055 Rotary Die Cutter

Color Management and Quality Control Imprinting, Mailing, Shipping and Fulfillment • CGS Publishing Technologies International – ORIS CxF • EFI – EFI Fiery Color Profiler Suite v4.6 – Express Profiler • Lake Image Systems – Discovery Enterprise

• EFI – EFI Monarch Mailing Module • EFI – EFI SmartLinc • Ricoh – Postal Optimization Solution

Variable, Transactional and Multi-Channel Management Systems • PTI Marketing Technologies – MarcomCentral • Ricoh – 1to1Create Marketing Services • Transformations – Uluro uCampaign • XMPie, A Xerox Company – XMPie PersonalEffect Version 7.0

• Avanti Computer Systems Limited – Avanti Slingshot Advanced JDF Framework • EFI – EFI Enterprise Automated Workflow • Ultimate TechnoGraphics Inc. – Ultimate Bindery v4 One additional winner in this category will be announced at a future date

Pressroom: Analog Presses The Future of Print • Air Motion Systems | AMS UV -- LED UV | XP7 Series for Sheetfed Offset • Goss International – Magnum Compact Press • RYOBI MHI – RYOBI-MHI 925 LED-UV 5-COLOR PRESS Pressroom: Digital Presses • Hewlett-Packard – HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press • Hewlett-Packard – HP Indigo 7800 Digital Press • MGI USA – Meteor DP8700 XL+ Xerox Corp – Metallic Gold & Silver Specialty Dry Inks for the • Xerox Color 800/1000 Presses Two additional winners in this category will be announced at a future date

• EFI – EFI Digital Embossing • Epson America, Inc. – Epson SureColor F2000 • Highcon Systems Ltd. – Highcon Euclid

GMG turns 30 German colour management software developer GMG, has celebrated 30 years in business. The company’s first product GMG ColorProof, a proofing and colour management solution for the packaging sector became a classic and today the company offers a suite of 15 colour management products with over 11,000 installations worldwide. www.visionmagazine.asia

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news

IDC Large format printer shipments grow in Q2, 2014 Vendor Highlights HP remains the global large format printer market leader with more than 30,700 units shipped and 39.9% share. Its year-over-year increase of 7.4% was helped by positive gains in the technical (5.7%) and graphic (18.0%) segments. HP continues to lead the technical market, with almost twice the unit shipments of its next competitor, Canon. HP also maintained its second place position in the graphics market behind Epson.

Canon is the second ranked LFP vendor with more than 17,000 units shipped and 22.6% share. The vendor grew 5.8% year over year. This positive growth was driven by year-over-year gains in both the technical and graphics segments, 3.5% and 13.5%, respectively.

According to the latest data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Large Format Printer Tracker, the large format printer (LFP) market recorded year-over-year growth of 5.3% in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q14) with more than 77,000 units shipped. Shipment value, however, declined slightly to $786 million in the quarter with year-over-year growth of -0.5%. The growth in unit shipments was driven by solid results for the top three vendors: HP, Canon, and Epson.

The top three regional markets posted year-overyear growth for the second consecutive quarter in 2Q14, with Western Europe leading the pack at 11.1%, followed by the U.S. at 6.2% and Asia/ Pacific (excluding Japan) at 3.7%.

“IDC expects the aqueous colour inkjet market to grow at a single digit rate over the next two years.

The technical segment of the large format printer market is the real driver of growth opportunity. The gains in the technical segment can be attributed to

improved speeds and image quality,” said Phuong Hang, Program Director, Worldwide Large Format Printer Tracker.

Technology Highlights The technical segment grew 2.1% year over year to 46,000 units shipped in 2Q14. It remains the largest application segment with 60% share of the total worldwide LFP market. All regions except Latin America recorded year-over-year unit growth in this large format category for 2Q14.

The graphics application of the large format market is a driver of growth opportunity. This segment grew 10.3% year over year to more than 31,000 units shipped. Similar to the technical segment, all regions except Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMA) experienced year-over-year growth in this segment. Western Europe posted the greatest gains in both unit and shipment value, 23.4% and 14.6%, respectively.

Avery Dennison and Ningbo Shenzhou Knitting sign joint venture deal said “Our goal is to collectively accelerate our heat transfer embellishment innovation capabilities and overall speed to market to better serve leading global brands together.”

The company says heat transfer embellishment is suited to performance wear companies, as they expect design flexibility and wearer comfort with no compromise to garment function.

Avery Dennison’s global apparel Retail Branding Information Solutions arm, and Ningbo Shenzhou Knitting Co Ltd, China’s largest vertically integrated knitwear manufacturer, have announced a joint venture to be located at the Ningbo Shenzhou manufacturing site.

President of Avery Dennison RBI,Shawn Neville, www.visionmagazine.asia

Mr Huang Guan Lin, executive director and general manager of Ningbo Shenzhou Knitting Co Ltd said “With this partnership, we are able to join together the collective expertise of two innovators in the industry.”

Both companies describe the alliance as a first of it’s kind and is expected to yield decorative transfers, printed and woven labels, graphic tags and tickets as well as sustainable product packaging.

Epson strengthened its number 3 position with 12% year-over-year growth, the best performance among the top 5 vendors. The vendor recorded more than 15,200 units shipped and 19.8% share, up more than 1 point from a year ago. Its year-overyear growth of 12% was driven by significant growth of 16.5% in the graphics application segment.

Roland was the number 4 vendor in the worldwide LFP market with more than 2,700 units shipped in 2Q14. The vendor declined 2.9% year over year and held a 3.6% share of the overall market. Graphics application is Roland’s main market, which means the vendor’s year over year decline was driven by a decrease in the graphics segment.

Ricoh rounded out the top 5 vendors with a 2.5% share of the worldwide LFP market with unit shipments declining -11.7% compared to a year earlier. The vendor holds the top 4 spot in the technical market, where it saw a -12.1% year-overyear decline.

Canon and Brother assist with China earthquake appeal Following the 6.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Yunnan Province, China on August 3 killing at least 617, injuring more that 3,000 others and with over 110 people still missing, both Canon Japan and Brother Japan have announced donations to the relief fund.

Brother Industries Japan has confirmed that the Brother Group will donate a total of approximately 5 million JPY (approx USD $50,000) to the Japanese Red Cross Society and other organisations, to help with the relief efforts.

The Canon Group have also announced the company is making a donation of RMB 3.2 million (approx USD $518,000) in aid for the earthquake victims. The organisation to receive this donation is still under consideration.

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Local Motors in USA plans world’s first 3D printed car “It has a nice style that really hangs together.”

