Irish Printer Nov/Dec 2016

NOV/DEC 2016 || THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY || WWW.IRISHPRINTER.IE

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

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NOV/DEC 2016 CONTENTS

04 News

A round up of some of the latest news from the Irish print industry.

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Marketing

Canon Ireland kicked off its Essential Business Builder Programme at its HQ in Dublin with the first in a series of business support events for Irish commercial print companies.

Maev Martin reports on the expert marketing advice available to the companies who attended on the day.

Irish Print Awards 2016 We report on each of the category winners in the 2016 Irish Print Awards, highlighting the expertise and innovation behind their award wins, and giving readers a flavour of another successful ceremony, as we gear up for the awards 40th birthday in 2017!

Case Study

Univeral Graphics’ Managing Director Simon Murray explains why moving to HP latex technology has allowed them to drive many production efficiencies, including faster turnaround times.

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Business Matters

Neopost Ireland’s biggest ever expo showcased the latest technology from Ricoh, Roland, and Duplo, among others, and played host to some interesting presentations from Print Research International’s John Charnock and Eugene Healy, President of the Irish Printing Federation, who urged the industry to support the Print Media Apprenticeship programme.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

also highlighted the importance of digital – not the print technology, but digital marketing. Printers were encouraged to look at other communication channels as complementary and to engage in informed discussions with their clients about the pros and cons of each channel. The event also threw up some interesting statistics for printers to ponder - mobile drives over 50% of all ecommerce traffic, every second two new members join LinkedIn, over 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years old, 53% of millennials would rather lose their sense of smell than their technology, more people own a mobile device than a toothbrush, by 2018 video will account for over two thirds of mobile usage, the LinkedIn age limit has been lowered to 13, 90% of buyers trust peer recommendations, and, my personal favourite, the average person has a .07 attention span – the average goldfish has a .08 attention span!

On that note, I’d like to wish Irish Printer readers a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

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elcome to the November/ December edition of Irish Printer magazine.

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

Digital printing is the future for book production.

That was the key message at Canon’s annual Future Book Forum, which took place at the Canon Customer Experience Centre in Germany, in November. “Digital technology has developed to such a degree that 30% of our products are now printed digitally,” said Mike Levaggi, Group Production Director of Harper Collins. “Within five years, the estimate is that 50% will be printed digitally, and that is a conservative estimate. The next big benefit will be in trade colour digital printing, including children’s books. At the moment, around 80% of this work, as is the case with other publishers, is done in the Far East.”

The good news for Irish book publishers and printers was his belief that digital will open up opportunities to bring book printing closer to the markets being served. He said that this is already starting to happen in academic, and more recently, education products, and is going to accelerate. “At some point I believe colour book trade printing will return to the UK and increase in Europe, as it already has in the academic sector,” he said. “We see this as a potentially big advantage in other markets as well.”

Another Canon event in Dublin (see Page 25),

THE TEAM Editor: Maev Martin Editorial Manager: Mary Connaughton Creative Director: Jane Matthews Layout: Antoinette Sinclair Production Manager: Mary Connaughton Production: Claire Kiernan Printed by: Walsh Colour Print on Novatech Matt 150gsm supplied by Antalis Ireland.

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

Front cover: Plus Print’s John Kenny with the Printer of the Year award.

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“Clients are asking for work to be produced on the Jet Press�

John Emmerson, sales director www.emmersonpress.co.uk

Emmerson Press Leading the way in high quality digital John and Jamie Emmerson have been blown away by the capabilities of their new Jet Press 720S. Astounding quality, amazing uptime and variable data printing on a B2 sheet mean they are now entering new markets, with clients asking for work to be produced on the press, even at litho quantities. Add to that the consistency and vibrancy of the colour reproduced on the sheet, and the fact that the press can handle anything they throw at it, things are looking bright for Emmerson Press.

Jet Press 720S - ready to transform your business today To find out more, visit www.powerofinkjet.com Email graphicsmarketing_uk@fujifilm.com or phone 01234 572340

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TEN TOP STORIES

Pictured with the Business Responsibly Working Mark are (l-r): Maurice Pratt, Business in the Community Ireland, Gary Hopwood, Ricoh Ireland, and An Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald.

Ricoh Wins Working Responsibly Mark Ricoh announced on November 4th that it had achieved certification to the Business Responsibly Working Mark for the second time. The Mark recognises a select number of companies in Ireland that are leading the way for best practice corporate responsibility and sustainability.

Ricoh received the Mark from Maurice Pratt, Business in the Community, and An Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald at the annual CEO Forum in Dublin Castle. Fourteen companies certified to the Mark in 2016 were announced at the Forum, which was attended by more than 200 CEOs from many of Ireland’s largest companies. Seven companies were re-certified to the Mark and these included Accenture Ireland, Marks and Spencer, Musgrave Group, Northern Trust, Ricoh Ireland, Transdev and Ulster Bank. First time recipients of the Mark included A&L Goodbody, Arup, Bank of Ireland, eir, Janssen Supply Chain Ireland, Veolia Ireland and Vodafone Ireland.

The Mark is run by Business in the Community

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Ireland and based on ISO 26000. It is valid for three years and is independently audited by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).

Ricoh Ireland was recognised for its proactive approach to promoting CSR initiatives within its own business and throughout local communities.

This includes Ricoh employees receiving two days paid volunteering per year. Ricoh raises funds and awareness for charities such as LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, which was nominated by Ricoh staff as its charity of the year. Ricoh also partnered with St. Kevins College in Finglas as part of its School Business Partnership Programme.

The project is aimed at introducing children in the local community to the world of work, encouraging them to complete their education and build a successful career. As part of its sustainable approach to print and document management, Ricoh Ireland provides environmentally-friendly print technologies and services to a wide range of businesses and charities across Ireland.

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TEN TOP STORIES

Foxpak in MIS First for Ireland Tharstern has started the implementation of its MIS systems at Foxpak, the company’s first MIS installation in the print packaging sector in Ireland. The specialist software house will be providing automated open platforms to streamline processes. Foxpak specialises in supplying flexible packaging solutions for both food and non-food manufacturers. It delivers bespoke solutions to customers in the UK, Europe, America and China. “We are expanding at a rapid pace so an upgrade in software will allow us to streamline all activities,” says Caroline O’Rourke, Financial Controller at Foxpak. “We chose Tharstern because it can offer open platforms with large-scale automation. This ensures that we provide high quality services to all our customers.

Tharstern staff have taken the time to understand our needs. They were more than willing to adapt the system to fit our specifications. The platform will provide improvements in our day-today operations. Our customers will enjoy efficient response rates, lead times, and manufacturing capabilities.” Lee Ward, Global Sales Director of Tharstern, says that new functionality for labels and packaging operations is proving to be extremely popular with companies like Foxpak. “We’ve worked hard to deliver a system that will fuse business operations within Foxpak, which has unique requirements,” he says. “The platform will help create new sales opportunities, reduce cost and increase efficiency.”

Perigord Acquires Pharma International Perigord announced on December 2nd that it had acquired Pharma International Inc, based in Syracuse, New York.

“All employees of PII will join Perigord and we expect this combination to deliver the most robust menu of artwork/ labelling and labelling-related services available in the industry,” says Perigord CEO Alan Leamy. “Currently serving customers ranging from emerging pharma companies launching their first product, to the largest pharma companies in the world, the goal of the expanded business is to continue to grow with the customers and to increase the number of customers served.” PII specialises in design, translation, medical illustration, and content development for life science company labelling and web initiatives. The company develops labellingrelated materials, including instructions for use, starter kits, marketing PIs, and patient and provider education tools. “Many PII customers are now in their second decade of a relationship with the company, which has won many of the industry’s major design awards,” says Alan Leamy. “The combined Perigord/PII team will collaborate to bring a new standard of accuracy, speed, consistency, compliance and control to the development and management of a labelling library for its life science customers.”

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TEN TOP STORIES

NuPrint Technologies are adding new flexible packaging products to the shelves with their Nilpeter FA-4* flexo press.

Nilpeter Technology Grows Business for NuPrint Derry-based NuPrint Technologies has seen a spike in business and product quality since installing an FA-4* flexo press from Nilpeter in November 2015. “We had come to the stage where we were running at capacity with our existing production equipment and we wanted to improve the quality of our existing product portfolio, mainly labels for the food and beverage sector, but also to expand and meet a growing number of customer requests for flexible packaging products,” says Gavin Killeen, MD and owner.

Originally a recognised supplier of printed fabric labels for the clothing industry in the UK and Ireland, NuPrint Technologies have since established themselves in the market for self-adhesive labels for the food, drink, and beverage sectors. In order to break into these sectors, major investment totalling around Stg£1.2 million by the end of 2006/2007 was made in new equipment and the re-training and continued development of staff, as well as raising the brand profile. After recognising a need for new equipment, Nuprint Technologies spent the next 18 months scouring the market place, and considered going digital, before being introduced to Nilpeter’s FA-4* at LabelExpo Americas 2014 in Chicago. “We were intrigued by the technology on offer, the ease-of-use, and thought it would fit in nicely with our modern print shop,” says Gavin. “I think we spent around six months comparing the numbers, asking a ton of questions, and there was no doubt that the FA-4* and a close partnership with Nilpeter was the right solution for us.”

