Print+ Vol 5 Issue 24 (April - May)

5

CHAN-CE OF A LIFETIME A force to be reckoned with

print+ editor note

Modernity over environmental ethics?

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CHAN-CE OF A LIFETIME A force to be reckoned with

Publisher

Kay MaThy

kaymathy@hashplus.com.my Editor-in-Chief

aloysios Francis

aloy@hashplus.com.my Editor

nicholas Daniel raj

nicholas@hashplus.com.my Journalist

azlyra KarMelia

azlyra@hashplus.com.my Editorial Assistant

nur ilani abDullah

ilani@hashplus.com.my Creative Director

ahMaD aliFF azeeM

ahmad@hashplus.com.my Creative Designer

MuhaMMaD aFiq nor MuhaMMaD

afiqnor@hashplus.com.my General Manager

V.GunasaGaraM

vgunasagaram@hashplus.com.my Publishing Manager

hilary lazaroo

hilary@hashplus.com.my

April-May | 2015

Business Development Manager

02

KuMaran GunasaGaran

kumaran@hashplus.com.my Admin Executive

nur syaiFiqa rosli

iqa@hashplus.com.my

Published by: hash Plus communication sdn bhd

Vol.5 | Issue 24

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he paper and print industries have come a long way in being more sustainable and environmentally friendly and responsible. This could definitely be seen when compared against the electronics industry. Many paper manufacturers power their facilities with varying forms of renewable energy sources while printing companies do so through the REC system endorsed by EPA’s Green Power Partnership.

While growing, trees capture carbon and continue to store carbon throughout their life cycle. Certification programs maintained by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council and Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification guarantee that material bought with a claim that the paper or wood product is produced sustainably is in fact tracked through one of the four chain of custody programs. Any of the products carrying one of these labels can be traced back to the forests from which the trees used in the product were harvested. All this is verified annually by a mandatory third party audit of each certified company taking possession of the wood, pulp, fiber, paper or printed material within the chain of custody for the purpose of further manufacturing or distribution.

A quick contrast of how wood and pulp products flow against that of electronic forms of media shows a stark difference between the two.

Electronic gadgets contain many toxic metals such as arsenic, cadmium, barium, beryllium and mercury.

All these area housed in a petroleum based plastic shell, likely derived from the Middle East. Most computers and gadgets get replaced every two years or with faster, more convenient upgrades.

And where does all this e-waste go? Recycled, maybe, if that’s what you would call children in some third world countries stripping the parts for the precious metals that are also housed alongside of the heavy metals. Little hands are exposed to the toxic materials all the same. While we all “social media” ourselves silly, we forget that our electricity is really dug out of the earth by fellow human beings who work in a seemingly medieval, barbaric industry and face the horrific choice of either putting their lives on the line every day for the rest of us, or having no work at all.

Of course, the real environmental hazard comes when the e-waste is left to decay into the water table or worse, incinerated illegally.

Trees are solar powered, computers are not. Tree products can be recycled, computers, not so easily. Trees are grown naturally, computers, obviously don’t. Trees suck in the harmful effects that are emitted from gadgets while these gadgets emit them.

Now let’s rethink before we claim that printing harms the environment.

March-April I| 2015 2015 April-May

print+

Vol.5 | Issue 24

04

content 06 | Take a DIP aT DruPa 2016 08 | GooGle sInGs PraIses for PrInT

22-23 | sTeaDy ParTnershIP

34-35 | In a class of ITs own

12-14 | servInG wITh a Touch

26-27 | anyThInG more To PrInT aT PrInTmore?

36 | emPIre sTaTe of economIcs

16-19 | suPerIor bonDInG 20-21 | fashIoneD To meeT all challenGes

28 | commanDInG QualITy 30-33 | on The fasT lane

38-39 | aDvancInG TowarDs a GreaT era 42-47 | DrIven DonGGuan

print+ Drupa nEWS

Take a DIP at drupa 2016

April-May | 2015

Future vision to be demonstrated in six theme parks

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The drupa innovation park 2016 (DIP) at drupa 2016, the world’s leading trade fair for print and crossmedia solutions, will again be the focal point for the industry’s latest inspiring and creative developments.

The six theme parks will display current trends and topics along with business cases related to process-oriented print and publishing solutions.

Drupa, the world’s largest printing equipment exhibition, will take place from May 31 to June 10, 2016 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Sabine Geldermann, director of drupa, explained: “The drupa innovation park is a fantastic way for young companies and start-ups as well as global players with forward looking solutions and applications to present themselves. Since it was introduced at drupa 2004, the “DIP” had made a name for itself in the industry as a pioneering technology and solution platform for the international print and media industry and we are building on this success. In line with the strategic restructuring of drupa 2016 and its focus on highlight topics, the drupa innovation park, with its six themed areas, will give visitors a chance to get insights into the technologies of the future. We believe that this opportunity will give our industry an indispensable tool to support strategic business decisions.”

At the DIP, attendees will find trend-setting innovations, solutions and business cases in a centrally and clearly designed area, covering more than 32,000 square feet in Hall 7.0.

In addition, the integrated communication concept on the presentation stage and in the “DIP energy lounge” will help to promote interactive dialogue between industry peers.

DIP 2016 will be divided into six theme parks during this exhibition.

To start off, it is the Multichannel Publishing & Marketing Solutions, this park will cover topics such as

management of cross-media content/assets, web and app publishing as well as database publishing and marketing and brand management solutions. Potential applications and trends such as augmented reality, NFC applications and customized mass production will also be addressed. Secondly, it is the Web-toMedia & E-Commerce. In this theme park, solutions for web-to-publish and web-to-print, E-commerce and shop platforms, cloud publishing and web editors for design/print and HTML 5 will be more focused on.

Next comes the Process Optimization & Automation where solutions and innovation will be included on the following topics: management information systems, enterprise resource planning, print automation with JDF/JMF, workflow management from pre-press to finishing, process and quality control systems, industrial robots and automation technologies. The Added Value in Print theme park’s focus will be on finishing, further development and the advanced added-value of print products, including innovative substrates, new finishing methods, packaging, label printing & displays, green printing and secure printing.

Modern printing and process technologies will be presented in the Innovations in Printing Technologies theme park and visitors will be able to find applications for functional printing, printed electronics, 3D printing, and solutions for prototyping, visualization and workflow. Last but not least, comes the Business Models theme park where new business concepts and models, strategic cooperation and marketing platforms as well as finance concepts and franchising and license models will be the subject of this innovation park.

An international team of experts will again be responsible for designing and marketing the drupa

innovation park. “The DIP is a platform for all visitors to drupa 2016, sharing knowledge and providing an insight into future communication developments in the print and media industry,” stated Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology.

Peter Sommer, senior vice president of the Elanders Group, added: “drupa has always been synonymous with technical innovations. But what has been lacking is implementation in successful business models, especially in relation to competition in the online and mobile segments.

The drupa innovation park is a beacon in this respect and does what the name suggests. Ideally, it will turn the drupa slogan ‘Touch the future’ into reality.”

Messe Düsseldorf has again assigned the marketing, communications & events agency Winter Consulting with the organization and design of the drupa innovation park. For more than 14 years, Winter Consulting has been designing and implementing exhibition concepts for innovative trade fairs and conferences.

Owner Sandra Winter has been actively involved in marketing, communication and sales in the IT, print and media industry since 1992 and oversaw the drupa innovation parks in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

Drupa will switch Drupa, the world’s leading trade fair for print and cross-media solutions has come to a decision to switch to a threeyear cycle after 2016 which runs from May 31 to June 10.

“The entire print process chain has changed radically because of the Internet and digital technologies. New applications and solutions are developing and opening up new fields of business. At the same time, there is more focus on innovative technologies, such as 3D printing, printed electronics and functional printing,” explains Claus Bloza-Schunemann, chairman of the Drupa Advisory Board

print+ Drupa nEWS

Positive outlook

The second “drupa Global Trends” report has shown admirable strength of recovery from the recession along with astonishing insights and positive feedbacks. The report was designed to emphasize on the economic and operational trends in the international print sector. More than 1,100 international decision-makers from the print industry and their suppliers responded to the comprehensive survey.

The survey that was done in October 2014 as well as the results obtained were interesting and almost identical to the first “drupa Global Trends” report from February 2014. However, to ensure a balanced picture of the global print market, a full survey was conducted amongst the industry suppliers for the very first time.

Developments and important key data from the worldwide print sector such as financial conditions, business climate,

to a three-year cycle after 2016 and president Koenig & Bauer Group, on their decision of switching to a three-year cycle instead of a four-year cycle during their meeting in Dusseldorf.

However, there is a positive outcome of this change. Interpack, the world’s most important trade fair for the packaging industry would be in the year 2020, the same year as Drupa 2020, and so with this decision made there will not be any clashes, “The Drupa exhibitors who specialize in packaging printing would have found 2020 an incredibly stressful year so the change will clearly benefit customers”, emphasizes Werner Dornscheidt,

president and CEO Messe Dusseldorf.

Although with this change, it was stated that the precise dates haven’t yet been finalized, however, it is clear that Drupa will take place in the traditional Drupa month of May in 2019, 2022 and 2025 in Dusseldorf.

“It’s more important than ever before that our customers have an overview of the latest technology and are also inspired to use new business models and solutions. Drupa is the only specialist trade fair in the world to offer this-and will do so every three years in the future.”

example, the sales for print service providers continue to rise but are less pronounced whereby 39% of print service providers report an increase whereas 22% show a drop in sales.This positive balance of 17% is well below the positive net balance of 27% from the first survey.

Secondly, the margins for print service providers continue to fall.

Almost half, which is at 43% of the print service providers reported falling margins, while only 16% succeeded in increasing margins.

Positive exceptions here are the markets of North America and the Middle East, where 29% and 28% reported increased margins.

Though the share of digital printing in the overall printing technology may take over and continues to rise, most turnover continues to be generated from the traditional print. Only 10% of the print service providers survey has achieved more than 25% of their 2014 sales in digital printing.

Print service providers are often recommended as a new business area yet they’re not being realised in practice. Results have shown only 27% of the print providers survey has achieved more than 10% of their sales with services outside the printing sector such as asset management for customers and updating databases.

Last comes the initial conclusion from the second “drupa Global Trends” report. Those who have been surveyed feel positive regardless of some of the measures are showing negative trends. This positive outlook and general optimism are being supported by the investment plans cited both by print service providers and supplier firms. Only a favouring innovation development strategy ensures a competitive edges and thus, the future of the company.

07 Vol.5 | Issue 24

By AZLyRA KARMELIA

investment plans and technologies used are given in detail and trends revealed.

Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, chairman of the Messe Dusseldorf Management Board said that the general upbeat picture reported by the expert panel had surprised them all.

“Both the print service providers and the international supplier industry gave a positive evaluation of the economic situation of their own companies as at October 2014. Even more surprising, however, was that the print and supplier industry is heading into 2015 with a very positive outlook.”

One of the questions in the survey was “How do you see the outlook for coming 12 months?” and it was answered by 48% of service providers surveyed with expectations of an improvement in their companies’ economic situation and only 7% answered with a decline. The results from the worldwide supplier industry were similarly positive - 51% forecast an improvement, and only 8% a decline.

The results obtained from the individual performance measures surveyed show a much more mixed picture. For

April-May | 2015

Report – an astonishing optimistic eye to the future of international printing sector

print+ nEWS

Google sings praises for print

Dr Vinton: Use print or there may be no record of the 21st century in succeeding generations

April-May | 2015

Müller Martini released new binder

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Finishing expert Müller Martini showcased a new perfect binder for the lower and medium performance range at the Hunkeler Innovationdays, which took place in Lucerne from February 23-26.

