Irish Printer February 2016

JAN/FEB 2016 || THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY || WWW.IRISH PRINTER.IE

EPSON ANNOUNCE NEW SURECOLOR SIGNAGE PRINTERS Combining robust engineering with new design and production features.

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See Digital Print through new eyes Discover the Konica Minolta advantage with MJ Flood Ireland

Industry Leading Productivity 350gsm Duplex Extremely Precise Front-to-Back Registration Over 3000 SRA3 sheets per hour on all stocks Experienced Technicians Nationwide Service www.mjflood.ie Visit our website and learn more about the new bizhub PRESS series.

bizhub PRESS C1100

Phil Schueler Production Print Manager M: 086 171 4421

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bizhub PRESS C1070

Athlone | Belfast | Cork | Galway | Limerick | Sligo | Waterford | Wexford

08/12/2015 02/02/2016 16:07 12:18

JAN/FEB 2016 CONTENTS

04

News

10

Innovation

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18

The latest news from the Irish print industry.

Irish printers should check out Ricoh’s expanded Customer Experience Centre when it opens this summer.

Post Press

Find out why you should be making a beeline for drupa 2016’s finishing halls in June.

Irish Printer previews the

new print finishing processes for digital and offset from Muller Martini, Palamides and MBO Digital.

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20

Packaging

22

HP and KBA

24

The Big Picture

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We report on Mark Andy’s installation of three of its Performance Series presses in Ireland.

reinvent packaging printing for high volume, digital preprint applications.

Irish Printer looks at what the major press manufacturers have in store for the digital textile print sector in 2016.

Cover Story As Epson launches its new range of signage printers, Daniel Rafferty talks to Maev Martin about why there is still plenty of growth left in the Irish large format market.

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Conventional Print

28

Material Matters

Feature

As we prepare to celebrate the centenary of the 1916 Rising, Irish books continue to be printed abroad.

But what can the industry do to bring these contracts back home?

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32

A new integrated solution from Fujifilm is promising to deliver more profitable offset printing to the industry.

As Trimwel prepares for its move to Parkwest Industrial Estate, Irish Printer talks to MD Nick Little about their big plans for 2016.

What’s New in Print

03/02/2016 14:23

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EDITOR’S LETTER

pooling equipment resources with other print companies has benefited his bottom line. In fact, many of the challenges that are facing the Irish print industry – below cost selling, print contracts going overseas, and the ongoing struggle that many printers in the Republic of Ireland have in dealing with competition from their Northern Irish counterparts - could be successfully addressed if print companies were to join forces and scale up to bid for and secure print contracts.

Staying on a positive note, I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the many industry professionals who contacted me to offer their congratulations on my win in the Editor of the Year – Business to Business magazines category of the Magazines Ireland Awards 2015. Here’s hoping that the win will further highlight the excellent work that is being done in the Irish print industry to publishers and other clients, as well as potential clients, nationwide.

elcome to the first edition of Irish Printer in 2016.

At the risk of getting ahead of myself, I believe that, for the first time since 2008, our industry is finally turning a corner and growth is definitely returning to the Irish print sector. Feedback from print companies at the Irish Print Awards, and from the increasing number of printers who are investing in new technology and staff, indicates that there are plenty of business opportunities in the market for print companies who are ambitious and financially solvent.

Of course, many of the same negative issues still exist in our industry. However, the only way that the industry has any chance of responding to these challenges in a successful and coherent way is if individual print companies support those who are seeking to lobby on their behalf for changes that will benefit everyone in the industry.

On Page 30, Irish Printer revisits the old chestnut of Irish books being printed abroad and asks what, if anything, can be done to bring book printing back home? One thing that the industry can do is actively participate in and support the activities of the Irish Printing Federation. I would like to take this opportunity to endorse the IPF President Tom Clement’s call to companies in the industry to join the IPF and, having joined, to consider taking an active role in shaping the future of the printing industry in Ireland by getting involved with the IPF council. I would also encourage print companies to consider the advantages of adopting a partnership approach to service delivery. On Page 5 Steve McCarthy of SMC Print & Design talks about how

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Maev Martin, Editor Email: maev.martin@ashvillemediagroup.com Tel: (01) 432 2271

THE TEAM Editor: Maev Martin Editorial Manager: Mary Connaughton Creative Director: Jane Matthews Layout: Antoinette Sinclair Production Manager: Mary Connaughton Production: Claire Kiernan Chairman: Diarmaid Lennon Managing Director: Gerry Tynan Printed by: Walsh Colour Print on 150gsm Novatech Matt, manufactured by Arjowiggins Graphic and supplied by Antalis.

Contact: Irish Printer, Ashville Media Group, Old Stone Building, Blackhall Green, Dublin 7 Tel: (01) 432 2200 Web: www.irishprinter.ie

All rights reserved. Every care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this magazine is accurate. The publishers cannot, however, accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. ©Ashville Media Group 2016.

All discounts, promotions and competitions contained in this magazine are run independently of Irish Printer.

The promoter/advertiser is responsible for honouring the prize.

ISSN 0790-2026

03/02/2016 14:28

45 MAGAZINE TITLES ▲ 10 EVENTS ▲ 3.6 MILLION REACH

DID YOU KNOW

Ashville Media Group is Ireland’s largest publishing and events company.

You’ve almost certainly read our magazines or attended our events.

Our mission is to connect your brand with the largest audience in Ireland.

(01) 432 2200 ▲ info@ashvillemediagroup.com

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03/02/2016 15:23

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TEN TOP STORIES

Printers Produce Proclamation Replica Series The National Print Museum (NPM) is producing a 1916 Proclamation replica series as part of its commemorative activities in 2016. The museum is home to one of the last surviving Wharfedale stop cylinder presses, the type of machine used to print the original Proclamation. The NPM was awarded funding under The Heritage Council’s Commemorative Grant for the commissioning of a Preventative Conservation Report and Smurfit Kappa Group subsequently sponsored the production of the rollers. A small group of active retired printers and members of the museum’s chapel, including Alf McCormack, Billy Ryan and Freddie Snowe, have since been working tirelessly on restoring the machine to full working order. The printers are currently working on the plate and intend to produce the letterpress replicas over the coming weeks. There will be an unlimited edition for sale from the museum’s gift shop and then an exclusive, limited edition will become available. The latter is due to be printed on the 100th anniversary date of the printing of the original Proclamation. Parties interested in purchasing same can contact carlamarrinan@nationalprintmuseum.ie Visit the National Print Museum for a guided tour of the permanent exhibition, incorporating the Wharfedale Stop Cylinder Press and an original copy of the Proclamation. Also, keep an eye on the website for further details of their commemorative activities, including plans for an exhibition exploring the roles of printers active in 1916 and the central role of printed media in shaping the image and meaning of the 1916 Rising. Visit www.nationalprintmuseum.ie

TOP: Freddie Snowe (left) with Alf McCormack at the National Print Museum.

RIGHT: Wharfdale cylinder press.

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03/02/2016 14:31

TEN TOP STORIES SMC Advocates Partnership Approach for Printers The partnership approach to the delivery of print services has been working well for SMC Print & Design but Managing Director Steve McCarthy says that, while business has picked up, it is difficult to get excited about growth because of competition from unscrupulous printers who still continue to sell below market cost. In addition, he says that competition from print suppliers in Northern Ireland is still a “big problem” for the industry and will continue to put pressure on the bottom line. However, despite the challenges in the market, SMC is continuing to thrive and the company has been busy adding new equipment in recent months. “We installed a Komfi laminator supplied by Neopost Ireland six months ago,” says Steve. “We noticed that runs lengths were getting smaller and lamination requests were increasing. We provide a direct trade service for our partners so they need all aspects of the job to be produced under the one roof. After a couple of hours training we were up and running with the Komfi machine and Neopost were very accommodating in relation to our training requirements. The laminator’s compact footprint was also important to us but the big draw was its proven technology – it laminates all of our digital jobs and make ready is exceptionally quick. SMC purchased a Duplo 5000 booklet maker a few years ago and, to our surprise, it is still performing exceptionally well after nearly four million clicks.” Apart from the new laminator, SMC has also installed a Heidelberg cylinder to complement their finishing line. “Along with a specialist greeting card Longford folding machine, we run a double day shift in our factory on both the litho and finishing side, so we are now covered with laminating on demand should we be required to supply the service overnight.” Steve says that the company’s recent successes are due in part to its partnerships with other printers. “We joined forces with other printers who have the common goal of utilising the same equipment and sharing the overheads and this has been working very well,” he says. “We will look at further developing this business model throughout 2016. There is a more positive attitude in the market place but, as printers, we have to continue to be inventive in the way we do business. The former Print & Packaging Forum Director Gerry Andrews stated in Irish Printer magazine a number of years ago that the way forward for certain printers was to pool resources to secure business and remain competitive. I couldn’t agree more.”

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First Printers of Ireland Golf Classic Anyone for golf? Expert golf outing organisers, who also happen to be one of Ireland’s foremost paper companies, Graphic & Paper Merchants Ireland, are hosting a unique event this year.

Palmerstown Stud Golf Club in Naas, Co Kildare, is the venue for the first ‘Printers of Ireland’ Golf Classic and Customer Appreciation Event. The four person team scramble event will take place on Saturday, May 28th, at the Osprey Hotel & Spa in Naas and tee times are between 1pm and 3pm. So if you fancy a spot of golf or would like an opportunity to socialise and network with your fellow print industry professionals, why not join GPMI for the day or for the post-event dinner and night out. All golfers and non-golfers are welcome to attend. If you wish to participate, please register with your GPMI sales representative.

For further details on the venue, visit www.palmerstownhouse.ie

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TEN TOP STORIES

An Appreciation: Resa Kelly RIP Graphic Explorations in Print

The National Print Museum is hosting an exhibition entitled ‘Graphic Explorations in Print’ which opened on December 10th 2015 and runs until February. The exhibition shows the work produced by graphic design students at Distillers Press from 1983 until the present day. Curated by Seán Sills, custodian of the press during that period, the exhibition encompasses posters, books and a collection of ephemera. Graphic Explorations is organised by the National Print Museum and has been made possible by the support of Irish Design 2015. Distillers Press, previously known as the Graphic Print Workshop, had its origin at the National College of Art and Design’s original location on Kildare Street. In the 1980s, when the college moved to its new campus on Thomas Street, the then Head of the Department of Visual Communications, Bill Bolger, expanded this facility and Seán Sills was appointed custodian of the press. The expansion included a large Mailander offset proofing press, which was capable of printing up to AO in size, a letterpress proofing press, and a large collection of type (approximately 280 cases of metal type and 110 cases of wooden type) in a wide variety of fonts. The facility began to be known as the Distillers Press in the late 1990s due to the college campus location in the old Power’s Whiskey Distillery. The Press is unique in being the only operational letterpress print facility used on a daily basis in third level design education in Ireland. Students use it for creative projects and also as a teaching tool to introduce the fundamentals of typography and print. Ireland’s first practice-based Masters degree in the visual arts was undertaken at the Press in 1986. Samples of this work can be viewed in the exhibition.