The new FA-4* 8-colour full UV-press was installed at NuPrint Technologies in November 2015. In addition to the ergonomic design, short web path, and fast job changes, NuPrint’s FA-4* is equipped with value-adding units for screen, cold foil, and cross-over printing. Another highlight for NuPrint was the Nilpeter PowerLink system and the Air Control Satellite, which is a pad or tablet that offers a mirror image of the main control board for easy, mobile press operation and job prep. A decisive factor in choosing the FA-4* was the testing at Nilpeter’s Technology Center in Denmark, as well as recommendations from existing Nilpeter customers. “Every question we had was answered in the Technology Center, and we also got to visit five

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Gavin Killeen, Managing Director and Owner of NuPrint Technologies Ltd.

different companies in Denmark to see the FA-4* in action, which was great,” says Gavin. “NuPrint Technologies have been able to produce and deliver labels at higher standards than previously, with quick response and a higher turnaround, which has opened doors in niche markets, as well as in the high-end food and beverage sectors. The opportunities from flexible packaging have also improved business in Northern Ireland, now that we are able to produce flexible sleeve packaging, flow packs, and more, really adding to our product portfolio.”

As a result of the added possibilities and new business, NuPrint Technologies are planning to add more flexible packaging products in the future, such as in-mould labels, lidding film, etc. “And I foresee a very long-term relationship with Nilpeter as the partnership to this point has been extremely rewarding,” says Gavin. “I look forward to the next step.”

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TEN TOP STORIES

L-R: Jim Parkhill, Kevin Doherty, and Lee Campbell (MindWise)

Printer Highlights Mental Health At Work One in four people will experience a mental health issue, yet the topic is often shrouded in secrecy and misunderstanding. However, a partnership between TH Jordan and local mental health charity MindWise is highlighting a positive message of mental health recovery.

Belfast-based MindWise is a mental health charity working to transform lives and develop new visions for mental health by challenging stigma and discrimination and providing quality services and support. The charity places a strong emphasis on mental health recovery.

For MindWise, recovery is the ability to live well in the presence or absence of one’s mental health issue. TH Jordan have been working with community groups in East Belfast for many years now and have helped five people through a difficult/vulnerable period in their lives by offering work placements. They have been partnering with MindWise for six years but they wanted to go further than offering free printing jobs and community fundraising for their chosen charity. Kevin Doherty has a long history with MindWise. He was referred to a supported housing scheme and after two years he moved out to live independently and was referred to the Belfast Community

Resource Centre. Kevin started a six-week work placement with TH Jordan in April and at the end of the six weeks he was employed as a permanent parttime member of staff in the pre-press department. This is Kevin’s first paid job in over six years. He was a perfect fit for TH Jordan, having worked for his grandfather’s sign company before becoming ill. He works in the pre-press department, looking after the digital press. His main role is to check the quality of prints and he is relishing the opportunity to learn new skills such as InDesign. The role is varied, with Kevin helping out wherever he is needed, including in the finishing department. “So far, working has really helped,” says Kevin. “I have a routine, which is something I just didn’t have before.

I am learning new skills, meeting new people, and building professional relationships.” TH Jordan General Manager Jim Parkhill says that Kevin is a valued member of staff. “We couldn’t imagine the pre-press department without him,” he says. “During the six months he has been with us Kevin has really grown in confidence. He is a model employee - flexible, always on time or early, and fits in perfectly with the team. He was shy at first but now he gives as good as he gets!” The partnership between TH Jordan and Mindwise is set to continue with more placements in the future.

Stafford is Jarshire’s Irish Distributor Jarshire has appointed Stafford Engineering as its Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland distributor. As a specialist supplier of equipment and components for the converting, paper mills and packaging industries, the Jarshire portfolio is extensive and includes lightweight airshafts and chucks, reel and roll handling equipment, IR drying, tension control, and slitting systems. These are designed to improve throughput, quality and operator safety, and are supplied by well-regarded international companies. Established in 1994, Stafford Engineering provides a sub-contract machining/fabrication and on-site maintenance service to the manufacturing industry, with the ability to produce batches of several thousand small components, as well as low quantity medium to large sized components.

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TEN TOP STORIES Apple’s Latest Product is Made From Paper A re-engagement with print is emerging in this digital age and printing is being embraced by some of the most unusual suspects. Digital giant Google employed print to direct potential customers to what they are doing on the web when it used Mohawk Superfine paper for its 2015 publication that tells customers about YouTube.

Now Apple has got in on the act. As the Financial Times puts it, “After revolutionising personal computers, phones and watches, Apple has finally turned to humanity’s most

Hacketts Make Konica Minolta Investment Hacketts Reprographics recently installed two Konica Minolta presses – the Konica Minolta bizhub Press C1060 and bizhub Press C1070 models - at the Dublin city centre and Dun Laoghaire branches. “We got our first Konica Minolta printer after we saw one in operation in our sister company’s office in Glasgow,” says Hacketts’ Reprographics Manager, Colm Eglington. “They were using a Konica Minolta bizhub Press 1060 with the option for printing elongated banner pagers. They used it a lot for six, eight page and landscape booklet documents too. Over the last year or two we have had a lot of clients looking for this type of print. Normally we would outsource the work, as there are not a lot of options for doing short runs of this type of job, so we invested in a Konica Minolta bizhub Press 1060L with the bypass tray, mainly with elongated prints in mind. However, we quickly learned that the machine has a lot more flexibility to it than we initially thought.

We had a bit of a bottleneck when it came to printing high quality output because we didn’t have a machine that complemented our main production press in terms of quality and flexibility.

The 1060 slotted in very nicely. We have been able to run all the stock that we would run on the main press and achieve excellent solids, colours and fine detail.” After the initial install of the 1060L, Hacketts began looking for replacement machines, both in their Baggot Street and Dun Laoghaire branches. “After our experiences with Konica Minolta we decided to go with two machines, another bizhub Press 1060L for our Dun Laoghaire branch and the bizhub Press 1070 with the three high capacity vacuum paper feeds for our Dublin city centre operation. This has proven to be a great success as it has added a lot of extra capacity, and with the vacuum fed paper drawers we have little or no paper feed problems for 80gsm to 350 gsm stocks. We also have the envelope fuser, which is an extra service that we can now offer our customers. These investments have been very beneficial to our business and have opened up new opportunities for us and new services for our customers.” MJ Flood’s Print Production Manager Phil Schueler says they are pleased to be working with Hacketts Reprographics on fulfilling their short-run colour digital needs. “I think there were a couple of key factors in their choosing to work with us,” he says. “I know Colm Eglington had experience in the past with older Konica Minolta products and he was excited at the opportunity for us to work together again. They now have production envelope printing capabilities as well as longer sheet printing, etc. and are operating three systems from us. We look forward to continuing to work with Hacketts as they grow and expand into the future.” Hacketts employs over 50 people and services over 3,000 customers, providing everything from business cards, reports and booklets, to posters, signage and graphic display systems. Hacketts also supply and service print machines, plotters and related consumables.

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durable communications device: the book.” The technology giant recently announced the release of a new hardbound book chronicling 20 years of Apple’s design, expressed through 450 photographs of past and current Apple products.

Designed by Apple in California covers products from 1998’s iMac to 2015’s Apple Pencil and documents the materials and techniques used by Apple’s design team over two decades of innovation. The book is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs and is published

by Apple. The linen-bound, hardcover volume was developed over an eight-year period.

Designed by Apple in California is available in two sizes and is printed on specially milled, custom-dyed paper with gilded matte silver edges, using eight colour separations and low-ghost ink. The smaller book (260mm x 324mm) costs Stg£169 and the larger size (330mm x 413mm) costs Stg£249.

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TEN TOP STORIES

Brendan Ring presents a Cube jacket to longstanding employee Arthur Gough.

New Look Cube Celebrates 20 Years

The Xerox Versant 80 at the Xerox Innovation Centre.

Xerox Accelerates Business Performance Xeretec, the largest provider of Xerox production equipment in the UK and Ireland, hosted a print production demonstration day in conjunction with DBC Group at the Xerox Innovation Centre in Blanchardstown, Dublin, on November 24th. Titled ‘Accelerate Your Business Performance,’ the private exhibition for a select number of visitors from the graphic arts, publication and printing sectors focused on how graphic arts and print production companies can accelerate their business performance with the power of the Xerox Versant machinery. On display were the Xerox Versant 2100, Versant 80, as well as the Xerox C60 and D95 machines. DBC demonstrated its Morgana finishing equipment range, along with some new finishing technology, including hot foiling and spot varnishing using a process called sleeking.

Cube, formally known as Cube Printing Ltd, is celebrating 20 years in business this year with a new look, new company name, and increased employee numbers. Cube also marked the milestone with an open house and charity coffee morning on November 18th at their premises in Eastway Business Park on Ballysimon Road in Limerck. All money raised is being donated to three local children’s charities; CARI, the Neonatal Unit at University Maternity Hospital Limerick, and the Children’s Ark. Cube delivers design, print and packaging solutions for customers in the medical technology and pharmaceutical fields, as well as for luxury hotels and the corporate sector. The company is owned and run by Brendan Ring, who is assisted by Sales Director TJ Ryan.

