Explore More… COVER STORY Taylor Bloxham Pushes the Boundaries

THE MAGAZINE FOR FORWARD THINKING PRINTING MAY/JUNE 2018

Explore more… COVER STORY Taylor Bloxham pushes the boundaries. CUTTING Off with their edges: guillotines and a whole lot more. DIGITAL Keep up as run lengths creep up. Explore more at printbusiness.co.uk

COMMENT From the editor THE CONTINUED UNDERCUTTING OF PRICE, so called printing below cost, continues to be the No1 issue for most printers, according to the BPIF’s Printing Outlook survey. And with paper is relative short supply and expected to cost more and likewise for inks, especially UV inks, the pressure on margins is only going to increase.

In economic theory this happens when there is oversupply of the same goods of equivalent quality to the market, so that buyers cannot distinguish between them except by price. The deﬁnition of a commoditised market. The solution is either to wait until supply and demand come back into balance through others moving out of the market, mainly by closing, or to increase demand. Given the rise of digital media, highlighted by the continuing decline in paper consumption and now production, demand is not going to improve.

It is logical therefore to move away from the commoditised market, by either redeﬁning the services offered or by adding sufﬁcient value, through quality, additional features or services that buyers are prepared to pay more. The challenge is to identify what these services will be, and that will be something unique to each customer.

However, there are some general trends that can be identiﬁed. Buyers want convenience. As well as speed, the other virtue of online purchasing is that it is convenient. In their personal lives, print buyers can order groceries online, can decide on a hotel and ﬂights for a holiday, can book theatre seats. Why should their purchase of print be any different? Make it easy for someone to specify and buy eye catching formats, textures, effects and materials used. This print, to track their trading history and manage their relationship. also demands knowledge on the part of the printer’s own sales and At an advanced level the printer can deliver the sort of data about the marketing efforts to stress the difference that working with Printer impact of that print that Taylor Bloxham is providing its customers. A has over any other printer. Creativity and innovation are quali- Buyers also want something different, something that helps them ties that are in short supply. Printers need to think beyond the A4 stand out in a crowded, commoditised, market. With so many 130gsm silk coated page. This is why uncoated papers, foils and spot messages, so much digital clutter, stand out is imperative. That varnishes are popular, why letterpress appears fashionable. But these can be in any number of ways: timeliness, say. But also through are not passing fads. Nobody wants to return to commoditised products, even for ephem- Print Business goes out and talks to printers in their language in eral print. So why is it that too many printers persist in believing their own factories. Every single one is different. For this issue we that churning out commoditised products will change the margin went to Glasgow, Leicester and Rochester, Kent. We also went to pressure they are under? the Xeikon Café in Belgium and Sign & Digital in Birmingham. Gareth Ward

Out and about… Now live…

PackagingBusiness.co.uk examines the packaging sector and how it is changing in response to technology and to the …at Taylor Bloxham in Leicester requirements of retailers, brands and consumers.

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 3 CONTENTS

PUBLISHING Print Business is published by Print Business Media Ltd 3 Zion Cottages, Ranters Lane, Goudhurst, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 1HR • 01580 236456 [email protected] www.printbusiness.co.uk Cover picture by Ray Schram Printed by Stephens & George Paper supplied by Lumipaper www.storaenso.com /lumionline

EDITORIAL Editor Gareth Ward [email protected] 01580 236456 | 07866 470124 Press releases should be sent to [email protected] THE CUTTING & DIGITAL ISSUE COMMERCIAL Debbie Ward Business manager 01580 236456 Information/ Bell & Bain expands in [email protected] Technology 6 colour direction 47 ADMIN & SALES SUPPORT 01580 236500 Clays’ Italian job; high Glasgow book printer is [email protected] productivity choice for developing more colour MEDIA INFORMATION S&G; Ricoh aims at litho work with digital making a The Media Pack is available under substitution; Kodak drives the Information menu at mark. printbusiness.co.uk Uteco digital press. Delga plans to extend NEWS Taylor Bloxham grows The Monday morning News email is a on record sales 49 popular collection of a handful of the four prongs 22 week’s news, always going beyond the Delga Press intends press release and often exclusive. No Leicester group spreads third parties or selling of details. Sign to expand its carton up at www.printbusiness.co.uk/Register the load away from purely print. production with SUBSCRIPTION Print Business is free to qualifying installation of an HP printers. Subscriptions for other Cutting out the Indigo 12000 HD. interested parites are £120 pa. [email protected] bottlenecks 29 The guillotine is no longer Seeking the EVENTS Print Business is the organiser of the only answer to a apprentices 55 Forward Thinking Printing. For more details see the Events page under the printer’s cutting issues. Garry Richmond, director Information menu at of Print Scotland, printbusiness.co.uk Digital is pushing at is hoping to fill the CONTENT litho’s door 34 Content is copyright © Print Business demographic deficit. Ltd 2010-2018. All rights reserved. The new crop of digital presses are escaping the Café society 47 ARCHIVE Previous issues are available for a limitations of short runs. modest fee. See the Archive page at The Xeikon Café printbusiness.co.uk While workflows are promised applications, TERMS ripe to automate 43 workshops and Apply for terms & conditions to [email protected] Digital workflows are thoughtful presentations. enabling lights out print. It delivered.

4 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk COMMENT

failed, flash fusion and solid inkjet being only the Print was the winner most recent. If Xerox were a film studio it would be in definite need of a blockbuster hit. at Waterloo And it may have one. Xerox talked about a new The printing industry has a long and noble tradi- Product to journalists and analysts under Non tional as a fast turnaround, print on demand Disclosure terms in a webinar last week. The operation. Newspapers have always needed to be Product in question is, however, already at large, produced and distributed within very tight sched- having been launched by Fuji Xerox late last year ules and have single purpose plants for precisely and reported as such on this website. Others have this reason. City and financial printers also have also talked about the machine on LinkedIn where a long traditional of overnight production and Xerox itself posted a teaser video last week, talking delivery. Commercial printing can now be as fast, about the iridescent metallic colours and effects that exploiting digital presses for short runs. But when would now be possible for printers. But Xerox has timeliness really matters printers have always clamped the lid on publicity until lunchtime tomor- stepped forward. The Wimbledon programme, row – even though Fuji-Xerox is already selling the for example, has needed that day’s results and the Product, perhaps with a different front end, but next day’s schedule printed and inserted into the nonetheless to essentially the same specification. centre of a pre-printed souvenir publication. This In the Looking Glass world that Xerox inhabits, was, and remains, a challenge, but there is only one however, the Product does not as yet exist, because point of delivery, easing the complexity. it has not made that announcement. This is the 21st Forty or more years ago there was another high century where the latest gaffes by the President of profile job where printers, unused to overnight the United States zip around the world and are delivery, might demonstrate their ability to print, commented on within seconds. But Xerox believes finish and distribute within a very tight window. it can control the flow of information and commen- These were the record sleeve printers poised to tary; that what happens in Bangkok in November is print the packaging for the winner of the Euro- still not known in Europe six months later. This is vision song contest. The public who had seen Abba just one example of the bizarre thinking that is part perform Waterloo on the Saturday evening wanted of the Xerox culture and has led the business into the to walk into a record shop on Monday morning pickle it finds itself. That said Xerox may have the and buy their copy. But Abba might not win, so blockbuster it desperately needs with the Product. the different record companies had each of their 8 May suppliers on standby, presses ready to print if their customer was the winner. The press would run at a maximum 6,000sph before cut and crease, glue Bright and printed world and delivery to the pressing plant for onward ship- ment to the network of independent record shops, of tomorrow Our Price or Woolworths in order to capture the For hundreds of years anyone mentioning print or

Every Monday morning Gareth Ward offers his views on the printing industry. printbusiness.co.uk/Comme nt industry. printing the on views his offers Ward Gareth morning Monday Every demand that would propel Abba to No 1. a printer would immediately think ink on paper. Today Eurovision is dominated by digital In recent years this has perhaps been amended to downloads and even for a 7in disc, digital print- toner or inkjet on paper, but the traditional outlets ing might play a significant part in the song’s for print – books, magazines, direct mail, catalogues subsequent success. Somehow it doesn’t seem and of course newspapers – have persisted. This has the same. Same day litho printing and overnight been what a printer does. Today a definition built delivery is effectively standard. The expecta- around print on paper is far too limiting. The position, the frenetic activity and the satisfaction of tion of print has changed. meeting a tight deadline no longer exist in the Print is now about the application of decoration same way when such a job was exceptional. Print or a message that is intended to be at least semi- on demand is taken for granted. Print is as univer- permanent to any surface. This might be a wall or sal ever, easier to specify and quality can always floor, tile, laminate, plastic sheet, film, textile and, meet expectations. Sometimes though some- of course. paper. The decoration itself might be the thing mystical seems to have been discarded. We product, as in wallpaper, or the printed sheet might can need to deliver the exceptional to feel alive. be an intermediate before a book is made. But the 14 May world of print is rapidly expanding beyond its traditional roles even as the requirement for print in these traditional areas is declining. Xerox and the Now you It is not difficult to project ten years forwards and see these trends continuing. Magazine, catalogue and see it, now you can’t press collateral print on paper dropping away while new The Xerox saga last week took more twists and applications in myriad industries and sectors flour- turns, loops and plunges than a roller coaster on ishing. The skills that have placed dots of ink with a Bank Holiday Monday. Jeff Jacobson as CEO absolute precision on paper and the understanding came in for much stick in court from the aggres- of colour that creates photographic illusions from 20 sors without being able to answer back. Then he micron spots will be required as these unexploited resigned and returned as CEO by the end of the areas open up. Printers must ask themselves whether week. What is clear is that whatever the rights or to be hidebound by the centuries or be freed from wrongs in these allegations, Xerox has definitely the stereotypes. The challenge is to understand how got itself into a mess. In production print there to evolve and be as successful as a printer tomorrow have been too many Xerox technologies that have as they are today and have been yesterday. 30 April Words of print wisdom

Browse in peace in the uncluttered and calm environment of printbusiness.co.uk

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 5 INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY La dolce vita opens for Clays with Italian deal

ST IVES HAS SOLD CLAYS, Indigo presses. “We expect to its last printing business, to invest further in our capacity in Italian print group, Elcograf for Bungay,” says Hulley. “The UK a total consideration of £23.8 mono market is moving further million, severing an involve- down the run length scale and ment with printing that dates we will ensure we are able to back more than 50 years. continue the re-positioning The deal is the largest yet for of our business as a logistics Elcograf, formed by the amal- function within a more agile gamation of the Mondadori publishing supply chain. and Pozzoni in 2008. It since “We are part of a print group acquired web offset printer again; committed to print and Roto 2000 and book printer with a passion for books. From Amilcare Pizzi. The acquisition our customers’ perspective, propels the Italian company heavily in that colour capability printed on Timson web presses we are able to offer a complete to a European scale group, at the moment, at the Verona which it has in common with solution for the physical book. while presenting Clays with site, and the resultant capacity Clays, Elcograf also operates a And we represent a substantial the opportunity to direct some will enable UK publishers to Cameron belt press to deliver European opportunity for our output to Europe and to offer order colour books on shorter completed paperbacks. The suppliers. It’s a very good ﬁt.” the publishers it works with lead times; supplied in the UK group also includes gravure “We have thrived in public on trade and academic books, through Clays own distribution printing, used to produce the ownership, but this is time for access to colour book printing. network. It is a strategic oppor- Ikea catalogue and a majority of a change,” Hulley says. “Our Paul Hulley remains manag- tunity for the UK market.” Italian newsstand magazines. new owners are one of Europe’s ing director. That investment has However, Elcograf does not largest and most ambitious print “We will offer the Elco- included new web presses and yet have the inkjet and digital groups, strongly backed by the graf colour capability to Clays four Heidelberg Speedmas- capacity that Clays has built up Pozzoni family in Italy, and is the customers. Elcograf is investing ter XL162s. As well as books, with Kodak, HP PageWide and best possible home for Clays.”

now offer a range of integrated transactional sector, while IFS ITGadds marketing technology that is can focus on growth in book softwarefirm technically exceptional and printing. uniquely intuitive. Tecnau’s Libra system is an MARKETING technol- “The prospects for our effective approach to book of ogy group ITG has acquired next generation of products one production and there is Intrepia, a provider of person- will deliver online and ofﬂine Tecnau equipment at the likes alisation and customisation customer experiences that UK as a second exclusive stra- of LSI in Milton Keynes, at software to allow real time directly influence customer tegic partner. Henry Ling in Dorchester and edeiting of marketing materi- behaviour. The mailing and inserting most recently at Ashford Colour als destined for digital or print “We have been busy devel- equipment supplier will work Press. output. oping our next generation of with the Italian company in Jason Seaber, technical sales Its Entropy platform is in use enterprise marketing technol- direct mail, transactional and director at IFS, says: “We are at 30 brands worldwide across ogy and, with the addition of security print operations across delighted that Böwe Systec multiple sectors. The acquisi- Intrepia to our team, we can the UK and Ireland. has decided to join the Tecnau tions comes six months after offer a truly unique end-to-end Its business in book print- family and we look forward very ITG attracted private equity interactive experience.” ing, commercial printing, much to working with them investment from Equistone. labels, government and other and our partners in the UK and ITG CEO Simon Ward says public sector organisations will Ireland to help empower digital that Intrepia is an ideal addi- Tecnaudivides continue to be represented by print with high quality feeding tion to the group. “We are very torule IFS. and finishing solutions for excited to have the Intrepia team The split in representation continuous feed and cut sheet and products within our portfo- TECNAU IS PLANNING will enable Tecnau to work with digital print.” lio of marketing tech. We have to expand its UK presence by a supplier that is itself keen The deal brings the UK and a perfect cultural fit and can appointing Böwe Systec in the to grow in the direct mail and Ireland in line with other …

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uk.koenig-bauer.com INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY New XL106 will boost Stephens & George output

STEPHENS & GEORGE will ber we will know how it’s install its most sophisticated Andrew Jones running compared to the other eight-colour Heidelberg Speed- says investment machines.” master XL106-8 this month. will take on the The investment in the press The 18,000sph Push to Stop shortest runs. comes on the back of a period machine replaces a six-year-old of spending in the finishing XL106 long perfector running at area, with Heidelberg providing 15,000sph and gives the Merthyr a Polar Pace guillotine and three Tydfil printer a line up of five Stahlfolder TH82-P high speed 18,000sph machines, three folders to join two MBO Monzas eight-colour, one ten-colour and from Friedheim and a second a five-colour. The long perfec- Muller Martini Bolero binder. tors have CutStar reel sheeters. The investment is needed “The new press will have reel rather than 17,000 sheets on suited to that type of work,” to keep pace with demand for 20% increase in speed and a pallet,” he says. Jones adds. the company’s services. “We better productivity,” says The new machine will handle Even with the prepon- enjoyed our record month in managing director Andrew the majority of ultra short runs derance of makereadies, April,” he says, attributing this Jones. the company tackles. As well as Stephens & George completed to an emphasis on service and “The press will be faster to 1,000 magazines under contract, 55,000 makereadies in the last a competitive price rather than makeready, crucial for an opera- amounting to 50% of turno- year averaging 5’30”, Jones chasing work on price. tion where short print runs are ver, there is commercial work expects the new press to be its “We believe this investment becoming the norm. Wash up, and numerous programmes for most productive. “The first is futureproofing our business. plate change and any adjust- sporting events. Some can have 18,000sph machine produced It will be the first in the world ments take place simultaneously. very short runs: the programme 67 million impressions in its with CutStar, Intellistart 2, “The software on the press is for Shrewsbury Town FC is 950 first year. We can lift that by 7 Inpress Control 2, Autoplate XL new, a wash up takes just 1’17” copies. “We have a lot of work million. 2. Autonomous technology will and we are running CutStars that is between 500-3,500 copies “The press will be running allow us to be more productive which means 32,000 sheets per and the new machine is ideally by mid August so by Decem- and efficient.”

… European countries where “We have been under consider- other systems. They complain Böwe System is the distribution able time pressure, but for the that nothing ever changes, that Queen’sAward partner for Tecnau. customer, a significant business it’s the same product over the forprinttrio risk has been averted.” past ten years.” Other prospects are monitor- THREE PRINT RELATED MISfromOz ing progress he adds, confident companies have been allocated landsinUK that further UK orders can be Germansexport Queen’s Award for Enterprise expected quickly. growth this year, two for export perfor- NEW ZEALAND MIS The MIS uses a modular mance and one for innovation. supplier PrintIQ has arrived approach which enables a THE GERMAN PRESS and The innovation award goes in the UK nine months earlier rapid roll out. The technology print equipment sector enjoyed to Moo for the development than planned after securing a is an SaaS application, expand- a 9% sales increase in 2017 over of its distinctive business cards customer in north London. able to suit an installation for 2016. sold through websites and The leading Australasian the smallest of businesses to Exports reached €4.6 billion which have taken off in the US, developer has already enjoyed one requiring thousands of thanks to a one third increase in disrupting the way that busi- success in North America, seats. demand from Russia, while the ness cards have been bought opening offices in Detroit and The first UK installation has US remained the largest market traditionally. Toronto which will provide the spurred inquiries from a host with China close behind. Inkjet technology provider initial support to UK customers. of other printers looking to The UK is the seventh most GIS has won its second award CEO Anthony Lew says that switch away from an MIS that important export market for international trade having the company was asked to step has barely changed in years, says according to the VDMA, behind continued the export sales in after the unnamed printer Lew. Russia, Italy, Poland and France growth which earned it an award was forced to end a relation- “Sixty percent of our and with a similar level of sales in 2013. ship with its existing provider. customers are converting from as Austria. In 2017 81% of sales …

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For more information or to arrange a no obligation consultation, please contact: [email protected], or visit our website at www.flintgrp.com INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY Ricoh aims at litho market with Pro C9200 launch

RICOH HAS LAUNCHED There are also improve- SUMMER! the Pro C9200 cutsheet press ments to grayscale printing to replace the Pro C9100 series with stronger blacks and precise machines, including a host of midtones. As before, paper bins improvements over the previous and toners can be replenished on generation machine. the fly. It follows the introduction The net effect, Ricoh believes, in January of the Pro C7200, will be a great improvement to launched officially at the compa- banners and to duplexing a The same 4800dpi VCSEL the number of sheets per hour ny’s Art of the New open house 1,030mm long banner. laser is used for imaging with that the press can produce and a in Telford last month. The first The press is positioned to take additional sensors to manage leap in terms of colour consist- installation in the UK of the on more jobs transferring from colour and feedback adjust- ency and quality, both opening five-colour machine is under- offset, offering colour consist- ments that are needed to the up the ability to address longer way at an unnamed customer. ency across a longer run through imaging head. runs. A TotalFlow workflow Like its predecessor, the Pro auto correction systems as part Media profiling is improved will improve this further with C9200 is a four-colour machine, of the improvements over the to include the effects of print the ability to control output increasing its speed to 135ppm previous press. on registration during printing. across several presses simul- and stock range to 450gsm “People wanted stable colour Registration is also improved taneously with links to MIS, maximum. There are improve- and more media versatility to by switching to a litho-like side variable data application, and ments too to the formats the drive down the cost of owner- lay, especially for longer sheets, a number of litho workflows, press can handle. This extends ship and to handle longer runs,” instead of making adjustments Prinergy, Prinect and Apogee to 1,260mm single-sided says a spokesman. to the leading edge. among them.