The new perfect binder marked Müller Martini’s entry into a new market segment. The machine works for medium or short runs, down to runs of one copy.The company says the binder offers flawless quality regardless of whether brochures production uses offset or digital printing.

Applications include photo books, personalised catalogues, and high-quality brochures. MüllerMartini says the binder offers cost-effective finishing thanks to short set-up and production times.

The company also showed a new solution for saddle stitching: the Presto II Digital combined with a Stahlfolder TH 56 folding machine from Heidelberg featuring a flat pile feeder. It says the complete system provides new options for the industrial finishing of digitally printed products.

The Presto II Digital saddle stitcher processes digitally printed content from flat pile sheets or web and operators can also use it for products using conventional printing methods.

O

ne of the head honchoes at internet giant Google has called on the public to use print, saying if it doesn’t there may be no record of the 21st century in succeeding generations.

Dr Vinton Cerf vice president of Google says the decline in print, being caused by the rise in digital technology, where photographs are shared via social media, and emails have taken over letters, is not something to be celebrated.

Cerf says, “In our zeal to get excited about digitising we digitise photographs thinking it is going to make them last longer, and we might turn out to be wrong.”

“An awful lot of digital content either has evaporated because nobody saved it, or it is around but it is not interpretable because it was created by software that is old,” he says.

“We are nonchalantly throwing all of our data into what could become an information black hole without realizing it. If we are thinking 1000 years, 3000 years ahead in the future,we have to ask ourselves, how do we preserve all the bits that we need in order to correctly interpret the digital objects we create?” he added Cerf, also known as the chief Internet evangelist at Google, says the future generations might refer to this century as the ‘dark ages’ because written forms of documenting momentous events have almost ceased.

Cerf recommends people make physical copies of important documents, so they will not be lost into the future.

“In our zeal to get excited about digitising we digitise photographs thinking it is going to make them last longer, and we might turn out to be wrong.”

“The 22nd century and future centuries after that will wonder about us but they’ll have great difficulty knowing much because so much of what we have left behind may be bits that are un-interpretable.”

He says to help future historians understand our way of life computer scientists at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg are exploring a new concept called ‘digital vellum’.

The process of digital vellum involves capturing a snapshot of all the ways a digital file can be opened, which is then stored alongside the document itself.This will help scientists in the future to reproduce the files by following the instructions.

print+ nEWS

New folding machine digital production processes.

“Stahlfolder CH 56 KT folding machines incorporate performance enhancing technology such as extra grip folding rollers, Tremat sheet separator, and the slip-free gear drive for the folding rollers, which makes it simpler to use, ensure high folding quality and suitable for short-run applications,” a Heidelberg spokesperson says.

“The operator only needs to enter the new job on the touchscreen for the front edge stop in the cross-fold unit to automatically move into position. The buckle plate and folding rollers are set to the right format and grammage.”

The company says the automated parallel folding unit is accompanied for the first time in this format by an automated cross-fold unit, which achieves very short make ready times.

Heidelberg says this feature simplifies the operator’s work when setting up small folding jobs, as there is no need for any manual intervention.

The Stahlfolder CH 56 KT folding

machine, the company says, can be customized with various options and modules to meet printer’s individual needs, “for example with two feeder types and 4 or 6 buckle plates in the parallel folding unit”.

Heidelberg says the new machine also uses the “well-established” modular control technology (MCT), which ensures its compatibility with existing Heidelberg deliveries.

Evans says the new folding machine, which is also available in a CO2-neutral version, will be available in the market late 2015.

saves time and avoids double data entry.

Agfa says companies can use StoreFront to market new services and products to customers “Printers increasingly want and need to offer additional services to their customers. While print is an essential part of today’s communication mix, StoreFront is the perfect tool for PSPs

of all kinds to add document creation and distribution into their product offering, making them more essential to their customers as a complete, one-stop communications provider.”

StoreFront v2.3 also makes payment by bank transfer. As an alternative to online payment with a credit or debit card, printers can now offer payment by wire transfer. This is useful in various markets, such as government or non-profit organizations that are not allowed to pay online using credit cards.

A new invoicing module makes sure buyers receive a comprehensive invoice for all of their orders.These statements are stored as PDF files, for easy printing and archiving.

Agfa updates web AgFA grAphics has updated its Apogee StoreFront and Asanti StoreFront open web-to-print solutions, adding electronic document distribution.

Agfa says this will help commercial printers and sign companies to extend their print service offerings with complementary web services. It adds that these companies can use StoreFront 2.3 to market new services and products to business customers of any size.

Andy Grant, global head of software for Agfa Graphics With StoreFront, says, “As a cloud-based product, StoreFront offers print service providers a faster and more affordable way to enter the web to print market. Tight integration with our production workflow systems

09 Vol.5 | Issue 24

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eidelberg will launch a new folding machine, the Stahlfolder CH 56 KT, which it says will enable businesses to achieve the “best folding results for flyers in 50x70cm format”.

With the same touchscreen controls as its predecessor – Stahlfolder BH/CH series – the new folding machine is built with “end-to-end intelligent automation” and can complete five repeat folding jobs of 500 to 1,000 copies each.

Speaking with the Australian Printer, Brian Evans, Heidelberg postpress product manager Australia and New Zealand, says, “The Stahlfolder CH 56 KT will fill some holes in our product range and we believe it will attract A3 and A2 commercial printers as well as digital printers.”

He says the folder will appeal to customers looking to produce short runs in B2 format cost-effectively, while still ensuring added value and quality control as part of their own offset and/or

April-May | 2015

It enable businesses to achieve the ‘best folding results for flyers in 50x70cm format’

print+ nEWS

The easy way out Konica Minolta tapping into new markets

k

OnicA MinOltA will show printers how to “tap into new markets” with its “easy” solutions designed to bridge the gap between offset and digital print technologies, at PrintEx15 in May.The company says its digital solutions will appeal to light production commercial printers, and offset printing houses seeking a digital alternative, and in-house print rooms.

George Fryer, Konica Minolta general manager production sales, says: “At this year’s exhibition we will show print providers how they can tap into new markets. By demonstrating an easy path to digital printing, we can help customers to bridge the gap between offset and digital print technologies.

They can then start offering their customers greater flexibility.”

He also added that there will be

regular live group demonstrations in the four key print solution zones, showcasing; web to print (W2P),variable data printing (VDP), print workflow management (PWM) and colour management solution (CMS).

Konica Minolta, at stand 1052, will exhibit the bizhub press range, including bizhub Press C1100, bizhub Pess C1085, bizhub Press C1070, bizhub Press 1250, bizhub Press C70hc and a new KIP wide format system.

Fryer says, “Reliability has been the foundation of the Konica Minolta production print systems. This has been proven time and time again with BLI PRO awards being awarded to C1100, 1250, 1052 and 2250P systems over the years. Reliability translates into longer running times, which lead to greater output capacity and increased productivity and profit for print providers,”

The company says its machines provide ‘impressive media support and flexibility’, with the ability to print of stocks of up to 350gsm.

“They can now also print on synthetic based media such as polyester and other media. Designed to suit these various media types and accommodate customer demand, operators are able to adjust line speed, temperature in the fixing unit as well as fan control for fuser separation and air suction media feeding,” Fryer adds.

He says printers will have the option to print banners up to 1.2m, for POS and book cover production, at a low cost – based on sheet size as well as print envelopes – ‘critical for variable printing of direct mail materials’.

Fryer says Konica Minolta has the ‘widest available range of flexible, inline finishing options, operators can tailor any bizhub press system to meet business needs’.

“Konica Minolta’s wide format solutions offer print providers with endless opportunities to expand their print offering, including to signage, POS material, posters, banners, book covers and more” Fryer adds.

April-May | 2015

Xeikon launches toner press

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XeikOn has launched a new dry tonerbased digital colour press, the Xeikon 9800, demonstrated for the first time at the Hunkeler Innovationdays.

The Xeikon 9800 will replace the Xeikon 8800 press in its family of digital color production presses, complementing the 8500 and 8600 presses.

The Xeikon 9800 digital color press uses Xeikon’s new QA-CD toner at speeds up to 21.5 metres per minute at reduced consumables cost.

Xeikon will be taking orders for the new Xeikon 9800 digital press as of now, with deliveries scheduled for Q4 this year.

Monika Olbricht, sales director Document Printing Europe, Xeikon says, “This new press signals our strong belief in the value of dry toner printing as well as business opportunities in the document printing space. Xeikon will continue to invest in this technology for the foreseeable future, bringing

innovation along with added quality and functionality to our customers.The new Xeikon 9800 digital color press is an excellent example of this strategy in action.”

The Xeikon 9800 can print on a wide range of untreated substrates ranging from a lightweight 40gsm to 300gsm. Its adapted Xeikon QA-CD toner and Xeikon’s imaging system deliver a print resolution of 1200x3600dpi with variable dot density for quality. Integrated with the variable data capabilities of the Xeikon X-800 front-end, The company says this press is suited for high-end

direct marketing work.

At speeds of up to 21.5m per minute, the Xeikon 9800 is the most productive digital colour press in the Xeikon portfolio with 5/5 single-pass duplex printing.

Available QA-CD toners include CMYK, red, green, blue, extra magenta and superblack as well as white and clear (UV reflecting) toner. Upon request, Xeikon can also provide special colours specified by print production operations and their brand owner clients.

print+ nEWS

Fespa creates industrial printing space

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his year’s Fespa show will introduce an industrial showcase feature to highlight innovations in industrial printing using both screen and digital processes, when it takes place from May 18-22 in Germany.

The feature, occupying 100sqm, will attract visitors with an interest in industrial applications with showcase exhibits sourced from across the exhibition community.

Supporting information will link each displayed item to the supplying exhibitor, enabling visitors to investigate further any items of particular interest.

Promoted and delivered

by Fespa in partnership with ESMA, the European Specialist Printing Manufacturers Association, showcase will offer ESMA-hosted lunch and learn sessions, offering visitors the chance to hear from opinion leaders in the field of industrial printing.

Fespa hopes that the industrial showcase will inspire visitors and give them confidence to develop their business ideas Roz McGuinness, divisional director for Fespa, says, “Fespa’s audience is deeply rooted in screen print, which has traditionally been the default process for industrial print applications. We expect the next few years to see progress in industrial print, and the adoption of digital production processes alongside screen print to enable smaller production

volumes and increased customization.

“Fespa is the global event for all areas of specialty print, and many of our exhibitors will be using Fespa 2015 as a launch pad for innovations for industrial applications. However, we acknowledge that there are many visitors who will welcome the chance to explore these opportunities without being ready to consider specific products.We hope that the industrial showcase will inspire visitors and give them confidence to develop their business ideas in this direction.”

Peter Buttiens, chief executive of ESMA, says, “Industrial printing covers an array of applications including automotive, ceramics, glass, textiles, printed electronics, decorative surfaces and packaging. Wherever we look in our everyday lives, we find examples of industrial print, whether on our white goods, in our cars, on our mobile phones, or even integrated within products that have no visible link with ‘print’, such as kitchen utensils and biomedical devices.

“Developments in output technology, media and inks are driving innovation, while consumer trends such as exponential uptake of electronic devices, are fuelling growth.

Speciality printers from all sorts of backgrounds are keen to know how they can access these opportunities, or incorporate industrial print thinking into more conventional printed products, and Fespa is the intuitive environment for them to access this information.”