Cube has grown organically over the past 20 years, starting with seven employees in a rented office space. It now employs 30 staff in its 12,000 square foot purpose built facility on the outskirts of Limerick city. “In June 2015, with the 20th anniversary approaching, management reviewed the company and its vision for the future and it was decided that 2016 should be a year that celebrated the accomplishments and challenges overcome so far, and set new goals for the future,” says Managing Director Brendan Ring. “Hence the monumental decision to rebrand the company.

We recognised the need to rebrand the company in order to distinguish us from other small to medium sized print companies in the midwest. We knew it would be expensive but in our eyes it was a vital move. Just as we invest in new machinery to become more efficient, we invested in a rebrand to reposition the company and ensure another 20 successful years for Cube.”

This year saw Cube hire five additional full time employees, three of which are first time roles in the company - Operations Manager, Software Support and Development Technician, and Marketing and Communications Manager.

The company also expanded their warehousing space and quality inspection zones and renovated the office spaces.

This method is ideal for digital printers and is creating a lot of interest in the print world. Using image transfer technology to bond with digital ink, printers can now do spot varnishing or gold/silver foiling onto any digital media. The technology is ideal for use on items such as wedding stationery, business cards, certificates and greeting cards.

DBC’s iMark automatic cutter allows printers to create their own packaging boxes and small run labels. As the cutter can cut any SRA 3 sheet into any shape that is required, there is no need to outsource die-cutting or buy die blocks. Xeretec also demonstrated both workflow solutions and variable data software. The company gave live demonstrations of print personalisation, and even printed personalised labels using Fusion Pro variable data software for attendees to place on bottles of prosecco to take home!

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DISCOVER TRUE WHITENESS! ON UPM FINESSE PAPERS

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Its superior surface provides the best image and text reproduction, ensuring you can make a sharp and lasting impression.

UPM Finesse woodfree coated papers are available in a wide range of sheets and reels. Their runnability and overall performance is proven to be excellent. Close co-operation with technical service and product development ensures that the paper is constantly being developed to meet different printing and market requirements. UPM Finesse is an EU Ecolabel awarded paper.

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IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

2016 IPA JUDGES TV3’s Sybil Mulcahy

FREDDIE SNOWE Chairman of the Irish Print Awards Judging Panel

The Irish Print Awards Ashville Media Group was delighted to host the 39th annual Irish Print Awards on November 25th and to welcome our guests to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry, Dublin, for a night of celebration and entertainment. These unique awards have been celebrating excellence in the printing industry for almost four decades and this year’s awards, which were judged by a select team of industry experts, attracted entries that were of an exceptionally high standard and reflected the innovation and creativity that we have come to expect from the Irish print community. The 2016 black tie event was once again hosted by TV3’s Sybil Mulcahy. Highlights on the night included the presentation of a Special Recognition Award to retired printers and National Print Museum members Alf McCormack, Billy Ryan and Freddie Snowe. They restored the museum’s Wharfedale stop cylinder presses to full working order and printed The Proclamation during Easter week 2016 on the 100th anniversary date of the printing of the original Proclamation. In addition, our prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award went to Boxpak

Our Headline Sponsor MJ Flood were delighted to be the

Managing Director, Evad IT Solutions Ltd

headline sponsor of the 2016 Irish Print

ANDREW HORAN

Awards. I would like to congratulate

Lecturer, Print and

Irish Printer for putting on such a

Digital Media, Dublin

fantastic night to celebrate the Irish

Institute of Technology

Print Awards for 2016. As the main sponsor for the night, we were very impressed with the big turnout and the

LOUISE REDDY Lecturer, Print Design,

quality of the companies attending.

Dublin Institute

We would also like to congratulate

of Technology

those nominated for awards and, of course, the winners who should be very proud of their achievements.

Michael Power, Managing Director, MJ Flood

KEITH REDMOND General Manager, Flint Group IAN CAIRNS Lecturer in Graphic

Managing Director Robert Parkinson, who has made an outstanding contribution to the print industry over the past five decades.

DAVID MAHON

Distributor of

Design, Dublin Institute of Technology DARREN FINN Director, Flexographic Plate Plan GERRY ROSS Formerly of Robert Horne JOHN CHARNOCK Director and Owner, Print Research International

Alan Quinn, Gillian Ward and Conor O’Loughlin of Neopost.

John Charnock @printwitt What an atmosphere the room is pumping! #PrintAwards16 Sean Griffiths, Aileen Caffrey and Michael Grimes of Canon Ireland.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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Declan O’Rourke, Geraldine O’Rourke, Derek Maher and Lorna Maher of Label World.

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IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

PRINTER OF THE YEAR

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

SPONSORED BY

Distributor of

Plus Print

EDITOR’S NOTE: Under Robert’s guidance, Boxpak has become one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of printed folded cartons and aluminium foil containers ....

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD In 2014 Interpress in Northern Ireland made history when they became the first newspaper printer to win the Supreme Award. In 2015 Plus Print in the Republic of Ireland joined a select group of print companies that have won

MJ Flood’s Phil Schueler presents the award to the Plus Print team of John Kenny, Phyllis Kenny, Peter Kenny and Catherine Kenny.

the Supreme Award more than once. This year,

SPONSORED BY

Robert Parkinson Managing Director, Boxpak

LABEL ART

they reinforced their membership of this exclusive club by winning the Supreme Award once again. They have now won the award three times in the last four years. In fact, Plus Print has enjoyed major success in the Irish Print Awards in a relatively short space of time. They only entered the awards for the first time in 2011 – in the Small Printer of the Year category – and the following year they won the Digital Printer of the Year and Small Printer of the Year categories. They won the Small Printer of the Year award three years in a row (2013 to 2015) and the Reports and Accounts Printer of the Year award in 2015. “We were delighted to once more feature strongly in the category nominations, with wins in the Brochure Printer of the Year category for our work on the Porter Brochure and in the Print Finishing of the Year category for our work on the Irish Design 2015 publication,” says Plus Print’s John Kenny. Despite the success that they have enjoyed in recent years, Plus Print haven’t been resting on their laurels. The company has broadened its client base, invested in new technology, and refurbished its entire premises over the past 18 months. Is John optimistic about 2017? “Yes, we think the trade has been improving over the past year,” he says. “Print is no longer a dirty business – it is a clean game now, so we wanted bright new offices to reflect the way the industry is moving and the way we have moved as a business.”

The recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award – Boxpak Managing Director Robert Parkinson – has made an outstanding contribution to the print industry over a significant period of time.

Robert worked alongside his father in Boxpak,

Adrian Madden of Close Brothers Commercial Finance, and Freddie Snowe, Chairman of the Irish Print Awards judging panel, present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Boxpak Managing Director Robert Parkinson.

a family manufacturing business established in Newtownabbey in Co Antrim in 1950, from a young age during his school holidays. This allowed him to gain experience in the business early in life, learning about and working on machinery, as well as in administrative roles. After leaving school in 1969, he began working full time in the family business and quickly saw the opportunity to further develop the company’s

JOHN KENNY: Print is no longer a dirty business – it is a clean game now, so we wanted bright new offices to reflect the way the industry is moving and the way we have moved as a business.

product portfolio. Boxpak Ltd began its business life manufacturing crimped baking cases for the bakery trade but gradually enhanced its product range with printed folded cartons and aluminium foil containers. With over 47 years’ experience in and commitment to all departments in Boxpak, Robert became Managing Director of the company at the age of 33. Since then, he has steered Boxpak and its employees through years of expansion and growth. Under Robert’s guidance, Boxpak has become one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of printed folded cartons and aluminium foil containers and provides bespoke packaging solutions to a variety of retail and end users in the UK and Europe. The company is a recognised industry specialist, with a portfolio of leading brand names in a broad range of markets, including bakery, food, drinks, confectionery and pharmaceutical. Robert’s three children are now involved in the business, ensuring that Boxpak remains a family business well into the future.

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IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

COMMERCIAL VEHICLE WRAP OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

Ballast Signs

Ballast Signs scooped the top prize in the Commercial Vehicle Wrap of the Year category for their delivery of the SMC - ‘Transform Your Surfaces’ project, which

DIGITAL PRINTER OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

NeoGen

GPMI’s Suneel Seetal presents the award to Blair Scales and Nick Devaney of Ballast Signs.

Norman McNellis of IBS, a Xerox Company, presents the award to Julian McDermott and Ciaran Clancy of NeoGen.