Lonnie Love, Group Leader, Robotics and Manufacturing Systems Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, adds, “Michele’s design offers an excellent balance between innovation, complexity and practicality. It has good 3D lines and the retractable roof is really cool.”

Michele will receive a cash prize for his submission and will be invited to see his concept manufactured live in AMT’s Emerging Technology Center at the IMTS Show in September.

Six additional concepts were recognized for their innovation and some aspects of these designs may also be incorporated into the final prototype. The designers of each of these concepts will also receive a cash award from Local Motors.

Phoenix, Arizona based Local Motors announced the winners of the first 3D Printed Car Design Challenge in June and plans to print the vehicle at the International Manufacturing Technology Show 2014 (IMTS) in Chicago, Illinois, September 8-13, 2014.

The challenge, launched in April 2014, received over

200 entries from more than 30 countries during the six-week entry period and concluded with a total of seven designs selected as winning designs.

The final winning concept, Strati, created by Michele Anoé of Italy, will inspire the full-size 3D printed prototype. “It’s simple and clean, with character,” says challenge judge and MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis.

Roland DG DWX-4 at dental clinic workshop in China

Organisers say the IMTS is the largest and longest running manufacturing technology trade show in the United States and is held every other year in Chicago attracting more than 100,000 visitors from every level of industry and more than 119 countries. IMTS is owned and managed by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. www.IMTS.com.

Stratasys Objet24/30 Pro 3D printers in UK hospitals Stratasys says that UK medical 3D printing specialist, Replica 3DM, is using its Stratasys 3D Printers to support twelve National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in the validation of patient surgery prior to an operation. As a result, this is having a significant impact on the length of surgical procedures leading to substantial reductions in theatre costs.

Roland DG (China) Corporation, a provider of digital dental devices, recently co-hosted a “One Day Treatment” workshop for representatives of dental clinics in Beijing and showcase the capabilities of its DWX-4 dental milling machine.

The one-day workshop, designed to show how new digital dental technology enhances clinical efficiency and patient satisfaction, was conducted in association with dental news provider Dental Tribune International, intra-oral scanner and CAD software manufacturer 3Shape, CAM software provider GO2cam International, and nationwide dealer Trustworthy Technology Co. As a standard practice, lab dental technicians prepared prosthetics, teeth and bridges manually, however natural looking teeth are being produced using a new composite resin and advanced 3D scanner for contours. CAD software to design the prosthetic and CAM software and milling machines complete the production work. After intra-oral

scanning performed by a digital scanner, Roland DG’s compact DWX-4 dental milling machine provides precision milling.

With this 3D technology’s fast production time, dentists can offer a same day service for custom dental prosthetics.

Mr Takuro Hosome, manager of Roland DG medical business sales said “We foresee economic growth in China bringing greater improvements to medical care as well as more people who desire better teeth.”

“We feel the time is right to promote ourselves throughout China and raise brand awareness.”

Hosome also spoke of the future saying, “The DWX-4 uses open architecture, which allows for future technology development. We want to work closely with partnering companies to provide optimal solutions to suit the Chinese dental market now and in the future.”

Performing surgery on 3D printed models prior to operations not only reduces theatre costs and anaesthetic times, it leads to and improvement in patient recovery and provides an effective aid for both patient and surgeon.

Replica 3DM’s Stratasys Objet24 and Objet30 Pro 3D Printers convert patient CT scans into physical 3D printed models that are used as surgical guides to test implants for size and fit presurgery. This includes re-bending of titanium implant plates to the patient’s exact specifications and preoperative investigations across maxillofacial, orthopaedics, neurology, spinal and ears, nose and throat wards, to identify the correct procedure and improve outcome. The company also produces a number of cranioplasty models in which the unaffected side of the patient’s face is mirrored to produce a 3D printed reconstruction, prior to the fitting and placement of a titanium plate.

Originally established as a 3D modeling department of Salisbury District Hospital, Replica 3DM has since extended its medical 3D printing capabilities to NHS hospitals across the UK, primarily offering its services to Trusts that do not have in-house access to 3D printers. www.visionmagazine.asia

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HP SINGAPORE

HP opens Singapore CoE

H

P opened its new Centre of Excellence (CoE) and announced the expansion of the HP Indigo ink manufacturing facility in Singapore on Wednesday 3rd September. The new CoE aims to educate and inspire printing companies and their customers in Asia Pacific and Japan, made possible by HP digital printing solutions.

HP’s Singapore CoE is set up as a series of shops where visitors can stroll through a real life environment to see how diverse and sophisticated the range of printed material has become. From sneakers to furniture, toys, fit outs labelling and packaging, HP has equipment that an handle virtually any client demand.

The new 21,000 square metre CoE facility will provide customers with one-stop access to HP’s broad digital printing portfolio and solutions, as well as share creative and technical best practices.

Centre of Excellence

The new facility will further support worldwide Indigo ink volume production by expanding local capabilities from the current ink series to the new generation of inks for the HP Indigo 10000, 20000 and 30000 Digital Presses.

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The new 21,000 square metre CoE facility will provide customers with one-stop access to HP’s broad digital printing portfolio and solutions, as well as share creative and technical best practices.

The new facility will create employment opportunities in Singapore with more than 100 employees projected to be added to the facility in the next five years, most of which will include technical professionals and training personnel.

Printing companies will be able to conduct endto-end application testing of their HP digital printing equipment. Brands and agencies will be able to see inspirational ideas and work on pilot projects in a real-world production environment.

HP said the new Centre of Excellence has a complete graphics portfolio and partner solutions along with an extensive gallery of applications – from stamps to building wraps - housed in the new facility to make it easier for customers to recognise the power of digital printing.

In addition, a training centre will help increase operator proficiency and is staffed by 11 training and ramp-up specialists who can provide hands-on learning and train more than 350 operators, engineers and production managers each year.

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HP SINGAPORE

HP’s catchphrase ‘if you can think it, you can print it’ isn’t just marketing slogan, it’s a real scenario. From printed leather shoes, textiles, fabrics, POS props and furniture, the CoE demonstrates both what can be done and the machines that do it.

HP also said that its new ink manufacturing facility, scheduled to open in 2015, is to support the growing demand of Indigo next-generation presses, which are reaching 150 installations worldwide.

These installations are in addition to more than 6,000 HP Indigo Presses now in 120 countries.

