At Labelexpo this week HP Indigo announced the 500th installation of its WS6000 series narrow web press, at Rako Group, which will install the press at its Chinese facility. “This is the best-selling narrow solution in the industry – not just in digital printing, narrow overall,” stated HP Indigo vice president and general manager Alon Bar-Shany. “Seven out of ten digital presses sold are Indigo. This is a privileged position but we have to live up to the expectations of our customers.” “Three things have driven our success: quality, versatility and reliability – these presses are built to work and last for years and years, and are capable of working 24/7 for months at a time,” he stated. At the show HP also announced a new silver version of its ElectroInk, which will be commercially available at the beginning of next year. “We have big demand from the labels industry for this,” Bar-Shany added. Also new is a high-slip white ink for shrink-sleeve labels. The Indigo 20000 press for flexible packaging, and seven-colour 30000 B2-format carton press at Labelexpo were both running on HP’s booth. The firm has just announced the first beta site customers for both models. Rako will beta test the 20000, as will Seikou of Japan and Swiss converter WIFP. The presses will be installed in January 2014. The 30000 was shown with the Tresu iCoat inline coater for the first time, along with a Kama DC76 die-cutting unit. Early customers for the 30000 include Nosco, Multi Packaging Solutions, Heret Packaging and ASG (formerly AGI Worldwide). Again, the presses will be installed in the New Year. “We are taking orders at Labelexpo and have a long line of people looking at these solutions,” said Bar-Shany. In the face of a slew of fresh competitors offering inkjet presses for labels, he stated: “No one technology will solve the needs of any industry, be it books, direct mail, labels or packaging. “We believe that for labels and packaging the Indigo technology has significant advantages over other technologies, including high quality and a range of colours. We use inkjet in other markets where we think it has a fantastic value proposition.” Quizzed about the likely competition from Landa, which has just put its beta installations back to the end of next year, Bar-Shany added: “Competition is always good, and we have dozens of competitors already. We believe our quality and versatility, and ability to scale globally give us a big advantage. “We have built credibility over the past five-to-ten years. When we say the press will be in beta in 2014, we do it,” he stated. HP said the volume of labels printed using HP Indigo presses was up...

The MBO marks the third change of ownership in less than a decade for the wide-format media manufacturer, following its sale to Oji Paper Group in 2005 and then Paradigm Global Partners in 2010. According to reports, Paradigm pulled the plug on its investment at the start of July, leaving Ilford unable to pay its 220 staff and facing bankruptcy. However, Willems, who was chief executive of GMG prior to joining Ilford in 2011, was able to secure backing for an MBO from Ilford’s Asian distributor JetGraph, which has taken a shareholding along with Willems and Metrailler. Following the MBO, Willems plans to sell “a significant part of the land owned by Ilford Property” to fund strategic investment in Ilford Imaging. Nevertheless, the need to realign the cost base of the business has led to a 40% reduction in Ilford’s 220-strong workforce. The MBO deal was announced on 17 September, at which time Willems said: “The last few weeks have been extremely challenging and I would like to thank the dedicated members of staff that even through the restructuring process have continued to push the business forward. “In addition, I am very grateful for the continued support of our customers around the world that have stood by us through these difficult conditions. Finally, we have had a number of key suppliers that have continued to work with us through this period at their own risk and again I appreciate their support. It is a true testimony to the quality of products and the importance of our brand.” In spite of its financial difficulties, Ilford has maintained a steady stream of acquisitions and product launches over the past 12 months, including the purchase of CMA Graphix Group, Colorportal and Tecco, and the launch of NanoSolvent and AquaBlock coatings for its Omnijet range of wide format inkjet media. JetGraph president Keiichi Shindo said: “Ilford is a world-renowned brand and we are very optimistic about the potential of the new coating technologies, including NanoSolvent and AquaBlock, as well as the new additions to its traditional inkjet photo paper range. “The innovative products that Ilford have developed recently are a key reason for our investment decision and they will deliver a fundamental contribution to our future growth plan for the commercial sign and display market.” Following the MBO, Ilford announced a technology partnership with Lintec Sign Systems on 18 September. Under the terms of the partnership, Lintec has licensed Ilford’s NanoSolvent and AquaBlock coatings for use on a range of Lintec substrates. NanoSolvent is a coating optimised for use with wide-format eco-solvent inkjet printers, while AquaBlock is a water-fast coating layer optimised for use with aqueous wide-format inkjet printers. The new products will...