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Resa Kelly, a well-known and much loved and respected member of the Irish print community, passed away on November 11th following a long and hard battle with illness. As Director of Graphic Arts Ltd from 1994, a sister company to her husband Kevin’s print finishing business, she provided a wide range of specialist design, prototyping and finishing services to a variety of companies, but particularly to the blue chip pharmaceutical sector.

Established in 1969, Graphic Arts was a manufacturer of magnesium foiling and embossing dies. Resa was a great innovator and business woman who made Graphic Arts the dynamic and growing company that it is today.

Over the years, its portfolio of services expanded and included foil blocks, CNC engineering, packaging design, and 3D imaging and prototyping, as well as t-shirt design. Using both photoengraving and CNC methods, Graphic Arts also manufactured polymer counter sink plates for embossing. When I took over as editor of Irish Printer back in 2010 Resa was only too happy to share her knowledge with me. I was one of many people, including work colleagues, customers and print professionals, who benefited from her expertise and experience in the trade. Resa’s professionalism, generosity of spirit and good humour will be greatly missed.

03/02/2016 14:33

TEN TOP STORIES

Canon is Quick Print Poster Boy at Masterphoto Masterphoto Digital, based in Ballsbridge in Dublin, needed to introduce a new printing system for a client who wanted supermarket posters printed to a tight deadline. The customer also wanted to ensure that they could contact both the hardware provider and manufacturer at a local level to ensure that they could provide a direct service on demand. With this in mind, Masterphoto decided to purchase Canon’s leading poster printer, the Océ ColorWave 650.

Not only was the Océ ColorWave 650 successful in completing the poster requirements for the supermarket to a top level standard within the tight deadlines, the printing time for this job was reduced from 64 hours to 14 hours, exceeding all previous printing systems. The new system also enabled them to cut down on unnecessary labour costs - the Océ ColorWave 650 carries six rolls, which means the printing could be left unattended. Another benefit was the facility to cost jobs accurately, as this system is based on a set price per metre squared, inclusive of toner, parts and labour. Canon also replaced Materphoto’s current flatbed with the roll-to-roll Océ Arizona 660GTl. “The installation of both the Océ ColorWave 650 and the Océ Arizona 660GT flatbed has solidified Masterphoto’s position as the leading print and design provider in the market,” says Managing Director Barry Delves.

“The new systems have allowed us to take on new business and diversify our products and services to give us a competitive advantage. Canon’s expert team of technicians, along with the versatility and productivity of the system, has had a positive impact on the business. Not only has the morale within Masterphoto improved since the Canon installations, there has also been a significant impact on our bottom line. Masterphoto’s turnaround for bigger jobs has been significantly reduced. And the labour saving costs have also been significant as the Océ ColorWave 650 Poster Printer does the job of five or six people. Masterphoto can now take on more jobs with the knowledge and confidence that they will have the backup from the Canon team, should the need for support or maintenance arise.”

Neopost to Create 100 Jobs at Citywest Neopost Ireland will hire 100 new employees over the next two years and is looking to fill roles in management, finance, IT, telesales and administration.

Neopost’s €15m investment comes on the back of a new joint venture with French mail services company Esker. This will see Neopost – which is a French-headquartered company – establish Irish-based Neotouch Cloud Solutions Ltd. Already employing 59 people across its two operations in Ireland, the 100 new employees will help manage 300,000 active customers in 13 European countries, including Ireland.

While many of the roles will be aimed at English speakers, candidates with French, Italian and German are also sought.

“Dublin will be a very important site for us in our global operations and this announcement is a sign of our belief in Ireland as a great place to do business and to find some of the best talent in Europe,” says Clem Garvey, Neopost’s COO for Europe, APAC. “Neopost’s European operations are expanding and changing constantly and we require a skilled workforce to support those activities.”

(l-r): Donnan Cullen, Canon, Gerry Kavanagh and Colm Daly, Masterphoto Digital, Philip Brady, Managing Director of Canon Ireland, and John Molloy and Ryan Daly of Masterphoto Digital.

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TEN TOP STORIES

Eddie Gilkinson with the Konica Minolta bizhubPro C1060L.

Click Cost Clinches the Deal for ES Print MJ Flood installed a Konica Minolta bizhubPro C1060L with large capacity tray, booklet finisher, and fiery RIP at Co Tyronebased ES Print in October, replacing an aging Xerox DC250. Having built up a strong relationship with Xerox over a 12-year period, making the move to Konica Minolta was not an easy decision for Managing Director Eddie Gilkinson to make. “However, I thought it was time to try something new and, if Konica Minolta lives up to the the service and commitment that Xerox have given us, then we will be extremely happy,” he says. A number of factors, including the click cost, influenced ES Print’s decision to change.

“There were three critical issues – service, a next day supply of toners, and the click cost,” he says. “Service is vital when you are depending on your machine to keep going so the speed that the engineers could get to me to address any issues that might arise was very important. Having a next day supply of toners is also critical because some jobs are supplied with heavy solids etc. so you don’t want to be restricted. And the click cost, the guarantee of a fixed click copy through the service of the machine, was one of the points which helped me to make the decision to move. Also, the build quality of the machine was impressive. I had asked many printers with similar machines what they thought and they gave me the confidence to invest. The machine is called the Pro1060L with advanced registration and it lives up to its description in that respect. Being able to print 300gsm in duplex mode has been the biggest game changer for us in terms of speed. Also, the air assisted paper tray is a big help, allowing us to run different types of stock, be it coated,

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gloss or satin paper.” MJ Flood’s Production Print Manager Phil Schueler first spoke to Eddie a few years ago after installing another machine at Sparks in Colour, a customer that Eddie knew who was located near his shop.

“Eddie and I immediately hit it off and kept in touch fairly regularly although he wasn’t quite ready to make the leap,” says Phil.

“Then last year Eddie made the trip down to Dublin to test out one of our colour systems in our Dublin showroom. I think he was very impressed with the quality and paper handling capabilities and decided to move forward with our solution shortly after that visit. We are delighted to have ES Print as a customer.

Eddie is very knowledgeable about the print industry and we are excited about this new partnership.” Eddie believes that growth is returning slowly but steadily to the Irish print market. “Having the ability to offer the customer more in-house is very important,” he says. “You can print a quick two-sided flyer but you have to sell your other products - a roll banner is a great way of getting that extra bit of profit from the same job. But the really good news is that print is back. Why? Because peoples’ heads are fried with the amount of data being fired at them via their mobile phones and home PCs. They simply forget.

But if you get a simple two-sided postcard through your letterbox, with details of, say, weekend breaks in Dublin or Belfast, you will sit down and read it. People are re-discovering the benefits of the original and best form of communication!”

03/02/2016 14:35

TEN TOP STORIES

(l-r): Paul Towler, MPS Manager, Don Mullins, Senior Account Manager, Michael Galvin, Director of National Business Machines, and David Taylor, Senior Account Manager.

Irish Partner Celebrates 45% Business Growth with Xerox Three Ireland Appoints Delta as Digital & Print Partner Delta Ireland, the Dublin-based arm of The Delta Group, announced on January 20th that it has been appointed as a digital and print services provider by Three Ireland.

Delta, which has held a relationship with Three Ireland for nearly six years, has now won a wider share of the business and secured a three-year contract. This comes after the mobile provider acquired O2 Ireland in July 2014 and undertook a review of suppliers across the business.

Delta Ireland will be primarily focused on providing lithographic, digital and general brand print services, including print for all retail POS and fit-out projects. With almost 70 retail stores in Ireland, Three Ireland is now the largest mobile operator in the country. Delta Ireland beat off competition from a number of other businesses who were invited to pitch.

“Our relationship with Three Ireland has gone from strength to strength since we began working together nearly six years ago,” says Delta Ireland Managing Director Peter Mahon. “We know the business and, most importantly, we understand their requirements. We are delighted to have the opportunity to help Three Ireland bolster their position as the largest mobile operator in Ireland even further over the next three years and beyond.”

The appointment comes on the back of The Delta Group winning the Large Format Digital Printer of the Year Award at the recent Irish Print Awards for the Three 2014 Christmas campaign.

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Xerox’s longest standing and biggest Irish partner, National Business Machines (NBM Ltd), celebrated a significant 30-year milestone in December. The company is reporting a 45% growth in their business in Ireland and overseas over the past five years, as well as plans for further expansion over the next two years. NBM, a print management company and provider of business machines headquartered at the South Link Business Park in Cork, was one of the first Xerox Partners to be established in Europe in 1985. The company has grown to be a Xerox Premier Partner and the largest Irish concessionaire over the past 30 years, with offices in Cork, Waterford and Limerick. Their product portfolio ranges from small desktop and multi-function printers to large production print equipment and software packages. “NBM has not only survived two major recessions, but we have achieved 45% growth in a period of serious decline in the economy,” says Managing Director and one of the founding partners of National Business Machines, Michael Galvin. “Instead of downsizing like our competitors, we have increased and upskilled our workforce over the past five years and invested heavily in state-of-the-art premises, smart new technologies, and marketing, while expanding our product offering.

One of the biggest growth areas for the company over this period has been our expansion into Managed Print Services (MPS). This service has helped NBM to branch out internationally and we currently manage print for corporations in 14 different countries, as well as being a market leader in Ireland. We are now looking at new growth opportunities, including expansion opportunities, and we plan to increase our work force by 20% over the next two years.” High profile clients in Cork include Vmware, FMC, Flextronics, Quintas, and PM Group, Waterpark College, Kenny Stephens & Chapman, Store-all, Waterford Credit, and Liebherr Union in Waterford, VoxPro, PJ Hegarty, Hovione, Christ the King School and The Malton Hotel in Cork/Kerry and AerCap, Limerick Post, Thomond Park, and Daughters of Charity Lisnagry in Limerick. They also cater for SMEs such as local credit unions, schools, solicitors and offices, and provide digital print and finishing services to commercial printers.

In 1985, having spent five years working in sales for what was then Rank Xerox, Michael Galvin set up NBM with fellow directors Pat Tierney and Pat O’Regan, selling Xerox equipment and initially covering counties Cork and Kerry. As the business developed, Xerox extended the territory to include Limerick and Clare. In the last three years Xerox reorganised all of its operations into one entity comprising over 300 staff, making them the largest company in Ireland providing document and management solutions.

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INNOVATION

MAKE A DATE WITH RICOH IN 2016

R

Press manufacturers are continuing to introduce service innovations to ensure that printers are up to speed with the latest print technology. One example is Ricoh’s expanded Customer Experience Centre (CEC), which sounds like it is definitely worth a visit by Irish printers when it opens in Summer 2016.