The 10,000 square metre expansion to the ink manufacturing plant will support global production of specialised HP Indigo ElectroInks for the new generation of HP Indigo 10000, 20000 and 30000 Digital Presses. The Indigo 10000, the first B2-format digital press with offset quality,

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HP SINGAPORE

enables print service providers, photo specialty shops and book printers to provide high value, high productivity applications. The Indigo 20000 and the Indigo 30000 Digital Presses, released to the market earlier this year, are the first digital presses designed to meet the needs of label and flexible packaging and folding carton converters.

To allow HP Indigo customers in the region to order and receive more than 3,000 specially

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mixed ink colours within short lead times, the plant will also manufacture Pantone licensed spot colour inks.

Substrate testing and certification capabilities will be built into the plant to enable substrate manufacturers, suppliers and HP Indigo press owners from Asia Pacific and Japan and Europe, the Middle East and Africa to evaluate substrate compatibility with HP Indigo Digital Presses

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VISION

CONCEPTS

Epson Stylus Photo 3880 used in Paris Brooklyn+Klein show Epson France recently participated in ‘Brooklyn+Klein’ an event held at the la Galerie Polka in Paris that celebrates the work of American-born, unorthodox photographer and filmmaker, William Klein, currently ranked 25th on Professional Photographer’s list of 100 most influential photographers.

Event organizers Polka Magazine asked for Epson’s support for a project to produce on demand 300 top quality prints of Klein’s work using Epson’s unique Digigraphie technology. Held over a period of 10 hours, prints selected by visitors were printed on Epson Stylus Photo 3880 printers by Picto, an Authorized Digigraphie Laboratory in Paris, with the whole process overseen by the artist himself.

The event was the first time that William Klein had trusted such a laboratory to print his work, convinced by the quality, colour reproduction, wide color gamut and the assurance that he could control every step of the production process.

At the end of the process, he marked his approval for each of the prints with his signature.

Klein selected Epson to produce prints that were made available for art lovers and fans in an event that allowed visitors to observe the production of a piece of art from start to finish. After selecting a photograph from the Galerie Polka, they could follow their art through a series of workshops in each stage of the production process including the printing on an Epson Stylus Photo 3880 and the framing. Every step of the way was supervised by the artist, who oversaw the printing and checked to see that the final result respected his original view for the art. All original files were reworked and calibrated by dedicated staff to ensure they met Klein’s expectations.

Fuji Xerox preserves Japan’s cultural inheritance Fuji Xerox has used its MFP technology to assist with preserving Japan’s cultural heritage when it reproduced a national important historic property, the Daigo Hanami Tanzaku, a collection of Waka, Japanese poems written in 16th century.

Leveraging its advanced colour management technologies, Fuji Xerox used a customised device to replicate the delicate colours, tones and texture of the original historic Daigo Hanami Tanzaku and reproduce them on traditional Japanese Washi paper.

Fuji Xerox Kyoto, a sales subsidiary of Fuji Xerox, began the project of reproducing historical documents as a social contribution activity in 2009 and has donated approximately 140 items to date. The company expanded this activity to a company wide exercise in April 2014, setting up a project office in the company’s major research and development centre, Fuji Xerox R&D Square in Yokohama, Japan. Five staff members in Kyoto and Yokohama will handle 50 projects per year to reproduce historical documents across Japan.

Historical context of the Daigo Hanami Tanzaku

In March 1598, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, then ruler of Japan, held his historically famed cherry blossom viewing party in Daigoji Temple. Prior to this grand party, Hideyoshi planted 700 cherry trees and reconstructed the Sanboin building that stands alongside the garden.

More than 1,300 guests were invited including Hideyoshi’s formal wife, Kita no Mandokoro, concubine, Yodo-dono and other wives, as well as Hideyoshi’s son, Hideyori. It is said that the guests wrote Waka (Japanese poems) about the cherry blossoms, hanging the Tanzaku (strip of paper) on which their poems were written from the branches of the cherry trees. Later these Tanzaku were compiled into a book and kept in the temple to the present day. The collection of these 131 poems is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.

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CONCEPTS

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Epson Philippine ‘Fashion Forward’ show

in creating designs for cloth, garment and other fashion merchandise.

Benito Cali of Ziya that produce a clothing line with a distinct bohemian theme.

Philippine fashion designers used Epson’s Surecolor F2000 and F7170 Direct to Garment (DtG) dye sublimation printers to showcase their custom made fabrics at the recent Fashion Forward fashion event held in Manila.

Fashion Forward featured some of the region’s most prominent names including Avel Bacudio (pictured) considered by many to be Asia’s most influential designer, Mairene Muñoz of Conspicuous swimwear, Finney Santos - creative lead of Empire and Fatima

The event featured fabrics created by Philippine fashion brands and designers who utilised Epson’s latest DTG’s printers to create custom prints straight from their artistic vision onto the fabric itself. The designers embraced the Epson DTG technology not only because it permits original and bespoke fabrics but because printing images direct onto fabric is no longer a costly, labour intensive method but a speedy, quality, less expensive process.

The designers at the show expressed excitement on how the Epson fabric printers shorten the grueling design process, and expanded possibilities

Mairene Muñoz of Conspicuous swimwear noted the efficiency of the Epson Surecolor F7170. “Designers like me who like working under pressure, like the efficiency of using the Epson Surecolor F7170. It will save you a lot of time without sacrificing the quality. In a matter of minutes, I now have my printed fabric with my chosen design. You only have to conceptualize, then, from there you can start printing your ideas - uninterrupted production, astounding quality, and extremely fast drying.”

Fashion Designer Fatima Benito Cali of Ziya.

Ziya said that, after using the Epson Surecolor F7170 in creating her designs “We compared some prints from other printers with that of the Epson Surecolor F7170 and the results are very different.

Epson’s colours are true to what we see in the computer’s colour registry.The colours are vibrant and real. The printing process doesn’t require too much time to render. The sharpness and colour of each detail in our fabric print is superb.”

Fujifilm Smurfit Kappa‘s Absolut 3D display wins Inca IDEAs award Smurfit Kappa Ireland picked up a 2014 Inca Digital Excellence Award (IDEA) in the Interactive Display category after submitting an entry commissioned by Irish Distillers to design and produce an in-store display for their 1L Absolut Vodka.

The design brief was to design and build a compact, interactive POS customer experience to boost sales so, by incorporating the company’s new phone and tablet app, customers could discover 500 drinks recipes featuring the product on offer.

The construction, made from 16mm fluted core rigid paperboard Re-Board, was printed using a 6 colour Inca Onset S40i flatbed UV inkjet printer. The finished display featured built-in coloured LED strip lighting, with wiring concealed in the back panels and headboard that incorporated a touch screen tablet loaded with the new product app.