Times Lloyds’ SME Export a conventional wet processed However, the new plate is GIS Track 100. plate and a full process-free, not compatible with UV inks. employees develop on press plate. The Superia ZD remains the celebrate The Superia LHS2 takes on preferred product for an envi- win. Walstead Agfa’s Azura plates, to date the ronmentally friendly plate on a growth only plate which after imaging UV litho press. is processed in a clean out unit “It is a step towards what WALSTEAD HAS announced a with a gum solution. we believe must be the ulti- big leap in revenues, from £260.0 “This gives customers a mate solution, the process-free million to £481.2 million in 2017 choice,” says Sean Lane, offset plate,” says Lane. “There’s still thanks to a 12-month contribu- product group manager at Fuji- a spectrum of people who have tion from Bicester and Leykam film Graphic Systems Europe. concerns about committing to a … came from overseas. The in Austria. The rise in pretax “And it’s a step towards a full process-free plate from day one company develops controllers profits was less spectacular, up to process-free solution that people and who have been asking for and electronics packages that £9.7 million (£8.6 million). UK want to achieve, but without the an intermediate step. They love allow inkjet printer developers revenue rose to £125.7 million big step needed when moving the idea of process-free, but feel to implement new printheads (£116.0 million) thanks to from a standard to a develop on they are not yet ready for it.” and bring new models to market growing numbers of marketing press plate.” faster. flyers which the company says The Superia LHS2 uses the The Tall Group is another is a “key growth opportunity same technology as the Superia Dominojoins previous winner that has contin- across all of Europe”. ZD, with a different top layer Anglialineup ued to increase export business. technology, which is loosened Its previous win was in the inno- in the platesetter. This means ANGLIA LABELS HAS vation category in 2005. Now Fujifilmjoins that it will be a drop in solution completed installation of a five- exports account for £4 million chemistry-free to move to a process-free option colour Domino N610i at its in business for the Runcorn at a later date. There will be no Sudbury factory and the inkjet company. platerace need to change press chemistry press is already handling 25% The award continues a good FUJIFILM IS LAUNCHING a and the different plates could of the company’s turnover. run for the business having chemistry-free plate to address even be used on the same press The press will be offer- been placed sixth in the Sunday demand for a mid point between at the same time. ing additional digital print …

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WHERETHETRADEBUYS.CO.UK 0330 333 2233 INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY Drupa’s research reports print is gaining confidence

DRUPA’S FIFTH ANNUAL with 45% of printers report- in Europe. However, this is minor impact in packaging print. Global Trends Report points ing an increase in their capital in contrast to the outlook for The Global Trends Report is to an industry across the world investment levels. the industry in Africa and the produced by UK consultancy which is regaining confidence, However, even commercial Middle East. Print Future and Wissler & even in the highly competitive printers are more optimistic than This has translated into Partner from Switzerland. commercial print sector. in previous surveys, even if some increasing investment for 51% Print Future operations While the full report is not parts of their market continue to of US printers during 2017. Just director Richard Gray says: published until the end of the struggle with strategic changes. 18% of printers in the Australa- “Print service providers and month, an initial set of findings Price and margin pressure is a sia region reported an increased suppliers are aware of the has been released, to whet the global phenomenon. on investment levels for the strategic challenges facing the appetite of those willing to pay Publication printers, while same period. printing industry. for the full details. escaping the ebook bulldozer, The spend is directed to “Nevertheless, they are “The study for 2017 is the continue to be unsure of their finishing technologies, followed confident about the future and most gratifying report so prospects and continue to by print and then software for appreciate the future of print in far for the majority of print suffer price declines. Just 20% MIS and workflows. most markets and regions. service providers and suppliers of printers in this sector have Analogue printing contin- “However, only on the in most markets and regions increased spending on capital ues to dominate the spending premise that print service since the annual industry equipment. aims for more commercial and providers carefully analyse their survey was launched in 2013,” Across the world, the North packaging printers, while in respective target markets and says Drupa. American market is the most informational and function introduce appropriate innova- Packaging continues to be the bullish with a steady improve- printing, digital is now domi- tions to meet the future needs most vibrant area for investment ment in confidence detected nant, though has made only a of their customers.”

… capacity, running alongside one stop label shop’. The addi- handling a B2+ format sheet. its HP Indigo and will enable tion of inkjet printing increases It also comes with a foiling unit the printer to become increas- the ability to cover every appli- capable of applying a foil via a ingly reliant on digital printing. cation its customers need, digitally printed toner on top By the end of the year, it expects including tags, peel and read of the laminated film. This will to be 70% digital, supported labels and wristbands. appeal to a customer base that by conventional UV flexo and The customers come from an stretches from house builders to Foliant to letterpress machines. equally diverse range of sectors designers and brand managers. Swindon. including food and drink, agro- chemical, automotive, security, from IFS, migrating to the the Kyoceraplans household and medical. This sturdier machine from a first generates revenue of £2.5 lightweight laminator. tosupply million from a 22-strong team. This had proved that demand production Anglia buys first “After visiting Labelexpo existed for lamination and that inkjetpress inkjet press. to review the range of digital the company could sell the presses available, specifically service. KYOCERA, THE Japanese The installation of the looking at print quality, speed, Production manager Shawn company best known for Domino has been followed by running costs, price, ease of use Martin says: “We brought its desktop printers and for that of a Daco finishing unit and service, we decided that the our lamination in house with supplying inkjet heads for many which will allow Anglia to five-colour Domino N610i ink a smaller system, but it soon narrow web label presses, has varnish and die cut the reels jet label press was the perfect became clear we needed a more announced a 150ppm inkjet coming off the new press. solution for us,” says Woodhead. productive solution to manage production print capable press. Anglia has been in business for the work. The new machine will be 35 years delivering a wide range “We looked at other lami- the flagship of the TasKalfa of label types and offering Foliantto nators on the market but the family of document printers. design and stock control as well Swindon Foliant stood out. It ticked a It will be formally introduced as print, foiling and numbering number of boxes including at the start of next year, but the of labels. SWINDON PRINTER Inter- faster operation.” company revealed its existence Managing director Ian Wood- print has taken delivery of a The chosen machine is a at the 2018 Kyocera Innovate head describes the business as ‘a Foliant Mercury laminator 25m/min laminator capable of dealer conference in Florida. …

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020 8997 8053 [email protected] ifsl.uk.com INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY Swallowtail orders full specification XL106

SWALLOWTAIL PRINT will However, before either also made full use of operat- folders and finishing equipment move from a two-press opera- machine arrives, the Norwich ing efficiencies, even before the to make better use of the space tion to a single five-colour plus company will take delivery of Push to Stop technology was it operates from. Last year the coater Heidelberg Speedmaster a new Muller Martini Primera available. company installed a Stahlfolder XL106 when the new Heidel- saddle stitcher to replace a This will be fitted to the new TH82 increasing capacity in berg is delivered in September. saddle stitcher that is begin- press, along with Intellistart finishing. Currently the company has ning to show its age. “It broke 2 and Inpress Control 2. “It is The business now lacks only an XL75 and XL105, both of down and was out of action for a top of the range machine,” perfect binding capacity. Once which will make way for the two weeks,” says Baxter. “We Baxter adds. “It’s not a down- the litho machine is in place, the new press. put the press order on hold sizing because we will be company may turn to upgrad- The XL75 will be moved for a month, while sorting the increasing capacity. It is good ing its digital line up, currently first, its base extended to cope stitcher.” news for the business.” a Ricoh Pro C751 and Konica with the size and weight of the The press was ordered after The move to a single-press Minolta C1085. new machine and the XL105 visiting Elle Media where operation will allow Swallow- “Everyone is very excited. removed only when the XL106 an XL106 replaced two long tail to reconfigure the factory The investment will secure our is up and running, says produc- perfectors and has increased to optimise movement of paper ongoing business now and into tion director James Baxter. production capacity. Elle has and work in progress, moving the future,” says Baxter.

… Consequently details of the business for flexo machines. revenues from service by 2021 machine are sparse until next The order intake for sheetfed is on track. In Q1, revenue year’s launch. presses increased 5.3%, despite from service increased to €71.8 The TasKalfa Pro 15000C an announced price increase million (€67.4 million). will be a colour machine capable for these machines. Growth in of 150 A4 pages a minute. The orders from €152.0 million to target users will be print service Claus Bolza- €160.1 million balanced a fall Brilliantmove providers and the top end of the Schünemann: in revenue from €150.0 million service growth. forEFI implant market. to €116.8 million. The order The first markets for the incepting orders, press manu- backlog grew to 276.8 million LONDON MARKETING new machine will be in North facturer Koenig & Bauer is not ($239.5 million). printer It Has To Be Brilliant America and Europe. Trevor perturbed. However, the delayed deliv- has installed an EFI Market- Maloney, product marketing Installations planned for the eries for many machines means Direct suite, employing Direct manager for Kyocera Docu- second half of the year will that the Ebit figures suffered, Smile, to promote the market- ment Solutions UK, says: “The weight the company’s perfor- down from a positive €5.0 ing services side of its north TasKalfa Pro15000c high-speed mance more to the back half million to a loss of €1.9 million. London operation. inkjet product will be launched than previously and will result R&D spend focuses in devel- The company has worked in early calendar year 2019. in the company achieving its oping its CorruJet inkjet press with Transeo Media on the It will initially be available in financial goals for 2018. for corrugated printing, Corru- implementation of the software Europe and the US. Revenue was down to €217.3 Jet and CorruFlex presses for the to give it the ability to create “Although this is the only million (€259.1 million) and same sector. A first CorruCut highly personalised and targeted model that will be available within order intake dropped to €250.9 will be installed early next year. campaign messages driven by the next year, Kyocera Document million (€321.5 million). Its CS MetalCan press for deco- data across multiple channels. Solutions plans to expand the This was the result of a large rating two-piece cans will also “It has taken a little while to line of high-speed colour inkjet order the previous year for go into field testing before initial get everything where we want devices in the future.” security presses CEO Claus commercial shipments at the it,” says strategy director Tony Bolza-Schünemann explains, end of this year. Kenton. “With Direct Smile, inflating the intake for 2017. Packaging accounts for 70% we thought the time was right Servicesgrow The order backlog at the end of the business, more than to just get on with it and we forKoenig& of March was €648.5 million compensating for the decline in came up with approach that (€619.9 million). sales from newspapers and web we managed to convince them Bauer Packaging continues to domi- offset presses. Likewise demand was suited to both of us and the DESPITE WHAT MIGHT nate, with stronger orders for for digital presses was subdued business.” appear a poor quarter, large format sheetfed presses, says the CEO. In contrast, That led IHTBB to Transeo with a drop in sales and and a welcome increase in the strategy to derive 30% of Media. “We went with …

14 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk Impremia IS29 inkjet digital printing system Overturning digital conventions

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More from: Steve Turner Director of Sheetfed Sales Komori UK Limited. [email protected] Komori UK Limited, Victoria Road, Seacroft, Leeds LS14 2LA Tel: 0113 823 9200 INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY Sapphire is the way to take flex packaging into digital

KODAK AND UTECO are dryer to overcome drying issues installing the first Sapphire Evo associated with ink on filmic inkjet press at an Italian printer substrates. The ink develop- this summer, the next step in ment partner is INX. moving flexible packaging print Uteco is the world’s largest to digital printing. supplier of flexo and gravure The press has been in devel- presses, with 100 presses sold opment at Kodak’s inkjet a year. These can have fast operation in Dayton, Ohio, makeready technologies as well where testing and tweaking has as quality management systems been underway for more than a to be in colour with 80 metres year. of waste. The announcement that the The new press will go further first installation is now immi- ing a 622mm print width on a tion solution that meets their than this, switching between nent suggests that problems of 650mm web at up to 9,000m/hr customer demands for more versions on the fly enabling enabling the water based ink to on BOPP, PET as well as paper. versions, which is driving effective production of slightly adhere to non absorbent film This will comply with regula- shorter run lengths, as well as different versions of a standard surfaces have been solved – tory requirements for indirect an economic long run digital pack. Uteco COO Stefano Russo and at an acceptable operation food contact in the EU and solution.” adds: “As the demand for mass speed. US, meeting the EuPIA exclu- The Sapphire Evo is not versioning and customisation This is achieved through an sion list and hitting other brand Uteco’s digital only approach. of packaging grows globally, inline flexo applied primer, and specific regulations. At Labelexpo last year the hybrid flexo, gravure and digital a protective seal after print- Uteco CEO Aldo Peretti company showed the Gaia, a printing is becoming a very ing. The print is applied using says: “Our customers have been compact inkjet press which important part of packaging Stream print heads deliver- asking for a digital produc- uses an ebeam electron beam printers’ offerings.”

Transeo because of the extra achieve a resolution equivalent Nozomi, EFI’s play in the of ink for the very thirsty support and commercial train- to litho printing at 290lpi. expanding market for digitally Nozomis have still to have a ing they provide. Over the printing corrugated boxes, major impact as the companies years I have been involved with is a highlight. There are nine buying the machines need to a number of big projects for EFIachieves currently either in operation or understand fully the capabilities major customers and Transeo recordrevenues in stallion, four shipped in the of the press and then to sell this are the best I have worked quarter. The Q2 the company on to their customers. with. They have helped move inQ1 plans to ship five more, seven in Revenue from Fiery has been our project along quickly while EFI HAS REPORTED its best Q3 and eight in the last quarter in decline in recent quarters and keeping it agile enough for us opening quarter to its financial of the year. fell 23% compared to to 2017 in to provide a really competitive year, putting the company on Gecht acknowledges that the first three months of 2018. offering to the market.” a firm footing to achieving the competition will increase, not Competition from embedded $1 billion status that CEO Guy least from the HP C500, which devices, especially in Asia has Gecht has set his eyes on. has just started to sell, but points been blamed. But if Gecht is Pureprintat And the $240 million of sales out that this is a vast market with concerned about the impact the highestlevel reported in the quarter comes room for all participants. The current battle over the future despite a drop in revenues from company is developing a white for Xerox, traditionally EFI’s PUREPRINT HAS become the the Fiery division. ink for the corrugated box press. largest single customer, he is not first UK company to upgrade In contrast the MIS, or Inkjet revenues increased showing it. an Indigo 12000 with the new productivity software as EFI 15% to $142 million including 1600dpi imaging head making prefers, operation increased the now-sold Jetrion label press the machine into the HD version. revenues by 25%. to $44 business. Without this revenue Zenithpicks The extra quality will appeal million. This was a combina- was up 16%. The company has pressas to fine art customers and luxury tion of both organic growth and launched a hybrid ink press plat- brands according to CEO Mark successful closure of a number form at Fespa. This will begin businessgrows Handford. The imaging head of deals, some hanging over to ship in the second half of the PONTYPRIDD COMPANY uses 12 additional lasers to from the end of 2018. year the company says. Volumes Zenith Media is switching two

16 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk What could a Jet Press do for your business?

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ANOTHER OF THE UK’s are ongoing. The machine is arrangement as well as video magazine printing web offset capable of delivering a 64pp or publications. The two large plants has closed down. This is two 32pp ﬁnished products, but production buildings being built the factory in Mill Hill belong- interest is likely to be tempered reﬂect that change.” ing to the Jehovah’s Witnesses by the unusual format. The format of monthly the Organisation and printer of The press has a 1,480mm web Watchtower and bimonthly sister magazines such as the Watch- width but an unusual 984.25mm publication Awake has changed. tower. The plant closed on 30 cut off, a cut off suited to the Distribution has also reduced as March. format of the magazines it video and digital communica- The religious organisation printed. tions have taken a greater role is moving from its site in north This is closer to a 48pp press The magazines are available in London to a former scrapyard than a 64pp machine. The digital form, including audio near Chelmsford in Essex. Plans JWO installed seven of these versions, from the organisation’s for this site included a promi- machines around the world in website. nent printery. bibles and books as well as 2004, subsequently buying a Both remain available in more But this will not be a replace- magazines. further seven from Manroland. than 300 languages. ment for the Mill Hill site. The Mill Hill plant had A spokesman for Jehovah’s At one time the Watchtower European print operations have two presses a Hantscho and a Witnesses says: “While we had a global print run of 70 been reorganised. Manroland Lithoman installed have secured planning approval million copies a month accord- Instead long run printed in 2004. Both were kept in as for a large printing facility, we ing to Wikipedia, giving it a fair material, including the maga- new condition by members of have restructured our Euro- claim to be the largest distri- zines, will be brought in from the church and both will now be pean operations so that in bution of any magazine in the the church’s larger plant in sold. The Lithoman has not yet Britain greater emphasis will world albeit outside the scope Germany. This site produces been sold, though negotiations be placed on a digital printing of ABC or other audits.

… straight presses for a new the frequency of job changes, a B1 press and Indigo, apply- The extra capacity from the new Heidelberg XL106-8-P. And increasing the value of the ing colourful wraps to the six folder gluer comes from a 700m/ despite coming down to a single autonomous makeready, espe- side panels of the Heidelberg minute running speed, and 15% machine, the company is aiming cially towards the end of shifts. XL105. faster makeready time. The at a 30-35% increase in output. The company installed a Masterfold has been configured This will allow the business Suprasetter platesetter last year to meet Beamglow’s bespoke to chase more of the brochure, so will have little difficulty in Beamglowopts requirements. catalogue and government feeding an increased volume forBobst work that provides the bedrock of plates to the press. In Drupa of its customer base. “Busi- year it was the first in the UK ST IVES CARTON printer Harlequin ness is excellent in spite of the to install the high speed Stahl- Beamglow has bought the UK’s deliversPDF2.0 competitiveness in the market,” folder TH82-P from the show first Bobst Masterfold 110, says operations manager Mark and now has two of these. It had aiming to deliver the highest readyRip Partridge. The machine will be previously installed a second quality rather than the greatest GLOBAL GRAPHICS is delivered in May. XL106-5 a year earlier in volume of cartons. cementing its position as the The press is specified with September 2015. This resulted “We know that the industry industry’s leading supplier of Heidelberg’s Push to Stop tech- in a three B1 press line up, two will assume we’re investing in powerful Rips, with the intro- nology to minimise makeready. XL106 five-colour plus coater this technology for output and duction of the PDF 2.0 ready The press is equipped with machines and one XL105. productivity reasons. However, Harlequin 12. Inpress Control 2 to keep colour the truth is that this is all about While design and production consistent, with Intellistart 2 to quality control and consist- workflow software is still coming calculate the ideal path to wash Woolwich ency of production for what are to grips with how to imple- down a previous job, set param- move exacting market needs,” says ment and cope with the features eters for the next job, ink ducts James Griffin, Beamglow opera- of PDF 2.0, the first version and be in good colour. This is LONDON PRINTER Gavin tions manager. produced as an ISO standard, helped by ink pumping to each Martin Colournet has completed The investment follows on the new Rip has been shipped to of the eight print units. its move from Bow to Wool- from investment in foiling, die Harlequin OEM customers for Reducing print runs increase wich. The company has moved cutting and a K&B Rapida 106. them to implement in their …

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For more information, please contact OLIVER OFFSET LIMITED at: OLIVER OFFSET LIMITED, B3 Deseronto, St Mary’s Road, Langley, Slough SL3 7EW Telephone: 01753 590800 Email: [email protected] Web: www.oliveroffset.com INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY Help sought to record history of East London print

A GROUP OF ARTISTS and “So many print businesses “It is about how we used to historians in East London has have closed or moved to make work before digital processes won a lottery grant to study the way for the Olympics and other arrived and we want to map history of the printing industry property development. where companies were through in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and “We are trying to record speaking to people who still Waltham Forest. the experiences of people that work in the industry or who Rendezvous Projects has been worked in the industry and how have retired,” says Harrison. given £58,000 from the National the processes have changed.” It will lead to an exhibition, a Lottery to back ‘Lightboxes and The Olympic Park was built series of workshops to show how Lettering: Printing Industry on factories that had been a print used to be produced and Heritage in East London’. popular for printing companies, to both a website and printed The organisers want to moved out of the City with the publication early next year. track the businesses and record transition from letterpress to “Printing has been an impor- working practices and what it litho. tant industry in east London for was like to work in the printing Capital Print & Display’s may years. industry before the digital age. factory was located directly “Access to small presses Lucy Harrison is project under the main stadium before concentration of Heidelberg allowed political and commu- director and says that project relocating to Beckton, for presses outside the factory nity groups to easily print their hopes to gather photographs example. itself. There were other clusters books, pamphlets and leaﬂets, and other memorabilia from This helped make the area of printing businesses further and many of these smaller businesses that are in the area or a major centre for print, at along the River Lea in Waltham- ﬁrms were in east London,” the have moved from it. one time boasting the largest stow and in Hackney. project says.

latest versions of either a Rip used for some of the most However, run lengths that for a platesetter or large format demanding print applications. exceed digital and speed of digital printer or into a DFE for On an HP PageWide T series turnaround that Graphico’s a digital press. inkjet press, it can handle customers demand continues to Though none has yet 10,000ppm. Now Advance favour litho printing. The faster announced the implementa- Inkjet Screens can apply a new makeready will relieve pres- tion, Global Graphics CTO screening algorithm to opti- sure on the fast growing digital Martin Bailey says that as OEMs mise output quality on either printing side, by siphoning off have had the technology for a Bailey: Rip non absorbent papers or highly the longer runs and allowing its will support while, products will be close to absorbent papers to eliminate Xerox digital presses to focus PDF 2.0. shipping. the unwanted artefacts that can on short runs and a value add “The specification for PDF file. The Rip includes a barcode occur. approach where personalisation 2.0 was published last year,” says generator that will support EAN is needed. Bailey. “It includes some exten- style product barcodes, postal The company works in the sions to colour management, barcodes and QR codes. B3Heidelbergs hospitality sector, providing enhancements to transpar- This will be put to use headtoCroydon print for hotels and the service ency controls and to halftone on labels and carton blanks industry, where their on site screening and the encryptions printed digitally or for address- CROYDON PRINTER Graph- storage possibilities are increas- algorithms.” ing preprinted envelopes or ico Printing has bought two ingly limited. This has increased This is supported in the for some security applications new B3 Heidelbergs to modern- demand for fast delivery from new Harlequin Rip and each where a combination of overlays ise capacity that had relied on a stock that Graphico holds. has valid requirements. It will can include microtext, changing GTO and Speedmaster PM52. “This will give as a 30-35% support variable data overlays colours and text. In a security The litho presses are the increase in capacity and we are using a much simpler method application, the first time that first in the smallest format optimistic we can fill it,” says than using PDF/VT. This will the varying content and the that Heidelberg has sold this managing director Shaukat drive sequential numbering static content will meet is in the year. Sales in this format, Dungarwalla. “We upgraded and product codes on labels Rip at the point of printing, which remains popular with our CTP last year with a new and packaging and will enable adding a level of security previ- smaller printers, have dropped Suprasetter and bought a barcode generation on the fly. ously not possible. as digital printing has risen to Heidelberg plates deal so we are Data can be read from a CSV The Harlequin Rip is already take over. ready for these new presses.” n

20 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk

COVER STORY TAYLOR BLOXHAM High quality print and all that jazz

TaylorBloxhamhasenjoyedsomethingofatopsyturvyrecent history,somethingthatCEORobertLockwoodwantstofileaway withastrategythatfocusesontheexpertisethegroup’soperations canbringtocustomers.