NeoGen was victorious in the Digital Printer of the Year category for its work on the Arnotts Spring/

was printed on an Oki ColorPainter W-64S. Ballast Signs

Summer Magazine 2016. NeoGen’s client, Image Publications, required

had to match images from different sources in order to produce a good quality print. In addition, the 12 vehicles that the wrap was being applied to were Opel Movanos, which provided their own particular challenges when it comes to the application of the wrap, including rubber seams and sharp indents in the panels of van. Ballast Signs decided to use Avery EasyApply 1104 as they believed it would provide the best colour and detail reproduction. Their skilled wrapper completed the job in two days.

a small production run of 300 copies for a launch event prior to the main print run being available. Within a 24 hour period, NeoGen were able to provide all 300 copies for the launch - a 64pp plus 4pp cover, full colour throughout, gloss laminated cover, and perfect bound, all produced in-house in its Blanchardstown facility. Formed in 2004, NeoGen is a communications company specialising in graphic design, print, and digital media services. The company offers the complete package, from concept development, brand management and graphic design, to new

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD

media production, printing and distribution.

NeoGen is currently doubling the size of its print production facilities with the acquisition of an additional building in Blanchardstown.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID:

The National Print Museum (NPM) produced a 1916

Maev Martin, Editor, Irish Printer, presents the award to Freddie Snowe and Alf McCormack.

Proclamation replica series as part of its commemorative activities in 2016. The museum is home to one of the

Superb reproduction under the conditions, showing digital competing in quality and feel with traditional production processes.

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

RUN:

MACHINE:

300 copies

Xerox Versant

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

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, worked tirelessly on restoring the machine to full working order and printed The Proclamation during Easter week 2016 on the 100th anniversary date of the printing of the original.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 13

Print Media Gloss supplied

by Premier Paper - 90gsm gloss on text and 170gsm glass on cover, with a gloss laminate on one side only.

Within a 24 hour period, NeoGen were able to provide all 300 copies for the launch.

13

09/12/2016 15:43

14

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

EVENTS & CORPORATE STATIONERY PRINTER OF THE YEAR

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: This design achieves what the customer was looking for and achieves impact on both sides of the label.

DIGITAL SELF ADHESIVE ROLL LABEL PRINTER

SPONSORED BY

Save the Date.ie

SPONSORED BY

Aidan Parker of Réalt Paper presents the award to John Charnock, Print Research International and member of the Irish Print Awards judging panel, who accepted the award on behalf of Save The Date.ie.

Save the Date.ie was victorious in this category for their work

Label Tech Ltd

in producing a suite of wedding collateral, including stationery, invitations, envelopes, and wedding ceremony booklets. Save the Date.ie is the only wedding stationer in the West of Ireland and is one of the few in the country to offer unique laser cut and letterpress wedding invitations. The company also specialises in bespoke/ made to order laser cut designs and in the production of handmade/bespoke stationery. Free services for customers include printing the guest names on the invitations and the return address on RSVP envelopes. They also print the addresses on envelopes (directly on paper, not on labels). In January 2017 the company will implement an online automated order process and secure invoicing system.

Label Tech Ltd took the top honours in the Digital Self Adhesive Roll Label Printer category for their work on the Listoke Irish gin set. The customer required a matt

Avery Dennison’s Sandra Tarr presents the award to James Costello, David Keogh and Maurice Dunne of Label Tech.

black rough coated finish that, when viewed through the bottle, the reverse of the label would also be black. Sourcing and printing on a matt uncoated black material presented an obvious technical challenge which Label Tech managed to surmount with the use of a special primer. The label was further enhanced using a single tool combination foil/emboss technique. This enabled Label Tech to achieve the standard foil and embossed foil element of the label within the same tool and in a single impression. Listoke’s owl logo had to be visible, not only through the front of the bottle, but also from the back on a clear material to create a ‘no label look’. In addition, the customer required a specific turquoise effect on the Listoke logo which was achieved using a Kurz 308 hotfoil.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: This job involved the creative use of materials combined with well considered finishing techniques to realise excellent design solutions.

RUN:

MACHINE:

RUN:

MACHINE:

1,740 metres

HP Indigo WS 6800 digital press

varied from 100 to 200

a gold foiling press machine

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

Matt uncoated black material

Label Tech achieved a ‘no label look’ using HP’s ‘sandwich printing’ capability, allowing them to print CMYK + White + CMYK once again, effectively creating a double sided label.

navy pearlescent heavyweight card with gold foil.

The graphic design was made to order and unique to the customer.

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 14

09/12/2016 15:43

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016 WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: Highly considered design concept achieved through excellent consideration of materials, combined with print and finishing techniques that create a solution to address the client’s needs.

GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRINT EXCELLENCE

LARGE FORMAT DIGITAL PRINTER OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

Horizon Digital Print

SPONSORED BY

Brandcentral GPMI’s Eoin Honan presents the award to Ross Gillen and Alan Barrett of Horizon Digital Print.

Horizon Digital Print won the Large Format Digital Printer of the Year category at this year’s awards for their Tiger Beer 6 Sheet Lenticular. This was an unusual lenticular job because it was a large format six sheet Adshel outdoor advertising campaign that required good imagery for close-up viewing. However, after seeing the client’s artwork, Horizon Digital Print suggested that it was a perfect candidate for a lenticular campaign. The movement of the tigers towards and away from the Tiger Beer as people walked past the Adshel generated a lot of public interest and added impact to the campaign, which was called ‘Uncage Originals’.

First time entrant and winner, Brandcentral took the top honours in the Graphic Design & Print Excellence category for its ‘Strength in Labels’ project. Brandcentral co-ordinated the print job, which was produced by three

Canon Ireland’s Philip Brady presents the award to Ger Whelan of Brandcentral.

print companies - Label Tech, Print Fusion and Priory Press – and used different printing techniques. The brochure was printed in five colours and featured a cover with a foil printed on a special stock (Fedrigoni 360gsm). Each printer had to ensure that their part of the project fitted with the overall piece. For

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: Stunning, vibrant and original.

example, the box, which contained a specially designed sheet of labels that had to be applied to the top of the box needed to have

Horizon_Prints @Horizon_Prints Happy days!

Honoured to win @IrishPrintAward #printawards16

the same colour reference as the box colour itself. This involved the Head of Production from Label Tech travelling north to Priory Press to ensure that the colours matched. There was also a lot of co-ordination required between Label Tech and Print Fusion who printed the brochure, which included a label swatch.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 15

RUN:

MACHINE:

RUN:

MACHINE:

250 copies

Offset and digital presses

4, at specific site locations, as part of a larger campaign.

Agfa’s Jeti Titan press.

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

Cover printed on Fedrigoni 360gsm

All the labels in the swatch were printed on different stocks with different finishes such as foil, emboss, clear on clear etc.

40lpi lenticular material

The printer used the layered print file to create the layered movement of the tigers moving towards and away from the Tiger Beer as people walked past the Adshel.

15

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16

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

WALL GRAPHIC PRINTER OF THE YEAR

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

SPONSORED BY

LETTERPRESS,OFFSET & FLEXO SELF ADHESIVE LABEL PRINTER OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

Sheerin Sign Graphics HP’s Lyle Rainey presents the award to Sean Sheerin and Tommy Macken.

Multi-Color Corporation

Sheerin Sign Graphics scooped the top honours in the Wall Graphics of the Year category for its work on the Citroen van. Photographer Tommy Macken sourced and photographed the vintage van for a new French restaurant, which will be opening soon in Rathgar, Dublin.

It was printed on Metamark MD-5 vinyl on a Roland Versacamm 540i large format printer, finished with Metaguard matt laminate and mounted on 2mm x 19mm foam PVC panels. It was contour cut, mounted and raised off the wall of the restaurant.

Avery Dennison’s Sandra Tarr presents the award to Bill Smith and David Nevin of MultiColor Corporation.

Multi-Color Corporation won the Letterpress, Offset & Flexo Self Adhesive Label Printer of the Year award for their work on a new label for Irish Distillers. The brief for Multi-Colour Corporation

RUN:

MACHINE:

was to produce a label based on the story of Dublin and a painting

1

Roland Versacamm 540i printer

by a local artist, which was chosen by Irish Distillers through

UNIQUE TO JOB:

Pampa material, which has an extremely textured surface.

The idea was to create, as near as possible, a 3D image of the vintage van coming through the wall of the restaurant.

This presented special challenges, not least of which was

SUBSTRATES: Metamark MD-5 vinyl, Metaguard matt laminate, foam PVC panels.

competition. The new label was printed on Avery Dennison

achieving clean vignettes. Kurz supplied the foil and flexoplate plane, as well as the lithographic and flexo plates. The label required the full use of the Gallus RCS 10 colour press with hot foil and emboss. The run, across 15 different countries, took two weeks to

LED SIGN PRINTER OF THE YEAR Sapphire Signs

SPONSORED BY

complete and ship.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID:

GPMI’s Mark Doyle presents the award to James Murphy of Sapphire Signs.

...an excellent example of well executed litho and flexo printing in conjuction with the substrate and allied to an impactful and cleverly implemented design.

Sapphire Signs won the LED Sign Printer of the Year category for their design and construction of the Dairygold ‘Niro’ sign. The client required an LED lit sign that could be seen from over one kilometer away on a

RUN:

MACHINE:

busy road section so Sapphire Signs used a greater than normally required

23,000 linear metres

Gallus RCS press

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

Avery Dennison Pampa material

Clean vignettes were achieved by printing four colours lithographic, with another four printed flexographic. The ability of the Flint Group to provide inks in both processes was crucial.

number of LEDs. The sign size is 6.68m x 3.717m. Opal acrylic sheets would have bowed at such a scale so Sapphire Signs designed a sign using a variety of elements. The Gold Valley section and Dairygold letters are 100mm deep, built up letters, internally lit by LED modules. In essence, 10 individual light boxes were constructed. The rest of the logo is aluminium background with solid Avery cast vinyl graphics. The letter back trays are 19mm thick Foamex and the letter faces are 5mm opal acrylic.

