may-2020 - Print Business

THE MAGAZINE FOR FORWARD THINKING PRINTINGMAY/JUNE 2020

Explore more…COVER STORY What next for the printing industry?

DRUPA What would have happened in Düsseldorf.

COVID-19 How print stepped up during the coronavirus crisis.

Explore more at printbusiness.co.uk

www.printbusiness.co.uk March/April 2020� 3

THE EDITOR’S COMMENT

THE MAN IN THE HAT, GARETH WARD has been the editor of Print Business since its second issue in 2005. Five years later he took control of the magazine in a management buyout and fully achieved his vision to create a unique publication for printers. There are numerous industry titles that report the announcements in the news: the technology, the installations, the good or bad financial results of the big corporates, people coming and going, the events and exhibitions, often concentrating on one aspect.

What Print Business does is take all this information – supplied via press releases, announcements at events, word of mouth or good old fashioned journalism – sorts the puffery from the facts, weaves it together and puts it into context for those who run print businesses.

At the heart of everything that Print Business publishes are the printers. Those whose businesses are no longer about simply feeding paper into a giant lump of highly engineered metal and selling the sheet that comes out the other end. Those who face myriad decisions, some of which point in opposite directions, and need to know more than how fast it prints, what the click charge is or how much it costs.

They need to know what affects them and how. Just as every print job is bespoke, every print company is different. There is no one-size-fits-all in this industry.

Before Covid, Gareth Ward was out and about all the time. He went to print factories and talked to printers in their language. He has seen first hand the problems they face, the solutions they find, their achievements and their innovation. He will be back on the frontline once it is safe to do so. Try stopping him.

People like reading about people, and especially those people like themselves. That is why Print Business has more case studies about printers than any other single source.

Before Print Business, Gareth Ward worked on the leading weekly magazine Printing World for 22 years and was editor for 15. It is this experience, and 360° view of the industry, that gives him his sixth sense about printing. His ability to spot trends, often years before they become apparent in the mainstream, is legendary (search for Publishing In The Digital Age on PrintBusiness.co.uk to see his 1998 prediction of what media consumption would be like in 2010, the year the iPad was launched).This is Print Business, the magazine for forward thinking printing.

AFTER THE VIRUS: AFTER THE VIRUS: THE SHAPE OF THE SHAPE OF PRINT TO COMEPRINT TO COMEMACBETH SUMMED IT UP “I am

in blood stepped in so far that to go

back were as tedious as to go o’er”.

In other words we are up to our knees

in it and have no choice but to keep

going to the other side. Nobody

knows what dry land will look like,

only that it will be very different to

the land we left behind at the end of

last year.

The pandemic is changing

behaviours across the whole economic

system, perhaps with changes to the

political system to come. People will

want to carry on working from home

for at least some of the time; sales

calls will not be welcome, ending the

justification for company cars. Many

are sitting outside offices and homes

racking up monthly charges with

nowhere to go. People want to do

business online and printers need to

shape up fast.

Hospitality, entertainment, travel,

tourism, retail – all have been big

customers for print in recent years.

All are currently buying minimal

amounts of print just to keep the

business ticking over until the world

returns to normal. Only there is no

business as usual.

Some things, however, seem to be

clear. The internet will become more

and more intrinsic to business life.

Product demonstrations and sales

conversations will take place using

conferencing technology. Once the

machine is in place, training and

then service will take place from a

distance.

Then the question arises about

what will be the appropriate

machinery. It will need to be as

automated as possible, with remote

connectivity to lead to the Smart

Factory and the sort of remote data

connection that is necessary for

diagnostics, for spotting training

issues, for managing production

schedules, for set up of jobs almost

instantly.

In the new normal there will be no

place for makeready. Nobody will pay

you to produce waste. That can define

waste in terms of sheets of paper and

consumables; it can be lost time; it

can be mistakes in job preparation.

These must be eliminated. One of

the factors driving the success of

ESP in Swindon a decade ago was

that it would make ready in less time

than customers had paid for. If there

was a standing 15 minutes charge for

makeready, the printer going from

one job to the next in five minutes

has gained ten minutes of production

time which can be sold to another

customer. Nobody now is going to

pay that set up time any more than a

printer should pay the set up charges

required by trade finishers. It is …

4 March/April 2020 www.printbusiness.co.uk

COMMENT GARETH WARD’S THOUGHTS ON…

simply anachronistic.

Likewise the age of the salesman

who wins work through amiability

and long term personal contacts

is passing. Few customers are

going to welcome a visit from

someone “popping in for a coffee

as they are just passing” any longer.

Communications will be using the

internet, presentations made by

Zoom. Orders will be placed via web

portals, with set pricing for all but

the most sophisticated projects. That

pricing might be agreed on some kind

of contract, a subscription if you like,

or be an adhoc price. This has been

driven by the online printers and the

amount of work that they are picking

up suggests that print specifiers are

happy to buy in this way. In any

case the buyers used to the old ways

(not necessarily those long retired

print buyers who would distribute a

Christmas list each year to suppliers

and prospective suppliers like a child

sending a letter to Santa) are retiring

fast. The Generation Z coming to

join the ranks of the employed do not

think like this.

And these are both our immediate

customers and the customers of our

customers. These are going to shape

how print is used and how it is bought

in the coming years. The printer that

wants to be successful in that time

needs to understand this generation.

They have grown up thinking that

the internet and smart phones are

the natural order of things, not

something that is new. They are

always connected to each other and to

the world at large. Their experiences,

not their possessions, define them.

The rising cost of housing and

material possessions means that

renting furniture, clothing and more

is a way to access quality products

that are otherwise unattainable. It’s

not so new. When colour television

first arrived companies like Radio

Rentals enjoyed great success renting

televisions which were relatively

expensive and just as unreliable.

Online shopping with goods

returned as easily as they have been

ordered is supported by new ways

of financing this lifestyle. And of

course print has a role to play, albeit

a different role, in this world of

experience first. In conversations

for this issue, one company director

recalled the lockdown party for his

18-year-old. The group of friends

had congregated on Zoom and there

were squeals of delight as gifts were

carefully taken from their boxes,

even more when that gift turned

out to have a personalised label and

personalised letter addressed to

the birthday girl and signed by the

director of the company responsible

for the bottle of shampoo. It was

not the product that provided the

excitement but the packaging and

accoutrements around the product.

This generation too wants to tread

lightly upon the planet. The rise of

veganism is driven by this mood,

likewise the protests about the

environment that has been subsumed

by seemingly more pressing concerns.

But do not think that concern for

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MEDIA INFORMATION The Media Pack is available under the Information tab at PrintBusiness.co.uk

…

B2? The format is not the question.

The real question is where is B2 print

going? And there are decisions that

those in that sector need to make

that will push printers to the point of

existentialism. It is not as cut and dried

as when B3 print went digital. As digital

matures into a fully formed, grown up

technology, is it time for litho to make

a dignified exit? page 40.

www.printbusiness.co.uk March/April 2020� 5

…HOW A VIRUS CHANGED EVERYTHING COMMENT

the environment, for the waste that

is produced, is going away. In the

immediate aftermath there may be

a short lived return to the use of

plastic, but it will be short lived.

The new generation of customers

are going to want to see you live the

environmental labels that are too

frequently simply badges to decorate

the website. Possession of ISO 14001

certification is not enough. What

happens to the waste that is generated

by the print company? Can you

explain the product lifecycle of your

purchase and the companies that you

deal with. Nobody will pay you to

produce waste, even indirectly.

Those supply chains are going to

be shorter. Many businesses have

discovered that supply chains that

stretch around the globe have too

many linkages that can easily be

broken. Shorter more robust supply

chains that can be more responsive

will come to the fore, less just in time

and more just in case.

Orders will be for precise numbers,

followed by frequent top up orders if

needed. The days of print for storage

in a warehouse are numbered or for

shipping around the world. Again

nobody is going to pay for the waste

inherent in this sort of supply chain.

Distributed production is coming.

Then there the question of which

sectors of industry or the economy

will prove to be the major users of

print. Clearly anything to do with

health and safety, social distancing

and so on is crucial and will not be

disappearing soon – the floor sticker

is the print product of the pandemic.

Food and drink will continue to

be big users of print, helped by a

new wave to start up businesses

created by those made redundant

during this period. Retail whether

online or on the high street will need

print. Catalogues will be more of

a lifestyle statement than anything

that resembles a tome from Grattans

and will drive an online purchase

or perhaps be used to preselect the

products that will be looked at in the

store. No shop will want browsers

particularly if by law, or by social

pressure, the number of people per

metre is limited. They want people

to make purchases and leave space for

the next set of wallets. It works for

Screwfix.

Ultimately though the logic points

to shorter print runs, more targeted

and a greater use of digital printing

as much because when a company

has to tackle hundreds of jobs a day

it cannot have the resources to do this

with litho plates and carry the burden

of makeready that is inevitable with

the traditional process however much

refined. Digital printing carries the

promise of doing this, at quality,

at the right price and with the

consistency and reliability that has

not always been present in the past.

With digital print waste can almost

be eliminated. And that, in the new

normal, is what counts. n

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The concrete beneath our feet.

The demand for floor graphics has increased exponentially in the last few

short months and it is unlikely to ever

go away. Like unseemly beneficiaries at a wake, marketers are eyeing up

the rich real estate and planning how

to make the most of this new revenue

stream once the mourning period is

over. page 31.

6 May/June 2020 www.printbusiness.co.uk�

INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY

Drupa to go online as a preview for the 2021 showMESSE DÜSSELDORF is

planning a virtual Drupa to take

place in Q4 this year, several

months before the doors open

on the rescheduled exhibition in

April next year.

That show will open with

fewer exhibitors after Xerox and

Bobst declared that they would

be absent from the Messe.

Xerox has been hit by the

closure of offices across the

globe and subsequent dip in

printing and has said that the

2021 event falls outside its

cycle to bring new products to

market.

The company will also be

regrouping after the end of its

joint venture with Fujifilm a few

weeks beforehand.

The absence of Bobst will be

felt more keenly, particularly as

the Swiss company increased its

floor space by 30% for 2020,

compared to the 2016 event.

As its focus is on packaging

print the company has not been

as badly hit by Covid-19, though

many investment projects

have been put on hold. It has

explained that skipping Drupa

is part of a new strategy to focus

on its competence centres and

online conversations. This will

allow for deeper conversations,

testing customer concepts,

reduced environmental impact,

digitised workflows and more.

And as Bobst knows the

customers likely to invest in its

technology in the mature econ-

omies, it is unlikely to engage

new customers at next year’s

trade shows.

It has also cancelled participa-

tion at Interpack, which has also

been rescheduled for 2021, and

next year’s Labelexpo. Messe

Düsseldorf will be hoping that

these do not set a damaging

trend, something that hit Ipex

when it moved to London.

The idea behind Drupa’s

digital preview is to allow

“numerous exhibitors to

present themselves online, to

prepare for the world’s leading

trade fair for printing technolo-

gies,” the Messe company says.

Drupa itself has yet to make any

announcement.

The announcement comes

in statements by Werner

Dornscheidt, CEO of Messe

Düsseldorf, who is retiring at

the end of this month. “In addi-

tion to the further development

of content we are continuing to

extend the digital presentation

options for our customers,” he

says.

“We are constantly further

developing these formats to

make our customers’ content

even more attractive and user

friendly.”

Following the postponement of the show, Drupa will stage an online preview to highlight launches planned for this year.

Encore�delivers�envelope�impactENCORE ENVELOPES has

brought an 18-month project

to an end with the launch of an

inline embossing offer for enve-

lopes, along with the ability to

print with a range of LED cured

varnish effects.

The investment in the

embossing unit means that

Encore is the only envelope

printer in the UK able to offer

this, it says.

Russel Croisdale, managing

director of the group, says: “We

have always had a reputation

for being innovative with our

production methods, and we

are known worldwide for our

printing process for direct mail

envelopes.

“Now, to enhance the high

quality of print, we have been

running successful tests of UV

LED technology to offer clients

a variety of new coatings,

including spot high gloss, matt,

soft touch and textured finishes.

“We have also been testing

our new inline embossing unit,

which allows us to either emboss

images in register or to create

an all over embossed pattern

which, when printed, makes

the envelope much more eye

catching.”

The company has run tests for

customers and has received what

Croisdale calls “positive inter-

est” from transactional mailers

that like the concept of emboss-

ing the envelope with a company

logo or brand name to increase

awareness.

Flint�Group�nears�saleFLINT GROUP IS CLOSE to

completing a change of owner-

ship according to reports from

the financial world.

The group is in the hands of

private equity owners Goldman

Sachs, and Koch Industries is

said by Reuters to be close to

agreeing a deal to amend and

extend loans totalling €1.7

billion. This would push the

maturity date out by two years

on slightly changed terms.

This is considered a precur-

sor to the eventual sale of what

is the world’s second largest ink

maker, after Dainippon Ink &

Chemicals, owner of Sun. It

reports that Flint was put up for

sale at the end of last year.

Since then the company has

been affected by supply chain

disruption caused by the Covid-

19 disruption and the trade

dispute between the US and

China.

Sales have also been hit by

the pandemic, with Ebitda for

this year expected to be short

of the €266 million it reported

for 2019.

The sale may result in division

for a business that spans inks

and consumables for commer-

cial printing and packaging and

which also owns Xeikon. The

current business was formed

when Flint’s owner, CVC, led

the merger of Flint with BASF

and Akzo Nobel to form a group

that was sold in 2014 to Goldman

Sachs and Koch at a valuation of

more than €2.2 billion.

AB�Graphics�becomes�EcoLeaf�OEMAB GRAPHICS HAS become

an OEM partner to Actega

Metal Print and will deploy

that company’s EcoLeaf foiling

system as part of its finishing

lines.

It will be part of the Digicon

3 lines, both as supplied as

Flint is the world’s second largest ink maker.

…

We printyour world

For over 200 years we have combined inks

and substrates enabling creation of a boundless variety of printed products. Because printing is our world.

koenig-bauer.com



Heidelberg strides towards new operating baseHEIDELBERG HAS reached

agreement with employees

over the number of job losses

required for the restructuring

plan led by CEO Rainer Hunds-

dørfer. It is losing 1,600 jobs,

400 fewer than first announced.

The Wiesloch factory will

bear the brunt of the job losses

with 1,000 positions to go, A

further 250 will be cut from

the 4,000 employees outside

Germany. The agreement means

that there will be no compulsory

redundancies. There are already

600 partial retirement contracts

with others signed up to trans-

fer companies that will organise

retraining and finding alterna-

tive employment.

The job losses are an essential

part of the restructuring plan. It

has already led to the announced

closure of the Primefire 106

project and production of VLF

sheetfed presses.

The job losses come from

these production areas but also

from sales, administrative and

R&D staff.

The need for the reorganisa-

tion has been underlined by year

end results for the 12 months

until the end of March. Sales fell

6% to €2.3 billion, while incom-

ing orders have dived as a result

of the pandemic sweeping from

China across Europe and into

North and South America.

“Our financial year was

shaped by a significant down-

turn in the global economic

climate, and that affected our

customers and Heidelberg

itself, too,” says Hundsörfer.

“Through our package of meas-

ures which we have announced

in March, we have paved the

way for Heidelberg to achieve

stability, improve our liquidity

and increase profitability step

by step for the long term.”

One of these changes is a

simplification and extension

of its subscription offers. The

modified approach builds on

feedback from the first round

of subscription contracts under

which printers pay for the

number of sheets printed using

Heidelberg presses, its portfolio

of consumables and consultancy

intended to increase the produc-

tivity of the user. This has

called on the mountain of data

that is accumulated by constant

communication and feedback

from Heidelberg’s presses.

The changed models includes

four contract types, Lifecy-

cle Smart and Lifecycle Plus,

and Subscription Smart and

Subscription Plus. The Life-

cycle packages start with the

Smart module which covers

services and consumables only.

Lifecycle Plus includes a Prinect

subscription. The Subscription

Smart package adds consultancy

and training with Subscription

Plus as the full version includ-

ing equipment in the monthly

payment.

Heidelberg can point to

customers signing up to these

deals from around the world,

though none have yet been

announced in the UK. “The

company has had some learn-

ing in terms of the modules that

are offered and what’s easier for

customers,” says UK managing

director Ryan Miles. “What we

can see from across the business

is that demand is highest for the

Subscription Smart version.

Printers can transfer to that

module with existing or recently

purchased machinery. It’s pay as

you use whether there’s capital

equipment involved or not.”

Heidelberg Assistant is one of the tools that is part of the new offering.

new or as a retrofit to exist-

ing machines. Matt Burton,

sales director of AB Graphic

International, says: “We regard

EcoLeaf as a new category of

metallisation, that will enable

our customers to differentiate

themselves with new and excit-

ing print embellishments.”

The technology made its

debut at Drupa in 2016 as part

of the Landa stand. Landa

subsequently sold this to

Altana where it became part

of the Actega division, which

has turned the concept into a

commercial proposition. The

company announced a first beta

site for EcoLeaf in Germany

and had planned the commercial

launch for Drupa.

A trigger image in printed by

flexo, screen or shorty inkjet,

which is then cured and becomes

the bed for the nano sized flakes

of metal. As the substrate passes

through the tiny flakes of metal,

they adhere in contact with the

glue to create a fine image with

none of the waste associated

with conventional hot or cold

foils.

Burton adds: “We think

that the drive to become more

sustainable will begin to drive

business decisions more and

more and that as quality of

sustainable, more eco friendly

solutions such as EcoLeaf,

improves they will become more

and more viable. That sustain-

ability is the key driver for us.”

LabelTec�leads�with�KM�label�pressLABELTEC SCOTLAND has

become the first in the UK with

the Konica Minolta Accurio

Label 230, continuing a long

standing relationship with the

supplier. Managing direc-

…

Paul Dunne with the latest Konica Minolta label press for LabelTec.

…

Jan Franz Allerkamp of Actega and Matt Burton of

AB Graphic shake on the

deal.



Delga starts label business to retain workDELGA GROUP IS launching

Delga Labels, its first diversifi-

cation into label printing, based

around investment in an HP

Indigo 6900 label press.

This is the sixth Indigo in

the group which, according to

managing director Ian Conetta,

makes the Kent printer the only

UK company with Indigos in

three different business areas:

entertainment packaging,

commercial print and now labels.

The new press is installed

in the Rochester plant and is

hooked up to a Series 2 Digicon

and SR3300 rewind unit, also

supplied by AB Graphics. This

gives the business the capacity

to print for existing and new

clients. “The group has had a

need for label manufacturing for

some time,” says Conetta.

“We explored the route of

acquisition for 18 months but

didn’t find the right deal. There

was a business case to set up

our own label division just to

bring external work in-house,

but with such a significant press

we will be looking to grow new

revenue streams.”

The company has recruited

an operations manager and

quality manager, both with

experience in labels. It has also

recruited a business manager

who, says Conetta, will focus on

developing demand for labels.

“An operator from our Indigo

12000HD has retrained on the

6900 and finishing staff have

received training on the ABG

machines,” he adds.

It has made the diversifica-

tion into foil fed label printing

relatively straightforward. “It

was clear we needed expertise,

and bringing in an operations

manager with substantial knowl-

edge in this field has meant the

transition has been relatively

easy,” Conetta explains.

The relationship with HP

made the choice of production

platform relatively straightfor-

ward. The Digicon enables the

company to laminate, die cut,

spot and flood varnish, apply

cold foil and print with two flexo

units and strip out before slitting

and rewinding. At the front end,

the label printing will be driven

through the existing Fuji XMF

workflow into the Indigo’s DFE.

Delga Group comprises Delga

Press in Rochester, which is the

country’s largest manufacturer

of entertainment packaging, for

luxury goods and vaping prod-

ucts; CSP, which counts NHS

Trusts among its customers; and

commercial print through Scar-

butts and T&T Litho, its most

recent acquisition. Delga Labels

will meet a need for labels from

across these operations where

the company has previously

bought in labels as needed.

Says Conetta: “Delga Labels

will offer new and exist-

ing customers the ability to

be creative with their label

manufacturing, utilising our

personalisation and variable data

capabilities, while also remain-

ing proactive, responsive and

flexible to their needs. This is

a very exciting addition to the

Delga Group.”

Ian Conetta in Rochester with the new Indigo.

tor Paul Dunne says that the

new machine “has everything

we wanted: web guides, higher

speed and even the ability to slit.

“And the toner works incred-

ibly well with our foiling, which

has been a nice added bonus, so

it was an easy choice to make the

investment”.

Go�Inspire�shows�strength�in�its�numbersGO INSPIRE HAS published

figures that show a small revenue

increases for 2019/2020, with

CEO Patrick Headley saying

that the strength of the balance

sheet will be protection against

the uncertainty of the times.

Turnover in 2020 reached

£71.9 million with Ebitda of

£7.7 million, compared to £70.1

million in revenue and Ebitda of

£6.7 million last year.

None the less there will be

significant disruption because

if the lockdown, eased by being

appointed a Covid-19 Critical

Supplier.

It has taken advantage of

the furlough scheme, though is

pressing ahead with investment

at Eclipse in Kettering with Pace

guillotine systems, folders and

stitching to follow print invest-

ment last year.

It is also starting to field more

calls and the order books are

growing, even if loadings will

not return to normal until the

end of the year, it says.

Headley adds that the

company is “in a strong position

to weather the current storm

and come out even stronger as

the national economy begins to

recover”.

Harris�delivers�direct�to�dinner�plateKELLY HARRIS IS LOOKING for printers or print manage-

ment operations with customers

in the restaurant or pub trades

to take on an online ordering

application.

But this initiative is not for

the pub’s management team

to order marketing materials

via a web portal, but a means

for the hospitality establish-

ment to sell takeaways in what

Harris has dubbed “web to

dinner plate”.

He explains that it should

help these businesses connect

with customers during the

enforced lockdown period, with

the idea coming when Harris

experienced the difficulties

firsthand.

“I really fancied a treat, but

didn’t want the usual Chinese or

Indian takeaway.

“As my local pub had

…

Kelly Harris sees an opportunity to exploit his print experience to help the restaurant trade.

…

www.uk.heidelberg.com

+44 (0) 844 892 2010

Highly Effi cientTotal Packagingsolutions from Heidelberg

Sheetfed

Postpress

Heidelberg Service

Saphira Consumables

Workfl ow Integration (Prinect)



Lockdown move is a bit of an opportunity for Peter ScottPETER SCOTT PRINTERS has completed a £200,000 move

into a £1 million factory during

the height of the Covid-19

pandemic.

The five-mile move across

Burnley began on 24 March, the

day after the UK’s lockdown was

announced, and was complete

by 13 April. The company had

to split its team into shifts to

minimise unnecessary contact

and to make it easier to practise

social distancing.

Now the company is up and

running and is enjoying an

unexpected boost in demand.

Commercial director Joanne

Hindley says: “We expected

challenging times, planned to

close up shop and then there

was a cry for help. We have

seen demand for items such as

essential signposting for local

authorities, social distancing

signs for supermarkets, prod-

ucts for food chains and labels

for manufacturers, mainly

bakeware products as people

are spending more time in the

kitchen.”

The single-level open plan

factory is 25% larger than its old

premises, which was arranged

over several levels. It had been

an asset for some 15 years, being

leased to a tenant until recently.

It offers the opportunity for the

business to operate with greater

efficiency, something that will

be compounded by adopting

lean management techniques.

“We started eight months ago

to streamline production and

processes,” she says. “The old

factory was inefficient. This new

one is open plan and work flow

is far better. This will certainly

save us valuable time and

increase capacity. We will have

capacity for an extra £1 million

of sales a year.”

The company engaged with

consultants at AMRC North

West, part of the University of

Sheffield, to help with the new

strategy, devising the stream-

lined workflows and time saving

measures that will enable the

business to remain ahead of

competitors. The European

Regional Development Fund

provided some of the funding

needed for the project.