Before production began, a full size, operational prototype was built to Smurfit Kappa’s 3D design and specifications. Smurfit Kappa’s efforts on the project were rewarded with an Inca IDEAs award in the Interactive Display category with the judges commenting: “Good use of print, materials, lighting and a tablet.” www.visionmagazine.asia

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VISION

MEDIA

Contra Vision HMS President ship wrap

Avery Dennison MPI 3529/3729 films Avery Dennison have introduced two new window perforated films and three new overlaminates into their digital portfolio - MPI 3529, MPI 3729, DOL 6560, DOL 6960 and DOL 6460, with the company confirming that DOL 6560 is now its thinnest digital overlaminate.

Avery Dennison’s Perforated Window Series allows window surfaces to display printed graphics without completely restricting vision. Avery Dennison’s new window perforated films now print across all platforms: solvent, eco-solvent, UV and latex.

Printers PressOn in Kent, UK were commissioned to wrap HMS President, an ex Royal Navy warship, entirely in a specially designed ‘dazzle’ print camouflage vinyl. The President’s design was created by European artist Tobias Rehberger and the ship is berthed by Victoria Embankment on the Thames until February 2015.

HMS President has been wrapped with Contra Vision Performance perforated material on the windows to provide a modern version of how an original ‘ Dazzle’ ship might have looked. The ship’s large picture windows, which were added when it became a floating venue, provided an example of applying Contra Vision see- through graphics which allowed the whole ship to be covered by the dazzle design.

The project involved printing 2,000 sqm of vinyl on a HP LX3000 and was extremely challenging in terms of logisitics. The 10 day installation had to overcome various technical considerations including solving the problem of 12 installers working at various heights while fitting the self adhesive vinyl in the rise and fall of the Thames tides - this was accomplished by putting the installation team in a small boat and completing the instal while circling the vessel.

HMS President, currently a conference venue,

floating bar and restaurant, was once HMS Saxifrage, an anti-submarine warship, completed in 1918 and one of the last three surviving warships of the Royal Navy built during WW1.

The wrap, part of the programme to mark the nationwide commemorations of the beginning of WW1, demonstrate Dazzle patterns which were the first attempt to camouflage warships, not by offering concealment but by using complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colours which interrupted and intersected each other. This makes it difficult for an enemy to estimate the range, speed and direction of a target. Dazzle has an interesting artistic history with Picasso claiming it was invented by the cubists.

The project was co commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the WW1 Centenary Art Commissions and Liverpool Biennial in association with University of the Arts London Chelsea College of Arts, HMS President (1918) and Tate Liverpool, in partnership with Merseyside Maritime Museum, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Dazzle Ship London is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Goethe-Institut London.

Drytac DecorTac wallpaper for bespoke interiors Drytac Europe has launched DecorTac printable self-adhesive (SA) wallpaper for customised interior design applications.

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MPI 3529 is a printable film with durability of 2 years unprinted and 1 year printed. It has a matte finish, is removable with opaque/block out capabilities, and features a 50/50 ratio. MPI 3529 is intended for vehicle applications where increased visibility is required due to its 50/50 perforation pattern.

MPI 3729 is intended for POP, tradeshow and other flat window applications. MPI 3729 has a 60/40 perforation pattern that allows the best possible image quality while maintaining one-way visibility on stationary windows.

All Avery Dennison perforated window films, including MPI 3529 and MPI 3729, can be paired with Avery Dennison’s newest digital overlaminate, DOL 6560. At 1 mil, DOL 6560 is Avery Dennison’s thinnest digital overlaminate to date. The film provides good scratch-resistance and increased vibrancy and durability, and is recommended for shorter-term applications.

Avery Dennison is also launching two additional digital overlaminates, DOL 6960 and DOL 6460.

DOL 6960 provides more robust protection from the environment, at 2 mil thick. DOL 6460 is a gloss overlaminate providing up to 2 years durability for printed graphic films in horizontal applications and 4-5 years durability in vertical applications.

DOL 6460 is compatible with Avery Dennison MPI 1000, 2000, and 3000 series digital films.

Drytac UV compatible Interlam Pro laminates

DecorTac is a fire-resistant, 220-micron digitally printable, non-woven wallpaper coated with an aqueous acrylic adhesive, and supported by a siliconised release liner making it suitable for solvent-based, latex and UV curable ink systems.

International adhesive coated products manufacturer Drytac, have launched Interlam Pro, their new laminating film that has been designated compatible for direct application to UV printed output.

Drytac says the media offers photorealistic print quality, quick drying time and good scratch resistance. Embossed designs of the new wallpaper, which costs from UKL £165 for a 30m x 1,060 mm roll are also available.

Drytac said these films are pressure sensitive, aqueous acrylic adhesive over-laminates with UV stabilisers to shield against UV light and prevent discolouration or degradation to both the film and adhesive.

The product has been specifically developed for the ever-growing bespoke interior design sector.

The printable wallpaper is targeted at short term graphics and can be used within almost any interior environment to create an eye catching display in retail and corporate environments enabling businesses to personalise their space, such as the restaurant trade.

The Interlam Pro has indoor and outdoor applications, including photographic prints, architectural renderings, aisle danglers, event signage, and POP and promotional displays.

Available in several finishes, including 3 mil Glossy, Lustre, Matte and 4 mil sand textured, scuff resistant Emerytex to suit high traffic floor graphics.

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HP high performance photo papers for latex printers HP’s licensing partner, Brand Management Group (BMG), have announced that HP have introduced three new resin coated photo papers for HP Latex Printers: • HP Professional Gloss Photo Paper • HP Professional Satin Photo Paper, and • HP Everyday Satin Photo Paper The products, targeted at printers of photography, retail displays, corporate and home décor, posters and other applications are instant dry, durable, scratch resistant with a white finish that provides a wide colour gamut. They are also FSC certified - a worldwide environmental forest management standard.

Type

Paper Info

Widths

Length

Benefit

HP Professional Gloss Photo Paper 275gsm resin coated 36”, 42”, 54” 60” 100’ Increased stability for easier handling.

Wide colour gamut.

High Dmax Water resistant with HP LX600 Latex Scitex Inks HP Professional Satin Photo Paper 275gsm resin coated 36”, 42”, 54” 60” 100’ Increased stability for easier handling.

Wide colour gamut.