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 16

09/12/2016 15:43

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

MAGAZINE PRINTER OF THE YEAR

EDITOR’S NOTE: ...The structural design unites with the unique imagery...to provide a wintery Christmas scene.

SPONSORED BY

Nicholson & Bass

LUXURY PACKAGING PRINTER OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

Boxpak Jonathan Megarry (left) of Nicholson & Bass receives the award from David Reid of Sun Chemical.

Nicholson & Bass were victorious in the Magazine Printer of the Year category for their work on the Design Exchange brochure. The 280mm x 220mm portrait size brochure featured a 4pp cover printed both sides in four colour process with soft touch matt lamination on one side on 300gsm matt board. The brochure consisted of 160pp of text, of which 120pp was printed in four colour process on 120gsm uncoated paper, with 40pp printed in four colour process on 150gsm matt paper. The text was folded, gathered and perfect bound, with the covers drawn on and trimmed flush. Colour accuracy and consistency throughout the print run was of paramount importance in the production of this

Boxpak took the top award in the Luxury Packaging

Brian Breheny of Antalis presents the award to Laura Parkinson of Boxpak.

Printer of the Year category for its work on Starbucks Christmas Treats box. The brief for this box was to produce a festive, unique and modern carton for Starbucks based on the family company’s existing bungalow style house product range. The carton was printed in four colour process followed by a UV varnish. This was all carried out using a six colour Komori LSX. Cutting and creasing then took place using a Bobst BMA. This stage also saw the apertures cut out for the door and windows which, at a later stage, had acetate window material cut and glued accordingly. Folding and gluing then took place, which had to be precise for the boxes to assemble correctly, ensuring the locking tab fitted. This was carried out using a Mistral 110. Finally, the carton was windowed using a Kohlmann window patcher.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 17

magazine.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: This project scores highly on all the important components of a magazine – design, substrate, texture and feel.

RUN:

MACHINE:

RUN:

MACHINE:

6 hours, 45 minutes

6 colour Komori LSX, Bobst Vision Cut, Bobst Expert Fold 110, Kohlmann Window Patcher

1,000

Heidelberg Speedmaster 720mm x 1020mm

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

100% recyclable folding box board

The structural design of a bungalow style house with a glass effect door and windows appearance unites with the unique imagery to provide a wintery Christmas scene.

Matt board and uncoated paper

Maintaining the colour vibrancy and consistency throughout the uncoated section was challenging.

17

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18

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PRINTER OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY

Interpress NI

Martin Lockley of manroland (centre) presents the award to David Wilson and Thomas Carey of Interpress NI.

PRINT BUSINESS INNOVATION AWARD

SPONSORED BY

Multi-Color Corporation

Interpress NI took the top honours in the National Newspaper Printer of the Year category for their printing of The Irish News daily newspaper. Interpress NI is a sister company of The Irish News. According to ABC figures for January to June 2016, it is the best performing daily newspaper in Ireland.

RUN:

MACHINE:

50,000 copies per day

96pp full colour manroland Uniset single width press

Multi-Color Corporation took the top honours in this category for its work on the Physio Med product, a highly technical membrane with numerous features and levels of detail. Transparent polyester was screen printed

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

with a silver conductive ink to produce a circuit suitable for carrying

Newsprint

No automation is used in the printing of the newspaper, with register and print quality left to the skill of the printer.

printed on top of this ink to avoid contamination and to seal the

the current through the product. A dielectric ink was then screen circuit. A polycarbonate material was screen printed multiple times to display a graphic, and a self-adhesive material

REPORT & ACCOUNTS PRINTER OF THE YEAR

was die-cut to allow for the electrodes and click dome buttons. The self-adhesive was applied to the dielectric/ conductive material and the complete unit was then SPONSORED BY

intricately die cut to meet specifications and design.

One of the most crucial finishing elements of this product was placing the click dome buttons onto the circuit. These can be viewed by removing the 3M liner on the back of the product. Once

Print Media Services

pressed together these connect the layers Mick Dowling of Swan Paper presents the award to Paddy Gallagher and Gerry Moore of Print Media Services.

of dielectric, completing the circuit.

There was also a very slight dome emboss on the main buttons on the bottom of the membrane.

ABOVE: MJ Flood’s Phil Schueler presents the award to Niall O’Shea of MultiColor Corporation.

Print Media Services scooped the top award in the Report & Accounts Printer of the Year category for their work on the Insurance Institute Annual Report 2015. The annual report was printed on uncoated paper throughout and a special uncoated profile had to be used. This annual report also had a fold out section. The bronze foil on the front and back cover, on 300gsm Keaycolour Blue Board, finishes it off perfectly. The annual report was Pur bound.

RUN:

MACHINE:

500 copies

Komori Lithrone LS529 press

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

Uncoated paper for text and 300gsm Keaycolour Blue Board for cover.

The main challenge was to faithfully reproduce the photographic images that included a lot of black and white images, which were to be printed CMYK.

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 18

RUN:

MACHINE:

1,000 units

Screen printing press

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

Transparent polyester, polycarbonate and self adhesive materials, 3M liner

As each stage in the process was manufactured separately, it was imperative that manufacturing was to exact registration with all levels of the unit, especially considering the tight tolerance allowed for the product.

09/12/2016 15:43

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016 WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: For a small business, it is an impressive product, hitting way above their weight – you don’t often see that quality!

PRINT FINISHING OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

Plus Print

SMALL PRINTER OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY

Neopost’s Conor Power presents the award to John Kenny of Plus Print.

Print Media Services

Plus Print claimed the top prize in the Print Finishing of the Year category for their work on the Irish Design 2015 Yearbook.

This B5 304pp plus 4pp cover book was printed in four colours with a spot orange throughout. The cover was foil blocked on both sides and the end papers were printed in full colour on both sides.

The yearbook was thread sewn in Kavanagh’s Bookbinding with a special orange thread and glued with an exposed spine. The front and back covers were foil blocked and mounted onto 2mm greyboard, which was embossed and foil blocked. The book was glued into greyboards and cut to its final size in PCF Finishing. In addition, Markmaster completed the foil blocking on the greyboards and on the cover.

Print Media Services were victorious in the Small Printer of the Year category for their work on 276pp

Komori UK’s Steve Turner presents the award to Gerry Moore and Paddy Gallagher of Print Media Services.

The Ha’penny Bridge Dublin book. The book was printed on uncoated paper and special attention was paid to the treatment of CMYK images. Print Media Services felt quite nostalgic about printing this book as it is full of old images of the Ha’penny Bridge, which used to be surrounded by some of Ireland’s largest print houses. As a proud Dublin-based printing company, Print Media Services know that a book like this will be around long after they are gone and are honoured to follow in the footsteps of the great printing houses that have given the country so many

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: Excellent overall use of print finishing techniques. Well considered choice of materials and paper stock.

iconic books.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 19

RUN:

MACHINE:

RUN:

MACHINE:

2,000 copies

Komori Lithrone LS529 press

1,000 copies

Komori Lithrone LS29

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

UPM Fine white uncoated 140gsm paper for the text and 170gsm UPM Fine with a matt laminate for the cover, supplied by Swan Paper.

A special uncoated profile had to be used in prepress as the images were required to have good contrast without printing them too dark.

Cover – 350gsm Essential Offset (TQ Paper). Text – 120gsm Essential Offset (TQ Paper)

Plus Print altered the colour curves to allow for the matt coated sheet.

They also altered the dot size of their plates to avoid dot gain.

19

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20

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

REGIONAL NEWSPAPER PRINTER OF THE YEAR

SHEETFED COLOUR OFFSET PRINTER OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

Webprint

W&G Baird

Agfa’s Peter Doyle presents the award to Barry Noonan and Niall O’Driscoll of Webprint.

Webprint won the Regional Newspaper Printer of the Year award for its printing of The Southern Star. The Southern Star works very

SPONSORED BY

Heidelberg UK’s Jim Todd presents the award to Hugh Lowry and Alan McElhinney of W&G Baird.

closely with Webprint when planning any new content for the paper and views a collaborative working relationship with the printer as

W&G Baird were victorious in the Sheetfed Colour Offset Printing category

a vital component of its product strategy and a major factor in

for their work on the Being Mankind publication, which was produced on

its success. In recent years, the newspaper has introduced a series

behalf of a prestigious client. Given the significant nature of the subject

of magazines (printed on 70gsm or 55gsm newsprint), designed in

matter, including images of people and landscape photographs, a

house by the publisher, and printed by Webprint.

high quality of print was mandatory throughout the job. Multiple steps and checking procedures were undertaken to ensure that

RUN:

MACHINE:

12,000

KBA Colora full colour press

consistent quality was maintained to the highest standard throughout the print run. As there was a large amount of solid ink coverage in this book alongside white space, W&G Baird undertook additional care to ensure that there was no set

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

42.5gsm to 70gsm newsprint wood free improved grades

The newspaper’s designers have developed a keen understanding of Webprint’s Agfa CtP system in order to maximise their page output and ensure the best possible print quality.

off throughout the job. The folding of the publication required the highest degree of care and attention to ensure that the lineups of photographs laid out across the double page spreads met exactly and that there was no loss of imagery of text after binding. This book was bound by Robinson

CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD

Mornin Bookbinders in Belfast.

