Wide-Format & Signage May 2021 by WhatTheyThink

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EDITORIAL ─ Launching A New Special Section Online

GEEKS

A new area for thought leadership and education on WhatTheyThink

Adam Dewitz Chief Operating Officer adam@whattheythink.com

lmost a year ago in the June/July 2020 issue of WhatTheyThink, I wrote about being an industry of geeks writing: “The printing industry is full of geeks. We obsess over the minor details of putting drops of ink on paper, metal, wood and everything else. We obsess over building finishing departments that transform printed material into finished products. We get wide-eyed over the latest machinery. We ogle over

Our goal is to provide an environment where ideas can be shared, exchanged, debated—and most importantly —learned from one another.

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high-speed presses with inline finishing like it is a McLaren at a stop light. Being a print geek transcends organizational rank and is a trait of owners, sales reps and operators—everyone.“ WhatTheyThink has always weaved in technical topics within our overall coverage but until now we have not had a dedicated area that focuses on key areas print geeks care about: print production optimization, color management,

process control and technical operational best practices. At the beginning of May we launched a new special section that we’ve playfully named “Print Geeks.” The WhatTheyThink “Print Geeks” section focuses on the inner-workings of the processes and technology used to create print in today’s ever-changing industry. Thought leadership and educational content focuses on print production workflow, color management and process control. “Print Geeks” is a place where ideas on the technical and operational processes concepts are presented, exchanged and debated. We have teamed up with leading industry technical consultants to be our “Resident Print Geeks.” Our inaugural resident print geeks are Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek of ColorCasters and Dan Gillespie of Alder Technologies. This team, along with the WhatTheyThink editorial team, will provide the ongoing direction of the section. Our goal is to provide an environment where ideas can be shared, exchanged, debated—and most importantly—learned from one another so that together we can continue pushing forward as one united community. Join us: https://whattheythink.com/print-geeks/ ●

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | May 2021

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VP, PUBLISHER Kelley Holmes kelley@whattheythink.com 772-579-7360 PRODUCTION EDITOR & MANAGER Amy Hahn amy@whattheythink.com EDITOR Jessica Taylor jessica@whattheythink.com MANAGING EDITOR Richard Romano richard@whattheythink.com

CON MAY 2021

- PAGE -

SENIOR EDITOR Cary Sherburne cary@whattheythink.com

Cover Story

THE PAPER CHASE CHALLENGE

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Stephanie Papp stephanie@whattheythink.com 602-639-0530

Procuring paper is more time-consuming than ever for those who buy it.

PRESIDENT Eric Vessels eric@whattheythink.com 740-417-3333 COO Adam Dewitz adam@whattheythink.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John Giles Pat McGrew Mark Vruno Elizabeth Gooding Frank Romano Trish Witkowski Steve Johnson Ralf Schlozer David Zwang Lisa Magnuson Heidi Tolliver-Walker CREATIVE SERVICES Bobbi Burow, CreativityTank LLC bobbi.burow@gmail.com

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ARTICLE REPRINTS Please contact your account executive PrintingNews.com—the web portal representing content from Printing News, Wide-Format & Signage—is devoted to delivering you timely news and multimedia content on a daily basis. WhatTheyThink (ISSN 2642-3189) (USPS 500-850) Volume 44, Number 6 is published nine times per year in January/February, March, April, May, June, July/August, September, October, November/December by WTT Media, Inc., at 2038 Ford Parkway #218, Saint Paul, MN 55116. Periodicals postage paid at Saint Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WhatTheyThink, 2038 Ford Parkway #218, Saint Paul, MN 55116. Subscriptions: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S. to qualified subscribers. Publisher reserves the right to reject non-qualified subscriptions. Annual subscription prices in the U.S.A $95; Canada $125 USD; all other countries $150 USD. Printed in the USA. Copyright © 2021 WTT Media, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recordings or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission. WTT Media Inc. does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person or company for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material herein, regardless of causation. The views and opinions in the articles herein are not those of the publishers, unless indicated. The publishers do not warrant, either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the articles herein, or of any views or opinions offered by the authors of said articles.

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By Mark Vruno

Special Coverage

WIDE-FORMAT, SIGNAGE & APPAREL

All Sectors Adapting Their Business Models By Cary Sherburne & Richard Romano

SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW

DIGITAL & INKJET

MAILING & FINISHING

LABELS & PACKAGING

Streamlining Loyalty By Pat McGrew

Digital & Inkjet on the upward curve again By Ralf Schlözer

Print Finishing Technology Roundup By Trish Witkowski

Labels and Packaging Has A Transformative Year By David Zwang

PRINTING NEWS

THE RISE OF VIDEO CONFERENCING

LABORING THROUGH A CHALLENGING YEAR

Get ready. Zoom is here to stay. By John Giles

What are the HR challenges facing employers today? By Lou Caron

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | May 2021

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NTENTS COLUMNS

WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND Banner Finishing Is About More than Aesthetics By Richard Romano

AND THE AWARDS GO TO…

SUSTAINABILITY IS KEY TO GROWTH

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WEARABLES

For this year’s FASTSIGNS Project of the Year Award winners, it’s all about relationships. By Richard Romano

How quickly can the apparel supply chain adjust to new demands? By Cary Sherburne

PRINTING PULSE

SALES CLINIC

EXECUTIVE Q&A

AFFOA blazes a trail for functional fabrics. By Cary Sherburne

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2021 Had A Slow Start By Richard Romano

Get Ahead Of Your Competitors Through Strategic Landmines By Lisa Magnuson

Interview Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and Cedric Muenzing, Head of service Heidelberg North America By Ralf Schlozer EVENTS

ISA Sign Expo Virtual Aimed to Foster Real-Time Online Networking By Richard Romano ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS

Affiliates Are Positioned To Support Local Printing Communities By Cary Sherburne JOHNSON’S WORLD

Thanks No Thanks By Steve Johnson

46 54

DEPARTMENTS

4 Editorial 34 Watch List: Video 42 Product News

64 Classifieds/Supplier Directory

FOLLOW US twitter: @PrintingNews; @WideFormatSign; @whattheythink facebook: Printing News; wideformatsignage; @whattheythink linkedin: Printing News; linkedin.com/groups/1780044; whattheythink youtube: PrintingNews.com

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MANAGEMENT ─ Procuring Paper

THE PAPER CHASE

CHALLENGE Amid shrinking inventories and the COVID-19 outbreak, procuring paper is more time-consuming than ever for those who buy it. By Mark Vruno

as paper buying changed for print service providers (PSPs)? Yes and no. “How we do it really hasn’t changed, but I have to work harder at it,” said Chuck Dahms, of MidAmerican Printing Systems, Inc., a mid-sized company in the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park, Ill. This seasoned purchasing manager has four decades’ worth of ink under his fingernails and industry experience under his belt. These days, it can take Dahms twice as long to secure paper for his firm’s presses, which run both offset (approximately 70% of sales) and digital work (about 30%). “There are more headaches,” said the jack-of-all-trades who handles mailing and customer service duties, too. Sometimes, suppliers may not have enough paper in stock for a given order. Late last winter, for example, Dahms had to shop around to fill an 18-skid order for a poster job. Frank Smith can relate. “We used to have 14 or 15 price books in the ‘old’ sheetfed-only days 25 years ago,” Smith said. He is the procurement director for SG360º, which is part of the large, $290-million Segerdahl Group based in Wheeling, Ill., also near Chicago. Back then, myriad distributors “stocked paper, which was readily available [the] same day or overnight.” That, of course, was before all the

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MANAGEMENT ─ Procuring Paper print-industry consolidation. What are printers buying? Personalized output remains popular, Now, he says they deal with according to Vertitiv’s Pfister, which is why three merchants: primarily the merchant keeps a variety of digital Lindenmeyr Munroe, Midland and inkjet papers in inventory. Thanks to Paper and Veritiv Corp. The latter transactional printing, the pandemic didn’t company is the result of the 2014 hit uncoated grades as hard as coated, merger of Unisource and xpedx. he said. The Pulp and Paper Products These “big three” have gotten Council (PPPC) reports that, in North smarter, Smith said, realizing Frank Smith, America, coated wood-free paper demand that “they can’t be all things to all Director of Purchasing at decreased by more than 22% in 2020, people.” Now, there’s a frequentSG360, Wheeling, IL while orders for uncoated, cut-size stocks use focus on items that turn faster, were down about 18%. so they stock only what customers need. However, MidAmerican Printing still buys its share of the downside is that obtaining orders “can take coated paper in text basis weights ranging from 60# anywhere from a couple of days to three weeks,” to 150#, according to Dahms. Offset “house sheet” depending on the paper specified. sizes range from 23x34” to 24x36” for book work There is much more supply-chain visibility on its six-color KBA Rapida offset press, he said, today than 15 or even 10 years ago. Buying in adding that the need for 28x40” sheets is rare. For advance and placing fewer inventory orders has shorter runs, an Itek 3985 two-color machine (12-½ been trending for a while, x 18”) is ideal for short run work. said Jeff Pfister, Veritiv’s To feed its Xerox iGen digital press, “I’m having marketing director of print trouble finding 14x20” sheets right now because management/strategy. Job the mills have eliminated it,” Dahms said. More to job, there is a lot of phone common is the aforementioned 12x18” format. He and email correspondence runs six-pagers on 14-1/3 x 26” and postcards on between distributors and 13x19” sheets. The firm runs about a 50/50 split paper buyers at printing between coated and uncoated papers. companies, “as well as a fair Meanwhile, SG360º favors coated-free text and amount of EDI [electronic Jeff Pfister, Marketing Director of Print cover grades, which account for approximately 70% data interchange] transacManagement/Strategy at of Smith’s paper purchases. They run HP Indigo tions. Most of these customVeritiv Corp. digital presses. Sheetfed basis weights go from ers are from small, medium 80# to 100# and 120# to 24-pt. grades, he said. and large printers,” he said, adding that many are Most web-offset jobs run 9 pt. and under at a sepalocal and family-run. Veritiv stocks popular offset rate facility in Broadview, Ill., acquired from Lehigh and digital paper grades, including inkjet sheets, Direct (Visant) seven years ago. inside its 125 warehouses across the United “The mills did a good job of balancing last year States. during COVID-19,” said Pfister at merchant Vertitiv. For the SG360º sheetfed schedulers, getting “The demand simply was not there.” jobs on press takes “more planning than ever,” Because paper manufacturers reduced capacity Smith said. “There always has been three- or fourin 2020 (see below), he warns print firm owners to week lead times on the web-offset side of the brace for price increases, which already have begun house,” but production teams now need to build in and may fluctuate depending on market dynamics. extra time for sheetfed jobs. No printer likes idle “Demand his better now,” Pfister said, “and presses, but the days of “going on press tonight” capacity is being challenged from an availability are long gone, said Smith. “It’s not happening like standpoint.” that anymore.”

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Prices of coated grades could rise between 5% and 10%, he believes, while uncoated prices will hover around a 5% increase. This appreciation will continue throughout the second half of the ’21 calendar year, predicts research firm Fastmarkets RISI. Dannah Burgess, senior marketing manager for paper manufacturer Neenah, Inc., has noticed two buying trends. “One has been continued growth in the importance of sustainable products for all kinds of applications,” Burgess said. “Paper itself is renewable and gets even better when additional certifications or recycled content are added. “Second, printers have been diversifying their product purchase beyond commercial print into both packaging and wide-format applications. We’ve seen these two trends merge as more sustainable paper products are used across packaging, signage and other applications.” (See sidebar.)

Supply-chain disruptions The global coronavirus pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the supply chain, especially in the second half of last year. “There were a lot of breaks in the chain,” said MidAmerican Printing’s Dahms, who remembers the mad scramble with suppliers on the phone and via email as domestic paper mills downsized and shut down machines. “My local distributors were out of items they’d normally have [in their Chicagoarea warehouses].” Historically, the economic situation has required adjustments to paper manufacturing inventories -and COVID definitely is one of those times. The biggest demand-supply disruption was the making of less paper due to business slowdowns in North America and around the world. Just how slow did it get for printers? “SG360º’s business dropped off around 40% over the course of last year,” Smith said. “[At the mills,] manufacturing runs were pushed out from three weeks to four and five weeks. Some mills converted their paper machines to craft; others shutdown completely. There was a lot less supply [available].”

Paper itself is renewable and gets even better when additional certifications or recycled content are added. — Dannah Burgess, Senior Marketing Manager, Neenah, Inc.

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MANAGEMENT ─ Procuring Paper

As inventory levels reduced, lead times stretched. Late last year and into Q1 2021, “once a contract was secured, it was critical to get the paper order in right away,” Smith said. However, business at SG360º and other print firms has picked up. “We are getting back to comfortable levels,” Smith said. Viruses or not, international politics and policies always play a role when it comes to paper prices. “Tax changes and tariffs can price out governments,” Dahms said. “That happened with [paper from] China a few years ago.” Natural disasters and so-called “acts of God” also can wreak havoc on a printer’s best-laid plans. “An envelope supplier told us about a glue shortage in February caused by a petroleum fire in Texas last December,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s a trickledown effect.”

Freight woes, too The domestic freight and trucking shortages posed by COVID is “another whole mess that was out of our control,” said a frustrated Smith. SG360º had paper orders canceled, which left the printer scrambling for replacements. In some cases, that “could double the cost of a project.” Dahms said that MidAmerican was “waiting longer to get paper because there just weren’t enough drivers.” Earlier this year, “we saw two-week delays on shipments [coming] from the East and

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West Coasts.” Despite the logistical challenges, press dates did not change, so printers tweaked and adjusted production schedules as best they could. Internationally, some one million tons of paper imports into North America annually. Many paper importers were effected negatively by COVID19 outbreaks in shipping ports, especially in and around China and the Asian continent. Vessels couldn’t be unloaded in a timely fashion for a while, said Pfister of Veritiv, which sources paper imports primarily from Europe. In addition, a container crisis was driven by changes in consumer buying during the pandemic. “There was high demand for goods like bicycles and ovens, which people were buying more of [during lockdowns],” he said, leaving fewer shipping containers for items such as paper. From end-users to mills, however, “people have been fairly understanding about the situation,” said Smith. “All partners involved work closely together and are in constant communication regarding product due dates.” The bottom line, is that jobs are getting done on time. “We haven’t been stonewalled by COVID,” Dahms said. ●

Mark Vruno, a Chicago-based business publishing professional, has reported on the global commercial print industry for more than 20 years.

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STRONG DEMAND FOR ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE OPTIONS As alternative fibers continue to replace plastic substrates in the paper and packaging segments, Monadnock Paper Mills has seen demand grow for its technical/specialty products. The New Hampshire-based company has been manufacturing paper for some 80 years, so Monadnock understands a thing or two about print-receptive coatings. “Our specialty papers are disruptive innoJulie Brannen, Director vations,” said Julie of Sustainable Solutions at Brannen, Monadnock’s Monadnock director of sustainable solutions. “We have gift cards that act and look like plastic but are 100% paper and recyclable.” In the “box world,” much of the packaging changes are driven by Fortune 100 and 500 brands. Monadnock features high-performance board available with or without coatings. For pointof-purchase (POP) signs, the specialty mill offers a Styrene replacement that can be washed and sanitized. “It’s not a film. These are coated substrates with durable, base paper stocks,” Brannen said. It also has a 15-point signage product for menus, used by at least one national restaurant chain. Durability varies, depending on need, from one month to 90 days up to 36 months. “The longer-lasting products take longer to disintegrate,” she said. Prices are competitive, too, “similar to synthetics,” Brannen said. “’Recycled’ doesn’t necessarily mean more expensive. There are all types of alternative fibers – from bamboo to hemp and straw. Raw material [pulp] is more available now because demand is up.” Synthetic substrates often require extra processing steps, so “total cost of ownership should be considered” – not simply bare-bones pricing. “When the price of petroleum goes up,” she warns, “so does the cost of [most] synthetic media.” The mill’s customers have seen a dramatic

uptick in direct mail during the pandemic, which has been ideal timing for its 100% post-consumer recycled text and cover sheets. Some 18 months in development at Monadnock, Astrolite is a brilliant white, uncoated paper with superior formation and surface uniformity for excellent printability, the manufacturer says. Offered in smooth, a toothy vellum and a luxuriously tactile ultra-smooth silk finish paper, it has high opacity to minimize showthrough, and dimensional stability to assure consistent registration and on-press performance. It is made in writing, text and cover weights up to 200 lb. (double-thick). Its coated counterpart is called Astrolite Velvet. “Printers no longer need to sacrifice performance for sustainability,” said Brannen, who has been selling “green” solutions for public and private mills since the late 1990s. Monadnock has added numerous, new regional and national distributors in North America over the past few years, including five in the past year: Anchor Paper Co. in Minnesota; Case Paper Co. in Florida; Clampitt Paper in Texas; Digital Color Ink, LLC in the Mid-Atlantic U.S.; and Spicers Paper in Canada. There also is Lindenmeyr and Veritiv in New England. “These partners see the need [for these products] in their markets.”