ROBERT LOCKWOOD IS RELAXED. city, it was 100% print. Now print accounts getting a strong level of support to ensure So he should be. The CEO of Taylor for 46% of a turnover that could reach £30 that we meet those times. Each of the suppli- Bloxham Group has just returned from brief million this year. And the print element ers we have here, Muller Martini, Friedheim holiday driving from New Orleans to Nash- will shrink. Litho printing is not growing, International and K&B are service focused.” ville – in a Cadillac of course. despite swallowing the large investment That chimes with the strategy that the He is relaxed too because the business needed to add another HP Indigo 7900 and business has across its four brands. It is he heads is performing well. A six-colour replace two Heidelberg presses with the new the way to differentiate the company and plus coater Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106 K&B Rapida 106, joining new stitcher and thus stand aside from the world of ultra has just finished installation at the original perfect binder installed last year. commoditised print. Currently 50% of the Taylor Bloxham factory at Tongwell Drive “Print is faced with its own challenges,” customers the company has do not print in Leicester; a few minutes away, fulfilment Lockwood says. “We recognise the rising with the business. operation Fastant is bursting to the seams; paper costs and that pulp prices are continu- Instore has already filled all the space avail- ing to rise, energy costs are up and there is TAYLOR BLOXHAM HAS LONG BEEN able when direct mail arm Mailbox moved still over supply in the market and print is associated with high quality colour printing, out in August last year to its own site just a under margin pressure. its regular resolution is above 200lpi and few minutes away, and it too is growing in “And there are a lot of struggling compa- success with paint cards being testament to double figures. The four separate entities, nies in print that can trade for quite a its colour knowledge. each an expert in its own field says Lock- while, taking years to completely disappear. The company uses its own colour experts wood, are now collected together as the The smarter printers have invested in the to educate and guide its customers where in Taylor Bloxham Group, a new umbrella latest technology to become as efficient as depth knowledge of the printing processes is company. possible.” rare, let alone the sort of colour experience “We want to develop expertise in areas that the printer has. And for some clients we want to service,” he says. “That’s THAT IS WHAT HAS DRIVEN the this pays off. complex if you try to do that on one site, investment programme for Taylor Bloxham. Lockwood talks about a catalogue for the because it’s very easy to drag people off to There were raised eyebrows when the leading supplier of roses in the UK. It was tackle a problem over here.” There is also company that had never moved from about working with them to ensure that the the problem of trying to create a common Heidelberg in living memory, switched to reproduction of the often subtle differences culture across the four sites and brands, K&B, “our first press investment not with in shades in the perfect bound catalogue are retaining the core brand while also explor- Heidelberg, and making a change is always a accurately reproduced on the page. ing and exploiting the opportunities of the worry” he says. The decision, he insists, was “It’s not the sort of showy print that wins brands combining forces. for the right reasons. awards, but their marketing people are really That common link is print, ink on With print runs shrinking, the press needs passionate about roses and they expect the substrate. “We are more than a print busi- to be fast to makeready and fast in running marketing material to be consistent and ness,” Lockwood says. Eighty years ago and a month in, it is hitting the makeready reflect that. when Taylor Bloxham was founded in the times and target speeds expected. “We are “Our people have never worked as

22 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk TAYLOR BLOXHAM COVER STORY

“We are more than a print business,” says Taylor Bloxham CEO Robert Lockwood. © Ray Schram Ray ©

intensely as they did on that project and someone with more than 20 years’ experi- have been ordered and where the orders are the final product went beyond the client’s ence in paper supply and who knows his way headed. The corollary is that it also knows expectations.” around the paper supply side, better than which lines are not moving. And it adds up That the client appreciated working some paper merchants. to data that a customer can use. closely with the press operators, benefitting “He knows his way around the GF Smith, “It is probably the least sexy part of what from skills and experience that are so inher- Fedrigoni and Favini papers and which print we do,” says Lockwood. It does not mean ent to a company like Taylor Bloxham, is well for which jobs. The job is not to be the that it is the least important. “It is probably missed by most in print. “I don’t think that naysayer, but to explain the limitations of a the most profitable part of what we do,” he printers are good at marketing themselves. A paper, so that we know if we put it on press adds. And there is scope to add value to the lot of printers deliver a lot for their custom- it will print. process of storing and retrieving samples of ers and just do not promote it properly,” tiles and carpets or marketing literature. he says. This applies to the conversations “WE HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE the “We have developed a range of tools that the company’s own minders had with value that we add to our customers. There that provide the customer with the ability the customer to help achieve with quality are some customers who see quality as to measure and manage the effective- required. everything, and then will move the job for a ness of their marketing materials. We can very small premium on price,” says Lock- show where the stuff goes geographically THE PRESS PASSES THAT THIS wood. The performance of the new press and demographically though a dashboard entailed are not as regular as once they were. will help should this be needed, Lock- that provides the analytics to show what’s “There’s a layer of buyers out there who wood saying that speed of makeready will happening and we can advise them on how don’t have the the print expertise which was enable the B1 press to compete in the B2 much to print. Our job is to point out that there a few years ago. Many don’t under- sector if necessary. However, the strategy there is stuff on the shelves which is not stand the process and are entirely price is to work with customers over a long term moving.” led. This is where we need to fill the gap, relationship. to provide the expertise about what can be That applies to the other brands. Fastant, IT MEANS THAT THE COMPANY may achieved in print. Many do not understand named after the industrious insect, neces- end up printing less, at least in the short the impact of changing the format by a sarily works with customers, providing term. The task is also to respond to requests few millimetres can have on efficiency and fulfilment services from a vast warehouse as quickly as possible. If a consumer is costs.” holding samples of all types of products. asking for brochures via a website that It means running seminars to educate Typical is a tile company working with consumer is likely to be trawling more than these decision makers about print. It architects and builders which need samples one website in search of product informa- means the services of a paper expert who to show their clients before placing a major tion. The company that responds fastest is effectively acting as a back selling opera- order. Fastant receives these small batch with the brochure is in pole position. tion, advising clients on what is possible orders, collects the samples, adds the At the same time, says Lockwood, these with which papers. “We understand that personalised letter, and sends them out. businesses are looking to optimise their substrates are important and we have It is also acquiring data about which lines spend on warehousing and every square …

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 23 COVER STORY TAYLOR BLOXHAM © Ray Schram Ray © A 3.2 metre wide cutting table can take work from any of the three large format inkjet printers that Instore has.

… foot under their control. “Why should from 250,000 to 400,000 is what suits us,” investment, subject to understanding the they leave space for marketing collateral he says. And those that require the value that post GDPR landscape. We know we need to and then mail it out themselves when we Mailbox can impart through its own exper- make some choices about where we go next. can manage that on their behalf, and we can tise in postage rates, formats and so on. It is not our ambition to be in high volume; provide further insight to the client about He mentions a project for the Wood- there’s significant demand in that smaller where any piece of collateral is going,” he land Trust, the charity that Premier Paper arena to be providing a tailored solution says. supports. “I don’t think it would have been using investment and customer service. It’s “We accept that marketing budgets are successful without the team, the service and what we do well.” falling and that therefore digital will come expertise we could provide,” Lockwood This is a similar approach at Instore, the into play at some point. The challenge for us says. It was of course printed on paper display print brand in the group. It works is to find a unique approach that is consist- provided by Premier. with high street retailers and brands, but ent with their budget restrictions, which not necessarily the multiples or supermar- means coming up with a high quality solu- THE DIVISION HAS BEEN GROWING kets. “Instore provides both creative and tion across all our markets.” quickly, at a 20% year on year rate. “We manufacturing solutions for our clients. It is working for Fastant. The pressure believe there is still a market place for The approach tends to be creativity led; we on its space is growing to the point that direct mail, despite GDPR. We believe that will engage with clients on a creative brief having pushed both the display design and sophisticated clients understand that GDPR before considering manufacturing.” As a production arm and direct mailing out doesn’t affect printed communication with result the factory has samples of 3D engi- of its building, it has more than filled the customers and subscribers. And all the neered display stands for sports shoes or space remaining, spilling into other parts research says that written communication is health products, sectors where Instore has of Leicester. A move to larger premises in more sophisticated.” developed expertise. the same area is on the cards as soon as the That said, Taylor Bloxham is cautious company finds a suitable location. about the impact of the regulation on the eve A NINE-STRONG DESIGN TEAM feeds of its introduction. “We are seeing a bulge ideas to the prototyping department where THIS HAS ALREADY HAPPENED to in mailings as we approach the deadline, but a Kongsberg table cuts out the pieces to slot Mailbox, the group’s direct mail arm. Until there are also clients targeting campaigns together to create anything from a simple August last year it shared space with Instore post 25 May. FSDU to a postbox. Speed is of the essence: in the adjacent unit to Fastant. Direct mail “However, we are still in territory where the FSDU can be turned around the same was initially part of the Fastant service we can’t be absolutely certain how clients day, the postbox may take three days for start offering, gradually becoming a specialism will be reacting after GDPR is implemented. to finish. in itself according to Lockwood. “We have We have contacted the Direct Marketing Once accepted the project can be Euro- clients who come to us just for direct mail. Association to understand best practice and pean or even worldwide, Instore organising Mailbox has a dedicated sales force, dedi- we remain in communication with them on local production and installation as much cated production facility and has its own a regular basis.” as shipping the components as a kit to be identity which we needed to carry into the This uncertainty means that the company assembled on the spot. This entails dealing market. Mailbox says what it does.” has put on hold plans to upgrade its equip- with clients based overseas and flights to There is no ambition to be one of the ment: two continuous feed Xerox machines Germany or elsewhere in Europe to discuss biggest mailing houses. Its target is instead are reaching the end of their useful life a project. Back inside the factory, there is the next level down where service is as Lockwood says. a complete shop front to test out ideas for important as price led volumes. “Mailings “We are looking at the next phase of window displays on behalf of customers. …

24 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk

COVER STORY TAYLOR BLOXHAM

… And it has the production equipment ucts to our customers. We don’t want to journey, understanding what a brand needs to support a campaign where the order go into a sector where we are not providing to do to communicate to their custom- is placed on a Monday for delivery that real expertise and solutions that work for ers,” says Lockwood. For education and weekend. A Scitex 11000 is the flatbed brands,” he explains. membership organisations, the group sell workhorse supported by a Fuji Acuity Select The challenge Lockwood sought to take means addressing these issues through the HS flatbed and Acuity 3200R LED for film on when he became group CEO after Chris capabilities of each business. “It is not your and banner materials. The operation is Bowen stepped aside for personal reasons, traditional print solution,” he says. “It’s considering a one to a 5 metre machine to has been to smooth out the pendulum swings about how you demonstrate to the customer add a further 50% capacity to this aspect. A between profits and losses to follow. that you are adding value to their business 3.2 metre wide cutting table is fast enough to The four-prong approach should mean and not just engaged in a cost fight.” cope in the more frantic periods. that each can support each other, that “Instore is growing rapidly, and we can print, while delivering the greatest sales, THE GROUP APPROACH APPLIES to see it becoming responsible for almost 50% can operate with a lower margin and can the 210 staff that the company has across of what we do by the end of next year,” says invest in the technology needed to remain the four sites. Culturally they need to understand the challenges that the company faces and how their jobs are changing. At the print arm, the next project is implementation of a workflow management system that starts with a Tharstern and Switch solution to ensure a flow of print ready files, then to include planning and delivery of a file direct to the press. “It is an issue for staff, but they have to embrace it. Our people have relied for a long time on the skills of the individuals involved. Now they have to understand that if we follow the process, we will get the same result.

A nine-strong design “THIS WILL RELEASE PEOPLE to gain team feeds ideas to the new skills,” he says, adding: “We want to prototyping department. encourage staff to think in terms of the

© Ray Schram Ray © group – it would be very easy to become a silo type business, so we are trying to come Lockwood. “And until two months ago, all competitive in a market that is in gentle up with ways to avoid that. I have started a business was through word of mouth, based overall decline. CEO Blog as part of a way of thinking how on the designs and service we can deliver. The future though is not as bleak as we can communicate across the four sites. “Our guys try to get into the DNA of a it might have appeared a few years ago. “It’s about making that communication customer, it is not just quoting for a number Consumers have become swamped in digital current by using the technology instead of of pieces, not just a tick box approach. communications and are headed back to relying on quarterly staff meetings as we used We want to understand where the brand is print, understanding that they need to pay to. People want to know if we have won a coming from and what it needs to commu- for quality content. contract, or lost one, and which people have nicate to its customers. moved between the sites. We are not a big “This approach differentiates us from the THIS HAS KINDLED A RISE IN NICHE company, but we need to address it so that they production houses. We have a level of expe- magazine publishers with high design and understand that they are part of a group.” rience that means we can go in to a customer production values and in-depth content, It is a strategy for a forward looking print as experts, I believe we know more about the the sort that Lockwood himself would be centred business that is about using modern sports footwear market than anyone else in prepared to pay for. “People are getting technology to deliver communications to the UK.” around to the fact that they need to pay a customers with the right message, in the reasonable price for reasonable content and right form at the right time. A PROJECT WILL START FROM THE they like to see quality content,” he says. But Lockwood understands that print design concept leading to the mock ups and And there is a harnessing of the differ- can be more than this. That the physical finished units. If there is call for monitors, ent strands that the Taylor Bloxham Group format remains important, hence the failure touch sensitive panels and the like, Instore has into a group sales approach where of ebooks to wipe away printed books. can provide. It cannot yet provide the digital display graphics can work with direct mail His experience on holiday affirmed this. content. To this extent Taylor Bloxham and commercial print and fulfilment to There following the music trail from the remains in the physical world. deliver a useful service to companies offer- Deep South towards the north and in New And while there are no immediate plans ing subscription and membership models. Orleans, he says, he came across a thriving to bolt on a fifth digital marketing or content It has worked in this way in the education letterpress print business. brand to the four that comprise the group, sector where recruiting a next generation of “We have become so used to digital it is something that Lockwood admits students is vital. Sometimes a pull up banner communications that well presented print people ask about. “Our strength is that we is simply not adequate. can be something new, something that are trying to be experts and deliver prod- “We have expertise in the customer people value.” n

26 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk Printing has a new perspective. From all angles.

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Guillotinesmaynolongerbeatthecuttingedgeoffinishing technology as a growing number of options open up, but they retain the capability to become the factory’s biggest bottleneck. In today’s fast paced digital environment, ﬁ nish your digital or offset work with the full range EVERY PRINTER NEEDS ONE and every printer has one: not a digital or even a litho press – printers can survive without one or the other – but every printer needs a guillotine. But its purpose is so basic and with so few moving parts that a guillotine can endure for many years, outliving a number of presses. And because cutting is not considered a proﬁt centre, few printers understand how to measure the performance of this cutting device. Few want to invest in software,

 handling equipment or a new machine to increase productivity. So long as the guillotine meets the regulations in terms of health and safety, is serviced regularly and is reliable, it will last for many years. And many do. Perhaps the only time that the guillotine is noticed is when the operator, following the layout of the top printed sheet begins to cut the stack. And then realises that the top sheet has been knocked off and replaced in the wrong position. It is back to the press for a rapid reprint. More frequently though the guillotine is making itself known by becoming the bottleneck in the production process. As runs become shorter, as multiple jobs are ganged to a sheet, the pressure on the cutting process becomes greater.

THIS HAS LED MANY PRINTERS TO The pressure of reconsider how they ﬁnish print, driving work has meant the popularity of slitter/cutter/creasers that the for many for digital printing in the main, and with the guillotine the acceptance that printers need to offer a has become a greater range of products, to the develop- …  bottleneck. www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 29 FINISHING

an investment can make sense. It is not for the commercial printer, nor for short runs. Friedheim International which is UK distributor for both Wohlenberg and Schnei- der guillotines, will also supply the Basa systems from Baumann for the Wohlenbergs and a similar range of equipment, including a Roboload to move paper from a stack to the jogger and a sheet transport system to move the stark to the back table of the guillotine. The Polar equivalent is the Transomat, a series of components around the guillotine. When robotic handling is included the series of lifts, and joggers becomes the Pace system © Gareth Ward using gripper arms to load and turn the stack Robotic handling systems can behind the cutting blade. These can manage present a knocked up stack to the back table of a guillotine. deeper piles with no loss of quality than when manual handling is involved.

