Product News

from Printing News October 2021

INDUSTRY NEWS ─ News Trending On Printingnews.com

Canon U.S.A. Launches New White Papers Series Titled, “Enhancing the Print Customer Connection”

As today’s communication buyers expect their print providers to offer smooth onboarding, easy order submission processes, frequent communications, effective job management, value-added services, and added security measures, it is imperative for them to understand the best practices and methods needed to strengthen this connection. In an effort to help define print buyer expectations and related print provider actions, Canon U.S.A., Inc., recently sponsored a study and white paper series titled, “Enhancing the Print Customer Connection”.

Taken from the insights of over 200 communication buyers and 250 commercial print and in-plant print providers, this study focuses on the keen understanding of the communication buyers’ experience, and how their preferences align with what services print providers can offer.

The white paper series can be found here:

www.printingnews. com/21155527

Mimaki Pushes the Creative Boundaries of Industrial Printing with the Launch of Four New UJF Series Printers

Mimaki USA announced the launch of four new UJF Series printers. These new direct-to-object inkjet printers are designed for high-quality output, improved productivity and efficient production. Sales are scheduled to start in October 2021.

The new printers include the UJF-7151 plus II, and three new UJF-MkII e Series models, offering unrivaled printing quality and stability. They feature an array of new capabilities designed to deliver significant quality and performance benefits, enabling users to explore new applications and increase productivity.

The UJF-7151 plus II model incorporates 8 print heads, two more than the previous model, enabling configurations that suit any application. It includes 8 ink slots, which can be configured for a four color setup or up to eight inks including light color inks (Light Cyan and Light Magenta), white, clear, and primer.

www.printingnews.com/21155576

EFI Reggiani Launches the Fastest High-Quality Scanning Digital Textile Printer in the Market

EFI is launching its third new digital textile printer of 2021, delivering the world’s highest real production throughput for a scanning digital textile printer. The EFI Reggiani HYPER is a scanning printer available in 1.8-metre, 2.4-metre or 3.4-metre widths. With an up to eight-colour configuration, the EFI Reggiani HYPER prints at up to 13 linear metres per minute in two-pass production mode, making it the fastest textile scanning printer on the market. The new printer is suitable for high-quality production on knitted or woven fabrics and is designed with smart technology that enables it to be integrated into Industry 4.0 projects.

www.printingnews.com/21155577

AAG Announces the New AXYZ METALWORKER and WARDJet M-Series for Optimal Metal Cutting

AAG Tailored Cutting Solutions is excited to announce the all-new AXYZ METALWORKER and WARDJet M-Series to their line-up of powerful CNC machines. These high-performance cutting systems deliver results while pushing the boundaries of creativity and manufacturing excellence.

METALWORKER is a router designed with an elegant user interface and robust construction, breaking through tradition with high-end finishes achievable at top cutting speeds. It comes loaded with standard high-performance features optimized to cut Aluminum, Copper, Zinc, Metal Composites, Mild Steels and Stainless Composite. A rigid frame coupled to a stress relieved gantry reduces tool motor vibrations and provides fantastic edge quality

The M-Series waterjet is a high-speed high acceleration large format solution for large and multiple sheet production. It allows for multiple head configurations on a single gantry. With the ability to park heads outside of the cutting zone, you won’t sacrifice the full cutting envelope to a single head.

www.printingnews.com/21155694

Print with Confidence with the New Xaar Irix Printhead

Xaar has launched its latest printhead – the Xaar Irix – designed to ensure accurate, reliable and easy printing for coding and marking, product printing, functional fluids and 3D printing applications.

Building on the successful Xaar 128, the Xaar Irix is the latest printhead to come from the ImagineX platform, which sets the roadmap for Xaar’s bulk inkjet innovations and printhead developments.

The new Xaar Irix printhead provides highly accurate delivery of ink drops, with the combination of individually lasered nozzles and Xaar’s AcuDrp technology helping to calibrate each nozzle and provide excellent drop placement. Uniform drop velocity and volume are also delivered, giving improved image quality at longer print distances and helping provide benefits such as high code recognition for coding and marking applications.

www.printingnews.com/21155743

Industry Leaders Share Insight into Selecting and Implementing a Print MIS, Sponsored by Sabre Limited

Entitled 5 Keys to a Successful Print ERP/MIS Implementation, the white paper is based on interviews with four leading print providers operating in different market segments as well as secondary research conducted by WhatTheyThink. Sabre Limited has been a certified PrintVis Print MIS Reseller in North America since 2017.

Companies interviewed included Canada Ticket, a producer of custom tags and labels for parking, transit, skiing, and reserved seating for theaters and sports venues; ePac, a network of 20 plants with 17 of them in North America producing flexible packaging on demand; Hemlock Printers, a diversified firm that offers offset, digital and wide format printing as well as distribution and fulfillment; and Modern Litho, a well-known commercial and publications printer located in Jefferson City, Missouri. All four companies have selected PrintVis as their Print MIS.