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PRINTING PULSE ─ Slow Start

2021 HAD A SLOW START By Richard Romano

Shipments: They Can Only Get Better from Here Well, we certainly didn’t kick off 2021 very auspiciously, with January printing shipments coming in at $6.57 billion, down from December 2020’s $7.17 billion, and then a further drop in February to $6.34 billion. On the plus side, this is actually kind of normal: January shipments are usually down from December, the only exception being December 2019 to January 2020, where shipments stayed virtually the same, and historically, February is

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the nadir of the year. At last! Something like normalcy! However, on the minus side, it is the worst start to the year in at least the last five years, and if we are reverting back to our regular seasonality, March may see a strong return to form. That said, we are probably not looking at our usual seasonality. The COVID Factor has still been in effect, and a lot of businesses that could stay relatively open in the fall had no choice but to close in January and February—outdoor dining is fine when it’s in the 50s and 60s but

in the Northeast, for example, where temperatures had been below freezing (or even 0) for most of January and February, firepits and heatlamps are not gonna make outdoor dining pleasant. And we all know very well that events are still verboten. As of this writing, some states are planning to ease (some slightly, some a lot, some unwisely) opening restrictions and while winter has been tough, things are looking better as we move toward spring—and vaccinations. We were expecting the

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February shipments report to be on the bleak side, but we will likely start to see things improve by about the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. Fingers (and not a few toes) crossed. Looking back at 2020 (should anyone want to do that), we ended up with 2020 being an $84.07 billion year, down from $87.65 billion in 2019. When you consider all that happened in 2020, it’s hard to be completely disappointed—and a year ago this time it was inconceivable that 2020 would come in only $3.6 billion off 2019 shipments.

profits for Q4 2020 were unchanged from Q3 at -$1.19 billion. This isn’t all pandemicrelated; Q4 2019 profits had plunged from Q3, and this was

better profitwise, while small printers did a little worse— which means that, for the industry on average, profits before taxes were +2.42% of revenues,

before almost anyone had ever heard the term “coronavirus.” There is some comfort (cold though it may be) in seeing that the drop from Q1 to Q2 2020 simply was the continuation of a trend that had already been going on for a few quarters. In Q4, we continue our longrunning “tale of two cities” saga. For large printers (those with more than $25 million in assets), profits before taxes had been -0.47% of revenues, an improvement from Q3, where profits had been -1.71% of revenues, and especially Q2 (-6.95% of revenues). For small printers, profits before taxes in Q4 were +7.44% of revenues, a vast decline from Q3, where profits had been +8.81% of revenues. Big printers did a little

unchanged from Q3. For the last six quarters, profits have averaged -0.67% of revenues, an improvement from Q3.

Profits: Back to the Tale of Two Cities We’ve long been calling it “a tale of two cities”—large printers and small/mid-size printers and the profitability gap between them. The pandemic interrupted this ongoing narrative temporarily, but back in Q3 2020, we started to return to normal, at least in terms of industry profits trends, which continued into Q4. Shipments-wise, we had been having a pretty OK third and fourth quarter; things went south in November but December was remarkably strong, and, as we saw above, 2021 did not get off to a great start, so the Q1 2021 profits report may be fairly dismal, saved only if we have a strong March—but we’re getting way ahead of ourselves. Anyway, some strong Q3 and Q4 shipments reports translated into a rise in profitability. Annualized

Graphic Arts Employment Employment figures from this year have been improving and, indeed, the March employment report in general (published in April and is the most recent report available as of presstime) was perhaps the best since the pandemic began. March 2021 printing industry employment was up +1.4% from February (compared to down -0.5% from January to February), mostly non-production staff (or perhaps salespeople) coming back or being hired afresh: production

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PRINTING PULSE ─ Slow Start employment was up +0.7% from Febraury, while non-production employment was up +2.8% from February to March. (From January to February 2021, production employment had been down -0.4% and non-production employment down -0.8%.) These are pretty decent numbers—even for prepandemic days, and we seem to have moved from several months of a holding pattern in graphic arts employment to something approaching growth. The publishing and creative markets may be following the same pattern, although for most of those markets, data reporting lags by a month. We do have March 2021 employment numbers for publishing overall (up +0.1%) and advertising (+0.5%), but February 2021 for the publishing sub-categories. From January to February 2021, periodical publishing employment was up +0.4%; for newspapers, up +0.2%; for graphic designers, up +2.8%; for public relations, up +1.2%; and for direct

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mail, employment is unchanged. So we are seeing some progress. As for the US employment situation in general, on April 2, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/news. release/empsit.nr0.htm) said: Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 916,000 in March, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6%. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic. Job growth was widespread in March, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, public and private education, and construction. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised up by 67,000, from +166,000 to +233,000, and the change for February was revised up by 89,000, from +379,000 to +468,000. With these revisions, employment in January and February combined was 156,000 higher than

previously reported. Furthermore, the labor force participation rate increased from 61.4% in February to 61.5% in March, while the employment-to-population ratio increased modestly from 57.6% to 57.8% and the “prime age” (age 25 to 54) participation rate ticked up slightly from 81.1% to 81.3%. Economists are generally agreed (to the extent that economists generally agree) that this was a very strong employment report.

This Macro Moment: Tracking the Recovery Those of you who have long memories or who haven’t undergone extensive psychotherapy treatment may recall that in the early 2010s, after the Great Recession, Dr. Joe Webb, former director of WhatTheyThink’s Economics and Research Center, used to track what he called “recovery indicators,” six macroeconomic data points that, when they all started moving in lockstep in

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a positive direction, indicated that the recession would be “officially” over. Those indicators were the NASDAQ, ISM non-manufacturing new orders and imports, ISM manufacturing new orders and imports and proprietors’ income.* In a somewhat similar way, Calculated Risk (https://www. calculatedriskblog.com/), a favorite economics blog, has been tracking the COVID19 recovery via “Seven High Frequency Indicators for the Economy.” Given that the pandemic has not affected all areas of the economy equally, tracking the rebound in certain sectors— many of which are the printing industry’s top verticals— can give us a sense of how we’re coming along. The sectors predominantly comprise travel and entertainment, and they are: ● Air travel, via the Transportation Security Administration’s travel numbers ● Restaurant dining via a “seven-day average of the year-over-year change in diners as tabulated by OpenTable for the US and several selected cities” ● Movies via domestic box office figures from BoxOffice Mojo ● Hotel occupancy rate week over week from STR/HotelNewsNow ● Gasoline supplied via U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) ● Transit From Apple: “This data is generated by

counting the number of requests made to Apple Maps for directions in select countries/regions, sub-regions and cities.” ● New York City subway usage from the MTA’s public turnstile data While they are not perfect (Bill McBride, who writes the CR blog, adds specific caveats for each data source) and are not updated on the same schedule and thus don’t correspond to the same weeks, these data points do indicate the extent to which people are increasingly (or decreasingly) out and about. McBride updates these each week, and we have started periodically checking in with these items in our Friday Data Analysis at whattheythink.com. For now, though, it’s worth clicking through to the original (the latest as of this writing is at https://bit.ly/3sUR8Ov)— there are charts galore and links

to the original data sources. The upshot is that, as of early April, most of these indicators are up over the course of 2021, and above what they were this same time last year when everyRead More… thing shut down, Find article at although they PrintingNews. com/21151234 still far below pre-pandemic or “normal” levels. As vaccinations continue, it will be interesting to see what impact they have on these various data points and if we are indeed seeing a rebound in some of the sectors most acutely affected by the pandemic. * They never did indicate that the recession was over, even by 2016, so we’re not sure** if the problem was the economy and the recession never did end, or if the choice of indicators was a bit flawed. ** We’re pretty sure… ●

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New Technology, Products, Software, & Services

ALL SECTORS ADAPTING THEIR BUSINESS MODELS A preview of topics: wide format, signage and apparel By Cary Sherburne & Richard Romano

e sure to sign up for our Technology Outlook Week Webinars May 17th21st at whattheythink.com/webinars The Wide Format, Signage and Apparel Webinar will take place Thursday, May 20 at 1 p.m. ET, and will be presented by Richard Romano and Cary Sherburne. Here’s a preview of some of the items we will discuss.

Wide Format and Signage General trends in wide format and signage since our last Technology Outlook Week have been almost exclusively COVID and safety signagerelated. They include: ● Policy Communication. As businesses and other venues reopen, signage communicating policies regarding mask wearing, social distancing, etc., has been required. Floor graphics/distancing dots have proliferated and new materials and overcoatings have helped improve the durability of these graphics. ● Vaccinations. Vax sites have required their own wayfinding and other related signage. As IRL events start to take place later this year, there will be demand for COVID-related signage at individual venues. Print businesses that have been waiting for their eventsand travel-centered customers to ramp back up are going to have a very good 2021. It’s unclear what policies regarding proof of vaccination (or so-called “vaccination passports”) are going to be required, and while much consternation has arisen regarding potential governmental policy, the fact remains that it will be individual venues and/or events coordinators who will set specific requirements. ● Back to Work. As businesses bring their employees back from the work-at-home experiment, it’s also unknown what kinds of vaccination requirements they may set for employees.

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Regardless, signage will be required to communicate whatever policies emerge, which will likely (or should) be integrated into an office’s environmental graphics. ● Celebration Time! Last year at this time, we saw an emergence of celebratory lawn signage honoring graduates and other student achievements. As we write this in early April, we have started to see “Class of 2021” signs start to bloom on residential lawns. Whether these will be as in-demand as they were last year remains to be seen, but a sign shop or display graphics provider can make a nice chunk of change offering these kinds of signs; all it takes is one or two houses on a block to put one out and others in the neighborhood will often follow suit. As for recent new technologies and product announcements, late 2020 and early 2021 may have been a little slow compared to some previous years, but that could just indicate a relative maturity of the wide-format equipment market. As we have been seeing, even pre-pandemic, there have not been too many major technological innovations in the wide-format equipment sphere. Major introductions have predominantly focused on filling in gaps in vendor portfolios. Flatbed printers have seen some tweaks to things like board feeding and vacuum tables, the goal being to complement improvements in print speed with faster on- and off-boarding. Across the board, speed improvements are top improvements. Here are some quick hits of what the past six months or so have Agfa Jeti Tauro brought us. H3300 UHS Agfa has launched the (bull sold separately). Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS, a 3.3-meter LED hybrid aimed at the high end of

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WIDE FORMAT, SIGNAGE & APPAREL the market. At speeds capable of up to 600 square meters per hour, it is the fastest unit in the Jeti Tauro series to date, or 30% faster than other Jeti Tauros. Last September, Canon U.S.A. launched a new Arizona series of Canon Arizona flatbed printers, 2300 Series. the fifth-generation Arizona 2300 Series comprising the 49.2 x 98.4inch 2300 GTF and the 121.3 x 98.4-inch 2300 XTF. The new Arizonas also debut FLOW technology, a novel approach to media handling featuring a different kind of vacuum table that eliminates the idea of “zones” and reduces or removes the need for masking or taping. FLOW uses a new airflow and vacuum system that lets users place media anywhere on the table surface without needing to worry about securing it in place. Canon also updated its imagePROGRAF line of technical printers with the imagePROGRAF TZ-30000 Series. Durst continues its “Pixel to Output” strategy with last year’s launch of the P5 350 High Speed Printing System, comprising the P5 350 High Speed printer, as well as the Durst “Automat,” a new full automation system, enhanced Durst software, a full LED ink portfolio and partnerships. The Durst Automate is a fully automated board feeding and stacking system that can manage up to two lanes, with different board sizes up to 3.5 m wide and 2.2 m long. Thanks to its sliding registration tables, access to the roll tool enables fast material change by a single operator.

Durst P5 350 High Speed Printing System.

EFI has launched two new printers for the highend, high-productivity soft signage market. The EFI COLORS 340 printer prints at up to 9,149 square feet per hour (in a four-color by four configuration)

and for even higher-volume production environments, the EFI POWER 340 prints up to 16,835 square feet per hour. EFI also has some new units coming out later in 2021, including the Vutek XT— said to be the “fastest Vutek printer ever built”— and a 1.6 m single-pass display graphics printer that will print up to 1,000 boards per hour. Look for more information about those later in 2021. Epson spent 2020 fleshing out its portfolio, and is now one of the few equipment manufacturers that offer products using all the major ink technologies— solvent, dye-sub, UV and Epson SureColor V7000. latex (aka resin). First up was the new R-series of 64-inch roll-to-roll printers, the SureColor R5070PE and R5070L, based on a new aqueous resin ink that is looking to compete with latex in the signage/soft signage space. Then came the company’s first UV flatbed, the 4x8-foot 10-color SureColor V7000. The company has also been updating its SureColor T-Series wide-format multifunction printers for technical printing applications, most recently the 24-inch SureColor T3170M and 36-inch SureColor T5170M multifunction printers. Also keep an eye out for some news about a new textile printer. HP updated its Latex line with four different 64-inch-wide units, the HP Latex 700, HP Latex 700W, HP Latex 800 and HP Latex 800W. “W” stands for “white” as Read More… these are the first Latex units in Find article at this class to utilize white ink. PrintingNews. com/21151315 Mimaki launched a new textile printer, the TS100-1600, an entrylevel dye-sublimation transfer printer with high quality prints, and is part of Mimaki’s new 100 Series. Two other printers in the 100 Series are the UJV100-160 (UV-LED printer) and the JV100-160 (eco-solvent printer). In September, Mutoh launched its own new dye-sub printer platform, the 64-inch XpertJet 1682WR. It uses Mutoh’s new DH21 Dye Sublimation ink and is available in both fourcolor (CMYK) and seven-color (CMYK, Lc,Lm,Lk,) configurations.

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Roland DGA launched two new VersaUV printers, the 64-inch VersaUV LEC2-640 and 30-inch LEC2-330—next-generation UV printer/cutters designed for label, packaging, sign, display and interior décor production. Roland also launched TrafficWorks, a turnkey traffic sign printing solution based around the TrueVIS VG2 printer/cutters that offers a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution for producing traffic signage. Floor graphics are all the rage, and Roland has also introduced two new overlaminates, GuardLam Glossy Floor Overlaminate

The Roland VersaUV LEC2-640 and 30-inch LEC2-330.

and GuardLam Embossed Floor Overlaminate, to its existing media offerings. The overlaminates both protect floor graphics from damage while also adding anti-slip properties. At a March 2021 launch event, swissQprint introduced the Karibu S, where “S” stands for “speed” and is the high-speed version of its Karibu UV roll-to-roll printer, capable of up to 330 square meters per hour. Both the Karibu and the Karibu S are now capable of automatic double-sided printing. At the launch event, swissQprint also debuted a line of neon inks for its LED UV rollfed and flatbed units. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all the product introductions, but should give you a good sense of where the manufacturers are taking their product lines.

swissQprint Karibu S.