… ment of rotary die cutters that are simple Basa systems for Wohlenberg and Perfecta to operate and suited to short run operation. branded guillotines or the Polar Pace where Beyond the rotary die cutter comes the robot arms lift a pile of sheets from the flatbed platen with Kama and the lower end pallet, run it through rollers to remove air of the Heidelberg Easymatrix range pitched before loading the jogger for an even better as replacements to the ever popular Heidel- pile. The stack is carried to the back table of berg Cylinder. And there are the newer the guillotine and positioned for the first cut. technologies that commercial printers are The operator can then take over, though in considering: cutting tables using a knife or, some instances the robot arm can take over with increasing frequency, a laser. and rotate the stack for further trimming Each can remove work from the guil- work – on a pile of posters, for example. lotine and so relieving the bottleneck that Unsurprisingly few will ever want a many printers face, and can take on jobs system like this. But future generations that no guillotine can ever achieve, adding of robots coupled with artificial intelli- Loading tables would take away the task to the range of products the printer can gence programming, will make handling of lifting sheets from a pallet. deliver and adding value for customers in and cutting around a guillotine into a fully the cutting process. automated process. A cod demonstration Few will want this level of automation at Drupa 2012 had a robot taking a pallet even if the impact will be a reduction in the THE GUILLOTINE BOTTLENECK can from the end of a press and loading a guil- number of staff needed to run the guillo- be eased by the simple measure of keeping lotine. Nothing like this has been introduced tining department. As the appeal of heavy the knife blade in operation for a greater part commercially, though robot lifting gear is lifting in a factory begins to fade, robotics of the time in any shift. This is achieved by proving effective at a number of printers may become more attractive. switching from manual input of the cutting across Europe. However, stack lifts joggers and down lifts sequence to automated set up and by remov- “Printers can certainly improve the are in widespread us and are all appreciated ing the manual task of lifting stacks of paper productivity of a guillotine by adding by operators says Ian Trengrouse of Heidel- from one pallet, jogging and after cutting peripheral equipment, stack lifts, down lifts berg UK. “It’s not a massive investment. putting the finished piles on the pallet, to a and so on,” says Jason Seaber, technical sales You want to keep the guillotine running handling system. director of IFS. IFS is the UK distributor instead of waiting for 40% of the time. At its simplest this can be lifts either side for Perfecta and its handling system. This “We see the trend of more jobs being of the guillotine and a tray which shakes and includes the ability to divide the different arranged on a sheet which means generating jogs to remove air from the pile in order to jobs on a sheet to separate pallets, removing more cutting work for leaflets, point of sale leave a perfectly square solid block which is another post cutting step. products and more, especially from SRA2 easier to manoeuvre and means more accu- and B2 presses. Those using B1 machines rate cutting. CURRENTLY STATE OF THE ART, are putting sheets through folders and to It also means that productivity does not Seaber explains, is a dual configuration stitching lines. drop off towards the end of a shift by taking where a first guillotine is able to cut the “These B2 printers do not need the away the energy sapping effort of lifting and stack into strips and these strips are then full automation, but by the end of a shift moving as much as eight tonnes of paper an pushed under the cutting blade of a second handling 4 tonnes of paper an hour, an oper- hour. It is no surprise that a guillotine opera- guillotine positioned at right angles to the ator is not going to be as productive as at the tor will slow down markedly towards the end first. In a high volume environment where start of his stint. Handling systems simply of a shift, let alone increasing the propensity there is little product variation, producing take the stress away from the operator.” to make mistakes. wet glue applied labels for canned foods or Compucut for Polar and equivalent At its most advanced in the Baumann thousands of business cards a day say, such systems can store cutting programmes or

30 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk FINISHING

download these via JDF from a job ticket. A US company, Scissorhands, will deliver a programmed cutting sequence from an

imposition file loaded to its cloud based © Gareth Ward servers, so replicating this feature. In most cases coloured blocks are used to identify the different jobs on a stack with the top of range systems using low resolution images to give the operator no excuses for cutting errors. Even so as short runs increase the guillotine becomes more of a pressure point and many are inclined to ease this with a second machine. There are alternatives. The smaller multi finisher, comprising slitter, cutter, creaser and perhaps a folder or perforator, can equally remove stress Laser cutting is used on large format cuttting tables by from the finishing department. These have Blackman & White, proving popular with fabric printers been conceived as devices to automated because the laser does not pull the fabric as a blade might. the cutting of simple print items, assumed to have been printed digitally. Part of the initial appeal was that guillotining a stack Uchida and Morgana, his company settled model established by Morgana, the modular of digitally printed sheets could be fraught on a Duplo DC645, upgraded to DC646. approach of its products means that creaser with risk because of image shift. Cutting one Now North is directly involved in these and and slitter are combined with a cross cutter sheet at a time reduced this problem. their successors. There is a close integra- to produce a range of products. It will take The sheet is loaded, the image area iden- tion with HP Indigo’s SmartStream server a sheet to 1,020mm long, producing a six- tified by a camera and cross cutting and to automate set up of the finishing device. or eight-page brochure. “It makes handling slitting will deliver stacks of small leaflets, “The investment helped us earn a profit a long sheet a lot easier,” says marketing business cards or similar without imposing a from the smaller jobs,” he says. “Now manager Wendy Baker. short run straightforward job on to the guil- talking to customers at Duplo, their story lotine operator. is pretty much the same, a large number of THOSE REQUIRING A HIGHER volume low volume simple jobs ordered via web to can consider the Horizon SmartSlitter from FOR MANY PRINTERS THE MULTI print that tie up the guillotine had caused a IFS. While coming to the market behind finisher sits alongside the digital press to problem.” Duplo, Horizon has used the delay to create a production cell delivering finished The move towards shorter print runs and improve on the core design. Consequently products with minimum supervision. At loss of skills from the industry, particularly all areas of the machine are accessible and the other end of this scale a company like in finishing, exaggerates the problem as staff the slitting, creasing and cutting or perforat- Bluetree will connect a larger version, in this are not as well trained and must work across ing modules are removed by sliding cassettes case a Horizon SmartStacker, to perform the multiple machines. from the side of the machine, rather than same functions. Or it can connect a Rollem Duplo offers machines according to lifting out. unit as part of business card production cell production requirements. All are suited to For IFS technical sales director Seaber, linked to a Fuji Jetprress 720S. SRA3 digital printing, offering different the interest in this technology is increasing The most populous of these units are speeds, substrates, flexibility and function- as print becomes more and more digital. those from Duplo. When launched the DC ality and the option to run longer sheets. “People are more open to a different machines became an immediate success and The most sophisticated machine to date approach.” have been a major revenue generator for is the DC746 designed for more complex Another step up the productivity scale Duplo. applications including perforation and is the Rollem range of cutters. These were Alex North is head of digital marketing faster throughput. Both this and the DC646 initially developed to process playing cards at Duplo International. He says: “I used to are JDF compliant and will hook to the and this have round corner capability. With work for a digital printing company where HP server. All three models have a barcode the growth in popularity of automated we recognised there was a bottleneck in reader to down load the specification of a job inline production, Rollem is positioned finishing around the guillotine. and save makeready time. Manual set up is to take advantage processing B2 as well as “We had to cope with a lot of different via graphic interface to enable an unskilled smaller digitally printed sheets. jobs and sizes coming in but a lot were small operator to run the machine by following the quantities and directing them to the guillo- set up wizard. THE TOP OF THE SHOP, however, is the tine meant it would be tied up every day, and The company continues to work on new Swiss made Bograma machines, sold in the restricted our ability to hit tight deadlines. versions, responding to customer feedback. UK by Friedheim International. These are If the order was placed by 3pm through the While North is not revealing details, the sold as rotary die cutters, but with head and website we guaranteed delivery the next ability to create rounded corners is close to tail trim knives in place will slit and cut out morning. We needed to invest in a multi the top of customer requests. products at speeds and levels of accuracy finisher.” Morgana’s AutoCut machines are a that guillotines cannot match. With fold and After consideration of alternatives from strong rival to the Duplo products. In a stitch units in place, this becomes a unit …

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 31 FINISHING

… to deliver high volumes of small booklets corners or cut out elements, for example. says post press sales specialist Mitchell Ball. Just as there are growing number of alterna- The Bograma, he argues, is a viable alter- tives to the guillotine, there is an alternative native to a second guillotine. As well as the to the Heidelberg Cylinder for cutting and standard slitting and cross cutting, the BSR creating purposes. While these work horse models are rotary die cutters using magnetic machines are as in as much demand as ever, dies to create a value added finish for all there is growing interest in flatbed platen manner of promotional material, direct mail technology to offer a faster set up, more and business cards. automated piece of equipment. It will also crease, emboss and perforate The Kama platens were designed for running at 9,000sph 550mm across sheets just this purpose, taking the same fast and on the standard machine or 12,000sph on easy set up principles as the digital presses the servo version. The additional tools can the machines are designed to match. UK be purchased after installation of the base distributor is Friedheim International which machine. is arranging a trip for UK printers to the plant near Dresden to explore the possibili- ROTARY DIE CUTTING LIKE THIS is ties that are opened up. predicted to be the next investment trend for Roger Cartwright is in charge of the commercial printers. While the Bograma is converting equipment at Friedheim. “This at the top of the range, Horizon, Morgana is more than a replacement for the Cylinders Motioncutter has a dozen or so installa- and Duplo have less sophisticated and less or older platens. The Kama is a more effec- tions in the UK having designed a machine expensive machines. As well as creating cut tive solution for that level of cutting.” specifically for the printing industry. Trotec outs and producing innovative marketing The machine uses optical registration in contrast is less prescriptive about who material, these can be used to kiss cut labels, technology and quick changeover chases. buys its technology. Printers are among the to add textured effects and to cut out light- When hot foiling, only the die is heated users, however. Bryan Joter points to the weight cartons, so providing an entry to the rather than the bed. It means a faster switch five Trotec last cutters installed at stationery niche end of the packaging market. over between cut and crease operation and supplier Pogo Fandango. “We are getting a lot more interest in the foiling, says Cartwright, because there is no die cutter,” says Seaber. “Printers realise wait for the machine to cool down. LASER CUTTING IS ALSO SUITED that they can add a lot more value within a Most interest is coming from the carton to producing prototypes for carton design, standard type of product, enabling them to converters and others considering a move into using the laser to produce score lines as well be innovative and creative.” digitally printing of boxes. However, there is as the cuts on devices from A3 to 3.2x2.2 And while the dies are an investment, a strong case to be made for a commercial metre flatbed formats. The scorch marks they can be used for standard products, tent printer to make this type of investment. that laser cutting had been associated with cards for example, with changed content. “The major competition comes from laser are no longer necessary. Testing substrates The rotary die cutter will also an innovative cutting, but that still does not produce the combined with variable power on the laser touch to business cards, offering rounded same quality of cut as a knife,” he says. can result in a clean cut in every aspect. “Lots of users are cutting white papers and boards without a problem,” he says. “It Ruddocks lifts cutting productivity is very much an added value process. People are looking more and more for what they can RUDDOCKS DESIGN & PRINT the operator will be concentrating do differently, how they might add value to reckons it will achieve a 20% gain in on cutting, not having to knock up their production.” productivity when its 2001 vintage the stack first. It is going to make us An entry level unit will be a £10,000 (ageing) Polar 92 is replaced with more efficient.” investment. After that the sky is the limit. new Polar 92N Plus cutting system. The company has a spread of Like the multi finishers, Trotec uses a work from short runs to magazines The system aspect refers to the camera system to register to the printed up lift, jogging table and down lift that can reach 10,000 copies of image with a barcode reader to pick up the that will be part of the installation a 64pp publication. Sheets for and the Compucut software that will this need to be trimmed into four settings for the job. speed programming according to pages to view before feeding to the Laser cutting was a key trend at the last production director Ady Potter. Horizon StitchLiner. Drupa with a number of products and “Our pain point was becoming The company also has a Polar concepts on show. Many were linked to the guillotine,” he says. “Anything 66 to cope with digital work and a digital printing, an SEI systems from Italy we could do to speed the process up Morgana AeroCut preloaded with running with the HP Indigo; LasX and Polar was going to be good.” The Lincoln its standard business card formats cutting as a sheet passed beneath a laser printer had upgraded its printing which also takes pressure off the followed by a pick and place robot to lift and and stitching equipment and standard guillotining work. investment in the guillotine brings “Business at Ruddocks is buoyant. stack the items cut out. that into line with the rest of the Our design studio is rapidly growing It is doubtful that a laser will completely business. and bringing in print. We have a very replace a guillotine. Printers will still need “We are going to save time with loyal print customer base and this is the sharp blade for many years to come, but the handling equipment because constantly expanding,” says Potter. it seems there are now many more ways to cut the sheet. n

32 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk

DIGITAL PRESSES Digital printing breaks free from short run chains

DIGITAL PRINTING HAS ALWAYS been suited to short runs, not only because Thelatestgenerationofdigitalpresses of the cost and the limited format and speed compared to litho printing, but because too tacklestheproblemsofcolourconsistency of quality and consistency – or lack of it. thathavebeenafeatureofthetechnology One book printer always argued it was better to print covers on a litho press because –untilnow. doing the work on a digital press would mean that batch to batch colour variations on the shelf would be glaringly obvious. It is a problem that the technology providers have been working to solve, and one that they believe they now have under control.

THE ANSWER IN THE OLD DAYS was constant calibration, every day, at the start of a job and perhaps again in the afternoon: colour particles had a habit of dropping to the bottom of the toner during the day resulting in a difference job to job and between jobs printed one day and the next. Temperature and humidity have their effect on consistency too. With care it would be possible to deliver consistent quality, but care means time to set the machine, constantly checking sheets and to reset it when colour quality slips. In every day production such aspects simply get in the way of getting sheets on the floor.

34 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk DIGITAL PRESSES

The Ricoh Pro C9200 is aimed at commercial print and litho run lengths thanks to improved colour consistency. © Gareth Ward Gareth ©

As digital printing has improved, the all about producing short runs because the applied corrections, a further handful of finish has become more and more litho-like technology was not capable of longer runs, inaccurate sheets were already on their way. on a greater range of papers. This is perfect this rule no longer applies. In the Jetpress 720S, the colour device, for job of one products like photobooks, but To date the best examples of this have measuring a control strip, and the quality problematic if a job runs to several thou- been inkjet presses. Inkjet, lacking the array to check for streaks or other flaws, sand or a few hundred copies. If the job is fusing belt and imaging unit of electro- are positioned immediately after the inkjet a repeat, or one where production is spread photographic presses, ought to be a more heads. Any corrections can be implemented across different locations, additional care has consistent print process. And according to immediately. been needed. Consistency has been the glass Mark Stephenson, Fujifilm inkjet evange- ceiling of digital print. list, it is. The Fujifilm Jetpress 720S, he says, WHILE NOZZLE COMPENSATION is in “just works”. place, allowing an adjacent nozzle to replace A CALIBRATION ROUTINE AT the “It is very repeatable, which is one reason one that is blocked, the operators need to start of each day may not be too onerous, why Push Print has invested in one. We ran run a regular cleaning routine to ensure that but having to perform the same task several a packaging trial for a well known brand that nozzles are kept clear of lint or partial block- times a day will mean that the machine is asked us to print the same job over a number ages that will affect print quality. This may left to its own devices. This generally means of months and at different rimes of day. be needed every 1,000 sheets, the equivalent an inline spectrophotometer and quality When we measured the results there was a of a blanket wash on a litho press. assessment cameras or sensors to spot and delta E difference of 1-2. The colour gamut with just four colours is correct streaks, registration issues or other wider than the standard offset litho CMYK unwanted artefacts. “THEIR VERDICT? ‘THIS BEATS colour space. Hence Fujifilm prefers to Such technology has been restricted to the anything else digitally printed we have ever accept an RGB file to the DFE where it flagship machines, the Indigo from HP, the seen’,” he says. Likewise Push had deferred can be ripped to match the ISO 12647-2 iGen4 and iGen5 from Xerox or the Kodak an investment in digital until it could be sure colourspace, or run to make use of the addi- Nexpress and not worth the bother on less that output would remain consistent. tional gamut that is possible. It means that costly presses. It was not always the case for the Fuji the press will achieve a wide range of PMS Now the same kind of technology is presss. In the first version, the inspection colours. The predictability and consistency coming to the next generation of machines unit and inline spectrophotometer was posi- of colour is essential to manage this. from Konica Minolta, Xerox, Ricoh and tioned in the delivery. By the time a flawed Fujifilm holds the profiles of 150 Canon. Where once digital printing was sheet reached the array of sensors and commonly used papers within its profile…

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… library. With more unusual papers specified for a project, the user is likely to run a test or three to meet the client’s expectations. This profile can be locked into the system. For Stephenson, inkjet is the future. “As run lengths decrease people are looking at what the alternatives are to offset. Hence our main market is not the digital printer looking to improve what they already have, but offset printers,” he says. The inkjet technology means there is no need to run up to colour, nor to achieve an ink water balance. There are no waste sheets. With shorter runs and designers specifying expensive sheets with the feel and colour that their project needs, the absence of waste can become a crucial factor. Kodak Nexfinity includes systems THIS WAS VITAL FOR A COMPANY like to ensure colour Push, Stephenson explains. “When we did consistency over the sums, the ROI was obvious,” he says. much longer runs. The HP Indigo has been the acme of digital print quality for many years, unchal- lenged as the closest match to the look, feel profile machine before rolling it out to other A series of control patches printed on the and quality of offset printing. While the platforms. belt between sheets is measured as a first gap to rivals is diminishing fast, HP can still HP’s interest in labels and packaging level of colour control. An inline spectro- deliver a consistency that allows it to be used where precise colour control is essential has photometer feeds back to the imaging head in distributed print networks. Gemalto, for unquestionably rubbed off on the commer- to control the data flow to each of the diodes. example, is distributed print management cial presses, helping improve consistency Kodak has also introduced a new screening business that sends the same artwork to be of the output across the times that a job is system, allowing differential screens in the printed on a network of HP Indigos close to reprinted. same page, which creates a hard dot screen the point of consumption, for a network of and very consistent tints at an equivalent of car dealerships, for example. THE QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEMS 175lpi litho printing. It will also print on Members of the network are assessed for on the latest Kodak Nexpress, the Nexfin- almost all standard litho papers, matching quality before signing up and are expected ity, are equally impressive. At heart is a new the reflectance value of the paper and print to run a calibration check at the start of each UK designed imaging head operating at through profiling the paper to be used. day. The accuracy of this will determine the 1200x1200dpi. This is also capable of deliv- types of job that are directed to the print ering 256 exposure levels, through micro THIS COMES UNDER THE Substrate service provider. adjustments to the writing head, in turn Assistant feature which will match fusing changing the amount of toner transferred to temperature and pressure to control the COLOUR MANAGEMENT IS BUILT the imaging belt. adhesion of toner to paper on both sides around media fingerprinting. A colour patch The Nexfinity was announced two years of the sheet, which can be a standard offset is run on each media type and the results ago at Drupa having been in development for paper. measured, analysed and adjusted to produce two years before that says Brad Krutchen, The Intelligent Calibration System used an ICC profile. Once achieved this becomes as head of the print services division before maintains colour consistency over time the media fingerprint for that paper and the the recent announcement of his retirement. during an extended run, while Technotrans DFE creates a match to the chosen colour “We don’t expect it to replace the existing technology maintains conditions inside the target, usually ISO, Fogra or similar. Nexpress. This is for companies that have a press at 33% relative humidity and at a The press has an onboard spectrophotom- larger number of jobs and a need for a lower constant 75ºF. Positive pressure inside the eter and with the latest Indigo 12000 HD a cost per page,” he says. press pushes any dust to the outside. This new imaging head able to address 1600 allows any Nexpress to be used outside a points per inch. This leads to the equivalent AND IN ADDITION, THE NEXFINITY controlled environment, Nexfinity included. of 300lpi in litho terms says HP. has the ability to handle a greater range of The press will handle a sheet to 1,260mm The extra resolution will be noticeable in substrates, can work with a choice of ten and will duplex a sheet that is 780mm long. subtle graduated tints, flesh tones and skies extra toners in the fifth print station and “In offset printing , the B2 format overcomes where the step between one pixel and the can switch the sequence of these colours so some of the limitations of the process. In next is smoothed out and so less noticeable that CMYK can print over white. Crucial, digital we do not need to print wider to to the viewer. however, to the aim of taking on more of be more productive,” says Krutchen. The To date this is available only on the flag- the pages that have been printed on litho length can give six- or eight-page folds, as ship press, though HP Indigo will generally presses, is the ability to print at higher well as banners. introduce any new technology on its highest quality and with improved consistency. The comparison with the offset world …

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 37 DIGITAL PRESSES

HP Indigo has © Gareth Ward Gareth © added a high definition imaging option to the Indigo 12000.