At the same time the company

has replaced an Agfa plateset-

ter with the latest version with

Azura chemistry-free plates.

This feeds its five- and six-

colour B1 Speedmaster and

its Speedmaster 74-6. The

company has a full service offer-

ing, backing the litho capacity

with digital print, stitching and

perfect binding and die cutting

platen with foil blocking.

Hindley adds: “I would

encourage all businesses to look

at opportunities rather than

feel defeated. In these difficult

times we have managed to not

turn down a single job and have

done everything we can to keep

our workforce. We want to play

a part in getting Britain moving

again after this crisis is over. Part

of our role in that is remaining

open and functioning. Those

who work at Peter Scott Print-

ers are hidden heroes.”

Joanne Hindley says the move will make the company far more efficient.

been pushing their takeaway

service on Facebook I decided to

give it go,” he says.

“Eventually, after numerous

engaged calls I got through,

placed my order and gave my

credit card details.

From that moment onwards

the transaction was as you’d

expect, but it did leave me

wondering how many people

didn’t persevere with the calls,

that I’d given out my credit card

details and that a person was

constantly on the phone dealing

with orders.

“All in all, perfect for a

Web2DinnerPlate solution.”

His company, New Element

Solutions, was established with

another former colleague from

Cimpress, intending to develop

a cloud application for web

to print applications. But the

collapse in this type of work

during the lockdown stymied

the beta testing phase.

Print4UK�brings�binding�in�houseENFIELD DIGITAL printer

Print4UK has installed a

Horizon BQ270 to bring

perfect binding jobs in house

and so provide the flexibility

to deliver a book of one, up to

runs of several hundred copies

or more.

“After some research and

conversations with other SME

printers,” says John Attard,

director of corporate services,

“We approached IFS and asked

if we could see a demonstration

of a machine in situ rather than

in the showroom.

“This was arranged and, after

seeing the machine in action, we

were persuaded with what we

saw.”

The single-clamp binder is

expected to generate a strong

return over four years, based

on current volumes, with

Attard saying that “we hope

this will increase as we spread

the word”.

Canon�begins��iX�series�salesCANON HAS ANNOUNCED the first orders for its new

iX3000 and iX2100 cutsheet

inkjet presses.

The first UK customer is

understood to be Severn which

already has an i300 cutsheet

machine and a Canon Color-

stream 3900. It will be getting

the iX2100 entry level version.

The first named customer for

the iX3000 is Kampert-Nauta, a

Dutch printer with large online

presence.

Flags�for�WFH�impressionsNORTHERN FLAGS HAS been swift to capture the work

from home zeitgeist, promot-

ing its ability to print pull up

banners that hide all manner

of domestic untidiness as back-

grounds for online conference

calls and virtual meetings.

…

…

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Tabard Aprons

Sneeze Guards

Face Visors & Masks

Safety Signage

Window Stickers

Strut Cards

Safety Guards Desk Dividers



NP Design & Print reveals healthy coatingNP DESIGN AND PRINT is delivering all print with a

seal that includes a proven anti

microbial compound.

The Wallingford company

began looking for a suitable

additive when the Covid-19

crisis broke and, says business

development director Jon Nye,

found it after searching the

internet. “We add it into our

current aqueous seal and it is

being used on all our print. I

took the opportunity to speak

to a few of the doctors that

created it in Germany and now

we are happy to offer it to all our

clients.” There is no additional

cost to them.

A number of anti microbial

seals were developed for print

a decade ago, but most have

been discontinued for lack of

demand. Outside of special-

ist jobs for healthcare there has

been no need to protect print

despite tests showing how infec-

tions can build up on inflight

magazines and material in public

spaces. This is now chang-

ing. One job that NP Design &

Print produces has always been

encapsulated to offer this sort of

protection through a wipe clean

surface.

This sparked Nye’s quest to

find an alternative to encap-

sulation that would protect

the reader against unwanted

diseases. While there is no

explicit protection against

Covid-19 because of its

newness, the coating has been

thoroughly tested and shown

to remove bacteria and other

infectious agents, ecoli included.

A laboratory test involving

samples through the print run

can be organised for £250.

“Some customers may want this

for their own benefit,” he adds.

“The option is there.

“We are totally transparent

about what we are doing and are

absolutely open if people want

to ask us questions.”

The coating has been used

on a 60,000 run direct mail

piece about healthcare prod-

ucts and provides an extra level

of reassurance to householders

receiving the communication.

Other clients cover market-

ing collateral across the board

printed on its B2 Speedmaster,

digital or large format printers.

The product that NP Design

& Print is using comes in

concentrated form and has to

be combined as instructed with

the standard coating that the

company applies on press. This

requires some face mask protec-

tion at the point of mixing, with

full guidance provided by the

Germany supplier.

“Nobody asked us to do this,”

says Nye. “It was something

that we felt would be useful to

clients.”

It will also produce cushions,

bunting and window stickers in

order to “professionalise home

working”.

Global�Graphics�provides�speedy�solutionGLOBAL GRAPHICS HAS addressed one of the key barri-

ers potentially holding back the

adoption of inkjet printing.

The UK company has

announced Direct, a new style

of software intended to drive

high speed, high resolution,

high productivity inkjet print-

ers that are currently being

announced and are reaching the

market.

This combines Ripping,

screening and the ability to drive

a print head without having to

write processed files to disk for

the press to retrieve them at the

point of printing.

The date flow rates to and

from the disk, either a hard

drive or SSD, has become a

barrier as printhead resolutions

have increased, as firing rates

have grown and as the number

of nozzles that need to be

controlled has exploded. Each

requires an exponential increase

in the data generated.

Moving from 600dpi to

1200dpi means a four fold

increase in the amount of data;

add in wider print widths,

additional colours in packaging

applications and faster print-

heads and the data handling

needed explodes.

“This is the first fully inte-

grated product line that removes

the need to Rip ahead of print-

ing,” says Eric Worrall, VP

product management at Global

Graphics Software.

It combines the technol-

ogy in Streamline to optimise

a PDF ahead of the Harlequin

PDF Rip and the screening of

ScreenPro and PrintFlat where

applicable.

These will then drive the

printhead electronic directly,

an example being the Meteor

NozzleFix technology that

resides in a sister company in

the group.

“With higher resolutions,

press speeds pushing to 300m/

minute, additional print bars

to extend the gamut and wider

arrays, data rate becomes a tech-

nical barrier,” says Worrall.

“We need to provide our

OEMs with a complete software

engine rather than a separate

components that they have to

integrate.”

Kodak�dips��in�Q1KODAKS’ REVENUES FOR the first three months of 2020

were down over the same period

last year, and this is before any

measurable impact from the

Covid-19 pandemic.

The company reported

sales of $264 million ($297

million) with decline in tradi-

tional printing to $154 million

($166 million), digital print-

ing to $65 million ($72 million)

and advanced materials to £42

million ($48 million). Within

this, volumes of the Sonora

process-free plate increased

18%.

Executive chairman Jim

Continenza believes that thanks

to action taken last year to

stem outgoing cashflows, the

company is in a strong position

to come through the current

crisis. “Kodak started the

quarter on a positive trajectory

and the actions we took last year

to strengthen our balance sheet

are helping us manage through

the slowdown.

“Kodak employees have

risen to the challenge of the

pandemic, continuing to serve

our customers and redirecting

resources to produce isopropyl

alcohol for hand sanitiser

…

Jim Continenza praises the efforts of Kodak employees in responding to the pandemic.

…

I N A R A C E T O T H E F U T U R E

S T I T C H | B I N D | F O L D | C U T | L A M I N AT E | F O I L

M A K E S U R E YO U F I N I S H F I R S T

Intelligent Finishing Systems, Unit C, ATA House,

Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP2 7SS

T: 020 8991 6624 www.ifsl.uk.com

FINISHINGSTARTSHERE



Two Sides fights against infection misconceptionTWO SIDES MANAGING director Jonathan Tame has

condemned Amex for telling

holders of its American Express

charge cards to switch to online

billing because of the risk

of catching Covid-19 from a

printed statement.

Having fought against the

use of greenwash statements to

push consumers towards online

statements, Two Sides now faces

a battle against infection-wash-

ing, the use of erroneous fears

that an infection can be caught

from printed paper.

Where print is handled

frequently or in a sensitive

location, a restaurant menu or

poster in a hospital for example,

an antimicrobial coating may be

useful, but there is no scientific

evidence that a virus or bacteria

can survive on paper or board

for any length of time.

“We are very worried that

an organisation can write to its

customers using Covid-19 as an

excuse to push them to online

statements,” says Tame. “They

have done this without asking a

customer’s permission and it’s a

real worry because the consumer

should have the choice to receive

paper.”

The concern is not restricted

to the finance provider. Retail-

ers have started to reconsider

how they send catalogues to

customers through the post.

Since Blue Planet, many have

switched from polywrap to

naked mailing. Now concerns

about the infection potential of

unprotected paper sent through

the post are causing a rethink.

According to one mailing house:

“Many have moved from naked

mailings because they think this

will be a virus carrier.”

At the start of the lockdown

there were concerns that pack-

aging from online purchases and

deliveries might carry the virus,

but this has been dismissed by

scientists who have previously

tested the ability of infections

to survive on different surfaces.

The World Health Organisa-

tion was pushed into issuing a

statement: “The likelihood of

an infected person contaminat-

ing commercial goods is low and

the risk of catching the virus

that causes Covid-19 from a

package that has been moved,

travelled, and exposed to differ-

ent conditions and temperature

is also low.”

Tame is concerned that the

crisis will be exploited as an

excuse to cut back on the use

of print. “In the last recession

sustainability quickly became

less important and use of print

fell. The importance of CSR

policies reduced significantly.

Companies were not interested

in the environment,. They were

only interested in commercial

issues.

“The question is now whether

the importance of sustain-

ability has become embedded

in companies and will still be

important as we come out of

Covid-19, if that is followed by

a recession.”

PRJonathan Tame highlights that Amex is trying to use the pandemic to save money on printed statements.

and manufacture face masks

using our film base materials.”

The new products, includ-

ing new versions of the Sonora

process free plate, Prinergy and

digital print products, would

have been launched next month

at Drupa.

The company announced

these in the same time frame,

though without the fanfare

opportunity that an exhibition

provides.

Koenig�&�Bauer�builds�boardKOENIG & BAUER HAS

brought in two new directors,

one as a replacement and the

other to oversee its production

sites in Radebeul, Würzburg

and Frankenthal.

Michael Ulverich is joining

the company in the chief oper-

ating officer role at a time when

production faces the great-

est challenges of recent times

because of the pandemic.

Prior to joining Koenig &

Bauer, Ulverich worked for

Krauss Maffei Wegmann, the

company that produces the

Leopard tank and railway

engines, where he was manag-

ing director and chief operating

officer.

Dr Stephen Kimmich joins

the management board as as

chief finance officer. He joins

the press manufacture from

Joyson Safety Systems where

he was CFO for the company’s

EMEA operations.

Kimmich replaces Dr

Mathias Dähn who is leaving the

company after six years, having

been in control as Koenig &

Bauer recovered from the finan-

cial crisis.

At the same time Ralf

Sammeck is adding the role of

chief digital officer to exist-

ing responsibilities over sales.

The new role includes “group

wide coordination of the digital

transformation” in the business.

This includes the roll out of

a company wide SAP system to

track everything in the business.

This project is expected to be

complete in 2021.

The company has issued

statements to reassure people

that using banknotes is safe,

responding to ‘fake news’ asso-

ciated with Covid-19.

The European Bank, it says,

has stated “that there is no

evidence of coronavirus trans-

mission via banknotes”.

Paragon�grows�in�office�suppliesPARAGON HAS BEEN swift

to follow on from its acquisition

of office stationery businesses

OfficeTeam and ZenOffice, by

buying Spicers Ireland, among

the largest office supplies

wholesalers in the country. The

strategy is to build Paragon into

a broad based service provider

for business in Ireland, the UK

and across Europe.

Simply’s�choice�is�another�BobstSIMPLY CARTONS HAS installed a Bobst ExpertCut

106PER die cutting platen at its

Nottingham factory, part of an

ongoing investment strategy.

The 9,000cph machine will

increase throughput and push

the boundaries of what is possi-

ble for customers, director Paul

Elston says.

The cutter includes Bobst’s

Smart Feeder technology for

non stop feeder and Power

Register 3 for precise alignment

to the printed image.

…

…

PRINT THAT PAYS

At Kodak we’re focused on delivering solutions that help printers succeed

as the industry evolves. That means increasing your productivity while

reducing costs so you can capitalize on opportunities for growth. From

traditional offset to leading-edge digital, we offer a complete portfolio of

cutting-edge products supported by outstanding service that will help

increase your profitability and take you to the next level.

Find out more at kodak.com/go/print

© 2

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DUPLO INTERNATIONAL is launching an entry light

production level multi finisher

which will replace its successful

DC616, which was introduced

six years ago.

In response to customer

feedback, the DC618 is faster,

more powerful and more versa-

tile than the previous model.

When delivering business cards

from ten printed sheets with 15

cards on each, the old unit took

three and a half minutes. The

same job on the DC618 takes 90

seconds. It will deliver 190 busi-

ness cards from a 21-up sheet in

one minute.

The DC618 will process jobs

with up to six slits, 30 cuts and

20 creases in the same pass, with

set up dictated from information

accessed via a printed bar code

to identify the job. A scanner

will pick up a printed register

mark. The PC controller will

hold 50 jobs in memory. It will

handle sheets from 110-400gsm.

An optional tray will enable long

sheets to be fed.

Operation is through a

touch panel with a PC used

for setting up a job using a

graphical interface that will

be familiar to anyone with

Windows experience.

Duplo says the unit will

process sheets at a maximum

rate of 23 sheets a minute,

dependent on the complexity

of the job. The range of work

spans the typical profile of

commercial print, particularly

digital work: business cards,

invitations, greetings cards,

brochures, book covers, direct

mailers and more.

There is a greater range of

possibilities over the DC616

thanks to optional modules

for perforating and for cross

scoring. And there is a digital

controller to link the DC618 into

a production network. In theory,

operation can be via a mobile

phone in the middle of the night.

A more likely modus operandi

is as part of a socially distanced

production cell, matching the

multi finisher with the new

Ricoh Pro C5300 entry level

production printer for ‘while

you wait’ production of short

run jobs with a single operator

handling both devices.

The new press has replaced

the C5200, which found its

place in inplants and small

copy shops, but lacked some

of the finesse that provides the

appeal to commercial print-

ers. This made the Ricoh Pro

C7200 series machines the entry

point for print for pay markets,

leaving a gap that Ricoh now

hopes to fill.

The toner press has a

2400x4800dpi VCSEL diode

for imaging, a duty cycle of

450,000, monthly volume of

150,000, maximum throughput

of 80ppm and the ability to cope

with substrates to 360gsm, non

carbon papers, textured media

and envelopes.

To increase the appeal to

printers, there is a new paper

pass control system improving

front to back registration and a

gloss control unit to match the

reflectance of the media. “These

are features that make this Pro

C5300 much more suitable for

commercial print market,” says

a Ricoh spokesman.

The paper is fed from a

large capacity feeder holding

2,500 sheets and optional trays

to reach a maximum of 8,550

sheets in all. It will cope with

a banner length sheet with an

additional sheet guide tray.

Duplo delivers with entry level multifinisher

Duplo is offering far more with the DC618 for entry level applications.

Combined, these reduce

unplanned stoppages by 75%

and so increase throughput of

the machine.

Baumann�cuts�cost�of�automationFRIEDHEIM International

is marketing an entry level

automated jogging system for

Baumann’s guillotines that can

help ease bottlenecks around

the cutting process and ease the

back strain of lifting and moving

several tonnes of paper a day.

The BASA Evolution is the

new entry level system which

jogs a pile of paper, aligning the

sheets and pressing the stack to

remove air before delivering the

stack to the rear table of a high

speed guillotine. It has a smaller

footprint thanks to a redesign of

some components from the first

generation system. One BASA

Evolution unit can be config-

ured to feed two guillotines.

The full BASA system

includes robot arms to lift

paper into a jogging table and to

shift the pile to the back table,

so enabling one man opera-

tion of a guillotine. This has

been installed in niche opera-

tions including label printers

and online trade printers, but

has proved too much for more

typical commercial printers to

justify. The Evolution aims to

change this as a cut down starter

version that can be extended

with additional modules and

functionality into the fully

specced version.

The technology was devel-

oped and is manufactured

at Baumann’s Solms site in

Germany, where the company

has also developed BASA as a

fully automated cutting line,

developed for operation in label

printers where the same sheet

needs cutting time after time.

…

The BASA Evolution is aimed at easing bottlenecks.

…

JUNE 24, 2020

FUTURE FACTORY IS HERE.

STREAMING.

When the future catches us by surprise, we need to react

promptly, reinventing ourselves with all of the opportunities

the present offers us. This is the theme, today more then ever.

Print4All Conference 2020 will open its doors, now virtual ones,

on June 24, kicking off with all its speakers as that moment of

discussion on innovation towards sustainability that the entire

printing industry could not give up.

Printing the future now. Streaming.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and International Cooperation



Xaar changes course under direction of new CEOXAAR CEO JOHN MILLS anticipates that 2020 will be “a

year of transition, setting the

foundations for future growth

and a return to profitability”

after the extent of the losses

associated with thin film print-

head development became clear

in the annual results.

The UK’s leading inkjet

printhead manufacturer

reported a pretax loss of £9.8

million on continuing activities

and a £71.5 million overall loss

with £56.1 million of this attrib-

uted to the aborted project to

develop the next generation of

thin film piezo printheads.

The company pulled the

plug on this development at

the end of last year, leading to

the departure, after five years,

of Doug Edwards as CEO and

the appointment of Mills in

his stead on 11 October. While

the 5601 printhead was highly

regarded as a product, volume

sales of the 5601 were still a

number of years away, says the

company. Its other thin film

printhead, the 1201, suffered

quality control and integration

issues and is now in its end of

life phase.

The company is left with a

cash pile of £25 million and a

portfolio of piezo printheads,

some with unique attributes,

direct to product operations

and 3D printing. Printheads

remain the core of the business

and Mills has instigated a new

strategy, aiming to return Xaar

to profitable growth.

This has meant a change

in strategy to working only

through OEMs rather than a

dual approach of OEMs and

distributors.

The perception had spread

that Xaar had failed to keep

these bulk inkjet heads up to

date. In discussions, says Mills,

there has been a willingness on

the part of OEMs to reengage

with Xaar over its next genera-

tion of products.

The clearing out of the thin

film cupboard has allowed Mills

to see what else the company has

in stock. “I have been surprised

and excited to discover a range

of technology products that are

at varying stages of the R&D

lifecycle… a real opportunity

to build on the current product

portfolio,” he says.

The first of these will be avail-

able to OEMs for testing towards

the end of the year with a

commercial launch in 2021. “We

have received positive feedback

on the new roadmap,” he says.

This leads to an approach

where Xaar will have a portfolio

of printheads that are differenti-

ated from more straightforward

printheads. Mills hopes this will

enable Xaar to build its presence

in areas where it is currently

under represented, such as large

format graphics, labels, packag-

ing and textiles. The latter two

sectors require the ability to fire

aqueous inks, which the 5601

had, but is not addressed with

other Xaar printheads.

Part of the problem Mills has

identified is a lack of under-

standing about the advantages

that Xaar’s technology has,

partly down to the dual distri-

bution approach, partly to a

sales process which is chang-

ing to emphasise the benefits

of working closely with Xaar,

a clearer pricing policy and the

technical advantages of using

its heads. As an example, he

says the advantages of the

2001+ head are not properly

understood.

John Mills says Xaar will focus on its strengths in jetting high viscosity fluids.

Remote�installation��from�IIJINDUSTRIAL INK JET has

installed a four colour inkjet

array on a Sakurai screen press

in Japan without leaving its

Cambridgeshire headquarters.

Although the inkjet technol-

ogy took a month to travel to

Japan thanks to cancelled and

rerouted flights, the unit was

up and running in time for

Sakurai’s annual open house

demonstrating its latest technol-

ogy. This included a hybrid press

combining Sakurai’s screen and

precision register technology

and IIJ’s inkjet module.

This was demonstrated at

the open house, ahead of the

imposition of further restric-

tions because of the Covid-19

pandemic. “We were supposed

to be out there to handle the

installation and demonstra-

tion,” says marketing manager

Sarah Collard. “In the end we

had to provide remote support

from both the UK and the US

office. And the installation has

been almost faultless,” she says.

The installation was further

complicated because the IIJ

delivery arrived just four days

before the start of the open

house. “We ended up with eight

engineers and two cameramen

at both ends talking to each

other via Skype,” says manag-

ing director John Corrall. A

problem with registration due

to the inability of the CCD

cameras to pick out the tiny

print marks was solved by

increasing the density of those

marks, resulting in an operating

demonstration that was the flag-

ship line at the event.

Premier�on��show�in�WalesPREMIER PAPER HAS combined with Semaphore

Display to print and install a vast

graphic on the country’s Millen-

nium Stadium to deliver a thank

you message to the NHS. Sema-

phore came up with the idea and

approached the stadium author-

ities as one of its long standing

clients.

With no events possible at

the Cardiff venue, the deal was

agreed. Premier Paper provided

Rijet 100 in gloss to be printed

on Sempahore’s Roland VG640

printer. n

The Risetec TR30 three knife trimmimg system features

• touch-screen dimension set-ups• remote diagnostics facility• off-machine setting jig to pre-set the knives• cutting table and press clamp set by hand – average job changeovers of 5 minutes• compatibility with central waste vacuum systems and/or conveyors• ability to trim books, or piles of books, up to 60 mm• can be operated as a stand-alone system

or in-line with Risetec and most other professional binding lines• downstream compatibility with Risetec CT60 Round Corner Cutter

semi-automated heavy-duty 3 knife trimmer

compatible with most binders

Tel: 01993 840077 | Email: [email protected]

Web: www.binderysolutions.co.uk

Innovative solutions

for 21st Century print production

THREE KNIFE TRIMMER

for off-line or in-line operation

TR30designed, engineered and assembled in Italy by specialist manufacturers for the global graphic arts sector

OPTIONALoff-line or in-line

CT60ROUND CORNER CUTTER

for soft cover books

card books

and book blocks

for casing in

A L L T H I N G S B O O K

+

finished booksfrom A6 to A3

cycle speed up to 2,000 /hour


COVER STORY WHAT NEXT?

INDUSTRY IS INDUSTRY IS STRICKEN BY STRICKEN BY CORONAVIRUSCORONAVIRUSPRINT IS HEADING FOR A TORRID TIME THAT WILL TRANSFORM MANY IN THE INDUSTRY FOR THE BETTER, BUT WHICH WILL ALSO CAST MANY BUSINESSES AND PEOPLE ASIDE. EXACTLY HOW IS NOT YET WRITTEN.

Bluetree has made a huge commitment to production of PPE setting up a production facility capable of 1.4 million medically approved masks a week at first and rising to 20 million a week by September.

� www.printbusiness.co.uk May/June 2020� 23

WHAT NEXT? COVER STORY

THE PHONES STARTED RINGING around the industry on the morning on 24

March. It was not good news. Customers

were cancelling campaigns, pulling out of

orders and shelving discussions about new

projects. This was the morning after the

night before, when prime minister Boris

Johnson ordered a lockdown on the country,

the printing industry fell off a cliff.

Display printers that specialise in the

exhibitions and events sector simply had no

work. They began making staff redundant.

Online printers who can see orders for busi-

ness cards, stationery, marketing collateral

and banners as they arrive through websites

instead watched blank computer screens.

