The most significant new feature is a streamlined user interface, called Workspace, reported general manager of Kodak Unified Workflow Solutions, Jon Bracken. He said: “There’s a lot of complexity in pre-press production and over the years we’ve added capability to it and so for a new user it can be a little daunting. And getting skilled talent into the industry is becoming increasingly difficult.” “So what we wanted to do was add an interface that simplified a lot of the processes by making the decisions intelligently.” The Workplace interface consists of three modules: Manage, Plan and Track. Plan is designed so that the amount of information that needs to be input is minimised, with jobs automatically programmed to the right machines. Bracken said: “The intelligence we’ve added to this new version is that the database has all your manufacturing information – all presses, all the sheet sizes, cutters, folders and so on. The intelligence is that it will tell you what options are open to you depending on what equipment you have and what you want to produce.” He added that the Manage module enables more in-depth interaction with the system. The Track module then offers users a single view of what is being output. “The digital print interface was first added in 2004 but over that time we’ve added more and more digital presses. What we’ve done in Prinergy 6 is unified all those things into a single view so an operator can know from a single view exactly what’s going on in the output side, regardless of whether it’s to a computer to plate system or a digital press,” said Bracken. So far Prinergy 6 has 30 users across the globe, who have been beta testing the software for the last six months. Prinergy 5.2 users with premium service contracts will be upgraded automatically at no extra cost. Kodak expects strong uptake from those new to Prinergy. Bracken reported that the software was designed to have broad appeal within the commercial, packaging and publication printing sectors. He said: “It’s very scalable. With Prinergy we cover the whole gamut, so from a very competitive level at the starting price point all the way up to massive systems. There should be no barrier to a customer getting a foothold in Prinergy 6.”...

Revenues for the Cambridge-based manufacturer in the six months to 30 June 2013 rocketed to £67.2m (H1 2012: £37.9m), with growth led by strong demand for Xaar’s ceramic tile digital printing technology, particularly in China, which has around 46% of the global ceramic printing market. Chief executive Ian Dinwoodie said he expected the company’s growth to begin to slow down in the coming year. “We’ve grown by 150% over the past three years; it has been huge. Now we’ll take a couple of years to draw breath, targeting a more meaningful growth rate of perhaps around 10%,” he said. Product sales across the company were £63.9m (H1 2012: £34.3m) with Xaar’s ceramic applications the key driver. Dinwoodie said that the company had experienced 36% growth of sales into the packaging market through digital label printing. The division generated £8.3m, accounting for 12% of H1 revenue. Company headcount, which now stands at more than 700, has increased by almost 50% since 30 June 2012. Dinwoodie said there would be further “significant hiring” to fulfil its ongoing R&D on existing and new products. “We are forecasting very robust numbers in the coming years, which will enable us to create a much larger company once we get the thin-film piezo technology (P4) product rolling out,” Dinwoodie said. He added that development of the P4 was on track with the first revenues expected in 2016. In the wide-format graphics market the company made something of a comeback after losing market share in recent years, achieving revenue growth of 28%; and with the new Xaar 501 GS10 on course for release in 2014, Dinwoodie expected that to continue over the next two to three years. Manufacturing at Xaar’s Huntingdon facility is at full capacity and the company plans to invest around £30m of capex in 2013/2014, in “further specialised assets to meet market demand”. Looking ahead, Dinwoodie said he expected demand for ceramic tile technology to stabilise. “But there are other ceramic processes that could possibly be digitalised and we are exploring those. “There will be more adoption of inkjet into packaging and our decorative laminate application. We expect to see results over the next couple of years. “Based on our thin-film technology we’ll be looking at further forms of packaging, textiles and book printing and we’ll expect these to kick in between 2016 through to 2022.” Interim dividend, which will be paid on 4 October, increased to 2.5p per share (H1 2012: 1p per share). Share price was 828.5p at the time of writing, almost four times its value last year, with a 52-week high of 898p (low:...

Revenues for the Cambridge-based manufacturer in the six months to 30 June 2013 rocketed to £67.2m (H1 2012: £37.9m), with growth led by strong demand for Xaar’s ceramic tile digital printing technology, particularly in China, which has around 46% of the global ceramic printing market. Chief executive Ian Dinwoodie said he expected the company’s growth to begin to slow down in the coming year. “We’ve grown by 150% over the past three years; it has been huge. Now we’ll take a couple of years to draw breath, targeting a more meaningful growth rate of perhaps around 10%,” he said. Product sales across the company were £63.9m (H1 2012: £34.3m) with Xaar’s ceramic applications the key driver. Dinwoodie said that the company had experienced 36% growth of sales into the packaging market through digital label printing. The division generated £8.3m, accounting for 12% of H1 revenue. Company headcount, which now stands at more than 700, has increased by almost 50% since 30 June 2012. Dinwoodie said there would be further “significant hiring” to fulfil its ongoing R&D on existing and new products. “We are forecasting very robust numbers in the coming years, which will enable us to create a much larger company once we get the thin-film piezo technology (P4) product rolling out,” Dinwoodie said. He added that development of the P4 was on track with the first revenues expected in 2016. In the wide-format graphics market the company made something of a comeback after losing market share in recent years, achieving revenue growth of 28%; and with the new Xaar 501 GS10 on course for release in 2014, Dinwoodie expected that to continue over the next two to three years. Manufacturing at Xaar’s Huntingdon facility is at full capacity and the company plans to invest around £30m of capex in 2013/2014, in “further specialised assets to meet market demand”. Looking ahead, Dinwoodie said he expected demand for ceramic tile technology to stabilise. “But there are other ceramic processes that could possibly be digitalised and we are exploring those. “There will be more adoption of inkjet into packaging and our decorative laminate application. We expect to see results over the next couple of years. “Based on our thin-film technology we’ll be looking at further forms of packaging, textiles and book printing and we’ll expect these to kick in between 2016 through to 2022.” Interim dividend, which will be paid on 4 October, increased to 2.5p per share (H1 2012: 1p per share). Share price was 828.5p at the time of writing, almost four times its value last year, with a 52-week high of 898p (low:...