April-May | 2015

kOMOri has launched a new Lithrone G37, an A1 press that will print 8-up on one sheet, and that comes with a significantly lower price than a B1 press.

Komori says the new addition to its Lithrone sheetfed offset press G series will address printer’s needs to print many different products with short turnarounds, short runs and low cost. It is aimed at B2 printers looking to upgrade their productivity without incurring the costs of a B1 sized press.

The Japanese designed Lithrone G37 sheetfed offset press is capable of printing sheets up to 640 x 940mm, at speeds of 15,000sph, which Komori says space enough for 8 A4 pages and a colour bar. Its H-UV means instant drying.

Rayne Simpson, general manager of Australian supplier Ferrostaal ANZ says, “Since colour management can be implemented by including a CMS colour bar on sheets even with 8-up A4 or American letter size impositions, this press is ideal for producing high page-count products with high print quality.

“Equipped with an evolved version of the KHS-AI integrated control system for quick print start-up, this offset on demand press addresses the critical needs of short turnarounds, many different printed products, short runs and low cost.”

He says with 15,000 sheets per hour maximum printing speed and stable operation afforded by automated systems with KHS-AI at their core makes the Lithrone G37 ‘the ultimate high technology machine for productivity and consistent bottom-line performance’.

Simpson says the worldwide launch of Lithrone G37 sheetfed offset press means those interested in Australia can place their orders now.

Highlighting innovations

11 Vol.5 | Issue 24

Komori launches 37” Lithrone for A1 printing

print+ feature

Serving with a touch ServetouchWywy serving Adigiprint and HP Indigo

By TANIA KNUTT

P

April-May | 2015

rint + goes face-to-face with Ng EngHwai– head of sales HP Indigo & HP Inkjet web press solution, Chan Weng Kit, country manager (Malaysia) HP Indigo and web press solutions and Marc Smith, SEA Accounts Delivery Manager – (Indigo Service) | Graphics Solutions Business PPS APJ | HewlettPackard Malaysia.

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How long have you been with ServTouch-Wywy and what has your experience been like working with HP? NEH: I have been with AdigiPrintSdnBhd for almost two years now. I had been in printing industry for about 15 years when I first joined Heidelberg in 2000 and three years in packaging machinery solutions before joining AdigiPrintSdn Bhd. I was aroused by the Indigo 10000 in Drupa 2012 when I was there with other vendors. The opportunity came when I met up with Vincent Chan,CEO of AdigiPrintSdnBhd, in Penang in 2013.

CWK: I’ve been in the printing industry for more than 20 years, spending most of my time in conventional offset printingfocusing on press and post press.HP has been a market leader in Digital Print with its quality, reliability and global presence.

MS: I have been in the graphics & printing industry for 19 years and a large part of it in digital printing. I work closely with channels in five different countries including ADigiPrint in Malaysia. The everyday obstacles that I help channels manage with on service delivery are on customer escalations, spare parts, providing technical

Ng Eng Hwai, Head of Sales HP Indigo & HP Inkjet web press solution

Marc Smith, SEA Accounts Delivery Manager- (Indigo Service)

support for these countries (and APJ when required) with my team of engineers and greater region resources.

I also help manage a few key global accounts (SAP) with my team and ensuring these very complex and time critical customers’ needs are met takes a lot of collaboration and planning with channels and HP regionally.

Finding the time to engage the channel equally while supporting other HP programs on supplies improvement, channel improvement programs, endless meetings can be a challenge and I have a great team in South East Asia (SEA) and this region to support me.

including most of the Pantone colour.

Secondly, HP Indigo is able to print on widest range of media/substrates with its profound technology. Lastly, HP Indigo is built to last, the oldest machine in 2002 still running at its pace back in 13 years.

What is it about the HP Indigo & HP Web Press Solution that you find makes it an easier task for you to perform your duty?

NEH: There is rarely an easy task to offer any HP Indigo & HP Inkjet Web Press Solution to the market.We always have to create the need or room for HP Indigo to our customers. Having said that, HP Indigo offers three distinguish key differentials to our customers. Firstly, it offers superior Indigo “offset like” print quality with widest colour gamut

What are the developments that you have witnessed and what were the challenges faced throughout?

NEH: I have witnessed the company’s growth and it has developedthree times than before. Most importantly the HP Indigo installed base had been increasing since then. HP Indigo print volume has been also increasing with 30% growth from 2013 to 2015.The prominent one would be the swift of the printing industry from conventional to digital printing solutions. Of course digital printing solution will come in as a compliment solution for conventional printing; however there are some cases where digital printing had become their main core of printing business.

CWK: Through working at HP, it is evident to see that digital is the future in development wise. The printing industry has shifted towards digital

print+ feature

“In HP we always combine the words “continuous & improvement” together as we know it’s a never ending process.” – Marc Smith

level standards set by HP Indigo and driving these standards across the region, at customer and the people in such an ever changing environment is the most challenging. When cost becomes the number one key factor on how a customer defines or runs his business, equipment or people then it

becomes even harder. The only way to counter that is to develop your people and processes and remote support capabilities which we are doing, to be highly effective, efficient and lean without sacrificing quality that customers expect.

Is there still room for improvement?

CWK: Yes, digital technology is the ideal technology for the unpredictable world we operate our businesses in today.

With shorter lead times, short runs, unique applications, personalisation, executed in a rapidly shifting economic ecosystem dominated by disruptive technologies. Constant improvement is necessary.

MS: There is always room for improvement in service and in people and how we engage customers. In HP we always combine the words “continuous & improvement” together as we know it’s a never ending process. We are moving from a hardware centric mind-set to a customer centric mindset and this is where I believe not only ADigiPrint but our channels regionally

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and we see greater opportunities in digital print.While offset print volumes are declining, digital print is enjoying double digit growth. Moreover, the technology of HP Indigo ink is unique, which gives it a competitive advantage over other technologies.

When talking about challenges faced, it would be the mind-set of a commercial printers or individuals.

Many perceive digital print as copier technology. However, HP Indigo is very much based on offset quality, but made digital. HP Indigo digital offset printing enables you to print a wide range of substrates ranging from 70 microns up to 600 microns for special applications.

Furthermore, with the HP Indigo’s oneshot technology, it is capable of printing on synthetic substrates including PVC, PET, BOPP. MS: The regional market is always changing and evolving. From competitors, new trends, technology and external (and internal) influences, currencies fluctuations etc. Personally I believe maintaining the high service

April-May | 2015

Lausang with partners in town

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April-May | 2015

ProSPerouS TIMeS: Adigiprint management during their Chinese New Year celebration

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are making the transitions. We need to understand the customer’s needs and pain points and work together for a solution to these roadblocks! Customer facing people like account managers, service engineers need to have ‘customer facing emotional intelligence’ skills to ensure customers concerns are not trivialized. Remote support capabilities are also one of the key priorities for improvement and we are working very hard in the region to be best in class developing trainings, tools and devices to achieve this in channels.

How do you keep your team of people empowered and what is it that Adigiprint does internally that influences the service of your team/you?

MS: My philosophy in life is to guide and teach when you are able or when it’s required and to let go when you can.Treat people with respect and give them room to grow and make mistakes and they will normally come through.

Thrust, ownership and pride in what they do will become a part of who they are.This motivates and drives my team

“We will be one of the most competitive vendors in offering digital printing solution in Malaysia.

We strive to make sure all of our HP Indigo customers/ printers to be successful!”

– Ng EngHwai

who are dedicated and genuinely concerned about the customer’s well-being and transferred into actions that are appreciated by most customers in the region. : I know the folks at ADigiPrint (ADP) quite well and worked with them a number of years.Their greatest assets

are their people, from management, to the service manager, the engineers and back-office. They are always willing to take that extra effort to support the customers.They have great attitude when working with Hp and this drives my team and I including my colleagues regionally to work well and support them closely.

Where do you see the company going within the next five years?

NEH: We will be one of the most competitive vendors in offering digital printing solution in Malaysia.We strive to make sure all of our HP Indigo customers/printers to be successful!

CWK: Definitely, print volumes for digital will be growing at the pace of 20-30% annually. We should see more conventional offset printers adopting digital technologies. HP is further investing in R&D to develop our larger presses. Currently we have a solution for commercial B2 size digital print, we are moving towards offering this larger format to flexible packaging and folding cartons.

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Superior Bonding Determination and will-driven power showcases true legacy

By AZLyRA KARMELIA

“A grapefruit is a lemon that had a chance and took advantage of it.”

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– Oscar Wilde

n his younger days, Dato’ Chan Seong Kun, the founder of Superior Press, had to go through a mill that had offered many obstacles and challenges.

Clearly it was his determination, will power and that drove him past the path to where he is today.

By force of circumstances, Seong Kun, then aged 15, had to quit school – St John’s Institution – to work and help his family make ends meet. It was a tough path but one that has reaped fruits. He did this not because he was not interested in learning but for the love of his parents and siblings.

Getting into the printing industry was never a priority choice, but as he had said “what choice do we have about five decades ago if we had to look for a job”. It wasn’t easy to land oneself a job compared to today. Back then, we had to look for a job but today, there are plenty of jobs awaiting us and the choice is plenty,” said in a jest. Maybe it was pure luck, maybe fate, maybe diligence and hard work. But it would not be wrong to say it was a mix of all these.

True! All these factors have gotten him to where he is today.

Seong Kun started out as “machine boy” at a printing press company, Central Malaya, which was introduced to him by a friend with only a salary of RM40 per month and at the most RM60 with overtime thrown in. This was where he gathered a vast knowledge

in printing and other skills. Five years later, his work commitment paid handsomely when he got promoted to a machine operator. Looking at a bigger picture, Seong Kun quit his job and joined another printing company, Ling Wah Press Sdn Bhd, as one.

Showing good work ethics, in less than one year, and aged 20, he was appointed as a supervisor, the youngest in the industry at during that time.The company could foresee his skills and potential that two years later, Seong Kun was made the head of the printing factory in Segambut.

It was also here that he exposed innovation in sales and marketing which marked a noteworthy moment in his life, allowing him the chance to sharpen his knowledge and skills while accompanying his managing director, Loh Wing Sang, on client meetings. Loh

“When you work for other people, after 5pm, you are relaxed. You don’t think about them at home. But when you do work for your family, even when you’re sleeping, you’re still thinking about the company. Because of the love and care you have for them.”

– Peter Chan

was Seong Kun’s mentor, a man who had taught him so much and all he needed and for this Seong Kun is very grateful to his mentor. Seong Kun spoke of Loh in high esteem so much so that you can visualize Loh even if you have not met him.

Another prized catch in this company for Seong Kun is that he met his life partner here. She was working for the company as a typesetter. After much courting and flirting, the two tied the knot in 1975. This is also the same year when he founded Superior

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ImPerIal BloodlIne(l-to-r): Dato’ Chan Seong Kun with sons & future successors Francis Chan, Peter Chan and Alan Chan

April-May I 2015 February-March | 2015

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April-May I 2015 February-March | 2015

SuPerIor PoSSe: Chan’s future successors with Connie Chong, Dato’ Chan Seong Kun, Chan Seong Hooong, Allison Teh

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Press. When asked why he had chosen the specific name, he simply answered because in Superior Press, they will only deliver the best and to perfection.

However, it was only in 1976, after his first son, Francis, was born that the Superior Press started off functioning as a stationery printer at a leased factory lot in Segambut. This was because it took them quite some time to receive the license for their company. His brother, Chan Seong Hoong, joined him soon. His indefatigability and strength kept pushing him to strive in building the company together with his wife, who left the business not long after to take care of their growing family which consists of three young boys.