… is key because this is the target for the reputation for quality and has been used to A final sheet is a reference sheet with press. It is about removing the need for substitute more expensive top end digital crops and text to show what deviations have printing plates (Kodak’s included) and print options. been reported. This is stored as the media providing extra flexibility to a company with It has now make the same change with profile for that paper and is recalled for auto- a single litho press. the higher speed machine, the Pro C9200 matic use when the same substrate is used on “We can address more total pages in the replacing the Pro C9100, addressing issues a subsequent occasion. market,” he says. The 152ppm output speed that perhaps limited the take up and applica- The integrity of the content printed is is matched by a lower cost per page thanks tion of the previous generation press. monitored against the raster file held in the to a 30% gain in the productive life of the controller. This will spot and flag up arte- Operator Replaceable Components. THIS HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED, facts introduced during the printing process, a few weeks only after the Pro C7200, the automatically rejecting sheets that come THE COLOUR PIGMENTS REMAIN press with the option of a fifth print unit for short of perfect. the 6 micron size used previously with ten value added neon yellow, neon pink, white, options to cover additional colours, gold clear toner and now an invisible toner that COLOUR IS MEASURED AT THE start and now silver metallic effects, security, responds to infra red light. of each day to calibrate the press using pearlescent, tactile and varnish effects. The Both share the use of a new toner, a test sheet read by an ES2000 handheld Nexfinity has been designed to enable a swift increased media versatility (though perhaps spectrophotometer into the EFI Fiery Rip. switch between these, using a cart to hold not as much as some might like in the less This creates the reference for that day’s the toner unit being removed while the next productive machine), and features developed production. Settings for each job are then unit slides into place. to improve colour quality and consistency on adjusted according to the media profile for Ricoh also offers a switchable fifth colour longer runs or for repeat jobs. that substrate, and consistency is deliv- unit and the option of printing white ahead ered through an inline spectrophotometer of CMYK or to place white in the fifth THE VCSEL IMAGING HEAD is the feeding back adjustments to the imaging position, but not on its most productive same, offering 2400x4800dpi imaging, unit on the fly in the Dynamic Shading press. This comes with the new Pro C7200, while the real improvement is with the Correction feature. a successor to the Pro C7100 that made a quality control unit. For registration, each This also allows a job to be split across press uses six sensors aimed multiple machines in the same location at printed points on the edge according to Ricoh, perhaps to machines in of the sheet. different locations though Ricoh is not yet By measuring the reverse talking about this. relative to the front positions the unit can correct THE IDEA IS TO MAXIMISE produc- for alignment, back to tivity through minimising operator front registration and skew. intervention. For the Pro C9200 this is about The Fujifilm This takes 30 sheets, ten to swallowing longer run jobs that might other- Jetpress align the front, ten to align wise go to litho. It is rated to run at 135ppm 720S has the the second side and ten to on paper to 450gsm. inspection deliver a precise back to There has ben a change to sheet align- array after front match. ment, from measuring along the front edge the inkjet heads. 38 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk DIGITAL PRESSES

as previously to adopting a side lay style unit, which is more effective on the longer Six colours good, long life better sheets the press can handle, and will control of the six-colour offers 1024 grey levels and demands both sides to a maximum of 700mm. XEROX’SLAUNCH Iridesse digital press seems to head vast consumption of data and a “People want stable colour, greater media in a different direction, stressing the suitable DFE to generate this. versatility and reduced cost of ownership added value possibilities of digital The DFE is the EX-P 6 Fiery from and to run longer runs,” says a spkesman for embellishment via metallics, white EFI, developed for Xerox’s particular Ricoh. The Pro C9200 is the press it hopes and varnish rather than colour requirements. Media management, will deliver this. accuracy and quality. and other critical set up tasks are swift However, the headline grabbing and consistent. The press includes THE SAME SORTS OF AUTOMATION features perhaps overshadow automatic registration control and of colour are available in the Konica Minolta capability towards longer runs and front to back alignment, density printers fitted with its IQ 501 quality device. colour control. The imaging drum control, tone curve adjustment, This is built around a completely new has a new coating designed image transfer approach, using Konica Minolta’s expertise to extend its useful life by in colour measurement and sensors as well as 50% while the imaging its knowledge of toners and printing. belt will give twice the It is built around the Lab colour space expected life of previous sitting between the RGB world of moni- belt technology. tors and spectrophotometric devices and the printing world of CMYK and density. A spectrophotometer will provide a highly accurate Lab colour value, but is relatively slow, while CCD array is faster buy only measures RGB values. Translation of RGB into Lab is problematic monitoring and because the relationship between colour calibration in one full different colours measured this way width array and an optional sheet curl is not constant, so beyond a simple The correction through a second array. algorithm. CMYK stations use a Front to back registration uses The conventional way around this is new Ultra HD fine 4.7 micron a reference chart which is printed measurement of colour patches to build particle sized toner. This improves and then scanned to compare with profiles to create look up tables to under- the controllability of four-colour the base data held in the press. stand how scanned information needs to printing, the combination of particle A correction value is applied to be treated: the more patches that are meas- size, screening and imaging resulting the profile of the paper so that ured, the greater the accuracy, but the more in finer lines, smoother gradients compensation for stretch or patches that are measured, the slower the and flesh tones for quality and shrinkage of the paper is applied to process. the inclusion of inline sensors and the job file. automated adjustment for control Likewise measurement and PAPER AND THE WAY THAT LIGHT consistency analysis of test charts feeds into reflects from its surface into the sensor Imaging is at a resolution of automatic adjustment of density and heads will affect the information read. The 1200x1200dpi using a 2400x2400 colour curves to become part of the Konica Minolta IQ501 is an approach which dpi VCSEL laser. A 10 bit colour depth media profile of the machine. combines a scanner with spectrophotometer and with a new test chart with colour patches arranged int a different way. It uses not noticeable by human eye. In Japan the and predictable colour is key, whether for technology from the Japanese company’s company ran 10,000 sheets with a delta E of marketing material or for packaging. sensors and measurement division as well as 0.4. As well as colour, the IQ-501 will also It is a requirement that lies at the heart its printing operations. control register. of Landa’s thinking since the outset. By It has been released in the C3080 and This colour accuracy is within the consist- using an intermediate image carrying belt, will appear in all Konica Minolta machines ency of the KM-1 inkjet press, which like it overcomes the problems of maintaining in future. First the company worked with the Fujifilm Jetpress 720S can claim to be consistency across different papers. one of Japan’s largest printers to validate offering both colour consistency and a wider With as many sensors to check colour that this approach would work. After a few colour gamut. as there are inkjet heads, the closed loop tweaks to improve usability, it has been The company has acquired insights from system will bring automated quality released to the market. the Konica Minolta Marketing Services control to the press, and take a step Konica Minolta introduced it with a operation, built around the former Charter- towards guaranteed output quality and demonstration where 20,000 sheets of the house print management business. lights out operation. same job are piled in numbered sequence This has provided feedback about what At that point, digital printing will be the and customers asked to assess any sheet its customers, the marketing departments most controllable, highest quality and auto- against any other. The delta E difference is of world-wide brands require. Consistent mated print technology available. n

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 39 PROFILE PIAZZA Great plans going down at the piazza

HPishopingthatPiazzawillhelpbookandjournalpublishersadopt digitalworkflows,butthisisonlythestartofitsambitionsfor automatingthispartoftheprocess.

HP’S PIAZZA PLATFORM HAS THE switch production to digital. Some is down to tunity may lie with creating customised potential to do for print management concerns about quality and cost, because the books for educational courses. Universities what Amazon has done for retailing. Like unit cost of a book of one is more than the are already produced tailored prospectuses Amazon, the first application for Piazza same book when it is one of 10,000. Some is customised to the courses that a prospec- is about books. For Amazon founder Jeff down to the complexity of the production tive student might wish to study. It is only Bezos, the book was a relatively straight- chain and the diversity of formats, styles and a short step to customising course materials forward product that was ideal to start the presentation that a book may have. once the student arrives on campus, subject online retail revolution. However, Wiesner points to the growing to issues around rights issues. For HP, that same online revolution has pressures on publishers, not least that their The technology underpinning Piazza will put pressure on publishers to manage their profit margins have not grown with the rise enable a publisher to hook up with print costs and adopt a ‘sell then print’ model of digital. There is still excess production service providers around the world. The rather than a ‘print and hope to sell’ business and waste in the system. The carbon foot- printers will need to run SiteFlow, one of model. This has resulted in Piazza. print contribution to greenhouse gases is the elements of the PrintOS Cloud workflow But just as Amazon’s ambitions extended considerable and with 40% of books printed environment, but there is no requirement to beyond books, so HP is automating the destined to be pulped, the existing structure run an HP press. In theory the file might be management of print across multiple loca- is not sustainable. directed to a platesetter for litho printing. tions and processes while controlling brand “We are reinventing printing in the publish- image and output quality and curbing costs. AND “ACCORDING TO A SURVEY ing market,” says Wiener. Precisely what print management sets out of publishers, 94% of people believe that The publisher will prepare print ready, to do. digital printing will transform book print- JDF enabled, PDFs and store these in a Piazza is built around a cloud platform, ing, but less than 44% have a strategy in content repository in the cloud. In response using Amazon Web Services for both secu- place to make that happen” he says. Despite to orders placed through a website, business rity and scaleability. It is pitched at book this, digitally printed book growth is 4%, management system or other means, the file publishers and will drive volumes of print double that of printed books in general. is extracted, combined with other orders ready files towards book printers, ideally There is also a huge problem of coun- and directed to the appropriate printer. using HP’s print technology, Indigo or terfeiting, particularly of text books, There is no need for the publisher to raise PageWide T series machines. representing lost revenue for publishers, purchase orders, to create the print ready These inkjet presses are already responsi- which he explains Piazza will help tackle. file suited to that press or for any interven- ble for more digitally printed books than any “The fastest growing market for books is tion on the publisher’s part. The software other digital press says PageWide vice presi- India,” he says. “Across the globe there are a will apply any profiles for paper held by the dent and general manager Eric Wiesner. lot of supply chain inefficiencies and as print printer, for any changes to cover artwork, “Our presses print 75% of the world’s on demand is proving, people are willing to apply the correct ISBN numbers, permis- inkjet printed books, that’s about 40% of all pay for speed.” sions and imprints for that country, and digitally printed books,” he says. “But that He mentions the opportunity from create a run file that can combine several is only 4% of the world’s printed books.” exploiting the long tail effect of keeping books in imposed sequence if running an There is huge scope to grow this market books in print and that from producing tie ins HP press. share, though publishers have been slow to with events, though a more lucrative oppor- “It is a set of tools for the publishing

40 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk PIAZZA PROFILE

Piazza is pitched at book publishers and will drive volumes of print ready files towards book printers.

market,” says HP’s publishing innovation file according to identifiers in the job. The One publisher had accumulated 200 manager Michell Weir. “That starts with printed reel will in most cases be fed into the different trim sizes for different titles. This the content that they own and manage. It finishing line, though inline operation is also has now been reduced to 12 formats. gives them the ability to take that content possible. Piazza will also manage inventory that and the ability to automate that through to It is not the only inventory management is held by the printer on the publisher’s delivery becomes really important, using a solution out there, but with HP’s backing behalf, say a minimum stock level of set of interlinked cloud based services. can be the most extensively used. Others ten units, feeding back this data into the “It is an inventory management solution have been created by printers and have been publisher. And that publisher need not be a that enables book of one production. The designed to manage production through book publisher, it can be a publisher of any printer should never have to touch the file. their particular operation, with regard to printed product. “What if I am a global publisher that production equipment and storage of files wants to print with 15 printers, everybody on a local server. “THERE IS A ROAD MAP for Piazza,” has a different FTP site, while some work Piazza is on a bigger scale, free from the says Nancy Janes, global head of brand with email. There is no global standard constraints of production equipment and innovation at HP. This will extend the capa- methodology for delivering a file, so files developed to be used by publishers rather bility into other areas where the brand holds are stored all over the place and for many than to suit the direct needs of printer and controls assets that can be printed in publishers half the challenge is getting the providers. different locations around the world. A case files back from the printers to corral them Thus Piazza is able to manage rights in point might be a brand with packaging into a single place where we know that the for different distribution points, accord- that is essentially the same, but tweaked for file is ready. ing to whether content is licensed for any different markets. HP has its eyes firmly on “This is not a content management solu- particular country and to change format or the transformation of printed packaging tion, it’s a set of tools that lets a publisher specification to suit different markets. from labels to corrugated packaging. do something with the files that makes sense However, it is not a free for all. Some Corrugated is a nascent sector, says to them.” standardisation of formats is necessary to Wiesner, with less than 1% by volume fit with the automated book of one produc- printed digitally currently while label PRIOR TO STARTING ON THIS devel- tion process. This caused concern among printing is well down the road with HP as opment with HP Weir had been responsible the different managers at the publisher the largest supplier of digital presses to for the development of Xerox’s Freeflow concerned that their book would lose shelf label printers. The opportunity is there to workflow, winning the Xerox President’s impact. Until it was pointed out that these improve and remove waste, either physical Award in 1997 for her work on digital work- books will never reach a booksellers shelf, or time, from the supply chains. This can be flows for book production. being ordered through the internet. “There a bigger benefit to the brand than the print The file is received at the print end via an was a lot of discussion around standardisa- production element. API and loaded into the production schedule tion,” says Weir. “We had to explain exactly For the moment this is about another level with the job order raised equally automati- how a digital press works and this switch of complexity. HP will need to get Piazza cally, to generate the required number of means that books will never be out of print established with the book publishers. Just copies. Adjustments for different formats and that the books are sold before they are as Amazon started with books. Look what and sizes of each book are made on the manufactured.” happened then. n

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 41 BECOME A HIGH CLIMBER The market leading MIS solution that will take your business to new heights.

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An MIS partner that will help you beat the competition and lead the way. DIGITAL WORKFLOW Hands off the digital press

Theworkflowfordigitalprintingisincreasinglyaboutenablingthe presstorunwithminimalornooperatorintervention,heading towardsremoteprintingandlightsoutoperation.

DIGITAL PRINTING IS IDEAL FOR automation: short runs, perhaps with personalised elements, relative small formats and limited paper options all add up to a relative simplicity compared to the range of options available in offset litho print. With a workﬂow that can take orders from a website and direct these to a printing press and beyond, a printer can make low value jobs proﬁtable and eliminate the complexity of handling jobs one at a time. The sheer number of jobs that need to be processed requires automation, let alone that if a multi-page document, it will emerge from the press in collated order.

THERE IS ALSO THE FACT THAT the presses are today highly automated, The workflow should eliminate designed to run with minimal or no inter- the problems of colour matching vention and by staff without a deep seated across the devices and materials background in the industry. so that the printer can satisfy Most prepress workflows will deliver print what the client wants. ready PDFs to the digital front end (DFE) on the press, often developed by EFI to suit by the operators or returned to the client function, developed initially for its web that particular machine. In most instances for correction according to the policy of the presses, can help further improve efficien- there will be two versions of the Fiery DFE printer. Sending a file back may cause fric- cies. It will identify jobs in the print queue available for each press type, one for mostly tion and will certainly result in delays and and group them together. This is in the main static jobs, one with additional processing changes to a tight job schedule. It may be to bring jobs that use the same substrate power, to handle variable data jobs. easier to add crop marks, adjust line thick- through in sequence to avoid the need to Since last year, EFI has also been respon- ness and make good what should have been keep changing reels on the continuous feed sible for the Xerox Freeflow Core workflow picked up by the customer. inkjet press, but may also affect inline finish- developed over the years for its portfolio ing equipment. of presses. Ricoh offers TotalFlow, Canon HANDLED CORRECTLY THIS results in It aims to avoid unnecessary manual PrismaSync, HP PrintOS, Konica Minolta a relieved client and a stronger relationship, interventions, creating more time to run Conductor and so on. Each is designed to and education to make sure the problem does additional jobs. Once printed, the workflow run a press in as trouble-free way as possible. not recur. Alternately the client, himself put will raise the invoice so taking away another When four-colour SRA3 printing was the upon, has to restart the job, miss his deadline manual step and speeding the process of only option, this was not a problem. Now and vows never to work with that print busi- collecting money. In a small business where the workflow has to cope with a wider choice ness ever again. Handled correctly the job invoicing is in the hands of a senior manager of substrates, additional colours, and banner can be on press with no waste of time, reach or salesman, the feature will free that length printing. the customer on time and be invoiced almost member of staff to engage in more sales. The workflow will automatically pick up immediately. “If you are preparing files, you are not on files that include problems to be sorted With Ricoh’s TotalFlow the BatchBuilder talking to customers. The technology …

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 43 WORKFLOW DIGITAL

With Ricoh’s TotalFlow the BatchBuilder function, developed initially for its web presses, can help further and to locate production settings is similar improve efficiencies. to SiteFlow, the single copy digital print workﬂow developed by Precision Colour’s OneFlow subsidiary and now available as part of HP’s PrintOS suite of workﬂow tools. The barcode printed on the top sheet of a job will be scanned to either automatically load the settings of a job or to call them to screen for an operator to key in.

ONCE FINISHED, THE JOB IS scanned again to report that it is on its way to the next step in the production process. if the job is finished, its location for dispatch is equally important. If a parcel comprises multiple items, each is only released to the mail when all elements of the individual order are present. Other web online print businesses have built similar workflows: orders need to be tracked, linked to the customer and delivery knows how much the job has cost to produce Prinergy 8.2 is completely seamless. The address and should be batched by delivery so can quickly generate a new quote and it operator does not need to understand how date, format, and so on. At Bluetree Enfocus can track jobs through the process. It’s about to impose a job for digital printing, does not Switch is used to pull much of this together. returning time and bringing efficiencies to need to understand colour management and Canon’s Prisma workflow was developed the customer. which profiles are to be used. This is all part for its Océ web presses, being extended to “It takes the manual touch points out that of the automation. run cutsheet mono, colour and the i300 slow down production and while it’s easy to inkjet press. It is deigned for ease of use, process 10 or 50 jobs a day, the same is not UNSURPRISINGLY HEIDELBERG has automating many job specific set up tasks true of 100 or more jobs a day.” done this between its litho presses and the to keep the print engine running as much Enfocus Switch is frequently the tool of Versafire digital machines. A job can be as possible. Canon reckons that its multi choice to link and automate different work- directed to where production is either most job scheduler will cope with eight hours of flow steps, connecting prepress workflows to cost effective or most timely, assuming that production, using warning alerts to enable online order taking systems and delivering quality is equally seamless. TotalFlow has intervention to prevent stop pages. files to a press. been able to link to Heidelberg’s Prinect As part of this operators can make last workflow and also to Agfa’s Apogee. It does minute corrections rather than return the RICOH HAS ITS OWN VERSION, Ricoh not integrate with Fuji’s XMF. job to its creator for amendments which Process Director, intended to bridge the gap Konica Minolta’s Conductor workflow might delay production and delivery. between applications that a company has is designed as the means to run a produc- and to provide a single audit trail for every tion floor with more than one machine, not THERE IS NO FULL CROSS PROCESS jobs, connecting the equipment and tech- necessarily from its Accurio Press range workflow despite Canon having cut sheet, nology that is already in place. of toner and inkjet machines. The work- continuous feed and large format printing. When consulting on a job and building flow will direct jobs to the best printers for The large format inkjet machines will use a tailored workflow for a printer and his each job, based on the characteristics of the an Onyx Rip with files delivered from the unique mix of jobs and customers, Process printer and the requirements of the job. Prism Direct workflow. This will balance Director will save development time and There are tools to prioritise by delivery date, output across the different devices. allow a workflow to be created around the to batch jobs by substrate and connectivity At the Sign & Display exhibition at the most appropriate applications. through JDF/JMF to MIS. NEC, the company put together a possible It leads into greater understanding of campaign for Elemental, a fictitious beauty cost per item and per job, which in turn can THE WORKFLOW WILL GENERATE a product, with colour managed across a be used to apply business logic across the barcode to print on a job to enable job track- carton, marketing brochures and leaflets different methods of production, in the case ing and identification on reaching the next produced on a cut sheet machine, though of Ricoh being the different cut sheet print step in the production process. It will use to Adshel posters, FSDU and point of sale engines and its CF inkjet presses, perhaps JMF to report a job’s production status back printed on one of its large format printers. splitting a job between the technologies, to the MIS. The less human intervention The workflow should eliminate the prob- a cover or colour section to he cut sheet there is, the higher the possible productiv- lems of colour matching across the devices machine and body of a book to the CF press. ity,” says CL. A large job can be split across and materials so that the printer can satisfy Full integration of the digital workflow a number of printers to reduce overall what the client wants. For the most part and conventional prepress workflow using a production time; mono jobs will be sent in customers do not consider the difficulties in JDF implementation is also coming and is in most instances to the mono press rather than using the technology to be relevant. A digital place to varying degrees for the key work- print mono on a colour press. print workflow should ensure that this is flows. Integration between TotalFlow and The use of barcodes to identify a job indeed the case. n

44 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk XJDF WORKFLOW XJDF POINTS TO PLUG AND PLAY AUTOMATION

JDFremainsthekeyindustrytooltoconnectprepresstopressand finishing,butitsoriginaldeveloperscouldscarcelyconceiveofdigital printing,letalonewebtoprint,largeformatgraphics,packaging.XJDF maybecometheanswer.

CIP4 HAS PUBLISHED THE specification do not require that much data to execute their formats that while highly flexible, allowed too for a new communication protocol, XJDF, activities and return status information.” much freedom to developers to create their which it says will enable faster, cheaper and The XJDF format in contrast only deliv- own versions within the standard. Some tasks, more versatile process automation than the ers the data needed for the next production making changes to the original job ticket, original JDF standard. step. This will immediately make it easier became cumbersome and troublesome. This will continue to be developed alongside to implement changes to the job, increasing XJDF aims to tackle this. It imposes a the new version, but once implementations of or decreasing numbers printed, adding or standard way to describe each step of a job. JDF get underway the expectation is that this removing pages, adding varnishes or chang- It enables changes to numbers and specifica- will quickly become the choice for compa- ing a specification. tions to a job in progress because only the next nies starting out on an automation journey. step of the progress is described in detail and However not every piece of equipment and THE SUPPORT FOR XML EDITING the use of more established XML formats will software will support XJDF at the outset, so tools brings JDF closer to the open stand- make it easier to connect outside applications the existing JDF format will continue to be ards world which was not possible at the to the print workflow, say electronic ordering, developed. birth of JDF when XML was also in its rela- delivery companies and web to print. Version 1.6 has recently been launched with tive infancy. This support will allow home the intention of supporting a parallel develop- grown implementations of XJDF and much CONSEQUENTLY, XJDF WILL ALSO ment path with the upcoming protocol. A key simpler interfaces between equipment. have appeal to online printers and those element in V1.6 is the plan to build a matrix The development has been welcomed by managing multiple jobs on a sheet. JDF was of existing integrations so that engineers can MIS suppliers. “We get all the benefits that never designed to cope with this, leading avoid reinventing the wheel by repeating the XJDF offers from a technical perspective to messy work arounds for those wishing pairing of different products. For the printer which makes it quicker and easier for us to to stay in a JDF environment. XJDF in this promises a faster, and perhaps less expen- support,” says Tharstern managing direc- contrast will permit dynamic changes, open sive, implementation. tor Keith McMurtrie. “This in turn benefits the way to plug and play interfaces, reducing our customers with more robust interfaces confusion and making the implementation THE ATTENTION HOWEVER, MUST and predictable behaviour between different much faster. be on XJDF. Cip4, the organisation that products.” This is ably demonstrated in the published controls both versions of print’s automation The hope is that the more straightforward specification. The volume containing the full standard, says the new version is “designed approach will change perceptions of JDF and JDF specification runs to more than 1,000 to simplify workflow automation by making open it to a new audience. According to Prosi pages. That for the XJDF amounts to 440pp. it both easier to implement and far easier to JDF has been associated with complexity, an The specifications will not be exclusive: a JDF validate using standard XML tools.” academic approach, lengthy implementations workflow will connect to XJDF and visa versa. It does this by focusing on a ‘need to know’ and so only for larger companies. But the new version points the way principle. In conventional JDF, the entire This is a result of its origins at the end of towards an automated future. Prosi says: workflow needed to be defined in the job the last century. Cip3 existed as a means to “XJDF offers an ideal means of facilitating ticket. This has made it difficult to cope with pass set up data, from prepress to a press with communication among web to print, MIS, changes, led to inconsistency in describing a digital colour profile to start to automate production and other systems to simplify the same terms and meant that comprehen- press set up, and from the press to a guillotine workflow automation.” sive implementations can be drawn out and or folder. The big change was to build onto Cip4 members have now got the task of complex. this the ability to feed data from an MIS and to implementing the new protocol. Some will Rainer Prosi, Heidelberg’s Cip4 senior send messages back to the MIS using the Job do so quickly. Others will wait and see what software architect who is technical officer for Messaging Format. printers require. In any case, XJDF will not be Cip4, says that this approach “provides too When it was drawn up, the world was widespread until perhaps, Drupa in two years. much information for devices such as printing dominated by litho printing and it was for When it arrives, printers need no longer fear presses, platesetters to finishing devices that litho printers. The developers also settled on the cost or complexity of automation. n

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 45 The plate you’ve been waiting for

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Let’s take print further. Together.