SPONSORED BY

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID:

AWARDED BY INDUSTRY VOTE

Réalt Paper

This award gives print companies the opportunity to recognise excellence in customer service and supply among

Fiona Larmon, Commercial Manager, Irish Printer magazine, presents the award to the team at Réalt Paper.

the key providers of equipment and consumables to the Irish print industry. This year, the Customer Service Award went to

Excellent colour reproduction, particularly with regard to the reproduction of black and full solids.

Excellent use of materials and finishing.

RUN:

MACHINE:

1,000 copies

KBA 10 colour press

Réalt Paper who made it two in a row, having claimed this prize in 2015. “In an industry where service is so important, we are delighted to win the ‘Best Customer Service’ award for the second year running,” says

UNIQUE TO JOB:

Lar Barron, Operations Director, Réalt Paper. “Thank you to all of our

The heavy ink coverage throughout the book meant that W&G Baird had to ensure that all photographs were reproduced to a consistent standard throughout the print run.

customers who voted for Réalt. We continue to grow and we continue to provide the very best service in this industry.”

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 20

09/12/2016 15:43

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016 WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: Excellent colour reproduction.

Well considered choice of stock. Very clean finishing.

BROCHURE PRINTER OF THE YEAR

BOOK PRINTER OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

Watermans Printers Ltd

SPONSORED BY

Plus Print Mark Horgan of Antalis presents the award to John Waterman of Watermans Printers.

Watermans Printers Ltd were victorious in this category for their work on Walking on the Pastures of Wonder publication. The book comprises of 184pp at 215mm x 138mm plus a cover, end papers and dust jacket.

The end papers are Wibalin Natural 502 (fawn). The

dust jacket is printed on 190gsm uncoated material and features a silver foil on the front. The cover includes a silver foil on the spine. The book is thread sewn with the cover drawn on. Walking on the Pastures of Wonder was printed using different substrates and finishing techniques.

Plus Print Ltd were victorious in this category for their work on the Porter brochure for Porsha Bespoke

Swan Paper’s Barbara Newman presents the award to John Kenny of Plus Print.

Ltd in Co Fermanagh. The 20pp 280mm x 380mm and 4pp cover publication was printed one colour black on the inside pages of the cover and featured a black matt foil blocked on the front and back covers. The 20pp text was printed in four colours throughout. The job was planned up using Kodak Prinergy software and all images were individually adjusted with profiles to match the paper. The plates were made on Plus Print’s Creo Lotum CtP B2 platesetter using settings specifically measured to suit paper type and press settings. Typetec Ltd were employed to test Plus Print’s press and plate settings and they created four

EDITOR’S NOTE: Walking on the Pastures of Wonder was printed using different substrates and finishing Lir Mac Cárthaigh techniques.

@lirmac Congrats to Book Printer of the Year Watermans! #PrintAwards16

colour curves to suit four different paper stocks. This allowed Plus Print to create much sharper images using less ink on the different stocks. The brochure was saddle stitched, with short front and back covers with copper staples.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 21

RUN:

MACHINE:

RUN:

MACHINE:

1,000 copies

Komori Lithrone LS29

2,000 copies

Heidelberg CD 10 colour 5/5 Perfecting with Image Control

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

PAPER:

UNIQUE TO JOB:

175gsm Colorplan Pale grey Buchram Embossed (GF Smith) for the cover, and 160gsm Challenger Offset (Swan Paper) for the text.

Plates for this job were made with a 150 line screen as opposed to the standard 170 line screen that Plus Print use on standard coated stocks.

80gsm Munken Print Vol 18 for the text and Wibalin Buckram 552 green for the cover.

Accurate measurement of the spine width was required for the positioning of the dust jacket over the cased book.

21

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22

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

PRINT MEDIA APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

PRINT GRADUATE OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY

NI

James Moore

Aidan Quigley

Belfast Metropolitan College

James Moore of Belfast Metropolitan College won the Print Media Apprentice award for Northern Ireland.

SPONSORED BY

DIT Bolton Street

Alphagraphics’ Wesley Moody presents the award to James Moore of Belfast Metropolitan College.

For the last three years James has been undertaking training with Belfast Metropolitan College, working towards

Aidan Quigley of DIT Bolton Street is the 2016 Print Graduate of the Year.

his Level 3 Apprenticeship in Machine Printing Web-Offset, and

Aidan is the recipient of this year’s BA in Print Media Technology and

working in Interpress NI. “The Print Media Apprentice accolade is

Management. This was a culmination of four years of considerable

awarded to James on the basis of exceptional contribution to his

input, capability and commitment from Aidan. During the third

workplace and dedication to excel in his professional development

year of his studies, Aidan attended Munich University of Applied

and learning,” says Ian Cairns, Print Lecturer, Belfast Metropolitan

Sciences in Germany and undertook a full semester of studies

College.

in the Paper and Media department. “Munich’s report back described Aidan as an exceptional student and a great ambassador,” says Dr Kevin Byrne, Chair, BA (Hons) Print

PRINT MEDIA APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR

Media Technology and Management programme. “He recently completed SPONSORED BY Irish Printing Federation

Joe Kelly

award for the Republic of Ireland. Joe commenced his

excellent

industry

research

project and submitted his final thesis based on this. Aidan is representative of the calibre of students

ROI

that we graduate from this industry specific honours management degree and we are delighted that he has chosen to take up

DIT Bolton Street

Joe Kelly of DIT Bolton Street won the Print Media Apprentice

an

ABOVE: Emma Horgan of The Sunday Business Post presents the award to Aidan Quigley of DIT Bolton Street.

employment with an Irish firm in the print sector.”

Eugene Healy, President of the Irish Printing Federation and Managing Director of Trimfold Envelopes presents the award to Joe Kelly of DIT Bolton Street.

apprenticeship with the family business, GCP Print, in August 2015.

“Joe showed great enthusiasm in class and has the total respect of

esmark finch ltd @esmarkfinch Amazing night with such nice company!

Congratulations to the winners! #PrintAwards16

his fellow students,” says Andrew Horan, Programme Chair, Print Media Apprenticeship. “He continues to strive to improve and learn in all practical and theory subjects. It was a tough decision with the quality of apprentices this year but Joe stood out and was highly recommended by all of his lecturers.”

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 22

09/12/2016 15:43

IRISH PRINT AWARDS 2016

Phyllis Kenny and Catherine Kenny of Plus Print with Lorraine Bell and Mary Miskelly of GPS Colour Graphics.

Robert Holland, Colorman Ireland, Maurice Mulville, Réalt Paper, and Jason O’Brien, Neopost.

Georgina Barrett and Mark Robinson of Robinson & Mornin.

Ronan McCann, Multi-Packaging Solutions with Wesley Moody, Padraic Sherry and David Phillips of Alphagraphic Inks Ltd.

Darren O’Carroll, Claire O’Carroll and Ciaran Joyce of Avery Dennison.

Barbara Newman, Swan Paper and Susan O’Sullivan of Bonfire.

Tommy Macken, Murielle Glynn, Sean Sheerin and Hannah Macken of Sheerin Sign Graphics Ltd.

Siobhan Crean and Harry Crean of Speciality Print.

Sakurai UK’s Manager David Ryan with Freddie Snowe, Chairman of the Irish Print Awards judging panel.

Wayne Kershaw, Etain Butler, Donnán Cullen and Philip Brady of Canon Ireland.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

011_IP Nov_Dec 2016_IP Awards.indd 23

Gareth Parkinson, Sharon Parkinson, and Robert Parkinson of Boxpak with Derek Bell (second from right) of GPS Colour Graphics.

Niall O’Driscoll, Sean Mahon, Shelly Galvin and John Galvin of Webprint.

Philip Kelly, Susan Schaerer and Hannah Gilligan of The Label Factory.

23

09/12/2016 15:44

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09/12/2016 09:11 11:20 06/11/2015 07/12/2016 08:55

MARKETING

There’s a

in Town Why bother with marketing?

Professional marketer Jacky Hobson answered that question and more during her ‘Marketing for Printers’ presentation at Canon Ireland’s HQ in Dublin on October 18th.

Maev Martin reports.

art of the education aspect of Canon’s Essential Business Builder Programme, the workshop looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the various marketing channels, how printers can embrace these channels for their own benefit, and how they can better engage with the modern print buyer.

In many instances,the marketer

025_IP Nov_Dec 2016_Marketing.indd 25

is today’s print buyer and they often require convincing about print’s unique role in the marketing mix.

