In April 2012, AIPS brought in a CMC250 mailing line alongside an Océ ColorStream 3500 as part of a £2.5m investment programme. But the CMC250 was only capable of finishing around a third of the Colorstream’s output. On 22 August, Affinion’s Portsmouth facility will take delivery of a CMC400 envelope inserter, which AIPS director Greg Howford said would boost the firm’s finishing capacity to handle two thirds of its total print output. He said that AIPS, part of Affinion Group, is considering investment in further finishing equipment, but is looking to seal contracts with more third party sales businesses to generate further work for the ColorStream prior to making a buying decision. The continuous feed CMC400 is fitted with one friction fed hopper and three suction hoppers to insert A4 forms into C5 and DL envelopes. Howford predicts that the machine will output around 2m filled envelopes a month and it will be used to process charity and government mailings and lifestyle products. Howford said: “It was the service, quality and ability of CMC Machinery to react to our requests that made us decide to use them again – they are very flexible in their R&D.” While the incoming CMC400 has no modifications, Howford said that CMC was very accommodating to AIPS’ desire to develop the CMC250 specifically to work with the company’s ColorStream. The new envelope inserter will replace two Pitney Bowes 8 Series inserters, which have come to the end of their lease. Employees who are currently undertaking manual fulfillment tasks required for the pieces produced by the ColorStream will operate the CMC400, which will perform those jobs automatically....

In April 2012, AIPS brought in a CMC250 mailing line alongside an Océ ColorStream 3500 as part of a £2.5m investment programme. But the CMC250 was only capable of finishing around a third of the Colorstream’s output. On 22 August, Affinion’s Portsmouth facility will take delivery of a CMC400 envelope inserter, which AIPS director Greg Howford said would boost the firm’s finishing capacity to handle two thirds of its total print output. He said that AIPS, part of Affinion Group, is considering investment in further finishing equipment, but is looking to seal contracts with more third party sales businesses to generate further work for the ColorStream prior to making a buying decision. The continuous feed CMC400 is fitted with one friction fed hopper and three suction hoppers to insert A4 forms into C5 and DL envelopes. Howford predicts that the machine will output around 2m filled envelopes a month and it will be used to process charity and government mailings and lifestyle products. Howford said: “It was the service, quality and ability of CMC Machinery to react to our requests that made us decide to use them again – they are very flexible in their R&D.” While the incoming CMC400 has no modifications, Howford said that CMC was very accommodating to AIPS’ desire to develop the CMC250 specifically to work with the company’s ColorStream. The new envelope inserter will replace two Pitney Bowes 8 Series inserters, which have come to the end of their lease. Employees who are currently undertaking manual fulfillment tasks required for the pieces produced by the ColorStream will operate the CMC400, which will perform those jobs automatically....

The digital inkjet manufacturer achieved more awards than any other vendor in the graphic arts technology competition, which is run every year ahead of annual US print industry trade show, Print 13. The Must See ‘Em awards are announced ahead of the show as a guide for visitors, while the best in show in each of the 11 categories are announced during the event, which is held this year from 8 – 12 September. EFI was recognised in eight categories this year for technologies including its Vutek GS-TF and HS100Pro wide format inkjet presses, as well as its Fiery colour management suite, IQuote cloud-based estimating tool and its workflow management systems. In 2012 and 2011 the manufacturer was awarded five and two of the titles respectively, at the US event. Other recognised manufacturers this year include Konica Minolta, Muller Martini, GMG, Xerox, Fujifilm, Canon and Pitney Bowes. EFI president and chief executive Guy Gecht said: “Considering the increasing competitiveness occurring in this awards programme, we are thrilled that, for the third consecutive year, EFI leads the field in Must See Ems wins. “EFI’s strong passion for making our customers more competitive fuels our drive for constant innovation.”...

The graphic inkjet discs, available in 25, 30 and 61mm widths, have been redesigned based on previous products from the Hampshire-based disc filter manufacturer, to protect print heads against a greater range of solvents, including all standard polypropylene and acetone. The disc filters sit inline against the surface of the print head to prevent reuptake of solvents and blocking during the printing process, thereby protecting the printheads and maintaining print quality. The filtration area is 35% larger than standard size discs, resulting in enhanced flow characteristics and consistent print performance, according to the manufacturer. Martin Hanlon, print operations manager for Porvair, the parent company of Imprinta, said: “All the materials used in the Microdisc are impervious to the solvents that the wide-format industry uses.” He added that the UK company had recognised a need to keep up with the ever-growing range of solvents used by the wide-format market, such as acetone, which former products were not resistant to. The Microdisc has been designed for use in high-speed and high throughflow print projects. Supplied as standard with white filter housing, Microdisc filters are also available with black housing for UV ink. The new products have a “higher hold up”, letting fewer particles through and hence expanding the life of print heads, according to Hanlon. They are available as standard with membrane thicknesses of 5, 10 and 20 microns, but the manufacturer will take requests for sub-micron designs. Hanlon said that the Microdisc was suitable for any printers and had been designed with cheaper plastics to enable the company to pass on a reasonable selling price on the end user. Prices start at £10 per filter, and he recommended fitting between eight and 24 discs depending on the size of the printer. The Microdisc filters are expected to be commercially available within the next six weeks following final testing by Inprinta. They will be sold through a wide distribution channel across the world; UK resellers are yet to be confirmed....

The graphic inkjet discs, available in 25, 30 and 61mm widths, have been redesigned based on previous products from the Hampshire-based disc filter manufacturer, to protect print heads against a greater range of solvents, including all standard polypropylene and acetone. The disc filters sit inline against the surface of the print head to prevent reuptake of solvents and blocking during the printing process, thereby protecting the printheads and maintaining print quality. The filtration area is 35% larger than standard size discs, resulting in enhanced flow characteristics and consistent print performance, according to the manufacturer. Martin Hanlon, print operations manager for Porvair, the parent company of Imprinta, said: “All the materials used in the Microdisc are impervious to the solvents that the wide-format industry uses.” He added that the UK company had recognised a need to keep up with the ever-growing range of solvents used by the wide-format market, such as acetone, which former products were not resistant to. The Microdisc has been designed for use in high-speed and high throughflow print projects. Supplied as standard with white filter housing, Microdisc filters are also available with black housing for UV ink. The new products have a “higher hold up”, letting fewer particles through and hence expanding the life of print heads, according to Hanlon. They are available as standard with membrane thicknesses of 5, 10 and 20 microns, but the manufacturer will take requests for sub-micron designs. Hanlon said that the Microdisc was suitable for any printers and had been designed with cheaper plastics to enable the company to pass on a reasonable selling price on the end user. Prices start at £10 per filter, and he recommended fitting between eight and 24 discs depending on the size of the printer. The Microdisc filters are expected to be commercially available within the next six weeks following final testing by Inprinta. They will be sold through a wide distribution channel across the world; UK resellers are yet to be confirmed....