Bell & Bain has been undergoing a transformation from producing traditional books in a traditional way into the UK’s leading producer of colour books and now into digital printing. And chairman Tony Campbell has walked every step of the journey.

TONY CAMPBELL BEGAN HIS career in investment, a Ricoh VC60000 linked to a print 33 years ago in the production office Horizon SmartBinder finishing line. This writing out job dockets. He plans to bring is far from a one off investment in digital the career to a close later this year as chair- printing. Bell & Bain started in digital with a man of Bell & Bain, one of the UK’s largest Delphax, moved on to Canon, then became book printers. the first with the Fuji 540W colour inkjet When he started, book printing was a press and now has the latest generation major force in the UK, but companies like inkjet press with the Ricoh. “It is definitely Purnell & Sons, Cox & Wyman, and from better than the Fuji for us,” says Campbell. Scotland William Collins have all vanished along with many other once renowned “PUTTING IN A NEW MACHINE is businesses. Bell & Bain, however, remains never easy. There are always issues that need thanks to a dogged commitment to quality, to be sorted. With digital it is usually about service and in more recent years to continual the software.” investment. The press has taken a long time to settle in And as Campbell moved quickly to the because of the software and the files that the sales office, becoming sales manager and Glasgow printer has to deal with. These are then sales director, he has been crucial to on the large side, often the very large side. meeting the changing needs of the customer This is because most are academic journals, base. a collection of different papers interspersed with illustrations, graphics and diagrams. BELL & BAIN STAGED A manage- Each will have been produced by a differ- ment buyout in 2009, which has triggered ent author with little or no idea how his or a cascade of investment. It installed a first her research will end up on a printed page. high speed MBO folding machine in 2011 A single publication can have 20 or more and the spending has not stopped since. It papers and authors. means that the main factory has two large format KBA Rapidas, both eight-colour AS A RESULT EACH WILL BE perfectors, in addition to a large format four- constructed differently and attempts to Tony Campbell colour KBA; there is a B2 format KBA for reduce the file size may end up compro- began in the covers along with a ten-colour Heidelberg mising the information that the paper is production SM52. In the bindery the company now runs intending to convey. And nobody at the office, moved two high speed Muller Martini lines and on a printer will realise. to sales and is separate site, a Diamant casing line. This means that Bell & Bain needs to now chairman The separate site also houses its digital accept the files as they come from the … of Bell & Bain.

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 47 © Gareth Ward PROFILE BELL & BAIN

… publisher in Illustrator, Corel Draw, and to China. Bell & Bain is not competing for bell reckons, has lowered the cost base for whatever other format the authors have these sorts of volumes, but it is serious about Bell & Bain and brought in the full range used. That makes the software challenge so colour books. of publishers. “Our pricing is not far out complex. This culminated at the end of last year compared to the Europeans and we have In comparison the printing is straightfor- with production of the surprise Christmas won new business because of that,” he says. ward and the print quality from the Ricoh best seller, Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight for “There has been a big rise in the number of investment has delighted even managing Good cook book. “We do a few cook books,” people interested in books and publishers director Stephen Doherty. “I have been says Campbell. None before has had the are doing all sorts of things to help.” really impressed with the print quality,” he impact of the Tom Kerridge. In the run up says. “And also with Ricoh. It’s nice to deal to Christmas the company had produced CONSEQUENTLY BELL & BAIN FINDS with a company that do not dominate the 150,000 copies, but the reprint orders kept itself producing a whole range of different market, so are trying to get the quality right coming. titles, from the high profile cook books to and production at a reasonable price. The In January, publisher Bloomsbury children’s titles for the likes of Harper print quality is wonderful.” reported sales of 70,000 units in one week, Collins, Pearsons, Scholastic as well as making it the highest ever sale for a single Bloomsbury. And as well as the television BUT WHILE DIGITAL IS A signifi- title in that month, surpassing even the same chef, Bell & Bain last year has a top seller cant investment and is growing, it remains publisher’s Harry Potter titles. with the book tie in for the second Padding- responsible for less than 10% of the turno- The nature of reprints means that the ton film. ver. Litho dominates. The investment in publisher needs the books in the shops “We are still printing for the many the long perfectors enabled Bell & Bain to quickly, which is where production in the academic publishers, OUP, CUP and Taylor service publishers in academic and refer- UK comes into its own. “They need books & Francis, but we are really starting to see ence books with a limited amount of colour from start to finish in ten days,” Campbell quite a bit more commercial publishing. printing, in the main for charts and other continues. “It has helped us to a record Tom Kerridge is the perfect example,” graphics. January, coming on the back of record sales Campbell continues. This has grown into full colour illustra- in 2017 when we reported sales of £14.27 These are printed litho because of the tions, partly as the printer has acquired million. run length that is needed. And the company greater knowledge of colour book printing, can be competitive in litho down to 300-400 partly as publishers have few alternatives “WE DON’T SEE AN END TO the boom. copies depending on the extent of the pages. in the UK, and partly because being sited In the colour market there are not many Fast makeready, even on the eight-colour here means that publishers do not need to companies left that can do everything that presses, sees to that, as well as fast set up for go abroad for colour books, especially for we can do. This puts us in an advantageous the binding lines. shorter runs and speedy turnarounds. position. If somebody wants copies of a Last year it installed its second Muller It means that the company is taking on bestseller printed within seven to ten days, Martini Alegro A7 binder which is inte- more and more illustrated trade books, the there is no chance of going abroad for that.” grated with the first so that one line will be sort of work that Butler & Tanner used to The investment, amounting to £12.5 binding and the second can run as a gath- produce, the sort of work that has headed million over the last seven years Camp- erer. One has 18 gathering hoppers feeding

Tony Campbell with Karen Baillie and Stephen Docherty, the team of three that has led the book printer since a management buyout at the start of the decade.

48 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk © Gareth Ward BELL & BAIN PROFILE © Gareth Ward a 19-clamp binding sector, the other has 18 With previous digital presses, the can expect and demonstrate we can give hoppers feeding a 27-clamp preparation and company has run inline to finishing, and them the choice of what they want.” binding section. this was the intention with the new press. If what they want is faster, digital print- As well as perfect binding Bell & Bain However, this has changed. The press will ing may be able to shave a couple of days has been offering case binding for almost run reel to reel and the printed reel will from a production cycle, particularly when four years. Demand for this is growing, says be fed into the Horizon SmartBinder. The numbers are low. “Digital will alway be Campbell. “People who are looking on the reason for the change is simple. Bell & Bain short run for us, perhaps no more than quality side are looking for case binding. wants to run the press at 130m/minute while 300/400 copies,” he says. “We do not yet And it opens so many doors for us.” the maximum speed of the finishing line is offer Print on Demand, or the print run of The Ricoh should open up many more 120m/minute. one, but we could do it. We have the Horizon doors and may in time challenge the strong SmartBinder, but as we remain very busy on preference for litho, but for the moment it INKJET PRINTING IS ALSO VERY much litho, I can’t see us rushing to offer Print on is very early days for the inkjet press. It will about enabling the company to produce in Demand.” be printing mainly academic journals with any way that suits a publisher. The requests The inkjet press is using CVG paper, the same format and limited requirement for for quote and information forms all require accepted by many as the best coated paper colour, where digital overcomes the prob- the supplier to be able to offer digital print- for inkjet printing currently. It will also run lems of constant and multiple plate changes ing, even if there is no immediate need for Munken uncoated, but not yet the GPrint for very short print run jobs. this form of production. Bell & Bain can tick that is the standard coated paper for books It is about a solution for publications like this box, ready for when the publishers have that are litho printed. these that have a limited print run, at least all their ducks in a row, because digital print- The investment in technology is matched for the moment. ing is just the end of a process that addresses by investment in people. The company the entire supply chain. currently has 18 apprentices on its books, RICOH BOASTS OF THE technology As publishers seek additional efficiencies more than any other printer in Scotland. being suited to colour book printing and through reducing stock levels, supply chain “We started a few more this year and all are from examples seen from the same press management software and cutting ware- doing well.” type using a new ink, this would appear to house costs, the printer needs to evolve in And there is the opportunity to grow with be the case. First Bell & Bain needs to walk. order to match the needs of the publisher. the business, Campbell reels off the names It has been tackling the bedding in issues And the publisher that wants to order in of print managers, production managers that are normal for a technology that is itself small batches can believe that digital is the and others that started with the business as in the ramp up phase. way to achieve this. 16 year old apprentices and have climbed to It would be easy for the company to take positions of responsibility in the business. on increasing volumes of digital colour “MOST OF THE TIME IT WILL BE up None are starting by filling out the printing, for illustrated books as well as to the customer to decide how something production sheets as Campbell did when he journals and there will be pressure on the is printed,” Campbell says. “Some people started in the production office. business to do this. Ricoh has also been on a don’t care too much what we print it on, The technology has moved on. The learning curve as this is its first major instal- others will be more prescriptive. We have commitment to book production remains as lation in the book market in the UK. been providing samples to show what they strong as ever. n

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 49 EXHIBITIONS LONDON BOOK FAIR BOOK REVIVAL UNDERLINED BY BUZZING BOOK FAIR

The thousands of visitors linked to the publishing business who turned out for the London Book Fair proved that there is plenty of life in the medium.

THE LONDON BOOK FAIR attracted a “We are telling publishers now that our strong showing of printers to Olympia in standard is your premium. The colour April. Few however, were UK printers with quality has been signed off as acceptable stands in the main exhibition space. Printers by two major publishers.” The Peterbor- from China, Korea and Turkey vied for the ough company is now working as European attention of the publishers, designers and supplier to global distributor Baker & Taylor writers filling the aisles of the exhibition. as part of the distribution business’s print They were joined by a number of UK on demand Publisher Services arm which printers that had take the opportunity launched in September last year. Cloc had one of the largest stands presented by the UK’s gathering of the A popular draw for all manner of visitors of the printers present where Paul book industry to have informal meetings Richmond explained the print on was the mountain of books on the Falcon with clients. demand offer. stand. The Tenterden typesetting business But some UK printers took space. The was offering a hamper of Kent products to largest in terms of space was north London 5-10% a couple of years ago to 30-40% the visitor able to guess the number of books company Cloc Book Print. This was a third today.” in its five foot high tower. time at the show for the business which Printondemand-Worldwide has been “It is a fantastic marketing tool,” says had moved into short digital book print- a regular at the show for some years, this managing director Colyn Allsopp. “We end ing only four years previously as an adjunct year taking space among the Independent up with hundreds of business cards to sift to serving customers in the education and Publishers Group area. Its journey towards through and we end up with a number of public sector. book of one publishing has now led to instal- good leads as a result.” “We have found it a very successful way lation of a Screen Truepress 520HD and The company was back at Olympia with to meet small independent publishers,” says managing director Andy Cork was showing the tower for the third time and despite Cloc general manager Paul Richmond. “We the quality that this inkjet press is able to the cost appeal of typesetting in India and are not producing runs of hundreds of thou- deliver on standard offset papers. other far flung locations, it attracts book sands , but we can be very competitive on “We thought that inkjet printed coffee work from both smaller and larger publish- our rates and quality.” table books would never be possible on ers. “Publishers do like the fact that we will The company has both litho and digital, standard offset papers,” says Cork. “We are be here when they call. We are in the same though focuses on digital for book custom- showing exactly this, pushing the boundaries time zone and do not have a different set ers. “We have 15 digital presses so can cater of what is possible. We are using Screen’s SC of religious or national holidays,” he says. for all manner of books. We have most inks on offset coated papers with a quality “It means we can help them when they are finishing in house, save for larger contracts that is better than cut sheet digital.” working.” when we have good partners for perfect The company has operated a previous Gomer Press had a constantly busy table binding.” generation of the Screen continuous feed top stand filled with appointments to learn As well as printing for the independent inkjet press and ran a Xerox Trivor before about the investment in LED UV print- publisher, the company can deliver fast turn installing the breakthrough inkjet press at ing and what this means. The largest book arounds of smaller runs for larger compa- the end of last year. printers stayed away as they have always nies needing top up quantities, or those for a The level of quality is such that the done, striking deals over coffee instead. launch, with quality that Richmond says is a company is migrating work from sheetfed This applies to German, Italian and Spanish close match to litho. “The first year we came machines to web, taking advantage of speed printers as well as the British. This left space here, we were not sure what to expect, but it and better page rates on paper that does not free for Turkish printers to make a strong has been a revelation,” he adds. “The share carry an inkjet premium. The secret lies in showing and they are jostling to become of revenue from books has increased from Screen’s SC inks, he says. major print suppliers to UK publishers. n

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Bluprint UK LTD PROFILE DELGA GROUP Digital drive to put Delga on the packaging map

DelgaPressisthebestknownnameforprintingpackagingforthe entertainmentindustry.Nowthecompanywantstoextendthatto otherareasofhighprofilepackaging,usingthequalityofanHPIndigo todoso.

THE SECOND UK COMPANY to buy and the geometric elements of the page set to unlock the door. “First you have to get the HD version of HP’s Indigo 12000 is a out in the program. a foot inside the door,” says Conetta, “and leader in its sector, but is not printing high When a similar job comes up again, Delga to be able to answer the question ‘what do quality artbooks, photobooks, look books, will be ready. However, if and when it does, you do?’. With the HP Indigo we have the report and accounts, nor any of the high it may not be on an album or ﬁlm. Conetta answer. People want to talk to us now. end marketing collateral that is assumed to is planning to use the investment in the HP “We have B1 and B2 litho, a lot of cutting, be the most demanding print jobs and the Indigo to underpin a push to broaden the gluing and UV varnishing. But as a company natural home for the extra resolution the company’s client base into more general you have to ask what is it in your tool kit that HD version delivers. markets for cartons. The press has been brings something different to the customer. The second UK company to buy the speciﬁed with the ability to handle thicker This investment is about creating a different HD version of the Indigo 12000 is Delga materials and so to print cartons. It will be a dynamic going forward. Press, the UK’s leading company produc- door opener for the business he says. “The HD quality gives us a USP, a window ing entertainment packaging. It began of opportunity because at the moment it is printing record sleeves when 12-inch vinyl WHILE DELGA IS EXTREMELY well something that nobody else in carton print- was the only game in town, migrated to known and trusted within the entertain- ing has. It’s something that we can shout CDs, DVDs, and is once again printing a ment sector, its reputation outside this area about.” considerable number of record sleeves for is limited. “Nobody knows who Delga is,” And he intends to shout about it, in the vinyl revival. But this is not the driver says Conetta. “While the demand for vinyl particular to customers producing luxury for the investment, although it will have is up, the industry as a whole is declining as products whereas in the music business, applications in the music and entertainment downloads have increased. The resurgence the appeal of the packaging is emotional as industry. of vinyl has been phenomenal for Delga. much as functional. While almost all packag- Like books, people want something physi- ing is ephemeral, the record sleeve endures MANAGING DIRECTOR IAN CONETTA cal to hold. For vinyl this means there are for as long as the record it carries. describes a project for the band Hot Chip a lot of collectors who are prepared to buy last year. The group wanted unique packag- boxed sets and will not even play the records. WHEN DELGA FIRST TOOK SPACE at ing for each CD shipped. This was achieved “But we cannot lose sight of the fact that the London Packaging Innovations it loaded through digital printing and use of Indigo’s the sector we are working in is in decline.” its stand with samples of the packaging from Mosaic application. While operations to press LPs are starting the bands it had produced work for. Visitors Delga was able to produce the CD pack- up, facilities to replicate CDs are closing or pored over the records, but did not make aging on the Indigo 7900s it has at sister consolidating. One of the largest serving the link to Delga. The next time Delga took company CSP, but needed to go to FE Europe is now located in the Czech Repub- part, it showed some interesting packaging Burman for the larger format vinyl packag- lic, a challenge for a printer located on the concepts using Delga’s own branding rather ing to use its B2 Indigo. Medway estuary in Rochester. than that of the product. Every sleeve, every CD inlay, was unique, Delga needs to find new customers, The result was a tenfold increase in inter- with slight adjustments to the colours used and with the investment has found a way est and responses. Customers were no longer

52 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk DELGA GROUP PROFILE

caught up reading about a band from their outside suppliers for the material that could And as Delga pushes to find new packaging youth, but were intrigued by some of the be included in a special edition box set, the customers this may prove another advantage box styles that the company could produce. photo book, magazine and so on that adds that can be discussed. “We got the attention of the people we value to the collector. The company has added two sales wanted to,” he says. This year it will also The company would bring these together executives to reach and develop these new be able to demonstrate customisation and and sort them with the packaging to provide customers, hand in hand with the marketing personalisation as well as a print quality that the set to the client. Now Delga will produce strategy to make the most of the capabilities. in digital is ahead of the pack. as much of this work in house as possible. It retains the profit and keeps control of a IT IS NEEDED. Where previously Delga SO FAR DELGA CAN POINT TO BOXES supply chain that would need to be moni- had been able to play a discreet role, happy it has produced for wine and spirits clients, tored for response and quality. that it had a high profile in its chosen sector, cartons for vaping and personal care sectors. Not everything is kept in-house, foiling Conetta wants Delga to be better recognised It is a start, but Conetta wants more: “With and some special effects are sourced from among both peers and potential customers. the decline in music we have to become more trusted parters that have deeper experience A recent industry listing of the leading prominent in other sectors where there is a of what he calls the ‘stop start processes’ carton printers managed to pass Delga by need for folding box board. We recognise than Delga can effectively deliver. It is, even though its £13 million turnover ought these are areas where there are suppliers that however, keeping hold of a development to to have earned a position as one of the larger are well established,” he says. He cannot print on a polymer inner sleeve protecting independent suppliers. He does not want the go and simply offer what the brands and the vinyl from scratches on the uncoated omission to be repeated. customers already receive, which the digital surface of a cartonboard. The investment in the digital press has press will address along with the creativity a key role to play. But it is not solely about that has already been deployed in the music THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN CHANGES marketing. There are sound business and sector. to the operation of the group business. productivity reasons for the investment. There are gatefold sleeves, throw outs, There are separate boards for delta and “We did a lot of pricing exercises, a lot of inserts and boxed collections using foiling, CSP, its operation in Aylesford that runs two time and motion studies into understanding die cutting, spot varnish and metallics in SRA3 Indigos and has focused on stationery the impact of digital on our production,” he engaging ways. “Our music customers are and stock work for customers including the says. looking to their suppliers to offer innovation NHS. last year CSP acquired local commer- to them,” Conetta continues. “HD gives us cial printer Scarbutts, adding a commercial “WITH THE HD PRESS WE WILL have that opportunity.” print arm to feed work to the digital presses. window of opportunity for a USP because An overall board will meet and discuss we have something that nobody else has in CONETTA JOINED THE COMPANY as opportunities for a group sell, exploiting this country. It’s giving us something we can managing director three years ago, allowing all the technology that is at the company’s shout about and something that we can talk Alan Wells to retire. There have been quick disposal. CSP printing CD inlays for the about to potential customers.” wins internally. Previously Delga would use Hot Chip project was a perfect example. The choice on the Indigo was not auto- …