The £25m turnover, 210 employee book printing group collapsed in May, and attempts by management to revive the company via a CVA deal were unsuccessful. It went into administration in June. In the report from administrators Simon Girling and David Gilbert at BDO, the failure of the business is pinned on the delays and cost overruns that occurred when MPG set up a new facility in Cambridge following its deal with Cambridge University Press. “Unfortunately the time taken to complete the factory severely impacted on customer confidence leading to a reduced number of orders… as a result the company had insufficient work to trade in the short-term,” it said. The potential CVA deal failed due to the high start-up costs that would be associated with it, according to the report. Even though more than 25 potential third-party buyers expressed an interest in the business, with 18 signing non-disclosure agreements, no purchaser was willing to take on the risks associated with resurrecting the group, which also had sites in Bodmin and King’s Lynn. Major trade creditors include Agfa, Kodak, HP, Kolbus, and a raft of paper companies (see below). The estimated total deficiency regarding all the group’s creditors is £10.2m. Next week Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is running an online auction of MPG’s remaining fixed assets, which include some of the equipment purchased on finance agreements. JLL is selling the Timsons digital book printing system and Kolbus KM600 sequential binding line that is owned by HSBC via private treaty. JLL director Spencer Chapman said many of the items for sale were virtually new: “The compressed air systems at Cambridge and even the office furniture there is less than a year old,” he said. “The Océ print-on-demand setup at Bodmin is also very nice. It’s a logistical challenge if people want to visit all three sites, but we’ve had a lot of interest from the UK and abroad.” A full list of the assets for sale can be found on the JLL website. “We’ll do our level best for everybody,” he added. JLL is also handling the sale of the Kodak Prosper inkjet system from MPG’s King’s Lynn site on behalf of HSBC, which could be of interest to St Ives for its Clays site. Chief executive Patrick Martell said St Ives was still evaluating its options: “We’ve got one already and we know the technology works. Whether we buy this one or buy a new one will depend on the migration of work from conventional print to digital,” he said. Printing & Graphic Machinery is selling MPG’s KBA sheetfed presses. CPI Group has already purchased some of MPG’s kit, including a Timson T-Fold and additional Kolbus KM600 binding line. MPG...

The £25m turnover, 210 employee book printing group collapsed in May, and attempts by management to revive the company via a CVA deal were unsuccessful. It went into administration in June. In the report from administrators Simon Girling and David Gilbert at BDO, the failure of the business is pinned on the delays and cost overruns that occurred when MPG set up a new facility in Cambridge following its deal with Cambridge University Press. “Unfortunately the time taken to complete the factory severely impacted on customer confidence leading to a reduced number of orders… as a result the company had insufficient work to trade in the short-term,” it said. The potential CVA deal failed due to the high start-up costs that would be associated with it, according to the report. Even though more than 25 potential third-party buyers expressed an interest in the business, with 18 signing non-disclosure agreements, no purchaser was willing to take on the risks associated with resurrecting the group, which also had sites in Bodmin and King’s Lynn. Major trade creditors include Agfa, Kodak, HP, Kolbus, and a raft of paper companies (see below). The estimated total deficiency regarding all the group’s creditors is £10.2m. Next week Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is running an online auction of MPG’s remaining fixed assets, which include some of the equipment purchased on finance agreements. JLL is selling the Timsons digital book printing system and Kolbus KM600 sequential binding line that is owned by HSBC via private treaty. JLL director Spencer Chapman said many of the items for sale were virtually new: “The compressed air systems at Cambridge and even the office furniture there is less than a year old,” he said. “The Océ print-on-demand setup at Bodmin is also very nice. It’s a logistical challenge if people want to visit all three sites, but we’ve had a lot of interest from the UK and abroad.” A full list of the assets for sale can be found on the JLL website. “We’ll do our level best for everybody,” he added. JLL is also handling the sale of the Kodak Prosper inkjet system from MPG’s King’s Lynn site on behalf of HSBC, which could be of interest to St Ives for its Clays site. Chief executive Patrick Martell said St Ives was still evaluating its options: “We’ve got one already and we know the technology works. Whether we buy this one or buy a new one will depend on the migration of work from conventional print to digital,” he said. Printing & Graphic Machinery is selling MPG’s KBA sheetfed presses. CPI Group has already purchased some of MPG’s kit, including a Timson T-Fold and additional Kolbus KM600 binding line. MPG...