High Dmax Water resistant with HP LX600 Latex Scitex Inks HP Everyday Satin Photo Paper 180gsm resin coated 36”, 42”, 54” 60” 100’ Economical alternative Water resistant with HP LX600 Latex Scitex Inks

Agfa Duratex EcoDisp lay Board

Orafol Orafol Japan will supply 8500 and 8800 for signage full product range

Agfa Graphics USA have announced an addition to their rigid media product range - Duratex EcoDisplay Board, saying EcoDisplay is environmentally sensitive as it is made from wood, water and starch, 30% of which comes from post-industrial waste that fits well with standard paper recycling practices.

German based Verseidag Indutex, provider of coated fabrics and technical textiles, together with Orofal, producer of graphic products, adhesive tapes and reflective solutions, have introduced two new products Orofal 8500 and 8800. The products are a result of combining Verseidag’s Seemee I and V flexible substrates with Orofal’s translucent films.

Orofal says these products are durable and will suit light boxes, illuminated signs, and backlit acrylic glass, glass and pretensioned banner materials.

Orafol, the German headquartered media supplier has announced that, effective September 2014, its Japanese business will change its name from Orafol Reflective Solutions Japan K.K., to Orafol Japan Inc.

Orofal 8800 is a UV resistant, satin finished, translucent, special cast PVC film (50 micron) available in 1260 and 630mm widths in 50m lengths in 57 colours.

Orafol Japan, MFD Haruki Hosokawa, said:

The product is a light, rigid media, has a laminated white printing finish, is compatible with UV inkjet, offset and screen printers making it ideally suited for POP, retail displays and short term outdoor signage.

The manufacturing process avoids harsh chemicals making it environmentally safer plus it’s 30% lighter than comparable media such as styrene, so transport is easier.

In addition Duratex is only a third of the cost of comparable media giving PSPs the opportunity to offer green products at competitive pricing. Available in the US from the Agfa Pitman e-store online shop.

Orofal 8500 is a UV resistant, satin finished, translucent, special PVC film (80 micron) available in 50m lengths in a variety of widths from 378 to 1260mm in 54 colours with a DIN 4102 B1 fire resistance certification

In addition the company will now supply the complete range of Orafol products including the reflective film range, graphic films and adhesive tapes.

“The Japanese market is constantly expanding and provides a great opportunity for all of the Orafol products.

“The availability of the full range of Orafol products will make a big difference to the current customer base and deliver future growth.” www.visionmagazine.asia

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VISION

Feature location

thailand

The volatile nature of its political state may have slowed business, but the Thai printing industry is set to dominate Southeast Asia.

How does the digital side fare? Vision Asia speaks with industry players and explores market drivers, trends and challenges.

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Feature location

VISION

Business Environment

Print Industry

In Southeast Asia, Thailand forms the second largest economy, after Indonesia. The country is described as an upper middle-income nation with an open economy and a recorded GDP of $375 billion in 2013. In 2013, the World Bank ranked Thailand as top 18 in the world for ease of business.

Thailand’s print industry was not spared from the nation’s instabilities. According to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), the print and packaging industries only grew 2 to 3% last year, a drastic drop from its usual growth of 8 to 10%.

About 40% of the Thai population is involved in agriculture, though a thriving manufacturing sector, including the manufacture of technological goods. Thailand is a dependent on exports, with a total of $219 billion worth of goods exported in 2013, accounting for 58% of its GDP. On top of recent political instabilities, apparent corruption and lack of transparency within the government, the business environment in Thailand appears bleak.

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The Thai government prioritises on promoting Thailand as the printing hub of Southeast Asia.

This comes as little surprise, as exports by the Thai printing and packaging industry topped US$1.6 billion in 2011, according to the FTI. The Sinsakhon Printing City and Industrial Estate was set up in 2004, developed in Samut Sakhon in central Thailand. This full-service industrial park serves the print and packaging industry, and was purported to be the world’s first full-service industrial estate for the industry. This printing cluster includes manufacturers from every phase of the print process - from pre-press, packaging, post-press and fulfillment - all nestled within the industrial estate.

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Canon’s new imagePROGRAF iPF6410SE is designed for professional printers to create business and retail solutions through its A1+ prints, compact design, 6 colour LUCIA EX pigment inks and its sub-ink tank system that allows ink replacement during printing

At a Glance Country Government Type Location Population Economic Indicators Currency Business Environment Print Industry

Kingdom of Thailand Constitutional monarchy South East Asia 66.7 million (as of 2013) GDP per capita of USD$9,874 (as of 2013) Thai Baht (THB) 18th in the World for Ease of Business in 2013 World’s first full-service industrial estate for print and packaging

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VISION

Feature location

Digital Printing in Thailand

Another addition to Canon’s range is the imagePROGRAF iPF8410SE for professional users requiring a print size of B0+. Similar to the 6410 on the previous page, the sub-ink tank system enables ink replacement during printing and the 6 colour LUCIA EX pigment inks now has a new red ink for vivid, long-lasting results

Thailand has a strong support system within its print industry. There are several print-related associations in the country, including The Thai Printing Association, Thai Packaging Association, The Printing and Paper Packaging Industry Club within the Federation of Thai Industries, and The Publisher and Book Agency Association of Thailand.

Although there is strong support for the Thai print industry, it does not escape the worldwide epidemic of declining print profits: “The Thai print industry is not so much different than the rest www.visionmagazine.asia

of the world. Like the rest of the world, printers are struggling with profitability. Print runs are decreasing.

Customers are demanding world-class quality at the lowest possible pricing,” said Roger Blacker, vice president, Canon Marketing (Thailand).

Blacker added that if ever there was only one way to describe Thai printers, it would be that they are hungry for ways to differentiate themselves. And one of the most paramount solutions for them?

Digital printing.

For commercial printers, digital print presents a whole host of new business opportunities. There is a definite increase in commercial printers adopting digital print technologies alongside their traditional printers.

“Digital printing has affected the dynamics of the printing process. Users have more access to the machines, which are also easier to operate,” said Prasit Klongnguluerm, technology consultant, Thai Photo and Print Limited Partnership. “Within the last 10 years, there have been a lot of investment decisions being made towards digital print services. There is a lot more digital printing now that have replaced traditional systems.”

“The digital print industry in Thailand reminds me a lot of what China looked like 5 years ago.

Previously, commercial printers were not willing to talk about digital print. Now everyone is aware of digital print and understands the need to change. All of the difficult part is over… now we just need to make it happen,” agreed Blacker.

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Canon’s imagePRESS C800 is colour light production press delivering productivity across a large range of media with automatic duplex printing up to 300 gsm and speeds up to 80 ipm

“The quick printers are going to find that new equipment is the only way to achieve high-print quality that customers demand. Big offset printers will all install a digital production line in order to increase their share of customer business,” Blacker continued.