The printing industry has experienced

recessions before, but then as the country

entered recession it was as one print boss

puts it “death by a thousand cuts. This was

instant”. It was a beheading. And businesses

were bleeding.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT A FEW DAYS later of the Job Retention Scheme allow-

ing companies to furlough staff with the

government paying 80% of the wage bill

and has undoubtedly saved businesses and

jobs. For now. The Coronavirus Business

Loan Scheme (CBils) promised to save more

companies and jobs, but has perhaps not

been as universally welcomed. Not everyone

has been accepted for the emergency funds.

If the business was not profitable before

the pandemic hit, why would it be worth

supporting, ran the logic. The decision after

frantic lobbying by the BPIF and IPIA and

others to ensure that print could be counted

an essential service has allowed some print-

ers to carry on.

BPIF CHIEF EXECUTIVE CHARLES Jarrold says that in a first survey, those

responding were not all BPIF members.

There had been an almost immediate 70%

drop in orders, 73% of businesses were

open while 12% had closed completely. As

many as 95% of businesses have used the

furlough scheme to avoid the need to make

redundancies.

A follow up showed that the industry was

scaling back up, but it would be nowhere

near a return to normal. If the economy is

going to shrink, then print will shrink with

it and there will be thousands of jobs lost

across printers and suppliers. A quarter

of all UK business are expecting to make

redundancies.

Among the suppliers is Heidelberg,

which had announced a plan to cut 2,000

jobs worldwide ahead of the lockdowns

across Europe. Around 250 of these will be

in overseas subsidiaries, the UK included,

with an average 20% reduction in numbers

because the smaller industry will no longer

support anything other than the leanest

organisations.

The BPIF’s findings about the disappear-

ance of work are endorsed by data from

Heidelberg presses collected via Prinect and

normally used to spot problems that need

addressing. The UK’s commercial printers

were among the hardest hit of any country in

the world. Packaging printers were slightly

better off and a fortnight after the first

survey, packaging print seemed to be getting

back to normal levels of business.

“THERE’S NOT ENOUGH KNOWN at

the moment,” says Ryan Miles, managing

director of Heidelberg UK. “There are too

many unknowns for a lot of printers, espe-

cially in the commercial space: what kind of

set up will they need, over what period and

will ultimately how their business will or

will not be affected.

“It is very hard to take good business deci-

sions if you don’t have the facts. There is no

clear example to follow as a guide to coming

out of this.”

This will mean, he says, a need to examine

the balance of equipment that a company

operates and ensuring the right combina-

tion between digital and litho printing. For

Heidelberg the decision is also between

commercial print and packaging. The latter

is proving more resilient and is where the

company’s focus has been in recent years.

KOENIG & BAUER’S DATA AGREES. Commercial press usage had dropped 50%,

carton printing had fallen 15% according

to data recorded by its remote diagnostic

technology. Both relate to the more modern

presses sold by the manufacturer. Older

machines and those sold by machinery

dealers will not be connected to these

networks and may have found volumes even

more depressed.

Volumes have held up better in specific

sectors: print for food packaging, for phar-

maceuticals, for the NHS, for government,

for newspapers has been necessary, likewise

its use in direct mail has been key to fund

raising efforts by charities, to emotional

well being of those in isolation who receive

a printed greetings card and to support

the flood of e-commerce activity that has

replaced a trip to the shops.

Some printers decided to close for the

immediate future and some have remained

closed. The IPIA’s survey for the BEIS

calculated that the crisis may wipe out one-

fifth of the industry by the end of the year

which will be inline with Bank of England’s

forecasts for GDP and a 12% shrinkage in

the economy for the year predicted by IHS

Markit’s health check based on figures from

the Chartered Institute of Procurement and

Supply..

Mergers and acquisitions will be on the

cards. Businesses will close. Some owners

will decide to close, sell any assets and leave

the industry, having been worn down by

the struggle of the last few years. Another

swathe will downsize radically, moving

out of litho print to focus on digital print-

ing, either large format where prior to the

lockdown there had been growth, or short

runs serving an immediate need from a local

market. Any longer run litho work can be

placed with online trade printers. Again this

was frequently mentioned by respondents in

the IPIA’s report about how the lockdown

would affect its members.

WHAT IS CLEAR IS THAT whatever

happens in the economy at large, the print-

ing industry will not be going back to 2019.

It is not going to be business as usual.

Any crisis will accelerate trends that were

already underway: automation, online

print purchasing, the litho to digital tran-

sition. Simon Biltcliffe, chief executive of

Webmart, says: “Digital interaction has

jumped ten years in the way we we receive

and deliver print and marketing materials.

The adoption of portals has been unbeliev-

able. We have had our marketing portal for

some years, but it was hardly used. Now

within two weeks of lockdown it has become

part of the fabric of our business.”

On a less dramatic scale, Kodak execu-

tive chairman Jim Continenza says: “What

we would have done in 2021 we are doing in

2020.” Like many business across the globe,

working from home has become the rule for

those that do not need to be in the factory,

using digital conferencing tools, such as

Microsoft Teams and Zoom. And like many

other businesses, Kodak has shifted produc-

tion where it has been able to. It is now a

key provider of clear film for production of

visors using its base film stock. It is produc-

ing hand sanitiser and it is producing PCB

films for production of medical ventilators.

PRODUCTION OF MUCH NEEDED PPE has occupied many in print who have

employed cutting tables to produce visors,

led by Prime Group. Renz has also switched

production in Germany from wire and coil

binding to production of visors. UK manag-

ing director Iain Bullock says that “this has

been the only thing keeping us going”. And

it has involved providing the equipment …



to customers outside the printing indus-

try. Renz is also providing PPE to Duplo

International to sell through new parts of its

website. Bullock is the only man in the office

along with a single warehouseman. Every-

one else is working from home.

THE RENZ EXPERIENCE IS FAR FROM unique. Businesses have had to become

flexible to survive where normal sources of

revenue have been cut off. Diversification is

everywhere, using vans that would normally

deliver printed matter into ferrying food or

medical supplies and PPE.

Duplo is also supplying an air purifier as

part of the health products it can offer to

customers for their own use or to supply to

their customers. Like printers themselves,

suppliers found phones going quiet in the

days after lockdown. “April was not a strong

month,” says managing director Martyn

Train. “May was better. Things have defi-

nitely picked up and we are having more

conversations.”

THERE HAVE EVEN BEEN SALES. “We

have sold a booklet maker to a company that

has used a bounceback loan to take advan-

tage of attractive interest rates,” he says.

The CBils scheme can also be used to fund

or part fund investment in new equipment,

or can be used to refinance and fill a nega-

tive equity gap. “Smarter companies are

looking to see what’s available and how best

to exploit it. Experience shows that those

companies that invest in these periods come

out of the period 18 months ahead.”

He is not expecting a swing back as fast

as the pendulum dropped, even if there are

no further set backs through a second wave

of infections, for example. The climb back,

he says, will be led by investment in digital

ways of production and with greater levels

of automation. “People are going to have to

get used to doing more with less. People will

need to link four or five processes together,”

he adds.

THIS WILL BE DRIVEN BY A combi-

nation of factors. Print runs are expected

to fall and thus will be printed on digital

presses and will use finishing equipment

that matches the press and the automation

levels. The multi finisher comes into its own,

slitting, creasing and folding in one pass,

supervised by one operator who is also likely

to be running the adjacent digital press.

Social distancing rules will also favour

cellular production with one operator

looking after a digital press and the finish-

ing equipment alongside it. This will be a

huge change for many small printers occu-

pying premises where operators, finishing

machines and pallets of work in progress can

be cheek by jowl in a way that is going to be

simply unacceptable in future.

RAY HILLHOUSE IS MANAGING direc-

tor of the Plockmatic offline business based

on Morgana and Watkiss technologies. Like

Duplo, sales plummeted and where they

have come back, he says it has been with

inplant buyers. This is hardly surprising. On

lockdown, calls about service dropped from

300 a week to just three. It has started to pick

up, indicating that some of these businesses

are starting to return to work. But it will not

be like it was before. There will have to be

changes, he says. “It will no longer be possi-

ble to have ten people working in a small

print shop and maintain 2 metres distance

between them and that will force companies

to look at how they produce.”

MORGANA HAS ITSELF BEEN affected.

Digital meetings have successfully replaced

flights to Stockholm, Riga and the US and

this will stay. And there have been changes

to plans on how the Watkiss production

line would be integrated into the Morgana

factory in Milton Keynes. Previously people

have been used to working together on the

same bench. That is no longer possible.

Like Duplo, Morgana has noted growing

sales of its multifinishers and anticipates

further growth once the dust settles as more

and more work has to switch to digital print.

Runs that were several thousand will now

be a few hundred, well below the thresh-

old for litho printing and for segregated

finishing processes. The small printers that

survive will be moving away from litho, says

Hillhouse.

IFS HAS CONTINUED TO INSTALL machines that had been ordered ahead of the

lockdown in the weeks since. The company

which became employee owned last year, has

avoided the need to furlough all staff. “We

have even taken a couple of orders,” says

managing director Eric Keane.

The impulse is the same: reducing

manpower needs in the bindery and thus

complying with social distancing mores.

“Few people are in a buying mood,” he says.

“It’s a case of waiting for people to get back

to their jobs. But those we have been speak-

ing to about automated processes in the last

couple of years are still keen to go ahead.” It

is a matter of the right timing.

One of these will include a fully loaded

Horizon StitchLiner MkIII, laminator and

guillotine with installation now underway.

Most however have delayed delivery,

Charles Jarrold says that the industry lost 73% of its sales overnight when the lockdown first took effect. Any return is slow.

Martyn Train at Duplo UK says that April was very quiet, with May showing signs of recovering and sales being made.

Ryan Miles, Heidelberg UK, explains that printers need to find the right balance in production technology, but that it is a difficult decision until there is some certainty for the industry.

…

…



Keane adds. As with others the pandemic

is changing how IFS operates. The Horizon

showroom near Hamburg is being turned

into a television studio, able to run video

demonstrations combining cameraman and

the operator responding to requests from

several hundred miles away.

The customer can send work to the

showroom so that it can book an hour long

demonstration of a real job. There is no need

to travel, no need to be away from work for at

least two days for a short demonstration and

the remote showing can be followed with

a rather safer visit to an existing customer,

assuming that customer is happy for stran-

gers to cross its threshold.

IN A SURVEY OF CUSTOMERS carried

out by Muller Martini, 73% said they did

not want to have sales people visit their

premises for the remainder of the year.

This is going to become the standard way

that Horizon encounters customers for the

foreseeable future. It makes sense therefore

for the company to make the remote experi-

ence as engaging and rewarding as possible

with investment in training and the right

equipment to enable this.

A Xeikon press conference shows how

this can be done. In March the company

hurriedly pulled together an event using

remote off the shelf applications, but this

month for a second press conference the

company had created a professional televi-

sion studio where a host could quiz guests

around a (large) table.

IFS may not be capable of this kind of

investment, but is changing to suit the new

normal. “We know too that in months to

come our sales people will not be out and

about, so have been training them using

Teams and Zoom about how to present

correctly over a digital connection,” says

Keane.

THE DRIVE TOWARDS automation in

finishing and reduction of manual elements

applies equally to machinery for litho and

longer runs. “The immediate effect has been

that people have postponed decisions,” says

Friedheim International managing direc-

tor Mark Bristow. “They want to see how

the market develops before continuing.”

That said, digital orders involving Hunkeler

equipment, matched to new inkjet presses,

are progressing. “There are a few custom-

ers interested in the CoBo Stack palletising

robot from MBO,” he adds.

It has enjoyed an uplift in its packaging

areas which provide material to the online

retail businesses. “I glad that at the moment

we are not just in graphic arts,” he adds.

IN LARGER BUSINESSES automation

is already here. Book printers like Print-

ondemand Worldwide and Ashford Colour

Press can print and bind books with no

manual intervention. And Dave McGinlay,

Muller Martini sales director, says he has a

customer that is already taking reels printed

on a digital press, feeding these into a stitch-

ing line where the individualised booklets

are delivered folded, stitched and trimmed

with no further touch points. “This is 18

times faster than the old way of running this

job,” he says

If automation is coming at a faster rate

with remote meetings and demonstrations

a fixture for the finishing side of the busi-

ness, a greater change is coming in how

printers interact with customers. Online

is now a must. During lockdown consum-

ers became used to using websites for their

purchases whether food from a supermarket,

clothes, drink and even gourmet meals from

restaurants that would otherwise have zero

revenue.

WHILE ZOOM HAS BEEN THE highest

profile technology winner of the pandemic,

Shopify that allows retailers to trade online

has not been far behind. More than 1 million

accounts were opened in one month. It is a

huge shift that will have profound effects on

an already ravaged high street. Mid market

chains, whether restaurants or clothing

retailers, have announced closures as private

equity funders wind in their exposure.

In turn the property companies owning

showing centres are under pressure as rental

income drops.

Much of this will be replaced by online

shopping and other ways of reaching the

consumers’ wallet and purse. Browsing in

shops will be frowned upon, opening the

way to a revival in the use of catalogues for

browsing. Nobody has yet perfected the

concept of browsing a website. And the

Suppliers continued to be able to service equipment during the lockdown, though remote service is replacing an engineer’s visit and PPE is mandatory.

…


WHAT NEXT? COVER STORY

catalogue will be the gateway to online sales.

Print’s position will change.

The concept of subscription purchasing is

catching on, from Gucci handbags to razor

blades, coffee to cheese. The products arrive

in printed packaging and collateral that can

easily be personalised to that individual and

his or her profile. Print will be about gaining

loyalty to that brand.

“WE WILL NEED TO TAKE A different,

more open minded approach,” says Bilt-

cliffe. “There will be no more ‘business as

usual’ .”

The immediate need is to communicate

with customers as the economy slowly gets

underway with more shops and more activi-

ties permitted. This will drive use of hybrid

mail, Biltcliffe says, through the ability to

target a message and achieve benefits from

volume mailings.

“CUSTOMERS NO LONGER CARE how

something is printed, but they will want lots

of ideas and options. The printer should be

the turbocharger, helping customers get to

where they want to go faster. This means

generating lots of ideas knowing that only a

few that will come off.

“At a simple level perhaps you will receive

a flyer as you queue to get into a shop and

another with next week’s offers as you exit,”

he suggests. Certainly as the lockdown lifts

the priority will be on simple print products

to deliver straightforward messages that the

business is open again. The customers for

print will be just as cash strapped as printers

themselves.

And the customers will be stripped of

excess staff, leaving fewer who have any

understanding of print. Transparent online

purchasing technology, for individual items,

for a planned campaign or for an going

contractual arrangement is essential.

“IT NEEDS TO BE A PLATFORM where the customer is in control, it’s not

about finding the lowest price,” says Bilt-

cliffe. “There is a huge shortage of print

knowledge.”

Keith McMurtrie, managing director of

Tharstern, agrees: “There is the potential

for a huge surplus of skills as redundancies

are made, while buyers will need to talk to

consultants to help them,” he says. These

might be freelance consultants or staff that

are no longer needed to run more automated

production lines and who can share their

expertise with customers that are interact-

ing with the printer via a website. Customer

experience is crucial. “Zappos sells shoes

online. It is a commodity product with abso-

lutely excellent customer service that makes

the difference,” he says.

He says he will be working more from

home in future like many across the indus-

try who have found it is not a handicap to

do so. Inside a reorganised factory designed

to minimise unnecessary contact, systems

take control with AI helping make deci-

sions and automatic guided vehicles or

conveyor systems for moving materials

around. “Communication becomes crucial,”

McMurtrie says. “We can’t have isolated

production areas now, we need to communi-

cate better between people and processes.”

Tharstern can make installations and offer

training remotely. It is going to become the

way that things are done. By necessity the

smarter forward thinking printers will be

able to cope with the changes. Others will

not. Smithers estimates that the printing

industry will lose 10% of its revenue for

this year and in subsequent years. It is as if

a steady decline has for a short while at least

become markedly steeper.

“It will not be fun,” says McMurtrie, “but

it will propel printers into the technology

age and herald the arrival of the smart print

factory.” n

Robot arms will become more commonplace as away to move materials without contravening social distancing protocols.


COVID-19 GREETINGS CARDS

Happy lockdown: the greetings card remains popular with a boom in online sales as the public uses printed cards to stay in touch with each other.

CORONAVIRUS HAS NOT STOPPED Britons connecting with friends and family

with a traditional printed greetings card.

Even though card shops have been forced

to close, the country is still sending cards to

celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, moving

house and now the lockdown.

Instead of purchasing them through

shops there has been a rush online, causing

the major sites to crash, overwhelmed by

suddenly increased volumes of traffic. When

coupled with social distancing, requirements

in manufacturing both Moonpig and Funky

Pigeon were initially knocked off balance.

They have since recovered to cope with a

flow of purchases six to ten times the normal

loads.

A SPOKESMAN FOR FUNKY PIGEON says: “We’ve certainly seen an impact on

Funky Pigeon’s trading as a result of Covid-

19. There has been a particularly big peak in

demand for our personalised cards and gifts,

as people are relying on ecommerce websites

to receive goods without leaving the house.

I think the sentiment that Funky Pigeon

offers in its products is also a key factor for

the high demand, as people are now not able

to celebrate big occasions with their loved

ones in person, they are looking for other

alternatives that will be a thoughtful gesture

at this time.”

However, social distancing and a need

to keep staff safe has had an effect on the

way the company operates; fewer people

are in the Guernsey factory with office staff

working from home.

There has been strong demand for

cards with a lockdown theme, leading the

publisher to launch a new range with 30%

of net sales being donated to the Women’s

Royal Voluntary Service.

The lift in demand has been felt across

both publishers and printers, boosting

demand to record levels – for the time of

year at least.

“WE ARE SEEING VOLUMES THAT are

almost greater than those at the pre Christ-

mas busy season,” says Gary Peeling, CEO

at Precision Printing. “We are noticing a

significant upswing in personalised cards

across all brands we deal with.”

Publishers have also adapted, creat-

ing lockdown themed cards to capture the

national mood. One of the smaller publish-

ers, Dean Morris, who has grown a business

based on robust humorous messages from

a bedroom in the West Midlands, has seen

orders climb steeply.

“Lockdown cards have been very popular.

I sell these directly from my own site and


GREETINGS CARDS COVID-19

through a few other online retailers. People

want to reach out to other people – it’s all

topical stuff.”

He uses several printers depending on

run length requirements. Currently, digital

is getting the volume because of the size

and speed of order. “It has been a very good

month for selling online,” he adds. “I have

noticed that traditional shops have had to

get their websites up and running very, very

quickly.”

ROB PLUMPTON, DIRECTOR OF PrintedinGuernsey, endorses this. The

island has become the production centre

for greetings cards in the UK thanks to the

support of the Guernsey post office, and is

home to Moonpig and Funky Pigeon.

His company is more of a commercial

print operation, working on government

jobs as well as card production for three of

the major card publishers and retailers. One

has 36 shops, mostly in and around London

and, while it has had an online presence,

the retail outlets were the focus of the busi-

ness. “They have had to shut the shops and

interest in online has gone up massively.

Previously it was there, now they have

suddenly seen that there is an online market

out there, and changed the focus” he says.

THE SAME IS TRUE OF THE OTHER companies it works for, each addressing

a slightly different segment of the market

and exploiting the opportunity while

Moonpig and Funky Pigeon were down.

“We are hoping that they will retain quite

a few customers after the pandemic

passes.”

This has created a few prob-

lems for the business. It has

split into two teams to continue

working within the social distanc-

ing rules and has been flexible

about where people work in order

to get the volumes out. Plumpton

has, himself, been running machines

in the fulfilment area. “It’s about

keeping the machines running. We

had a record week at the start of the

lockdown and because we have the

equipment to cope with the Christ-

mas volumes, we were able to cope.”

THE EXTRA VOLUME OF greet-

ings cards has been especially welcome

at ProCo where commercial print

work has plummeted. It has worked

for online retailer Thortful since the card

publisher’s earliest days. “We printed the

first ever card for them,” says Jon Bailey.

“People asked why do we get into innovation

with new products and customers that don’t

make you money, but I’m a fan of partner-

ships and becoming an extension of your

clients’ production facilities. It can be used

as a way of saying you have a good relation-

ship with people, but the reality is that you

find out if it’s a true partnership or not when

the proverbial hits the fan.”

That meant the two companies were

working on a plan to cope with the impact of

the coronavirus as early as January, putting

in place measures for remote working and

cleanliness and preparing to go to a three or

four day week, says Bailey. “Everyone was

very clear about what the impact was going

to be, even if not the actual extent,” he says.

The company had worked out which

staff would be part of the furlough scheme

– those with underlying health conditions

and those needing to use public transport –

ahead of the lock down. It is now operating

with 40 of its normal 140 complement.

AT THORTFUL THE SAME PROCESS has been underway. CEO Andy Pearce says

the preparations verged on obsessive, insist-

ing on hand sanitisers and frequent hand

washing whenever someone returned to the

offices in London. “We started planning

for a lockdown of some sort, putting hand

sanitisers everywhere. Now we have shut the

office and everyone is working from home,

which has meant moving computers and

screens, copier tables to their homes ahead

of the lockdown.”

It meant too preparing the website for a

rush of traffic, cutting down on the number

of designs offered and limiting hours of

operation and the cut off point each day to

ride the initial wave. It worked.

The company was started four years

ago after Pearce, a tech entrepreneur,

spotted an opportunity in the card sector

that existing players were not tackling.

“I wanted to buy cards online and send

them, but I didn’t want to have to upload

photos, so started thinking about how to

make the experience different. It would

be something like Not On The High

Street or Etsy, providing a channel

for creators to sell their designs with

a better royalty than a conventional

retailer. We could take all the print

production, customer ownership and

hassle from them.”

In its four years the company has

grown steadily with a British style of

humour, if not as robust as Dean Morris.

It meant testing a few designs that were

mocking consumer behaviour during the

panic buying phase to see if customers were

offended. They were not. “It proved to

Andy Pearce (above) launched Thortful to improve the experience of buying greeting cards (below) and has been vindicated during the lockdown period as sales have soared.

ProCo took a chance with Thortful when it was starting out and has built a relationship based on trust and opennessand this has paid off, says ProcCo CEO Jon Bailey.

…


COVID-19 GREETINGS CARDS

be very successful over the Mothers Day

period. We sold tens of thousands of cards

about hand sanitisers,” says Pearce. When

the lockdown eventually came, Thortful

repeated the process and again found that

buyers wanted humorous cards about the

lockdown to release the stress of enforced

quarantine.

“AS A BUSINESS WE REALISED THAT our customers need to stay in contact with

their networks, so we started to give away

1,000 cards each day so that they could stay

in contact without it costing them anything.

Then we started to pay for 500 protective

visors a day for the NHS.”

The partnership with ProCo is crucial

“They printed our first card four years

ago and supported us a lot in the early days

when we were ordering just in ones or twos

growing to the thousands a day we sell now.

“They understand our plans for the busi-

ness so it was natural to talk about what was

coming and planning for a lockdown of

some sort,” he explains.

The close communication gave ProCo

the confidence to keep more staff on than

it might otherwise had considered. And

volumes of cards have increased signifi-

cantly. Pearce continues: “It is a 100%

partnership with Jon. We look out for each

other and care for each other’s staff. ProCo

is an extension to my team.”

That meant having conversations about

managing capacity requirements as demand

sky rocketed. “There have been days when

we could have sold three times the number

we have, but by controlling the products

we have available and opening times, we

have managed to stay open throughout the

process.”

“We have been talking every day to work

out whether we should ramp up or down, do

we need more money or to work overtime,”

Bailey adds.

Now the question is to what extent the

experience of buying cards online will lead

to a long term change in consumer behav-

iour. Pearce thinks it will. Currently only

5% of greetings cards are purchased online

compared to higher rates for books, grocer-

ies and other goods. There is a hope that this

will increase to 15% in the short term.

