The high-quality magazine printer signed a €3.7m order for a Rapida 106 10-colour perfector on KBA’s stand at Drupa last year, although it was revealed in December that the press install had been put back to 2013. Westdale Press managing director Alan Padbury said: “We placed an order at Drupa and the press was delayed even though that [delivery date] was something we were very specific about. It was a huge disappointment. “We’d already done a lot of work in terms of upgrading our power supply, installing an ink pumping system and all sorts of things and in the end we had to go back to the drawing board because what should have happened [18 months ago] was now not going to happen until next spring.” Padbury stressed that while “some errors were made at no point did I lose faith in the product – KBA has a very capable machine, but when we reevaluated – as we had to because of the delay – we chose to stay with Heidelberg.” As a result, the Cardiff-based printer has now placed an order for two Heidelberg XL 106 10-colours, its fourth and fifth Speedmaster XL presses. Padbury said: “The final decision came down to confidence in the machine and our ability to operate with Heidelberg technology. We know it and understand the press. Moving to another manufacturer is a big step and without experience we wouldn’t get the most out of another press.” “Ultimately we were more comfortable with Heidelberg,” he added. “I’m not saying everything about Heidelberg is perfect – it’s not – all of the press manufacturers have become a lot tougher over the past few years. “But we get a tremendous response from Heidelberg if there’s ever a mechanical or electrical fault – their engineers are oftern the unsung heroes of the organisation but they give us a good and technically-able response in a very rapid timeframe.” The first XL 106-10-P, which will be delivered in April 2014, will be a 15,000sph machine with Autoplate XL and Inpress Control. It will replace an older 12-colour Speedmaster, and will primarily handle shorter run work between 500 and 10,000 sheets. “We will certainly see a double-digit productivity improvement with the first new XL 106,” said Padbury. “We have had Inpress Control on one of our presses before and we know it is a powerful tool. Autoplate XL is a first but we see its potential.” Westdale Press also prints high-quality brochures and catalogues and picked up two quality Awards at the PrintWeek Awards earlier this month. The firm said that the majority of its work fits well on a 10-colour machine and that the volume of six-colour work was...

At the start of the month the software-maker said that encrypted credit and debit card numbers, product expiration dates and other information relating to customer orders from 2.9 million accounts had been obtained through hacking. It is now believed usernames and encrypted passwords have been stolen from about 38 million of Adobe’s active users, with details from an unspecified number of accounts unused for two or more years also accessed. A spokeswoman for Adobe defended the fact its initial statement did not reveal the full scale of the issue. “In our public disclosure, we communicated the information we could validate,” she said. “As we have been going through the process of notifying customers whose Adobe IDs and passwords we believe to be involved, we have been eliminating invalid records. Any number communicated in the meantime would have been inaccurate.” The original statement revealed that the hackers also stole parts of the source code to Photoshop, information which could allow programmers to analyse how Adobe’s software works and copy its techniques. These revelations followed on from ones that the source code for Adobe’s Acrobat PDF document-editing software and ColdFusion web application creation products had also been illegally accessed. Regarding the latest revelations, Adobe reiterated that it thought only customer IDs and encrypted passwords have been affected for the additional 35.1 million users. Though Adobe has since reset all passwords, Bill Greenwood, freelance colour control and print productions specialist, has warned that printers should take this opportunity to think carefully about password security in general. “When the email first came out the first thing I did was change my password,” said Greenwood. “People need to look at passwords in general. How many people use the same password for their mail as their online banking or something else? People need to be aware of security and how they should have different passwords for every system.” He added: “Companies need to look at this and say ‘is it time for me to now start seriously looking into online security issues?’ If a big company like Adobe with all the amount they put into their systems is hacked, it can happen to anyone. It’s a further nudge to make sure you get your house in order.” The Adobe hacking revelations have followed the vendor moving several of its products to a cloud-based subscription model in May, meaning some customers could end up paying more. Though these revelations will further anger those printers already annoyed at these changes, this is unlikely to impact Adobe take-up in the print industry too significantly, believed Greenwood. He said: “It’s not a good situation, and you do think ‘are you going to trust these companies?’ But I don’t think...