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 53 PROFILE DELGA GROUP

… matic. Delga looked hard at the Jetpress air conditioned area within the factory, 720S, ruling it out because it is single side with glass wall to show it off to visitors and only. Likewise the Indigo 30000, the Indigo to remind staff that Delga is now a digital described as a carton press, is a simplex printer. machine. “That seems to be more for medium or THIS HAS MEANT INSTILLING A longer runs, running with inline coating” different ethos in a what is a very stable says Conetta. “We want to produce short workforce. There have been workshops and run and bespoke packaging. We are getting seminars explaining why the company needs a lot of inquiries for short run carton work to change the way it has worked. Unsur- through our website. prisingly there was some resistance. “We “These will go to the digital press. Litho needed that staff buy in,” Conetta says. needs plates, a makeready and generates “Some were able to come along for the ride, waste. In contrast digital has minimal set some weren’t. Now staff have bought into up cost. And we are very much aware that the direction that the management team is we can bring personalisation into short run leading them.” packaging.” This has also involved a shake up of customer service “an area we were only THIS WILL APPLY TO ITS EXISTING paying lip service to previously,” he says. customer base as much as to new markets. A year ago a customer service manager was All are looking for innovation to make their recruited from outside the business and has products stand out. The use of Mosaic was developed a layer of professionalism, that a prime example. “And the HD press will will stand the business in good stead as it give us the ability to bring innovation to the chases high profile brands as customers. existing business. We have already shown It also instated a full colour management that we can produce records sleeves that are system last year, profiling and standardis- absolutely unique. And this gives a differ- ing print quality across its Heidelberg litho ent dynamic in other areas. Packaging for presses last year, and this will included the luxury products is and continues to Indigo. Delga has been upping its game. remain a growth area. He is confident that Delga’s “WE WILL STILL BE 100% committed background in carton production to the media and entertainment and the will stand it in good stead against largest supplier to the sector in the UK, but commercial printers that are we know that these customers can always trying to produce packaging. go abroad where there are lots of printers “We have the skill set and happy to take work from us,” says Conetta. knowledge and specialism “In five years I want Delga to be recog- in this business and we are nised, and not just by its peers, as a providing now adding a digital press to our array of many more facets of packaging and a front equipment as part of a packaging produc- runner in digital printing.” tion environment,” he says. The company will almost certainly be

© Gareth Ward Gareth © “Commercial printers who try to offer active in web to print. It is a perennial carton printing will always fail because they subject for board meetings and attractive TOP Luxury packaging Delga already produces are always chasing work on price. But they because payment up front for short runs includes cartons for drinks brands. ABOVE Music need the right equipment and attitude. We helps mitigate any risk. It would also be can be packaged in a huge variety of ways, with are not a carton printer that will go and something to offer as an additional service innovation to the fore to capture the attention of consumers. Record sleeves remain a major part of chase commercial work.” to entertainment industry publishers to the output. BELOW The factory has been adapted fulfil requests for special edition and boxed to accommodate the digital press in its own air COATING IS ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL sets. conditioned space. elements for carton printing, adding a deep It will equally be printing a lot more for gloss and a layer to the digital ink to protect non sector companies, as Delga becomes a it against scuffing later down the line. Delga ‘go-to’ for creative packaging. And there is will be installing a Harris and Bruno coating likely to be more digital printing equipment. to apply the coatings offline where the deep Before buying the HP Indigo 12000 HD cells on the anilox will produce a high gloss Conetta toyed with the idea of a UV litho says Conetta. press, but changed when seeing the Indigo Further investment in specialist finish- and looking at trends towards ever shorter ing for the digital press may follow once production runs. the press has been in operation for several “Our next investment depends on the months and the company can see where the success of the HD press,” he says. “But I work is coming from. do not see us buying another standard litho The press is housed in a purpose built press.” n

54 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk PRINT SCOTLAND ASSOCIATIONS

GARRY RICHMOND HAS LANDED one of the most challenging jobs in print. He is director of Print Scotland, the representa- tive body for the Scottish printing industry. The voice It used to be called Graphic Enterprise Scotland, one of those constructs to make the organisation appear forward looking and dynamic, but which was more confusing than appealing. Before that the association of print in had been the Scottish Print Employers’ Federation, which at least had print in the title. “We thought ‘let’s just call it what it is’ and it became Print Scotland. It leaves it Scotland open to all types of print, wide format, litho and digital, inplant and commercial printers,” he says. The organisation itself dates back to 1910, in one guise or another. It was founded The generation gap in print risks becoming a as the Scottish Alliance of Master Printers as printers north of the border wanted to be yawning chasm and bridging that is one of the separate from the then British Federation of Master Printers. At the time Scotland could biggest challenges for Garry Richmond, director boast a signiﬁcant publishing industry, a of Print Scotland. distinct ﬁnancial sector and huge tobacco and whisky industry requiring all manner of print and packaging.

MANY OF THESE SECTORS ARE now smaller, replaced by government print, the oil industry and a burgeoning creative sector. But the industry in Scotland has suffered from the same consolidation that has afflicted print across the developed world. The commercial web offset sector has gone, book printing is a fraction of what it was and many of the labels and packaging companies are in the hands of overseas groups. The core membership of Print Scotland has to be the smaller enterprise, and Rich- mond is acutely aware of this. Membership benefits are tailored to these companies. There is a strong HR and legal support structure, and more practical deals, on courier costs and car purchasing for example, which have a direct benefit to smaller businesses unable to strike such deals alone.

“WE CAN CALL ON 12 HR MANAGERS Garry Richmond for support. They will come to a site and get is fighting the involved with problems and will help create corner as director contracts of employment and employee of Print Scotland. handbooks,” says Richmond. There are insurance packages, access to business seminars and workshops, health and safety audits and the opportunity to join project groups on issues affecting the industry. Print Scotland is also the body responsible for training apprentices in Scotland after Glasgow college decided it would no longer offer apprenticeships in print. It …

… has taken on the mantle of delivering the role 18 months ago, he was handed three ‘down south’, there is extra complexity. Modern Apprenticeships under the Scottish targets: grow the membership; deliver real “But we are pushing hard,” Richmond says. Training Scheme which provides a grant benefits; and lobby on behalf of members. He is pushing government too on the from the Scottish Government to cover the apprenticeship issue. “Many printers find cost of training. HE HAS SPENT 30 YEARS of a working it difficult to afford an apprentice, while There are also a range of Scottish Voca- life employed on the operations side of print, there is a huge succession gap. We will have tional Qualifications on offer. It is not including rising to be production director of a massive shortage by 2030 when more than something that the organisation does to label printer Ritchies, and 13 years working 70% of employees will by then be more make a profit but because “nobody else is for Ricoh and at the City of Glasgow print than 50 years old. delivering print apprentices in Scotland”. works, an operation with 30 staff. Now he considers himself as “almost “THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE FOR print- TODAY THERE ARE 25 APPRENTICES a sales person,” explaining the benefits of ing alone, it’s something other industries on the books of Print Scotland. Richmond joining the organisation to printers spread share. Likewise we are not seen as attrac- would like more. At the third annual awards across the country and trying to help them tive enough to young people to attract the for apprentices, Print Scotland handed out with any problems. talent.” six awards, he told the six apprentices receiv- It is not easy. Scotland is a country where The absence of a central print college has ing awards and the audience of colleagues apart from the major cities, the industry is forced a more creative approach to training, family and friends, that “our members, spread to every corner and at times of the using a buddy system where the trainee is and the industry as a whole, faces a signifi- year, the weather can add another compli- guided by someone with perhaps 30 years cant succession gap in the next ten years, cation. There are 45 members currently, experience in the industry. “We have asked as highly skilled and knowledgeable print- a rise of eight under his tenure. Associate for funding to develop 30 apprentices a ers set on retiring are not being replaced in members drawn from suppliers who want to year,” he says, not whether this has been sufficient volume with new blood. have conversations with the industry. granted. “The print industry in Scotland needs Richmond has seen the benefits of this a constant flow of apprentices to prevent THIS IS AROUND 10% OF A population approach at close hand, having worked for that, and the high calibre young people we of 400 businesses that could be considered Ricoh where the training was key. He says: have celebrated this evening, in even greater to be involved in printing to a greater or “They were very switched on and under- numbers, is very much what our industry lesser extent, employing between 6,000 and stood the need to bring on young people. needs. There are some switched on manag- 8,000. One challenge is that a good number ers who understand they need to bring in do not consider themselves to be part of a “WE HAVE TO CAST THE NET and new people.” wider community in print. attract people from a wider area to replace “Many may never have heard of us,” a printer who once they start in the indus- ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUPPORTERS he says. Or perhaps have considered the try, are less likely to move. Youngsters don’t of apprentices in Scotland is Bell & Bain organisation to be something for traditional desire to do factory work – there are so many where Fiona Buchanan, a history gradu- printers, not relevant to them. Richmond other options open to them. We do appeal to ate, and Louise Docherty, who studied cell needs to build the profile, to reach and people who are craft or mechanically minded biology at the University of Stirling, as well then convince this untapped audience. and a lot of people love graphic design. We as being daughter of Stephen Doherty, the Social media, website and activities like the find that a lot of apprentices now have some company’s managing director, have joined apprentice awards, now in their third year, aptitude for that. the business as modern apprentices. Both are part of the effort. “There are a lot of career paths open are working on the production side. to entrants and the skills they gain can “This is now a very different market and FOR RICHMOND, IT MEANS PILING take them anywhere in the world because a very different industry,” Richmond points on the miles and use of those twin modern demand for print is everywhere and people out. “In Scotland we are down to those tools – Twitter and Facebook. And it means will have a recognisable transferrable skill.” companies that are very good at what they looking for deals that can become benefits But there will no need to travel. Rich- are doing and could survive. to members and to make membership more mond reckons that the only way is up for “We understand the pressures that people attractive financially. the industry in Scotland. Capacity has been have. We can provide the support needed, to This can be difficult compared to the driven out to the point where English and take on an apprentice, so there is no cost for days when employer organisations regularly Welsh printers are hunting for work north taking on people.” locked horns with the employee organisa- of the border. tions, the print unions. That fight has ended. IF FILLING THE DEMOGRAPHIC Instead for members of Print Scotland, the “WE HAVE REACHED THE POINT gap is the largest single issue the industry fight is to win work for its members and where there is enough capacity to sustain the faces, it is not the only one. Recession has the biggest source of work is the Scottish printers that have survived,” he says. forced companies out of business and those government. But his work is not complete. The indus- that remain need to examine every pound As elsewhere the dreaded tender rules, try association remains relevant, the more so spent. Membership of a trade association often demanding information that is not in an age where networking, whether social is not the automatic decision it once was. directly relevant to the job in hand. The or otherwise, is considered a key skills. And the organisation has given up the pres- government has declared its determination The role of the association is simple: “It’s tigious Edinburgh address for less formal to keep Scottish work in Scotland. about having as many partnerships as possi- arrangements. As the agency handling this is an English ble across the industry and to bring people Consequently when Richmond took up business with its own production facilities together as a cohesive voice.” n

56 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk SIGN & DIGITAL EXHIBITIONS THE SIGNS ON THE WALL, FLOOR AND CURTAINS

Sign&Digitaldemonstratedthatdisplaygraphicsarejustthestartfor theexpandinglargeformatinkjetsector.

THE NEC HOSTED A PRINT exhibition with four colours plus white or a six-colour last month that showed that there is nothing head. wrong with the venue. More than 5,000 Agfa inkjet marketing and channel turned up at Sign & Digital UK, visiting two manager Steve Collins explains that it is halls that were almost filled where exhibitors designed for new customers, especially displayed the technology and increasingly newcomers to flatbed printing. “This is the applications in use. more appropriate for commercial printers: Show director Rudi Blackett emphasised a 2 metre flatbed is a big step for a first time this, pointing to live demonstrations of investment. This is attractive to commercial vehicle wrapping carried out by Spandex, printers and we can bundle it with a plates wall coverings by Antalis and textile produc- deal if that suits.” tion by Mimaki. The largest stand at the show went to And there was new technology to see, CMYUK which has already booked one that some aimed at commercial printers testing is larger still for the next event. It had filled the water in flatbed printing, much aimed points out that few competitors can offer this this year’s stand to reflect its expanding at inkjet printers expanding into textile technology. “It’s a differentiator that sets us showroom and training facilities in Shrews- printing. apart,” he says. “We are comfortable with bury. “We have now taken an extra 200m2 to Much of this was about the benefits of complex patterns and flags.” add to the 750m2 we already have. It will the printing on polyesters for banners and exhi- Another product launch for Sign & Digital one of the biggest in Europe,” says manag- bition displays. Examples were everywhere, comes from Jetrix supplier InkTec Europe. ing director Robin East. not least the main theatre area of the hall, It unveiled the Jetrix KX6U LED-UV “We will have all the top products in one hosting a chat show discussion programme flatbed, selling for £68,000 complete with place: the entire Mimaki range, most Vuteks that was a key part of the show’s television Rip and training for the entry level machine. (we have a 3.4m RTR machine, LS3, 16Hi, output. “This has better options than the equiva- FabriVu), three Esko cutting tables. we can lent entry level Mimaki flatbed at a similar show UV, solvent, latex and 3D printing.” ON THE FIRST DAY THE FOCUS WAS price,” says Inktec managing director Joey on Queen of Shops Mary Portas, who took Kim. “It comes with a three-year warranty CMYUK HAD THE MASSIVIT 1800 3D questions in a 45-minute session and then and roll to roll option at the front. printer on the stand, along with samples of walked the floor for a further 45 minutes. “The entry level flatbed sector is growing output. However, a step into large format Her key message was about enhancing the fast in the UK and we wanted to lower the 3D printing requires more than just the high street experience for shoppers through price to make it more attractive as well,” printer. There is the finishing and spraying custom design and signage. says Kim. to consider let alone the sales approach for This was important for independent something that is outside the experience of retailers, a message that chimed with the THE PRINTER COMES WITH anti static many large format printers. equally independent small businesses that bar as standard and can be upgraded to a But the opportunity is there for those dominate the signage and display sector. higher spec. “It is ideal for people moving able to reach the right decision maker for The textile flag was flown by Epson and from roll to roll to flatbed. If they are not large brands. One had built a large 3D hand Mimaki, introducing a press specifically certain about the demand, they can buy the to show off its latest product in the West- to address these opportunities, as well as entry level machine and upgrade it later to field shopping centre. The hand had cost specialist dealer RA Smart and materials double the print speed.” £20,000, says East, but was considered from Spandex among others. Agfa is also attacking this sector, intro- worthwhile because of the social media Blackman & White, UK producer of ducing the Anapurna 1650i to the UK attention it garnered. flatbed cutting tables, has enjoyed good through dealers i-Sub and Josero. It shares “It is about the high impact, high atten- business on the back of interest in textiles. the majority of components with the larger tion that this type of display can make. But It offers a laser cutting head, a technology 2500i LED UV printer. customers will need to understand that they better suited to accurately cutting textile The Agfa machine is more expensive at need to buy more than just a printer. For than knife. Managing director Alex White around £90,000 than the Jetrix, but comes them, it is a great opportunity.” n

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 57 SUPPLIER PROFILE XEIKON Xeikon Café provides a jolt of inspiration

Anexpressoisasmallcoffeeladenwithcaffeinetoprovidea quickjolttothesystemandclearthebrain,alongercoffeecan besomethingmoreconvivialprovidingthebackgroundtoa conversationbetweenfriendsorcolleagues.TheXeikonCafé deliveredonbothcounts.

THE XEIKON CAFÉ WANTS TO become printing. The company has outline plans for a must attend event for label and packaging a post print corrugated single-pass machine printers interested in digital printing. For printing across 1.6 metres and with the same the second edition at its headquarters in high quality Xeikon has been associated Lier, the company attracted more partners with in dry toner printing, says Chatelard. than in 2017 and delivered an interesting There is no launch date, name or price for series of presentation from Xeikon custom- the project, nor anything on view. Around ers and brands that are using packaging. 1,000 delegates were able to follow produc- The only fly in this ointment was the tion of different products along each of Mondelez presentation, given by Patrick the press lines with embellishment in the Poitevin, predicting the eventual demise partner area. of the printed label as decoration is applied As well as inkjet, the line up included the directly to the bottle or jar during the filling CX500, its 500mm wide 30m/min press process. for labels initially but with clear potential to UV flexo houses expanding into digital. for flexible packaging and in a duplex or The association with Flint and access to the IT COMES AS XEIKON ITSELF is on a twin tower configuration for commercial Jetrion accounts has clearly helped unlock growth path. The user base has grown 17% printing. Chatelard is saying little but his Xeikon’s potential. It will also help grow the in the last 12 months, even without the addi- ambition and that of owner Flint Group is business in Asia. tion of EFI’s Jetrion user base according to clear and long term. There will be an edition of the Xeikon Xeikon CEO Benoit Chatelard. He was ever Café in North America and Asia to surely present during the four-day event, speaking EXPANSION IN THE US, AIDED BY follow. It is a high level event delivering both to customers from Walsall, Warsaw and Sri being part of the Flint Group, has helped provocative content and perfect networking Lanka. There were able to see seven press grow the business in North America driving opportunities. lines in operation including the first inkjet the organic growth in the last 12 months. Lisa Sohanpal’s presentation was typical press to carry the Xeikon name, the Panther The acquisition of the Jetrion user base with of the content delivered. Like many mothers PX4000. It will not be the last. more than 200 users will provide a platform with a young family Sohanpal despaired of The company has set up an inkjet compe- for both dry toner and inkjet sales. finding food for the growing children that tence centre at the Lier factory close to Xeikon now has 700 users producing was both wholesome and tasty. Unlike most Antwerp to support expansion in inkjet labels digitally Chatelard says, cementing mothers she decided to take action. The printing. This will include a machine that the company’s position as the second largest result is Nom Noms World Food, a range will succeed the Jetrion for those users supplier to the sector with clear water of convenience meals using quality ingredi- looking for an upgrade path. between itself and the third largest supplier. ents from around the world and packed into As well as labels, inkjet opportunities The growth has come from selling to meals for a family or for children. will include carton and corrugated package accounts that have used a rival supplier and But as with many start ups in the food

58 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk XEIKON SUPPLIER PROFILE

sector, translating the ideas and insight that she had had into reality was far from plain sailing. The meal packs would include meals using fresh spices where possible and mixed to create authentic dishes from around the world. “Tastebuds love to travel,” is the company’s slogan.