“One of things that we have seen is that

returning customer loyalty is massively

increased over the last four weeks and that

will stimulate a lot of card buying online,

whether it is to personalise it with a message

and send or send to the customer to write

a message and send on. People’s buying

habits will change. If I go into a Paperchase

branch today, it is almost exactly the same as

ten years ago. And since card buying online

started, a lot of the early companies have not

really evolved.

“AND WE THINK THAT AFTER THIS,

people will be a lot more aware and more

caring. We have seen a massive increase in

Send a Smile and Thinking of You cards.

That will continue.”

The Greeting Card Association had been

planning a Thinking of You Week campaign

around these sentiments in September, and

has used the crisis to bring forward the

launch of the website. “We were planning

to get people to send Thinking of You cards

that month as they celebrate this in Australia

and the US. We have lots of members keen

to do this,” says CEO Amanda Fergusson.

The website was launched with a rainbow

theme to tie in with the national mood. “We

felt that this site gave us a fantastic opportu-

nity to communicate with consumers to the

benefit of the industry.”

There is a gallery of more than 1200

designs from members, each with details

of where customers can buy the cards –

perhaps directly from the designer or artist.

It also opens up designs that have circulated

in a local area to a much wider audience that

would not normally have access to these

cards. It has been promoted on social media,

in the press and on broadcast media, says

Fergusson.

“We are seeing a huge increase in demand

for cards because people want to stay in

contact

THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE WILL also

impact other discretionary purchases. Preci-

sion has noted an increase in personalised

products sent as gifts. In lockdown people

are finding the time to put together photo-

books which they did not have before, says

Peeling.

“It’s a gift that you don’t have to buy from

a shop, so you don’t have to venture out,”

he says. “And the photo product retailers say

that once a customer has made that transi-

tion, they retain them as customers for the

long term.”

And a technology provider Taopix

has noticed this too. “In the business to

consumer space, numbers are up across the

board,” says Neil Bather. “We are seeing this

in photo products and greetings cards – it is

like Black Friday in the volumes.

“When this started I thought that perhaps

this will give people the time to build these

products, and lo and behold, they have!”

THE HOPE IS THAT ONCE consumers

have discovered the simplicity in uploading

and building a photobook, they will return

for another, he says. There is something

permanent about print that means a book

produced today could be around for decades,

long after digital formats have changed.

Further, the lockdown period has been

long enough to change habits, Bather

believes, leading to more web to print traffic

as people have become used to buying

through the web. “Businesses now need

some kind of online presence whatever

they are selling,” he says. “It’s simply the

future.” n

Traditional card shops have been closed because the lockdown has deemed them to be non essential.

Gary Peeling reports that orders for cards, and photobooks, are at peak season levels as customers have switched to online to feed a card buying habit.


FLOOR GRAPHICS COVID-19

THE FUTURE THE FUTURE OF PRINT IS OF PRINT IS LOOKING DOWNLOOKING DOWNThe�print�product�of�the�pandemic�is�the�floor�graphic�and�it�is�set�to�be�a�permanent�feature�of�many�places�where�the�Great�British�Public�may�gather.�The�country�is�going�to�need�millions�of�pieces.THE PRINTED FLOOR GRAPHIC is the

symbolic item of print to emerge from the

lockdown and pandemic. Vinyls have been

previously used as floor stickers for seasonal

promotions or for high impact branding, not

least at exhibitions dedicated to inkjet and

display printing.

During the pandemic, however, the rules

on social distancing have meant a sudden

spike in demand for the material and a huge

relief for display printers who have seen

markets in events, exhibition graphics and

some retail simply vanish overnight.

This has meant that demand for floor

graphics has rocketed and has stripped the

UK of the raw material used to print on.

Incoming supplies are committed and on

assignment before they arrive, leaving little

chance of finding ad hoc stocks.

And this was happening even before the

further lockdown relaxation, allowing more

shops to open, which is expected to cause

a further surge in demand as these busi-

nesses need to keep customers further apart

to comply with the regulations on social

distancing.

ONE OF THE KEY MATERIAL suppliers

CMYUK sold more than it has previously

sold in a year, in one week. A further 1

million linear metres of anti slip material is

on order while the company tries to keep up

with demand. Across the supply sector the

story is similar. Demand for floor graphics

is off the scale.

The floor graphic is now widely used in

hospitals and supermarkets, and will be

necessary on transport, in offices and build-

ings which the public might have access

to, and shortly, in a greater range of shops

and hopefully pubs, restaurants and enter-

tainment venues. All will require print to

ensure people remain at a safe distance. The

requirement may slow down as the first peak

in demand passes through, but the use of

floor graphics will remain.

WHILE THIS WILL NOT COMPLETELY replace volumes lost to the pandemic, it is

more than welcome for all sizes of printer.

FD Signs, for example, worked 18-hour

days to complete an order for Transport

For London which required 100,000 social

distancing floor graphics for use across the

capital’s transport network. These are used

on station platforms to remind passengers of

the rules.

Founder Fintan Delaney says: “We do

jobs for TFL fairly regularly. But we’ve

never done anything for them on this scale.

We were all working 18-hour days for ten

days straight. And we had a guy coming in

at three o’clock in the morning to change the

rolls on the printers every night – so they

could keep printing right through.”

The company’s Fujifilm Acuity 1600

kept working throughout despite putting

pressure on ink supply, resulting in 6,000

graphics a day supplied to 30 installation

teams to apply during nighttime closures.

It supplied similar graphics to the Croydon

Tramlink and parts of Network Rail.

The material used was Drytac’s Polar

Grip, one of a number of materials that the

company supplies, all meeting standards

for anti slip and adhesion properties. It has

recently introduced two PVC free substrates

as greener alternatives to PVC. Polar Floor

is a PET with widths to 1,524mm and

suited to short term indoor applications and

SpotOn SynTac Floor as a two-part system

for smooth indoor surfaces. However, the

demand is such that PVC is riding high

despite questions about environmental

performance. As supply increases and as

the urgency of the need for an immediate

solution passes, demand for the PVC based

product will ease. However, demand for

floor graphics is worldwide and production

capacity is stretched.

Soyang produces its substrates in China

with a supply chain that quickly recovered

from disruption at the start of the crisis. It

tries to hold two to three weeks of product

in stock in the UK as a buffer and deeper

stocks of some products. However, the

demand spike has been so steep that

FD Signs has produced thousands of floor graphics for Transport for London.

…


COVID-19 FLOOR GRAPHICS

it has shipped everything it has in the

Accrington warehouse. “There are massive

deliveries coming in, but these will go out to

fulfil customer orders immediately,” says a

spokesman.

THIS IS THE CASE WITH OTHER suppliers and merchants that handle display

materials, including Premier Paper, Antalis,

Papergraphics, Amari and Pyramid Display.

“Orders for floor graphics have gone through

the roof,” says one.

Premier Paper’s Brad Goldsmith adds:

“We have seen a marked increase in demand

for floor graphic materials we supply. We

have been able to work with suppliers to

make sure we able to get the stock to meet

people’s needs.”

This has been accompanied by demand

for clear plastics to be used in visors, in

screens and for window graphics. “It is part

of a welfare range, from tape to mark social

distancing in yellow and black though to

the screens and floor graphics. It has been

a steep learning curve and we have been

adapting to the change in requirements as

they appear and to ensure that we continue

to meet customer needs, to help them get

back in business. It has been a very interest-

ing process.”

THERE HAS BEEN DEMAND FROM printers for the brochures of materials

that Premier can supply and which can be

customised to the specifications of the ulti-

mate customers.

“We sold as much in two weeks as we

would expect to sell in a year,” says Chris

Green, head of marketing for Antalis’ visual

communications division.

Demand has put pressure on manufac-

turing, from extruding the films, to coating

and applying the adhesive layer. In addition,

there are reports of difficulty in obtaining

the cardboard cores to wind the substrates

on to. After that comes the disruption to

shipping, perhaps from across the globe.

And demand is also high from other coun-

tries that have adopted social distancing as a

control measure against Covid-19.

The requirement will remain high for

at least the remainder of this year as social

distancing measures persist and as the floor

graphic evolves into a promotional as well as

informational device.

Immediately on lockdown, businesses

relied on chalked or painted marks to keep

people apart, then tapes and now simple

graphics. The life time of a vinyl floor

graphic is limited and the first generation

will be replaced by more sophisticated

versions, perhaps with advertising messages

along with the reminder to maintain the safe

distance.

Samples of what advertising messages

might look like have appeared on social

media and will appeal to retailers who

might be able to mitigate the cost of prod-

ucts, potentially even using them to attract

revenue and ensuring that the product does

not disappear as the pandemic eases.

“WE ARE PREDICTING THAT demand

will go on,” says Green. “This is very much

a new area for Antalis.” It has been negoti-

ating to ensure its sources of supply remain

open. Even so, stocks have been sold on

assignment before it can be delivered to

warehouses.

The merchant has also been assembling

stocks of clear plastic for PPE visors and

face shields and rigid plastic for workplace

screens.

Some of these clear plastics, Perspex in

particular, have also sold out due to demand

for safety screens to protect staff in retail and

public facing jobs where they might be at

risk of contracting the virus. Other screens

made from boards and other materials will

be used in the workplace where working in

close proximity is unavoidable.

AND THIS WILL APPLY TO PRINT factories as well as retail and public facing

spaces. The Health & Safety Executive has

issued several notices explaining what is

needed in terms of protecting employees

and visitors, whether engineers to lock after

equipment or customers. These too are

likely to become embedded in good practice

habits, regardless of the rate of infection of

Covid-19. n

POSITIVE�PRINT�GROUP has set up a website, socialdistancingsoltions.uk, to offer a range of social distancing printed information and signage to companies preparing to emerge from the lockdown period.

The site presents options for navigation, for posters, for sanitising solutions, for PPE and protection, amounting to more than 100 products that can be branded to suit a customer.

The range of options calls on the skills and experience of both Positive Images in Mitcham and large format specialist Colouration with whom it joined forces last year. The two operate from adjacent units in Mitcham.

“We were manufacturing a lot of this stuff anyway,” says marketing

director Kim Sullivan. “It made sense to put it all together for both new and existing clients. It went live and within a week was is already starting to attract interest and visits.

“We have been using all our social media channels to raise awareness.”

Positive Images is the commercial print arm of the group with litho and digital printing built around new Ricoh engines; Colouration is the display printing and retail business with large format inkjet expertise as well as a customer base in brands and retailers that have a requirement for these products.

It has divided the options into choice for retail, for food and beverage and offices, covering hygiene products, signage and screens.

POSITIVE THINKING

…


NHS COVID-19

Print and paper play crucial roleThe NHS runs on print and paper and those companies supplying the collateral of forms, pads, stationery and more, have stepped up to ensure that these supply lines were kept open.

PRINTERS SUPPLYING A RANGE of

print to the National Health Service were

quick to respond to the crisis, despite the

stresses in the supply chain. And since the

first days, the amount of work involved in

combatting the infection, from warning

letters from the Prime Minister to packaging

and labels for testing kits, has increased and

been spread around an expanding number

of printers.

Harlow Printing, which has built its busi-

ness on NHS work, continued to work as

normal. Staff who did not want to work have

been given the chance to leave the business,

while the South Shields printer has imple-

mented the government recommendations

around cleaning and social distancing to

continue producing the collateral that is

needed.

“The health service runs on paper,”

says managing director Richard Walker. It

accounts for some 90% of the company’s

business. “It wasn’t a difficult decision for

us to carry on. We explained to our people

that we would have to continue working, but

if some didn’t want to continue, we would

completely understand. A few have left and

we have implemented government recom-

mendations. We have to keep the workforce

safe.”

“We have some good people working here

and we really appreciate them. They are still

coming in and doing their jobs. I am walking

the floor more often rather than staying in

my office.”

The company has more recently expanded

the range of materials it produces into social

distancing signage and posters, some having

a focus on younger children returning to

school – a friendly looking crocodile saying

“I’m 2 metres long”, for example.

As the lockdown hit, there were immedi-

ate disruptions to normal communications

as all hands are turned towards coping with

the pandemic. “All the buyers we deal with

are doing medical work,” says Chris Murley,

managing director of PBL in Washington.

The company normally supplies the NHS

with pallet loads of forms, posters, prescrip-

tions sheets and on daily deliveries. These

continue to go out with orders to maintain

stock levels.

It has been able to work 16-hour days with

this and other work until now, keeping teams

apart to prevent unwanted contamination,

though Murley expected to drop to a single

shift and to furlough some staff.

The crisis has also meant that installation

of two new Heidelberg digital presses has

been delayed. It has also designed a ‘staying at

home’ colouring book for children which it is

selling though the Liketoprint.co.uk website,

with £1 from every sale going to the NHS.

CSP has been an NHS supplier for more

than 40 years from its factory in Aylesford.

The subsidiary of Delga Group deals with

150 healthcare institutions a month with

50 NHS contracts in place. Group manag-

ing director Ian Conetta says: “The recent

pandemic has meant that NHS trusts are

stretched even further than normal, but the

hospitals need to operate in normal fashion

as much as ever. Our customers know we

are reliable and responsive to their requests.

Essentially, the NHS is always our priority so

nothing has changed there.”

The company has implemented the first

step in a disaster recovery programme, split-

ting storage across locations to ensure that

should one site be hit by the virus, critical

items would be supplied from the second

site. And Conetta explains, the company

looked at what items were going to be

needed to ensure supplies would continue.

“In essence, we took the pain away from

the NHS, identified where there would be

a need for certain clinical forms based on

existing and predicted usage figures and

ensured that enough stock was readily avail-

able at the drop of a hat,” he says. “We have

begun to assist further with the design and

manufacture of face masks. Currently we

have shipped almost 20,000 of our masks

into NHS trusts across the UK.”

The call for retired staff to return to the

NHS has created its own issues. It normally

takes three months to bring nurses back on

board, time that is not available for training

on the digital systems that have been intro-

duced in recent years. Printed forms that are

easily understood are the answer.

Paragon was able to help out when

artwork from one of these forms had been

deleted. A single hard copy original of

the 12-year-old chart was found. Paragon

worked over the weekend to photograph

and scan the original, to create a proof for

sign off and to reschedule loading on press

at the Dagenham site to reproduce the much

needed form.

Even with digital technology in place,

paper is still the preferred communication

channel. This results in the NHS consum-

ing phenomenal amounts of copier paper as

output from the network of managed print-

ers across a hospital.

“A number of Trusts have asked if we

can distribute copier paper to them,” says

Richard Walker. “It’s not possible at the

price they have for this, through we are

continuing to distribute face marks and

PPE. We have just started supplying non

essential equipment. And we continue to

supply all the personalised children’s health

records for the entire country. Children are

still being born.” n


COVID-19 LOCKDOWN EVENTS

THE LOCKDOWN THE LOCKDOWN IMPORTANCE OF IMPORTANCE OF BEING ONLINEBEING ONLINEONCE UPON A TIME FOR MOST PEOPLE ZOOM WAS THE NAME OF AN ICE LOLLY. TODAY IT HAS BECOME A VITAL TOOL IN KEEPING IN CONTACT WITH SUPPLIERS AND CUSTOMERS.

PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY have

acquired new skills during the lockdown and

can speak knowledgeably about the advan-

tages and disadvantages of Zoom, Teams

and other online meeting applications.

Online events have taken over from IRL

events as first Fespa, then Sign & Digital

and even Drupa fell victim to the virus.

Uncertainty hangs over events scheduled

for later in the year even if the relaxation of

the lockdown continues. Few will want to

visit an exhibition, few will want to attend

a crowded awards ceremony, few will want

even to visit customers or other factories

unless strictly necessary. And as the use of

online technology enters the bloodstream, it

will not be strictly necessary.

THE KEEN PRINTER HAS BEEN ABLE to select from a plethora of presentations,

discussions and conversations over the last

three months, from small one to one meet-

ings to structured three-day conferences

with pre recorded as well as live content.

FM Future put together its Futureprint

Virtual Summit in just a few weeks follow-

ing keen interest in a couple of webinars it

put on as the lockdown began. Those were

intended to deliver immediate guidance on

how to survive in a world without orders.

The more formal event was intended to start

the exit process and provide thoughts about

what might come next.

The idea followed response to a series of

short webinars at the outset of the lockdown

had been encouraging. “We then thought

why not extend this to provide a more

significant level of content, across a wider

spectrum of print?” says FM Future direc-

tor Marcus Timson.

“Our thinking is that we want to simply

extend and amplify this value and in so

doing, help the market to connect and gain

access to some quality insight delivered by

experts, leaders, and other professionals and

partners within the sector – at a time when

we all need it the most.”

The content ranged across packaging as

well as printing, inkjet and industrial printing

as well as embellishment and web to print.

WHILE THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST ambitious use of online meetings so far,

others are not far behind. The Italian

Print4All conference will use streaming

technology to replace a conference room in

Milan later this month. Attendance is free

of charge and it is likely that more people

will be listening and watching than could be

accommodated in a conference room. The

expediency caused by the inability to hold

the event because of the lockdown may turn

out to be serendipitous, though the partici-

pants will ultimately be the judge of whether

the online is better than the IRL version.

Later this year, Messe Düsseldorf is plan-

ning to stage an online preview of Drupa,

enabling companies that had planned

product launches at Drupa this year to

publicise those products without having to

wait until the show takes place in April next

year. It is a wider move for exhibition busi-

nesses to pivot a business model that is all

about meeting for a limited time in a physical

space into one that is not limited by either

time or space.

Printing-expo.com aims to be the first

virtual show in this industry. It will replicate

many elements of a traditional exhibition,

with more or less extravagant stand designs,

payment by space, aisles and video demon-

strations. The challenge is that the chance

meeting in the aisle, the conversations

between visitors, the entertainment factor

and networking will be missing. Time will

tell.

The meetings technology has also

spawned new ways of communicating

between suppliers and customers. With the

ability to make sales visits severely curtailed,

online seminars and webinars may become

key way of staying in touch for as long as

this period lasts.

RICOH KICKED OFF A PROGRAMME of presentations with UK sales director

Tim Carter hosting a discussion between

BPIF chief executive Charles Jarrod and his

equivalent at the IPIA, Marian Stefani. After

the opener, Ricoh began to focus on sectors

where it has technology.

The BPIF has organised events to share

information about the regulations and

funding opportunities; likewise Duplo has

teamed up with Compass Finance to explain

the CBILS scheme and how it can be used

to finance investment in new equipment.

Mimaki and EFI have staged a schedule of

online events over the course of a few days in

a week. The experience is lacking compared

to a real open house, but it is agreed to be


LOCKDOWN EVENTS COVID-19

better than nothing. Other manufacturers

have created a video library of content that

can be downloaded or streamed as required,

either for a new product or to provide train-

ing to fill a knowledge gap.

Others have also staged or are planning

to stage online events, with greater or lesser

degrees of interaction. Interaction has

been the crux of the twice meeting sessions

down at the Crown Pub, where landlord

Milo Ferchow, also marketing manager of

VPress, has presided over sometimes lively

discussions between the regulars. Many have

strong ties to VPress, as users or distribu-

tors, others are commentators, consultants

or even journalists from the UK, the US,

South Africa and mainland Europe and the

Gulf.

TO WHAT EXTENT THIS OR OTHER virtual events has a positive impact is hard

to judge. The gallery of faces on a Zoom

session at least provides a visual connec-

tion with colleagues that are as far apart as

London and Durham, beyond the possi-

bility of a face to face encounter any time

soon. People are sharing their experiences

of a much restricted life as well as plans to

emerge the other side.

Whether the decision to run a Zoom

programme is about staying in contact with

customers, trying to keep a sales pipeline

connected or for something to do to stave

off complete inertia, the continued attend-

ance at these underlines how welcome these

have been. If nothing else they punctuate

the boredom. n

B&B�PRESS�IS�TO�CONTINUE its series of twice weekly webinars beyond what sales and marketing director Dave Stones had originally planned when taking the Be Brilliant Club online.

This happened at the start of the lockdown and the programme of twice weekly sessions, the first concentrating on wellbeing and the second on educational and business development ideas, was intended to last until the end of May. But as long as the lockdown continues, so will the Zoom events.

“Hats off to Prime, ProCo and others who are producing PPE, which is great if your business is set up like that, but we are not one of those,” says Stones. “What we wanted to do through the Be Brilliant Club is to inspire and motivate people we work with during these uncertain times, helping with mental wellbeing.

“The content is not designed for printers. It’s for creatives, agencies and marketing people, but we have had printers take part and there’s no problem with that.

“We had originally planned an eight-week programme, but as time has gone on we have now extended that until the end of June, because

of the growth in popularity of the sessions over the last eight weeks.”

And the sessions might extend beyond that even. “We would like to think that by the end of June, normality will have come back,” he says, “though if we are getting demand each week as it goes on we will look again.”

The company had been using Zoom before the lockdown so could hit the ground running with the knowledge of how Zoom compares to other online meeting technologies and how to use it best.

The idea has been an extension of the company’s Be Brilliant Club, a gathering of marketing and agency people each year organised by the Rotherham business as an indirect sell, to highlight the creativity of print rather than to push its own capabilities. This has met once a year, though is unlikely to take place in September.

“We don’t really think that people will be too comfortable so soon,” says Stones. “We think that normal events will resume next year. So we are thinking of continuing the online sessions, though with the frequency dropping to once a month, which will then feed into the InRealLife event in 2021.”

The BBC continues to broadcast

There is an ongoing need for the industry to meet together to exchange views and ideas, but this has to take place in cyberspace, not in real life events.


COVID-19 PRINT4ALL

Italian approach Italian approach to staying aliveto staying aliveJust�as�an�Italian�coffee�can�pack�a�big�punch�in�a�small�cup,�an�Italian�conference�like�Print4All�can�provide�a�jolt�to�lazy�thinking�with�a�fresh�perspective�as�print�becomes�a�technology�led�industry.THE MOST UNUSUAL VENUE for a

print related event this year will be a televi-

sion studio in Milan where a number of

speakers will gather, but there will be no

physical audience. Instead delegates to the

Print4All conference on the Future Factory

will be scattered across the internet, perhaps

increasing participation in a conference that

has hitherto only really attracted Italian

delegates.

This is a shame because the content is a

long way from product presentations and

Powerpoint dominated discussions with

graphs to hammer home the speaker’s point

of view. Instead delegates are presented with

a number of current topics, each introduced

by a non partisan speaker and then discussed

by a panel from across the industry.

When introduced, delegates to the confer-

ence might then go to visit the adjacent

exhibition of the same name with a bunch

of ideas to judge the technology against. And

this year Print4All had been set up as the

antipasti course ahead of Drupa. Neverthe-

less, its key subjects of sustainability, artificial

intelligence, Industry 4.0 and collaboration

remain not only relevant, but perhaps more

so given how the lockdown will change atti-

tudes, habits and will accelerate trends.

Nigel Tapper, professor and climatologist

from the University of Melbourne, discusses

how the climate touches on all decisions about

future investments and directions; Alice

Bodreau, the Ellen McArthur Foundation,

describes how this evolves into the circular

economy, pointing out that profitability and

sustainability must go hand in hand. The

Trust works with major corporations like

Phillips and Renault which understand that

they need to change. “It is not antagonistic to

think about the consequences for your busi-

ness,” she says.

“These companies have recognised that

they are part of the problem in terms of

waste and environmental consequences.”

With pressure coming from government and

from consumer behaviour, these businesses

are examining their supply chains and are

looking to implement the principles of the

circular economy.

The theme is then taken by a panel apply-

ing it to the supply chain as far as printing

and packaging companies are concerned,

using case history examples.

The supply chain, specifically the first

Italian project based on smart manufac-

turing, becomes a keynote from Vincenzo

Baglieri, from the Bocconi business school,

who has been involved with the roll out of

the Industry 4.0 project, instigated by the

Italian print and paper federation, over the

last three years.