With 3 factories in Thailand, Canon counts the country as one of the key locations globally for the business. In total, Canon has approximately 15,000 employees in Thailand. Canon Marketing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is the sales company that most of dealers and consumers interact with for camera, printer and copier purchases and service.

Canon recently launched its latest colour digital press, the imagePRESS C800, to the Thai market. Blacker related the success of the press launch to the growing demand of digital presses in the industry: “We managed to get 10 machines sold on the first day. I am sure that this would not have happened 10 years ago. Printers are hungry for a machine that can bring more profit. The new imagePRESS C800 has the best image quality on the widest range of textured media for a light production colour press. It is easy to see that printers are hungry to differentiate their products with a wider range of media.”

According the Klongnguluerm, the digital inkjet printing industry in Thailand can be divided into 3 groups: 1 Digital Print Services, including commercial billboard printing for outdoors, and graphics and photo printing for use indoors, printed using large format printers 2 Prepress proofing and digital support for the publishing industry 3 Reprography industry, in which digital printing is used for large format reproductions such as blueprints, interior plans. The industry mainly serves the engineering, construction and architectural industries The signs and display industry in Thailand has also demonstrated increased moves to digital.

Klongnguluerm, whose company deals with digital proofing for the fine art industry, said that while the industry used to rely heavily on “handmade” art prints and paintings, there is an increased interest for digitally printed art now, which has been able to produce artwork of parallel quality.

“The large format and signage print industry has grown up a lot. In Thailand, there is even a large format digital printing club, to serve as a consultant and exchange issues about the business of digital printing,” said Klongnguluerm.

Differentiating Digital Print

Growing Market Segments

Challenges faced by the Thais are no different than print industries in other parts of the world: intense competition, oversupply of generic print capacity, and the influx of supplies imported from overseas.

Personal printing services are one of the major market segments that are driving the digital movement. “Thailand is demanding more high quality prints, especially in the personal printing services segment. The trend for small and medium sized print shops to adapt to the digital printing systems due to this,” observed Klongnguluerm.

“Specialisation and differentiation of print services is going to be the critical factor in the next 5 years,” said Blacker. “The key point is that successful printers are going to change by providing new products and services.”

Blacker asserts that it is essential for print companies to prioritise on differentiating their services in order to combat declining print profits: “As in any market, competition brings a decline in profit. The only way to improve the situation is to differentiate. Print runs will continue to decline and prices for general printing will continue to decline until such a point that market demand is bigger than supply. In this situation printers must innovate products and services to stimulate customer demand.”

“Printers must work hard to differentiate products and services. Of course, this must be a partnership between R&D of companies like Canon and print providers,” Blacker continued, stressing upon the importance of cooperation between the printer, the consumer and content owner in order to be able to successfully specialise.

Additionally, Canon launched two 6-colour large format models, the iPF 8410SE and iPF 6410SE. The two models feature an additional Red ink cartridge on top of the standard Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black and Matte Black inks, to allow users to produce a wider range of reds and oranges. “This creates a dramatically vivid result for companies doing poster printing. This was a great example of technology driving new services,” said Blacker.

“Digital print allows for personalisation, with such services growing in popularity in photolab shops.

This is expanded to more regions in the country,” Klongnguluerm continued.

Besides personal printing services, special highend printing for fine art and showcases and digital printing for packaging are growing market sectors that contribute to the proliferation of digital printing. Digitally printed books are also expected to be one of the biggest growth areas, in which printers will be able to handle short print-runs and maintain profitability.

Variable data printing is a market segment to look out for in Thailand, especially in security printing.

“For example, the printing of University entrance exams. Currently, all exams are the same and security is relatively low. How can we change it up to better satisfy customer requirements on security? We can now set up examination printing so that a picture of the student is printed on his or her exam booklet. We can also arrange so that there are several different versions of the examination so that people who sit next to each other are not able to copy. Of course, effective use of digital printing requires cooperation between the printer, the consumer and content owner,” said Blacker

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VISION

inks

Nazdar TX650 dye sub inks approved for Roland XF-640

Kiian Digital and J-Teck3 join forces Italian based ink technology specialists, Kiian Digital and J-Teck3, are joining forces in the digital printing sector to create a new group of two independent companies with extended capability and greater resources.

Both management teams, including the former J-Teck3 owners, will continue to be fully involved in the ongoing development of the business.

Nazdar Ink Technologies, the UK based UV, water and solvent based ink supplier, have announced that their TX650 dye sublimation ink has added Roland’s SOLJET PRO4 XF-640 to the list of validated printers. The company said that the TX650 water-based, high density, dye sublimation inks have been formulated specifically for use on a range of wide format printers from Mimaki, Mutoh and now Roland machines.

Designed for printing onto paper prior to being heattransferred onto polyester-based fabrics and coated

rigid substrates, TX650 suits multiple transfer applications including: Sportswear Fashion and Apparel Décor and Interior Design Display and Flags Technical, Specialty and Outdoor applications

INX Digital new UV curable inks for HP 7500/7600 systems

California based INX Digital has introduced the H76 high performance UV curable inks, which are designed specifically for the HP 7500 and HP 7600 printers when using the FB225 ink series.

It is the latest Triangle brand superwide format application developed specifically to meet the needs of printers producing work for outdoor POP display, transit signage and packaging applications.

Available in six basic colours plus white, light black and orange, H76 is colour and chemically compatible with the OEM inks but with improved performance. Besides offering superior adhesion in comparison to the OEM, it was designed to allow for a 20% reduction in lamp strength in accordance with company policy for greener, more sustainable products.

H76 white ink has a much brighter white hue and is more stable compared to OEM inks, which appear to have an off-white shade and tend to clog filters. www.visionmagazine.asia

H76 also sports a lower purge rate, exhibits low tack after the curing process is complete, and light colours are proving to cure better. It’s available in 5 litre bottles that can be installed directly into the printer, just like the OEM. INX said that in addition to the light colours generating better curing results, H76 creates very smooth transitions, produces better gradient colours for high end work with photographic images and flesh tones.

H76 inks are supported by the company’s Outdoor Durability and Ink Train warranties.

INX International Ink Co is a global supplier as part of Sakata INX worldwide operations and offers ink and coating solutions technology for commercial, packaging and digital print applications plus is a leading global manufacturer of inkjet inks, providing a full palette of digital ink systems, advanced technologies and integrated services.

J-Teck3, now in its tenth year, said that with their range of disperse sublimation and pigment printing inks for textile and graphic applications, they have a technologically driven business approach to develop new products.