THE MAIN MEAL WOULD BE accom- panied by dipping sauces, chutneys and the like to create an all round experience. Lisa Solbanpal and Giuseppi Prioriello Coming up with these combinations was not were two of the keynote speakers at a problem: finding a way to package them to the Xeikon event. reach consumers was, Sohanpal explained. “I tried to find packaging formats to fit with what I wanted to deliver,” she said. “And that was extremely challenging. The big companies do not want to work with start ups. Nobody could pack the main, the side dish and the chutney in the same box. I needed to source the different elements of ing packaging might have suited her young the packaging.” business. Packly is a web to print operation The design was influenced by the enabling a customer to select, adjust and contents. Nom Noms needed to stand out. apply artwork to different styles of carton. The message needed to be clear, the colour It is an offshoot of Printgraf, an Italian needed to enhance the message and it needed company where Giuseppi Prioriello was not to be simple. The pack should have a hinged going to allow the lack of available technol- lid and be styled like a suitcase for a trip to ogy prevent him achieving a dream. The first the originating country. attempt at a web to pack tool did not work. He took the idea to a web accelerator BUT SHE FOUND THAT WHEREVER event in the Netherlands, gaining a huge she looked, the sector is set up to serve large amount of experience into what would make some extent on the box format. Then with companies. “The minimum order for trays a strong business case for investors and those the carcass decided, artwork is uploaded and was 1 tonne – how is a start up supposed to using the website. applied to the dieline file. This can be viewed cope with minimum quantities like that? “We pitched the project to as many people as a 3D file, rotated and twisted by the user to And we needed everything to be recyclable, as possible,” he says. “The key advice was to check all sides are as anticipated. “The users compostable or biodegradable which was engage with the potential customers – they love this aspect of being able to see what will the biggest barrier we faced. And whatever will provide valuable feedback. As a result I happen before placing an order,” he adds. we chose, the packaging had to survive the built Packly. packing processes.” “You have to interview your potential THE NUMBER OF BOXES IS ADDED For three years Nom Noms worked with customers, locate your office close to them and the order confirmed. If only a small a consultant to get to the point where its and throw a party. You have to find the deci- number is needed, the job will be printed on concept could be launched on the market. sion maker for your customer: everything a Xeikon and cut and creased on a Highcon Today the boxes have the colours and look else is just chaff.” Euclid II. If the numbers are high enough and feel of a travelling case, perhaps not the to justify offset litho printing, the job is one originally envisaged, but the hinged lid THE MISSION STATEMENT IS CLEAR: directed to a KBA Rapida and then to a to display the food is in place. “This is the easiest way to create packaging Bobst. Everything is under one roof, includ- and have it printed.” The user is invited to ing lamination and foiling. THE PACKAGING IS ALREADY engag- select from one of 50 box types that can be “The problem is that buying custom ing, printed with information about the edited to achieve different sizes and to cope boxes in a traditional way is expensive and country where the recipe originally came with different materials. Each can be edited time consuming because cardboard design is from, with quizzes and stories aimed at the by the customer, changing dimensions complex, then combine that with short print young consumers. by 0.5mm to get as close a fit as possible. runs that are vital for product testing and Now she wants to bring this story alive The software copes with this dynamically evaluation. It can take four days to return a through video. “We have sent 360º cameras working out fit on a plate or the digital press quotation. to India to capture their stories,” she says. and thus the price per unit. The short videos will be posted on the There are six full time developers on “WE HAVE LEARNED A NUMBER OF website and will be triggered through a board creating and improving an application lessons on the journey,” he says. “Firstly, mobile phone and link embedded in the that runs in a browser, has an API avail- understand the user and frame the problem packaging. “That’s the next step,” she says. able to hook into other systems and works and focus on this problem, not the additional She stayed to listen to the next speaker through an Saas model. features; only do this if you love the job; explain how Packly’s approach to purchas- Options on the material will depend to make mistakes fast and learn quickly.” n

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 59 LARGE FORMAT INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY Showcard upgrades to high performance Inca

SHOWCARD PRINT IS format machines. Its experience replacing one of its existing Inca Mark Smith with Inca extends over the years, Onset flatbed inkjet press with and the always prepared to seek out the an automated Onset X3. The autoloading highest performance. Inca. fastest printer and flagship of It was a beta site for the Onset the Inca range will be installed S50i, at the time the highest with robotics to aid productivity. performance machine in the It is part of a £3 million range. investment at the Letchworth This is continued with the business. We’re looking to the latest order, meeting demands future,” says Showcard Print for ever faster response rates. managing director, Mark Smith. “Customer expectations of “Over the next few months quality are increasing and, as far we’re investing £3 million in as we’re concerned, the Onset growing the business and the X3 is as good as it gets in that Onset X3 is obviously a very and an Onset S70 for a number ultimately the Onset X3 proved regard. significant part of our plans. of years. itself to be the best machine for “When you then consider the We’ve been Fujifilm and Inca “As the Onset S70 is reaching us for a number of reasons.” new robotic automation system Digital customers for some time, the end of its life we needed to The company also operates Inca now provides with the buying litho plates and screen find a replacement. We spent a KBA Rapida 205, the largest machine, the already impressive inks from Fujifilm and running a year testing a variety of possible format sheetfed litho productivity has gone up yet both an Inca Digital Onset S50 machines across the market and press and a number of smaller another level,” says Smith.

Walsall business following a visit Leachfinds to Durst in Austria. suitable It will enable the family owned business to meet demand purchaser for faster turnarounds, espe- FRENCH COMPANY cially on exhibition banners, Chargeurs has bought display posters and other signage graphics business Leach for an applications. undisclosed sum. The £2m business employs 18 The acquisition cements a staff and is in the main a trade relationship that dates back printer and is constantly search- seven years when Leach began ing for ways to stay ahead. to source Pearl lightbox material The Rho P10 will open from Chargeurs. more than 90% was generated of new materials and a faster opportunities in fabrics, It became a natural fit when outside France, based on five turnaround. particularly backlit displays; managing director Richard continents and an unparalleled It will not be the last acquisi- end user canvases, interior decor Leach began looking for the understanding of the market tion for the French business. It and wallpaper. Its press has six partner to shift the company on a global scale. Established has plans to double turnover to colours, able to print white from a family run business, in 1872 they also have similar €1 billion in the next five years. under or over CMYK and a spot albeit 127 years old. values to Leach in terms of varnish. “This operating model does quality, innovation and culture. It will continue to produce not support the level of next The fit seems very natural,” he Growthwith larger roll to roll jobs on its step growth that we know we says. DurstforColour existing 3 metre wide Durst. are capable of achieving, so we The funding will be in place started evaluating the option to move the business from a Graphics to sell. But we have taken double shift to round the clock COLOUR GRAPHICS is antic- EFIopenslarge great care in choosing the new operation. More importantly, ipating a 25% capacity increase formatfactory owner. it will provide a closer knit thanks to installation of a Durst “Chargeurs is a €533 million between print and materials Rho P10 250 HS. EFI HAS OPENED a 20,000m2 turnover business, of which supplier, enabling development The press was shipped to the factory in Manchester, New

60 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY LARGE FORMAT JPL moves up to Agfa’s large format Jeti hybrid

JPL PRINT & DESIGN is a further investment in large expanding its large format divi- Mark Kay and format. sion with installation of an Agfa Mike Harrold The company first saw the Jeti Tauro 2500, five years after with the new Jeti Tauro at Drupa, receiving the print business made its first Tauro. the press at the end of last year. investment in inkjet printing. As well as the ability to print roll The company’s journey into to roll and flat bed, JPL liked large format began with invest- the fact that the LED UV ink is ment in a second factory unit developed and supplied by Agfa. and an investment in a Zund This ensures the consistency cutting table. Jim Lynch, joint that JPL needs to match litho managing director, says: “I while laying down ultra thin value good business relation- layers of ink, both for quality ships with our suppliers and for and economy. “Over the past a number of years have been XL105 and the Versafire CP of customers if they would couple of years we have invested talking to Agfa and its subsidi- digital press. Lynch’s colleague, give us their display business in a new Heidelberg XL75 five- ary, Litho Supplies. They are joint managing director Mark and they said that they would colour press as well as a CP very friendly to deal with as well Kay says: “We see that many providing the quality was a close Heidelberg digital press. Now, as professional. sign and display producers do match to our litho work.” the Agfa Jeti Tauro really sets us The company has strict not look at image quality in the It managed this and the apart and will make a significant standards, printing to Fogra and same detail as we at JPL. Several customers were as good as their difference to our future poten- ISO standards on its five-colour years back, before we invested in word. To the extent that the tial,” says sales director Mike coating Heidelberg Speedmaster wide format, we asked a number Halesowen business has made Harrold.

Hampshire, as the production largest screen and large format brands and retailers,” says Arian add an inkjet print system to a hub for its Vutek large format digital printers in Europe, CEO Stephan Kollegar. 2.8 metre wide corrugator. graphics range of presses. has bought Cestrian as its first The press at Fespa was just The company played host investment in the UK. 1.6 metres across, large enough to more than 100 guests at Arian has several plants in Incadebuts to print on demand directly to the ribbon cutting ceremony Austria and has been a beta site corrugated corrugated boards. to unveil the vast plant, 25% for Bobst’s initial inkjet corru- Inca has experience with this larger than the previous facility gated projects and is also a user concept having created a corrugated in the Boston region. of a Fuji Jetpress 720S B2 inkjet INCA DIGITAL PRINTERS version of its Onset technology Around 300 will be employed press. unveiled a super fast 30,000m2/hr to work with an ink developed on site from a total of around It has the resources to both inkjet press at Fespa. by partner Fujifilm. 1,000 in EFI’s inkjet division. purchase the Manchester The machine is a proof of As well as this plant, there display printer and to invest in concept for a press that can be Onyxgains are factories in Spain, home of the new subsidiary. used to print corrugated boxes. ceramics and the Nozomi, Italy Simon Summers takes over as This is the first single-pass inkjet colourpatent for the Reggiani textile printers managing director while owner press that Inca has developed, forimproved and Matan superwide printers Philip Reynolds steps away. but parent company Screen accuracy in Israel. The Cestrian brand will announced a project with corru- The site will be an innovation remain in the UK as the focal gated board produced BHS to ONYX HAS BEEN granted hub and demonstration and train- point. a patent in the US covering ing facility as well as assembly of Arian already operates in this spectral transmissive measure- Inca launched at Fespa. the different Vutek machines. country through relationships ment of media, which it says developed with major brands in will improve colour accuracy on a number of areas. backlit displays and fabrics. Cestrianfallsto “We believe Cestrian to be a The patent has been awarded AustrianArian great fit for our UK ambitions. to an in-house team and will It will bring huge opportunities result in its incorporation into THE AUSTRIAN OWNER for existing clients and some- the next major release of the of the Arian Group, one of the thing new and exciting for all Onyx Rip. n

www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2018 61 OUTSOURCING TRADE SERVICES UK online will catch up with Germany predicts

BEYONDPRINT, the leading market, but it is not yet being One characteristic of the consultancy for the online print exploited in the way that the UK market that has enabled movement, calculates that there major players in the D/A/CH it to keep overseas challengers are at least 70 UK web to print region, for example, are demon- at bay, at least to some extent, providers. But few of them are strating how it should be done. is speed of delivery where of the size of the companies that The online proportion of the overnight is the expected turn- dominate the German speaking UK print market will increase around time. industry, where FlyerAlarm, from10% to 15% to at least the Zipper adds: “There is plenty UnitedPrint and Onlineprinters current D/A/CH level, around of potential in this market. are the major players. 25% to 30%, by the end of What will also be fascinating The UK has, among others, 2022.” to see is whether the upcom- Tradeprint, Bluetree and Preliminary research has ing Brexit will motivate more Where The Trade Buys, but shown that there are more than major German and international these are only a fraction of the 70 active participants, most UK players from the online print size of their German counter- businesses but some sales and BeyondPrint’s Bernd business to make acquisitions parts, while the UK is reckoned production hubs for overseas Zipper predicts growth in the UK. If things continue to be the second largest market companies, CeWe or Online- for UK online print. in the UK in the same way as in for print in Europe after printers, owner of Solopress, Germany, we can expect to see Germany. for example. a degree of consolidation in the BeyondPrint CEO Bernd Of the UK companies, only of €63 million. It has more than UK market, which means fewer Zipper says: “There is enough Moo would rank in the top ten of twice the revenue of the second players each generating higher online print potential in the UK German players thanks to sales largest UK player Bluetree. sales.”

event,” says CCO Christian ment on the first tranche of CartonsjoinOLP Würst. equipment was swift. Printifyaims portfolio Onlineprinters has designed a He adds: “In the new year, attextile range of standard format boxes we looked at expanding capac- ONLINEPRINTERS.DE IS to hold the giveaways, adding ity further and also finding a opportunity starting to offer short run pack- to their appeal. “We tend to solution for finishing thicker LATVIAN START UP Printify aging to be used for promotional perceive a packaged product as booklets. We chose the Renz has received $1 million in seed events, exhibitions and the like. more valuable. Therefore, pack- AP360 high speed automatic money from Gokul Rajaram in The company sees this as a aging products fit in perfectly punch and that has further order to take its web to print logical extension to the produc- with the upselling process,” he increased efficiencies. We technology to the US. Currently tion of marketing collateral and says. expect there will be increased the company reckons that promotional banners. The same interest around our booklet around 50,000 e-commerce customers are buying short run Bluetree ranges now we have added this shops use the technology to packaging for their clients to equipment, especially personal- create a channel to order printed take away from the exhibition. increases ised notebooks. items from promotional gifts But sourcing this type of box or investmentwith “The new equipment fits to clothing. Incoming orders sleeve has been difficult. Renz nicely into our portfolio. We are delivered to a network of “What is more advertising complete a lot of stitched and providers in print ready form. specialists do not want to order BLUETREE HAS installed a perfect bound books both as Company founder James 1,000 packaging boxes if they new Renz AP360, just months short run digital work and Berdigans says the idea for only need a hundred for their after taking delivery of a medium/long run litho. The Printify came after trying to next campaign or promotional Punch 500ES and Mobi 500 additional equipment and prod- customise some phone cases for wire binder ahead of last year’s ucts complement our existing Apple iPhones. The big oppor- calendar season. service and allow us to offer a tunity for the business will come The additional equipment, new string to our bow. This will as direct to garment printing a high speed punching system, enable us to have fresh conversa- takes off in the next few years. will increase capacity for wire tions with our existing customers The investment will enable bound books. and target new business. We are the company to double its team Operations director Jim also in a very good position for of developers in Riga, creating Swain says that return on invest- the next calendar season.” around 30 new jobs. n

Jim Swain with62 Renz’s May/June Dermot 2018Callaghan www.printbusiness.co.uk and the latest investment at Rotherham. GLOBAL SUPPLY BASE Using our global infrastructure and market intelligence to make product and price efficiency gains Have you tried the Denmaur NEW OPPORTUNITIES Helping identify opportunities for customers to win new business and experience? retain existing customers

Ok, so you’ve noticed the new brand, but unless you have dealt with us before, you’ve missed out on an experience that can make a real impact on COLLABORATION your business. Collaborating with printers to achieve great production results As an independent specialist, Denmaur serves the print and publishing markets by providing ways for customers to leverage value from their paper supply chain.

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SERVICE EXCELLENCE Delivering best-in-class Better connected to print Intelligent paper solutions customer service PAPER INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY Denmaur divides its operations to achieve focus

DENMAUR Independ- papers with mill branded with Julian Townsend as sales ent paper has split to become substrates. As part of this director. Denmaur Paper as its trade sales strategy it acquired the Revive Mike Gee becomes CEO over operation for commercial print brand of recycled papers. the combined business with and Denmaur Media, the arm Denmaur has also developed Nick Gee as managing director. to supply publishers and corpo- the central warehouse close to Stephen Mason remains group rate buyers with a fully managed the motorway network in the chairman. paper service. The Media East Midlands, exploiting the Mike Gee says: “I’m not Paper Management brand will Mike Gee opportunity left by the failure going anywhere, far from it. My disappear. will watch for of Paperlinx, though the strat- intention is to focus more on The divide marks 35 years opportunities. egy was underway before that strategic growth opportunities. in business for the company collapse. This has 32,000 pallet “Broadly speaking, in revenue founded by Mike Gee and which in command. The offices at positions, covers more than terms the business is now fairly is now one of the largest stockist Sttingbourne, Bristol, Leeds 10,000m2 and has a 12-dock evenly split between publishing merchants in the country, having and Alderley Edge support the loading bay. and commercial print sectors. I invested heavily in a central main sales operation at Bardon. Denmaur Media will operate believe we have the right people warehouse in Bardon supported It is this side of the business from Sittingbourne and St and partners in place to continue by a four branch network. that has received most atten- Albans and continues to manage on with our success story.” Andy Buxton will head tion in recent years, striking paper supplies for publishers, as As part of the decision, there Denmaur Paper from the exclusive distribution deals well as retail, travel, charity and is a new brand identity for the central warehouse with regional with major paper suppliers local government customers. It group supported by a restyled director Andy Faithful as second and replacing merchant brand will be headed by Doug Jessop website.

Idemreadyto Antalis Academy Greenpeace takes on sales runandrun training. splitswithFSC

AFTER A YEAR WITH the atinternational doors closed, a new company is level planning to restart production of Idem carbonless paper at its GREENPEACE International home mill in Belgium. has decided not to renew its Virginal Paper is said to membership of FSC. It says that have the support of investors FSC is not implemented consist- in Norway and the UK and ently across regions. has the backing of the regional National Greenpeace offices government. can choose to remain members The company hopes to of FSC, especially where employ around 100 by the time governance and transparency production is underway in some management training. who not only know their chosen are stronger. September, well below the 380 It has introduced courses on business related subject but also “Timber certification is a on the site when production sales planning and the essen- understand the industry and helpful but insufficient tool ceased last year. tials of selling, social media and markets that printers operate in the struggle to save our telesales. The courses take place in. As such, we have purposely forests,” Greenpeace Interna- at the company’s head office expanded our Academy to fulfil tional says. Antalisgrows in Bardon, though it has also this growing need by intro- FSC has responded, pointing itsAcademy staged a first webinar on devel- ducing of a range of business out that it remains Greenpeace oping a sales strategy. courses in conjunction with the International’s only choice for THE ANTALIS ACADEMY is Giles Bristow says there has IPIA.” forest management certifica- expanding the courses it offers been outside help in developing Training is delivered by tion and that the decision “does to include hands on training in these courses. “It has been chal- acknowledged experts includ- not affect the quality of our the application of wall coverings lenging for our customers to find ing Julie Biddle and Matthew standards for responsible forest and textiles as well as offering training workshops and tutors Parker. management”. n

64 May/June 2018 www.printbusiness.co.uk

V A T I O N

YOU CHALLENGED. WE DELIVERED.

NAME Jim Whittington

ROLE Digital Sales Manager our Submit y es t challeng Jim is our resident expert when it comes to all things digital print. digital prin Having worked at Antalis for over 15 years, he has built a vast knowledge ngton im-whitti of our extensive product portfolio and specialises in helping customers is.co.uk/j target new market opportunities. See how Jim has helped our customers Antal ﬁnd innovative product solutions to maximise the use of their digital hardware at digital2business.co.uk, or contact us today with your challenges.

MEDIA HARDWARE TRAINING INNOVATION SUSTAINABILITY PEOPLE WHO, WHAT AND WHERE Cost of ownership campaign earns M Partners top award

M PARTNERS, the UK distrib- Those with machines that utor of RMGT’s B1 printing have passed certain milestones presses, has won a top award without the loss of time due to for marketing. The company Murray Lock with award unforeseen breakdowns have took the award for Best Partner- at the Grosvenor House received award certificates to ship marketing campaign at the ceremony in London. mark the achievement. The Chartered Institute of Market- campaign’s approach is now ing’s Marketing Excellence being considered at interna- Awards. tional level. The winning submission, the On the night M Partners came Real Cost of Press Ownership, top of a shortlist that included focused on how M Partners the likes of Dreamworks, had channelled the reliability Disney and 20th Century Fox. of the Mitsubishi press into “We didn’t anticipate picking a campaign focusing on the up the award. We were just impact of lack of servicing costs very happy to be nominated in and unexpected breakdowns to such esteemed company,” says drive down the total cost of joint managing director Murray ownership for customers. Lock.

part of a triumvirate running Konica Minolta and the last Turnerstepsup the operation alongside presi- three as northern Europe President atKomori dent Ken Sagawa and CFO Erik regional sales manager for EFI. Barber Achterkamp. She replaces Graham Dove who STEVE TURNER has become takes up a sales manager position LIONEL BARBER, editor managing director of Komori in HP Indigo’s EMEA team. of the Financial Times, has UK, succeeding Neil Sutton Birdfliesto become president of the who takes on the chief operating MullerMartini Printing Charity and will officer role at Komori Interna- Duplonames preside at the charity’s events, tional Europe in Utrecht. GREG BIRD has joined Muller saleshead including its annual luncheon Turner has been director Martini as sales manager for in November. of sheetfed sales for Komori the UK and to help with the DUPLO HAS APPOINTED “I am delighted to be involved UK, joining the Japanese press integration between the Swiss Colleen Hankin as head of with the charity as its President supplier in 2001. finishing technology supplier Duplo UK sales. She joins the this year and look forward to and Kolbus. UK company from Northgate meeting the many people who Bird had joined Kolbus in Vehicle Hire where she was make the British print industry, 2008 rising to the position of head of sales and has previ- which I have been a part of for UK sales director. Bird says it ous experience in South Africa almost 40 years, such a rich and was a wrench leaving Kolbus. where she headed a sales team varied business,” he says. “Muller Martini kindly made for Xerox. me an offer to help with the integration of Kolbus, and a big Hopkinshops project for me if I wanted it,” Locklandsat toCPI he says. Webmart TERRY HOPKINS has joined TONY LOCK, former sales CPI UK as account director, Revellswitches director of Duplo Interna- quitting Pureprint after six His success in growing market toHPIndigo tional for EMEA and Russia, years with the company. “I’m share has led to the promotion to has joined Webmart as its first incredibly excited for my new the new role and the challenge CLARE REVELL has joined global director. His task will role working for a company of growing digital, consumables HP Indigo UK & Ireland as be to find customers for the making all the right moves in and finishing equipment sales. commercial print sales manager. marketing technology platform terms of innovation and invest- In Europe, Sutton becomes Revell spent seven years at that Webmart has developed. ment,” he says. n

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• Correct as of 10-05-18