Fabrizio Renzi, once a top executive in

IBM Italy and now president and CEO of

RNBgate and RNB4culture and an angel

investor, picks up the theme to speculate

about the reality of Industry 4.0 and impli-

cations of artificial intelligence on decision

making. The accumulation of vast amounts

of date that underpins any artificial intelli-

gence algorithm, means that it can find new

interactions and new ideas that might give

us a new understanding of the past: why did

we do something this way? “What happens

if we have the opportunity to use artificial

intelligence in a better way? I believe we can

improve processes,” he says.

A panel comprising representatives of

international organisations, including from

Picon in the UK, will provide a broader

perspective on how different countries are

changing, with the trends and insight from

India and the US as well as the UK.

The common theme to both the Industry

4.0 approach and the circular economy is that

they call for greater collaboration and coop-

eration. Just what this means for the supply

chains between printer or converter and his

customer and between the brands and the

end consumers also comes under scrutiny.

For printers in the audience the message

is that it is no longer about waiting until the

time is right; it is about taking the initiative

and being proactive about change and driving

the partnerships that deliver what is needed

in terms of data flows and the recover, reuse

and recycle economy.

The paper industry is already engaged in

this activity, driven by the introduction of

new guidelines on recyclability as explained

by Ulrich Leberle, raw materials director of

pan European paper manufacturers asso-

ciation Cepi and Massimo Medugno, general

manager of Assocarta, its Italian member.

There needs to be agreement and harmoni-

sation across recyclability test methods and

protocols in different countries.

The event ends with a presentation about

ideas and actions for the future and an

examination of different scenarios. What is

clear, according to Lifegate founder Marco

Roveda, is that understanding this means first

understanding everything about the present

“finding solutions is a process which starts

from looking at things comprehensively” he

says.

PRINT4ALL IS A FREE TO ATTEND,

one-day event. There is no need for a drive

to the airport, flight to Milan or hotel.

Registration is required. It is not the sort of

event that many in the UK are familiar with.

There is more of a business school flavour to

it than an industry conference where spon-

sors get to showcase products. Participants

will not walk away therefore with a bag filled

with leaflets and brochures, but with a head

filled with concepts, ideas and tools to tackle

the challenges of life after lockdown. n


ONLINE PRINTERS COVID-19

USING THE USING THE PRINT FACTORY PRINT FACTORY AS A SERVICEAS A SERVICEAs printers review their future strategies in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, partnering via technology with a trade printer can deliver the capacity that is needed and can enable them to stay in business – even if they no longer print anything.

THE LOCKDOWN CAUSED THE imme-

diate cancellation of print jobs across the

country. It was not the time to be a special-

ist in events or exhibitions. And it was not

a time to be an online trade printer. Orders

vanished like mist on a summer’s morning.

Large format display printers have been

able to use capacity to produce personal

protective equipment, especially face visors,

for the health service, care homes and retail-

ers that have been able to remain open. And

they will pivot again as outdoor events and

exhibitions begin to be permitted.

Online printers likewise shifted imme-

diately into survival mode, putting staff

into furlough and running skeletons shifts

more in case of work coming in rather than

the expectation than it would. Much of

the workload is either events related, from

weddings to exhibitions; seasonal from festi-

vals to tourism or retail related. The short

term did not look good.

But if a crisis accelerates existing trends,

then online printers have been well posi-

tioned for the medium and longer term.

Most have been innovative, adding antimi-

crobial coatings as an option as FlyerAlarm

has done, back to business collections of

floor stickers, flyers, posters and wash

stands, or into production of face masks.

These may be decorated attire for wearing

on public transport or in shops. Or they

can be medical grade items as offered now

by Bluetree after a significant investment to

meet what will be an ongoing need.

In the longer term, online printers are

going to be the production arm of commer-

cial printers up and down the country where

the lockdown has prompted a complete

rethink of how they operate as a business.

Or indeed if they can continue to operate at

all. The most pessimistic projections predict

that 1,000 printers in the UK will be closed

or merged by the end of the year.

The alternative, backed by the number

of inquiries fielded by secondhand dealers,

is that printers will reduce production

capacity. If a printer sheds much of his litho

capacity and instead directs this work to one

of the online businesses, he can continue

to service customers, can reduce overheads

in terms of running a litho press, rent and

staff, and continue to operate a digital press

to provide an on the spot, same day print

service either for local customers or for those

placing work through a website. If the UK’s

dealers have been dealing with calls from

printers wanting to understand the value

of their assets, those providing web to print

software have been equally busy.

“The work seems to be coming back,”

says Gary Peeling, chief executive of Where

The Trade Buys. “At first it was like jumping

off the cliff, and it’s from a low base, but

sales in May were 200% up on April. From

78% down, we were only 50% down which

is less than we thought it would be. Site

visits are up and there are people looking

in the shop, which is encouraging. We will

see immediately when activity picks up just

through the increase in transactions.”

…

Saxoprint has massive capacity in Dresden that can be harnessed more competitively than running an older generation press.

…


COVID-19 ONLINE PRINTERS

This experience is replicated across the

sector, an instant drop in orders followed by

a slow recovery.

There has also been a switch in the prod-

ucts displayed prominently on the website.

There is no point in promoting business

cards when there are no business meetings

where the exchange of cards would normally

take place. Over the next year this is likely

to change as those made redundant in this

crisis start micro businesses from the kitchen

table.

“WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER THE stalwarts of the business, PUR books,

stitched booklets or brochures have virtu-

ally disappeared,” says Peeling. “Print

for the hospitality and events sector is just

not needed at the moment. Floor stickers,

which were in 105th place have become the

most popular product. People need things

to make their office safe. They need to be

ready for a return to work.”

Many printers may never do so. As the job

retention scheme unwinds it may be found

to have been a redundancy delaying scheme.

Certainly there are plenty of reports that

print companies will look for mergers,

bringing sales of two companies into a

factory and production capacity run by one.

Others have found that the skeleton staff has

been able to produce only slightly less than

a full crew managed. In both cases the new

normal may be operating at a lower capac-

ity and placing more work with production

partners.

This is a trend that was already noticeable

before the lockdown. Simon Cooper, chief

executive of Solopress in Southend, says:

“It’s very hard to predict what the landscape

will look like on the other side of this crisis.

“The trend has been going on for the

best part of a decade and goes a long way

to explaining why the online printers that

serve the trade (us included) have done quite

well during that time. I’m not sure to what

extent the current crisis will accelerate that

situation. In many ways, businesses with

older equipment that’s already paid off, will

be able to survive for some time based on

government support.

“I think we’ll only really start to see the

impact of the crisis once we get back to

‘normal’, probably around the last quarter

of this calendar year. If that trend does

emerge, then obviously we are well placed

to support those businesses as a production

partner.”

It works where there can be close integra-

tion between the business that is shrinking

its production capacity and the online

service partner, through use of relevant

online technology. The printer can select

the sorts of products that the trade partner

might offer and can combine these that will

continue to be produced in-house. The end

customer will see a greater range of prod-

ucts provided by their usual supplier.

Sarah Kilcoyne, head of sales and inte-

gration at Route 1, says: “As we come out

of Covid-19, printers can (if they choose

to) become a little more than just printers.

They can become a lifeline in supporting

other businesses as they come back to life.

It’s not just marketing material that compa-

nies need, it’s health and safety signage,

social distancing messaging like floor stick-

ers or even physical dividers and face masks.

“All of this can be produced in the printing

industry and we’re seeing lots of companies

shift, add to or change their product range.

This is something we’ve put a lot of energy

into and we now offer a massively expanded

range of products. The core of our busi-

ness hasn’t changed however: litho, digital,

inkjet and Landa print. We see ourselves as

a perfect solution for someone that wants

to have a large expansive product range

without them having to have the kit or

capacity to operate with economies of scale.

All of this can be integrated into any front

end or internal platform.

“We’ve had some early conversations

started regarding this type of integration

with a number of clients. We’re currently

set up to integrate on a standard set of prod-

ucts on an agreed set of prices. The plan is

to extend this to allow access to the whole of

our web product range and prices.”

Anthony Rowell, business development

manager at Tradeprinters, points to a differ-

ent perspective. “We often get approached

by businesses who are at the stage of rein-

vesting or considering whether they should

invest in more litho or go to digital and use

a trade printer to fulfil that part of their

requirement,” he says.

These customers will receive a white label

price to provide the margin over buyers

that place work directly with the business.

“We think we were the first trade printer

to get the API model up and running and

it has been very successful. We make almost

all the core products available via the API,

some like labels on a roll are more complex.

Though if there is demand and volume,

we can move that product up and make it

available.

“At the moment we are getting several

requests a day about the white label service

and test kit we provide. It shows there are a

lot of people interested.

Saxoprint’s country manager Philip

Foster says the German giant can already

offer this and has been responding to these

sorts of questions. Plans for a full API

version has been put on hold, but, says

Foster, Saxoprint can provide a price list

of products that a printer with a VPress

installation can add to their existing web to

print set up. “We have tried to work with

the larger print management companies to

provide them with instant pricing tools, but

it has required complex integrations through

their IT operations. Whereas we can supply

our price list through Coreprint and away it

goes,” he says.

AS THE LOCKDOWN BEGAN, Where

The Trade Buys was completing develop-

ment of its Inky API integration software

to enable this sort of integration. It was a

project that was going to be put on hold

to save cash. Peeling explains: “We were

convinced that nobody would want to start

an online business during a crisis, but the

inquiry rate for this sort of service has gone

through the roof and we are launching now.

“A lot of our customers it seems are

looking at this model because they want to

service their customers in a different way

and want a digital platform to make that

straightforward. This is the print factory as

a service.” n

Solopress says that the trend already exists. The question is how the crisis may affect this. “It’s very hard to predict what the landscape will look like on the other side,” says CEO Simon Cooper.

…


DIRECT MAIL COVID-19

UK CHARITIES, WHO STAND TO lose £4 billion because of the Covid-19

pandemic, are considering greater use of

direct mail to keep in contact with donors,

supporters and to bring in revenue.

There is little alternative: conventional

fund raising campaigns, from bucket

shaking outside supermarkets to sponsor-

ship revenue from the London Marathon,

are outlawed. In many cases the speed of the

lockdown has extended the decision making

process and only now are fundraising efforts

kicking into gear.

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising

has published a guide to the use of direct

mail in fundraising campaigns. A spokesman

says: “It’s about helping fundraisers to take

the decision to use direct mail if it’s right for

them at a time that charities cannot engage

in their normal fund raising activities.”

THE KEY FINDINGS ARE THAT direct

mail is a key part of the mix for four out of

five fundraisers and that 93% say it enhances

the supporter experience. This builds on

research by Royal Mail MarketReach saying

that 92% of charity mail is engaged with

and that 65% of recipients will give mail

their full attention.

Mark Phillips, managing director of

BlueFrog Fundraising, adds in a blog

published by the CIF: “There are many

ways to fundraise: face to face, telephone,

digital, broadcast, press and direct mail.

But one, stands out. Particularly at the

moment when we sit at home, waiting for

the Coronavirus pandemic to subside. It’s

not as easy as the phone or face to face;

it’s not as cheap as digital; it’s not repeated

day after day like TV ads; but it is the one

approach that I trust to recruit and engage

donors over the long term. It’s direct mail.”

This is timely as Royal Mail has included

fund raising mailings as part of an incentive

package to stimulate the use of mail. Chari-

ties seeking donations join retailers aiming

to drive online sales, publishers seeking

subscriptions, entertainment businesses,

mailings to vulnerable customers and mail

shots to thank customers for their loyalty.

The Covid-19: Open for business scheme

offers postage discounts until December.

It has been welcomed by Judith Donovan,

chair of the Strategic Mailing Partnership.

She says: “This offer is a lifeline for organi-

sations that need to communicate with their

customers, whether it’s to tell them about

what they offer or to simply thank them for

their loyalty.

“It’s also excellent news for our members.

Mailing houses have had to adapt to new ways

of working so they can continue to provide

essential services such as producing docu-

ments for banks, local government and the

NHS so hopefully they too will benefit from

an increased demand for marketing mail.”

There is no requirement on minimum

or maximum volumes and covers Partially

Addressed Mail, Responsible and Advertis-

ing Mail. And other categories may be added

at a later date. “The impact of coronavirus

will continue for months, so I am delighted

that the offer will be available until Decem-

ber, providing long term support,” Donovan

adds.

It is timely and will be welcomed by

charities. Isla Munroe, managing director

of Scottish marketing agency Dragonfly,

says that one charity prepared and released

an emergency appeal mailing for a selected

10% of its database, this coming a couple of

weeks after another was able to increase its

database by 25% as a result of a mailing two

weeks earlier.

At the start of the lockdown, Denmaur

Paper teamed up with Go Inspire and agency

The Specialist Works to create a leaflet,

printed on eight tonnes of donated Burgo

paper, that was inserted into delivery boxes

from commerce companies seeking dona-

tions to NHS Charities.

There has been an increasing volume of

inquiries to direct mail printers from both the

third sector and from commercial companies

wanting to keep in touch with customers and

lapsed customers. “We furloughed a lot of

staff,” says Go Inspire CEO Patrick Headley.

“But not in the Connect division which is

dealing with charities, many doing more

and more campaigns, some started before

the lockdown was announced. In short

where some parts of the business have been

decimated, while in the charity division we

are operating at normal levels of business.”

OTHERS HAVE BEEN QUIET, not

helped by a broken decision making chain

with charities having furloughed some staff,

many working from home making what one

printing company calls “a notoriously slow

decision making process” even more drawn

out. There are indications however that the

cashflow pressure they are under is forcing

the decision to use print.

Jonathan Tame, chief executive of Two

Sides, adds: “I was talking to the marketing

manager of a charity based in Jersey with an

income of around £30 million facing a short-

fall. He told me he was considering a return

to paper based communications as important

to get the cut through they need.

“When the Government wanted to talk

to people to observe social distancing, it

used print as the tried and tested and the

only way to ensure it could get through.

Print works.” n

CHARITIES TURN TO PRINT AS FUNDS DRY UPMost�of�the�sources�of�income�for�charities�are�out�of�reach�during�the�lockdown,�making�print�the�most�powerful�way�to�reach�supporters.

Direct mail has become the main strategic channel for charities because other sources of revenue raiising have been closed off.


B2 PRESSES LITHO

HALF SHEET HALF SHEET IS NOT THE IS NOT THE FULL SHILLINGFULL SHILLINGTHE SMALL COMMERCIAL PRINTER IS UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE AND FACES TOUGH CHOICES ABOUT WHERE TO TAKE HIS BUSINESS NEXT. THERE IS STILL A GOOD CASE TO BE MADE FOR LITHO PRINTING, BUT PERHAPS NOT IN THE TRADITIONAL FORMAT.

THE B2 FORMAT OR HALF SHEET litho press has been the mainstay of many

a printer in the UK. It has generally been

affordable, flexible, and suited to opera-

tion in less than ideal factory conditions.

On any industrial estate, in any UK town or

city, there will be a Speedmaster 74, XL75,

Lithrone 26, 28 or 29, perhaps a Ryobi 75 or

Sakurai 75. There might even be a Roland

300 or KBA 75. Every printing press manu-

facturer going back to Solna and Crabtree

has been able to offer a B2 format press.

Its popularity stemmed from its ubiq-

uity: nobody could go wrong with a half

sheet machine. It was always easier to get

into register than a B1 machine so suited to

shorter runs. Once a B1 press was in regis-

ter, it would make sense to run for as long

as practical.

There was a huge pool of operators who

frankly did not need to be very good to

run the smaller machine; the format was

forgiving of errors and mistakes, either in

estimating or in running, were not hugely

expensive. And it is relatively easy to fit a

four-colour B2 press into a low cost rented

factory unit.

In the UK B2 took off during the 1980s

when an ambitious team of sales director,

finance director and production director

could raise some cash and set up shop. With a

Speedmaster or MO. At that time demand for

four-colour printing was high so running a

small printing company was not challenging,

Even before Covid-19 hit, this was changing

fast, reducing the effectiveness of a B2 press.

With the pandemic obliterating demands for

print from some sectors, the struggle will

become more intense and printers with only

a B2 press may find themselves hobbled with

a machine that cannot compete.

THERE IS LITTLE DIFFERENCE in

makeready time between a modern B1

press and B2 machine, if any at all. Waste

sheets may be slightly more expensive, but

plate costs are comparatively lower for a

larger sheet. Registration is not a problem,

nor achieving colour balance across the full

width of a B1 sheet thanks to ubiquitous on

press technology. These automated controls

mask any inexperience on the part of press

operators – Heidelberg’s latest technology

even has a standard and expert setting, like

moving from an automatic gear box into a

manual driving operation when the extra

finesse is called for.

The larger press is as easy to run as the

smaller with no real difference in makeready

times or waste. And the larger machine will

produce twice the number of sheets on a

press that is not twice the investment and

requires the same manning levels.

With shorter print runs, the smaller

format can justify itself perhaps, but a

modern B1 machine is comfortable with

an average run length of fewer than 2,000

sheets, perhaps down to 1,000 for some

work where multiple jobs can be ganged on

the sheet. The larger size makes imposition

planning for this sort of work easier. Most

online trade printers work in this way.

A B1 press will occupy a greater footprint

than the smaller machine, which may be an

issue for companies operating from smaller

premises. This is one reason why RMGT

has enjoyed great success with its 920 series

press, a machine which prints eight pages to

view on an SRA1 sheet and which is no larger

than the majority of B2 presses. And again it

is only incrementally more expensive.

And if print runs drop significantly, then

the challenge to B2 litho comes from digital

presses in this format, either inkjet from

Fuji, Komori or Konica Minolta currently in

sheetfed presses, or toner from HP Indigo,

or from rollfed toner with Xeikon or inkjet

from a range of suppliers, Ricoh, Screen,

Canon, HP and so on that are cost effective

on minimal run lengths.

The current Covid-19 crisis and the reces-

sion that is expected to follow will, like the

Lehman Brothers inflicted financial crisis

in 2008, provoke a reconsideration of how

printers respond. Ten years ago the crisis

destroyed demand for B3 litho presses as

installations of digital machines swept the

boards. The conditions are ripe for a digital

printing to become standard in B2 and for

many B2 litho printers to move into the

larger formats. Remaining with B2 litho may

not be an option.


LITHO B2 PRESSES

Heidelberg was in the forefront of the

change in 2008 and as the supplier with more

B2 presses in use than any other is again on

the front end. Ryan Miles, managing direc-

tor of Heidelberg UK, knows this. “The

mid sized printers will definitely be under

higher and higher pressure. They have to

look at running costs, overheads, and can

they get funding for new investment when

they need it?”

The temptation when faced with decreas-

ing run lengths and faster turnarounds

might be to increase digital print capacity.

“But what is cheaper than litho printing?”

he asks.

“There will be a change in the mix

between litho and digital and that changes

the balance of equipment that is needed: if

you only have digital printing equipment

you can’t always compete with a company

that has litho equipment. It is a very diffi-

cult time to take the decisions that create

a sustainable and profitable business for

them. And using trade printers to handle

the longer run litho work is like a form of

subscription as you are paying for litho only

when you need it.”

HEIDELBERG WILL CONTINUE TO sell large numbers of B2 presses no doubt.

There are applications, in pharmaceutical

for example, where the format is ideal, says

Miles, and there are business models that

suit the format. But there are perhaps fewer

of them.

M Partners’ Murray Lock has enjoyed great

success with the RMGT9 series SRA1 press in

the UK. Installations have replaced B2 press in

numerous businesses. When Precision Print-

ing moved to its new factory it had already

decided on the SRA1 format instead of the B2

machines it has long used. Premier Printing

has likewise moved from the smaller format to

SRA1. The press is a similar size and invest-

ment, but delivers eight pages to view instead

of four A4 pages to view.

Companies with two B2 machines can

move to one SRA1 press with no loss of

capacity, but with reduced overheads and

manning levels. With LED UV to deliver

fully dry sheets ready for finishing and the

printer with SRA1 will be more competi-

tive than his B2 rival. It will also be more

competitive than many digital printers

with a number of machines, including B2

formats. In terms of cost per sheet, loaded

with with workflow, consumables and the all

too often ignored, maintenance and service

charges, SRA1 litho is more competitive

than digital at 500 sheets.

THIS IS WHAT NORTHEND discovered

after Drupa in 2016. Then managing direc-

tor Nigel Stubley spent more than two days

in Düsseldorf looking at ways that the Shef-

field business could go completely digital,

and called by the RMGT stand while he was

there.

He recalls: “I could not make the figures

work for any of the B2 digital presses, but

the RMGT press was different. It looks like

a B2 press rather than an SRA1 because it is

so compact.

“We checked our work and also with

paper merchants we use and both came up

with the finding that 90% of work is on SRA

sized sheets in this country.”

M Partners will create the business case

for the format based on cost per page from

using SRA1, adding in its absolute lack of

maintenance contracts and the benefits of

pro rata lower consumable and manning

costs. “It makes no sense for a printer to be

operating two B2 presses in these days,” says

Lock.

The RMGT presses are every bit as

advanced, perhaps more so. RMGT had

planned to have robots in operation at Drupa

had it taken place this year. It is an indica-

tion that automation can help keep print

competitive.

And RMGT is not ploughing a lonely

furrow. Heidelberg installed a first SRA1

format machine last year, as a replacement

for a B2 press, and Komori has sold an eight-

colour perfecting Lithrone 37 in the UK this

year.

“And that was because of the need to be

more efficient and to produce at minimum

cost,” says Komori Europe’s Peter Minis.

“Sheet size becomes relevant and we sold

the Lithrone 837 for this reason.” The sheet

format of 620x930mm allows eight A4 pages

plus a colour bar to be printed.

“And the investment is less than for a 40in

press that may only be needed for section

work. There is a clear benefit too in terms

of buying wash cloth, blankets and plates.

The slightly smaller press will also consume

less power.”

KOMORI IS PROBABLY IN A UNIQUE position: it has litho presses at 29in, 37in

and 40in, can offer the NS40 which is the

40in press with Landa’s imaging technol-

ogy and it has a B2 inkjet press. “We try

to look at the portfolio of work a customer

is producing and can offer the different

production technologies. We are almost

neutral in terms of trying to offer what is

best for customers.

“We don’t need to see one technology as

the replacement for the other. It’s an addi-

tion to the portfolio. And in recent weeks

we have seen higher traffic through our

website as printers are investigating their

next move.”

Miles at Heidelberg adds: “Each printer is

quite unique in its capabilities, staff, work-

flows and the needs of its customers. Colour

management is increasingly critical as a way

to ensure that you can deliver consistency:

there are so many factors that customers

need to really really consider.

“It is very very important that print

companies make good decisions. In 2021

if you make the wrong decision, there’s no

coming back.” n

B2 presses have been installed in smaller factories and have been the workhorse choice of the independent UK printer.

Nigel Stubley of Northend says that the figures did not work for B2 digital, but made sense tor the RMGT press.


B2 PRESSES DIGITAL

COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL PRINTERS FACE PRINTERS FACE THE DIGITAL THE DIGITAL ABYSSABYSSDIGITAL PRINTING IS THE ONLY WAY TO COPE WITH THE SURGE IN SHORT RUNS AND CHANGING WAY OF BUYING PRINT THAT WILL EMERGE FROM THE PANDEMIC PERIOD.

DIGITAL PRESS SUPPLIERS HAVE an unprecedented opportunity to convince

printers that their technology will be more

suitable for the post Covid-19 age than

offset litho. However, despite the marketing

messages that quality is now as good as litho,

or better in some instances, few have been

persuaded so far.

The step into digital printing as a

company’s major production platform is

a major risk. This was one of the findings

of research conducted by FM Future at

the behest of Ricoh last year investigating

why inkjet printing has not taken off, and

perhaps paving the way for the Japanese

company’s entry into the sheetfed sector.