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icoh Europe announced its plans for a new executive reception and briefing centre on December 10th as part of its European Centre of Excellence for production printing, the Customer Experience Centre (CEC) in Telford, UK. In its first year, Ricoh’s Customer Experience Centre hosted several product launches, as well as many hundreds of visitors who came for demonstrations and executive briefings, and events for dealers, publishers and industry associations. This print production centre of excellence features integrated solutions from Ricoh and its partners. It was established to enable leaders from the graphic arts sectors to see a variety of end-to-end workflows and production processes first-hand as they might exist in their own production environment.

“After opening the facility, we soon realised we would have to expand our meeting and presentation facilities to meet the growing demand for visits to Telford from senior figures within our industry,” says Stephen Palmer, Production Print Director, Ricoh UK and Ireland. Kingswood iOptus, a printing and legal document services firm located in the City of London, visited the CEC. They found that the opportunity to test the Pro C9110 colour cut sheet system within a working print factory environment, before making

a decision to invest, extremely useful. German print production and marketing services company Service & Print Group Haberbeck also visited the centre. In addition to live impressions of new Ricoh production systems, discussions on software and professional services to establish an all-encompassing production and cross-media workflow, they were shown examples of Avanti Slingshot and Clickable Paper, and their visit was rounded off with insights into future business areas such as 3D printing. During its first year, thousands of print samples have been produced at the CEC for continuous feed clients on both the Ricoh Infoprint 5000 and the Ricoh Pro VC60000, as well as wide format and cut sheet samples. A highlight of the year was the progress made by Ricoh’s European Media Qualification Programme. Adding to an already comprehensive list of qualified media, testing of hundreds of different types of media has been completed, and Ricoh is also beginning to apply its experience in high speed ink jet technology to continuous feed media qualification. The CEC also showcases Ricoh’s specialist inkjet development laboratory and enables the continual assessment of its solutions portfolio. And there have been investments in Techkon’s SpectroDens spectro-densitometer, Colour Think Pro’s specialist colour management software, and Bodoni’s PressSIGN Pro V7 colour verification tool. The next step is for the centre to become ISO12647 certified for the colour management standard. Since the opening, Ricoh’s Lean & Green Manufacturing Consultancy Services team has worked with various companies, including Ivor Solution, who re-engineered its business card process, creating additional value and prompting further Ricoh investment. Ricoh partners have also used the centre to jointly develop effective integration of solutions.

Among them was the beta testing for Kodak Prinergy and Heidelberg Prinect workflows for integration into the TotalFlow R60 and R60A print server.

03/02/2016 14:36

COVER STORY

INVEST IN A

SURE THING

FOR SIGNAGE PRINT

Daniel Rafferty, Channel Sales Manager with Epson Ireland, talks to Maev Martin about the company’s new SureColor range of signage printers, opportunities in the textile sector, and why there is still plenty of growth left in the Irish large format market.

Q: Epson launched its SureColor range of printers for the signage market four years ago. Why have they now decided to introduce a completely new range of SureColor models for the Irish and UK markets?

A: The SureColor SC-S40600, SC-S60600 and SC-S80600 models are a completely new range of 64-inch wideformat ink printers for signage and display graphics.

They replace the SureColor SC-S30600, SC-S50600 and SC-S70600 respectively, which were launched four years ago. Since then we have been listening to our customers’ extensive feedback and set about developing a new range

based on their requirements. Virtually every part of the new printer range is new, including brand new ink chemistry, and the overall result is a class-leading series of printers that are loaded with Epson’s advanced engineering to deliver the ultimate in accuracy, quality and productivity. We believe they lead the market in offering the very best combination of quality, speed and price, and bring together the best of Epson’s knowledge and expertise in one range.

The SureColor SC-S80600 replaces the SC-S70600 and will be available to buy from March 2016.

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COVER STORY

Q:

You brought Irish resellers to see the new models in the UK on January 14th. What reaction did you get?

A: Our Irish resellers were very impressed with the print quality and speeds of the new machine.

They really believe that we will be a very serious competitor in the market. They mentioned that the lower running costs coupled with the inclusion of the RIP in the box gives them a really strong proposition to offer to their customers. One of our resellers actually took an order from one of their customers 10 minutes after the launch!

...we are committed to the Irish market. By the end of the year we will have over 33 professional production printers with dedicated Epson inks for the label & packaging, sign & display, production photo, and textile markets. Our strategy is simple but very ambitious.

Q:

Will you be organising a viewing event for Epson’s existing large format customers in Ireland?

A: We are currently looking at dates and venues where we can run an event for Irish customers to see the machines because we strongly believe that seeing is believing when it comes to these new printers.

We are hoping to announce some events around the country in the coming weeks and months.

Q:

What are the main selling points of the new SureColor signage range?

A: The new range delivers the best possible print quality at the highest possible print speeds, in conjunction with substantially reduced maintenance and improved reliability. The range is much easier to operate and, critically, offers a significantly lower ‘total cost of ownership’ when it is compared to existing models and other brands.

Q:

Infinity2 in Limerick and Irish Print Support in Dublin have the exclusive contract to supply the SureColor range in Ireland. Now that the economy is improving, will Epson be looking at taking on new dealers in Ireland to cope with demand?

A:

We have identified two partners that really know their customers and give us a great insight into the Irish market. They have shown us that they have the capacity to grow in line with our business model.

We prefer to work with a select number of partners who can offer our customers a premium level of service and knowledge support. We plan to only work with those reseller partners who can deliver the excellent levelzof sales support and back up that Epson customers have come to expect.

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Q:

Does Epson still regard the large format market in Ireland as a growth market over the next few years?

A:

Yes, absolutely! We have some ambitious plans for this year and I think the rate at which we are launching new products proves that we are committed to the Irish market. By the end of the year we will have over 33 professional production printers with dedicated Epson inks for the label & packaging, sign & display, production photo, and textile markets.

Our strategy is simple but very ambitious. We want to provide the market with the best combination of printer and ink technology to deliver high quality, superb reliability, and the best all round return on investment for the broadest range of professional print applications.

Q:

Has Epson identified specific areas of the large format print sector that will provide the most growth opportunities?

A: While all sectors of the outdoor graphics market continue to offer growth potential, the most rapidly expanding area of opportunity is in POS, interior décor and wallpapers, in particular. With this new range, Epson can help print providers produce a wider array of high quality graphics than is possible on any other printer.

Q:

In your experience, is funding for capital equipment purchases more readily available to printers in Ireland now than it has been in recent years?

A:

If you look at some of the new measures that gives the Central Bank the power to reduce the amount of lending banks do and, if it feels a credit-fuelled bubble is building in the economy again, it is clear that the availability of capital funding is becoming more easily available. While the banks have to be careful, in my opinion this better availability of funding is one of the key factors that has Ireland being touted as the fastest growing economy in the Eurozone for 2016. This better availability of funding allows printers to start investing in growing their business again over the coming years.

03/02/2016 14:40

COVER STORY

The SureColor SC-S60600 and SC-S40600 replace the SC-S50600 and SC-S30600 models respectively and are available immediately.

Q:

What is Epson’s target in terms of sales and turnover in Ireland for 2016?

A:

Epson sells a varied range of wide format printers to the Irish market and we have about 45% market share in total. With the introduction of this new range, we are looking to significantly improve and build on our position in the eco solvent market over the next 18 months. By the end of 2017 we are aiming to achieve a market share in the eco solvent area of around 45%.

Q:

Back in 2013, you said that Epson’s aim was to have 45% of the large format market, excluding latex technology, by 2015 and to be the number one signage printer vendor in Europe. Have you achieved that goal?

A: Epson has around 45% of the total aqueous

Q:

You also said that you were investigating latex technology and UV ink technology for flatbed printers. Has Epson made any progress in developing products for these markets?

A:

Epson has a latex-based ink system in its SurePress L-4033 industrial label printer and recently launched the SurePress L-6034 industrial label printer running with UV cured ink.

Developments continue, with the aim of bringing these ink sets to the signage market.

Q: Back in 2013, Epson was looking at launching a Print and Save initiative, which involved supplying a leasing agreement in co-operation with a leasing company where the printer buys a device and a package, and Epson charges them for what they plan to print. What is the status of Print and Save for the large format sector?

A: Yes, that’s correct! We did launch ‘Print and Save’ in 2013 for the large format market.

This gives businesses the opportunity to cut their current printing costs. Its a three-year contract which includes a resource of pre-determined printing supplies for the duration of the contract, access to a dedicated web portal to request supplies with free shipping, and full on-site warranty for three years, all at a fixed monthly fee. The programme has been very successful, with customers enjoying the benefits of reduced running costs and easy budgeting.

print market but we’ve not quite reached this level yet in the signage market. We are targeting the number one spot and we are confident that this new range will help us to realise these ambitions by the end of 2017.

Q: Epson launched its SureColor SC-F6000 and SC-F7000 textile printers at Sign & Digital UK 2013. At the time you said that Epson had experienced massive interest in textile printing in the Irish market. Is that still the case and what level of success have you enjoyed with these textile printers since their launch in 2013?

Epson’s Partners in Ireland

To find out more visit www.epson.ie/signbyepson or call one of the Epson resellers listed below.

A:

We still see a great deal of interest from the Irish market which we intend to build on further with the introduction of our HDK High Density Black inks and new textile models such as the SureColor SC-F6200, SC-F7200 and SCF9200. These help manufacturers to produce high-quality, mass-production textiles quickly and consistently, while keeping costs low. They also offer the flexibility to sublimate onto a range of hard substrates, which makes them ideal for companies producing promotional goods such as mugs, phone and tablet covers.

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Tel: 0906 628929 www.ipsolutions.ie

Tel: 061 43 99 58 www.infinity2.ie

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'CINDERELLA' TECHNOLOGY COMES INTO ITS OWN

The latest finishing technologies can not only ease production bottlenecks but actually generate new business opportunities.

Cary Sherburne reveals why printers should be making a beeline for drupa 2016’s post-press halls in June.

Cary Sherburne

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F

or many companies, there are still significant opportunities for improving throughput and productivity, as well as reducing costs, in their post-press departments.

All segments of the market are facing similar challenges - shorter run lengths and faster time to market, as well as more versioned and variable content. While each segment has slightly different challenges, they are all facing this trifecta and, as a result, are moving to an increasingly digital workflow. While significant focus has been placed on the benefits of digital printing, the analogue technologies – offset and flexo, most notably – are also moving to workflows that benefit from faster make-ready times, less waste and fewer touch

points in the manufacturing process. As Alon Gershon, Manager of Workflow Solutions at HP Indigo, points out, finishing processes – both set-up and operation – are often still highly time-consuming and labourintensive. The challenge for printers and packaging converters is to implement post-press operations that circumvent these barriers to production efficiency.