The first machine Seong Kun had bought was a second hand Heidelberg printing machine from the money earned from his two previous jobs.

Another man, who had always helped him from the beginning and who has a special place in Seong Kun’s heart is Peter Leong from the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (HSBC), Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur. He was there when Seong Kun needed him most. He was not just a loans provider but was most importantly, a friend.

The first job for Superior Press was for Nestle and Hilton Hotels, thanks to the networking skills Seong Kun received while working for Ling Wah Press Sdn Bhd, in 1977. He boldly took many steps in order to secure and strengthen his business. During the early 1980s, he was also the first printer to own a MOV Heidelberg 4 colour machine which was followed up by investments in more Heidelberg machines which lasted for almost four decades.

It was much easier to secure business back then because there weren’t

many competitors compared to now.

Now, Superior Press’ business sustainability relies on the relationships and trust that Seong Kun had built with clients throughout the years.

Seong Kun has three sons and they are Francis, Peter and Alan. He is very happy and content of the relationship

he has with his children. His sons followed their father’s early footsteps by joining the St. John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur. All three then continued their studies in KDU College and furthered into Middlesex University, England in accounting and finance course for their degrees.

Now, all three of them are working for Superior Press. Peter the second son has always known what he wanted to do in life since young. He recalled coming to the factory often to help his father after during the school holidays.

Though he may have tried other jobs, he decided that working in Superior

Press is the best for him. Many said he was lucky to be working with family because of the ‘easy workforce’ but he disagreed. Yes, he is lucky to be blessed with an amazing family – work relation, but because of the love and care he has for them, that makes him to never want to take advantage of the situation and

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work harder than when he was working for other companies.

Now, Seong Kun’s son manage the company he acts as their advisor and guardian. They also have another factory in Sungai Buloh which has been operating for almost nine years now.

Their successful family and business relationships are due to their principle of strong believe in their dream of working together and not giving up.

Seong Kun had played his part as the founder and putting up a strong foundation and now says, “ It is now for his sons to take over the baton and pass it on”.They do feel that it is time for their father to relax and enjoy the product of all his hard work.

Seong Kun firmly believes in family values. He recalled with sadness that he didn’t have his childhood due to the hardships he went through, and now that life is better for him, he doesn’t want his sons and his grandsons to ever feel what he felt. He didn’t want them to not have a childhood and a family bonding. Which is why it is obligatory for the Chans to have a breakfast meal together and dinner every once in a while. Seong Kun made it a point to always spend time with his family, going on holidays or playing golf with his sons, an activity which all of them enjoy.

The cheery atmosphere during the interview dropped when Seong Kun revealed the time he did not get to spend with his wife due to the hard work he had to do to build up his company. With a somber expression and eyes brimmed with unshed tears, he stated that this was for almost 40 years. However, his wife never once complained and stood by his side throughout the whole time. Hence, for the past decade, he made sure to spend most of his time with his family.

He now only comes to the office from morning till noon before leaving to play golf. - sometimes, his sons would join as well.

April-May I 2015 February-March | 2015

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Fashioned to meet all challenges

Canon imagePRESS offers new levels of quality and productivity in colour production

By AZLyRA KARMELIA

April-May | 2015

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he innovative imagePRESS has been designed to meet all the challenges of the colour production market. It is ideal for busy CRD and GA environments.The Canon imagePRESS combines exceptional image quality with powerful productivity that offers versatility to create extensive applications across a wide range of media, including heavyweight coated stocks and envelopes. It can flexibly handle everything from short runs to complex variable data printing for personalised print communications – all within a small but scalable footprint. And with extended finishing capabilities and fast turnarounds it’s the perfect choice to help you meet every print challenge. Plus it offers an excellent return on investment – bringing time and cost savings to demanding CRDs and revenue generating opportunities to Graphic Arts environments.

The imagePRESS C600 is a new addition to the successful imagePRESS C800/C700 family which was launched last year at Print Tech.The imagePRESS C800 / C700 / C600 has maximum productivity that consistently delivers impressive production speeds of up to 80 / 70 / 60 prints per minute on a wide range of media. It can run at maximum speed on heavy stock up to 220gsm and quickly and effortlessly produce duplex print jobs on 300gsm media.

They also have impressive production speeds. With the Advanced Twin Belt Fusing unit which speeds of up to 80 ppm are possible on a wide range of

media. The imagePRESS is capable of running at maximum speed on heavy stock up to 220gsm and on uncoated stocks it offers exceptional production speeds. It achieves this outstanding productivity thanks to the innovative Induction heating technologies that heat up the fusing belt quickly and efficiently and the improved belt cooling system. The imagePRESS doesn’t sacrifice quality for productivity and these impressive speeds will increase the productivity of a printing room and allow printers to meet customers’ demand, thus increasing the customers, loyalty and grow one’s business.

Duplex printing is in high-demand amongst print professionals as this opens up revenue opportunities, especially for heavyweight stocks. With a compact and efficient path design, the imagePRESS lets one to quickly and effortlessly produce duplex print jobs on heavy weight media up to 300 gsm, with highly accurate front to back registration.Thanks to this technology, the imagePRESS C800/C700 delivers a better performance and gives the opportunity to handle more demanding jobs without manual intervention and impact on the print room productivity.

Major enhancements in the belt fusing technology allow the imagePRESS C800 / C700 / C600 to print complex jobs on a wide range of substrates. On uncoated stocks in particular, this imagePRESS will outclass any other machines in the light production category. A powerful colour light production device incorporates a range of innovative technologieswithin a small footprint, to reliably deliver outstanding quality, excellent end-to end productivity, smart flexibility and versatile media handling. It offers an excellent return on investment – bringing time and cost savings to demanding CRDs and revenue

generating opportunities to Graphic Arts environments.

The most outstanding and eyecatching applications depend on the creativity and the material used for the job, which includes a mix of different substrates. The imagePRESS has been designed to provide an outstanding performance and impressive media handling. The Elastic Intermediate Transfer Belt – which increases toner transfer efficiency, including

April-May | 2015

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on textured or recycled paper – the imagePRESS C800/C700 can handle heavyweight stocks and produce extensive applications ranging from leaflets to the highest quality brochures and other marketing communications that will give the return on investment desired.

The imagePRESS C800/C700/C600 features a new multidrawer paper deck with enhanced air separation technology and optimum roller pressure,which

handles a wide variety of media and prevents multi feeds even of coated stock. This new piece of technology allows the air to be blown at different speeds based on the type of paper and weight, virtually eliminating paper jams and significantly increasing the print room’s efficiency and productivity.

Innovative technologies ensure class-leading print quality without compromising on the productivity. The VCSEL laser unit achieves

an exceptional of 2,400dpi resolution which enables even higher precision in the printing of text and images. Newly developed Consistently Vivid (CV) toner improves transfer efficiency for enhanced colour consistency and accuracy across a wide variety of media. It features a new compact and highly accurate registration technology that assures best-in-class results whether printing one sheet or thousands of them.

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Steady partnership Data Cohorts start up with Konica Minolta

By TANIA KNUTT

April-May | 2015

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hen it comes to document outsourcing and services, Data Cohorts (DC) believes in a goal they have set for themselves - “To deliver highly measurable results for our customers each and every day.”

Data Cohorts Business Process Outsourcing provides strategic solutions, services, products designed to solve business issues with varying degrees of complexities. With the increase of the ability to focus and maneuver whilst increasing productivity, cost control and enterprise responsiveness, DC provides business focused solutions that are tailored to meet customers’ strategic goals.

Data Cohorts inaugurated their presence with its Malaysian operational hub, as well as spanning their venture to other offices in Australia and Indonesia. Both Hor Yew Jin and Raj Mohan, who co-founded Data Cohorts had previous extensive track record and experience within the ICT and print industry, which aided them in conceptualizing the birth of Data Cohorts.The company had initially positioned their core competence surrounding POD (Print on Demand) solutions, eventually stamping their mark in the VDP (Variable Data Print) portfolio.

“We made our very first purchase from Konica Minolta which was a bizhub PRess 1250, and it did not take very long before we expanded our production hub to house five units today”, said Yew Jin. Konica Minolta fathomed Data Cohorts’ goal to provide highly measurable results for their customers, hence

Strong PartnerShiP: Konica Minolta machines are a part of Data Cohorts successful endeavours

Konica Minolta worked closely with DC to mobilize their operations with a fleet of printers, which included three units of Konica’s Minolta bizhub PRess 1250, one unit of the bizhub PRO 1050 and another unit of the C6501. The bizhub

PRess 1250 is known for its High-speed printing for short runs and quick turnaround, which has a significantly faster RIP speed with new CPU together with an optimized data processor. “ B a s e d o n o u r s t r i n ge nt

requirements, Konica Minolta seemed to tick all the boxes. More essentially, the bizhub PRess 1250; our first machine had the right capabilities with a competitive price tag, which were paramount elements to running a successful business operation. suffice to say, Konica Minolta exceeded our expectations year on year and have supported our business growth adequately”, quipped Raj Mohan.

“Being a young start-up organization, our bottom line is always our priority, hence it was no easy task having to sustain a healthy profitability stand, as well as meeting and satisfying our customers’ requirements”, added Yew Jin. “We have since forged an intimate business rapport and partnership with Konica Minolta, appointing them as our

“i hope that dC would come off to be a strong regional player in this industry and to be a big market share player within the next five years.”

– Yew Jin

key technology partner in driving our business ahead. Konica Minolta’s customer service is stellar without any blemishes that I can think of. When we are challenged with machine issues, Konica Minolta technical team has always managed to resolve them in a timely manner”, said Raj Mohan.

“In terms of the medium to long term vision of Data Cohorts, we

endeavour to be a formidable and robust regional player in this industry.

Having said that, we are poised to scale our business by venturing into developing markets, hence taking on a bigger market share within the next five years.

We are sincerely grateful to work with Konica Minolta,who aided our business growth and providing us a substantial support thus far”, said Yew Jin.

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Building an emPire: Yew Jin Hor in the midst of Data Cohorts regional rise

April-May | 2015

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New market needs lead to innovation at Meteksan & Teknolist

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April-May | 2015

Overview

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ounded in 1969, Meteksan is already a pioneer in Turkey in the field of digital printing and has more than 35 years of experience in the domain of education printing. Their first major success in digital printing was the future-proof digital examination application, producing more than 600,000 million A4 pages of exams annually through a secure digital exam solution.

As the education printing sector makes up nearly half of all official printing in Turkey, Meteksan have further invested in the creation of a new workflow to satisfy the current and future needs of this growing market motivated by the collaboration with publisher Teknolist, a leader in the domain of educational printing and software.

Now both companies are taking smart publishing to the next level by offering tailored educational material printed for classrooms enabled through an intuitive digital workflow and inkjet printing technology provided by Canon.

A rewArding COllAbOrAtiOn Teknolist A.S., founded in 2001, is a publisher leading in the domain of educational printing and software at elementary school level in Turkey.

Currently, they produce various exams and tests to support students’ personal and educational growth.Their aim is to make these products user-friendly. To do this, they create specialised products in small amounts. The collaboration between Teknolist and Meteksan that defined the basis of this new print-ondemand workflow, started in the second half of 2012.

A Step by Step ApprOACh tO COmplete AutOmAtiOn Having a clear vision, both parties agreed to a solution separated into phases to adapt quickly to the current

market needs and remain flexible for future requirements. The first phase was the switch from offset to digital, enabling them to print personalized booklets for the end users or students in more flexible short run. The following phase completely redefined the way the data processing is performed.