Now the bigger risk may be sticking with

litho rather than taking the digital plunge.

Most printers will have experience of

digital printing but for the most part as a

supplement to the 50 tonne testament to the

quality of German or Japanese engineering.

A press weighing less than five tonnes logi-

cally does not carry the same heft. Add in

a business model that locks customers into

consumables, service and support from the

press supplier, in contrast to the printer

being free to negotiate with suppliers of

ink, plates, blankets and other consumables.

And then there is the click charge, the

relatively slow speed of digital compared

to litho, the issues with substrates and

the questions keep mounting. Only with

personalisation will people pay extra for

digital over litho. After all a printed sheet is

a printed sheet.

The trends towards shorter runs, minimal

waste, faster turnarounds that will be accel-

erated by the pandemic, however, may

make the argument for digital compelling.

None of the companies with new or exist-

ing technology in this space could have

predicted this disease and its bouleverse-

ment on the economy. Their development

cycles over the last four years should have

culminated at Drupa with introductions and

announcements.

NEVERTHELESS A WHOLE SWATHE of presses, inkjet and electrophotographic is

now coming on stream and these are aimed

not at transactional or direct mail printers,

not at book printers, not a printers produc-

ing ultra short runs and personalised print,

but at converting litho printers into full

blown digital printers.

At the head of this queue is HP Indigo,

bringing to market the 100K, a B2 format

press that includes touches from the litho

world including feeder and front lays that

improve the reliability of the press. This

has been the Achilles heel of the technol-

ogy, particularly with the introduction of

the first B2 Indigo. It is something that Alon

Bar-Shany, general manager of HP Indigo

acknowledges.”

“The 100K has consequently been

through the longest field testing programme

of any Indigo press with machines in the

world since last summer. More are going

on test before commercial shipments begin

later this year,” he says.

AS INDIGO HAS MADE A POINT OF stressing since launch in 1993, its liquid

toner technology is the closest to litho ink

in lay down and thus the printed finish.

With developments since, and especially

of inkjet, this is less true than then, but it

has established Indigo as top of the tree in

terms of print quality, at least as far as those

buying print are concerned.

At the same time that Indigo arrived on

the scene, Belgian company Xeikon was

launching its first press. It was aimed at

commercial print. In recent years Xeikon

has concentrated on labels, though is return-

ing to commercial print with the SX30000.

This is the first implementation of a new

engine that Xeikon calls Sirius. Like all its

presses, this is a web press and not limited

in the length of sheet it can print. With a

print width of 508mm, this means that it is

capable of printing a B2 sheet.

The SX30000 has five colour stations,

CMYK plus the potential for a special, a


DIGITAL B2 PRESSES

white or clear toner. It runs at 30m/minute,

equivalent to 2,500 double sided B2 sheets

an hour and is priced above the cut sheet

digital presses, including B2 inkjet presses,

and below the outlay for an inkjet web press.

This places it in a “zone of disruption”.

It has a 1,200dpi resolution, equivalent

to a 240lpi litho screen. The paper is condi-

tioned through heating and cooling to ensure

that any paper entering the print engine is

consistent and receptive to the imaging

head and toner. A new fusing unit capable

of coping with the higher speed and higher

coverage levels complete the press.

THE TONER TECHNOLOGY HAS AN advantage over the water based inkjet in

enabling litho levels of ink coverage. With

inkjet there is an upper limit to the amount

of water that the substrate can absorb.

There is no upper limit with toner.

Nor is there an upper limit with UV

inkjet. This is the technology used on the

KM-1, a B2 sheetfed machine that is sold by

Konica Minolta and as the Impremia 29 by

Komori. The viscous ink is heated slightly

to enable it to pass through the nozzles, but

it sets on contact with the substrate which

means it does not run on an unfavourable

material. An LED UV lamp completes the

cure of the pinned ink.

There is just one KM-1 in the UK (and

one Komori), rather more on the Euro-

pean mainland and a growing number in

North America. The press is a foil to B1.

The most recent customer is like the first in

Europe, an online printer, where it will join

other B2 digital presses. “We are starting

to see an increasing reliance on the inter-

net for buying print,” says KM business

unit leader Jon Pritchard. And that plays to

the benefit of digital means of production:

automatic workflow, set batch numbers, fast

turnaround.

That UK customer Colourfast Financial

has the inkjet press at the heart of Getit-

printed.com, an online print operation with

an emphasis on personal gifts and items that

can more easily be produced using UV inks

than water based.

If Konica Minolta has struggled to get

installations of the press, first shown at Ipex

in 2014 as a concept machine, so too has

Komori. However, on visits to the Utrecht

showroom this the press that visitors want

to see. That interest has not yet translated

into activity, but under the changed circum-

stances it might.

Fujifilm has enjoyed greater success with

its Jetpress B2 sheetfed press, now as the

750S. It is a sheetfed machine using water

based inks which in the latest version will

print at 3,600 single sided sheets an hour.

All that have seen the press will declare

that the quality is exceptional, the problem

being that only rarely does this level of

quality command a premium. The speed of

throughput is the big issue.

Nevertheless Fujifilm has scored notable

successes with companies that would other-

wise be printing litho or on smaller format

digital presses. The first user Emmerson

Press in Kenilworth has since switched from

that Jetpress 720 to the latest 750S model.

The ability to take on shorter run work

allowed its Heidelberg press to focus on

longer runs where litho is happier.

The company avoids the platemaking, the

constant cleaning and make readies that can

be disruptive to production schedules and

stressful for operators. Fujifilm has totted

these up and created a calculator to show

which jobs of a printer’s typical portfolio will

be profitable, perhaps with a greater margin,

when printed on the the inkjet press.

As the portfolio of jobs for a typical print

shifts as a result of changed habits following

the lockdown, Fujifilm is likely to be able to

demonstrate that the Jetpress is even more

effective.

The company’s challenge in the UK is

that the standard press for a commercial

printer is a B2 press, whereas the larger B1

format is typical for a commercial printer in

Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Scandina-

via where it is easier to show the benefits of

handling fast turnaround short run work on

the smaller format.

In the UK B2 printers are already fiercely

competitive and, if successful, highly effi-

cient, meaning that the operating window

for the inkjet machine has been narrow.

However, the winds were already blowing

in Fujifilm’s favour before the accelerating

impact of the lockdown crisis.

CLOSE BEHIND FUJIFILM IN success

fun sales comes Canon. Its i300 series press

(extended recently with additional models)

is a B3 machine, which despite this has been

installed in demanding applications. Severn

is buying the first of the new generation

machines in the UK to join an existing i300

while another high profile user is Halstan

Press in Amersham. Both print full colour

books on standard litho pages and extol the

quality and convenience of inkjet. Other

users include Integrity and Latcham Direct

with a more transactional and direct mail

customer profile. Xerox aims its Baltoro

Screen’s TruepressJet 520HD is finding traction in commercial print applications following the interest stirred by installations at Bluetree.

…


B2 PRESSES DIGITAL

at the same audience, partly to avoid

conflict with its iGen machines which for

Xerox remain the pinnacle of quality. The

Baltoro is charged at an ink volume rate,

not a per page click. This means that on

jobs with relatively low coverage, typical

in transactional print, the Baltoro is signifi-

cantly less expensive than the iGen. Xerox

claims that the HF ink used provides a litho

quality finish, but this is not yet tested in the

same way as Canon, Fujifilm and the other

sheetfed inkjet presses have managed.

Canon is also successful with reelfed inkjet

presses, stepping up quality at each iteration

of the technology. Severn is already a user

as is Latcham Direct. There are none yet in

a truly commercial print space, let alone a

press that has been chosen instead of a litho

press.

This is the hope that Ricoh has for the

VC70000. The first installation of this press

in the UK was made at MAMs in Leeds at

the end of last year, so it has been tricky to

evaluate its impact. However, elsewhere in

the world the press is effective at producing

litho quality print.

“THE QUALITY IS THERE AND COST wise it’s quite competitive,” says Erwin

Busselot, business innovations and solu-

tions director at Ricoh Europe. “It sits

between toner and offset, and speedwise, the

VC70000 is comparable to B2 offset.”

The challenge for both the suppliers and

printers is that a move in this direction means

adopting reel handling on paper coming in

even if a sheeter is attached to the press to

give flat sheets for finishing. This may be a

blessing in disguise as reels are generally less

expensive than folio sheets, particularly if

wrapped.

Most of the online trade printers are

investigated this kind of solution, Blue-

tree having already invested in a brace of

Screen TruepressJet 520HDs a year ago.

These companies are able to standardise on

a limited range of paper which current prac-

tice for a commercial printer may not allow.

THE RESULT CAN BE THAT commer-

cial printers become fixated on one aspect

of the technology that is not an exact match

for what they already have and dismiss it.

“They can become myopic,” Busselot adds.

“They want a sheetfed inkjet press, but will

that deliver the ability to change every paper

on every print run. That may not always be

the case.”

With workflow software like Ricoh’s

Remote Director, jobs on the same paper can

automatically be scheduled together to mini-

mise disruptive changeovers. It is more of

a psychological barrier than a real problem.

Speed is another issue. The press can

reach 150m/minute though at that rate

quality is 600x600dpi currently. At 100m/

minute the quality is 1200x600dpi which

seems to be a comfortable level of quality

and throughput says Busselot. Even 150m/

minute will work for low cost online print

applications. And he points out that the net

sheets on floor from a B2 litho press with a

succession of jobs of 2,000 sheets will be

quite low. Inkjet is unaffected by makeready.

As job runs become shorter, this discrepancy

is likely to increase.

AND THE OPTIONS THAT A commercial

printer has to move into inkjet printing will

increase. HP has announced the PageWide

T250 using a new Brilliant Ink that was to be

seen at Drupa. This is said by the company

to work on any standard offset paper and

deliver litho quality printing. If this is the

case there will inevitably be pressure on HP

Indigo, where general manager Alon Bar-

Shany says that the two are approaching the

market from different directions.

Kodak is also back in the game with a new

version of the Prosper inkjet press that has

been used in newspaper, book and direct

mail applications. The Ultra C520 uses the

higher resolution Ultrastream printhead

delivering a 1,200dpi resolution and deliv-

ering litho quality. Time will tell.

ALREADY IN THE GAME IS SCREEN which has developed a new version of

the dryer for the TruepressJet 520HD to

enable it to run high ink coverages possible

in commercial printing at 150m/minute.

Screen has built more than 1,500 print

engines of the TruepressJet family since

2006 (some sold through Ricoh), proving

the greatest depth of experience, which it is

now taking to commercial print.

The company has a number of litho

replacement projects on the go, says manag-

ing director Bui Burke “and one wants

to move ahead as soon as he can”. And he

adds: “It’s because the printer’s customer is

placing small initial orders and coming back

for repeat orders that are needed quickly. Is

the technology that you need to be produc-

tive when the order is for 10,000 units the

same that you need to be productive when

printing 100?”

There is however, an investment hurdle.

Tim Taylor, Ricoh’s global marketing direc-

tor, inkjet production solutions, Ricoh, says

that the investment in a reelfed inkjet press

with unwind, sheeter or rewind unit can be

more than £1.5 million, a significant step up

on a four-colour B2 litho press. It will take a

brave printer to take this step.

ON THE OTHER HAND OPERATOR overheads are lower as the press is inher-

ently more automated and over time the

ease of handling short run jobs digitally

may balance out the additional investment

required, especially if inline or reelfed

finishing is considered.

At book producers reelfed inkjet is now

considered standard linked to a Hunkeler or

Tecnau line able to gather, bind, and trim

books automatically.

There will also most likely need to be

investment at the front end to accept process

and deliver files to the press. This for many

printers is sorely lacking and is going to be

required whatever the output technology.

“Investment in automated workflows is

required says Taylor. “It’s something that

many commercial printers still will not have

have fully implemented.” n

…

Fujifilm’s Jetpress750S is the most successful B2 sheetfed inkjet press to date, but installations still lag behind litho press deliveries.


ALON BAR-SHANY CEO INTERVIEW

INDIGO INDIGO STRENGTHENS STRENGTHENS APPEAL FOR APPEAL FOR SUPPLANTING SUPPLANTING LITHOLITHOHP INDIGO HAS BEEN DEPRIVED OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOWCASE NEW PRESSES, NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND NEW WAYS THAT DIGITAL PRINTING CAN OPEN DOORS TO NEW BUSINESS, FOR COMMERCIAL PRINTERS AS WELL AS MORE SPECIALIST BUSINESSES.

ALON BAR-SHANY IS READY FOR THE CRISIS. Any crisis

will provide opportunities for those that threaten the status quo and

the general manager of HP Indigo has been head of a challenger

brand for 20 years. “The crisis will cause pain and some acceleration

of things that have already been underway,” he says. In short, the

transition away from litho and towards digital will accelerate.

The arrival of the pandemic closed down Israel and a few days

later caused the postponement of Drupa. Like so many other meet-

ings, this one is taking place remotely thanks to the magic of the

internet. The postponement of Drupa, however, will not stop the

next chapter in the evolving story of digital printing, even though

Indigo has plotted the launch of its major technologies to coincide

with the world’s largest print trade show. Four years ago HP, as the

largest exhibitor, was instrumental in changing the mind of organ-

isers to keep to the established four-year cycle rather than adopt a

triennial frequency.

This year it had planned a further series of product introductions

that would underline the shift of digital printing into a truly produc-

tive, reliable and mainstream printing technology, able to compete

with litho on all but the longest runs and largest formats. There were

plans, too, to show a nascent version of its liquid electrophotography

technology on a label press to set a new productivity mark. This will

come back a little more fully formed next year. By then a series of

new presses ought to be on the streets. “We were on track to release

new presses in the Drupa

time frame,” Bar-Shany

says. These will have the

new generation Series 5

print engine developed

for the resilience and

high productivity needed

to challenge analogue

processes.

It has repeated this time

after time. If the Indigo

technology was first shown

at Ipex in 1993, Drupa

has been its prime show-

case ever since. That culminated in the introduction of B2 digital

sheetfed printing eight years ago, updating this four years later to

1600dpi HD imaging. “Every four to six years we have introduced a

new press platform,” he says.

THE FIRST VERSION OF ANY NEW PRESS has so far been a

four-colour sheetfed press, followed by web press iterations and then

when the next generation press arrives, the now established press takes

on additional colours and effects as what was the pinnacle of produc-

tivity then becomes the platform for creative effects and flexibility. …


CEO INTERVIEW ALON BAR-SHANY

This continues with the latest portfolio of

machines. The flagship press is the 100K, a

B2 sheetfed press that will lay down a serious

challenge to litho assuming it performs as

anticipated. HP Indigo cannot afford to get

this wrong, and has learned from the less

than ideal launch of the Indigo 10000 and

12000. Indigo is keen that that experience

will not be repeated. Consequently, says

Bar-Shany, the 100K has been running at

five beta sites since last summer.

“THIS IS THE LONGEST BETA programme that we have ever done,” he says.

“We are very confident that the presses are

totally right. Looking back to the introduc-

tion of the Series 4 engines when that was

a new platform, it is clear that we launched

too soon and we ought to have extended the

beta testing.”

While that caused numerous hiccups

and unsettled users, it has not stopped the

success of the press. The rise to B2 was

widely welcomed by existing users who

could now offer a larger format and sneak

some work from litho. But the vast major-

ity of these presses have been sold to pre

existing Indigo customers or those with

experience of the technology. That needs

to change in the next phase. “Today B2 is a

success, we have machines in more than 30

countries,” he adds. “The problem was that

we ramped up production a little fast.”

Along with extensive developments in

labels, these have given Indigo a broad,

diverse customer base. And, says Bar-Shany,

this is an enthusiastic customer base. “They

are very open about sharing best practice –

and providing us with tough feedback when

things are not good enough.

“Indigo users love the technology, its

quality and versatility, though sometimes do

struggle with the level of productivity and

utilisation.” This has been addressed in the

new Series 5 models.

This time around the press has been put

through its paces in different locations and

under the most demanding conditions,

including the whole of a peak season towards

the end of the year and in applications from

web to print, to photobooks. Feedback from

users has been incorporated into modifica-

tions, as it was in setting the specifications

for these machines at the outset. HP Indigo

needs the 100k to become a true alternative

to B2 litho printing.

Valuable lessons have been learned

too from the 20000 web press for flexible

packaging and the 30000 carton press. “I

underestimated the complexity of folding

cartons,” Bar-Shany says. “I thought it

would be easier than flexible packaging.

There is the range of materials, the regu-

lations, colour consistency. We went back

to improve the limitations in productivity,

media range and spot colours.

“Carton printing is about the end to end

process because the potential is there for

significant growth.”

THE 35K IS THE MODEL THAT addresses these issues, with Spotmaster to

manage the special colours that are exten-

sively used by brands and to delivery the

consistency that is essential for cartons.

There is also the 90K, a reel fed one-

side-only press that can print a B1 sheet.

Officially it is intended for wallpaper, posters

and similar commercial print work but at

least one of the beta sites is printing carton-

board with it.

With the Series 4 Indigo, PrintOS was

introduced to create the sort of remote

monitoring and feedback that is rapidly

becoming part of the swing to Industry 4.0.

The PrintOS portal allows users to extend

the functionality of the press into workflows

and applications that have a close link into

the press itself and the ecosystem around

the press. It allows HP Indigo to make small

frequent updates to the software on the press

to keep all machines at the same level and

precluding the need for engineers to make

onsite upgrades.

REMOTE MONITORING IS CRUCIAL to keep the press in optimal condition,

checking the condition of components and

supplies and alerting users when parts need

to be replaced. HP Indigo can send out engi-

neers ahead of a break down with the correct

components. In many instances users have

the training to service the machine them-

selves so that an engineer visit is only needed

for more complex issues. This is crucial to

keeping the 100k, now the flagship commer-

cial press, in operation around the clock.

“Operators need some technical skills and

some learning, but to get the levels of reli-

ability and quality you have to embrace this

way of thinking,” he says. “The 100K is a

four-colour press that can print hundreds

of different jobs a day.” It is the company’s

most litho like press to date. Paper handling

is much improved with proper front lays

to control the paper from the start of its

journey through the press. Inline calibration

is possible; a pallet of paper can be removed

without stopping the press.

“IT IS ALL BASED ON FEEDBACK from high volume printers with same day

or 24/7 turnaround,” he says. The sensors

and feedback from the press deliver the data

to create a virtuous circle of identifying and

delivering the bespoke reports that allow

for productivity improvements. Bar-Shany

explains: “We can personalise the operator’s

experience based on reports bespoke to each

operator. It’s about identifying if training is

needed to achieve best in class performance

specific to each operator: is Mark falling

behind John with some job types; is John

slower to set up other jobs?

“We can learn from that and provide

tailored training needed to achieve best in

class performance across the board.

“That needs smart algorithms and you

also have to keep the operators interested

– creating points and competitions is very

effective. Operators look forward to getting

their scores and will help each other get

them back up. Gamefication is very effective

at that.”

A key part of HP’s Drupa presence was

intended to be the the V12 with the Series

6 imaging engine a new concept of press,

using the electrophotographic technology,

The Indigo 35k is the new carton press, benefiting from the experience and feedback from the first carton specific Indigo.

…


ALON BAR-SHANY CEO INTERVIEW

imaging to a transfer belt rather than drum

and with six imaging engines to be able to

print six colours in one pass, instead of

building colour up in successive rotations of

the drum and paper. The platform will add

in workflow, colour management and artifi-

cial intelligence and no doubt a measure of

robotics. “It is a totally different architecture

and delivers a dramatic jump in productiv-

ity,” he says.

Each imaging unit can address two

colours, so a 12-colour image will need two

rotations of the belt. Printing to a web is

easier and has the greater potential, offering

a real competition to flexo in label printing

and paving the way for greater incursions

into flexible packaging. The first version of

the technology will be imaging only a rela-

tively small web width. Future versions will

surely go wider, as well as faster, perhaps.

“WE WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO showing this at Drupa. And while it is not yet

in beta, the presentation would have shown

how advanced and mature it is,” Bar-Shany

adds. The press is extraordinarily stylish,

less a printing machine than something

from the pages of a science fiction novel. It

is the sort of development that shows that

HP Indigo is thinking ten years ahead. “The

development of the V12 started years ago,”

he says.

Flexible packaging is clearly the ultimate

goal. The 20000 can handle short runs and

personalisation, but rapidly loses out as runs

increase. But there is an appetite for digital

print in this sector. HP Indigo has sold 250

of the 20000 press, many printing labels and

many to one customer, Epac. “They are the

fastest growing customer that Indigo has

ever had,” Bar-Shany says. “Our volumes

in flexible packaging have grown 48%. If

we have 5% of the world market for labels,

just 0.2% of the flexible packaging market

is printed digitally. This is a sector that is

worth more than $100 million to Indigo and

is where labels was 15 years ago.”

As with cartons this will be about deliv-

ering the entire end to end solution, from

workflow to lamination. There is little

benefit in saving a day at the point of

printing if after print the lamination stage

continues to take six days.

THE V12 WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE for a few years, not even in beta until the

end of next year at the soonest. The early

announcement is to place a marker in the

consciousness of those that might invest

in such a press and for them to talk about

the potential with their customers. In the

meantime, HP Indigo will be talking with

the brands that it knows through labels and

through commercial printing that already

understand the potential of the technology

and business models it enables.

That is for the future. Immediately HP

Indigo has an under pressure commercial

print market to look after. The company’s

traditional competition, Xerox and Kodak,

at the top end for quality, are now joined by

Ricoh, Canon and Konica Minolta at a lower

price point.

THE B2 FORMAT GAVE SOME protec-

tion against this, where it comes up against

B2 inkjet presses from Fujifilm and Konica

Minolta currently, and potentially from a

range of others.

If Bar-Shany is overly concerned, he

doesn’t sound it. “Inkjet is getting a lot of

attention an it definitely has its place, but

we have the advantage when it comes to

high colour coverage and being able to offer

special inks. These are things that inkjet

cannot do well.

“There are also different flavours of

inkjet, on sheet or from the roll, UV and

water based. HP has deep knowledge of

inkjet technology and it is a faster technol-

ogy that suits the applications where there is

a need to print faster.”

The electrophotographic technology is

more versatile in terms of substrates and

the applications that need this flexibility.

“The big opportunities for inkjet is more

about taking pages from analogue. We have

advantages in variable data printing, secu-

rity printing, and there is a lot of growth or

customers producing personalised children’s

books and photo albums that are impossible

for offset litho.

“Customers want to move to Indigo

to exploit new business applications and

models.”

This is going to be the appeal for commer-

cial printers that have been under pressure

even before the lockdown and changes that

must follow, through even shorter print

runs and faster turnarounds, where tens

of makereadies a day become hundreds of

makereadies each day.

“LOOKING BACK OVER 20 YEARS the

trends are clear,” says Bar-Shany. “However,

many printers live from month to month

rather than looking at their business from

five months out.

“The current crisis is forcing change and

inevitably you will be losing certain people.

The question has to be do you go back or do

you drive a bigger change?” n

Alon Bar-Shany explains what visitors would see at a previous Drupa. This did not happen in 2020, with the show’s postponement to 2021.


PROFILE MERCURY PRINT PRODUCTIONS

MERCURY ORBITS MERCURY ORBITS END TO END END TO END AUTOMATIONAUTOMATIONMERCURY PRINT PRODUCTIONS IS ON A JOURNEY TOWARDS FULL END TO END AUTOMATION, COMBINING INVESTMENT IN KODAK INKJET, LANDA NANOGRAPHY AND WEB OFFSET PRESSES TOWARDS A FLEXIBLE FUTURE.

MERCURY PRINT PRODUCTIONS is one of the more successful print busi-

nesses in the US, building on a programme

of continuous investment that has given it

the largest line up of Kodak Prosper inkjet

presses in the world and now a 48pp Manro-

land Goss Lithoman web press.