Already, prepress and print have benefited from technologies that speed work through the production process but, for many companies, post-press processes are still a bottleneck, perhaps the last hold-out in the analogue-to-digital transformation. “Many customers are still primarily focusing on investment in the prepress and press areas and less on finishing - this is a challenge we face,” says Yoshihiro Oe, General Manager Export, Europe and Africa Business Alliance at Horizon. “However, I believe that is rapidly changing and that we will see many advances at drupa 2016 toward making post-press processes as efficient as the rest of the production workflow, as well as a stronger interest in these developments on the part of end users.”

Begin With The End in Mind

How a job will be finished must be taken into consideration from the very beginning of the design and production process. Impositions that are most efficient for the printed sheet may not be the same impositions that are efficient in post-press, as each piece of finishing equipment requires a unique imposition; and these two efficiencies must be well balanced for a smooth workflow with minimal waste. And automation is key. For many companies, there is already significant automation in the prepress-to-print process but less in the bindery end. Manual machine set-up can be time consuming and error prone, often requiring highly skilled workers and production of ‘overs’ to allow for anticipated waste. The more that machine setup can be automated based on job ticketing information, bar codes, marks and the like, the less likely it is that errors will occur. Also, the number of overs required can often be significantly reduced, and less skilled workers can be utilised in the post-press area.

“You don’t want to be a commodity printer these days, even in short run, and value-added post-press solutions are a good way to move out of the commodity zone,” says Jerry Sturnick, Xerox Finishing Business Manager. “We are seeing that about one-third of digital page volume is finished inline with the other two-

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thirds offline,” he says. “That’s why we introduced a dual mode feeder at drupa 2012 that uses the same Digital Finishing Architecture interface to direct sheets to inline or offline finishing with no change in software required.” Xerox is extending its finishing partnerships and automation initiatives beyond its traditional sheetfed environment into production inkjet and packaging.”

Another great example of workflow automation at work post-press is Georgia (US) based Benson Integrated Marketing Solutions which processes 200+ jobs per day. “Saving three to five minutes per job on cutting set-up adds up to two or three hours per day saved in cutting time,” says Peter Xierten, Director of Systems and Information Technology. “We now have one operator working one shift (since implementing a finishing automation solution from HP), whereas before we needed two cutters working all day, two shifts and overtime.”

Modularity Increases Flexibility

It is also important to note that many finishing vendors, especially in the transactional, direct mail and commercial print spaces, including MBO, Muller Martini and Horizon, offer modular finishing solutions that can be configured on the fly as production needs change. This approach results in more flexibility and better ROI for post-press investments. MBO is a great example of modularity at work. The company offers a wide variety of separate but compatible modules that are mobile and interchangeable, creating a mix-and-match finishing department. The company also describes a ‘Parking Lot Concept,’ with an unwinder and sheeter at its core. “With this core in place a printer needs only to purchase the modules necessary for a given job,” says Lance Martin, MBO’s Director of Sales, North America. “It is also an ideal model for printers who expect growth, since adding modules to the Parking Lot is more cost effective than purchasing entirely new solutions. With numerous modules on hand, a printer only needs to roll modules into place to create one-step finishing production systems.”

Masters of Mail

Direct mail is not going away anytime soon. And while transactional mail has been on the decline in many regions for some time, we don’t see that going away anytime soon, either. Despite all the hype surrounding digital marketing – and the investments brands are making in digital media – even among younger consumers 92% say they prefer direct mail for making purchasing decisions, with 67% of consumers overall expressing this preference. And, according to a Pitney Bowes survey, 76% of small businesses say their ideal marketing strategy encompasses a combination of both print and digital communication. In the direct mail segment, automation is key, both from a cost perspective and to prevent errors. In addition to automated inserter setup, look for inspection and real-time reporting systems, such as those from Ironsides Technology, Videk and others, to play a growing role. Both transaction and direct mail have already seen significant automation but there is room for more. A good role model is UK-based Capita Document & Information Services who has implemented a fully automated, asnear-lights-out-as-you-can-get mail operation. Capita chose to work with Ironsides Technology to implement automated production tracking with an umbrella solution that integrates the end-to-end workflow across the production platform, as well as enabling quality control and real-time reporting. This unifying solution enabled Capita to meet its goal of complete traceability, from composition through final preparation, for entry into the mail stream. And operators rarely touch mail packets, even when reprints are required. Operations managers know exactly where each and every page is in the production process at a given point in time, enabling much more effective management of the overall production process.

High Value Finishing

Regardless of the print technology being used, there are a growing number of digital finishing solutions that add value to the final printed product, along

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with reduced time to market, reduced waste and cost-effective finishing of short to medium runs. And their value is being recognised by buyers and industry associations alike. High value finishing is one way to decommoditise print, mitigating price-based buying decisions.

Israel-based Highcon was recently named a recipient of the prestigious Printing Industries of America 2015 InterTech Award for Technology Innovation for its digital cutting, creasing and laser die cutting machine for converting paper, labels, folding carton and microflute. Boutwell Owens was the first North American packaging converter to implement the Highcon solution, which was introduced at drupa 2012. In addition to enabling cost effective production of small runs and speeding time to market, these types of digital solutions open new doors for brand owners, designers, printers and converters alike. Other suppliers that offer digitally-enabled high value finishing solutions include the Scodix family of digital enhancement presses, which offer post-print addition of variable density embossing and gloss and, now digital foiling, and MGI’s coating and foiling options. Others like Kama, Therm-o-Type, Hunkeler and Standard Finishing, offer die cutting and perforating solutions optimised for short runs. Kama also offers hot foil, embossing, and in-register holograms for even more added value.

Digital press manufacturers such as Canon, EFI, HP Indigo, Kodak, Ricoh, Xeikon and Xerox are partnering with these post-press suppliers to offer inline and near-line laser die cutting, coating and other advanced post-press capabilities designed for short-run and one-off efficiencies, as well as medium run length production quantities. In addition, digital presses from these companies also offer clear toners that act as a coating agent, as well as adding ‘pop’ to images. All of these capabilities contribute to the overall value of print, adding to the look and feel of printed pieces with gloss, satin or matte finishes, digital embossing, innovative cutting, foiling, and other special effects. Where print itself can often be a commodity, adding these types of

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speciality finishing increases the value of print, does a better job of catching the attention of recipients, and can help marketers get their messages out in a way that it is difficult to do with digital communications. Look for these suppliers and many others at drupa 2016 who will be showing advanced high value finishing that is optimised to meet emerging market requirements - and expect to see more innovation than ever before in this area.

Packaging Perfection

Packaging converters are also benefiting from digital workflows. The digital die cutting and finishing techniques discussed above, combined with digital printing, are making it easier for converters to offer not only small lot finished packages but also faster, more cost effective mock-ups and samples. These are often produced using the same substrates and printing processes that will be used for the final product. There are also a growing number of cutting tables from vendors such as Esko, Mimaki and Zund that are designed to quickly deliver shorter runs of finished goods for use as final product or for samples/mock-ups in the packaging, commercial print and sign/display graphics markets. These companies also offer sophisticated software, such as Esko’s i-Cut Suite, as well as tool sets that speed set-up and make these devices easier and more efficient to use.

Some packaging solutions providers such as Bobst are turning their attention to increased efficiency and reduced make-ready times for labels, flexible materials, folding carton and corrugated applications, as well as the ability to integrate with other systems that converters have in place. Bobst’s recent acquisition of a majority stake in Nuova GIDUE, a company that began introducing digitally-enabled solutions for the labels and packaging market in 2000, sends a signal about its future intent. Expect to see this trend continue and accelerate. You will see these companies move upstream as well. For example, the 2014 Bobst annual report contains this statement that provides additional insight into future strategies: “On the Digital Packaging Solutions side, in 2015 we will be installing pre series machines for digital printing at corrugated board sites.”

And look for press manufacturers to move further downstream in the production process. Heidelberg, for example, engineered an outsourcing deal with Chinese manufacturer Masterwork Machinery in 2014, resulting in a new die cutter and additions to its folder-gluer line in the same year.

and others offer automated digital-conventional-hybrid book finishing lines that can be configured to meet each plant’s specific manufacturing needs, efficiently producing both perfect bound and case bound books.

Israeli book printing company Cordoba added the Hunkeler modular book block solution to its Kodak production inkjet press earlier this year in a nearline configuration. This was to address decreasing run lengths as a result of changes in the law in Israel that prevent heavy discounting that was a standard practice in the country. The installation was timely, as the company has seen a 60% to 70% reduction in volume for black and white book printing, making it inefficient for some titles to be produced using offset printing.

Wrapping It Up

If post-press is a bottleneck in your organisation, or if you are considering the purchase of new presses, begin with the end in mind. Be sure to engage post-press vendors throughout the evaluation process to take advantage of their expertise and to make sure that your ultimate configuration is the best possible match to your requirements. Most of these suppliers offer pre-sale consulting services that can help ensure that you make the right decisions in this important area. Keep in mind that in post-press, it is especially important to ensure flexibility in your configuration – the ability to add and subtract modules, reconfigure on the fly and more – especially as new customer requirements emerge or new technologies come to market that can improve post-press productivity. And at drupa 2016 it is worth spending quality time looking at all of the advances in post-press that can make your operation more efficient and effective.

FINISHING BELOW: A growing number of digital finishing solutions are adding value to the final printed product. RIGHT: Horizon’s StitchLiner 6000 Digital is a high-speed saddle stitcher designed to work with flat sheets for short run booklet production.

Books and Beyond

Book printing is an area where digital has made a significant impact, with respect to both printing and finishing. Many book printers have implemented production inkjet printing technology that is replacing offset volumes, especially as the quality of these systems improves and the range of functional substrates increases.

Digital lines for book binding have also made huge strides.

For example, earlier this year at Hunkeler Innovationdays, Hunkeler unveiled its smart book solution for short run book production. It starts with cold glue pre-gluing of the book block to prevent slippage as the block proceeds through the rest of the binding process. Book sizes are dynamically adjusted so that each book that comes off the line can be a different size and thickness. Glued book blocks are then handed off to an inline perfect binder, which can be sourced from a variety of different manufacturers. This is just one example of the advanced binding solutions now available to book printers. Another is Horizon’s stacking solution for B2 digital presses which converts digitally printed B2 sheets into any required sheet size down to A6, collating them in page order to form book blocks, resulting in print to book block with minimal touch points. MBO also offers a fully variable book block production solution capable of variable format, page count, signatures and more. And Horizon, Kolbus

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BELOW: Packaging converters are benefiting from digital workflows.

RIGHT: Cutting tables from vendors such as Esko are designed to quickly deliver shorter runs of finished goods for use as final product or for samples.

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edited_Quarter page ad.pdf

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UNIT TO LET with SHARED SERVICES with “similar” businesses!

Would suit Small/Medium Sized Printer, Computer to Plate (CTP) Company, Print-Originator l Facilities available include: Muller Machine, Guillotine, Finishing Facilities, Fork-Lift. l Secure set-up includes floor space, office space, roller-shutter and pedestrian access, customer and staff parking. l Two potential new business accounts ‘in-house’ for CTP company!