This means that instead of Meteksan, simply printing a PDF supplied from the customer, they have access to separated data components contained in the customer database, as well as different PDF elements. Utilising these various elements, they produce digitally printed personalised books i.e. for schools, classrooms or subjects. This production process is completely automated between Meteksan and Teknolist, making it highly efficient by obliterating any communication redundancies.

experienCe SO fAr Meteksan use a Canon ColorStream 3700 twin coupled with Hunkeler and Ibis Smart Binder Plus, producing finished stitched booklets. A total of 7 persons are working on this project including managers, IT specialists, printing and packaging operators.The initial production has proved more than successful.

Thanks to the flexibility of the solution, the production already reached 3.330.704 full colour simplex A4 pages in only 7 weeks, working only one shift.

After print production, Meteksan can package the printed products however the customer requires and send them directly to end users or resellers.

Teknolist. Those tools are going to be extended to allow them to analyse the student progress and deficiencies.

With that information, the system will automatically select and customized content for the teachers to help their students correct learning deficiencies.

A brighter future with CuStOmized SOlutiOnS Meteksan and Teknolist together are well on their way to achieving their common goal to assist teachers and students to be most efficient in accessing the correct learning materials. The next steps in this project will continue in the same direction, adapting quickly to the new expectations in the field of personalized and customized education assistance. Canon has been the main partner to Meteksan in finding the correct printing solution to realise their business ideas. After the tremendous success with the secure examination solution, Meteksan now can provide digital printed solutions for smart publishing products, using a print on demand workflow solution, proving the investment security and flexibility,which Canon offers to its customers.

“Canon has been a fundamental partner in our deciding on the right technical solution to choose from, in order to secure the timely production of our new and innovative publishing products. Meteksan’s challenge was finding a solution which would handle a wide variety of data and formats automatically, and fit within our business model from ordering to delivery,” said Alper Çifçi, Digital Printing Group Manager, Meteksan Digital. “Canon took the time to understand our aim as a business and put together a proposal for a solution that would help us to achieve our business goals, which was also cost effective, reliable and secure. Canon continues to provide the support we need to make our business success and we feel confident to keep working with them in the future.”

“Meteksan, together with partners like Teknolist, Hunkeler and Canon, has the right tools to comfortably enter a new area of our market with the confidence that we have the ability to succeed, and deliver a new and exciting service to our own customers in the future.”

Designed to Work. Priced to Sell.

Now, you can buy an inexpensive sheeter built in the USA.

The eCon dual position shaftless unwind loads reels directly from the floor or loading trolley

The decurler section incorporates 2 x dual diameter roller decurlers.

A 2 position slitting system is provided as standard.

The most advanced Sheeter knife in the world

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April-May | 2015

noW everyone CAn Print: Print More’s leaflet listing all prices for every product available from printing to finishing making it easier for the masses

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Wonder WomAn: Sylvia Tan of PrintMore enlightening us about the wonders of print

Anything more to print at Printmore?

By TANIA KNUTT

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hen Printmore Sdn. Bhd was established in 2010, Sylvia Tan and her husband Danny Liew ventured into the printing business with their company Printmore Sdn. Bhd and with a clear vision in mind for the company: - to offer printing services at unsurpassed speeds, with absolute reliability and quality.

Over the years, Printmore gradually became rapidly

renowned for their ability to provide high quality prints in a timely fashion with the help and use of KOMORI machines. With their fifth branch that opened in Johor Bahru recently, they are keen to achieve their customer’s expectations in upgrading their printing technology by bringing in machines and hiring skilled labors to operate them.

Printmore has been an avid user of KOMORI machine since the very first day and has given endless support towards Printmore in technicalities as well as technological assistance.

Recently, Printmore invested in a new machine, KOMORI’s GL 40 that has been recently installed and running for the past two months and results have been satisfying thus far.

Printmore kicked off by opening a branch in Serdang and Pudu and after the two branches, Tan, manager of Printmore, excitingly expanded to a branch in Petaling Jaya and last but not least two more branches – one each in Kuantan and Johor Bahru.

“Our first branch was here at Pudu and at that time machines were all placed there. We then expanded to another three shops here and another two more that focuses more on doing binding.”

What has Printmore got to offer?

Name cards, booklets, stickers and leaflets to name a few. With technology moving speedily, they have too,with

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neW Beginnings: Print More makes new memories with UPA Machinery

going solid: Print More’s Danny Liew all smiles with UPA Machinery’s Denven Chee

signs of future: Danny Liew at Print More located in Serdang, one of their first ever branches.

now that they have four units of the four colored machine. For Printmore’s staff of 40 people, some of whom have been

by Tan’s side since the beginning of the company, training is provided whenever machines are brought in.

On Tan’s take of her vision for the company in the future and if it has been achieved yet, she believes that there is a lot more to work on because technology is growing and as technology cultivates as years go by, customer’s needs change too. Printmore chooses to invest in the technology and has been an important part for them in the future.

However, Printmore would not have done it without the support of UPA KOMORI and their machines. “The very important thing is that without my first machine, UPA KOMORI, we wouldn’t have been able to be where we are today,” lamented Tan.”We are lucky to have UPA support us because we started with the use of their machines and up until now I still will choose UPA KOMORI.” “I hope throughout the years we have their support no matter what. UPA and Printmore are the same because we treat each other like business partners and that in the future to corporate with Printmore, we put profitably into effect and benefit to everybody and of course for the best of this with UPA” added Denven Chee, sales manager of UPA Machinery Sdn Bhd, who at the interview.

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online orders “We have focused mainly on getting orders via online where it improves our process and printing jobs are done faster according to their customers’ request. For example, customers prepare us with designs and what they want and it will be done within a period of three days. If at all customers aren’t sure of what they want, we will advise them on how to go about with it as most customers are uncertain” said Tan. Being a little different from traditional printing, they have got around 1000 products in their pricing list and have been divided towards the differences of quality which then has made it easier for customers to choose from, which makes a big difference from the usual traditional printing and can now do it according to every customer’s needs.

With their installment of a new KOMORI machine, the GL40, the company has seen a visible and positive change towards the business. There is no need to adjust colors and everything is computerized, “Previously the percentage of color was 50%, but it has now increased to a mere 99%.The production time would be faster which increases our production to around double the amount compared to the old machine to the recent machines that we have”.

The transition from a smaller machine to a bigger one was definitely an obstacle to tackle and still is, but they have continued to strive on, especially

April-May | 2015

“We are lucky to have uPA support us because we started with the use of their machines and up until now i still will choose uPA Komori.” – Sylvia Tan, Print More

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Commanding Quality Powerful quality produced black & white

by Konica Minolta’s latest bizhub series

By RANESSA THEyAKARAJA

April-May | 2015

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onica Minolta presents the powerful bizhub PRESS 1250/ 1052. These models runs like a pro with powerful output in high quality black & white print system that opens up new opportunities to expand and grow your business with gives you the edge over the competition. It also with gives you the edge over the competition.with gives you the edge over the competition.with gives you the edge over the competition. It offers you leading productivity and a better return for your investment. Designed specifically for fast turnaround high volume environments, these systems are equipped to meet the varied needs of a busy print business.The bizhub PRESS 1250/ 1052 is the key for your success. It can be integrated with workflow solutions for efficient queue management, and provide data accounting for multiple cost centres.

With its output speed of up to 125 ppm/ 105 ppm, the bizhub PRESS 1250/ 1052 is custom built for a heavy-duty production that requires robustness and in-depth reliability needs. The built-in print control provides ultrafast job handling, simple command interface and powerful productivity benefits with no increase in overall footprint, saving space on your production floor. And both models feature tandem printing capability, to double your output speed for long run jobs on

tight deadlines.

With a bonus that comes with the efficiency of the Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS 1250/1052 is the SimitriÂŽ HD polymerized toner uses smaller and more consistently shaped particles to reproduce fine detail with greater precision.With the combination of enhanced print head technology and advanced real time image density sensor, the bizhub PRESS 1250/ 1052 able to deliver consistent image and smooth halftone print quality even over long press runs.

It is these great features that work with you and for you to deliver the best print output results and form the basis for

long-term customer satisfaction.

The bizhub PRESS 1250/ 1052 support from thin 40 gsm paper to heavyweight media up to 350 gsm with different paper types, including coated, plain, embossed and newspaper, with using the advanced paper catalogue. With a wide range of finishing options available, you can broaden the types of output from side stapling, professional booklet finishing up to perfect binding. Besides, direct mail jobs can be made even more profitable with the new option EF-102 envelope fuser kit, designed for trouble free envelope printing.

Our Partners

April-May | 2015

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On the fast lane

Xeikon accelerates with the launching of its first Technology Centre in Malaysia

By TANIA KNUTT

As it is, in the lunar calendar we have known 2015 to be the year of the goat but Xeikon has opted to go way ahead and have named this year the “Year of the Cheetah”. It is a known fact that the cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal, with an acceleration that would leave automobiles in the dust; this puts Xeikon in the fast lane, and they prove to be just that with their knack of adapting speed and

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FirsT LOOk: Xeikon Cafe visitors having a complete view of the Xeikon 3050.

sharpness with Cheetah eletrophotostatic digital label press running 30 linier meters per minute of high quality self-adhesive labels.

“Through a vast array of digital solutions offering flexibility, quality and creativity, Xeikon helps its customers to stay ahead of developing trends.

The new Malaysiabased technology center will allow us to further improve our service to new and existing customers in the region” – Bent Serritslev

April-May | 2015

Wim Maes, Xeikon CEO.

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Setting the trend for innovation in Digital Color Printing technology, Xeikon officially launched its first Technology Centre in Malaysia as part of their strategic focus within the Asia Pacific region. The Print+ team had the chance to speak with Wim Maes, Xeikon’s CEO alongside Bent Serritslev, Asia Pacific’s Managing Director regarding the auspicious launch.

Customers and print industry professionals from the local printing industry namely, Cheong Kok Wai, president of the Selangor and Federal Territory Chinese Printing Press Association, together Dato’ Koay Hean Beow, president of the Malaysian Printing Association graced Xeikon’s official inauguration.

The Xeikon team and their sales partners in the region firmly believe that they can transform the scene for industrial digital label and packaging printing, not just with the Cheetah top of the line performance press but also the strong range of the Xeikon 3000 label presses.

“In the history of high quality digital printing machines, mainly for packaging and labeling, there never has been a manufacturer that has done such a big jump in terms of speed with as versatile

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Paving Ways: Xeikon team is all smiles to begin their path in Malaysia.

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range of label presses as Xeikon,” said Bent.

He added that the Xeikon Cheetah is the most productive digital machine within the top quality segment of the market and set a major milestone not only for Xeikon and their customers, but also to the industry today.

The new “state of the art” 450 sqm facility has been specifically designed to support the ever growing local printing industry by building a solid network in Asia to address businesses and educational demands, which include testing, benchmarking as well as product demonstrations, with an initial focus on selective labels and packaging solutions.

“We are seeing unprecedented digital print growth in Asia Pacific. Xeikon is expanding fast in this region and we find it very important to build and foster close bonds with our customers here,” said Wim Maes.

To comply with the unique needs of the customers in Asia, Xeikon seized the opportunity of opening their new technology center and regional office here to be able to work closely with

BesT Luck: Bent Serritslev with the chinese dancing lions.

regional customers, whose print and production requirements are often different from the rest of the world.

With the importance of enjoying good partnership with their customers, it has allowed Xeikon to understand the printing market in the region.