Forty years ago the company occupied

a basement in the centre of Rochester as a

typesetting business with four staff working

at Varityper keyboards. Then the business

was managed by Valerie Mannix, growing to

a business of 60 staff and sales of $22 million

when she retired 15 years ago. Today her

son John Place is CEO running the business

alongside Christian Schamberger as presi-

dent. Today Mercury is a business with 220

staff and sales above $50 million occupying

a sprawling 35,500m2 factory on the Roch-

ester Tech Park, close to the city’s airport.

WHEN MERCURY MOVED HERE around five years ago, it replaced three

factory units, one for books, one for sheetfed

print and one used as a warehouse. “There

was a lot of inefficiency from moving work

back and forth,” says Schamberger, “so

we needed to bring it all under one roof.

Here there was lots of space, power and

water already – a manufacturing company’s

dream.” And should further floorspace be

required, there is plenty of empty space on

the site.

Mercury produces a vast array of

commercial print on cutsheet digital presses,

both iGen, Nexpress and Indigo, as well as

the Prospers. It has an eight-colour perfect-

ing Speedmaster XL106 as well as the new

Lithoman and large format inkjet. Mercury

is also the US beta site for the Landa S10P

nanographic sheetfed press, now running

perfected sheets.

IT IS HAPPY TO BE A PIONEER for new

technology, whether from Landa or before it

from local companies Kodak and Xerox. It

believes that being at the forefront of tech-

nology provides a competitive advantage

and the ability to shape the technology to its

needs which is not there once the equipment

is available commercially.

If commercial print has been the foun-

dation of the business, and continues to be

an important and growing part of the mix,

the company’s recent expansion is built on a

decision to focus on the educational publish-

ing market. The original decision to add this

focus was spurred by a 50% collapse in

commercial print volumes in the wake of the

9/11 attacks. It would focus on the educa-

tional sector producing books and teaching

materials for specialist publishers which sell

into the public education system in each of

the US states. Sales are handled directly by

Place and Schamberger, aided by an absolute

dedication to customer service. And pricing

is set so that publishers know what they are

paying.

“Digital didn’t exist for us at the point

that we decided to sell into the educational

world – we had 30 offset presses,” says Place.

The potential was there to print these digi-

tally for a faster turnaround than is possible

through sourcing from overseas. It has

meant that Mercury has printed the initial

print runs for new publications and then

been able to service the long tail element and

top up quantities for this market.

“We split the publishers between the

two of us, we have no additional sales

force for the educational side. We have set

prices so the educational side now runs

itself. We ensure that we see them at least

once a month. It’s about managing our best

customers first, no matter what.”

Unfortunately there has been a short term

hit with the closure of schools and colleges,

depressing demand for books. As lockdowns

ease and schools reopen, demand is picking

up again,

THAT JOURNEY ONLY BEGAN a decade

or so ago. When Mannix retired her son took

full control of the business and Schamberger

joined as VP operations in 2007, becoming

its president five years later.

Not everything has been a smooth success.

Schamberger explains: “In 2009 we deduced

we had to go into book of one and we looked

at the different markets before settling on

photobooks, which we saw as complimentary

to the sensibility we had in our educational

book market. We had to choose whether to

be simply a back end supplier or whether to

offer the front end as well. Consequently we


MERCURY PRINT PRODUCTIONS PROFILE

created Turningpages.com and invested in

our own programming team.”

The consumer facing side did not make

the breakthrough needed and was shut

down. “We found out exactly how Google

makes its money,” says Schamberger. It

retained the skills in the back end production

and delivery and extended the development

to more traditional educational publishers

and to products other than books.

The eMerx workflow Mercury developed

in house to handle orders placed online,

has continued and now links directly into

customer systems transforming the XML

instructions received into JDF to run the

print on demand unit.

And the further development of this

is planned to be next year’s project when

a PrintVis MIS is rolled out to replace an

EFI system. EMerx will then connect into

Ariba enterprise software, to Prinergy and

to the new MIS. As this develops, files will

be received through Kodak’s InSite portal

and Prinergy Cloud, they will be processed

to create a proof and then to the digital or

litho workflows without any touch points.

Mercury is heading towards full automation.

“WE NEED TO REMOVE LABOUR and the cost of labour in all steps. The

data needs to be used to communicate with

each process and pieces of equipment,” he

adds. This includes the new Kolbus case

maker and Muller Martini perfect binder

that have been delivered this year. The idea

is that all production data will reside in the

Cloud and be available for analysis and for

use in streamlining production, through the

gradual deployment too of AI to aid sched-

uling and decision making.

“The more we automate with Prinergy

at the front end, the better for us,” says

Place. “We need to streamline as much as

possible. Within the next couple of years we

will receive all files through InSite and have

the job prepared and delivered as a proof

without anyone touching it. We are remov-

ing the need for data entry as we install new

equipment because we need to remove the

manual element across all steps. We need to

make sure the data is where it needs to be

with all machines able to communicate with

each other.”

“THERE ARE NOT MANY industries

that have been as affected by technology as

printing has,” says Schamberger. “We view

ourselves as a tech company with print as

one output channel.”

Place adds: “Fifteen years ago we started

to hire people from the Rochester Institute

of Technology as we wanted to sell into the

education world.” That policy has continued

with programmers on the team, working

in an area that owes as much to tech start

ups as to print production. At this point

the company operated a fleet of cut sheet

digital presses. It needed to invest in a more

powerful production platform. “In 2012 we

had looked at the HP T300 and then went

to see a Kodak Prosper. For a number of

reasons, we decided to go with Kodak. We

felt that the technology had greater room to

improve and that the HP was more limited.”

That certainly proved to be the case when

the move into continuous feed inkjet print-

ing proved to be anything but a smooth

transition. “There were lots of night time

discussions,” says Schamberger.

BOTH SIDES, HOWEVER, WERE committed to the success of the technol-

ogy. It has led to a strong partnership and to

Mercury becoming one of the largest digital

print operations in North America thanks

for six Kodak Prosper inkjet presses, five

Prosper 5000s and one mono-only Prosper

1000. “We are trying to achieve 70% up

time on the Prospers to get to more than 30

million impressions a month and the only

way we will do that is in partnership with

Kodak,” he continues. “The Prospers do not

like stopping.”

“WE HAD LOTS OF DEVICES UP TO the point, but the only product we had from

Kodak was a Prinergy workflow and Kodak

plates. Our digital print relationships were

with HP and Xerox,” says Schamberger.

Now as the companies have been forced to

work closely to develop the applications

that could be printed on the Prospers, the

relationship has deepened. “We are looking

forwards to using Prinergy Cloud,” he says.

“We want to be the company that Kodak

The Prospers have been instrumental in driving down costs of production with

increasing levels of automation.

…


PROFILE MERCURY PRINT PRODUCTIONS

wants to work with. The more that we can

automate at the front end the better for us.”

The job mix can go from copy of one

orders in a print on demand production cell,

copies of 600pp tomes and now into longer

run books.

Place is also looking forwards to firing up

the web offset press, which had been due to

run its first job by the middle of May. “It felt

a step back to previous generation of print-

ing, but that technology has come a long

way. We have needed to offer a full service to

our customers,” he says.

There will be a move for some of the

longer run work from the Prospers to the

web press, creating more capacity for short

run and customised work. It makes sense

for the digital presses to continue with high

pagination jobs, where a job can be collated

on the run.

“INSTALLATION OF THE WEB PRESS will mean that a publisher will never have to

move a title from us again,” says Place. “We

have worked on the initial print runs and the

end of life. Now we can produce the high

volumes publishers want.”

The investment in automation will reduce

costs so that the US printer can compete if

not head for head with overseas printers then

at least come close enough that supply chain

security will outweigh a price discrepancy.

Supply chain will be a growing issue for all

manner of printers in the ‘new normal’.

There will also be a swathe of closures

from smaller less viable print busi-

nesses, continuing the consolidation that

has enabled Mercury to pick up further

commercial print work. This is equally part

of the strategic plan, with plenty of space in

the litho part of the building to accommo-

date additional presses that are part of the

strategic plan.

THE COMPANY HAS INSTALLED A Magnus Q800 platesetter to produce the 8pp

and 24pp plates that the company needs for

the litho presses. It has switched to running

Sonora plates “because we didn’t want to

deal with chemicals”. The Kodak process-

free plate was not an automatic choice.

“We tested some different plates on a head

to head basis against the Sonora to check

performance,” says Schamberger. “And

Sonora came out ahead of the competitor

by far.”

There is expansion on the display print

part of the business, focused on an Agfa

Anapurna as the core customers want single

source supply across their print needs. Like-

wise there is an expanding enclosing and

mailing operation.

THE LANDA S10P FITS IN THIS strategy.

It is not about taking work from the Prospers,

but enabling greater efficiencies on how some

products are printed. The job at the centre

of this are boxed sets of colourful reading

cards. The Landa can cope with the collation

on the fly, completely removing the need to

hand sort cards to make up the packs. The

customer gets a better job, Mercury becomes

more efficient and achieves a greater margin.

Quality is not an issue.

The company will retain the hand finish-

ing department despite the plan to automate

as much as it can. “We are a bit like Baskin

Robbins with 33 flavours of ice cream – we

do not like to say No if someone asks,” says

Place.

Covid-19 notwithstanding, the timing

of investment in the large web press could

prove ideal. Work is being returned to the

US, prompted by the country’s trade dispute

with China. Books were at one point subject

to sharp tariffs and even if these have gone,

the uncertainty remains. Publishers need

security or they will face lost sales. It also

comes as other very long book production

capacity in North America is being retired

or closed down.

THE INVESTMENT ALSO represents a

step up in revenue potential thanks to the

sheer number of pages it can print. If sales

today are around $50 million, in ten years

Mercury can reach $300 million going from

220 staff to 300 employees. “We need to ask

ourselves how we can compete as part of

global supply chains,” he says.

That will mean integration between

Mercury and its key clients, passing job

orders from an inventory system directly

to the printer and into production without

touch points.

There will be work with Kodak to exploit

the potential of artificial intelligence to group

jobs, to eliminate production bottlenecks, to

cut the waste and costs of production. The

journey from a basement in the centre of

Rochester has not finished yet. n

…

Christian Schamberger: “The data needs to be used to communicate with each process and pieces of equipment.”

John Place: “Digital didn’t exist for us at the point that we decided to sell into the educational world – we had 30 offset presses.”

The chaos of Covid-19 has taken no prisoners. The industry must now wait until next spring for the greatest print show on Earth.

A lot of the technology that was planned around the exhibition cannot wait until April and it is being released individually without the razzamatazz that it deserves.

Print Business will publish a Drupa section as a countdown to ensure these products are highlighted from now until the industry comes together in Düsseldorf next year.

Explore more…GARETH WARD lays out what was meant to happen in 2020.

Explore more at printbusiness.co.uk

The show must go on…

THE FORWARD THINKING GUIDE

TO THE NEW PRINTING WORLD

Print’s post pandemic landscape


DRUPA WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED

ULTRASTREAM ULTRASTREAM MOVES ON TO MOVES ON TO PROSPERPROSPERKODAK IS BACK SELLING INKJET PRESSES WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF A COMMERCIAL PRESS USING ULTRASTREAM PRINTHEADS.

KODAK EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN Jim

Continenza has promised to “double down

on digital” and the Prosper Ultra C520 is the

first demonstration of this.

The press is a continuous feed inkjet press

running at 150m/min on a 20in web using

Kodak’s Ultrastream printheads. Under its

previous CEO Kodak had wound back devel-

opment of inkjet and especially production

of inkjet presses. The division was put up

for sale. Now Kodak has shifted up the gears,

making inkjet central to its future, and this is

the first new press since the change in policy.

The new press uses the Ultrastream

continuous inkjet printhead that was intro-

duced at Drupa four years ago as a higher

resolution development of the Stream

technology used in the Prosper presses.

Like those machines, the new press comes

in two versions, one designated Ultra P520

for publishing applications with lower ink

coverage requirements and Ultra C520 for

commercial print applications with higher

ink coverage and fitted with the additional

drying to cope with this.

The commercial version has four drying

units and the publishing machine has two

NIR units. Both are rated to print up to 60

million A4 pages a month and are cost effec-

tive at half this, says Kodak, even as fewer as

10-12 million pages a month.

Both print with the 600x1800dpi resolu-

tion Ultrastream printhead which fires water

based inks on all media that has been coated

using the inline coating module. The Ultra

C520 will print at full speed on paper from

45-270gsm; the P520 on 45-160gsm, though

at heavier weights this version may need to

slow down.

Kodak has called on its expertise in mate-

rials science as well as colour management,

prepress and workflow to build the complete

solution. Other options include post print

coating, either aqueous or UV, and a flying

splicer for the unwind and sheeter.

The latter option starts to make the tech-

nology attractive to litho printers wanting

to move into inkjet as a more productive

digital print technology than cutsheet toner,

without reducing quality or being limited in

paper choice. Quality is equivalent to 200lpi

litho print on standard coated and uncoated

papers Kodak says.

The total cost of ownership is kept low

through the price of the inks and Kodak’s

experience with previous generations of

the continuous inkjet technology. It controls

every aspect of the machine and consuma-

bles. The use of very small droplets using

nano pigments means a very thin layer of

ink, which delivers a brighter finish with

less ink used. And this also means that less

water reaches the paper and “we don’t have

any paper cockling issues as a result of excess

water” the company says.

The continuous inkjet technology is also

better for keeping nozzles open because ink

is constantly flowing, meaning that the press

does not need to be stopped to clean the

heads at regular intervals.

The Ultrastream is a simpler technology

to that in Stream printheads used in the first

generation of Prosper machines. That uses

a stream of air to deflect unwanted droplets

away from the target with different sized

droplets formed through a heat accentuator.

This accentuate remains, but unwanted ink

droplets are deflected through charge plates,

the approach used in the Versamark series

of machines. The advantage is that Ultras-

tream is simpler to build with fewer parts and

should prove to be more reliable.

The press design has been changed from

Prosper. The Ultrastream 520 is around half

the length at 15 metres long and less than

7.5 metres wide. The NIR drying unit is

installed immediately after each four colour

print section rather than in two locations on

the initial Prospers. These presses are still

available and offer speeds up to 300m/minute

Open interfaces enable the new press to

connect to third party applications whether

in digital workflow and MIS or to inline or

near line finishing.

Kodak Prinergy will be an obvious connec-

tion in one direction, to Hunkeler or Tecnau

in the other.

The Ultrastream technology is also at the

heart of the Uteco Sapphire Eco W press for

flexible packaging with other OEM custom-

ers exploring the technology for seven colour

printing. And Kodak will be developing

more machines around what is a core tech-

nology where it has advantages. n


WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED DRUPA

HP is Brilliant at pushing inkjet quality barrierThe�HP�PageWide�T250�HD�is�intended�to�help�the�litho�to�digital�conversion�with�higher�quality�print�with�scope�for�an�overlap�with�some�applications�previously�only�addressable�by�Indigo.HP PLANS INSTALLATIONS AT THE first customers for its T250 HD inkjet web

press in the summer, ahead of general avail-

ability next year. The press should have been

seen at Drupa alongside the Indigo presses

that HP sells.

The new inkjet press sets a new bar in

terms of print quality and media versatility

the company says and is aimed at pages that

commercial printers have printed on litho

presses until now.

The company had staged an open house

preview in San Diego, home to the T200

series machines, in March with Düssel-

dorf as the next stop. Instead it had to use

Zoom to announce the machine to a wider

audience.

The press uses an updated version of the

HDNA print head which already combines

two nozzle sizes to offer up to 2400dpi print-

ing. This has been updated to handle a new

water based ink, dubbed Brilliant Ink. This

expands the colour gamut it is possible to

print with, particularly into the red and blue

areas according to HP.

“We have sourced the best pigments from

around the word and put more pigment

to deliver the wide gamut; this is 30-50%

wider than Gracol or Fogra,” says HP

worldwide product manager Yale Goldis.

HP does not specify which Fogra profile is

referred to as the press will print on coated

and uncoated media without the need for

application of a primer across the web.

Instead HP has reverted to the Optimizer

idea that was used in the first T300 when an

additional line of printheads was used to lay

down a bonding solution to optimise contact

between the ink and the substrate beneath.

On later models it has applied an overall

priming coat which can alter the look and

feel of the paper. The new inks achieve the

same or higher levels of gloss than the paper

itself. Says Goldis: “The T250 HD can print

on a wide variety of coated and uncoated

papers, even those that were developed for

offset inks and not intended to cope with

waterbased inks.”

There is an option of fitting a Harris

and Bruno post print coater, offering either

aqueous coating only or a choice between

aqueous and UV. Both coatings are supplied

through the same fast change ExcelCoat

ZRW unit. Likewise flying splice changeover

and a range of inline finishing connections

are optional.

What is also included is Colour Vision

and spectrophotometer to ensure consist-

ency between jobs, between presses and on

repeat jobs. HP provides six days of train-

ing on installation split into a day of theory,

two initial hands on days and three days of

higher level training to help operators to take

advantage of the improved colour quality

and consistency the T250 HD is capable of.

This is needed for HP to tackle commer-

cial print applications. As a 560mm wide

machine, it will print the equivalent of a

B2 sheet, double sided at the equivalent

of 4,000 sheets an hour, running at 152m/

minute.

This is halved for high quality mode when

the smaller nozzles of the HDNA head are

deployed to smooth out some of the grada-

tions that can be noticeable on higher quality

work.

HP is not talking about any limits for ink

coverage or area coverage for this style of

work, though samples shown during the

launch webinar show full coverage catalogue

pages, printed on 115gsm UPM Finesse,

one of the latest papers to achieve ColorPro

status as an approved paper for the digital

press.

This is the sort of work it is aiming at. It

reckons that commercial print applications

are growing 18% a year, faster than publish-

ing (12%) and direct mail (14%), albeit

from a lower starting point. Overall there

has been a 60% increase in page volumes

printed on HP inkjet presses since Drupa

2016.

The Brilliant ink and adapted printhead

should help that growth, the company

believes. Users of the standard T200 series

machines are able to upgrade to the T250

specification.

The combination of printhead and ink

will also be made available on the T300 and

T400 platforms at some point, perhaps after

Drupa 2021. n



Canon adds to sheetfed inkjet choiceCanon�planned�to�make�the�next�version�of�its�sheetfed�inkjet�press,�the�iX3200,�the�centrepiece�of�its�presence�at�Drupa.

CANON IS INTRODUCING A VERSION of its cutsheet inkjet press that it believes

can take on all commercial print jobs, up to

10 million pages a month.

The VarioPrint iX3200 was due

for launch at Drupa, but with the

postponement of the show, Canon

has pressed ahead with announcing

the new model rather than wait nine

months to the revised dates for the

exhibition. It has already shown

the press in late prototype form

at an open house in Venlo several

weeks ago and has identified the

first beta user, who will receive

the press in the next few weeks,

coronavirus permitting.

The press follows the same design as

the i300 which established a new mark

for cutsheet inkjet printing in direct mail,

transnational and book printing where

ink coverage is limited and the appeal had

been to increase output over Canon’s toner

machines. The same strategy applies to the

next machine in the portfolio, but with the

ability to print higher coverage jobs.

This is the result of a combination of

new inks, iQuarius quality monitoring,

ColorGrip priming fluid and a new drying

systems. Much of this has been proven on

the ProStream continuous feed inkjet press.

The same Kyocera 1200dpi printheads are

used along with ColorGrip to provide a

consistent surface for the inks to adhere to,

expanding the range of substrates that the

i300 could address.

Pigment particles are encased in a

polymer shell and suspended in water. The

inks are dried by passing the sheet around a

h e a t e d

drum to remove

water and dry the ink,

followed by a hot air section to

melt the polymer shell and fix the ink

to the surface of the paper. A third step is

a cooling section to bring the paper back to

ambient temperature.

This allows the press to cope with coated

papers to 350gsm at the rated speed of 9,000

sheets an hour simplex, to give a theoretical

production rate of 5 million sheets a month.

In order to achieve this, a printer would

need to be operating for more than 20 hours

a day during the month.

The press is offered with four paper bins

each able to hold 4,500 sheets of 80gsm to

give a capacity of 13,500. Each bin has four

trays able to hold different substrates and

weights with a conditioning unit to ensure

paper entering the press is in a consistent

condition, flat and with a consistent gap

to the sheet ahead. Any sheets that do not

conform can be rejected.

The first step is printing the ColorGrip

conditioning fluid using a 600dpi printhead

to reach only the part of the sheet that will

be printed. The print area

has three printheads per

colour to print across the

350mm sheet. A capping

station is used when

not printing to keep

the print heads in ideal

condition.

It prints with 2pl or 5pl drop-

lets, with quality systems to

monitor nozzle performance

and make adjustments on

the fly, using a neighbouring

nozzle when one is blocked,

for example. Droplet size and position

is also checked and adjusted automatically

to minimise down time. A cleaning routine

every three-and-a-half hours of opera-

tion keeps the printheads in top condition

without operator intervention.

The company will introduce the new

press with options of going to flat sheet

delivery or to inline finishing.

Canon hopes to appeal to customers who

have reached the production limit of its cut

sheet toner presses as well as to printers using

other technologies wanting to stay with the

SRA3 format with increased capacity and

an uptime that Canon says has reached more

than 90% on the existing i300.

The company has sold more than 250 of

these machines worldwide along with the

entry level iX2100. These will continue as

they are targeted at a different sector of the

market. The first customers for this press

have already been announced and include

Severn in the UK which will add to an

iX2100 version to its Canon Colorstream

3900 and i300. n


WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED DRUPA

Screen adds Screen adds drying for inkjet drying for inkjet performanceperformance

SCREEN IS ADDING TWO NEW models

to the TruepressJet 520HD reelfed inkjet

press portfolio.

Screen now has four models in the range,

from a high speed mono only press for books

to high quality printing capable of matching

litho quality and the output per hour of a

B2 sheetfed press. All are using the advanced

SC inks which were introduced at Drupa in

2018 and can print on standard offset papers

without pretreatment or coating. This tech-

nology has ended the problem of adherence

of the water based ink on coated papers.

Now the innovations are to be found in

drying. This is a key difference between the

machines in the range.

The TPJ 520HD mono is a black only

press which requires no thermal drying

system. Instead it uses a compact Near Infra

Red unit which uses radiated energy to drive

off water in the ink and which has no impact

on the temperature of the paper. It is a

highly energy efficient approach and a space

saving solution. There is also no lengthy heat

up period before the press can be used in the

morning or after a break.

The press addresses the need to print on

litho papers, say GPrint or Arctic Silk, that

have been difficult to print digitally. Now

a publisher can run the same paper during

the initial order phase of a new title print-

ing digitally, though the bulk offset phase

and again on the same paper when running a

print on demand model.

The flagship press is now the TPJ520HD-

AD (Advanced Dryer) model which uses a

new drying unit, using a combination of

small heated rollers surrounding a larger

heat drum along a paper path that winds

between the different rollers. This delivers

more drying power than is currently possi-

ble with NIR and so means that the press

can run at 150m/min and with higher ink

coverage than the standard TPJ520HD.

This model is limited to 50m/min using

a combination of a heated drum and hot air

drying. The TPJ520HD+ includes a NIR

drying unit and supports speed to 100m/min

at 1200x600dpi on coated papers. This was

introduced at Hunkeler Innovation Days in

2019.

The TPJ520HD-AD takes throughput to

150m/min on coated papers with an imaging

resolution of 600x600dpi. All three models

will operate at this speed on inkjet approved

papers.

As well as the SC ink, which has a gamut

that is almost a perfect match for offset litho

inks, Screen’s long prepress experience is

called on for colour management and the

scanning inspection systems that feedback

into dynamic nozzle alignment, pinpoint

registration and ease of operation.