Location: Baldoyle Ind. Estate, Dublin 13.

Press Engineer available.

The Role: Based in Ireland, the Press Engineer is responsible for providing first class onsite engineering support through strong diagnosis and repair skills, as well as

Skills and Knowledge: Experience of working with the Heidelberg range of

Have you a new years resolution?

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If you’ve answered “YES” to any of the above and are interested in driving your business forward in a Unit with SHARED SERVICES with a similar business, please contact Linda on 086-1012537 to discuss or email linda@irishbroker.ie 237607_4C_Holyrood Publications_ALS_IP.indd 1

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CAREERS AT DELTA PACKAGING LTD Delta Packaging Ltd is a long-established, yet progressive manufacturer of high volume printed folded carton packaging supplying customers across Great Britain and Western Europe. Our operations draw on a large and highly capable workforce engaged in the design, manufacture and logistics of sustainable printed cartons for global brand owners in the Retail Food, Food Service, FMCG, Healthcare and Household Goods sectors.

HR MANAGER, HEIDELBERG GRAPHIC EQUIPMENT LIMITED, BRENTFORD, MIDDLESEX, TW8 0AA E-mail: uk.careers@heidelberg.com Closing date: 4th March 2016

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IS NOW BI-MONTHLY

WITH DEDICATED SECTIONS LITHO, DIGITAL , FINISHING, PACKAGING JAN/FEB 2016 || THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY || WWW.IRISH PRINTER.IE

Due to our continued expansion we are looking for enthusiastic individuals who work well with others, enjoy a challenge and have experience in a fast moving manufacturing environment:

LITHO PRINTERS

REF: PP/01/16

Ideally we require Qualified Seasoned Printers with at least 5 years recent experience preferably in Carton Manufacturing operating a 6 colour Litho press. You will be capable of producing high quality work with the ability to maximize the production efficiency of our high quality presses and associated colour management systems. Effective communication, material coordination and an eye for detail are pre-requisites in this prestigious position; you will be responsible to ensure that our customers’ demands for Quality Print are satisfied in a timely manner.

FOLDER GLUING OPERATOR

REF: FGO/01/16

Minimum of 3 Years’ experience in make ready, operating and maintaining Bobst and Jagenberg folding carton gluing machines.

All positions will be working on a Continental shift basis that will include weekend work and nights. As a leading company we are able to offer a highly competitive remuneration package to the successful candidates.

Please contact the Human Resources Department on (028) 90 628626 to request; or download from our website (www.deltapack.com) , an application form which must be returned by 16th January 2016 at 1300hrs to: Factory 10, Kennedy Way Industrial Estate, Blackstaff Road, Belfast BT11 9DT. Delta Print and Packaging Limited is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from suitably qualified candidates regardless of their religious affiliation, age, political opinion, gender, disability, race or sexual orientation.

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2016 SPECIAL FEATURES

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To discuss the options available to you, contact FIONA LARMON, Commercial Manager on 086 821 0203 or email fiona.larmon@ashvillemediagroup.com

EDITORIAL

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ADVANCED AUTOMATION

UPPING THE ANTE WITH

As Europe’s first smart binding system is installed in the UK, Irish Printer previews the new print finishing processes for digital and offset from Muller Martini, Palamides and MBO Digital.

ith its Finishing 4.0 concept, or ‘What Does the Future Hold for Finishing’ theme, Muller Martini will showcase the growth opportunities that connectivity offers the graphic arts industry at drupa 2016. Automated systems are state of the art at Muller Martini but productivity is further increased by interconnecting the various highly automated machines with all systems involved in the production process. Thanks to Muller Martini’s workflow solution, which is consistently based on JDF/JMF, the machines – from individual aggregates through to complex production lines – can already be seamlessly integrated today with existing customer networks via standard interfaces. The systems can be interconnected with the Management Information System (MIS) available at the graphic arts company, enabling the formation of production chains that are geared to efficiency in order to tap into

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new markets. At Muller Martini, the Connex data and workflow system is the backbone of digital and conventional print production. In the mailroom, Connex.Mailroom connects, for instance, all subprocesses, from the distribution software through to the ramp, and assists the cost-effective use of the equipment, whether it be the zoned processing of print products, the co-ordination of the feeder allocations, or the perfect bundle formation.

Connex.Mailroom also provides reliable production figures in real time for management by numbers.

The Diamant MC Digital bookline is another prime example of highly automated Muller Martini production processes. It can change itself over sequentially, i.e. section by section, and therefore lends itself to production runs of one, such as in the photo book segment, which is booming across the globe. Another example is the SigmaLine with its Connex Data and Process Management System - the only fully automated total solution for digital book production (PDF in – book out) worldwide. The fact that even political decisions (i.e. the minimum wage) are prompting automation is demonstrated by the MailLiner, a simple solution for insert sorting. The gathering system, which was newly-developed by Muller Martini in 2015, finishes inserts efficiently and automatically without the need for a carrier or foil, which spares direct mail companies high wage costs. “We’ll show visitors to our drupa booth that automation is machine reality for us, rather than just empty talk,” says Volker Leonhardt, Director of Sales and Marketing Muller Martini Print Finishing Systems AG. “Muller Martini will not only showcase innovative print finishing processes for digital and offset printing in Düsseldorf, but will also unveil new saddle stitcher and three-knife trimmer solutions. That will underline the fact that we’re fully committed to seamless automation in daily operation worldwide.”

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The Horizon Smart Binding System.

Enhancing Mail Delivery

Friedheim International’s Palamides has introduced a mail delivery system that lines up with any inserter and fully automates the pre-sorting and letter tray preparation processes. Called the Sima, the new delivery system checks for open flaps, non-readable addresses and IMB barcodes, and automatically rejects any letter that should not be delivered. Various reading systems are available for the Sima, from simple print-mark readers up to a serverbased OCR/IMB reading system connected to the digital front end. A patented collection unit safely stacks the envelopes individually – without contacting each other – thereby making twisting or interleaving almost impossible.

The envelope stack is quickly pressed before filling the letter trays in accordance with USPS regulations (DMM).

The exchange of letter trays occurs automatically, and the tray exchange unit can handle MM and EMM letter trays. A unique feature is its ability to intermix one and two foot letter trays depending on the pre-sorting need.

As an option, a postcode label printer can be integrated into the Sima, which applies a label to the letter tray.

The filled letter trays are temporarily stored on a large buffer section. The Sequence Repair System (SRS), which marks or separates mail that does not belong to the actual mail sequence, comes as standard on this machine. The Sima can instruct the operator on what to do with the marked or separated mail, thereby enabling a constant production speed, even when sequence problems appear.

Another Friedheim agency, MBO Digital has announced details of its new Unwinder – the UW500 – which can be placed either in-line, near-line or off-line. The Unwinder UW500 can handle web rolls up to 60 inches in diameter, web widths up to 20½ inches, and paper weights ranging from 50gm² up to 250gm². With a maximum production speed of 490 feet per minute, the UW500 can maintain a constant web tension and precise web alignment, regardless of the web speed or the roll diameter. All of these functions are controlled

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via the touch of a button, due to the new control system which meets all current ISO standards. Furthermore, its large diameter idler rollers minimise web curling. This is especially important when working with heavy paper stocks which have a tendency to curl around narrow idler rollers. For special applications, a de-curling device is available as an optional upgrade. The decurling device removes web curl for better paper handling and increases the quality of printing and finishing. An electronic paper lift reduces the risk of operator injury and speeds up the roll change process. Built-in sensors recognise splices and web breaks and stop the machine automatically. In the event of a web break, the operator can patch the web via the ergonomic splice table and lead the web through at low speeds until the spliced portion is removed from the production run. The UW500 Unwinder can also be used in tandem with the RW500 Rewinder as an unwind/rewind solution for digital web presses, and for job applications that require ultra-precise left-to-right rewind alignment.

European First For Smart Binding

UK book printer Bell & Bain recently installed Europe’s first Horizon Smart Binding System supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems. The move follows the addition of a Fujifilm JetPress 540W colour inkjet web press which has helped the company secure substantial growth in both digital and traditional offset printed books. Bell & Bain replaced an existing Muller Martini Sigma binding line with the Horizon Smart Binding System. “After first seeing the Horizon Smart Binding System at an exhibition earlier this year, I was completely blown away by the very high quality book binding being produced,” says Managing Director Stephen Docherty. “It was simply the best binding quality that I have ever seen and the performance of the inline variable three-knife trimmer producing different format size books was truly phenomenal.” The Horizon Smart Binding System is modular in design and has been configured with a Tecnau 530 buffer, c20 cutter, s20 stacker and 568 feeder for configuration inline to their Fujifilm JetPress 540W. The Horizon Smart Binding System consists of four key elements; signature folding, stacking with pre-gluing of each book block, variable perfect binding with automatic cover and book block matching, and variable three-knife trimming by dynamically reading a barcode on every book cover. For even more production flexibility, cutsheet stacked output is enabled by the Tecnau c20 cutter, s20 stacker for other products, and digital sheet input to the Smart Binding System is also possible by using the feed table and automatic feeder on the signature folder.

The signature folder can be quickly changed from inline to near-line.

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PACKAGING BELOW: Label World’s Declan O’Rourke is flanked by Press Operator Damien Cruise and Production Manager Ivan Broderick.

MARK ANDY

Leading narrow web press manufacturer, Mark Andy, has installed three of its award-winning Performance Series presses in Ireland in quick succession. Maev Martin reports.

SCORES IRELAND HAT TRICK

he presses, two P3 models and one P5, have been sold through Mark Andy UK. “We were delighted to secure these orders because the different requirements of the three customers demonstrate the flexible production capability of the Performance Series,” says Sales Manager Paul MacDonald.

Advanced Labels

Advanced Labels in Dublin installed the first P3 in Ireland. It is an eightcolour 330mm press with full UV-flexo capability and is fitted with turn bars and delam/relam features.

“We needed the latest technology to make us ultra competitive in high-end labels as we expand our business,” says Owner and Managing

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Director Joe Killion. “Crucially, our new Mark Andy has only ever run with low migration inks and varnishes, which gives us an edge in the food and beverage markets and puts a big tick in the environmental box as far as our customers are concerned!” Other areas into which the company seeks to expand include the growing wine and craft beer markets, as well as pharmaceuticals.

Since being commissioned in July, the P3 has improved both speed and print quality at Advanced Labels, with significant savings in make-ready and changeover times, combined with less material waste. “One regular job, run-off on the press soon after installation, was completed in four hours instead of the usual two days, which indicates a fantastic return on investment,” says Joe Killion. “Our average order value has also grown from €1,500 to €3,500 with the P3.” Working predominantly with paper-based substrates, the company supplies around 65% of its output to the retail market with the balance going to the industrial sectors.