The high-quality magazine printer signed a €3.7m order for a Rapida 106 10-colour perfector on KBA’s stand at Drupa last year, although it was revealed in December that the press install had been put back to 2013. However, in a volte-face the Cardiff-based printer has today announced that it has returned to incumbent sheetfed supplier Heidelberg for two XL 106 10-colours, its fourth and fifth XL B1 presses, after it “toyed with switching supplier”. Alan Padbury, managing director of Westdale Press, said: “The final decision came down to confidence in the machine and our ability to operate with Heidelberg technology. We know it and understand the press. “Moving to another manufacturer is a big step and without experience we wouldn’t get the most out of another press.” The first XL 106-10-P, which will be delivered in April 2014, will be a 15,000sph machine with Autoplate XL and Inpress Control. It will replace an older 12-colour Speedmaster, and will primarily handle shorter run work between 500 and 10,000 sheets. “We will certainly see a double-digit productivity improvement with the first new XL 106,” said Padbury. “We have had Inpress Control on one of our presses before and we know it is a powerful tool. Autoplate XL is a first but we see its potential.” Westdale Press also prints high-quality brochures and catalogues and picked up two quality Awards at the PrintWeek Awards earlier this month. The firm said that the majority of its work fits well on a 10-colour machine and that the volume of six-colour work was not enough to justify another 12-colour press. A second, 18,000sph Speedmaster XL 106-10-P with Inpress Control (but without Autoplate XL) will be installed 12 months later for longer run jobs and is expected to output around 70m impressions per year based on the current market. Westdale said it was phasing the investment to allow it to manage space and power and to review further the type of work it does. The company is currently reviewing its web-sheetfed balance to ensure it meets customer expectations for quality, response and cost. Deputy managing director Dean Pike will implement the bedding down of the new presses....

The union is in dispute with the recently-privatised postal operator on the issues of “pay, pensions and the impact of privatisation on job security [and] terms and conditions”. It announced the one-day walkout on 16 October, days after Royal Mail’s shares began open trading, although it has now agreed to stand down Monday’s strike to allow both parties to focus on reaching an agreement. In return, Royal Mail has agreed to extend the legal validity of the CWU’s current industrial action ballot from 15 November to 20 November, leaving open the possibility for strike action to take place should a deal fail to materialise. Royal Mail and the CWU issued a joint statement yesterday (30 October) in which they commited to “finalising an agreement in the next two weeks”. According to the statement, the agreement will include: Legal protections for employees that extend beyond the current three year offer An improved pay and reward offer A separate pensions agreement An agenda for growth underpinned by a culture of consensual change, timely decision making and industrial stability supported by alternative dispute resolution processes An agreed approach to aligning resourcing to workload with a resolution to any current workload and resourcing issues An overview of the future parcels and letters strategy A joint company/CWU charter shaping the on-going values and principles of the Royal Mail Group An on-going operational programme of work The two parties said that an overall agreement would depend on all the elements outlined above being agreed. No mention was made of the separate and ongoing issue of downstream access mail, which the CWU has threatened repeatedly to boycott. However, A CWU spokeswoman said that a recently-announced ballot for industrial action over the issue of DSA mail would also be postponed while the union and Royal Mail attempted to reach an agreement on the problems of pay, pensions and job security. Meanwhile, Royal Mail share price is currently around 550p, some 67% above its IPO price of 330p, on the back of “irrational exuberance” on the part of would-be investors. While this means that Royal Mail employees who took part in the free share offer have landed a sizeable windfall, they will not be able to sell their shares for three years from the IPO. In addition the implied dividend yield of 6.1% (based on the IPO price of 330p per share) has fallen to 3.6% based on the current, higher share...

The M60 and M80 machines include modular technology enabling users of both models to interchange alternative units such as for feeding and delivery. This makes any combination of set-up possible and improves flexibility and simplicity, according to UK & Ireland agent Friedheim International. The M60 is suitable for B2 work and has an in-feed width of 62cm while the M80 has B1 capability and an in-feed width of 83cm. Both folders are capable of working at a maximum production speed of up to 230m a minute and both feature touch-screen control. The M80 is available now and costs from £40,000 to £180,000. The M60 is due for availability in 2014 and prices are being finalised. According to MBO, the M80 is the world’s only fully adaptable folder, giving users flexibility to install add-on components after your initial purchase. If a new job comes along the M80 can be reconfigured to meet the new demands....