Textiles and Apparel At the core of developments in textiles and apparel is a re-examination of the global supply chains whose frailty and excesses were laid bare by the pandemic. COVID-19 has accelerated the sustainability agenda; and implementing these various initiatives across highly complex supply chains will take a great deal of dexterity and commitment— but there can be no going back. All sectors working within the fashion industry’s supply chain must now adapt their business models and sourcing routes to include circularity, sustainability and eco-friendly innovation. Here are just a few of the topics we will discuss in the textiles portion of WhatTheyThink’s Technology Outlook: ● Fibers. From organic and preferred cotton, to naturally sustainable fibers and new technical fibers, hybrid plant-based synthetics offer refreshingly simple circularity and polarize a regeneration. The future of fabric sourcing just opened a new chapter for the textile industry. The switch from a synthetic petroleum-based fashion industry to a cellulose supply chain is only just beginning, but there is no time to waste. ● Improved Dyeing Processes. Pollution from textile dyeing is still rampant, especially in Asia, often reflected in changing colors of rivers and other water bodies as dye colors change from day to day. There are a number of initiatives underway to tackle this problem, from spray dyeing to programs such as Color On Demand from Ralph Lauren, with a goal of delivering the world’s first scalable zero wastewater cotton dyeing system. ● Sustainable Inks. Over the last year or two, the number of more sustainable inks for digital printing of fabrics has grown significantly. With improved runnability, ink cost per meter and, increasingly, the requirement for eco-friendly, certified and sustainable credentials, ink companies have brought to market new inks to service the growing digital textile printing market. ● Circular Economy. There are a number of ways the circular economy is affecting the fashion industry, and many of them are things that you and Continued on page 62

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SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW

STREAMLINING

LOYALTY

How to keep your customers with software By Pat McGrew

he link between your software installation and your customers may seem murky, but your ability to onboard work, process, invoice and deliver efficiently can be a key selling proposition. The platform for efficiency is your workflow infrastructure and the

software that populates it. Look at your current processes and the software that supports them. Think about the number of hours it takes to completely onboard a job, move it through to production, and then mail or deliver. How does that process look to your customers? Surveys tell us that printing

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companies around the world struggle with onboarding work from both current and prospective customers. From inconsistent methods for capturing specifications, to catering to the needs of different types of buyers, standardizing the onboarding process is something that

printing company and the customer forms the basis for long-term relationships. In surveys, the majority of print buyers list the relationship they have with their providers as more important than price. While the relationship is based on person-to-person interaction, the methods available to communicate are also cited as important. Dashboards, real-time communication via chat platforms and app-

On the surface, automation might not seem like the way to your customer’s heart but think in terms of what it does for your infrastructure.

requires careful planning and consistent execution. It is more than adding in a web2print system. If your organization relies on email, fax machines or the presence of a salesperson to sell a job, capture specifications and transmit that information to the office, this is a good time to rethink that process. Print buyers in all segments are as pressed for time as they have ever been. Making it easier to buy from you is the best path to customer loyalty. Speaking of loyalty, we know that the quality of the interactions between the

based communication can be effective ways to ensure customer loyalty. Another offering that can endear your customers is a library of templates and

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SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW online design tools to help them with jobs that use common specifications. Trifold brochures, postcards, menus or even catalogs can be created more quickly when starting from a baseline template that sets unprintable areas and foldlines. There are many options for tools that can be added to online ordering sites with an API, making them integratable and worth considering.

Another way to leverage your software is automation. On the surface, automation might not seem like the way to your customer’s heart but think in terms of what it does for your infrastructure. When you automate, you eliminate physical touchpoints. Every touchpoint is part of an equation that adds up to time, money and resource consumption. The more of those touchpoints you eliminate, the more time, money and resources you have to care for customers, work with them on special projects, and to develop new offerings to help them expand their

communication options. These are only a few of the ways to leverage your software to build closer relationships with your customers, and to grow your wallet share with them. Always begin by assessing your baseline so that as you investigate your options you can help potential vendors understand your needs. And, for any solution you decide to pursue, be sure to ask about how the vendor works. Does their solution require professional services? If so, are they employees of the vendor or do they use contractors? How much work is required by your team? These answers will help you find a good match for your needs. ●

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21151233

Pat McGrew has more than three decades as an evangelist for technology in communication. She is an author and regular writer in the industry trade press.

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DIGITAL & INKJET ON THE

UPWARD CURVE AGAIN A look at the industry during a pandemic drupa year By Ralf Schlözer

ast year was tough for many and digital print felt the impact as well. But thanks to new product launches, digital print in commercial and document print should be on the upward curve again. One year after the 2020 Technology Week is a good point in time to examine the status of digital print following the great disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the market. From the onset of the pandemic there was a lot of debate about how the economy would recover after lockdown and severe business disruptions. What we have seen so far is a V-shaped or, in some cases, a reverse square root recovery. The latter stands for an initial quick recovery after a deep cut, with the recovery stalling at a somewhat lower level than pre-pandemic. Commercial and document printing is a mix of both. Book printing volumes

for example made up the losses during the lockdown. Direct mail, magazines rebounded, but still stand at a lower level. A look at U.S. commercial printing shipment data shows that print shipments for the second half of 2020 trail those of 2019, being typically

considerable differences among the countries, however. Other sources show similar developments. Heidelberger Duckmaschinen presents a socalled “Print Media Climate Index,” based on print volumes produced on 6,000 Heidelberg sheetfed presses. The data is

half a billion U.S. dollars lower per month than in pre-COVID times. January 2021 continues in that vein. Production index data from Eurostat for Europe shows volumes, after an initial quick recovery, still about 10% below the pre-COVID average at the end of 2020. There are

gathered anonymously from connected presses, grouped for selected countries and compared to pre-COVID volumes. According to the latest set of data from December 2020, print volumes in the U.S. reached pre-COVID levels again, while volumes in Canada are already

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DIGITAL & INKJET ahead. Volumes in Europe, in contrast, are still below previous levels on average, although there are differences by country. According to the data, China already recovered in April, with volumes above the pre-pandemic levels. The data from Heidelberg might be a bit on the optimistic side, as packaging presses are included, and the more advanced presses and users tend to be the connected ones. Contiweb collects similar data from connected web offset presses. After a decisive dip, volumes did recover until August/September. However, the recovery stalled with volumes remaining 10 to 15% below the pre-pandemic average. Interestingly, volumes in Europe tend to keep up slightly better than in Northern America. Within Europe, Eastern Europe tends to do better than the average, while Southern Europe is falling behind. The discussion on recovery should not distract us, however, from the fundamental shifts in the printing industry. Until spring 2020, we were used to seeing steady trends in print, shifts in volumes, applications and technology. The pandemic brought industries to a standstill with a deep impact on production, supplies and investments. Even growth areas, like digital print, were affected. It is certainly true that the pandemic accelerated some trends already simmering, and the strong rise in e-commerce is only one example. These trends

do favor digital print, like: ● Short runs: Reducing risk in volatile times, more targeted production ● J ust-in-time production: Minimizing stock and reacting quickly on market opportunities ● E -enablement: Digital workflows until the last moment ● Supply chain security: Automated production at local sites Yet the slowdown in many applications did impact investments in 2020 - even in digital print. In their latest placements and forecast report, IT strategies registered a 29% decline in worldwide production cutsheet color placements in 2020. Continuous feed engine sales declined even by 31% in 2020 over 2019. This amounts to the steepest drop in color production placements seen so far. There are a few things to consider, however. The pandemic unfolded relatively early in 2020, therefore pretty much the whole year was affected. The market slowdown did not only affect orders planned for 2020, but also deliveries for presses ordered before the pandemic were impacted. This was partially due to restrictions in having presses installed around the globe and partially due to buyers wanting to postpone the installation due to the insecure times. Another factor impacted 2020 sales. Usually in the months before drupa sales slow, as potential buyers want to

learn about new presses entering the market. Having a close look at the IT Strategies numbers reveals some interesting trends. While cut-sheet toner sales declined considerably, cut-sheet inkjet sales increased in 2020. Color toner production printing has been available for almost 30 years, and CF inkjet devices became widely available 15 years ago. In contrast, cutsheet inkjet is still a relatively young and dynamic market. The A3/B3 production inkjet printers especially lifted sales in 2020, a market which has seen several attractive launches in 2019 and early 2020. Xerox launched the Baltoro mid-2019 and Canon the VarioPrint iX early in 2020. RISO started selling the Valezus T2100 in 2019 and Kyocera entered the production inkjet market later that year by shipping the TASKalfa Pro 15000c. It is likely that the new options attracted Read More… buyers seeing Find article at PrintingNews. opportunities com/21151122 even in the pandemic or entering markets they were not able to address before. A recovering market, changing demand patterns and increasing choice in printing technology will drive future sales. IT Strategies is confident in seeing increasing placements again. While color toner placements are expected to recover by 2025, inkjet will drive the growth in cut-sheet

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production presses in the next years. By 2025 inkjet will account for almost half of all cutsheet sales. The recovery in continuous feed inkjet is expected to be a bit more drawn out, and 2019 sales are expected to be reached again around 2023 or 2024. As many CF-sales, even at the lower 2020 level, still add to the installed base, print volumes are continuing to increase. It was a good year for product launches – after all 2020 would have been a drupa year and traditionally many vendors target product developments to be shown at the fair for the first time. Neverthless, even without drupa, many vendors still decided to launch new products. The number of launches was a bit lower than expected as some vendors probably appreciated the extra time and not being pressured by an event to spend more time on product development. We certainly did see a lot less technology or concept announcements, which are a hallmark of drupa. As expected, the focus of digital press launches in 2020 was on inkjet. Some interesting continuous feed inkjet printers targeted at commercial and document print were announced. HP with the PageWide Press T250HD, also sold by OEM-Partner BlueCrest as Intellijet 20 HD, improves on print quality and paper range. Canon upped the speed of the ProStream with the 1800 model by 66%, which should increase the potential volume

bands of jobs. Kodak brought their UltraStream technology to their own line of commercial web-fed printers and launched the Prosper Ultra 520. As mentioned before, several cut-sheet inkjet printers were launched in 2019 and early 2020. Those were complemented in 2020 by the BlueCrest EvoluJet and MCS Merlin K146, which are based on the Kyocera TASKalfa Pro 15000c. Konica Minolta upgraded their B2 inkjet press to the AccurioJet KM-1e. Xerox also introduced an upgrade to the Baltoro with the Color Accelerator. Ricoh offered a glimpse of the Pro Z75. We will surely get more detail on this new B2 inkjet press before long. Toner printing is relatively mature, and developments are more incremental. Still some interesting technologies were launched in the last year to drive possible application ranges. Xeikon launched the SX30000. The next generation of Xeikon’s dry toner technology, labelled as Sirius technology, is driving up the speed by 50% compared to the fastest previous model. This results in up to 404ppm or 2,545 B2 sheets/ hour (taking advantage of the 508 mm web width). The press is also able to keep the maximum speed across a much wider range

of paper weights than previously: from 40 to 350 gsm. HP launched new commercial models already early in 2020. The HP Indigo 100K is the first Series 5 press from HP Indigo. Xerox did not exactly launch new devices but is increasing the addressable application range with new toner sets. Fluorescent pink for the Iridesse, fluorescent yellow for the iGen and adaptive CMYK+ kits for the Versant that include white, gold, silver, clear and fluorescents. This is supported by the Xerox “Genesis Initiative,” a set of tools, educational and business development instruments to promote and make easier use of special colors. A lot more launches were targeted at label and packaging markets. However, those will be covered in a separate article. Some vendors, usually with a major presence at drupa, kept their powder dry and did not announce major launches in 2020. We can expect more interesting announcements for 2021 than in any other post-drupa year. Have a close look at what is new or up-and-coming. In the post-pandemic world it is more critical than ever to take advantage of changed application demand and print buying patterns by taking advantage of the latest technology available. ●

Ralf Schlözer has over 20 years of experience in the Graphic Arts and Graphic System Manufacturing industries. He has extensive knowledge of traditional and direct imaging presses as well as non-impact printing technologies.

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MAILING AND FINISHING

PRINT FINISHING

TECHNOLOGY ROUNDUP Learn the latest, from folding to taping. By Trish Witkowski

here’s a lot going on in finishing so far this year, which is very exciting to see. There are big advancements in folding, book binding, cutting, coatings and more—so let’s just dive right in starting with my favorite category.

Folding Stahlfolder TH 56 Miniature and Pharmaceutical Folder For the first time, Stahl is bringing to market a solution focused primarily on pharmaceutical applications. The integration of an automated Stahl buckle plate folder, with at least eight plates in the first unit and eight in the second station, with a parallel knife unit and labeler reduces makeready times from hours to minutes. The machine makes quick work of package inserts and outserts for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries while complying with all process monitoring standards.

Horizon AFV-56K Automated Folder At the end of Q2 2021, Horizon will roll out their new AFV-56K Automated Folder featuring an impressive 44 automated settings for 20% faster changeovers. Enhanced production speed, safety and productivity, overhauled LCD touch screen with the ability to make fine adjustments, redesigned remote control and handling wheel provide easier operation and access. Like the BQ-500 Perfect Binder, the AFV-56K Folder also comes equipped with Horizon’s iCE LiNK cloud-based monitoring tool.

AFV-56K Automated Folder

TH 56 Miniature and Pharmaceutical Folder

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DF-1300L Tabletop Air-Suction Folder

Duplo DF-1300L Tabletop Air-Suction Folder Over 70% of users who are investing in Duplo’s digital finishing solutions are in the private sector, so they developed a quiet, user- and office-friendly, air-suction tabletop folder. The machine supports a 25.5” long sheet to achieve popular three-panel fold applications at speeds of up to 18,600 cycles per hour. An easy interface, pre-programmed folding styles, auto detection of standard paper sizes and automated setup round out the offering. MBO K32-KSE Combi Anniversary Edition Folder MBO is offering a special Anniversary edition K32-KSE folder that is packaged for the commercial print and book markets. The unit is specially configured to reduce make-ready, increase production rates, reduce labor and reduce material handling. According to MBO, this folder has the ability to replace old folding systems at two-one or threeto-one, and is available for a limited time thru August 2021.

Book Binding Horizon BQ-500 Perfect Binder The BQ-500 is designed for increased book-ofone productivity, automation and quality control over a wide range of substrates. The operatorfriendly system can reach speeds of up to 800 books per hour—almost double the productivity of other binders in this range. The BQ-500 comes equipped with iCE LINK, a new cloud-based monitoring tool from Horizon that can also handle KPI analysis, PM schedule/alerts, JDF/JMF workflow, scheduling and

more. The BQ-500 can be run in-line with the recently released HT-300 Three-Side Trimmer for seamless book production. In Q4 2021, Standard expects to release automated book block in-feeding, end sheet feeding and gauze feeding accessories for the machine.

Horizon BQ-500 Perfect Binder

Müller Martini Ventura MC Digital Thread Sewing Machine Müller Martini’s Ventura MC Digital represents a revolution in digital book sewing because it enables the faster production of short-run, highquality, highly customized books. Patented sewing technology plus a barcode-driven, touchless workflow eliminates make-readies. Integration of multiple processes—cutting, folding, collating, sewing, finishing—delivers seamless, trouble-free production for quality short-run thread-sewn digitally printed products. Müller Martini Primera PRO Automated Saddle-Stitcher The Primera PRO is an advanced and highly efficient saddle-stitcher for the mid-performance

Trish Witkowski specializes in creative solutions and engagement strategies for direct mail and marketing. She frequently travels and speaks to print organizations and their clients to illustrate the power of print.

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MAILING AND FINISHING range, touting extra horsepower and faster speeds for medium and large runs. Advanced servo technology, innovative motion control and cycle speeds of up to 14,000 per hour, ensure a significant reduction in setup and throughput times for increased profitability. The intuitive system and fully automated features minimize the need for intensive operator training and manual intervention. Stitches up to 1/2” product thickness. Duplo 150 Booklet System Ideal for low to mid-volume runs, the 150 Booklet System offers an entry-level solution for print providers considering bringing their booklet making in-house. With a production speed of up to 2,400 booklets per hour, the 150 Booklet System performs saddle and corner/side stapling up to 25 sheets. Users can go from a letter-size job to a CD-size booklet within minutes with minimal tooling required.