Apparently, the British Printing Industry Federation did research on what the typical UK printer looked like and determined that a typical printer was a man, in his late 40s, working in a family business, and someone who had worked in that business since their youth. He was also passionate about print and was selling to people who looked like him and talked the same language, focusing on print technology and finishes. Jacky called this guy Ron. “The only problem now is that today’s typical marketer is Sarah (or Simon) who is in their early 30s, part of generation Y, has a degree, probably in marketing, and knows nothing about print,” she said.

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09/12/2016 12:54

26

MARKETING

“You then have Marcus, the ad or design agency character, who Sarah has more in common with than Ron. They are probably connected with each other on social media.

Marcus knows all about digital channels, and he probably has a degree in design.” In other words, the disconnect between Ron and Sarah, between the printer and the buyer, has to be addressed. “I’m finding that the new successful sales guys in print look more like Marcus than Ron and they are offering a total service solution,” she said. “Therefore the printer needs to use their marketing collateral and their considerable knowledge of print and of digital services to be more of a Sarah than a Ron.” One of the printers at the workshop agreed with Jacky’s characterisations of the typical printer, print buyer and ad agency person, and acknowledged that this is an issue in the Irish print industry. “Ad agencies, print brokers and the new marketers can be difficult to deal with,” he said. “You wouldn’t send someone straight out of college to sell print to a design or ad agency.” So why does Sarah choose to buy from Marcus rather than direct from Ron? “Despite the fact that Marcus is probably putting an, on average, 30% mark up on print, buyers believe that it is less risky to deal with an agency and that they are less likely to be blinded with technology and technical questions than they are by the printer,” said Jacky. One of the printers in the room said that it was probably because they are bringing a design focus and a marketing message to the conversation. Also, Sarah would see an impartiality in Marcus that she wouldn’t see in Ron. This is why it is so important for printers to show that they are knowledgeable about digital forms of communication and can offer those services to clients if they require them.

The Message Jacky told the workshop that printers can’t rely on saying that they deliver great service and quality. “Great service and quality aren’t USPs,” she said. “Great service and quality are a given – you won’t win over a customer from another printer by saying that or by stressing your record of achievement. If you want your audience to know what you are offering you will need to be able to explain it to them, succinctly. Your USP should form the basis of all of your marketing messages and be incorporated into all of your marketing collateral.”

Jacky shared what she believed were some excellent straplines that everyone in the room was familiar with, all of which were clever and captured what the brands were about – ‘the world’s local bank’ (HSBC), ‘Vorsprung durch Technik (Audi), ‘just do it’ (Nike), ‘does exactly

Ad agencies, print brokers and the new marketers can be difficult to deal with.... You wouldn’t send someone straight out of college to sell print to a design or ad agency.

what it says on the tin’ (Ronseal), and ‘every little helps’ (Tesco).

“The essence of content marketing is the belief that if businesses deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward them with their business and loyalty,” said Jacky. “As such, it is perfect for printers. Think of the content that we could share with our customers and prospects that would not only help them but probably make our life easier too! Examples might be a ‘how to’ video on preparing a print ready file, downloadable guides on how to specify a print job, innovation or file preparation workshops, checklists, sample books and glossaries. In short, stuff that is of use, of benefit, and aligns you with your target audience.”

Progressive UK printers, Prime Group are active on social media, they are keen bloggers, and they create regular content for their customer base.

They blog on what they are doing in relation to personalisation and direct mail, and they drive people to the content they are creating via Twitter.

“What is important is that they know they are getting customers from their online presence,” said Jacky. “They monitor the ROI from their tweets - it is measurable but not a definite science. It has taken them two to three years to establish the impressive online presence that they have now.”

Marketing Mediums Canon’s Insight Report has some great statistics to prove how successful a medium print is. When it comes to other channels, direct mail is still extremely effective but it has to be targeted and, where possible, personalised.

“Email marketing is cheap but the ROI is low,” said Jacky. “Bought-in data is fraught with problems and is often awash with generic addresses.

The open rates are rarely above 20% for unsolicited approaches although, as part of a well thought-through cross media campaign, it can reap benefits. Telemarketing is recognised as being notoriously resource-hungry, and therefore expensive, but most marketers believe that telemarketing combined with direct mail is the ultimate winning formula as it is most effectively utilized as a ‘warm up’ to the call which follows. Anecdotally, it is widely accepted that the response rates to direct mail are doubled when followed by a call. The key to being successful with it is to create remarkable content that will be found and to use it more for listening than broadcasting. When it comes to Google Adwords/PPC, there are those that advocate it but proceed with caution. There are few success stories of those in the print industry generating an acceptable level of ROI from this.”

What Do You Do? Jacky Hobson

025_IP Nov_Dec 2016_Marketing.indd 26

Jacky showed the printers a slide with four job descriptions - the printer, the print service provider, the communications service provider and the marketing service provider. “Most printers that I know provide a mix of the services provided by the communications service provider and the marketing services provider,” she said. “Essentially, it is OK to just be a printer, and we already

09/12/2016 12:55

Codes, tags, Mobile Print Recognition (Documobi), Near Field Communication (NFC) and Augmented Reality - these innovations offer all of the measurability of online technology but are driven by print. “Innovations like these provide opportunities for content, starting a conversation, and creating value added services and opportunities for tying in the customer,” said Jacky.

“Make sure you know about these innovations, keep up to date with new ones, and proactively promote them to customers. Who is talking to Sarah about these new print-related innovations? It is probably Marcus, our design agency guy, or other suppliers. This is a real lost opportunity for the print industry because so much print technology is now driving people to online channels. Another example is personalised URLs. Research shows that PURLs are more effective in print than in emails. PURLs are still a quite new and exciting technology and they are relatively easy to achieve. There is scope for printers to talk to marketers about this technology and how they can help them to incorporate it into their campaigns. Personalisation in the digital space online is what it is all about for the marketer and many of them probably don’t realise that they can do that with print. They don’t realise that print is that clever or dynamic. That is why we should be telling them all about it in our newsletters, on Twitter or LinkedIn, or by posting it on blogs.”

Myth Busting If we accept that the new print buyers don’t know about print, it figures that they will be susceptible to misinformation about it, that they will continue to perceive it as ‘old media,’ and think that it lacks measurability. “Printers should be active in dispelling myths about print and the environment and informing the print buyer about the facts,” said Jacky. “Organisations like Two Sides do a fantastic job to promote the industry’s environmental credentials, while Print Power and Canon’s own ‘Value of Print’ research demonstrate why print is as valuable in today’s marketing mix as it always has been. To ensure that print thrives, it is important that the message that print is both sustainable and relevant is part of our marketing. It is our responsibility to educate, inform and inspire our target audience to ensure that we stimulate continued demand for print.”

Canon Ireland will run a follow up workshop on digital/cross media marketing in February 2017.

025_IP Nov_Dec 2016_Marketing.indd 27

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offer a lot of the marketing and communications services on this slide – we just need to make people aware of them. What you call yourself isn’t important but how you explain what you do is.” She mentioned a well established printer in the UK who now describes himself as a ‘marketing production company’. “Most of his output is still print, but by changing how he describes himself he is giving customers a true reflection of what he does,” she said. “If you have taken the decision to evolve (and you may have taken the decision not to) it may be easier than you think. It is about skills and service so isn’t necessarily reliant on huge investment or additional capital equipment. There are four potential ways forward, through recruitment, training, acquisition and collaboration. One thing that printers don’t give themselves credit for is their project managing skills, so why not partner with people who can do what you can’t in order to plug the service gap? If you believe that your customers have an appetite for cross media and cross channel communications then talk to them about the possibility of adding it as a bolt on service and train your staff to do it. Alternatively, you can offer it as a service that is delivered by someone else but managed by the printer – I know printers who have gone down both routes and been very successful.”

09/12/2016 12:55

28

BUSINESS MATTERS

That was the key message at Neopost’s inaugural Print XL ‘Grow Your Business’ Expo in the Red Cow Hotel, Dublin on September 27th and 28th. The event was billed as Neopost’s biggest ever expo and was jam packed with printing equipment covering 3,500 square feet.

he 120 print companies that attended received expert advice on growing their business from the Neopost team and they also met some of the other leading suppliers in the industry,” says Conor Power, Sales & Operations Director, Neopost. “In addition, they were able to learn about expanding into exciting, high margin segments such as wideformat print, promotional printing, sign-making, and print finishing.”

Print XL featured two specialist halls covering wide format and print finishing equipment. Neopost teamed up with Ricoh, Roland, Duplo and The Magic Touch to demonstrate the latest innovations across these print technologies. In the wide format hall, Roland had a number of machines on display, including their new SG-540 and VG-640 printers.The Magic Touch were demonstrating their solutions for full colour image transfer decoration to a vast range of promotional and B2B products. In the print finishing hall, Duplo showcased an extensive range of booklet makers and cutter/ creasers, including their DBM 600i, DC616 and DC-646 machines. Ricoh also had a number of high-volume digital production presses on show, including the Ricoh Pro C9100. Attendees were also able to see a Mohr-66 guillotine and the Eurofold Touchline CF375 from Multigraf, which is an integrated creasing and folding system.