“It is important for Xeikon to understand the local markets in which we operate. We do not simple look up

marketing information and reading industry analysis (although we also do that), but the right way to really understand the market is to be with our customers,” Wim added.

“With activities to be hosted in our Technology Center and the expanding team in Asia, we hope to have a refined visibility within our industry, and the way we see it happen is by word of

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- Wim Maes

mouth, excellent installations, presence and visibility and we know that when we get the chance,we strike a good partnership with our customers.” said Wim. Xeikon’s new Technology Center features a detailed portfolio of presses and suites suitable for labels and packaging applications. The Xeikon 3050 digital press, the 50 cm web entry-level press of the Xeikon 3000 Series has been designed specifically for label and packaging converters with a requirement of a wider web width. Nevertheless, one key highlight of the Xeikon 3000 range

of presses is the ability up upgrade size and speed on the floor rather than replacing machinery, which provides customer with an economic and an easy step-in model for customers.

“Some customers in the beginning may not be able to invest in a full-fledged machine but our business model permit customers to upgrade as their needs and demands growth – a real unique thing in our industry as it safeguard the customer’s initial investment.” added Wim. Other unique features include FDA

food approval of the toner permitting direct contact with dry food. Xeikon is further recognized for having one of the strong light fastness within digital printing, which is especially critical for labels.

In addition to the unique features of the Xeikon 3000 range of presses, an important aspect of the machine is the ecological aspect whereby there is no use of chemistry, no water and has no VOC emission: A truly environmentally friendly machine.

“Xeikon is building a strong sales channel network in Asia supported by a long-standing market and industry knowledge.Through a vast array of digital solutions offering flexibility, quality and creativity, Xeikon helps its customers to stay ahead of developing trends.

The new Malaysia-based technology center will allow us to further improve our service to new and existing customers in the region,” said Bent.

“I’m really excited because I think now Xeikon has really proven that we are very serious about the local market not just in Malaysia, but also in Asia” Bent concluded.

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“With activities to be hosted in our Technology center and the expanding team in asia, we hope to have a refined visibility within our industry, and the way we see it happen is by word of mouth, excellent installations, presence and visibility and we know that when we get the chance, we strike a good partnership with our customers”

April-May | 2015

ThirsT FOr knOWLedge: Xeikon Cafe attendees during the seminar.

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In a class of its own Epson shows the power of print at commercial printing technology showcase

By AZLyRA KARMELIA

April-May | 2015

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eing the world leader in digital imaging and printing solutions, Epson showcased its full range of commercial and industrial printers at White Box @ Publika on the March 26, 2015. Branded as the Epson Digital Lab, the printers are designed to deliver the highest levels of efficiency, versatility and capability for today’s diverse professional imaging needs.

Built on Epson’s compact, energy saving and high precision Micro Piezo and PrecisionCore printhead technologies, the company’s high-performance commercial printers provide some of the most cost-effective, fast and flexible printing solutions for multiple applications including indoor and outdoor signage, interior decoration, textile and garment printing, photography as well as CAD and technical drawing.

According to Shimizu Tomoya, the country manager of Epson Malaysia, Epson aims at addressing the challenges of today’s fragmented print market and the demand for customisation. He then added, “This showcase demonstrates how our solutions can help partners and customers reduce operating costs by cutting down on processes, increase productivity and expand service offerings to generate new revenue streams.”

During the showcase event, printers from the SureColor range as well as the SureLab range were featured and they are the company’s latest range of high-performance printers that were designed for the most specialised and demanding of applications.

The Epson’s SureColor S series Signage Printers is the world’s first large

format sign printers to utilise Epson’s innovative PrecisionCore print head technology. Targeted for indoor and outdoor signage printing, the key advantage of the SureColor S-series is the flexibility to choose between models that offer low cost, high speed, and high print quality.

The printer was designed from the ground up to be the most versatile line of signage printers the industry has ever seen. The game-changing SC-S printers aim at radically changing customer expectations for sign and display production, offering extreme value with never before seen quality, speed and output flexibility.

Incredibly versatile, the Epson SC-S series can print on a wide range of coated and uncoated substrates such as adhesive-based vinyl, canvas and clear film allowing for multiple applications from simple signage, banners and point-of-sales material to high-end displays, window graphic applications and vehicle wraps.

On the other hand, the SureColor B Series, which comprises of the 44-inch SureColor SC-B6070 and the 64-inch SureColor SC-B7070 are the world’s first large format sign printers that employ high-capacity 1.5L ink tanks to enable uninterrupted printing by allowing the ink tanks to be refilled while the printers are in operation.

Print-loving fashion designers will be happy to hear about Epson’s approachable textile and direct-to-garment printers from the SureColor SC-F series. The first dye-sublimation printers from Epson, the 44-inch SureColor SC-F6070 and the 64-inch SC-F7070, are also firsts in the market in which every component – from ink and print-head to printer chassis and bulk ink delivery system – is designed and manufactured by a single company.

Superior image quality is enabled with Epson’s proprietary UltraChrome® DS ink - a specially-developed new

IncredIble versatIlIty for multIple large format prIntIng applIcatIons: From left, Fashion photographer : Vincent Paul Yong, General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Epson Malaysia : Danny Lee, Country Manager, Epson Malaysia : Shimizu Tomoya, Senior Manager, Commercial & Industrial Department Sales Division, Epson Malaysia : Dickson Lee followed by artist/ designer Nini Marini.

Nini Marini with her creations printed with Epson’s SureColor F-series textile printers.

dye-sublimation aqueous ink which produces vibrant colours, intense blacks, sharp contours and smooth gradations.

Application-wise, both the SC-F6070 and SC-F7070 models support an expansive array of applications including soft signage, sportswear, apparel and customised items such as mouse pads and ceramic mugs. Also on display was Epson’s first direct-to-garment T-shirt printer. Setting new benchmarks in

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digital t-shirt printing, the SC-F2000, is also wholly designed and developed using Epson’s proprietary technology.

Engineered to meet the needs of garment printing businesses, this latest innovation from Epson offers print speeds ranging from 27 seconds for a single white T-shirt to 111 seconds for a dark coloured one, while delivering low maintenance and running costs.

Designed to meet the specific requirements of today’s engineering, architecture and scientific professionals, the Epson SureColor SC-T series creates accurate large-format prints well-suited for applications such as architectural plans, maps, 3D rendering graphics, indoor signage and GIS maps.

Regarding the Epson PhotoLab

SureLab Series, as a lead er in print service solutions, Epson Digital Lab provides a wider range of printing capabilities beyond normal image printing.

The SureLab series gives users the flexibility to produce a wide variety of printed materials ranging from four to 12 inches in width.Achieving stunning results every time with a wide gamut of colour, the Epson UltraChrome D6 ink is formulated to deliver vivid and lifelike colours with excellent black density.

Epson’s first compact six-colour photo production printer, the SureLab SL-D700, was on show. Offering a wide range of media and format options, this stand-alone printer combined with Epson’s UltraChrome D6-S ink produces vibrant, high-quality colour

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“We’ve incorporated years of printing technology experience and scaled them to bring this extensive range of commercial and industrial printers to the malaysian market. today’s showcase is a testament of epson’s commitment to creating more than just products. We are setting the standards for raising higher productivity with cost effective technology for the print market” - Danny Lee, Epson Malaysia

output reliably and cost-effectively. Ideally, it is suitable for photo production businesses, photo shops, event photographers, minilabs and copy shops.

“We’ve incorporated years of printing technology experience and scaled them to bring this extensive range of commercial and industrial printers to the Malaysian market. Today’s showcase is a testament of Epson’s commitment to creating more than just products. We are setting the standards for raising higher productivity with cost effective technology for the print market,” said Danny Lee, General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Epson Malaysia.

To demonstrate the capabilities of its SC-F series printers, Epson collaborated with artist/designer Nini Marini to feature some of her artwork as part of the Epson Digital Lab showcase.This collaboration, which sees Nini’s work being digitised and printed on various mediums such as mugs, drapes, scarves as well as tote bags, is truly a testament to the unlimited potential of print.

Epson also printed exclusive tote bags featuring some of Nini’s work, using the SC-F2000 direct-to-garment printer, as door gifts for visitors at the event. Also on display were large reproductions of creations from celebrated fashion photographer Vincent Paul Yong, all of which were printed on Epson’s range of commercial and industrial printers that were on showcase.

“We are excited to provide profitable solutions to reliable, high quality printing, and meet the needs of our commercial customers.With the exceptionable reliability and industrial-level production quality, we hope to help enable creative industry talents to transform their ideas into any possibilities they can imagine,” concluded Lee.

April-May | 2015

IncredIbly versatIle: Epson SureColor S-series signage printers.

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Empire state of Economics

FAPGA to hold its 15th General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur and Penang

April-May | 2015

Standing in Sight: Committee members Casey Lim Ka Chai, Soo Song Ying & Steven Chong with fellow members seated from left: Tee Teck Hock, Kelvin Lee Kat Min, Liew Chee Khong, Chung Xiao Hui & Katrina Chung.

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By RANESSA THEyAKARAJA

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old your horses for the Forum of Asia Pacific Graphic Arts 2015 organised by the Malaysia Printers Association is making an entry into Malaysian soil this 7th August 2015 to 9th August 2015 not only in Kuala Lumpur but also in the island of good food, Penang. As FAPGA’s official magazine, Print+ will bring you the exciting details of this marvellous three day event.With ten countries already part of FAPGA and 18 more countries to join in very soon, FAPGA looks forward to have a strong foothold in the Asia Pacific region this year’s theme ‘Print Ecology.’

The three day event will be welcoming Asia Pacific print industry owners and leaders in Kuala Lumpur with a number of local and foreign print and graphic arts industry experts that will

share their recent findings in and unforgiving changes in the the PRINT ECOLOGY forum at market. the beginning of this event.

Always on the frontline, the Forum of Asia Pacific Graphic The three days will prove to be eventful what with its ‘BIG Arts will seek to touch upon BANG’ networking workshop. their many objectives. Namely, to seek and form an economic What is work without pleasure? Participants will also community that is supported Man OF of THE thE by a foundation of interacting have the pleasure of discov- MAN hour: Liew Liew Chee Chee organizations and individuering a different experience HOUR: Chairman Khong, Organising als of the business industry as in the island state of Penang chairman of Forum of Asia Pacific of Graphic Asia well as making FAPGA’s Print as participants will experi- Forum Arts & Technology Graphic Ecology the key to industrial ence the beautiful scenery Pacific Arts & Technology and a visit to the George Town 2015 sustainability and enable business leaders to meet and network with UNESCO World Heritage Site.

FAPGA has proceeded their gathermembers of the industry in the Asia ings in the past in many countries the Pacific region in hopes that new ties are region, to name a few most recently: fostered. FAPGA will enable its particiNew Delhi, India and Shang Hai, China pants to moved toward a shared vision in the years 2013 and 2014 consecutively. in order to align investments and to Print Ecology being its central theme find mutually supportive roles in print this year will bring much benefits ecology. as the forum presentation will set to share valuable information to the curFor more information and further inquirent global printing trends, consumer ries, please contact the Malaysia Printers behaviour and market insight.This way, Association (MPA) at malaysiaprintersasthe printing industry is immediately sociation@gmail.com or visit our website at www.malaysiaprinters.com.my able to respond to the unpredictable

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Advancing towards a great era BS Print continues to achieve greater heights in the offset and digital production

By RANESSA THEyAKARAJA

April-May | 2015

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Look of the future: Dato’ N. Saha in the office of BS Print enlightening us on the operations of his company

wenTy-one years ago, BS Print started off small with a rather tiny machine.