Coatings and Enhancements MBO FC23/30 Web Coater For the 23” and 30” digital web market, the MBO FC23/30 Web Coater is a complete unit and can

Duplo 150 Booklet System

apply Aqueous or UV coatings in high gloss, gloss, satin, matte and soft touch. It adds value and protection to direct mail and advertising materials, and can work with any finishing line and any press brand, including offset and flexo web presses. Scodix PolySense 550 Read More… Scodix recently announced Find article at PrintingNews. the release of PolySense 550, a com/21151119 new low migration food compliant polymer for digital enhancement. Compatible with the entire Scodix Ultra portfolio, the polymer augments existing Scodix applications with the ability to apply it to food-grade packaging. Applicable substrates include offset, HP Indigo ElectroInk and Lamination. In the “good news for value-added print” category, in January Scodix announced that consumers ordered a record-breaking 50 million cards with personalized and embossed foils during the Q4 2020 Thanksgiving to Christmas holiday season in North America.

Cutting, Splicing and Sheeting POLAR Transomat TRE Unloader The POLAR Transomat is an Unloader that goes after the cutting system and re-creates the pallet— but with cut product—stacking the completed reams on pallets with perfectly aligned edges. The machine automates the palletization of the cut stacks, creating precise loads to transport to the next process. Additional automated units (joggers, lifts, etc.) can be added in stages to meet specific needs, or all units can be combined into one highlyefficient cutting system. Continued on page 60

Müller Martini Primera PRO Automated Saddle-Stitcher

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LABELS AND PACKAGING

HAS A TRANSFORMATIVE YEAR The technology outlook for 2021 By David Zwang

ven with all of its problems, 2020 was a transformative year for labels and packaging, and 2021 will bring the learned lessons to the forefront. Much of this has to do with a combination of new digital and hybrid equipment introductions and packaging procurement models. The void of consolidated introductions left by the absence of drupa combined with the pandemicdriven shift in consumer behavior has created a more fragmented view of what is here, what is coming, and more importantly, what is needed. With a little research I believe we can see the trends and how they will be driven. So, with that, what can we expect?

Digital Packaging, the Next Wave Early adoption of digital packaging production was relegated to prototypes, short run and variable data applications that supported marketing campaigns. It is now gaining mainstream acceptance as a result of the successful implementation of digital label printing, which now represents in excess of 25% of total label production globally. We are now seeing an expansion of available digital packaging solutions, that can be used to support other packaging applications including folding carton, flexible packaging and corrugated.

Folding Carton Folding carton has long been in the purview of offset printing. This year we expect to see more of that shifting. The introduction of the Edale FL5 flexo hybrid press is only one of the solutions that will affect that shifting. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the integration of an inkjet unit by Edale or another solution provider to bring variable data capabilities down the line.

Edale FL5

While digital production of folding carton has been happening, it really hasn’t transitioned the next level of adoption. This is primarily attributed to the lack of a good selection of larger format cut sheet digital solutions. It looks like 2021 is going to be the year that finally changes. In the inkjet space, in addition to increased penetration of the B1 Landa S10, and the release of the Koenig & Bauer VariJET 106, the groundbreaking MGI AlphaJET Industrial Print Factory brings a unique approach to high-quality folding carton and corrugated print applications and is almost ready for prime time. B2+ cut sheet press installations have also been growing. While Konica Minolta has been increasing their market share with the KM-1e, and Fujifilm has been placing more JetPress 750s, others are preparing for their entry into the market. Ricoh has announced their long awaited Z75 sheetfed inkjet press, which will most likely go to beta this year, and I would expect a few other surprises later this year as well. In the EP space, after their product line upgrade in 2020, HP Indigo has been placing their 90K roll fed B1+ and sheetfed B2+ 15K and 35K digital presses for folding carton production. In the smaller format and footprint category, 2020 saw the introduction of more extended format size support as well as support of heavier media in a3+ presses like the Canon ImagePRESS C10010VP, Ricoh C9210 and the Xerox Iridesse.

Flexible Packaging The continued growth of flexible packaging replacing rigid containers in the form of stand-up pouches is another of the growth applications for digital print. Pouches, which are easier and less

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LABELS AND PACKAGING costly to ship, actually use anywhere from 40-70% less plastic than rigid-container and label combinations, which are increasingly attractive to brands and sustainability-conscious consumers alike. One of the more interesting applications can be found in a solution by V-Shapes, an Italian technology company. They have developed technology that provides easy opening single portion packets that can be used for pharma, cosmetics, chemicals, food, etc. This year will also see the release of some flexible printing technologies previously announced and soon to be announced. These include EP solutions from HP and Xeikon, as well as inkjet solutions including the Uteco/Kodak, Sapphire Evo W, Screen PacJet FL830, Miyakoshi, MJP30AXF, Rigoli MVZ Powered by Memjet and players yet to be announced.

Corrugated Preprint and postprint corrugated applications are already gaining market traction, and the digital production of folding cartons is starting to see increased growth with the introduction of many new cut sheet digital press solutions. These include the previously introduced HP C500, the updated EFI Nozomi C18000 Plus, as well as Xeikon’s IDERA and Domino X630i to mention just a few.

Labels While digital label production is not new, it is going through a new growth spurt with the introduction of more hybrid flexo/digital solutions that provide a complete print-through-finishing solution at speeds that shift the cost crossover point. These include solutions from Mark Andy, Canon, Bobst and many others.

based on specific requirements instead of trying to fit work with different requirements into the same production processes. Designed well, that could provide more cost-effective and timely solutions with fewer setups and less handling. We can expect much more development as a result of Memjet, Dimatix, XAAR and other printhead manufacturers and their OEMs like Colordyne, Konica Read More… Minolta, PCMC, etc. They are Find article at PrintingNews. increasingly integrating printheads com/21151353 into a variety of different inkjet and hybrid machine configurations to support rapid development of packaging print applications. These types of solutions will find their way into a variety of different machines to support a variety of stand-alone print applications, as well as print as a function of product manufacturing.

It’s more than just printing. Converting is still an important part of packaging production. Folder gluers, inline die cutting, and increasingly laser die cutting are now being introduced into the end-to-end based application solutions. Ultimately, brand identity and shelf appeal are still the key attributes of packaging, and digital embellishment technologies are providing the solutions needed to support the needs of on-demand package printing. Increasingly they are all being integrated into complete inline production solutions. ●

Rigoli MVZ 1000

MGI AlphaJET

The Best of Both Analog and Digital All of these digital and hybrid solutions are being used in place of flexo and offset as they are increasingly available to satisfy the requirements of shorter “on-demand” runs. Granted, the digital solutions currently available may be a bit slower, although that is starting to change, and the output even a little more costly than some of the flexo solutions. However, digital production allows you to create focused and more optimized processes

Canon C10010VP

RICOH Pro Z75B2

HP Indigo 35K

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Deliver outstanding image quality and perfect grip balance, for fine and accurate movement at high speeds.

Extensive range of PIM and media transport belts Available with fibreglass reinforcement for enhanced heat resistance

Speak to our printer belt material engineers today: enquiries@fennerprecision.com www.fennerprecision.com

Rapid prototyping capabilities to minimise development time and cost For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/21151221

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What Makes a Printer?

ADVERTORIAL

How to select the right belt for your printer. Whether its printed textiles for the fashion industry, wide format printed billboards or highspeed printing for packaging - printers help bring ideas to life. With customers demanding greater image quality at ever increasing print speeds, printer technology advancement has been at the forefront Mark Wilkinson, of growth in the sector. Technical Lead for Printers, Fenner Whilst much of that development has Precision UK focussed on areas including sensors and drive systems, one often overlooked, yet integral piece of kit has also been undergoing a quiet technological evolution – media transport belts. To understand the science behind these belts, we caught up with Mark Wilkinson, Technical Lead for Printers at Fenner Precision in the UK. Mark has been an integral part of the Innovation and Technology team at Fenner Precision for over 14 years. Often finding himself at the heart of critical innovations, he has earned the nickname, “The Oracle”, amongst his colleagues, likening him to the eponymous all-knowing character from The Matrix due to the huge amount of technical knowhow he has accumulated over the years. Can you start by telling us about some of the key fundamentals of printer belts that manufacturers should look out for? Printer belts are responsible for transporting a variety of media through the printer quickly, smoothly and precisely. The first step on the path to the right belt, which works in sync with a printer system, is to ensure that the material formulation of the belt is aligned to the unique strains and challenges of that system. This can eradicate some common problems right from the onset. For instance, while silicone belts are generally non-marking, EPDM belts must be formulated specifically to deliver the same benefit which is obviously critical in ensuring print quality. OK great, now that we’ve got our correctly formulated belt material, what happens next? The next consideration is around heat resistance. For large industrial and commercial printers where speed is key, the internal systems can be exposed to very high temperatures which can adversely impact belt performance. Although EPDM belts offer a good level of temperature resistance, sometimes that’s still not enough.

In these instances, a good way of overcoming the heat resistance challenge printer manufacturers can face is to move to silicone belts with specialist reinforcements, such as woven fibreglass. Is there anything else that can be done to give printer manufacturers confidence that they have the right belt for their system? Possibly the most challenging part of printer belt design is delivering perfect grip balance. If vacuum assistance is being utilised within the printer, the belt texture, perforation pattern, hole-spacing and size all become crucial for consistent feed. Too much or too little grip can both lead to costly downtime. Belt perforation can only be done with a range of specialist mechanical punching equipment and in the instances where fibreglass reinforcement is used, holes should be laser cut. This is because mechanical punching causes Fiberglass reinforced media loose fibre edges which transport belt can dissipate through the printer and build up over time creating internal sensor malfunctions and clog the airflow cooling system. It seems like there is a lot of thought and design that goes into delivering against the vacuum specification of printer manufacturers? That’s right, but even if the belt delivers against the vacuum specification, another challenge it must overcome is belt tracking. This is when the belt drifts on the pully from side to side and is a particular issue on wide format printers. Tracking issues are a common cause of printer jams, belt breakages and excessive wear on the belt, but also potentially the printer itself, depending on what the belt is rubbing against. This can be overcome by ensuring the internal surface coating is optimised for the unique pully system of any given printer. In essence, to ensure that Read More… printer manufacturers get the Find article at right media transport belts that PrintingNews. com/21151223 works seamlessly with their systems, early collaboration, technical capability and knowledge are crucial in delivering quick, precise and accurate media throughput with minimal downtime and printer jams. ●

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WATCH LIST ─ Videos Trending On Printingnews.com

There’s an Urgency to Fixing the Textiles & Apparel Supply Chain John Thorbeck of ChaingeCapital.com has been working on a number of sustainability issues. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21149871

Affiliates and PRINTING United Alliance Part Ways, Affiliates Bullish About the Future The former PIA Affiliates have been working behind the scenes to develop an infrastructure. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21150067

Textiles, Sustainability, and Circularity: It’s Not as Straightforward As You Might Think Marci Kinter talks about the issue of sustainability and the circular economy as it affects the textile industry. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21150019

Frank Texts Frank looks at vintage textbooks for printing and reviews how technology has changed graphic arts education. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21151367

Warren Werbitt Goes Printer to Printer and Talks Procurement with Tim Peppiatt Warren talks to Tim Peppiatt of Peppiatt & Williams. Tim started his own consultancy for major brands. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21151158

PGSF: Helping Attract and Support New Talent for the Graphic Arts Industry Jules van Sant shares a Printing & Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) update. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21151078

What Does Sustainability Mean in Print and Packaging? Marci Kinter, VP of Government & Regulatory Affairs for PRINTING United Alliance, shares knowledge and expertise on the various aspects of sustainability. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21151356

Sabine Geldermann discusses April’s virtual.drupa Kelley Holmes talks to drupa and Messe Düsseldorf’s Sabine Geldermann, about April’s virtual.drupa. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21151219

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SALES CLINIC ─ Pro-active and Re-active Competitive Blocks

GET AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITORS THROUGH

STRATEGIC LANDMINES How to be pro-active and re-active toward your competition.

hose pesky competitors. They always seem to show up in every deal at exactly the wrong time. On top of that, the number of competitors is multiplying at an alarming rate. You need a strategy to kick them out of the arena… and you need it quickly. Start by understanding the competitive trends. Then analyze your competitor from your customer’s perspective. In other words, how does your customer or prospect view your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses? Based on that analysis, take some action steps, including pro-active and re-active competitive blocks. The tools below will help to make sure you’ve covered all your bases.

Consider Competitive Trends ● Prospects learn about your company, products and services well before they contact you. ● Prospects come to the table educated on the competitive playing field. ● Most sales cycles include competitive threats. ● Competitors continue to improve. ● More decision makers equals more choices to solve their problems. ● Non-traditional competitors can emerge.

Competitive Analysis ● Analyzing the competition early and often enables the selling team to stay one step ahead. ● A 360° view of your competitors offers the best perspective: The customer’s view, the competitors’ view of

themselves and your view. ● Gather competitor intelligence at the market level, company level and product or service level. Ask yourself, “What does this ‘intel’ reveal about the competitor?” ● C onsider: 1. Where do we have the advantage? 2. Where does the competition have an advantage? 3. How can we leverage our advantage? 4. How can we neutralize their advantage? 5. What do we need to do to win? Continued on page 61 Lisa Magnuson founded Top Line Sales in 2005. It has a proven track record of helping companies overcome the barriers to winning TOP Line Accounts. Learn more at www.toplinesales.com.

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EXECUTIVE Q&A ─ Heidelberger

EXECUTIVE Q&A:

RAINER HUNDSDÖRFER, CEO HEIDELBERGER DRUCKMASCHINEN AG, AND CEDRIC MUENZING, HEAD OF SERVICE HEIDELBERG NORTH AMERICA By Ralf Schlözer Printing News: Let’s start with the probably most frequently asked question nowadays: How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact Heidelberg in 2020, and how has the road to recovery been so far? Rainer Hundsdörfer: Naturally, the pandemic hit us severely. Last year at about this time we noticed almost a state of shock in the industry. This eased during summer and continued to improve. From July orders increased, and in December we saw the high point of the year, with worldwide orders surpassing 2019 levels. The are some differences among customers, however. We need to distinguish between packaging and commercial printers. If there are no events, less advertising, there is Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of less to print. The online Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG activities, however, are not only driving demand for packaging printers, but also for commercial print markets. We have seen a huge increase in inserts for parcels. Each parcel now includes catalogues, vouchers and flyers. The parcel has become a new channel for advertising, not only for the goods included. It is taking advantage of the unpackaging experience. In addition, the consumer does not need to start his PC to view marketing materials. It

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creates a new significance for print, where print is faster and easier to use. PN: Probably the new direct mail? RH: Exactly. Even more targeted than classic direct mail. This helped some of our customers to regain some volume. There are geographic differences as well. China is back to normal since July and since fall we do have one record month after the other. February was much better than last year for example. For the first quarter this year we do not see a decline despite all the renewed lockdowns around the world. It is not the recovery we hoped for. However, once large parts of the population have been vaccinated by the middle of this year and life is resuming, the economic experts predict a post-Corona boom. This will be an uplift for our customers as well, and some of our customers are already investing for that. Still regional differences apply. But I am very optimistic for growth this year. Nevertheless, the decline has been harsh, and in our current financial year ending in March, we lost about €400 to €500 million in revenue. We plan to make up most of it in the following financial year. What helped us a lot is the global reach of Heidelberg. It enabled us to support our customers worldwide. We were able to install all presses ordered, in many cases without sending specialists from Germany due to travel restrictions. We have 2,500 qualified service technicians all around the world. This is pretty unique for

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any machine-building company even outside press manufacturing. Additionally, I believe our high degree of digital competency and networking helped a lot. It even increased the willingness of our customers to adopt digital services from us. We will build on that to help our customers in making their business more stable, productive and profitable. PN: Is the digital connectivity already a feature adopted by all press buyers? RH: The vast majority does. There are remote regions where it becomes more difficult. China has been a bit reluctant at first, despite the high rate of digital penetration. This changed a lot, partially driven by the pandemic, where the benefits became clear. We did not only help our Heidelberg customers, we even supported other engineering companies to install their machines. For example, we support Masterwork in countries outside of China for all their products even outside print finishing. Service is a major asset of Heidelberg. We have the personnel and the digital connectivity, which is the best of both worlds. Our customers have been happy about the support and feel reassured. We don’t intend to reduce our service offering in the future, rather we plan to expand and look for additional business opportunities. Cedric Muenzing: The situation Mr. Hundsdörfer described applies to North America as well. Our service did not slow down, rather the intensity of the support increased. There was a brief stoppage at the start of the pandemic with customers being reluctant to let outside personnel on site, but this normalized very quickly. Travel restrictions made some activities more complicated, although our local organization helped a lot. We have a sophisticated supply chain for parts as well. We were able to install all machines ordered, supply training and ongoing maintenance. We even moved some presses within and outside North America.