Kiian Digital say they are a commercial and technical partner in over 90 countries worldwide and have a long history of providing chemicals and are suppliers of sublimation transfer and direct, disperse, ecosolvent and pigment inks to suit the fashion, interior and other market applications.

INX Triangle ESC wide format inkjet ink for Epson Stylus GS6000

California based INX Digital, have launched ESC inkjet inks - an alternative eco solvent ink for wide format applications.

This is the latest in the Triangle brand, suite of products and works in conjunction with the Epson Stylus GS6000 commercial outdoor printer. ESC said that when teamed with the GS6000, prelaunch testing demonstrated the product to be cost effective, time efficient and durable, with vibrant colours for outdoor applications including banners, posters and tradeshow graphics as well as indoor applications.

The company says ESC inks, created to fall into line with INX Digital’s philosophy for developing green and sustainable products, offer improved Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) resistance.

INX Digital says as a global manufacturer of inkjet inks with a full palette of digital ink systems, they offer a complete line of ink and coating solutions technology for commercial, packaging and digital print applications and integrated services.

media & inks

Essentra Duraco Red film tape

ESMA, the European Specialist Printing Manufacturer’s Association is staging the Inkjet Conference (IJC) in Düsseldorf, Germany from September 30 and October 1 2014.

Duraco Red’s release liner and permanent tape are both transparent, allowing the user to accurately position the tape while applying it to a surface with graphics or text. Once the red liner is removed, the graphics will show clearly through the remaining tape.

Permanent tape bonding, especially in hard-toadhere applications, such as UV coated materials.

Accurate positioning of a transparent tape over graphics or text.

Revealing the graphics during and after application of the tape.

Use in high temperatures.

Applications where a thicker film tape is required.

Duraco Red’s adhesive will not yellow and minimises any hazy appearance maintaining the readability of the underlying graphics or text.

A specially modified acrylic adhesive used in Duraco Red produces a strong bond with a wide variety of materials. Examples include difficult bonding surfaces, such as UV coated signs and other graphics, low surface energy plastics (polypropylene, polyethylene and some styrenes) and metals with powder-coated paint. Duraco Red is also well suited for more typical bonding applications, such as paper, corrugated cardboard, wood, glass and other materials.

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Inkjet Conference 2014: Inside Track

US based Essentra Specialty Tapes has introduced a new double-sided clear film tape, Duraco Red.

Essentra say this new family of premium tapes was developed as an solution for:

VISION

Duraco Red can also be used for applications that require a thicker film tape. Its 8 mil thickness is nearly double the thickness of many other standard film tapes. The extra adhesive used in Duraco Red allows for greater wet-out or flow-out to achieve a stronger molecular bond.

The tape has a service temperature range of -14°F to +300°F, and is best applied in temperatures between +65°F and +100°F. Duraco Red is available as pre-cut pieces on a roll, or on continuous rolls. Pre-cut pieces on a roll are available in widths ranging from 1/2” to 1”, with a 1” to 5” length. Essentra Specialty Tapes not only provides the industry standard roll length of 180 ft., but also features exclusive long rolls in a 750 ft. length.

Standard rolls are available in widths of 3/8” to 3”.

Long rolls are available in widths of 3/8” to 1”.

The features and properties of the Duraco Red tape family are engineered to accommodate unique applications encountered among customers using other tapes. Duraco Red can be used in the development of POP and other retail displays, for box closures and vinyl banners,signs and containers.

ESMA says the IJC is the biggest European conference of its kind and is a venue for industry, academics and high profile companies to discuss and exhibit the latest inkjet printing technology advances and future developments driving digital print. It will also include information and advances on traditional applications such as packaging, textile and plastics. The two day conference is sponsored by partner drupa.

There will be 24 presentations including • Piezo inkjet, precision engineering, intelligent sensors, and UV LED system integration • Million drop hardware and software • Aspects of equipment design and manufacture.

• Fluid systems, membrane pumps, print heads, digital asset management, RIPs, colour calibration, and workflow • Fluid ink components - nano particles, conductive, aqueous and UV inks • Sintering plus energy and electronic applications Energy, sintering and • News, updates and online registration for The Inkjet Conference can be found at www.theijc.com

Roland DG ‘Body Of’ Work’ wins 17 awards for VersaUV 640 output Roland DG Sydney said The Printing Industries of America recently announced that Australian design house, Body of Work, headed by photographer Bob Armstrong, has been awarded a record 17 “Benny” awards in the 2014 competition.

Many of Armstrong’s Benny Award-winning works, including the 2013 Best in Show Calendar, the Art Prints, and Self-Promotion Book Cover, were printed on a Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 UV-LED wide format printer.

The American Premier Print Awards, established 65 years ago, are the industry’s premium international award attracting the best work from around the world and this year more than 2,890 entries were received from printing and graphic arts firms from across the globe.

Precision, detail and colour are essential elements for each of Armstrong’s prints, which sell for $25,000 and up.

Body of Work has now accumulated 31 Benny’s in the last three years including two successive awards for “Best of Show” from almost 4,000 international entries. The “Best of Show” award for 2014 will be decided at the formal presentation in Chicago in September. This year all 42 Body of Work entries won awards (17 First, 14 second, 11 third).

Armstrong’s Body of Work is the product of collective talent combined with state-of-the-art technologies, including Roland’s LEJ-640 printer. Working closely with the team at Roland DG Australia, Armstrong points out that this collaborative effort has produced extraordinary results, setting a “new benchmark for the development and application of original creative directions in communication strategy, design and photography, as well the establishment of new frontiers in print.” www.visionmagazine.asia

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VISION

SOFTWARE

Xante patented colour matching technology

HP Helion Cloud in China HP California has announced it has signed an agreement with Beijing UnionRead Information Technology to build, operate and manage community clouds in China. UnionRead will be the first service provider in China to use HP Helion solutions based on OpenStack technology since HP launched the HP Helion portfolio earlier this year.

A community cloud offers a shared infrastructure between multiple organisations with common interests, such as vertical industries or geographies that have similar security, privacy, performance and compliance requirements including education, healthcare, transportation and finance.

UnionRead will establish a dedicated team to build, operate and support community clouds across its data centres throughout China and will offer the following capabilities:

Xante, the US based workflow solution provider, has been issued a Federal Patent (No. 8,743,421) for their Right-On Spot Color Matching Technology nested within the iQueue workflow software. RightOn utilises a unique visual comparison that allows users to match critical spot colours with extreme accuracy, even when printing on coloured stocks.

Right-On provides more accurate Pantone colour matches and allows accurate matching of virtually any spot colour.