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PACKAGING A typical job today might be 50,000 labels but the company is looking for an increased volume of four-colour process work. “The press is almost instantly into register and holds it perfectly, even at 160m/min,” says Joe. “We can do a complete four-colour job change in less than eight minutes, and this, combined with less than 15 metres of waste, means we can handle virtually any job cost effectively.” The result is that Advanced Labels has already reduced its outwork and will see turnover grow by 17% in 2015. To match the high output of the Mark Andy P3 and provide an all-round service, Advanced Labels has also installed a Mark Andy plate mounter and two Rotoflex machines, a VSI inspection rewinder and a DSI die-cutter. The total investment project is aimed squarely at attaining BRC approval early in 2016.

Label World

Also located in Dublin and with a similar eight-colour 330mm Mark Andy P3, is former Irish Print Awards winner, Label World. Directors Derek Maher and Declan O’Rourke have grown the business into the largest trade label facility in Ireland. The company’s new press has turn bars and delam/relam but also includes two die stations and a sheeter, which they say is particularly useful for fanfold and tag work required by the trade. Currently employing 22 people and with an annual turnover of €3m, Label World’s production facility is now bursting at the seams.

An existing Mark Andy user, Derek Maher first saw the Performance Series at Labelexpo in 2011. “I was so impressed with the speed of make ready and consistent register that I knew it was the way forward for our business,” he said. He subsequently ordered a P3 without further print trials. “We have an excellent long-standing relationship with Mark Andy that is built on trust and after sales support. This extended to our production team being given full hands-on access to the press at Labelexpo, which boosted their confidence no end.”

The new Mark Andy was installed in July 2015 and replaced two older flexo lines. Regularly running at 140m/min, the P3 has taught Label World about the need for efficient job planning and preparation. “We have a Formula 1 racing car now and we need to improve our pit stops to maximise its performance,” says Declan O’Rourke, who is impressed with the print quality coming off the P3. “In the past there had been a clear difference between the quality coming off our flexo presses and what was being produced on the digital presses we have, but not any more. And the P3 is so much more productive that it could easily double our turnover. Quality is still our main criterion, as well as a range of capabilities to serve what is a relatively small domestic market in Ireland.”

FROM TOP: Joe Killion and Karen Halpin with Mark Andy UK’s Paul Mac Donald. Richard and Deirdre Fox say Impact Labelling’s Mark Andy is all about efficiency of operation.

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In the past there had been a clear difference between the quality coming off our flexo presses and what was being produced on the digital presses we have, but not any more.

Impact Labelling

The third of this batch of new flexo presses is a Mark Andy P5 servo driven line, also with a 330mm web width.

It is installed at Impact Labelling in Limerick. Chosen for its ability to handle second pass work in perfect register, the P5 is the first Performance Series press in Ireland and the UK with Mark Andy’s new Advanced Waste Rewind system that allows faster die-cutting because the matrix is always supported. It is also fitted with full UV-flexo, turn bars, delam/relam, and Mark Andy’s QCDC (Quick Change Die Cassette). This allows the operator to load and unload the heavy die cylinders through the side-frame by using a trolley fitted with slide rails.

Established originally in 1995, and trading as a label broker until 1997, the company subsequently moved into manufacturing and today has three Mark Andy presses. “The P5 is our first new press and will allow us to develop our business in the industrial, logistics, automotive and medical devices sectors, which are less seasonally volatile than retail and food,” says Managing Director Richard Fox. “It was the accuracy of the registration system that persuaded me to choose a P5. We are looking to become more efficient on short run work, much of which has a second-pass element, so the accuracy of the die-cutting is critical. The P5 excels at this re-register work, running at 120m/min.”

Described by the operators as ‘very user-friendly,’ the P5 does ‘exactly what Mark Andy says it will do,’ and Richard is full of praise for the service and technical support offered by Mark Andy’s UK base in Macclesfield.

“We offer our customers a comprehensive service and the capacity to bale them out of trouble should the need arise – we expect the same from our suppliers, and Mark Andy has always delivered,” he says.

Currently, 25% of Impact’s production is trade work, with a typical run length of 50,000 labels, all of which are 100% line scan inspected prior to delivery. For Richard Fox, who has an engineering background, the P5 is seen as a machine with highly accurate converting capabilities, as much as a quality UV-flexo press.

“Everything about it spells accuracy and efficiency, whether it is the large diameter impression roll or the die station with its easy change system,” he concludes.

Today, Impact Labelling employs 12 staff and expects to grow the business by approximately 15% year-on-year.

According to Paul MacDonald, these three recent installations bring the total number of Performance Series presses in Ireland to six and highlight why the P Series of machines is Mark Andy’s fastest selling press. “They are very flexible performers and have found favour with all types of label converter – I’d say there is a Performance Series press to suit everyone!”

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PACKAGING

HP Reinvents

CORRUGATED PACKAGING with KBA

On December 3rd HP revealed the first HP PageWide web press T1100S co-developed with KBA which, it claims, reinvents packaging printing for high volume, digital pre-print applications.

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PACKAGING

igital printing is the fastest growing segment in packaging with a projected annual growth rate of 17% in a market expected to be worth $19bn by 2019 (The Future of Package Printing to 2019 by Vlad Savinov, Smithers Pira 2014). “Converters and brands alike need to create more targeted, effective packaging while reducing costs,” says Eric Wiesner, General Manager, PageWide web press (PWP) division, HP Inc. “HP Inc and KBA have combined forces to bring the world’s most productive press to market, offering more value to high-end converters with the efficiencies of pre-print and digital in one press.” HP says they are making this claim based on internal data comparing all commercially available digital web presses in the market as of December 1st 2015. Productivity refers to SQM per hours.

DS Smith Packaging is the first customer to install the 2.8 metre width (110-inch) press, which can deliver significantly higher productivity and production flexibility than traditional analogue technology. “Our codevelopment with HP has resulted in the first digital machine able to print at the speed and width we need for high-volume corrugated production,” says Stefano Rossi, CEO, DS Smith Packaging Division. “It will provide our customers with unprecedented short-run flexibility and quality consistency.”

While current analogue printing technology is limited to printing multiple copies of one box design, the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S with Multi-Lane Print Architecture (MLPA) splits the web into multiple print lanes, so different jobs, with different box sizes and run lengths, can be printed in the individual lanes. Multiple ultra-short or short runs can be queued and printed together, with no make-ready in between jobs, while a long run is printed in another lane. HP MLPA, coupled with all the advantages of digital printing, allows cost-effective customisation and personalisation of corrugated packaging, meeting the demands for shorter print runs without having to create inventory.

Printing at speeds up to 183 linear metres (600 linear feet) per minute and 30,600 square metres (330,000 square feet) per hour, the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S helps corrugated converters quickly take on new, complex jobs at speed. With enhanced priming options, including a combination of HP bonding agent, HP priming agent and four-colour HP A50 aqueous pigmented CMYK inks, customers can print offset-quality on standard uncoated and coated liners from 80 grams to 400 grams per square metre (GSM).

increase in demand. We want to be competitive in this area and by investing in this equipment we will be able to control all aspects of quality, lead times and, more importantly, costs.” The UV retrofit was handled before the Christmas period and took just two weeks to complete. It was in full production at the 30,000 square foot plant by the end of January. “It has been an efficient and trouble free retro-fit,” says Gary Marsh. “And the retrofit cost was comparable with the price we would have had to pay for a press with UV already fitted.” Their customers and the market generally has reacted very positively to this new development and Jaymar is already fielding enquiries.

“Retrofits on an installed press take about five or six days for conventional UV but just one to two days for LEUV and LUV,” says Chris Schofield, Joint Managing Director of IST (UK). “We are happy to advise printers on their best route forward and the different UV options available to them.” The IST (UK) service allows printers to retrofit LEUV (also known as HUV by Komori users) and LED-UV/LUV as well as conventional UV drying technology on installed presses or second-hand equipment. “The retrofit option will be attractive to companies who can’t currently budget for a new press or who would like to trial LE-UV or LUV for a relatively low capital cost before buying a dedicated new press using the latest energy efficient technology,” says Chris. “LE-UV will be especially attractive to the small and medium sized printer using a high volume of uncoated stock. The IST lamp life on this technology is guaranteed to operate for 2,500 hours, but typically runs up to 4,000 hours. In most instances a straight printing press will require just one LE UV lamp at the end of the line; a perfector would feature a unit at the perfecting unit and another in the delivery. The attraction with low energy and light emitting diode UV technologies is that they produce dry sheets off the end of the press. They cut the amount of ink used (sometimes by 30% to 40% in volume), eliminating powder spray and reducing the energy bill (compared to other drying options). They also provide high gloss levels and resistance to abrasion.”

Clondalkin Wins Flexible Packaging Award Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Harlingen won the 2015 award for Technical Innovation at the prestigious EFTA-Benelux Flexographic awards, which took place in Antwerp recently. EFTA-Benelux (The European Flexographic Technical Association) is the trade association for the flexographic printing industry in the Benelux countries of Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Harlingen won the award for their FleXtreme printing technology, which was used to create the packaging for the Bofrost ‘Suppengemüse’ brand. “FleXtreme, which was developed here at Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Harlingen,represents a new generation in flexo printing that offers print quality comparable with gravure printing, but at a much more competitive cost level,” says Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Harlingen’s Sales and Marketing Director, Jack van der Heiden. “It offers many advantages to customers, including shorter production runs, reduced lead times and excellent finished results, such as very high ink and colour density. The packaging we produced for the Bofrost ‘Suppengemüse’ brand was printed using only CMYK with an overall lacquer to achieve a high intensity of colour and excellent quality finish. We achieved this using Sun Passion ink, minimum 54dpcm screening and 460 line anilox rollers.”

BELOW: Suppengemuse packaging.

Packaging Company is First to Benefit from LE-UV Retrofit Jaymar Packaging is the first company in the UK and Ireland to benefit from the IST (UK) UV retrofit service. It recently added a conventional UV system to a Roland 700 six-colour and coating press. The company had looked around for a second-hand Roland press with UV fitted but it could not find one to match the high standard of the 2006 model press it had located without UV. The company approached IST (UK) who said it was launching the retrofit service and could help. “We hope that by adding this UV facility we can open up new markets and produce more added value work in both the pharmaceutical and high impact packaging sectors that we serve,” says Gary Marsh, Production Director of Jaymar Packaging. “It is getting harder and more expensive to outsource UV work and it is a sector in which we see an

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THE BIG PICTURE

DIGITAL’S TEXTILE

PRINT VISION

FOR 2016

With massive growth predicted for the global wide format digital inkjet market, Irish Printer looks at what the major press manufacturers have in store for one of the most exciting aspects of this sector – digital textile print technology.

pecialist research and consulting agency Lightwords Imaging is forecasting that the worldwide wide format digital inkjet market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10% for the period 2015 to 2018, a market that will exceed $24bn in 2018. Lightwords leveraged primary research and verified vendor shipment data for the prediction, which also indicates strong revenue growth of wide format inkjet hardware and supplies for acqueous CAD, latex and UV-curable, and textile markets.