We even ramped our trainee program, after realizing that some of our experienced technicians will retire in the next few years. This ensures there is sufficient time for knowledge transfer. PN: There were no restrictions in installations and training for the more complex presses? CM: We are closely connected to our headquarters. There was some extra effort required and it was not easy, but we managed to have all installed and operators trained. RH: We learned a lot in digital communication, especially in service. Many of the classic training programs were moved to online courses early on. There were plans for this before, so we had to speed up the programs. We have a strong combination of technicians on site and experts based in Germany. They can retrieve data from the press and sometimes know more than the person on site. Together, with the possibilities of digital communication, we could solve demanding tasks. For example, in Japan we were not able to send somebody at all for a complex press, so we had to coach local service engineers from remote. The installation was completed in time. These are inspiring thoughts for the future. To have that team approach from local and remote is faster than sending somebody from the factory and more cost efficient. The pandemic was a catalyst for developments that were shaping up already. Take trade fairs for example: they will change fundamentally. That change was not caused but accelerated by the pandemic. Many large b2b fairs were ripe for change anyhow, but nobody dared to skip them. Communication is changing as well. Online has a bigger presence while print is adapting and moving into new channels. PN: That means you have doubts for drupa 2024? RH: I do not believe it will come back

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EXECUTIVE Q&A ─ Heidelberger in its historic format. The four-year cycle for innovations is not up-to-date anymore. Innovation is continuous. For example, our software moved to the cloud and we will not even publish releases anymore. Instead, we’ll send updates directly to the users. We will be investing in new, virtual trade fair concepts to ensure closer and more individual customer communications as well as in select regional events in our growth markets. Heidelberg will take part at China Print in June -the biggest trade show event of our industry in 2021. PN: I still did appreciate seeing the new presses live at the Heidelberg Innovation Week. This means there will be other events? RH: This is going to happen again, but on a more continuous basis. Big players like Heidelberg have the opportunity to make these combined live and online events. Hit hard will be the smaller players. They benefited the most from trade fairs. But for Heidelberg: Why not make in-house events in our big show rooms? There is no competition and all event marketing benefits us. This is especially true for Heidelberg. We can show a lot more at our Wiesloch factory site, or at our site in China. We can do similar things, at a somewhat smaller scale, in our demo centers around the world. We do understand that customers for large goods still want to touch and feel the devices, but we do that locally, supported by online activities. PN: A major line of business for Heidelberg is the subscription business. Did the pandemic affect, maybe accelerate, the uptake? RH: The subscription business keeps growing. We have one major impediment at Heidelberg which limits us pushing the business as we would like, and this is of financial nature. Presses within Subscription Plus contracts remain on our balance sheet. We are optimistic to have solved the problem in the near future by securing sufficient funding. Then we will accelerate the growth.

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But we turned the restriction into an advantage and are offering lifecycle contracts besides the Subscription Plus model. These are for customers wanting to buy the press or customers with existing presses. We have about 500 lifecycle contracts and about 80 subscription contracts. The contract business in total contributes 8% to our revenue in the FY 2020 and is expected to grow to 11% in FY 2021. Most interesting for us are customers that have a growing business model which can make good use of an increased productivity. This could be commercial printers aiming at consolidating the market, and those show big interest. I believe in a few years this will be the dominant form of transaction. We continue to offer straight purchases and all kinds of contracts, and we got a lot more flexible here. All contracts are tailored to the customer. Our vision is being the leading end-to-end supplier, from prepress to delivery. PN: Would that include operating the press as well? RH: Likely not. Managing personnel is still better done locally. CM: We do have a relatively high share of lifecycle contracts in our North American business. We do not want to leave our customers with a press, we want to accompany our customers. That is why we tailor our contracts and lifecycle products to each customer. The dynamics will increase with more services offered around the press. PN: How is the strategy with Gallus? Are you looking for a new buyer, or do you plan to integrate Gallus back into the core business? RH: Gallus stays with our core business. Initially we didn’t plan to sell Gallus as not fitting to our core business. Instead there was much insecurity in the market last year due to the pandemic and we wanted to bolster our cash reserves – a sort of life insurance for us when we took up that opportunity. The deal fell through, which is

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not uncommon in M&A. We already developed a strategy before the sale, which we are resuming now, by giving Gallus more independency again. The customers are different, the business is small, dynamic and agile. There is still cooperation in R&D. Sales and service is done by the national organizations, but with dedicated staff. Gallus can benefit from the infrastructure and logistics we are building. We are still deciding what to centralize or keep separate and made a development roadmap. We are closing down most of the manufacturing in St. Gallen (Switzerland) and shift it to their Langgöns factory in Germany for cost efficiency. We might look for a lower labor cost site as well for entry level products. We give Gallus all the freedom and flexibility to move quickly and benefit from the growing market demand. In addition, Heidelberg has a vital interest in Gallus, which is digital print. We stopped the Primefire but did not stop looking at inkjet. We believe at some point the technology is ready. PN: At the Innovation Week last year you showed an automated press line with fully automated plate feeding to the print unit. Is this already available? RH: We are about to start field testing and machines are being installed now. At the end of the year the line should be fully available. This is a highly productive solution for 24/7 operation; therefore, we need a thoroughly tested solution. Despite the complexity of the press, we will be able to offer a true operator-less production. PN: Can you give us an update on Zaikio as well? RH: I am excited about Zaikio. We deliberately decided to make this an all-encompassing platform for the industry. We are within the envisioned time frame. We just successfully concluded testing and are going live now. We are offering all print shops free access to the Zaikio Procurement

industry platform with immediate effect. Users can already place orders from their MIS via the platform at suppliers that signed up. We have a good number of MIS vendors and several paper mills already signed up. There is a high interest in having a common interface for all software and solutions. I am very confident that within one or one-and-a-half years we have established Zaikio well enough to call it a success. We separated Zaikio from Heidelberg to give competitors an opportunity to take part, and we are in talks with some. The platform makes the most sense for a customer if all suppliers and stakeholders can be integrated. Initially we looked at having a sort of Heidelberg OS. Looking at our customers we felt that this would not be enough. As a technology leader we felt we had to provide more. I believe who dares reaps the biggest benefits. Our competitors will benefit as well, but our customers will benefit the most. PN: Finally, where would you see Heidelberger in two years’ time? RH: We will strengthen our core business, especially in respect to providing endto-end solutions. We will also focus on workflow and software. Here we will move to subscription models as well, and customers will only pay for what they use. Likewise, we can update solutions around the clock. There are two additional activities we will put into separate units to let them grow and unfold: eMobility and functional print. We provide wallboxes for eMobility and are already one of the market leaders in Germany. This business is expected to grow from €15 million last year to €30 million this year. This rapid growth requires an independent organization, which we will provide during our next financial year. Most importantly we will remain a trusted partner for customers in print and packaging. ●

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21151413

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MANAGEMENT ─ Video Conferencing

THE RISE OF

VIDEO CONFERENCING Get ready. Zoom is here to stay.

ideo conferencing is well designed for the printing industry where speed and turnaround are critical for many print projects. With video meetings, printers can improve the design and proofing process and share screens with decision makers. Printers can train customers how to prepare files correctly and walk them through the proper ways to create PDF files, correct bleed issues, overcome font issues and resolution. Printers can offer real-time help in mail list management and personalization. Sales calls can be more productive, since the salesperson can share samples and better explain the benefits of the company’s quality and service. Just as every person in the print shop communicating with customers must have an email address, they will also need video conferencing capabilities. It will require an investment in hardware, software and internet bandwidth. Each workstation will need: ● Fast Computer. For video conferencing, your computer should have a minimum of 2GB RAM with a quad-core processor. If your computer isn’t fast enough, your audio and video quality will be poor. Printers will also need the extra computer power to run other software programs when sharing a screen with the listener. ● Better Webcam. Many laptops and desktops now come with built-in cameras, but you may have to purchase a better camera to capture subtleties in facial expressions and body language. Video improves the communication process. Webcam costs under $100. ● Headset with Microphone. Many computers and laptops come equipped with built-in speakers and microphones, but most experts recommend you purchase a personal headset with a microphone. Headphones and a microphone block out background sounds, keep you from disturbing others and

avoid distracting feedback Find article at loops. You can a buy a good PrintingNews. com/21151116 headset with microphone for less than $50. ● Internet Connection. Invest in a quality internet connection that can handle all of the bandwidth that may be used during the call. A weak connection will result in audio and visual lags that can impact the quality of the call. If Wi-Fi is still giving you trouble, use an ethernet cable for a direct connection to cut down on any potential speed issues or sudden dropouts. Printers need to have enough bandwidth available to handle more than one video conference at a time while still moving large digital files. Your local internet provider can help you determine your internet requirements. ● Video Conferencing Software/App. Don’t go cheap. There are a variety of different software and apps available to host meetings. Two popular software used by businesses are Zoom or Gotomeeting. com. You’ll want to use the paid versions of the programs to have more capabilities during the call. The programs will provide the other listeners with a free link to connect. Video conferencing is becoming the business communication of choice because it engages the participants. Face-to-face conversations build trust, particularly since all parties can see the non-verbal cues. Problem-solving is better done face-to-face. If you want to move to the next sales level and reach larger companies, make the investment now so you are the technology leader in your market and the printer people want to do business with today. ●

John Giles is a consultant for the printing industry who works with Tom Crouser and CPrint International to help printers prosper. Contact John at (954) 224-1942, john@cprint.com, or johng247@aol.com.

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MANAGEMENT ─ Human Resources Challenges

LABORING THROUGH A

CHALLENGING YEAR What are the HR challenges facing employers today?

uring the last year I Read More… have talked to many Find article at members of the PrintingNews. com/21151123 Printing Industries Association of Southern California about two converging themes: finances and human resources. For most of the last year, printers have been worried about balancing operating needs against one of their largest costs, labor.

Layoffs and Rehires Unfortunately, the pandemic created the need for furloughs, layoffs or some combination of the two. Many printers used the pandemic to “retool” and optimize their operations, becoming experts at doing more with less. To keep the business open, employees were asked to take multi-tasking to a new level. To the degree that more efficient, productive, and effective processing was achieved, the post-pandemic period will bear fruit. Now, as we march into the economic recovery, printers are realizing that at some point soon, customer demand will result in the need for more employees. Printers must now find the balance between satisfying their customers and increasing their workforce. The cruelty of the situation is that almost all surviving printers are vying for limited resources at the same time. Of course, a big challenge here is which employees do they need to hire? I suggest that in seeking “new” employees, printers consider using this opportunity to recruit and hire talent that meets a desired behavior profile. While you cannot discriminate in the hiring process, an employer can be highly selective. The key is to have a clear understanding of the position’s technical and behavioral requirements AND to start the

recruiting process early. Too often the need is so urgent that the first breathing soul through the door is seen as the best solution, only to find out later that there was not a match and the result is an expensive separation. I suggest that there are a few steps that should be considered during the hiring process: ● R eview and edit the job description(s) and develop a behavior profile that works best in your environment. We apply the Predictive Index behavioral assessment as a tool in our process. ● Determine who is going to be responsible for the day-to-day training (assuming that training is going to be required). Give ample consideration to the “training” talents Continued on page 62 Lou Caron is a CPA with extensive business experience in both the insurance and printing industry, and has served as the chief financial officer of companies in both industries. In June of 2017, he became President/CEO of Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California, the largest local print trade association in the nation.

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...

INDUSTRY NEWS ─ News Trending Online New Cloud-Based Service from Heidelberg Significantly Boosts Machine Availability

Tilia Labs Releases new Enfocus Switch App, an Open-Source Development Project Tilia Labs has released its latest tilia Phoenix connection for Enfocus Switch workflow management software. For the first time the Phoenix configurator is available as an app. Tilia Labs has chosen to open-source the app moving forward, enabling industry practitioners to directly influence the future evolution of the product. A repository for tilia Phoenix Connect is hosted on GitHub. Anyone interested in building onto the functionality of tilia Phoenix can download the source code to edit it or add to it. www.printingnews.com/21149037

Heidelberg has been digitizing service operations by equipping machine systems with ever smarter preventive functions such as eCall and Predictive Monitoring. The aim in all cases is to maximize machine uptime. Heidelberg is taking the next step in digitizing its service portfolio and transferring smart, preventive maintenance to the cloud with the new Maintenance Manager. Maintenance operations that are due can be planned and managed using machine data in an automated process, in line with maintenance intervals and machine usage. Heidelberg service engineers receive orders via an app on their mobile devices and deal with these on customer premises. The app helps by providing detailed descriptions of specific steps. www.printingnews.com/21149814

swissQprint: Automatic Double-Sided Printing swissQprint roll to roll printers now make it possible to print automatically on both sides of media. An innovation to boost efficiency – available for the Karibu model and the new Karibu S high-speed version. For media printed on both sides such as blockout banners, ceiling hangers, stretch banners, posters and the like, swissQprint now offers an automatic double-sided printing function. It is available as an option with the Karibu UV roll to roll printer as well as the new Karibu S version for increased productivity. Karibu controls the process with the help of an integrated camera system and QR codes printed next to the subject. This ensures that subjects printed on the reverse side are positioned in exactly the right position, so that both sides line up – even if the material is not inserted accurately before printing on the reverse side or if the roll is inserted in the opposite running direction. www.printingnews.com/21150103

SAi Launches New Flexi 21 Software SAi released Flexi 21, the latest version of its flagship signmaking software. The 64-bit RIP system is engineered to meet the demanding design to production challenges of sign & display and large format print providers for both novice and more advanced users, while continuing to be highly productive with fast processing speeds. SAi’s Flexi 21 design and RIP print software now supports multi-layer/ white and varnish ink layered printing. With this versatile and powerful tool, Flexi can generate white or varnish ink on the fly or from the white layer in the predefined design. Users can control how the ink is printed in both the Flexi Design and Flexi RIP Production Manager functions. This “sandwich” mode printing supports printing multiple layers, for example, a bottom layer of white, color in the middle and varnish on top. Flexi 21 also includes variable data printing. Users printing a set of documents with mostly shared elements, can change certain text or images from document to document. www.printingnews.com/21150159

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Esko Unveils New Advancements in Automation and Cloud-Based Capabilities with Next Generation Automation Engine Esko has unveiled a new release of its market-leading Automation Engine workflow solution, packed with new capabilities and for the first time available as a Software-as-a-Service. Esko Automation Engine is the automated workflow solution that automates prepress tasks and integrates with business systems, which speeds up the process, and more importantly reduces the error rate and need for operator intervention. On top of the My WorkSpace application and next generation user experience, the newest release of Automation Engine includes a new ‘drop zone’ feature, which makes launching workflows quicker and easier by enabling users to search and select workflows, drag and drop files to it, edit parameters and initiate - all from one location. Being a subscription service, a simple, flexible and transparent tierbased pricing model offers a predictable cost to help with IT budgeting and management. Esko developed Automation Engine SaaS in response to the ongoing challenges faced by its customers, and feedback from early adopters has been very positive.