To download a free copy of the white paper, 5 Keys to a Successful Print ERP/MIS Implementation, visit

www.printingnews.com/21155848

Roland DGA Announces Launch of New VersaUV LEC2 S-Series UV Flatbed Printers

Roland DGA has announced the launch of its new VersaUV LEC2 S-Series printers, advanced UV flatbeds uniquely designed to maximize direct-to-object printing. Available in two flatbed sizes (64-inch and 30 inch widths), the LEC2 S-Series printers offer print providers and manufacturers the best of both worlds – direct to product customization, plus direct printing on flexible and rigid materials that allows for an extensive range of merchandising, packaging, sign, and display application opportunities. The LEC2 S-Series printers are ideal for users seeking an on-demand customization printing solution that complements their current capabilities for increased productivity and profitability. They combine superb imaging with outstanding versatility and production, allowing users to quickly turn around traditional print jobs and customize a vast array of products and merchandise with vibrant, detailed graphics.

www.printingnews.com/21155796

New WhatTheyThink White Paper Goes “Beyond the Print Engine” to Look at Wide-Format Printer Productivity

White Paper Beyond the Print Engine: What Is Productivity?

Wide-format and display graphics providers are constantly challenged by the need to get jobs on and off press as quickly as possible, and are always on the lookout for ways of speeding up the process. The speed of the printer itself is the most conspicuous—and highly touted by equipment manufacturers—factor, but other steps in the process can impede overall productivity. When it comes to flatbed wide-format printing, board loading in particular can be a major bottleneck.

A new WhatTheyThink white paper sponsored by Canon Solutions America—Beyond the Print Engine: What Is Productivity?—looks at the various aspects of flatbed wide-format productivity, specifically focusing on board loading. Automation options, such as robotics, have started to appear, but one approach— Canon’s FLOW technology—provides a unique strategy for boosting flatbed printer board loading. Download the white paper here:

www.printingnews.com/21155849

2. AR is already used for retail shopping.

As noted, AR already has a solid presence in the world of retail, and nearly all (94%) of AR-enabled shoppers say they will continue to use AR this way. This is an indication that marketers are doing a decent job of rolling out AR experiences that users actually want to keep using.

3. AR gets more attention.

AR delivers almost 2x the visual attention as non-AR equivalents, and people who frequently use AR with their family and friends are 50% more likely to pay attention to a brand. Get the eyeballs, get the sales. It’s no wonder that products incorporating elements of AR are 94% more likely to convert to sales, according to Harvard Business Review.

4. AR reduces returns.

According to AR Insider, AR-guided purchases lead to a 25% decrease in returns. This is due, in part, to the ability of shoppers to more accurately visualize products before they buy them. This is reinforced by Deloitte data which found that 56% of shoppers agree that AR gives them more confidence about product quality. Thus, the authors of the report call returns “a $550 billion problem, which AR can help fix.” AR continues to show itself as a highly practical tool, as well as a flashy one.

AR continues to show itself as a highly practical tool, as well as a flashy one.

5. AR delivers higher conversion.

Here is more data, both from Deloitte Digital and from elsewhere around the industry that rounds out the reasons that AR has become a force in the world of retail. ● Brands are 41% more likely to be considered if they have a branded AR experience. (Deloitte Digital) ● Retailer Houzz is seeing a 19% spike in engagement among customers using AR. (Houzz) ● Product visualization using AR can boost conversion by 40%. (AIthority) ● AR conversion rates on Instagram are 80% higher than the standard 3% conversion rate without AR. (Statista/Millennial Marketing) ● Forty-eight percent of shoppers are already using AR or are willing to use AR for shopping in the near future. (Nielsen)

So…to quote myself in the lunch-and-learn, “If you’re waiting for AR to get here, you’re too late. That horse has already ridden.”

AR is a force to be reckoned with, and it’s one that you should consider. ●

TRAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS

Continued from page 57

printed mailing. It can be presented in a webinar. It could be posted on a website. Printers should be active in social media such as Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Don’t forget to put the information on your website so customers can easily find it.

Disseminate information on a regular schedule. Keeping a schedule lets people know what to expect from you. It builds a consistent experience for your audience. You should plan for what communications you have with customers for the next 90 days or longer. If it isn’t scheduled, then it probably won’t get done. If broadcasting important information to your audience becomes a habit, they will start looking for it. You’ll start to gain trust after they receive several educational communications. Once you start, you want to make sure you have a system in place that won’t stop.

Capture contact information. You and your staff must capture names, addresses and email addresses of customers and contacts. Email addresses are just as important as telephone numbers. A good selling activity is to telephone everyone on your mailing list and ask the customer to verify the information you have so you know you are sending to the right place. Everyone on your staff who deals with customers must have access to your customer relationship management (CRM) software. The place to start is your current mailing list. Do you have all the information you need about the customer? If not, pick up the phone and call them to fill in the blanks.

Use video to explain complex information to the customer. A video recording can demonstrate how to perform a task or spotlight a new service. You can use also link videos to your websites and in your emails. Create a YouTube channel with two-to-fourminute videos that teach your customer everything they need to know about buying printing. Let the customers know the videos are there.

Printers can train customers to be better customers. An educated customer is a happy customer who has a higher expectation and appreciates the products and services you deliver. An investment in customer education can add value to your service and help you keep and grow customers. ●