Digital technology is gaining ground in the textile print sector. Findings from Roland DG’s Texart Digital Textile Survey, conducted on the Roland booth at ITMA 2015 (November 12th to 19th), revealed that 80% of respondents who are printing on textile are already using digital technologies in their textile print production.

All of those respondents who are currently only using

analogue methods told Roland that they are considering employing digital textile print technologies. Textile print providers are also prioritising investment in digital, with 49% of those intending to invest planning to do so within the next year. According to those questioned, the main benefits of digital textile print technology over analogue production methods include flexibility, quality and speed.

Digital dye sublimation transfer printing proved a popular option on the booth, used by over 40% of digital textile print providers surveyed. Nearly 95% of textile print providers surveyed stated that they were optimistic about the future of the textile print industry.

The benefits of digital technology were brought to life at the Roland DG ‘Go Digital’ booth at ITMA with a ‘real-time’ digital workflow demonstrating each stage of the production process. Designs by students specialising in fashion and couture were transformed into garments. Visitors were able to

Durst’s new generation Alpha series of multi-pass inkjet printers for the digital production of home textiles and fashion.

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THE BIG PICTURE

Mimaki’s TS500P-3200

follow the process step-by-step as the designs were printed by the Texart XT-640 and RT-640 dye sublimation transfer printers, pressed on the Texart CS-64 calender, and sewn by on-booth seamstresses. A live photoshoot showcased models wearing the finished garments.

Durst was also making waves at ITMA 2015 with its new generation Alpha series of multi-pass inkjet printers for the digital production of home textiles and fashion. The Alpha series offers print widths of 190cm to 330cm. It can be configured with up to eight colours and 64 Alpha-S print heads that achieve a native resolution of 600dpi and a print speed of 460lm/h. With these performance parameters Durst is positioning the Alpha series in direct competition with traditional screen-printing - but with all the benefits of digital printing. “The Alpha series makes digital textile production more economical and efficient,” says Martin Winkler, Segment Manager Textile Printing, Durst Phototechnik AG. “Super multipass technology allows us to achieve a production capacity similar to screen printing and provide 24/7 reliability that is not possible with single-pass technology. It’s not just about pure print speed but the simplification of printing processes so that the user can start production immediately. The Durst Alpha series provides continuous ink circulation in all ink circuits in order to guarantee constant ink quality and reliable stand-by availability.

In the event of a print head failing, an automatic emergency mode will deactivate the affected print head row and continue printing with the greatest possible number of print heads. When necessary, Alpha-S print heads can be replaced by the customer within a very short time.”

A new intelligent feed system has been developed for the Alpha series that adapts automatically to different textiles and roll diameters.

An integrated spray system allows materials to be chemically pretreated before printing. Durst provides its own OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certifiable ink systems and a GOTS-certified reactive ink system. In order to give users greater flexibility and efficiency in production, Durst has also developed a new pigmented ink (Alpha Ink P) which can be used on a wide variety of textiles. In addition, no pre- or post-treatment is required for standard materials such as cotton or polyester.

At ITMA 2015 Durst exhibited the flagship from its Alpha series, the Alpha 330, for the industrial production of home textiles, and presented the Alpha 180 TR, a dye sublimation printer for polyester and polyester blends.

Tailored for Personalisation Trend Mimaki is to launch the TS500P-3200 super-wide format roll-to-roll sublimation inkjet printer in February. The dedicated transfer paper printer for the textile industry is ideal for a broad range of applications, including home furnishing textiles and indoor soft signage. “The trend for on-demand textile printing is developing from the fashion and sportswear markets into the interior décor and home furnishing sector,”

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says Stephen Woodall, National Sales Manager – Textile & Apparel with Mimaki’s exclusive UK and Ireland distributor Hybrid Services Ltd. “The increase in demand for bespoke and short run interior textiles – be it for furnishings, décor or display graphics – is showing no sign of abating and Mimaki is focused on meeting the requirements of this market.”

The Mimaki TS500P-3200 delivers a number of production benefits. Its 3.2m printable width is practical for sublimation transfer printing on extra-wide fabrics for curtains, bed linen, and other home furnishings. The TS500P-3200 features a new type of printhead to deliver high-speed printing at 180 square metres per hour. There are 12 printheads arrayed in three staggered lines that eject ink droplets at high speed to maintain the appropriate ink droplet angle and ensure accurate drop placement with a high head gap.

Mimaki claims that this ensures high-quality printing results on low-cost thin transfer papers. In addition, the newly-designed Auto Media Feeder (AMF) allows stable transfer paper feeding at the high-speed setting. The printer is capable of feeding media up to130kg in weight. Mimaki’s TxLink3 Lite RIP software allows users to specify the ink volume per colour and produce large seamless patterns from a single image (including repeat and mirror patterns).

Revolutionising Interior Design Imagine a hotel decorated entirely with print, from reception areas, bars and restaurants,to guest rooms and bathrooms, as well as meeting and retail spaces. That’s the concept behind the new Printeriors ‘Print Hotel’ showcase event for interior designers and architects in the RAI Amsterdam from March 8th to 11th, which will show visitiors how digital print can bring their designs to life quickly and cost-effectively. The hotel will feature decorated walls and floors, glazed and mirrored surfaces, fixtures, furniture, carpets, decorative textiles and accessories, all produced using the latest decorative printing techniques. Visit www.printeriors.net

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CONVENTIONAL PRINT

OFFSET OFFERINGS

GET MORE FROM YOUR

ujifilm Europe’s ‘Superia’ is an integrated product offering which, the manufacturer claims,gives commercial printers the ability to make significant resource savings across five core areas of offset print production – materials, labour, energy, environment and water.

The new solution covers Fujifilm’s XMF workflow, CtP systems, plates and pressroom chemistry, providing a mechanism for offset printers to minimise resources, and maximise their efficiency and profitability.

Materials Savings

Irish printers should check out a new integrated solution from Fujifilm that is designed to offer more profitable offset printing to the industry.

Paper and ink are by far the most significant consumable costs in offset printing. According to Fujifilm, Superia can help to minimise or reduce the waste associated with these key materials, and therefore create an opportunity to reduce costs. Other materials can also be minimised, including pre-press chemistry and pressroom consumables.

Labour

By focusing on the end-to-end process, Fujifilm says that it is possible to reduce the time taken for certain processes with Superia.

Time that is saved can be assigned to other tasks, and shorter processes help enable quicker turnaround times and increase the capacity to handle more jobs, optimising labour resources and minimising costs.

Energy

There are many ways to reduce energy consumption in the prepress process, and Superia provides an opportunity to miminise energy usage by, for example, the adoption of Fujifilm’s processless plates.

Environmental

Environmental savings go hand in hand with running an efficient business. Fujifilm claims that, with Superia, there are opportunities to minimise the discharge of chemical waste and exhaust gases, for instance, which not only helps protect the environment, but can also indirectly reduce costs.

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Water

Water charges vary depending on the country, but Fujifilm’s Superia solution presents opportunities to reduce water usage, lower costs, and reduce associated drainage processing costs. “As commercial printing continues to become more and more competitive, printers need to fine tune their businesses to extract maximum efficiencies and profitability from the offset production process,” says Graham Leeson, Head of Communications – Graphic Systems, Fujifilm Europe.

“We have looked very carefully over the last few years at where and how print companies can achieve this and we have discovered that there are still many savings to be made across five core areas of the print process.

By combining Fujifilm’s advanced offset solutions with our extensive knowledge of print production, our integrated Superia offering will help printers unlock greater resource savings to enhance their profitability.”

The Fujifilm solutions that are part of the Superia portfolio in the EMEA region include: XMF ColorPath cloud-based colour management and ink optimisation system; XMF Remote web-based tool for online job submission, previewing and approval; low chemistry thermal CtP systems; low chemistry violet CtP systems; processless CtP plates; and pressroom chemistry, including fount solutions and additives, washes and maintenance auxiliaries.

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MATERIAL MATTERS

CUT YOUR SIGNAGE

DOWN TO SIZE WITH TRIMWEL TECHNOLOGY

Digital, sign and banner material supplier Trimwel has big plans for 2016. As the company prepares for its move to Parkwest Industrial Estate, Irish Printer talks to Managing Director Nick Little about some of their innovative materials and finishing technologies.

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MATERIAL MATTERS

T

rimwel is now the main Irish distributor for Rollsroller, the original signmaking flatbed applicator, and the company recently installed a model at Indigo Signs in Shannon. Application areas for the Rollsroller include mounting digital prints, premasking, lamination, and worktable with self-healing cutting mat. “Rollsroller has revolutionised the finishing work for more than 4,000 sign makers worldwide,” says Trimwel Managing Director Nick Little. “It is very easy to use – in just a couple of hours a complete beginner will be producing finished signs of all sizes, completely unassisted.

Using manual processes for sign making can make it difficult to meet your customer’s growing demands. Many of the manual procedures are strenuous, time consuming and demanding – and results can vary. The Rollsroller flatbed applicator gives you perfect results in a third of the time.”

Apart from the Rollsroller, Trimwel is also offering other sign materials to further increase production efficiencies for sign makers and large format printers. “Trimwel are a main distributor for 3M and Metamark in Ireland, along with SloanLED and a full range of Spandex Post and Panel systems,” he says. The Shield Sign Laminator 1650 was designed and built specifically for the sign industry by Italian machine manufacturer Neolt and Signbase (part of the Cosign group). “This innovative laminator allows for easy and perfect roll-to-roll laminating and full-automatic vertical trimming,” says Nick. “A very precise pneumatic system with built-in (silent) compressors means that the sign maker can perfectly control and measure the pressure of the rollers, giving excellent laminating results. The equal pressure (L-R) of the rollers is 100% guaranteed, which cannot be said for mechanical and electrical systems. Through the clearly readable tension buttons with reference scale for all roll holders, the sign maker has complete control over the tension of the laminate, print and take-up.” The Sword cutter is a vertical cutting system for signmakers with high cutting volumes. It can cut all sorts of panels, including cardboard, Forex, aluminium composite panels, Plexiglas, and even glass.

My objective in my new role at Trimwel is to make more digital printers and sign makers aware of what Trimwel is about.

New Sales Manager With these new and innovative products, Trimwel’s key objectives in 2016 are to grow sales and build their product portfolio even further.

The company will also offer vehicle wrapping courses at its new premises in Parkwest. Their new Sales Manager Keith Stephens, who joined the company on January 4th and is well known in the industry, has vast product knowledge. He comes to the company with a wealth of experience on both the supply and print side of the business. “I worked supplying material for 12 years and I then moved to a large format digital printer where I worked for nearly three and half years,” he says. “My objective in my new role at Trimwel is to make more digital printers and sign makers aware of what Trimwel is about. I’ve been where they are so I can offer advice and experience that will be of real benefit to their businesses.”