LogoJET Announces Next Generation Food Safe Printers Your food is about to get a lot more personal. The days of hand painting images on cakes and cookies are fading fast. With LogoJET’s new FSR30 and FSR90 printers, photo-quality full-color images on a single bite of food, the size of a bean, are just a click away. The new FSR printers are built for heavy-duty industrial usage and designed to bring customization to large-scale food manufacturers. The FSR30 can print on items up to 2.5” thick and the FSR90 can print on items up to 6” thick. www.printingnews.com/21151151

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Enfocus Launches a Brand-New Product that Makes Job Onboarding Easy for Customer Service Enfocus has launched their newest product, BoardingPass. BoardingPass is a new tool for customer service representatives that allows them to check PDF files for showstopping issues. Enfocus BoardingPass allows customer-facing staff to instantly validate PDF files for print. Integrated with an email client, BoardingPass identifies errors that require a file to be resubmitted and automatically drafts an email reply. Customer service agents gain the power to provide quick and understandable PDF file feedback. BoardingPass uses simple drag and drop from an email attachment or downloaded PDF. It quickly checks print job files for issues that would make the job unprintable. BoardingPass points out issues with missing fonts, image resolution, and bleed. As a stand-alone PDF viewer, it displays files as they will appear on press. www.printingnews.com/21151255

Komori America Marks the One-Year Anniversary of MBO Group Acquisition with Special Edition Folder Komori America announced that MBO will be offering a new MBO K32-KSE Combi Buckle/Knife Folder to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Komori’s acquisition of MBO Post Press Solutions. It is available at special pricing for a limited time only, now through August 31, 2021. This combi-folding machine, designed for full-size B1 and smaller sheet sizes, is well suited to the commercial print market and is ideal for high-precision, fast production of all types of general commercial applications. www.printingnews.com/21151212

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WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Strength Of Finishing & Installation Techniques

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND Banner finishing is about more than aesthetics. By Richard Romano

hile “walking” the “show floor” at the ISA Sign Expo Virtual “last week,” (OK, I’ll stop with the quotation marks.) I came across a “booth” (sorry) for Banner Ups/Budnick Converting, which featured a video of a vinyl banner placed in a wind tunnel and exposed to 100-mile-perhour winds (watch it here: https://youtu.be/ L55Jy82edcA). Videorecorded at the National Institute of Aeronautical Research, it was at the time (2017)—and may still be—the strongest banner wind survival ever documented, making it up to 108.2 mph before failure.

Sticky Wickets While not as sexy as finishing tools such as cutting tables, laser cutters and engravers, etc., one of the most vital tools in your banner finishing arsenal is something as simple as tape. Doublesided adhesive tape is one simple and inexpensive way to finish banners, be it for hemming, forming pole pockets, seaming graphics for tiling purposes, and/or for physically hanging signs or banners. Now, this kind of tape is not the everyday kind you would pick up at Staples, but is instead known as “heavyduty banner tape,” and is stronger and more durable than the consumer or all-purpose variety. Still, banner tape may not be able to withstand heavy winds—or even winds substantially less intense than those in the Banner Ups wind tunnel test.

No Wallace or Grommet

The video was demonstrating the strength of Banner Ups’ MegaTape and BravoTabs, but it vividly illustrates an important consideration when producing banners, or any kind of display graphics intended for outdoor installation. While it’s true that, generally speaking, you probably won’t have to worry about 108-mph winds (although with hurricane season approaching, if you’re based in or near Florida, you may), it’s still important to pay attention not only to the aesthetics but also the strength of finishing and installation techniques.

I mentioned above in the wind-tunnel discussion, BravoTabs, which are Banner Ups’ square-shaped, high-strength variety of grommet tabs, which are, in turn, an alternative to grommets. These are plastic adhesive tabs that are applied over the corner of a banner and reinforce Banner Ups’ PowerTabs hanging holes. They are much like metal or plastic grommets, but they have some advantages over grommets, first among them being aesthetics. Grommet tabs can be transparent, and thus can be a bit less conspicuous than metal or plastic grommets. They can also be stronger than grommets. When the wind billows the banner out like a sail, the rope or other hanging

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mechanism pull s through the corner of the banner, and the tabs distribute the pulling force over a greater surface area. So it is less likely to tear than with grommets. (Here is a video that demonstrates this: https://youtu.be/mgKVsvZXx9Q.)

Hemming and Hawing That’s all well and good for vinyl banners, but soft signage—textile-based banners and other display graphics—is a common and growing alternative to vinyl. Soft signage usually requires a finishing step you don’t always need with vinyl: hemming. Hemming a fabric banner is just like hemming trouser cuffs and is done for the same reason: to prevent the fabric from fraying and unraveling. However, hemming is also done to add structural support to the banner if, again, it is designed to be installed outdoors and exposed to wind. If you’re as into watching wind tunnel banner and sign tests as I appear to have become, a clip from Windigo Signs showing a fabric sign in a wind tunnel can be seen here: https://youtu.be/Nte5xTM1Eew. (Windigo Signs manufactures light-pole signs that feature a proprietary wind-release technology.) Hemming is also done to add pole pockets or to support whatever installation hardware will be required—including grommets. Hemming soft signage can be accomplished in three basic ways: ● Taping, using the same banner tape you would use for vinyl signage, although it doesn’t work as well on fabric. ● Sewing, which is a better and more durable option. This will require an industrial strength sewing machine and perhaps skilled sewists. (Our textiles guru Cary Sherburne tells me that “sewist” has become the preferred term, thankfully replacing the older “sewer.” “Seamstress” is also commonly used, although you rarely encounter the term “seamster” for a male counterpart, which makes some gender assumptions.) By way, vinyl banners can be sewn as well. ● Welding, as the term suggests, hems a fabric using heat. Most of the fabrics used in sign and display applications

Miller Weldmaster 112 Extreme hot air welder for fabric applications.

are some kind of polyester or, essentially, a plastic. As a result, when they are exposed to heat, they melt, so instead of sewing a hem, you apply heat and pressure and fuse the fabric to itself. As with dye-sublimation printing, welding is a function of the combination of temperature, pressure and speed. There are several different kinds of welding technologies, depending on the specific application, but you get the idea. (See this older Printing News article for a slightly deeper dive: https://bit.ly/3wSs39q.)

Don’t Get Blown Away There are few places that don’t experience high wind (or even extremely high wind) conditions, but even moderate winds can be destructive to outdoor graphics if they have been insufficiently reinforced. Read More… These may not be the sexiest Find article at finishing techniques in the PrintingNews. com/21151365 world. We are probably not going to feature banner tape on our cover any time soon. But they are important considerations when producing outdoor graphics that are designed look good as well as last. ●

Richard Romano has been writing about the graphic communications industry for 20 years. He is an industry analyst and author or coauthor of more than half a dozen books.

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WIDE FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Award Winners

AND THE

AWARDS

GO TO... For this year’s FASTSIGNS Project of the Year Award winners, it’s all about relationships. By Richard Romano

ASTSIGNS of Louisville (Ky.) took top honors at this year’s FASTSIGNS/Wide Format & Signage Project of the Year Awards which, like most events in the past year, were held virtually back in January. Second place was claimed by FASTSIGNS of Martinsburg (W.V.) and third by FASTSIGNS of Puerto Rico.

A Healthy Relationship Doing a major rebrand of a large, regional health care provider network is a big enough job in and of itself, but when you add a global pandemic on top of it, the challenges only get magnified. This year’s winner of the FASTSIGNS/Wide Format & Signage Project of the Year Award found itself in such a situation. FASTSIGNS of Louisville (Ky.) was in the midst of a large-scale rebranding of five hospitals, seven medical offices and 50 primary care physician offices, following University of Louisville Health’s acquisition of a competing healthcare system. Installation kicked off in November 2019 with a substantial portion of the window lettering accomplished, and by the end of December and beginning of January 2020, FASTSIGNS of Louisville was replacing channel letters on the downtown buildings. Work on the high-rise buildings was a central part of the project and included replacing nearly two dozen sets of channel letters on the facades of the downtown campus. The project

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continued smoothly into February and early March. And then… “We were rocking and everything was going great, and it was just amazing how much we were able to complete,” said Susan Cilone, owner of FASTSIGNS of Louisville. “And then, one day in March, the world kind of changed.” This meant that a lot of FASTSIGNS of Louisville’s events-based work came to a standstill. “Schools were now going to be closed and events canceled. In just one day, four different major events that we were working on signage for were canceled, or they changed the nature of the work we were doing.” As for the UofL Health rebrand project, “the good news was that phase one of this project was largely exterior,” Cilone added, “so we were able to move forward.” One roadblock was supply chain issues. “We had vendors who were in different states and different areas who were closing operations,” she said. At the same time, the onset of the pandemic changed some of the focus of the rebrand and created a need for ad hoc ancillary signage. “We found ourselves toggling back and forth between the work on the rebrand and completing rush jobs for the healthcare system so they could put up signage, move entrances and let people know about COVID related protocols.” Early in the pandemic, UofL Health became a major COVID test and healthcare provider, and with its increased footprint in the community due to the merger, it became vital that new signage be created on-the-fly to direct patients. Later, the vaccine rollout necessitated even more last-minute orders. “We had to continue to be available to them for anything and everything they needed to take care of the community,” said Cilone, “and we also had to continue to make sure that everything that we were doing kept our team safe. In those early moments, there was so much uncertainty that we had to navigate to continue our work, because we knew that the rebrand was very important for UofL Health. But it became clear that a driving force for us to continue moving forward with our focus on the

UofL Health rebrand project was that the community was counting on its healthcare provider to help them through this.” As 2021 dawned, phase one of the project— the exterior work—was just about complete. Read More… “We are moving now into phase Find article at two, which began before the end PrintingNews. com/21151115 of 2020, where we’re doing more of the interior upgrades such as messaging on the patient boards that are in every room in each hospital,” said Cilone. “Those are the kinds of graphics that we’re changing out by the hundreds.” And, of course, COVID signage and posters. They are also getting ready to start working on creating all new sign types in University Hospital. “The sign types that they currently have, that we’ve been making for them for 20 plus years, they’re changing out and switching to a new sign type. So that’s another part of what we’ll be working on as we continue to rebrand some of the interior,” said Cilone. This particular project recognized by this year’s Project of the Year Award is especially poignant for Cilone because the local healthcare network had been one of FASTSIGNS of

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WIDE FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Award Winners Louisville’s first clients. Cilone and her husband Sam opened their franchise in 1994, and by 1995 Sam started working with Louisville’s Jewish Hospital, forming a relationship that really taught the Cilones the sign business. “We worked with their real estate division, and then worked with the key players within their healthcare system and the multiple facilities that they operate.” Shortly after that, FASTSIGNS of Louisville began working with the University of Louisville healthcare system, “and it just began a couple of decades worth of relationship-building,” said Cilone. “In both cases, there was very much a partnership that developed where Sam was the account manager for both, and he began working with the leadership team within both systems.” Fast forward to 2019, when UofL Health purchased the properties that had comprised the Jewish Hospital system. “Sam had the knowledge that went back decades about the different properties that UofL Health was acquiring. He also had decades of experience working with the senior vice president of operations at UofL Health, so when they knew that the acquisition was going to go forward, Sam was in the room during the meetings as they were making

plans for rebranding the facilities.” Over the years, FASTSIGNS of Louisville has won four FASTSIGNS Project of the Year Awards—most recently in 2019 for Louisville’s Muhammad Ali Museum—but this year’s was the most resonant. “This particular account is one that Sam and I both feel has shaped our business and our business philosophy,” said Cilone. “Both of us care deeply about the UofL Health organization and about the people within the organization. It’s been a great partnership, which makes the award that much more exciting for us. After 2020 being a year full of challenges, this really is a bright spot.”

An Insulated Market The runner-up in this year’s Project of the Year is FASTSIGNS of Martinsburg (W.V.), that won for a project for Knauf Insulation, which was looking to rebrand its Martinsburg, W.V. facility. The project started with FASTSIGNS of Indianapolis, which had been working on Knauf’s headquarters in Shelbyville, Ind. The rebrand had been coordinated by Legacy Marketing, which then reached out to FASTSIGNS of Martinsburg and sister franchise FASTSIGNS of Winchester, Va. (both franchises, located about 25 miles apart, are owned by Bryan and Tracey Quick) to handle local production of signage for Knauf’s Martinsburg plant, rather than ship materials from Indiana. “Each [Knauf] facility got a list of things they could choose from and a budget they could spend and some of them chose the monument signs, reverse channel letters, some printed vinyl timelines for interior walls, and some chose some posts and panels,” said Kim Moss, visual communications expert for FASTSIGNS of Martinsburg, and sister of Tracy Quick. “So it was a combination of different signages that they could choose from. I built a really good relationship with Nicole at the marketing company, and we worked very well together.” So well that the relationship continued beyond Martinsburg to other Knauf locations. “She asked me if I would consider continuing to work with her on plants in three other states, California, Michigan and Alabama,” said Moss. “So I ended up handling the orders for those three

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facilities as well.” Fortunately, the Martinsburg plant project was completed pre-COVID, as the pandemic adversely affected installations in other locations. “The most challenging was Albion, Mich.,” said Moss. “That project literally took almost a year to complete because the permit offices were shut down. We just couldn’t get anything rolling.” The Martinsburg project, on the other hand, went perfectly smoothly. “Communication was key,” said Moss. “I stayed in constant communication with Nicole at the marketing company. We worked from a spreadsheet that I would keep color-coded—no color, if a piece hadn’t shipped, orange if it was en route, and green if it had been delivered. Nicole could get into my Google link any time, look at the spreadsheet, and answer any questions the customer had without even having to reach out to me.” Moss herself is still somewhat new to FASTSIGNS, although she had been a 16-year printing industry veteran and has been selling real estate in the Martinsburg area for 10 years. Tracey and Bryan Quick had opened FASTSIGNS of Winchester 13 years ago and in 2019 were offered the opportunity to expand. “When [Tracey] was approached by FASTSIGNS to look at purchasing the Martinsburg store, she asked me if I would come to do outside sales,” said Moss. “I was born and raised here and was already involved with the Chamber. I knew a lot of people through my real estate career. So it was very helpful that I was fairly known in the area by a lot of community people.” And it wasn’t long before the Martinsburg store started winning awards. Along with Runner-Up for the FASTSIGNS/Wide Format & Signage Project of the Year, FASTSIGNS of Martinsburg also won two other FASTSIGNS awards at this year’s event. “We got Rookie of the Year for a resale store, and we got highest percentage increase in sales, which I believe was just under 400% in that first year,” said Moss. “I was just getting my feet under me, and to be recognized like that is just a good feeling.”

Brand Building FASTSIGNS of Puerto Rico took third place at this year’s awards with a rebrand for CEMEX, a global building materials company that had opened a new facility in Puerto Rico. The new site needed fresh branding that would promote the CEMEX culture and welcome employees and visitors. FASTSIGNS of Puerto Rico installed two eye-catching, lighted channel letter logos on the building’s exterior and wrapped a cistern truck. Inside, a dimensional CEMEX logo was installed in the reception area, and the conference room windows have frosted graphics to extend the branding while at the same time adding privacy. Congratulations to FASTSIGNS of Louisville, FASTSIGNS of Martinsburg and FASTSIGNS of Puerto Rico for this year’s win! ●

Richard Romano has been writing about the graphic communications industry for 20 years. He is an industry analyst and author or coauthor of more than half a dozen books.