Xante’s iQueue print production workflow software includes the ability to work with any Adobe PostScript printer, more intelligent and powerful variable data capabilities, and direct in-RIP support for Intelligent Mail barcodes.

iQueue workflow interface tools include: Multiple User Network/File Sharing Integrated Pantone Colour Library

Spot Color Matching/Spot Colour Creator Independent CMYK Density Adjustment Full Imposition and Tiling

Individual Screening for CMYK and Spot Colour Real-time Job Cost Estimating Custom QR Code Generator

Manage and Import Variable Data

Import Intelligent Mail Bar Codes Generator Drives any Adobe PostScript 3 Device

• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) - compute, storage and networking using HP Helion OpenStack commercial distribution • Platform as a service (PaaS) - the HP Helion Development Platform based on Cloud Foundry, a leading open-source development project, enabling developers and system integrators to build cloud-native applications using a flexible, open architecture • Software as a service (SaaS)—services from HP and HP partners spanning a wide range of business applications, such as big data analytics HP says community clouds based on HP Helion are expected to be available in China next year.

Fuji Xerox release print utility app for Android v1.6 Print Utility features 1 Secure Print Private printing is available by setting authentication information which prevents printed documents from being left at a printer as well as unwanted printing.

2 Efficient Printing by Server-less On-Demand Printing When the printer specified in the print request is in use, users can redirect their request to another printer.

3 Output Management from a Mobile Device Through ApeosWare Management Suite Fuji Xerox Japan have announced a new, free printing and scanning app for Android Smartphones and Tablets - Print Utility for Android v1.6 for Android 4.4 KitKat.

Using the on-demand print, user management, and log management functions provided by ApeosWare Management Suite, users can use multifunction devices from mobile devices.

The company says the Print Utility app will print supported applications including Google Chrome, Google Drive, Gmail and Google Docs from Fuji Xerox multifunction devices or printers and includes economical settings such N-up (multiple pages on a single sheet) and double-sided printing.

Scanned paper documents can be transferred from a scanner to a mobile device. Scanned documents can be sent via email, viewed and stored with applications such as DocuWorks Viewer Light, and uploaded to Google Drive or other cloud storage, to access and view the stored documents whenever necessary.

Print Utility for Android can be downloaded free of charge by searching Google Play then download Fuji Xerox Print Utility.

Available in Japan and Asia-Pacific region including China, in five languages: Japanese, English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean and Thai.

www.visionmagazine.asia

4 Scanning Paper Documents to a Mobile Device

5 Availability and Multiple Languages

SOFTWARE

Xara Designer Pro X10 layout software

VISION

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Enfocus Pitstop FontFix

UK based software developer Xara have released Designer Pro X10, the company’s flagship all-inone creative product. Pro X10 is an integrated application that supplies all the tools for a range of graphic design tasks that would normally require three or more separate programs: illustration, photo editing, advanced page layout, web graphics, websites and more.

Xara says that by combining all the photo, graphic design, illustration, page layout and web design tools in one program, Designer Pro X10 achieves a smaller memory footprint, faster performance, no program switching and reduced hardware requirements. This also has the advantage of an easier learning curve, high productivity and value for money.

Designer Pro features and benefits Productivity and interface

Photo handling

One integrated program Speed Direct action tools Solid object editing Easy drag & drop Infinite undo / redo Zoom to 25,000% Top quality screen display

Fast, non-destructive photo handling Integrated photo tool Advanced photo manipulation Photo panoramas Intelligent scaling Adobe photoshop® plug-ins

Design tools

HTML website creation Complete design flexibility Mobile friendly sites Supersites Presentations and webinars Web widgets Animated flash export

Text handling Page layout Drawing tools D extrude Blends Transparency & feathering Live effects Shadows, bevels & contours Designer Pro X10 is available now and operates on Windows XP/Vista/7/8.1 and comes bundled with the PhotoLooks plug-in from Red Giant software

Web graphics, pages and sites

Compatibility Import and export PSD support PDF support Colour separation support

Enfocus has released PitStop FontFix, a Adobe Acrobat Pro and Standard plug-in that checks and replaces fonts missing from PDF files.

Pitstop FontFix was developed by Enfocus and of typeface provider Monotype so users can check PDF files for missing fonts and embed available fonts from their computer system or, download them from Monotype Baseline, a cloud based font library.

In conjunction with the launch Enfocus and Monotype have made the Font Fix solution available free if users share their thoughts on social media: • Visit the Enfocus PitStop Font Fix link and click the “Get It Now” button • Write a personal message or use Enfocus’ suggested post: “I fixed fonts in my PDF file with PitStop Font Fix!” Then share the update on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+, xing en vkontakte • Download and install the plug in (Macintosh and Windows) into Adobe Acrobat Pro or Adobe Acrobat Standard Once the plug in is installed and registered for a free Monotype Baseline account, a choice of over 60,000 fonts, including Adobe Type 1 can be embedded. Users are provided with 10 free tokens for 10 fonts at no charge.

Additional fronts can be purchased from the Monotype website for USD $0.39 each until 31 December 2014.

Meadows free QR code module for Indesign

Chicago headquartered Meadows Publishing Solutions has announced a free plug-in module that now creates QR Codes directly in any Adobe InDesign CS5, CS5.5 CS6, or Creative Cloud documents on either Mac or Win platforms.

The company announced the release of their 2D Bar Code Module for Adobe InDesign Creative

Cloud, with a completely free license option for producing QR Codes. This release is an update to a previous version of the software, which supported Adobe InDesign CS5 and CS6.

The software module is designed to generate QR Code, Data Matrix, and PDF417 two-dimensional bar codes directly in any Adobe InDesign document.

The module has also been integrated with the Meadows DesignMerge and AutoPrice software packages to support fully variable, multi-up 2D bar codes that can be driven by any database.

Using this new plug-in module, 2D bar codes can be created inside of an InDesign frame, and the sizing and positioning of the codes is handled automatically. There are also several built-in templates for popular QR Code formats such as the vCard format, which has been utilised extensively

in business card and other applications. Because the Meadows module uses a specially licensed font to produce the 2D codes, the module is fast.

When integrated with DesignMerge, customers can produce thousands of data-driven codes in minutes.

As a product promotion, Meadows is currently offering a free license of the new module, which is limited to the production of QR Codes.

Meadows Publishing Solutions is a software development and consulting company specialising in commercial and custom plug-in modules for InDesign and Acrobat, XTensions for QuarkXPress and other extensible technologies. The company has developed software packages for the database publishing and variable data printing markets, including AutoPrice and DesignMerge www.visionmagazine.asia

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