Northern Ireland Expansion Nick has noticed a massive upturn in demand for print in Ireland. “We know that this is being experienced across the board with both our customers and our competitors and demand is particularly strong in the high-end specification side of the market,” he says. “When it comes

BELOW: The Shield Sign Laminator 1650

to the big demand trends in 2016 in terms of wide format substrates, we feel that the biggest growth area is in specification. What we mean by this is that architects have bigger budgets and, due to the increase in new fit-outs, there is a lot more business.”

Nick Little has been at the helm of Trimwel since 2008. “The company has experienced significant growth in turnover since then,” he says. “We are now looking to grow our business even further and we are looking to expand into the Northern Ireland market, which I am confident will be a very profitable move for us. I love the challenge of running Trimwel.

I survived some tough early years during the worst of the recession and I’m proud to look back on how much we have grown. And we are still growing.”

The 30-year old company supplies a wide range of digital, sign and banner material such as LEDs from SloanLED, which come with a five-year warranty. They also supply signage and tools such as aluminium doorplates, swinger signs and ABoards. “We liaise directly with print and signage companies and we distribute products from industry leaders such as 3M and Metamark,” says Nick.

“Recently we have been appointed the new supplier for SloanLED who develop high reliability lighting products such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) that are suitable for commercial, industrial and high tech industry use. Allied to this, for the past 20 years we have been the main agents in Ireland for Graphtec plotters who are renowned in our industry. Perhaps all of this doesn’t mean much to people who aren’t familiar with the industry, but it is the cream of the crop. We only work with the best.”

Trimwel can be contacted on 01 2940188 or you can call Keith Stephens directly on 086 8532505.

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FEATURE

RISE UP INDUSTRY MUST

OVER 1916 BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD

As we prepare to celebrate the centenary of 1916 it is ironic, to say the least, that Irish books, including many relating to the Rising, continue to be printed outside the Republic. This has been an ongoing issue for the industry in recent years but what, if anything, can be done to bring book printing back home?

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FEATURE

ver the Christmas period I came across the first edition in ‘The Revolution Papers’ collection, which reproduces newspapers from the years 1916 to 1923. The first of the 52 weekly editions (cost €3.90 or Stg£2.90 in Northern Ireland) features complete reproductions of Irish War News, the Belfast Evening Telegraph, the Gaelic American and the Irish Independent from the last week of April 1916. Putting my editor of Irish Printer hat on, one of the first things I did was check where this collection was being printed and I discovered to my surprise that it was ‘printed in the EU’.

Irish Printer has covered this phenomenon on a regular basis over the years, most recently in the July 2013 edition, the first edition published by Ashville Media Group. At that time we focused specifically on the printing of school books overseas.

Since spotting ‘The Revolution Papers’ my attention has been drawn to the number of books on sale today which are not printed in Ireland. These cover titles about Ireland, about 1916, and biographies, including high profile sporting biographies.

On my return to work in early January, I received an email from retired proof-reader Pat Doyle, whose son is the fifth consecutive generation of his family to make their living from and within the printing industry. He was on the warpath about the number of books that are on sale today that are not printed in Ireland. He estimated that there are more than 20 new publications on the 1916 centenary celebrations that are printed outside Ireland and almost 20 current books on sporting icons that aren’t printed here. What is of particular concern is the fact that some of the publications that are printed outside the State have received some form of Government funding.

Not Printed in Ireland •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Biographies (mostly current) – Des O’Malley; Albert Reynolds; John Redmond; Marty Whelan; Packie Bonner; Stephen Ferris; John Bruton; Eamon Gilmore; Brian Darcy; Francis Brennan (of the Brennan Brothers); Tomás O Sé; Tony Ward; Tony McCoy; Henry Shefflin; Jim McGuinness; Mary Kennedy.

Brooklyn – currently in vogue with the film The Irelandopedia Viking Dublin (with some government financial aid) Dalymount (soccer pictorial history) Laura Lynn An Island Community Brand New Retro Press Gang (published about the Irish Press) Abbey Rebels of 1916 (more government subvention) When the Clock Struck in 1916 Green Divide (the civil war in pictures) Ambiguous Republic (Diarmaid Ferriter) Irish Freedom (Richard English) Dublin Chamber of Commerce - A History of (also received funding from government agencies).

“The recent Irish Book Awards, held in December 2015, had, I think, 13 winners listed in the Irish Independent,” says Pat. “Not a single title among the list was printed here.

To me this is a national disgrace but no one seems to care.

The media bang on about buying Irish (even the great Joe Duffy’s book was not printed here) but those who don’t are never called to account on this matter. It is not that we do not have capable and quality printers. I spent all my life in printing and it pains me to see how it is not considered a scandal that all of this work is being denied to our industry.”

Following my own observations and Pat’s email, I decided that it was time to raise this issue in the magazine again.

So why is it that so many books continue to be printed outside this country? “That is a question best directed at Irish book publishers and it is certainly a question that the Irish Printing Federation will be asking them over the coming months,” says IPF President Tom Clements.

“On behalf of the employers in the industry the IPF will also raise the matter with the Print and Packaging Forum, which has representatives from other stakeholder groups in the industry, including Enterprise Ireland.”

Is there a technological deficit within the Irish print industry that is creating this problem or is it simply that overseas print companies are operating at a scale that allows them to be more competitive on price? “Obviously the small scale of the Irish market and our location on the edge of Europe makes it difficult for us to match the scale of large European printing houses and this will have an impact on our cost base,” says Tom. “Similarly, the loss of specialist houses such as Colour Books will have impacted negatively on our ability to compete. That said, I do believe that there are plenty of Irish printing companies, acting either individually or as part of consortia, who can compete successfully for this work. There was for a number of years a very successful consortium which supplied the Ordinance Survey in Ireland. Perhaps something similar might work for the book printing market.”

Has the federation made any representation to government on this issue over the past year or are they planning to make any representation this year? “We haven’t in the past year but, interestingly, the matter of 1916-related literature being printed outside the State was raised at the IPF’s Council meeting on January 21st so we will be raising it with the relevant bodies in the near future,” says Tom. “We will also be writing to the various political parties to remind them of their obligations to carry an imprint on printed election material identifying where it was printed. In advance of the election we will be issuing a postcard with a list of questions that printers can ask of candidates on the doorstep, highlighting issues of relevance to the Irish printing industry.”

Has the federation discussed this issue with any publishing organisations in Ireland to see if there is something that the industry could do to make printing in Ireland more attractive to book publishers? “We are planning to meet with book publishers and also with some of the major print management companies to explore what can be done to increase the amount of print that is sourced in Ireland,” he says. “When it comes to bodies that are in receipt of government funds, while we accept that they have a duty to obtain the best value for money that they can, they should also consider the effects of the choices they make on the local economy.”

However, Tom is keen to point out that the ability of the IPF, or indeed of any other representative body, to make a difference is entirely dependent on the active participation of industry members. “I would encourage all companies in the industry to join the IPF and, having joined, to consider taking an active role in shaping the future of the printing industry in Ireland by getting involved with the IPF council,” he says. “The process of representing the industry becomes considerably easier if the industry engages with us so, ideally, please join the IPF. But even if you’re not an IPF member, please contact us to inform us of any specific issues that you think we should be addressing.”

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WHAT’S NEW IN PRINT

World First for Sheet Fed Presses Danish pioneers of surface treatment, Vetaphone, and Danish press manufacturer, Tresu, have combined to create the first example of a Corona treater working on a sheet fed press line.

The Vetaphone VE1A-J has been developed to work with the Tresu iCoat 30000, which is designed to work inline with the B2-size HP Indigo 30000 sheet fed digital press.

Available as a single or twin coat modular unit, the Tresu iCoat 30000 is capable of handling UV or water-based varnishes for a variety of folding carton applications, from pharmaceutical and confectionery to cosmetics, electronics, promotional and giftware.

“We have an exclusive agreement with HP as their sole inline coating supplier, and our long term working partnership with Vetaphone offered the perfect opportunity to develop complementary technology,” says Kim Krintel, Vice President of Digital Solutions with Tresu.

“Digital inks contain plastic molecules that need to be oxidised to improve adhesion – this facilitates downstream processing such as the application of metallic varnishes on high added value cartons.”

Tresu is predicting double digit sales of the iCoat 30000 units with Vetaphone Corona treaters to carton houses around the world. Currently, the US appears to favour the twin-coat model, with other markets, including Europe, opting for the single coat version. However, Tresu believes that most printers will opt for twin coaters in the long-term and is optimistic about the prospect of two installations in the UK soon.

The Vetaphone VE1A-J, the world’s first working inline Corona unit for a sheet fed press, is capable of running at 96 m/min on the Tresu iCoat 30000.

Double digit sales of the B2 format Tresu iCoat 30000 fitted with Vetaphone VE1A-J Corona units are anticipated for 2016.

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Enhancing the POS Experience To allow customers to really ‘feel’ the premium product line of exclusive hosiery and shapewear brand Item m6 from high-tech German manufacturer medi, the rlc packaging group developed an ingenious concept. The silky touch of Sappi’s bright white carton material Algro Design and a practical click closure make the premium quality of the contents clear from the outside. With its audible click closure and silky touch, the elegant packaging concept for medi doesn’t just appeal to customers in stores: it has also won over two important award committees.

At this year’s Red Dot Design Award gala, the packaging was crowned a winner. And at the Pro Carton ECMA Awards 2015, the resealable packaging with the soft touch was a finalist in the non-food category. Products for women are packaged in brilliant white – for which Sappi’s bright white carton material Algro Design, with a weight of 350 gs/m2, was chosen – while men’s products catch the eye in intense black. In both cases, high ink coverage is achieved with UV printing. Combined with a soft-touch coating, this creates a silky surface finish that reflects the comfort of the products when worn.

For the white packaging, Algro Design sheets were carefully printed using a UV printing process: in silver and double black for the text and graphic elements. The soft-touch UV coating, giving the box its silky-smooth feel and protecting it from scratches, was applied over the entire surface. After the sheets were die-cut, the die-cut PET window films, produced at the same time, were joined using a special pick-and-place process at the rlc factory in Switzerland. Because the windows on the front are printed and hot foil-embossed, this method is the best choice to avoid damaging the previously finished lid of the packaging during assembly.

03/02/2016 14:48

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touch the future Inspiring ideas for success drupa is the must-attend event in 2016: Starting point of highly promising visions. Focus of future technologies. Meeting point of ideas that electrify the markets.

Innovative business models and best-practice examples will show the growth potential of the future: print, packaging production, green printing, functional printing, multichannel and 3D printing.

The programme “drupa future visions” is a look far ahead.

Be part of it!

daily news, trends, innovations blog.drupa.com

May 31 – June 10, 2016 Düsseldorf/Germany www.drupa.com Share German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce 46 Fitzwilliam Square _ Dublin 2 Tel. +353 (1)64 24 390 _ Fax +353 (1)64 24 399 dusseldorf@german-irish.ie

www.german-irish.ie

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