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EVENTS ─ ISA Sign Expo

ISA SIGN EXPO VIRTUAL AIMED TO FOSTER REAL-TIME ONLINE NETWORKING Here is a quick rundown of the first day.

was very well organized and easy to navigate. “The Stage” was the equivalent of a “Grand Ballroom,” where the “Game Changer,” “Titan Talks” and other general interest sessions were held. In “Sessions” you could find breakout educational programs by topic or see what sessions were live at any given moment. In “Expo” you could wander the virtual show floor and see exhibitor presentations and videos, again arranged by topic. There

By Richard Romano

y this time, we are all likely familiar with virtual events of one kind or another. Granted, we’re tired of staring at screens, and while we continue to eagerly await in-reallife (IRL) events to resume, “The Year of Zoom” has demonstrated that virtual events do have some advantages over in-person events, such as being able to check out sessions more or less on one’s own schedule and, perhaps most importantly, allowing employees in an organization who may never have been able to attend an event due to travel costs, etc., get the benefit of educational sessions or show floor demonstrations. For many years, one of our favorite IRL events has been the International Sign Association’s annual Sign Expo, which traditionally serves as a launch site for new products in wide-format and display graphics and signage. Last year’s was a bit of a movable

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feast, and by the fall the goal was to stage a live Sign Expo in spring 2021. As we all know, events conspired to prevent that from happening, so ISA opted to go the virtual route, and last week (April 7 to 9), hosted Sign Expo 2021 Virtual. ISA really went out of its way to make the Sign Expo Virtual as much like an IRL event as possible, focusing on offering venues for live interaction and networking with other attendees, exhibitors and ISA representatives. They used the Hopin platform and the interface

was also a “Networking Zone” where attendees could engage others individually, and perhaps arrange to meet up for one-toone chats. Running down the right side of the screen was a live comment feed where attendees could comment on what keynote speakers were saying, add further information, or just chat with others and start a longer networking process. This kind of chatter would obviously be a no-no during a live keynote (one would think), but in the virtual

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context it provided a nice gloss on the official presentations. The first day kicked off with what is always a much-anticipated feature of in-person Sign Expos, the “Game Changer” session. This session’s topic was “Future Trends That Will Revolutionize Business,” presented by Sheryl Connelly. This was a bird’s-eye view of the global trends that are going to impact businesses regardless of what industry you are in, things like a fast-growing global population, a changing (and aging) population, the potential for resources like food and water to become scarce and other forces. The world and the market are changing in virtually all respects

so, advised Connolly, “open your eyes to the endless spectrum of possibilities. The only way to predict the future is to create it.” The second event of the day was the first in a series of Titan Talks featuring HP’s Guayente Sanmartin live from Barcelona, talking about her personal and professional journey and specifically how she—and HP—weathered the COVID crisis and sharing some lessons learned over the past year. During the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, she said, “Women have left the workforce more than men; how can companies better support women? We need the entire workforce.” Both opening sessions were

thought-provoking and provided a good overture for the rest of the conference, which featured a wide gamut of educational sessions, from production, to sales and marketing, to installation. Elsewhere on the main stage, Justin Pate of the Wrap Institute led an informal Q&A “Speakeasy Session” on vehicle wrapping, and there was even a general Read More… trivia contest Find article at hosted by PrintingNews. com/21151314 Sapna Budev of the Sign Research Foundation. Each day also offered virtual happy hours. The Sign Expo has traditionally been as much about fostering networking and collaboration as it has been about educational sessions and show floor exhibits, and ISA did an excellent job of replicating that in a virtual setting. That said, if there was one drawback, it’s that, unlike other virtual events, sessions were only available in real time, not recorded for later playback if you couldn’t make a particular session. (I am told they may be archived in the ISA site at some point in the future.) I understand that they wanted to keep the “live” feel to the event, but one of the major advantages of a virtual show is that you can catch sessions that you may not have been able to attend. It will be interesting to see if next year brings some kind of hybrid in-person/virtual show that plays on the advantages of both. ●

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TEXTILES ─ Sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY IS KEY TO

GROWTH How quickly can the apparel supply chain adjust to new demands? By Cary Sherburne

“A

pparel is an old industry that is not doomed to being low profit and low technology. It’s in the midst of a reinvention, and that can be very exciting.” So says John Thorbeck of Chainge Capital, a company name that is a play on words meant to communicate change in the supply chain. Thorbeck has collaborated with Stanford Professor Warren Hausman over the past decade to study supply chains outside of the apparel industry. John Thorbeck, “We wanted to see what Chainge Capital we could learn from the experiences of other industries,” Thorbeck said, “most notably the electronics and auto industries, that could apply to the fashion industry. Our answer is a resounding ‘yes,’ there are lessons to be learned. We have focused on process innovation from those industries that might be transferrable into apparel. That learning in terms of research, case studies, models and financial metrics runs very deep and leads to our conviction that the global apparel system can perform much better than it historically has.” The apparel industry has a very large, established and complex global supply chain that is highly inefficient, a fact that has become quite apparent during the last year, according to Thorbeck. As an example of how the auto industry could provide guidance for a redefinition of the apparel

supply chain, he and I reminisced about the NUMMI project in Fremont, Calif., an automobile manufacturing company jointly owned by General Motors and Toyota. New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., opened in 1984 and closed in 2010. It was in many ways a breakthrough operation that built on the quality movement of the time. General Motors saw this joint venture as a way to capitalize on the significant advances in quality achieved by Toyota, a learning experience that could be transferred to other GM plants. For Toyota, it was a way to begin to establish a manufacturing base in the lucrative U.S. market. Despite its 2010 closure, as a side note, the plant currently operates as a Tesla manufacturing site. “The reference to the Fremont plant is good on several levels,” Thorbeck said. “Toyota’s breakthrough was they could bring greater quality at lower cost. At that time, quality was the mission in manufacturing. And I would say the mission today is sustainability – how can an industry respond to sustainability demands but do so at a lower cost? These are major challenges that clearly include references to the transformation of the auto industry. Current industries, like apparel, are undergoing some of the same challenges today. “The greatest costs are not in manufacturing and sourcing. The greatest costs are actually more related to risk. It’s a system that is built on lowest cost countries, wages and materials, but in fact, the largest costs are in the discounts, markdowns, lost sales and the working capital required to finance that long lead time supply chain. It’s an embedded system. It doesn’t change overnight, but it does

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need to change. It is a broken system.” One other weakness in the apparel supply chain the pandemic exposed was the way that contracts are slanted to benefit buyers, not suppliers. “As a result,” he said, “suppliers are demanding change. I think they were badly mistreated during COVID with a lot of order cancellations, payment deferrals or denials or further discount bargaining, and unilateral changes in terms. Those actions did a lot of damage to relationships and trust. As a result, the supplier community is more organized and willing to challenge existing contracts and terms that are more protective of buyers than suppliers. So there is no normal to cycle back to. And this injects some urgency into the need to drive change.” Another driver for change Thorbeck identifies is the shift in consumer concern about sustainability. “In terms of conversations about quality or organic materials or other sustainable virtues, the feeling among many brands was that it was limited to a very small market of people that were willing to pay more, or it was something that people talked about but actually did not spend their money that way,” Thorbeck said. “Now, companies are being taught a lesson by the Gen-Z/20-something consumer who really does want to see a better world, and they expect brands to be supportive of that. They are walking the talk, and more importantly, spending their values. That is finally starting to catch the attention of major brands who are realizing that if they don’t have a believable narrative for sustainability, their brand will be abandoned.” How quickly can this massive supply chain shift to a more sustainable model? “There is some urgency behind this question today due to pressure from both suppliers and younger consumers,” he said. “We are in an era of what people call lost growth. If you don’t have growth as the engine of the relationship, then it needs to be more fair and productive to both the buyer and supplier side. That opens up interest and urgency behind on-demand manufacturing of apparel. I don’t think that will solve the industry’s problems overnight, but it is certainly a viable alternative, and people are beginning to understand that.” Thorbeck points out that on demand, and

the growth in digital printing, provides us with a formula that allows us to be responsive but also responsible. “It does open up the possibility Read More… for microfactories that can be anyFind article at where. I’m working with several PrintingNews. com/21151120 small ventures that are developing that model. Those will be the laboratories that will be instructive to larger brands. Larger brands may be hesitant because of scale, but I believe the ability to scale will be validated in these test beds.” But will on-demand production necessarily bring the apparel manufacturing industry back to North America? “I don’t think location is the obstacle to shorter lead times and greater productivity,” Thorbeck said. “My point of view is based on long study, and it reflects that location should not matter. You should be able to deliver product in two to four weeks in any region of the world, and the decision where to manufacture should be based on process innovation, not geography.” He also believes that microfactories that are built for responsiveness and zero inventory and waste can create new jobs in North America. “I don’t think that necessarily brings Asian jobs back to America,” he said. “But both models can work. And it’s quite promising for the future of the industry as we continue to explore how best to leverage all of the resources in the most efficient, fair and innovative manner.” ●

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TEXTILES ─ Wearables

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WEARABLES AFFOA blazes a trail for functional fabrics. By Cary Sherburne

e hear a lot about Industry 4.0 and how we can benefit from connecting our production equipment to other parts of the plant, or to the outside world. Now Industry 4.0 is coming to your closet – in the form of connected clothmission is to rekindle ing and other wearthe domestic textile able items – and industry through even to fabricinnovation. Taking an based home inteindustry as old as the rior items such as textiles industry and carpets, drapes, transforming it by shades and more. introducing advanced Sasha Stolyarov, CEO of Advanced Sound like a materials, processes Functional Fabrics of futuristic fantasy? and applications has America (AFFOA) It’s not as far away become a national as you might think. I recently movement that involves many spoke to Sasha Stolyarov, CEO universities and corporations. of Advanced Functional Fabrics The big challenge is innovating in of America (AFFOA), one of a space that has not seen much nine Manufacturing USA instiinnovation in centuries. We are tutes. AFFOA has been a leader used to certain functionalities in research and development from textiles, and those funcfor fiber and fabric computing, a tionalities are very different than key to creating next-generation what we expect from technology wearables – although Stolyarov like cell phones or computers.” prefers not to use that term. Part of the persona, as it “Our focus is on functional were, of AFFOA, is a collection fibers and fabrics,” he said. “Our of disparate expertise under

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one roof. “You can’t have just textile companies innovating in textiles,” Stolyarov said. “You can’t reignite innovation with expertise in just one area. You have to bring in electronics, photonics, software and coupling that with textiles, collaborate across these traditionally separate industries. Having all that expertise under one roof is what makes us unique.” So what does fiber and fabric computing actually mean? One thing AFFOA has been working on is getting computer chips into fibers. “Just a year and a half ago, we were making progress on getting light-emitting diodes and simple two-terminal devices into fibers and textiles,” he said. “Now we are at

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a point where we can get tiny computer chips, tiny sensors that have multiple terminals on them, integrated into fibers, and ultimately into knitted or woven fabrics or composite materials.” And it is not only computer chips they are working with. One example he shared is Nufabrx. “They worked with us on one of our project calls and went from demonstration of a fabric that has chemicals embedded in it as therapeutic medication that can be released from that textile, to a full system you can purchase today in over 4,000 Walmarts. These are functional fabrics that act as a medication delivery platform that over time can help relieve pain. That’s an example of something that was a fantasy when it got started with two partners and that was developed in Nufabrx a fairly Medicated short Knee Sleeve w/Capsaicin amount of time, now employing 30 people.” Another example, more along the lines of computing, is another company AFFOA worked with that has product already available, BitRip. The company makes digital tape that you rip, stick and scan. “It’s a digital tape that has a digital code on it, and you

can stick it to any surface and assign information to that code,” Stolyarov said. “It came out of AFFOA as an idea when we were thinking about wearables and clothes and backpacks and things like that. But it turned out this entrepreneur, Nicholas Dimitruk, figured out that putting it on tapes had a lot of interesting applications.” In New Zealand, a company founded by chemist Simon McMaster, Footfalls & Heartbeats, developed a revolutionary and proprietary process for manufacturing smart fabric that uses nano-scale interactions within the textile to make the fabric itself the sensor, avoiding the need for wires or miniature electronics. Now located in the UK, the company sees one application as integration of its technology into compression bandages for use on chronic leg ulcers. Its sensing technology will allow for real-time monitoring of individual rehabilitation from musculoskeletal injuries. Again, just scratching the surface of the possibilities. Right now, most of the developments are passive – that is, they don’t need to be connected to a power source. Another example of this type of passive technology is from CashCuff, “geek chic” shirts with contactless payment built into the cuff. Again, a passive application. “Where you do need to connect to a power source, you have the issue of being able to integrate it so it is cost effective,” Stolyarov said. “That’s why,

for example, the Levi’s Google Jacquard jacket probably has only a few hundred manufactured, because each one takes manual connection of hundreds of wires, very expensive and cost prohibitive to scale up the volume. So the challenges that remain for the industry and for AFFOA and for our members is how do we keep pushing the boundaries of manufacturing such that five years from now it is possible to produce these products at scale, and we will start to see a larger market emerge?” While you could, of course, attach a battery pack, no one wants to wear a clunky, heavy battery pack on their shirt. So that challenge still remains, and researchers from AFFOA and other organizations are working to solve it with a solution that is flexible like fabric but can deliver the needed power. In a recent TexProcess Technical Textiles webinar, Professor Kyung Cheol Choi, Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, in South Korea, shared some of his research on fabric- and fiberbased OLEDs for textile displays, a different approach than we have been talking about up to this point. Professor Choi explained his belief that while much of the electronics industry has used rigid substrates to form electronics, in the future there will be more focus on flexible, stretchable and freeform electronics. In his research, OLEDs, or organic LEDs, a type of Continued on page 63

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ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS ─ Affiliates

AFFILIATES ARE POSITIONED TO

SUPPORT

LOCAL PRINTING COMMUNITIES

Editor’s Note: WhatTheyThink has reached out multiple times to PRINTING United Alliance for comment on this situation but did not receive a response prior to going to print.

PRINTING United Alliance cancels Affiliate contracts, but Operating Committee members are bullish about their future. By Cary Sherburne

“I

know people say you are only as strong as your weakest link,” Melissa Jones said. “But for us, that is simply not true. We are as strong as our strongest link, and we absolutely won’t see any of the Affiliates fail. We won’t. We have each other’s backs and our members’ backs.”