Speakers at the Print XL event

included Eugene Healy, President of the Irish Printing Federation, and well-known print consultant John Charnock. Eugene Healy spoke about the threat to the Print Media Apprenticeship and the importance of maintaining a skilled knowledge base within the industry.

Support Print, Take On An Apprentice The Print Media Apprenticeship has been granted a one-year reprieve. Following representations by the Irish Printing Federation, a meeting was held between Solas and DIT at which it was agreed that the college wouldn’t call time on the apprenticeship just yet. “The Print Media Apprenticeship is the only recognised craft training qualification in the state and the industry needs properly trained craftspeople,” said Eugene Healy. “There is already a skills shortage in a number of key areas in

The Roland SG-540 wide format printer.

028_IP Nov_Dec 2016_Business Matters.indd 28

09/12/2016 11:14

BUSINESS MATTERS

the Irish print industry. While in-house training might work as a stop-gap measure, it will ultimately lead to a de-skilling of our workforce. At a time when the industry is facing so many challenges – the economic uncertainty of Brexit, foreign competition, and a move away from print for certain applications, we can’t afford to lose our skills base. If we fail to address this issue it will have a serious impact on our ability to compete in the future.” What can Irish printers do? Unfortunately, the negotiations to save the apprenticeship scheme have caused some delay in the registration of apprentices, so the Irish Printing Federation is calling on all printers who might consider taking on an apprentice to contact the Irish Printing Federation as a matter of urgency (Diane Dignam – info@irishprintingfederation.ie or 086 852 0893). Furthermore, the IPF is calling on all stakeholders in the industry – printing companies, training bodies, unions and state agencies - to join with the IPF to fight for the continuation of the Print Media Apprenticeship.

RIGHT: The main speaker at Neopost’s Print XL event, John Charnock of Print Research International. BELOW: The Duplo 600i booklet system.

Taking Advantage of Technology John Charnock of Print Research International gave a fascinating presentation on the new technologies showcased at Drupa. A pioneer of print technology with over 30 years experience, he talked about how print companies can take advantage of technology and innovation in their businesses. “The technological highlights for me at Drupa were the finishing and special effects - Scodix and Highcon did exceedingly well – and the Massivit 3D printer caused a stir,” he said. “There was lots of automation and added value products, and inkjet was simply everywhere!” Where does he see as the major business opportunities for printers? “It is not really about the business opportunities specifically most printers have a huge list of things that they could invest in such as large format, special effects, finishing, 3D printing, multi-channel systems, web2print and sales order automation, to name just a few,” he said. “However, what they need to do is decide which one represents the best opportunity and conduct some simple analysis to understand which one to do first, second and third.”

Does innovation help sell print? “Taking the longerterm perspective, innovation doesn’t really help sell print,” he said. “It may help build your reputation, it may get you some PR, but generally the competition catches up. Innovation must fit into the overall strategy. Will the innovation make the business better at decision making?

Is it within our vision, goals and culture? Will innovation help us to understand more and be better at what we do? Will it give us insight? Will the innovation help our people, products, and services be more competitive or better utilised? Will the innovation help us communicate or demonstrate our values better? Will it help us deliver our promises? Will the innovation help us to be more efficient, motivated or automated? Using innovation as one component within a longer term strategy is extremely powerful because all customers want to know that they are using innovation and an innovative supplier.”

Do printers need to invest more in software, MIS, W2P, training, R&D and customer research and less on presses, bindery equipment and special finishing kit?

“Innovation isn’t just about investing in equipment,” he said. “Printers are great at buying the tangible items, presses, bindery etc but not so great at investing in the less tangible aspects of running a business, such as training, customer insight, software solutions and CRM (it still amazes me how few printers use a CRM for their business). Today businesses have to be more professional, adaptive and responsive to markets, invest in the staff, products and services, show leadership, and have a vision for their operations. And, of course, innovation isn’t just about bringing something new into your company.

Investment in product development is innovation too!”

028_IP Nov_Dec 2016_Business Matters.indd 29

RIGHT: A car wrap sample at Print XL. BELOW: The wide format hall at Print XL.

29

09/12/2016 11:14

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09/12/2016 10:10 11:20 22/11/2016

CASE STUDY

LATEX OFFERS

Dublin-based Universal Graphics’ HP Latex 3100 is now an integral part of their business, producing vinyl graphics for vehicle wrapping. Managing Director Simon Murray says that moving to HP latex technology has allowed them to drive many production efficiencies, including faster turnaround times.

Simon Murray, Sales Director, Universal Group with Eir customer vehicles.

roducing graphics for companies that work in time critical environments is at the core of Universal Graphics’ business. The HP Latex 3100 allows Universal to keep to their customers’ tight deadlines, giving them a key differentiator in the market place. The green credentials of the HP latex inks have also resulted in a much cleaner working environment.

Universal Graphics is one of the UK and Ireland’s leading

031_IP Nov_Dec 2016_Case Study.indd 31

print service providers for fleet graphics and vehicle wraps, signage, and in-store branding. The company has always embraced the latest printing technologies, which has allowed them to maintain their competitive edge for the 20+ years that it has been in operation, and fulfils their customers’ increasing demands for quick turnarounds and high-quality graphics. “We’re a forward-thinking company and we work with some very high-profile, likeminded brands,” says Simon Murray. “As such, we constantly need to push the boundaries when it comes to our product offering and service. Investing in new technology has been key to achieving this and, in turn, has enabled us to expand our customer base across the UK and Ireland, as well as streamline our production processes, which also positively impacts the bottom line.”

Better Production, Faster Turnaround The company’s most recent investment decision was to install HP latex printing technology. The HP Latex 3000 printer was purchased through HP reseller, Diatec, in 2013 and then upgraded to a HP Latex 3100 printer in 2015 to benefit from the latest HP developments for this platform, such as faster production speeds, higher-quality and increased automation.

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09/12/2016 11:15

32

CASE STUDY

“Our operators were facing issues with colour matching and consistency,” says Simon. “In the worst cases, jobs would have to be reprinted, resulting in longer lead times and wasted print. With our customers requiring us to stick to tight deadlines, this just wasn’t sustainable. The HP latex printer not only resolved this problem, providing a more efficient and reliable system, but it also enabled us to offer even quicker turnarounds, as the prints are ready for finishing or installation the moment they come off the printer.

The graphics produced on the latex printer are also preferred by our fitters as it achieves better results on vinyl.

We get a lot of feedback that the graphics are easier to remove, making that process more time-efficient too.”

Since installing the HP latex printer, Universal Graphics believes that production time has been cut by 70%. In addition, the quality and performance of the printer has generated more work for the company’s existing big-brand clients, such as DHL, Emirates and Guinness, and presented new business opportunities, enabling the company to expand its customer base across the UK and Ireland. In fact, the first job printed on the HP latex printer was for 250 fleet wraps which needed to be produced within four weeks.

Previously, Universal Graphics would have had to outsource part of this job to complete it within the deadline.

“Universal Graphics is certainly getting ROI from the HP latex printer,” he says. “We can enter new markets and deliver work that we couldn’t do before within the time required. The HP Latex 3100 also complements our range of existing solvent and eco-solvent printers to ensure that we can offer a flexible solution and an extensive product portfolio. Universal Graphics also has an exclusive partnership with technology company 3M, a real unique selling point and source of additional credibility when attracting new clients.

Combined with 3M certified media that comes with a special warranty for the lifetime of the job, the HP latex technology provides even further value and reassurance for customers.”

an environmental perspective, but the added benefit of the HP latex technology is that we have also improved working conditions, as the prints produced with latex inks are odourless,” he says. “The printer is also very user-friendly and requires less maintenance, giving our operators more time to do the next job.”

Future Investment Since adopting HP latex technology, the printer has not only met the company’s objectives but exceeded

expectations. “In HP, we have a partner that can offer us a holistic range of solutions for different applications and diverse markets,” he says. “We plan to install both HP Latex and Scitex equipment in the near future, enabling us to further expand on the success we have enjoyed with our initial HP Latex investment.”

The full HP latex printing portfolio includes printers up to 1.63 metres (64 inches) roll width and up to 3.2 metres (126 inches) roll width, allowing print service providers to print on a wider range of applications and at potentially higher profit margins. Companies like Universal Graphics can choose from flexible coated and uncoated materials and add applications printed on films, papers, textiles, canvas and wallpaper to their product offering.

Better Working Environment In addition to the cost savings and faster delivery times enabled by the HP Latex 3100, the environmental credentials of HP latex inks were also a factor in deciding to purchase this system. Water-based HP latex inks require no special ventilation, no hazard warning labels or hazardous air pollutants. They are also nonflammable, non-combustible, nickel free and UL EcoLogo certified, meeting a range of stringent human health criteria. “It’s important to Universal Graphics to do the right thing from

031_IP Nov_Dec 2016_Case Study.indd 32

TOP: Emma Hunt-Duffy, Sales & Marketing Manager, in the Fyffes ProWrap360 truck by Universal Graphics. ABOVE: Universal Graphics is one of the UK and Ireland’s leading print service providers (PSPs) for fleet graphics and vehicle wraps, signage and instore branding.

09/12/2016 12:56

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09/12/2016 17:34 11:20 08/12/2016