Heidelberg will open its National Showroom in Brentford, west London to sheetfed litho and digital printers and challenge them to achieve four-minute makereadies using tools such as Prinect Inpress Control, Intellistart, Colour Assistant and Analyze Point. Demonstrations will take place on four Speedmasters – a CX 102, XL 75, SX 74 and an SX 52 Anicolor – and Linoprint C digital lines. Showroom manager Paul Chamberlain said: “At a time when there seems to be some uplift in the market, printers need to prepare to output more from their equipment to meet tight deadlines, produce at speed without compromise to colour or quality. Open houses are a fantastic opportunity to look, learn and assess how to get one step ahead of the competition.” Heidelberg will also launch two machines to the UK market: the PFX feeder for the Stahlfolder TH 82 folder and the Polar BC330 three-side trimmer. According to Heidelberg, the TH folder with PFX feeder is the ideal piece of finishing kit for long perfector presses as it “applies Speedmaster technology to dramatically increase running speed” and reduces feeder stoppages. The BC330, meanwhile, is intended to up performance in short-run perfect-bound book production. There will also be a seminar with MIS guru Keith McMurtie who will extol the virtues of value-added estimating as a way of exploiting the real-time data available from the latest Heidelberg equipment to manage their business dynamically and ensure they are maximising their sales and...

Heidelberg will open its National Showroom in Brentford, west London to sheetfed litho and digital printers and challenge them to achieve four-minute makereadies using tools such as Prinect Inpress Control, Intellistart, Colour Assistant and Analyze Point. Demonstrations will take place on four Speedmasters – a CX 102, XL 75, SX 74 and an SX 52 Anicolor – and Linoprint C digital lines. Showroom manager Paul Chamberlain said: “At a time when there seems to be some uplift in the market, printers need to prepare to output more from their equipment to meet tight deadlines, produce at speed without compromise to colour or quality. Open houses are a fantastic opportunity to look, learn and assess how to get one step ahead of the competition.” Heidelberg will also launch two machines to the UK market: the PFX feeder for the Stahlfolder TH 82 folder and the Polar BC330 three-side trimmer. According to Heidelberg, the TH folder with PFX feeder is the ideal piece of finishing kit for long perfector presses as it “applies Speedmaster technology to dramatically increase running speed” and reduces feeder stoppages. The BC330, meanwhile, is intended to up performance in short-run perfect-bound book production. There will also be a seminar with MIS guru Keith McMurtie who will extol the virtues of value-added estimating as a way of exploiting the real-time data available from the latest Heidelberg equipment to manage their business dynamically and ensure they are maximising their sales and...

The firm, which is based at London’s Excel centre, installed a new Roland RE-640 roll-to-roll wide format printer in March and has followed the acquisition with the retro-fit of a Lightbar unit. The £2,250 unit, from Maidenhead-based wide-format digital ink specialist Colorific, uses its next generation UV-Light inks, launched last year, and enables printers that use Epson DX4 or DX5 printheads to move into UV inks without having to pay for a new machine. Alan Carter of Complete Studio Graphics said the combination of a new printer and the Lightbar was a better investment option for the business. He explained: “We needed a machine that would give us a faster way of working but at a low investment price, particularly as this is our first venture into UV-curable technology. We didn’t want to sacrifice quality or our attractive prices for our clients either,” he added. Carter explained that formerly, with jobs on flexible materials being produced using its solvent-based units, output was delayed between printing and laminating because of the risk of outgassing, but that with the Lightbar jobs were now ready immediately. “With Lightbar, we can print work and use it straightaway, which is something that’s impossible with solvent-based production,” he added. “We’re now far more flexible and versatile, and the saving on lamination is a huge saving on time and money.” Colorific’s business development manager Shaun Holdom said: “Complete Studio Graphics is a typical example of a graphics house that wants to transform its solvent-based print to UV-curable production, but without the huge learning curve and high investment cost.”...

An introduction to digital print will run alongside the existing intermediate course run by the academy, based at Walsall College, and will look at software, basic colour management, materials and printing techniques. Costs and duration of the course are being finalised but it will be open to anyone in print. Roland Academy and creative centre manager Joe Wigzell said: “The course is aimed at people new to the industry or those who have maybe bought a smaller or second-hand machine. A typical course has up to eight people per class and we could be looking at the same numbers. “We found varying levels of experience on the intermediate course and felt, for some people, the intermediate level was a bit too far forward; it would be good to take a step back and be given a bit more of an overview of the industry as well as some hands-on work.” The Roland Academy offers a range of courses for printers and sign makers looking to either up-skill or refresh their technical and industry knowledge. Other courses include basic application and finishing and vehicle wrapping It also runs Roland Boot Camps, one-day training courses focused on teaching users how to maximise their investment in Roland products such as the VersaStudio BN20 desktop printer. Wigzell said he wanted to roll out these courses to newer equipment as and when launched. Based at Walsall College for seven years, the academy has educated hundreds of sign makers and printers and “is a core part of the commercial proposition at Roland”, according to Wigzell. Meanwhile, Walsall College has been awarded an “outstanding grade” by Ofsted. It is the first further education provider in the UK to receive the outstanding grading under Ofsted’s new inspection framework. For further information on upcoming courses visit www.rolanddg.co.uk/support/academy....

The firm, which is based at London’s Excel centre, installed a new Roland RE-640 roll-to-roll wide format printer in March and has followed the acquisition with the retro-fit of a Lightbar unit. The £2,250 unit, from Maidenhead-based wide-format digital ink specialist Colorific, uses its next generation UV-Light inks, launched last year, and enables printers that use Epson DX4 or DX5 printheads to move into UV inks without having to pay for a new machine. Alan Carter of Complete Studio Graphics said the combination of a new printer and the Lightbar was a better investment option for the business. He explained: “We needed a machine that would give us a faster way of working but at a low investment price, particularly as this is our first venture into UV-curable technology. We didn’t want to sacrifice quality or our attractive prices for our clients either,” he added. Carter explained that formerly, with jobs on flexible materials being produced using its solvent-based units, output was delayed between printing and laminating because of the risk of outgassing, but that with the Lightbar jobs were now ready immediately. “With Lightbar, we can print work and use it straightaway, which is something that’s impossible with solvent-based production,” he added. “We’re now far more flexible and versatile, and the saving on lamination is a huge saving on time and money.” Colorific’s business development manager Shaun Holdom said: “Complete Studio Graphics is a typical example of a graphics house that wants to transform its solvent-based print to UV-curable production, but without the huge learning curve and high investment cost.”...