Today however, it’s sitting on an another level as BS Print, home to around 80 employees is equipped with the use of the most advanced machines to date allowing them to carry out all works from A-Z in-house.

With the latest in technology and their strong passion towards the satisfaction of its customers’ printing requirements from all industries, BS Print (M) Sdn. Bhd. Strives towards their mission to grow steadily to become the region’s leading printing company and to reward stakeholders by fulfilling their full potential.

That in mind, BS Print’s managing director, Dato’ N. Saha holds together a company with important core values and a strong business sense. With BS Print’s creativity, they are in a constant lookout to discover new solutions to problems and are quick to embrace innovation. Having said that, BS Print is the first in Malaysia to install Muller Martini’s Pantera Perfect Binder that caters to the company ideally for offset and digital production.

“You know, it feels good to be the first. But what I think is most rewarding, is that it’s affordable yet very efficient,” said Saha.

Pioneering in the graphic arts industry, Muller Martini has been active in the graphic arts market for over 65 years producing high quality printing presses and print finishing systems that enjoy

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PArtners in Print: Muller Martini’s Gary Lee and Kenneth Ling strike a pose with BS Print’s Dato’ N. Saha

“You know, it feels good to be the first.

But what i think is most rewarding, is that it’s affordable yet very efficient.”

- Dato N. Saha, BS Print

39 “Muller Martini has always been supportive. Whenever we’ve got a problem, they will be there. Even when it comes to training, Muller Martini provides that and with this, it keeps us moving with our operations,” addressed Saha on the strong relationship he held with Muller Martini.

BS Print is on an elevated level in the printing industry, forevermore moving with the times as technology is taking hold of the world. But one thing for sure is that this company hold its end high with uncompromising integrity, enthusiastic passion, resilience and creativity.

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global recognition. With the Pantera, it is one of the top-selling perfect binders worldwide as it is successfully based on its diversity in application for hotmelt and PUR, as well as the large size range that it offers.

“Previously, we were using the Starbinder which usually takes about an hour or two for us to change jobs. But with Pantera we take 10 to 15 minutes only which allows us to increase our productivity,” said Saha in regard to Muller Martini’s Pantera Perfect Binder’s speedy change over.

“To me, the most important thing is quality. Looking at books back then, as long as the printing is okay, it will be fine. But today’s book, it’s totally different. Look at the pictures, they’re sharp.

It wasn’t like this back in the day,” Saha said.

With the Pantera in the company, BS Print’s future seems to have no end to it. Being the first ISO company, the most important factor they value is quality. It is without a doubt a perfect partnership between BS Print and Muller Martini allowing the company to achieve greater heights.

April-May | 2015

MeAn MAchine: A look at what BS Print’s operations are on a daily basis with Muller Martini’s Pantera

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Ricoh On Par

StaR SPOtting: A day in the Ricoh’s exhibition space with Grame McDowell.

Ricoh marks a milestone as main sponsors and Official Office Equipment for Maybank Malaysian 2015

April-May | 2015

By RANESSA THEyAKARAJA

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his year between the 5th February 2015 till the 8th February 2015 marked Ricoh’s 8th year as the main sponsor and the ‘Official Office Equipment’ for the prestigious golf event in the country, co-sanctioned by the PGA European Tour, Asian Tour and Malaysian Golf Association. The Maybank Malaysian Open 2015 was held at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. Setting this year’s milestone is the increase in the tournament’s prize purse to US$ 3 million from the previous US$ 2. 75 million.

Star players that included Grame McDowell, reigning champion Lee Westwood and Paul McGinley to name a few headed down to KLGCC to play at this year’s 10th anniversary tournament.

The Ricoh exhibition space at the Maybank Malaysian Open 2015 saw them sharing with the crowd Ricoh’s communication product, the Projectors and Unified Communication System (P3500) in a Virtual Help Desk set up.

Spectators were seen queueing up to try their hands on it by getting the correct

On PaR: Ricoh team have a golf day to remember.

MaRking MeMORabilia: ... Grame McDowell signs a few at the exhibition space.

WORking it: Brand Ambassadors for the golf weekend make it an exciting event to remember.

answer on a simple ‘trivia question’ at the Virtual Help Desk and walked away with a Ricoh Golf Umbrella.

On the other hand, they had the Ricoh Theta 360 camera photo booth where crowds were invited to step in and strike a pose with last year’s winner Lee Westwood or Paula Creamer’s lifesize mock up picture and have the 360 picture link sent to them as a moment to remember from the prestigious event.

It was indeed a fantastic day outdoors on the course as Ricoh provided a truly experimental way of connecting with the crowd with their innovative technologies that Ricoh has as part of its fleet and line of products.

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Driven Dongguan

Print China 2015 takes Dongguan to another level

By RANESSA THEyAKARAJA

April-May | 2015

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43 Printing Materials and Consumables Hall as well as special zones such as German Pavilion, Chinese pavilion ,Taiwan Pavilion and the High-quality Printing Area.

Jianguo Xu, Organizing Committee Director of Print China 2015 and Chairman of Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China delivered an opening speech and extended his warm welcome to the participants from various sectors.

“At present, the global printing industry is experiencing an extremely dynamic period of development and transformation, characterized by technological innovation, transformation

and upgrade of enterprises, improvement of product quality and efficiency, and diversified markets,” said Jianguo Xu, Organizing Committee Director and Chairman of Printing and Printing Equipment Industries of China.

Taking the strategic development structure of the global printing industry as framework, and grasping the latest development trends for contemporary international printing industry, this year’s exhibition puts forward the theme of “Green, Digitalization, Highefficiency and Intelligence” and adheres to the strategic principle of “Innovation Drives Development.” It exhibited a large amount of traditional equipment

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he 3rd International Printing Technology Exhibition of China rolled in at the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Centre on the 7th April 2015 with a wide reception. Jointly sponsored by the Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China (PEIAC), Printing and Replicating Industrial Association of Guangdong (GPA) and China International Exhibition Center Group Corporation (CIEC), the exhibition which is traditionally held once every four years had a ceremonious opening that was presided over by Mr. Chang’an Lu, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China. Official guests and leaders from associations, renown print suppliers and media were all present at the six days long exhibition held in the southern province of China hailing from Indonesia,Japan,Malaysia and more in the region and beyond.

Over the next six days,an estimated total of over 1300 exhibitors attended, along with a number of professional purchases locally and from overseas reached a whopping 180, 000. Sixty activities that included summits and important technological exchanges were also being held at the week long event. All 7 halls of GDE have been occupied by PRINT CHINA 2015. The exhibitors of printing equipment manufacturers, such as Heidelberg, HP, KBA, manroland, Komori, Ryobi MHI, Canon, Ricoh, Fuji Xerox, Fujifilm, BOBST,Tianjin Masterwork, HANS GRONHI, Beiren Group, Goss Shanghai and Founder Group, participate in this show. In addition, this event will feature special halls, such as the Label Printing Hall, the Digital Printing Hall and the

April-May | 2015

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and give priority to the introduction of recent innovative achievements and advanced technologies around the world, making the exhibition a launch platform for innovative products, an interactive platform for information exchanges, and a trading platform for product promotion in the global printing industry.

Among those who graced the exhibition were the Selangor & Federal Territory Printing Presses Association of Malaysia of which the association organized a two day tour for the members of Print China 2015 at the exhibition.The SFTCPPA and members of Print China 2015 also visited factories in Dongguan like the established Hucai with printing as its core and other industries as supplement.Another visit to the factory was CTPS that has developed a reputation as being one of the most progressive and realiable printing firms in China.

Print China 2015 proved to be a successful international exhibition that is paving ways for future exhibitons in Asia.

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In conjunction with the 3rd International Printing Technology Exhibition of China (Guangdong), Fuji Xerox Malaysia and its associated customers, ranging from Quick Print, Commercial Print and not limited to Service Bureau, witnessed the launch of the Color 1000i Press - the company’s latest production color press and the industry first xerographic production press to offer both metallic Gold and Silver Dry Inks.

Targeted at the high-end professional printing market, the Color 1000i Press will be available in Asia-Pacific region including Malaysia.

The Color 1000i Press utilizes low melt, Emulsion Aggregation (EA) Dry Ink and fusing technology, and brings you a wide color gamut that can produce vibrant images with smooth sweeps that command—and hold— attention.

Running all weights at a rated speed of 100 ppm, Color 1000i Press delivers one of the widest ranges of media handling, from a lightweight 55 gsm to a hefty 350 gsm. Combined with industry-leading availability, these features and more make the Color 1000i Press the perfect print partner to help drive more jobs through your shop even as you reduce costs. With the Color 1000i Press, you can fine-tune your digital prints. And your digital profit potential.

With the ground arrangement

by Fuji Xerox China, we are introduced to their largest Quick Print customer at Guangzhou – Dayon Digital Printing as an industrial exposure. This session

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Fuji Xerox with a total of 21 customers graced the exhibition grounds of Print China 2015. As part of their programme, they witnessed the Fuji Xerox C1000i Color Production Press for Gold and Silver Printing.

developed the understanding on business process of a large printer and the challenges faced over the great competition in printing industry as these could be good practices for Fuji Xerox Malaysia to bring its success to greater height.

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Tour de China

April-May | 2015

SFTCPPA tours around the 3rd International Printing Technology Exhibition Print China

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SFTCPPA organized a tour for members at the Print China 2015, the 3rd International Printing Technology Exhibition Print China held at Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center from 7th – 12th April 2015. The members of who partook in this tour were Chua Ngeun Lok, Hon, Advisor of SFTCPPA and Peter Chan Yew Wai, the association’s deputy president..The tour members spent 2 days visit to the fairground. They also went to factory visits in Dongguan.

Established in 1964, CTPS has developed a reputation as being one of the most progressive and reliable printing firms in China.

Ranked to be the third largest in the world, PRD’s (Pearl River Delta) combined industry expertise is on the cutting edge and is the home to one of the most technologically advanced sheet fed printing facilities in book as well as lightweight paper printing.

For Dongguan Hucais Printing Co Ltd, they however take a different view. Hucais Printing has been established in its businesses by taking printing as a core and other industries as a supplement differentiating between market and customers. Hucais is determined to provide refined products and services for customers to achieve their establishment of Hucais in the markets.

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Ricoh’s Grand Debut

Ricoh showcased its extensive portfolio of new and enhanced hardware, software and services, with the grand debut of new system in 2015 Print China International

Managing Director of Ricoh Asia Pacific Mr. Tetsuya Takano

April-May | 2015

Ricoh Production Printing Business Department Continuous Feed Product Specialist, Mr. Zhou Wenbo

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newest member of the Ricoh family of continuous ink jet printing system, designed and developed based on the requirements of traditional commercial printing market, has the advantage of narrowing the gap between traditional commercial printing and current digital printing technology. Also, with the new series of Ricoh digital printing systems Pro™ C7100X, it is said to be the ideal choice. Not to mention that especially with the first fifth station printing models offering white of

transparent colour, greatly expanding its ability of value-added printing. In addition to that, the use of the PxP EG toner increases the colour gamut by 10%. Last but not least, the new Ricoh Pro™ C9100 series is Ricoh’s new flagship colour system, with heavy duty cycle of up to 1 million pages per month, designed for a new generation of heavyduty professional printing market.The Ricoh Pro ™C9100 series incorporates a straight paper path structure, reducing the limits in terms of media.