The press uses piezo printheads with

four levels of grayscale which are under

the control for ink optimisation that calcu-

lates the minimal amount of ink used in

each colour. For spot colours, the choice is

made about the closest match from samples

printed on a chart. The values for that

colour and substrate are locked in and can

be recalled instantly when printing the same

spot colour in future.

Since the TP520 was introduced in 2006,

some 1,500 print engines have been

installed, either as Screen presses or badged

by an OEM.

Drupa was planned as the launch for

a second significant upgrade for Screen.

This are new versions of the L350UV label

press, with the SAI model printing with

low migration inks and the Z model print-

ing at 80m/min maximum. As with the

commercial presses, the label machines

cover the requirements of any printer from

the E level offering a 50m/min throughput

when running CMYK and slowing to 30m/

minute running with white; the S model as

the standard machine in four or six colours

(Screen has added a gamut extending blue

to the ink choice) running at 60m/min and

50m/min when printing white.

The company has notched 170 installa-

tion of the label press and is now pushing

further into packaging, with announce-

ments of a press for flexible packaging print

using water based inks, a press for single

pass corrugated production and an offer for

carton printers.

The PacJet FL830 is expected to be avail-

able from March next year. It will print on

an 830mm wide web at 75m/minute with

food safe CMYK and white inks. The initial

availability will be printing on PET and

OPP media with runs at 4,000 metres or

less. Further substrates will be added. n

Screen is upgrading its inkjet web presses for commercial print with more powerful dryers to meet demanding applications and boost speed.



Sirius signals Xeikon’s return to commercialXeikon�has�developed�a�technology�platform�to�appeal�to�commercial�printers�that�need�higher�productivity�in�digital�printing.

XEIKON IS RETURNING TO commer-

cial print with the introduction of its Sirius

platform, developed to provide the extra

productivity needed by book, direct mail and

commercial printers.

The aim had been to introduce the first

Sirius machine, the SX30000, a 520mm four-

or five-colour press running at 30m/min at

Drupa. Instead the company has brought

forward the announcement rather than wait

for the rescheduled event next year. The

first installations are slated for later this year

following extensive beta testing.

The Sirius platform uses a new style of

toner and comes with improved quality

controls, internal systems aimed at consistent

quality and the versatility to handle a wide

range of substrates thanks to conditioning

and fusing technology.

But rather than taking on high speed

inkjet presses, Xeikon positions the new

press as “complementary to high speed water

based inkjet”, according to market segment

manager Dimitri Van Gaever “where more

quality is required, where wider substrate

versatility is required”. The machine will

run on 40gsm stock, thinner paper than any

water based inkjet press can easily use.

The higher productivity, like a similar

step in its single sided label presses, will suck

up work from several other toner machines,

consolidating a machine park into fewer

machines to look after, and by implication

enables growing companies to cope with

growth without investing in more print

machinery.

And with a print speed of 2,500 double-

sided B2 sheets an hour, it

would allow commercial

printers to move to a more

productive digital press where they

might not have been able to justify the cost

of doing so.

Xeikon is not naming a price as yet,

configuration and territory will deter-

mine the local price. Where it scores for a

commercial printer is in being able to print

a B2 or longer sheet which can be finished

on equipment that is likely to be present. It

is being positioned as more expensive than a

B2 sheetfed press, but less than the majority

of reelfed inkjet machines.

The company’s presence in commercial

printing has been limited to the 18m/minute

9880 having pulled out development of its

Trillium liquid toner technology. Part of the

issue with this machine was a built up of heat

inside the press when running at speed which

had a negative impact on quality.

While the SX30000 is not running at the

same speeds, Xeikon has addressed the heat

issue with water cooled chill rollers in the

press to prepare the paper for printing. The

fusing unit uses radiant heaters rather than a

ceramic drum. This is far more responsive,

heating and cooling rapidly which is an issue

for ceramic coated drums. The new approach

is designed to last for the life of the press.

The machine uses a 1200x3600dpi LED

imaging bar. A conditioning and quality

assessment system will make any adjust-

ments on the fly to keep colour consistency.

Cameras monitor small print marks to

manage register with an on board spectro-

photometer is used to

manage colour. Xeikon calls this

cruise control for the operators. The plat-

form uses a new fully recyclable toner with

a faster fusing system to cope with the print

speed. This has no VOCs.

It will print to 350sgm with no loss of

throughput and thanks to the conditioning

unit will cope with poorer quality papers

down to 40gsm for direct mail and book

applications where higher colour coverage is

needed than suits most inkjet printing.

“Xeikon believes in the value that dry

toner brings to the graphic arts segment,

especially for high coverage, high quality in

books, general commercial print and direct

mail and because of its versatility into retail

point of sales and security print segments,”

says Van Geaver.

In recent years Xeikon has been concen-

trating on the labels and now flexible

packaging opportunities. It has offered 30m/

min throughput in labels with the CX3

Cheetah technology and has introduced

inkjet narrow web printing alongside toner.

Now with the same 1200x3600dpi imaging

head across different width, it has come up

with Cheetah 2.0 “Xeikon’s future platform

for the label industry”. The first implemen-

tation is the CX300 which replaces the CX3.

Like Sirius, a beta has been identified though

not yet named. n

THANK YOU.THANK YOU.

THE MAGAZINE FOR FORWARD THINKING PRINTING

Go to PrintBusiness.co.uk and look under the Information menu or bit.ly/2IlJxSS.

It’s a struggle right now. No one understands that more than us.

These last few months have sent shock waves through our industry and none of us know how it is going to pan out.

Print has weathered some storms, especially in this millennium, but it has come through. Because there is nothing stronger than print.

That is why we will continue publishing in print. And it is down to those who continue to support us with advertising and those who subscribe that we are able to do so. We salute you.


LARGE FORMAT INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY

SwissQPrint opens doors for business in UKSWISSQPRINT IS UP AND running in the UK despite the

disruption caused by the Covid-

19 pandemic.

The company has opened

offices and a showroom in

Bracknell, though managing

director Erskine Stewart says it

will be some time before visitors

can be welcomed.

“We wanted to be staging a

series of open days as well as to

celebrate the opening, but that

will have to wait until business

gets back to normal,” he says.

The official transition from

Spandex to the direct opera-

tion was completed with

SwissQPrint UK shipping its

first parts to the UK users and

taking its first calls on 1 May.

The company will manage

sales and service from the

office.

The large demonstration area

houses a Nyala 3 flatbed printer

and the new Karibu roll to roll

printer. This will be a focus of

the new operation.

Stewart heads a team that

has sales led by Ian Maxfield in

the north and Steve Pridham

in the south. Simon Averell is

service manager and Keith Apps

as service technician. They are

being joined by Jenny Williams

as operations coordinator and

Annamaria Horvath as applica-

tions engineer responsible for

the training centre, application

support and the sampling service.

They comprise the core team,

says Stewart. All have been

trained in Switzerland to hit the

ground running.

“SwissQPrint will provide

direct, comprehensive and fast

service to the UK market while

development and production

remain in Switzerland.

“The UK is a very important

market for SwissQPrint. Our

mission is to continue to provide

our customers with ongoing

expert service for them to get

the best out of their equip-

ment while at the same time

growing our market share in

the commercial printing arena.

We will also be increasing our

focus on the packaging, special-

ist print and industrial sectors

where I believe we can be

extremely successful.”

The SwissQPrint flatbed

machines are not the cheap-

est, but are among the best

thought out and best engineered

available.

It was this Swiss engineer-

ing and design that appealed

to Stewart. “I worked with

SwissQPrint in a previous busi-

ness. Their team, product and

innovation is excellent, with a

high degree of transparency

and integrity in the way they

operate. I have always had

great trust and admiration for

what they bring to the market.

This is a great opportunity for

SwissQPrint.”

UK team photo for SwissQPrint was taken before the whole squad had been assembled.

Canon�builds�wallpaper�offerCANON HAS COMBINED its Colorado UV gel inkjet printer

with a Fotoba XLD 170WP and

REW 162 rewinder to create

the UV gel Wallpaper factory.

This will print and rewind wall-

paper rolls ready for customer

shipment.

The UV gel inks are certi-

fied to Greenguard Gold for safe

indoor use. The wallpapers can

be produced with what Canon

calls a velvety matte finish.

“Our customers repeatedly tell

us that our UV gel technology

is enabling them to explore

new growth opportunities in

the interior decoration market.

That’s why we’ve developed the

UV gel Wallpaper Factory,” says

Dirk Brouns, VP large format

graphics at Canon production

printing.

Mimaki�goes�large�in�3DMIMAKI IS AIMING TO become big in 3D printing,

marketing the Massivit 3D

printer through its dealer and

distributor channels.

EMEA sales manager Ronald

Van Den Broek explains: “It will

go out through the same distri-

bution network that handles

other Mimaki products.” The

difference is one of cost. The 3D

FF is expected to be available for

around €400,000, compared to

some of the Mimaki low solvent

and LED UV roll fed large

format printers which have been

an entry level printer for many

businesses.

Mimaki’s printers are not

confined to the entry level,

with powerful textile printing

machines, 3.2 and 5 metre wide

printers and a growing portfolio

of flatbed machines, for both

graphic arts and promotional

products. The next logical

opportunity is 3D and Mimaki

has already established smaller

high precision 3D printers,

but this machine has more in

common with display print than

additive manufacturing.

“In 3D there are two bottle-

necks, production speed and

cost,” he says. The new machine

addresses the speed issue. A full

1.8 metre tall object is printed in

seven hours. And that product

is unlike the precision printed

objects related to engineering

and prototyping typical of the

3D printing sector. “These are

very much related to the signage

and graphics sector,” says Van

Den Broek. “Objects that

would have been outsourced by

an exhibition stand provider to a

model maker or artist.

“We can see an added value

for our customers. We have

known the sign and graphics

market over the last two decades

as we have been selling into that

sector.” n

Mimaki says that the very large format inkjet printers sits nicely alongside 2D digital presses.


TRADE SERVICES OUTSOURCING

Cimpress receives venture capital backingCIMPRESS HAS RECEIVED an investment of $300 million

from Apollo Global Manage-

ment, a private equity provider

that has been active since the

pandemic struck and lockdown

has slowed business activity.

Cimpress, with a focus on the

small business sector that has

been hardest hit, has been hit

hard itself by the lockdowns in

various countries around the

world. Until the end of Febru-

ary, the company says it was on

course to meet projections, with

sales up slightly on the previous

year.

But March ended with sales

10% lower than the previous

year and at the end of April the

company was tracking around

40% lower, though it points out

that the impact varies according

to country and by product. In

preliminary figures for the first

three months of the year (Q3 in

the Cimpress financial year), sales

were $598 million, down 10%.

The immediate action has

been to slash advertising,

furlough staff where possible

and close some facilities in order

to save cash. It has also imposed

changes to working practices to

keep staff safe, ranging from

deep cleans of facilities, moni-

toring of temperatures, home

working and the compulsory

wearing of face masks or shields

while at work. This action will

save $140 million over the year.

But it has not been enough.

The company warns that it

“expects to experience cash

outflows from working capital

as revenue declines”. In short

it will be trading at a loss and

drawing on a working cash pile

that stood at $437 million. The

loss for the quarter is put at $88

million following the inclusion

of $101 million of impairment

charges.

The money from Apollo will

be used to part pay back a loan,

so is among a number of meas-

ures to reduce outgoings. The

company has also sold its stake

in online textile design site Vida

back to the management team,

just two years after taking it on.

Its core online print and mass

customisation business is sound,

the company says.

CEO Robert Keane says: “We

have positioned Cimpress to

stay on offense during and after

this pandemic by taking actions

that allow us to continue to fund

key projects that we believe will

benefit our customers and long

term shareholders.

“Even though deep economic

recessions are painful, they also

create opportunities and accel-

erate competitive advantages for

companies with strong business

models that focus on execu-

tion, invest in key projects,

and improve customer value.

Our recent actions ensure that

Cimpress remains financially

robust during these uncertain

times so that we can do exactly

that.”

Robert Keane wants Cimpress to emerge stronger after this crisis.

Grafenia�gets�a�jump�on�facemasksGRAFENIA LAUNCHED a

website selling protective facial

masks, and had to take it down

as the Animasks sites was almost

immediately swamped.

The site was back up and

running on more robust servers

just as quickly.

The company is normally in

good business at this time of

year, producing materials for

exhibitions, which has dried

up. “Even before the lockdown,

events were being cancelled,”

says CEO Peter Gunning, “so

we were seeing the effects before

the lockdown came and started

thinking what we might do.

“We could do the social

distancing signage and floor

graphics and someone in

the team suggested making

personal protective equipment.

If we were to do something for

surgeries and hospitals, it would

need to be certified. Then we

came across facegaitors.”

These are masks worn by

people, not to protect them-

selves from catching Covid-19,

but to protect others from the

coughs, sneezes and infection

from the wearer.

“It’s better for you to cover

your face with a scarf and help

to slow the spread of the disease

and to protect others,” says

Gunning.

The facegaitor website has a

full explanation of the benefits

of mask wearing, something

that is being mooted as a means

to allow the lockdown to be

lifted.

It is not unusual in Japan,

China and other parts of Asia

for people to be wearing masks

if they have a cold. It also has a

pattern to download for people

to make their own mask.

Grafenia has gone a stage

further by designing a number

of animal styles to be sold

through a website and to be

manufactured at its Manches-

ter factory. “We came up with

Animasks to make the situation

a bit more human. We launched

it on Thursday and had so much

traffic that we had to move the

website. And on Friday we

started shipping,” he says. The

company needed to check the

specification of the inks and

the materials it has chosen to

use, washing the masks at 60ºC

before they are sent out.

FlyerAlarm�adds�anitmicrobial�coatingGERMAN ONLINE PRINT giant FlyerAlarm has added

the option of an antimicrobial

coating to its more popular

printed products.

While not promoted as

offering protection against

a coronavirus, the coating

will protect against bacterial

infection.

The initial range includes

flyers, folders, leaflets and busi-

ness cards with brochures and

magazines expected to be added

in the near future. n

Grafenia has produced face masks as PPE.


COVER STORY PROFILEPAPER INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY

Antalis secures safety with Japanese dealANTALIS HAS FOUND A safe harbour in Kokusai Pulp

and Paper, one of Japan’s largest

paper groups with ambitions for

global expansion.

Antalis has been frozen since

major shareholder Sequana

became bankrupt in May last

year. It has been seeking a buyer

since.

Unsurprisingly, the deal has

been welcomed. “Antalis, its

management and employees are

very pleased with this combi-

nation with KPP, which will

allow it to open a new chapter

in its international evolution.

It will provide Antalis with the

necessary means to support its

development and strengthen its

market position,” says Hervé

Poncin, Antalis CEO.

KPP has already grown into

China and elsewhere in Asia,

acquiring two merchants in

Australia last year and with

operations in North America.

But until now has had no activ-

ity in Europe.

It creates a group with annual

sales of €5.3 billion and selling

3.3 million tonnes of paper.

It also collects more than 1.5

million tonnes of paper a year

for recycling.

The deal adds the largest

paper merchanting group

outside the US with 4,700

employees and dealing with

115,000 customers across 39

countries from 117 locations.

Antalis will contribute sales

of €2.01 billion, down 8.6%

on 2018 and reflecting an 8%

drop in paper consumption in

Europe. Its operating profits of

€54 million (€74million) were

helped up by a strong perfor-

mance from packaging materials

and visual communications.

The deal ends a year long

search by Antalis to find new

shareholders able to support the

business through transition as

conventional paper shipments

fall, while packaging and large

format materials increase.

The deal will be structured in

two parts. Firstly, Kokusai has

agreed to buy the shareholding

held by Sequana and BPIFrance

Participations, amounting to

the vast majority of the shares

in the business. It will pay 0.10

euro for each Sequana owned

share, amounting to 75.2% of

the business and 0.40 euro for

the 8.2% Bpifrance Participants

holds. It will then issue a tender

offer for the remaining shares of

€0.73/share.

At the same time, €100 million

of the company’s debt is being

refinanced through Mizhou

Bank with the remainder of

the debt being written off. At

the end of last year Antalis had

€346 million net debt at the end

of 2019, increasing from €288 at

the end of 2018.

The deal means that in the

last 12 months each of the three

leading UK merchant groups

has changed hands. Premier

Paper was acquired by Japan

Pulp and Paper in July, while

Demaur Paper Media was

purchased by Harry Gould Jnr

and brother Robert in May last

year. The pair had sold their US

centred paper supply business to

Japan Pulp & Paper in 2015.

Restart�after��fireSAPPI WILL RESTART THE PM3 at its Alfeld Mill after fire

resulted in limited damage to

the paper machine, but extensive

damage to the mezzanine ceiling

and roof, requiring extensive

repairs.

The machine will begin

producing paper on 27 July, with

deliveries starting a few days

later. In the meantime, Sappi is

meeting commitments from its

Italian mills. Other machines

at the mill are undamaged and

continue to operate.

Consumers�prefer�cartonsA EUROPE WIDE SURVEY

into consumer attitudes to pack-

aging has found a preference for

fibre based packaging.

The survey, on behalf of Two

Sides, quizzed 5,900 consumers

finding paper and board is friend-

lier to the environment, easier to

recycle and they can sometimes

even compost it at home.

Jonathan Tame, managing

director of Two Sides, says:

“Packaging was placed firmly

on the agenda for consum-

ers after thought provoking

documentaries, such as David

Attenborough’s Blue Planet 2,

which demonstrated the impact

our waste is having on the

natural environment.

“Our survey shows consum-

ers around Europe recognise

paper based packaging’s envi-

ronmental qualities, but some

areas remain misunderstood,

particularly paper’s high recy-

cling rate.”

Invercote��for�IndigoINVERCOTE CREATO 380gsm double coated board

has been approved for use on

HP Indigo commercial presses,

including both the Indigo 7000

series machines and the Indigo

10000.

Iggesund, which owns the

Invercote brand, says it had

aimed to produce the thickest

material it could that would run

through the commercial print

version of the Indigo technol-

ogy. Consequently, the material

has a calliper of 457 microns.

The certification means

Creato 380 joins lower grammars

in the same range which have

already been certified by HP.

Lessebo��gets�FSC�for�recycledLESSEBO PAPER HAS received FSC certification for the

Lessebo Recycled uncoated paper

that was launched last year.

The Swedish producer

introduced the paper after

other suppliers withdrew their

uncoated recycled grades. It falls

in line with Lessebo’s environ-

mental ethos.

The paper comes in two

shades and in weights from

60gsm to 350gsm. The FSC

certification will help specifiers

select the paper when research-

ing recycled papers. n

Antalis has secured the deal that takes the world’s largest paper merchanting business into Japanese ownership.

the definitive environmental paper for print and publishing

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Revive - the definitive environmental paper for print and publishing

For further information, please contact your local sales office or visit: www.denmaur.com/revive

Revive Uncoated

A fully recycled uncoated paper that exhibits high whiteness, superb opacity and good sheet formation.

Revive Coated

Superb whiteness, ideal for the reproduction of complex high quality imagery and can process a number of finishing techniques with ease.

Revive Media

A range of lightweight and medium weight coated recycled papers designed for the magazine & publishing sectors.

Revive Natural

A range of 100% recycled papers manufactured without the use of optical bleaching agents to produce a natural look and feel.


PEOPLE WHO, WHAT AND WHERE

Bird steps up to the post as Flather becomes chairmanGREG BIRD HAS STEPPED up to become managing director

of Kolbus UK, in line with plans

hatched when returning to the

business in July last year.

His promotion from deputy

managing director enables

Robert Flather to become

chairman of Kolbus UK while

remaining managing director

of subsidiary Autobox. “This

has been on the cards for a long

time,” says Flather. “The idea

is that he would become MD

just before going to Drupa. And

even without Drupa there was

no need to change that.”

It solidifies the way that the

two have been working in any

case, with Flather spending

an increasing amount of time

with Autobox, the UK company

manufacturing box making

equipment. Kolbus itself is a

sales and service organisation

for Kolbus case making tech-

nology. Its binding equipment

became part of Muller Martini

at the start of 2018 and initially

Bird took a role with the Swiss

manufacturer to assist with the

transition and integration of the

customer base.

The company has continued

to provided spares during the

lockdown period, though at a

lower level as many custom-

ers have had limited operations

themselves. People have been

working from home and are

gradually getting on the road,

with some recalled from

furlough.

Likewise, Autobox has

furloughed staff, but fewer than

expected as the company has

received orders for machines

that need to be manufactured.

“We have received orders for

machines worth six figure sums

from France and Mexico and a

smaller machine for Guatemala,”

says Flather, “and this is bring-

ing cash through the business”.

The company has also

installed a machine remotely for

a customer in Taiwan, the first

to be sold to that country since

Kolbus acquired Autobox. This

involved streamed video and

online conversations. “It was a

challenge,” Flather adds.

In the UK there is an order

related to improved hygiene

around coronavirus while CEG

Packaging in Liverpool had

installed a MultiNova box gluer

ahead of the lockdown. Manag-

ing director Colin Graham says:

“We approached Autobox as

we were finding that our gluing

department was limited in its

speed and styles. We do a lot

of diecut work here, sometimes

three-point crashlock which is a

nightmare to convert by hand.

The batches would vary each

day, so we needed something

that was quick to set, easy to use

and had a good hourly output.”

The answer was the MN400

gluer. It handles straight line

work three times faster than

the existing gluer and copes

with crashlock boxes, complet-

ing a job that Graham estimates

would have taken six to eight

hours, in less than two hours.”

Flather’s role also includes

group responsibilities which

have led to interventions in

North America and France.

Wills�returns��to�Canon

TONY WILLS HAS returned

to Canon UK & Ireland, having

worked for Xerox and the

reseller industry after originally

working for Canon in 1984. He

started his new role, document

solutions business unit director,

in April.

Wills, who has 35 years’

experience in sales and market-

ing, says, “I am delighted to be

rejoining Canon at such a pivotal

moment in the evolution of the

industry. While the current

environment is very challenging

for all, I see this as an ideal time

to look to the future.”

Yusuke Mizoguchi, senior

managing director, Canon UK

& Ireland, says: “I am confident

that Tony’s vast international

sales and marketing experience

will ensure he is able to success-

fully deliver our strategic goals

and drive growth in all areas”.

David�Cox��fills�new�roleDAVID COX HAS JOINED Kern as UK head of sales, in

a role that has been created to

help strengthen the company’s

position in the UK.

The company provides prod-

ucts and services for mailing,

packaging and digital print-

ing industries and is taking

advantage of the current trend

of online trade and increased

demand for packaging and home

deliveries.

Cox has over 20 years’ experi-

ence in sales and marketing and

will be working with a Swiss

based team.

Uli Kern, president and

MD of Kern, says: “David’s

appointment marks another

milestone in the growth of the

UK business and demonstrates

our optimism in the UK market.

David’s wealth of commercial

experience will be invaluable

in working with partners and

customers.” Cox, who joined

the company in May, says,

“Kern is renowned for its spirit

of innovation. I look forward to

taking advantage of our latest

solutions and helping drive the

next phase of the company’s

growth.” Specifically, Cox’s

role will focus on Kern’s Pack

On Time solution, which builds

custom cardboard boxes for

products on demand.

Wiseprint�takes��on�Odeh�NIDAL ODEH HAS BEEN

appointed global business

development and marketing

director for Wisprint Europe,

a new operation established by

Goss Graphic Systems, a press

supplier based in China.

Odeh originally joined Goss

Graphics when the company

merged with Manroland Web

Systems China in 2019. Goss

Graphics is now attempting

to establish itself in the global

market by expanding operations

in Australia as well as starting

Wisprint Europe. n

Making paper products sustainable

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Lumi papers by Stora Enso are

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We help our customers to improve

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By buying sustainable Lumi paper

from Stora Enso, you are making an

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