As it became clear that PRINTING United Alliance (SGIA at the time) was preparing to acquire the Printing Industries of America (PIA), many of us wondered how this would work out with the Affiliates – 21 regional associations, each of whom actually “own” their own membership and provide a variety of local services to their constituents. Over the

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years, there had been several attempts to merge PIA with other associations, but because of the different business models reflected in some of the national organizations and the local associations, among other reasons, those consolidations didn’t happen. But in May of 2020, SGIA accomplished the merger with PIA, renaming the combined organization as PRINTING United Alliance. At the time, PRINTING United Alliance CEO Ford Bowers said, in an interview published in Printing News, “As we did prior to the merger, we will continue to provide the services and programs they [the Affiliates] are used to getting for their members as we work out how to integrate them into one entity. We’ll give them access to even more services in the coming months.” But in the background, the Affiliates, likely a little gun-shy from previous attempts at mergers, formed an Operating Committee and began to work out how they could work together as a cohesive unit, yet still provide the local face their members have come to depend on. Unfortunately, just short of a year after the merger, the agreements with PRINTING United Alliance fell apart, and all contracts with the Affiliates were cancelled. Since this began to take place, we have Joe Lyman had several conversations with members of the Operating Committee to better understand how they plan to move forward. Most recently, we spoke with Joe Lyman of GLGA and chair of the Operating Committee; Melissa Jones of Graphic

Arts Association and second vice chair of the Affiliate Operating Committee; Steve Bonoff of Printing Industries Midwest and chair of the Affiliate Services and Benefits Committee; and Jeff Stoudt of PICA and chair of the Affiliate Education Committee. Lyman noted that the Affiliates signed an operating agreement with one another two years ago, and as a result have established an organization they feel will best serve their collective members. This includes establishment of several committees: membership, services and benefits, education, and promotions and public relations. “We believe we will be able to work together from a position of strength to be able to collaborate, develop and distribute services to our members at a local level,” he said. The Affiliates are comprised of about 4,000 member companies which, according to Lyman, makes them, as a collaborative group, the largest organization in North America representing the Steve Bonoff print, packaging, tag and label, and general graphic arts industry. Bonoff, as chair of the Benefits and Services Committee, explained that the group had identified basic categories through surveys of members, including human resources. “That’s one where we are spending a significant amount of time developing deliverables, programs and services that will be available to the membership,” he said. “We also have environmental health and safety services as well as economic

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ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS ─ Affiliates

data. As we listen to our members, these are issues they have in operating their companies. And we are able to be very reactive now in developing programs that are specific to their needs. That is really the benefit of the affiliate structure.” Bonoff also said that the Benefits and Services Committee now has a process where they are gathering information and making it available to all the Affiliates. “For example, a couple of the Affiliates have contracted with an HR service, and there are many opportunities for other Affiliates to mirror those relationships,” he said. The group also pointed out that these needs differ at quite a granular level, considering that each state, county, town and even regions within towns like Wards in Chicago, for Melissa Jones example, have different laws, regulations and policies that affect these businesses, something that would be quite difficult to manage at a national level, but rather, makes sense to handle at a local or regional level. “Listening to our members over the last year,” Bonoff said, “I just give so much credit to those who have been charged with human resources, because they have had to work endless hours managing PPP and all of the different

guidelines and the safety of their employees. It’s been a struggle, and they have done a magnificent job.” “We have each other’s backs,” Jones said. “We share services and benefits with each other very fluidly.” She cited as an example the increased bond between the Graphic Arts Association, which has been around for 140 years, and the Printing Industries Alliance in New York and New Jersey, giving members of both associations access to even more services. “Neither one of us are lacking; it’s just that together we offer a more comprehensive package that helps the smaller printers,” she said. “We are not here to make a huge profit. I know these people’s families. I’ve had dinner with many of them. They know they can call me on the weekend or at night. We need to have some profits to keep the lights on, of course, but we are really here to help them.” In terms of education, Stoudt explained that for several years now, the Affiliates have been working together to bring resources to the members. “I’ve been working on education within the PIA structure since Jeff Stoudt 1995,” he said, “and there has always been a collaborative effort among the Affiliates to share those resources. I see no reason why this

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won’t go further and be more active in the future.” As part of this effort, the group created two brands, the Digital Technology Council and Profit Matters. This includes mostly virtual training offered to all members at no cost, and even to non-members for a very reasonable cost of $39. In addition, Stoudt said that the group is working to attract young people to the industry. For example, many of the Affiliates participate in the Graphic Communications Workforce Coalition, as well as the Print is Everywhere industry awareness program that is being shared with members and educators to help attract new talent to the industry. “The changes in the industry and associations have allowed us, because we are communicating more effectively, to be able to share the benefits of the programs we individually and/or collaboratively develop across the network,” Bonoff said. “If we find something that’s effective in our region, we are always sharing that with other regions. So while it seems like a smaller association may not have all the needed resources, they really do now because we are sharing so much more effectively with each other.”

To help streamline this effort, the Affiliate group is building a portal at www.printindustries.org that acts as a clearinghouse and resource center for all members across the structure, in addition to their individual web presence. Will there be any ongoing relationship between the Affiliates and PRINTING United Alliance? “We are decentralized for a reason because we are closest to the customer, but we hope there will be a relationship going forward,” Lyman said. “We’d like to work with them on things like legislation on a national level, color management – I think they do some things very well. But in the same respect, at the local and state level, there are legislation and regulations at the local level that are important to our members. All of us have different sales and use taxes, manufacturing tax credits, etc. We have to have some command and control, but also local autonomy to address these things.” Editor’s Note: To view the full conversation in a video interview, visit https://bit.ly/3scOcvn ●

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21151127

Cary Sherburne is a well-known author, journalist and marketing consultant whose practice is focused on marketing communications strategies for the printing and publishing industries.

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New Technology, Products, Software, & Services

Continued from page 29

Bograma BSR 620 Servo Rotary Diecutter

Bograma BSR 620 Servo Rotary Diecutter Bograma upgraded the width of the BSR model to accommodate the B2+ sheet size in the new half sheet inkjet market. The BSR 620 Rotary Diecutter can take a 23.5” x 29.5” sheet, and is designed to support the commercial print and packaging market. The male-female die cylinder design gives the machine flexibility to tackle both single sheets and folded products, folding cartons, direct mail, labels, blister pack inserts, commercial work, business cards and much more. Tecnau Zero Speed Splicer Roll 40 The Tecnau Zero Speed Splicer Roll 40 automatically changes input and output rolls, eliminating printer stoppages and paper waste for roll changes, and keeping your high-speed continuous digital color press running at full speed and full productivity. The machine permits mixing of paper quality, paper grade and web width between rolls—all at floor level, and with an upgrade path from the standard Tecnau single unwinder and rewinder. Produce mini-rolls for urgent work or switch back and forth between rolls job-by-job to form rolls with common destinations for finishing.

MSE Sheeter for Low Volume Users MAXSON Automatic Machinery Company of Rhode Island launched their MSE Sheeter as a solution for low volume printers and converters who want to sheet their own small batches of paper, rather than buying sheeted stock by the ream. The machine has a compact 6’ x 10’ footprint, and can sheet rolls up to 56 inches in width into segments from 13”– 52” in length, and in batches as small as 2,000 sheets per order.

And, finally . . . Taping B&R Moll Digi-Taper System with Touchscreen Take your taping projects offline with the B&R Moll Touchscreen Digi-Taper System. The 110V non-marking continuous feeder can support up to two tape heads, with products as small as 3 inches and as large as 20 inches in either dimension. The machine is simple to set up and operate with a digital touch screen display, catch tray, counter and the ability to manage multiple events. The small footprint makes it easy to move around and store when not in use. ●

Duplo HC-550i Hydraulic Cutter The programmable DocuCutter HC-550i Hydraulic Cutter comes with operational and safety features not found in similar cutters of this size including a rail back gauge system, UL certification and a 10” touchscreen control panel. It effortlessly cuts through large stacks of paper up to 21.6” wide and finishes postcards, direct mail and perfect bound books up to 3.5” in height. It also comes barcode-ready to instantly retrieve any pre-programmed job.

MSE Sheeter for Low Volume Users

COMING UP IN MAY/JUNE Want more print finishing technology? If you liked this article, you’ll love the webinar! Please join me on May 21 for the Finishing Technology Outlook Webinar—we’ll talk about these and other finishing innovations that are coming out this year. Also keep an eye out for my upcoming June article focused on the latest in finishing for the pharmaceutical industry.

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Continued from page 35

6. What will they do to win? 7. Do we have actions to capitalize on our advantages?

Competitive Actions Competitive blocks, either pro-active or re-active, are immensely powerful and effective. To translate your analysis into actions, apply the thought process below, noting actions that should be taken: 1. Anticipate key competitors’ actions. (Proactive) 2. Develop tactics to block competitors’ initiatives. (Reactive) 3. Consider tactics to seed land mines for competitors. (Proactive) 4. Think through preemptive strike opportunities. (Proactive)

on your competition). ● It’s best to convey your strengths versus attacking the competitors’ weaknesses. ● Rise above the competition with your knowledge of your prospect’s business, industry and issues along with alignment points to your company’s resources, products and services. ● Design a strategy and solution that locks out the competition. ● Understand what will make your decisionmaker successful. ● Use your resources (i.e., competitive info your company provides, institutional learning from colleagues and external sources). ● Don’t take your eye off the competition until the contract is signed. ● Collect competitive info and share internally to enable institutional learning.

A few examples:

Pro-Active Competitive Blocks

Re-Active Competitive Blocks

A pro-active action might include installing a pilot ordemo product before a competitor makes a similar offer.

A re-active action might be to tap into your internal champion or coach for intel on competitive activity.

A pro-active action might include an assessment of some sort. Using a technology-based assessment to analyze, diagnose or collect data is enormously powerful.

A re-active action might be to ask your executive sponsor to intervene on your behalf if things are going in the wrong direction.

A pro-active action is to help shape the buying criteria to align with your products or services.

A re-active action might be to “change the game” with new information.

Competitive Strategy Checklist ● Get in early to help shape the prospect’s buying criteria (explicit needs). ● Seek out questions, concerns and objections early and address completely, so they don’t come up later in the sales cycle. ● Identify snipers or threats within your prospect’s buying team. ● Uncover your competitors’ landmines. ● Focus most of your time on your customer’s problems and opportunities (versus focusing

“You can either take action, or you can hang back and hope for a miracle. Miracles are great, but they are so unpredictable.” – Peter F. Drucker

Ring the Bell!

Your reward will be to beat out the competition and ring the bell more frequently with massive (at least 5x your Read More… average deal size), TOP Line Find article at PrintingNews. Account wins. ● com/21151082

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LABORING THROUGH A CHALLENGING YEAR Continued from page 41

of this person, so that you are giving the new employee the best opportunity to succeed. Not everyone is suited to be a trainer. ● If possible, involve several people in the interview process. We include the supervisor, an employee at a similar level and a person completely outside the department in the interview process. Clearly this is an investment, but it is “pay me now or pay me later.”

COVID-19 Vaccination Policies There is universal concern over how best to protect employees. There continues to be great concern over exposing staff to disease, the probability of an outbreak and an outbreak’s consequences on a company’s economic recovery. The focus now is on COVID-19 vaccinations. There are various lines of thought, but our recommendation is that printers “strongly recommend” – rather than mandate – vaccination as soon as possible, not only to protect the person vaccinated but to also protect co-workers.

Remote Work Finally, an upcoming challenge on the horizon is the new norm called remote work. For most printers, production staff are generally required to be onsite to perform their jobs. However, what about those who have been working remotely for much of the last year? There are concerns about supervision, productivity, efficiency and, I would add, effectiveness. Policy makers should consider the significance of in-person communications and the need to build and promote relationships. The time spent with email, Slack, text messaging, etc. just to get an answer to a question is frustrating and inefficient. Many will argue that Zoom does the trick, but it cannot replace body language, including one’s eyes, which are critical to determining whether a question is understood or if more discussion is required. When it comes to customer relationships, building value and trust always seem to require meeting a prospect in person. The business environment is changing rapidly. Balancing the needs of customers, operations and the workforce is the big challenge employers now face. ●

WIDE-FORMAT TECHNOLOGY OUTLOOK WEEK Continued from page 20

I, as consumers, can do to reduce the waste in the system. It means a move from a linear economy – take-make-dispose – to a circular economy—makeuse-recycle. Resurgence in fashion rentals and upcycling also help propel this trend. ● Demand for On-Demand. On demand manufacturing of textiles and apparel is key to reducing the significant inventory risk that has made fashion a low-margin business for decades. While this includes digital printing of fabrics, it can also mean a more conscious approach to forecasting that can also use analog methods of production. The key is to get rid of the 30-30-30 rule—a third of fashion sold at full price, a third on the discount table and a third in landfill—and leverage that recaptured capitalization to restructure supply chains. In addition, we’ll discuss new digital printing solutions that have entered the market in the last year

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and profile a couple of on-demand manufacturing initiatives that are poised to have a significant impact on the future sustainability of the industry. “Sustainability is not just about the product going out the door,” said Marci Kinter, PRINTING United’s VP of Government and Regulatory Affairs. “It’s how you are treating your employees [and suppliers]. Are you in compliance with all environmental, safety and health regulations, which is, in turn, treating your employees well? Do you have any analog equipment on site? Really looking at the entire footprint of what you do and taking that into account. Then you can develop that sustainable benchmark. It’s not enough to say that just because I’m digital, I’m more sustainable than the person down the road who is doing conventional screen print. Because you really have to look at the total facility, not digital as a standalone.” ●

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Continued from page 55

light-emitting diode, are being placed on the surface of the fabric or fiber, as opposed to being contained within those materials as AFFOA is pursuing. The goal would be to incorporate a wide range of functionality in a way that is comfortable for the user and does not require multiple devices to acquire needed data, what he categorizes as a true wearable display. His process, which is still in the lab, requires preparation of the surface of the textile to create a “textile platform” upon which the OLED layer can be placed. The idea is that the layer is very thin, but flexible and resistant to damage from bending, wrinkling or

washing, and would not significantly affect the hand feel of the fabric. Examples he used are a “sleeve watch,” and a smart fashion display that could reflect time, date, heart rate and a phone call on cloth. In both cases, these wearable displays would be comfortable for the user and would not significantly change the fabric hand feel. But the question remains: What would the power source be? As you can see, there is significant progress being made in fiber- and fabric-based computing, sensors and delivery of medications and other chemicals, but there are still barriers to overcome before they become widely available and replace today’s rigid computing devices, including cost, power

Wearables come in many forms, and each can deliver different data points

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supply and more. “For this technology to be successful in the future, you need to build in local memory or storage, but you also have to connect the fiber or fabric to the cloud, integratRead More… ing not only Find article at the sensors PrintingNews. com/21151160 themselves, but the local memory and communications capabilities,” Stolyarov said. “For example, if I go out for a run, run for an hour, come home and automatically, with the click of a button or a voice command, I should be able to transfer data to the cloud – what was my average speed, how many calories did I burn, what was my heart rate, etc. That data would then be instantly available to me without a lot of effort. All of that has to be designed into the textiles. But once you have packaged microelectronics into textiles, the world is your oyster. “Practically speaking, for the next few years, you will see low volume, niche and specialized application of functional textiles. The challenge to get to mass production has to do with overcoming the cost and manufacturing barriers at scale, and to figure out the power source challenges. The sky is the limit here. Every day there are new ideas. The challenge is figuring out what not to do.” Editor’s Note: View the full video interview with Sasha Stolyarov at https://bit.ly/32foQTh. ●

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WhatThey

JOHNSON’S WORLD ─ Show Me You Value My Opinion

THANKS NO THANKS You’re worth more than a cup of coffee.

he Morton Arboretum, located not far from my home, cleverly describes itself as an Outdoor Museum of Woody Plants. In plain English, that means it is a 1700 acre privately held and maintained forest preserve containing hundreds (perhaps thousands) of species of trees. Its forests, intertwined with narrow roads, provide a convenient low-traffic place to sneak a quick bicycle ride into my busy schedule if I manage to get away from the office before sundown. The Arboretum is open to the public for a nominal admission fee, with unlimited access for members. To take maximum advantage of this nearby treasure I’ve been a member for many years. How many years? Well, more than 10… and therein hangs this month’s tale. A while back, someone in the Morton Arboretum’s marketing department decided it would be good public relations to acknowledge loyal renewing members like me. Thus, the cute name “Perennial Partners” was coined for those of us with a decade or more of membership. As a Perennial Partner, I enjoy many special privileges. Well, not many, but a few. Let’s see, actually… just one. A few times each year, I get an email good for a free cup of coffee in their on-site restaurant. Yep, that’s it. A cup of coffee. Can you tell that I’m underwhelmed? But wait, there’s more. Actually there’s less. The restaurant has limited hours and is never open when I visit. The Arboretum knows this, too, since my visits are logged when my membership card is scanned upon admission. I’m not an important donor. The kids have grown and moved on to other interests, so I’ve reduced my membership to just one person instead of family. The Arboretum is richly endowed by the Morton Salt family fortune, so I choose to allocate my charitable

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Wide-Format & Signage May 2021

Articles inside

JOHNSON’S WORLD

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WEARABLES

SUSTAINABILITY IS KEY TO GROWTH

THE RISE OF VIDEO CONFERENCING

EXECUTIVE Q&A

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND Banner Finishing Is About More than Aesthetics By Richard Romano

DIGITAL & INKJET

SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW

LABORING THROUGH A CHALLENGING YEAR

WIDE-FORMAT, SIGNAGE & APPAREL

SALES CLINIC