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RICOH China participated in the 3rd International Printing Technology Exhibition of China held in Guangdong Modern International Exhibition of China, Guandong, China on 7th April 2015. In this exhibition, Ricoh China showcased its latest high-speed inkjet printing system RICOH Pro™ VC60000 as well as RICOH workflow solutions, debuted with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony by the following: Ricoh Co., Ltd. Corporate Vice President Tadashi Furushima, Managing Director of Ricoh Asia Pacific,Tetsuya Takano,Senior General Manager of Ricoh Asia Pacific, Ken Tokuhiro, Ricoh China Managing Director, Wilson Mak, as well of chairman of Guangdong Printing Association and vice chairman of Dongguan International Exhibition Co., Ltd., Chen Jun. This event attracted hundreds of printing business representatives.

It was highlighted throughout the first speech that was made by the Managing Director of Ricoh Asia Pacific, Mr Tetsuya Takano that there is a vast potential for Ricoh China and how Digital Printing has evolved. Lu Changan, vice director and secretary general of The Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China and the chairman of Dongguan International Exhibition Co., Ltd, pointed out that in recent years, countless new technologies are constantly emerging. These ideas and innovations have a tremendous impact on the traditional printing industry, while at the same time they have forced new market demands, new application area and new business models. Therefore innovation, reform and development have become the basic symbol and major characteristics of the contemporary world printing industry development.

Since its global announcement of the RICOH Pro™ VC60000 since October 2014, Ricoh PP Business Department Continuous feed Product Specialist, Mr. Zhou Wenbo conducted a detailed analysis of the machine during the launch at the 3rd International Printing Technology Exhibition of China.

The RICOH Pro™ VC60000 is the

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ClickTime

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April-May | 2015

by LaureL brunner

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he argument of print versus digital media is an empty one. Since the first characters were carved into clay and stone, we have expanded our range of media channels in order to improve communications efficiency. The marriage of print and broadcast media has been long, happy and fruitful. The addition of direct mail and billboards to the family has been even more effective for brand development and market awareness.Add digital media to the mix and the whole proposition gets turbo-charged.

The trouble is that so much of digital media is a waste of resources. It’s noisy, cluttered and error-prone, and responses don’t necessarily lead to sales.

This means energy supporting masses of redundant electronic transactions.

For instance the effort that goes into QR codes is mostly wasted, because relatively few consumers bother with them once the novelty’s worn off. They try them out to see what will happen, but relatively few such clicks generate revenues. According to Mark Fellows of McCann, a global ad agency a preferred alternative is “extended content triggered by page scans of special symbols”.

He has worked with IKEA to put special aesthetically pleasing graphic devices into its catalogue pages. Once snapped with a smartphone camera, they link to the IKEA website with images of interesting combinations of IKEA furniture and other home decor ideas. This is still a relatively new concept but the idea is to use print to upsell, so that people buy more goods.

Ricoh is taking this idea one step further with its Clickable Paper technology introduced at drupa 2012. Rather than using an ugly little QR marker to link to supplemental digital media, Ricoh is deploying image recognition technology. Clickable Paper is based on

Ricoh Visual Search (RVS) technology, software that identifies hotspots on the page.The link between print and digital media can be made with any content on the printed page and the hotspots can be on a digital page as well as a printed one.

The hotspots connect the page content to related material online or to other channels such as social media or emails.

Clickable Paper is more secure than QR codes and works with any printed material,even legacy pages.Documents do not need to be specially formatted or written to include the RVS technology,which works with low res data.Online information can be linked to multiple areas of a document or page.

This technology can help cut the amount of purposeless digital media interactions, and improve information distribution. Environmental management is about using such technologies for efficiency, accountability and to minimise waste. Technologies such as Clickable Paper or the IKEA graphic devices can help make digital communications more effective and so less wasteful.

NaNo NaNo Nanotechnology is getting more attention, not just because of Benny Landa’s enthusiasm for it. Nanotechnologies manipulate atoms and molecules on a minute scale and are already used in the graphic arts. Various ink manufacturers use nanoparticles increase the reflectance capacity of their inks for more vibrant colours. But there might be other more interesting applications of nanotechnology, for instance in batteries or for solar cells which are more efficient the smaller they are.

Last year’s winner of the Intel Young Scientist prize is Eesha Khare a 19 year old student from Saratoga, California. Eesha designed and built an electrochemical supercapicitor based on a nanorod core.A nanorod is a tiny structure that can be made of semiconducting materials.The new supercapacitor adds to a nanorod core various other stuff to create a technology capable of storing masses of static energy and that works for over 10,000 charging cycles.

It will most likely appear first in mobile

phones, but it could also be applied for larger machines such as electric cars and even printing presses.

Nano technology is already being used in solar panels. The nano technology coatings on photovoltaic solar panels are claimed to help maintain maximum energy efficiency. Together with a nano tech supercapacitor, solar panels could be used on all sorts of surfaces and the energy generated stored for subsequent use. For companies in energy intensive industries such as printing, this could make solar power a more viable option than it currently is. A reduced dependence on grid electricity could also help bring down the cost of print media, as well as enhancing its sustainability credentials. Governments are investing huge sums into nano technology: the US has spent $3.7 billion, the European Union $1.2 billion and Japan $750 million so far. However although the application of nano whizadry is huge there is concern that we don’t know much about its environmental impact, particularly since matter below a certain size threshold can behave in unpredictable ways.

Fortunately the nano boffins are working on improving our understanding of how these particles work and their possible negative effects.

How much of the huge investments into nano technology reaches the graphic arts, depends on the extent to which developers incorporate it into new inks or energy systems for presses and finishing equipment. The impact will be positive if nano technology aids deinking and substrate recycling, or makes possible wholesale dependence on renewable energy sources. At the moment renewables are not reliable enough for total dependence on them.

If their energy can be stored more easily and in sufficent amounts, we could be looking at massive shift in how energy is generated and stored.

V

The Verdigris Project - Investigating the environmental impact of print media is supported by: Agfa Graphics (www.agfa.com), Digital Dots (http://digitaldots.org), drupa (www.drupa. com), EFI (www.efi.com), Fespa (www.fespa. com), Kodak (www.kodak.com/go/sustainability), Mondi (www.mondigroup.com/products), Pragati Offset (www.pragati.com), Ricoh (www. ricoh.com), Shimizu Printing (www.shzpp.co.jp), Splash PR (www.splashpr.co.uk), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

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2. How small is small?

By RANESSA THEyAKARAJA

W

ith an over-flowing pour of news regarding Print China 2015, Fespa and the upcoming Drupa 2016, we’re all familiar with trade show exhibiting; that it is all about marketing your products or services at expositions,conferences.However,if you are new to exhibiting, you will be faced with more questions than answers: What size booth do I need? How much should I budget for show expenses?

I present to you the 6 trade show common mistakes, whether you are a seasoned exhibitor or not and whether you have great trade shows on a regular, I figured it would not be a great deal of harm to cross out mistakes that are already bygones or possibly draw a thick-lined red-penned circle over a lingering mistake. Besides, there is always room for improvement, isn’t it?:

1. How big is big?

We all think we’re the big dog on the block, but we’re not. If you’re new to trade show marketing, starting with an inline 10 x 10 or 10 x 20 would probably make a lot more sense. You learn what works -- from graphics to display configurations -- before investing in an exhibit the size of Pulau Perhentian. For example, you would be surprised how many folks think they need an enclosed conference room only to discover that their clients are more comfortable with an informal meeting area.

Most organizations participate in multiple trade shows almost every year.

There is usually a pecking order to those shows where some are more important than others. It may not make sense to “go big” at the secondary trade shows, when you could invest that money in your main show where you’ll generate more leads and possibly kick some competitor’s butt. Who doesn’t like a healthy competition every now and

Generally, smaller exhibits get lesser traffic than large exhibits, if for no other reason than location. Bigger exhibits typically are centrally located, closer to the entrance, and along the main aisles.

However, the largest benefit of bigger exhibits is square footage and height.

Island exhibits can include presentation area(s), multiple kiosks, seating areas,ample storage,large format graphics, overhead signage, product displays.

While these are still possible in inline displays,the space limits how much can be done.

Keep it real. Keep it simple.

3. No specific goals

I bet if you walked around in one of these upcoming trade shows and ask all the exhibits what they vying to accomplish, their immediate response 70% of the time would usually be to “increase sales” or “generate more leads.”

Is that it? Honestly, if those are the only set goals you have, you might as well be in a beauty pageant where all 200 girls say “Vote for me! Vote for World Peace” in 200 different languages and foreign accents.

This in fact will clash with your overall marketing goals. The skill especially in the year of fast transformation in tech world where every bit of information becomes one of a bazillion gets lost in the past is now in 3D face-to-face environment. Remember, just because you are a marketing hero, it does not mean you know the whole ball of wax about trade show marketing or exhibit design. So, what is it do YOU want to accomplish?

4. misHmasH grapHics

Back in sekolah rendah, we had bulletin boards at the back of the classroom.

We all decorated and filled it ourselves.

Doesn’t that memory make you smile?

Hmm… Comel Now, do exactly the opposite for your trade show graphics. All that jumble of graphics may have been great for our developing minds ready to absorb and

5. giveaways! yay!

Everybody loves free stuff! I personally have a collection of pens, diaries and stress balls from trade shows I have visited in the past.And in the next exhibit, some exhibitors spend their time standing out at their booths giving away trinkets just because. Do they have a purpose? A bank that gives away nifty calculators. Smart. The visit at the bird park where you walk away with a whistle-blower cum pen. Also smart. But, when a software company giving away plastic bottles?

The same rules apply for prizes or drawings. The drawing should create a buzz at the show, and should serve as a mechanism to engage potential clients in conversation. Fish bowls where attendees drop off business cards to win an iPod attract leads, but not quality leads. Do you really want a stack of unqualified leads for your sales team to sort through?

6. UNtraiNed bootH staff

I know you’re telling yourself, “My staff knows the products and they know the company, why should I have to train them?” True. Now recall the last time you went to the mall to shop. Those employees knew the products and they knew the company. Did you feel like you received exceptional service. Did they approach you promptly, ask you openended questions, listen, and show you exactly what you wanted? Probably not.

Training before the show and before the show opens each day ensures that everyone understands the mission, that everyone knows their role, and that everyone gets their questions answered.

Think of a trade show as a job interview.

Every person who walks in the booth is deciding whether to hire you (or not).

April-May | 2015

then anyway?

create everything and everything. Now, our older brains cannot process that much information in 3-4 seconds. We need clear, straight-forward messages.

That does not mean your graphics should cease to be colorful, witty, and creative. It just needs to be tidy.The message should state who you are,what you do, and what problem you are solving in less than 4 seconds. Everything else around that is a pretty decor. We love pretty stuff to look at, butwhat is in the package means a whole lot more.

49 Vol.5 | Issue 24

And in 5, 4 , 3, 2, 1 …..TRADE SHOW BEGINS!

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Rising in the East

April–May | 2015

This year’s Print China 2015 was held in Dongguan at the Southern part of the land of the orient. It is with laughter and memories that Print+ shares in these pages of a successful international exhibition.

Vol.5 | Issue 24

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51 Vol.5 | Issue 24

Tradeshows like never before

April–May | 2015

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HUAT AA!

April–May | 2015

Take a look at Protect Print Sdn Bhd’s celebration of 2015’s Chinese New Year with a lot of love around them with family and friends.And on the other side, we have MapMa having a glorious celebration as well in welcoming the Year of the Goat.

ComE gET somE!: Sunny Phang auspicious celebration with known friends and family at Protect Print Sdn Bhd.

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All in good HAnds: MapMa celebrating with glowing happiness.