The MBO marks the third change of ownership in less than a decade for the wide-format media manufacturer, following its sale to Oji Paper Group in 2005 and then Paradigm Global Partners in 2010. According to reports, Paradigm pulled the plug on its investment at the start of July, leaving Ilford unable to pay its 220 staff and facing bankruptcy. However, Willems, who was chief executive of GMG prior to joining Ilford in 2011, was able to secure backing for an MBO from Ilford’s Asian distributor JetGraph, which has taken a shareholding along with Willems and Metrailler. Following the MBO, Willems plans to sell “a significant part of the land owned by Ilford Property” to fund strategic investment in Ilford Imaging. Nevertheless, the need to realign the cost base of the business has led to a 40% reduction in Ilford’s 220-strong workforce. The MBO deal was announced on 17 September, at which time Willems said: “The last few weeks have been extremely challenging and I would like to thank the dedicated members of staff that even through the restructuring process have continued to push the business forward. “In addition, I am very grateful for the continued support of our customers around the world that have stood by us through these difficult conditions. Finally, we have had a number of key suppliers that have continued to work with us through this period at their own risk and again I appreciate their support. It is a true testimony to the quality of products and the importance of our brand.” In spite of its financial difficulties, Ilford has maintained a steady stream of acquisitions and product launches over the past 12 months, including the purchase of CMA Graphix Group, Colorportal and Tecco, and the launch of NanoSolvent and AquaBlock coatings for its Omnijet range of wide format inkjet media. JetGraph president Keiichi Shindo said: “Ilford is a world-renowned brand and we are very optimistic about the potential of the new coating technologies, including NanoSolvent and AquaBlock, as well as the new additions to its traditional inkjet photo paper range. “The innovative products that Ilford have developed recently are a key reason for our investment decision and they will deliver a fundamental contribution to our future growth plan for the commercial sign and display market.” Following the MBO, Ilford announced a technology partnership with Lintec Sign Systems on 18 September. Under the terms of the partnership, Lintec has licensed Ilford’s NanoSolvent and AquaBlock coatings for use on a range of Lintec substrates. NanoSolvent is a coating optimised for use with wide-format eco-solvent inkjet printers, while AquaBlock is a water-fast coating layer optimised for use with aqueous wide-format inkjet printers. The new products will...

Apex Digital Graphics, which is hosting the event on 1-3 and 8-10 October at its Hemel Hempstead showroom, hopes to better last year’s show, which drew some 148 companies. The event includes demos and seminars and is themed on industry, innovation and inspiration. Apex managing director Bob Usher said: “The event is one of the largest kit installations in the UK at the moment: it’s a massive site with a lot of showroom space and a huge variety of equipment from image creation to output devices that range from inkjet to litho. “We have also added peripheral suppliers to the mix at the front- and back-end. This is one of the largest shows this side of Ipex.” He said more than 50 companies had registered to attend but the build up was accelerating and the organisers hoped to “mirror or exceed” last year’s figure. The last show was at IFS in Perivale, but this year’s venue is more easily accessible, near the M1 and M25 motorways. This year marks the third outing for Print Efficiently, following 2011 and 2012, and is focused around five zones: pre-press, MIS, web2print and workflow; CTP and litho print; digital print; post-press and mailroom; and photobooks and value-add. Usher said: “We deal with Ryobi and Konica Minolta: many customers who go digital find it hard to match colour output with their offset kit. We will be presenting software from CGS enabling the two machines to be calibrated to give similar outputs, so printers can sell both to the same account.” Major highlights include the arrival of the UK’s first Ryobi 760E press, unveiled at Drupa 2012. Kodak will demonstrate a Nexpress SX digital colour Press and Prosper inkjet heads, while Horizon will demonstrate its quick and cost-effective PUR perfect binding alongside its new entry-level BQ280 kit. Kodak marketing manager for the UK and Nordics, David McGuiness said: “This is the only real working print show, or open house, that is being run this year, so you can see jobs from start to finish, from filing through to finishing. Visitors can see our Prosper heads, which can be blended with litho kit. “That said, not everyone wants to go to shows to buy kit. But people do want to learn, and you can do so here without feeling pressure to buy thanks to seminars on every day. Everything that goes on in the print room comes under the spotlight including recycling and humidification.” Prepress, press and post-press suppliers will be on-hand to show off technology across key sectors of the short-run, commercial printing sectors. The seminars this year are focusing more heavily on interactive Q&A sessions. Speakers include Kodak digital print marketing director Erwin Busselot,...

Apex Digital Graphics, which is hosting the event on 1-3 and 8-10 October at its Hemel Hempstead showroom, hopes to better last year’s show, which drew some 148 companies. The event includes demos and seminars and is themed on industry, innovation and inspiration. Apex managing director Bob Usher said: “The event is one of the largest kit installations in the UK at the moment: it’s a massive site with a lot of showroom space and a huge variety of equipment from image creation to output devices that range from inkjet to litho. “We have also added peripheral suppliers to the mix at the front- and back-end. This is one of the largest shows this side of Ipex.” He said more than 50 companies had registered to attend but the build up was accelerating and the organisers hoped to “mirror or exceed” last year’s figure. The last show was at IFS in Perivale, but this year’s venue is more easily accessible, near the M1 and M25 motorways. This year marks the third outing for Print Efficiently, following 2011 and 2012, and is focused around five zones: pre-press, MIS, web2print and workflow; CTP and litho print; digital print; post-press and mailroom; and photobooks and value-add. Usher said: “We deal with Ryobi and Konica Minolta: many customers who go digital find it hard to match colour output with their offset kit. We will be presenting software from CGS enabling the two machines to be calibrated to give similar outputs, so printers can sell both to the same account.” Major highlights include the arrival of the UK’s first Ryobi 760E press, unveiled at Drupa 2012. Kodak will demonstrate a Nexpress SX digital colour Press and Prosper inkjet heads, while Horizon will demonstrate its quick and cost-effective PUR perfect binding alongside its new entry-level BQ280 kit. Kodak marketing manager for the UK and Nordics, David McGuiness said: “This is the only real working print show, or open house, that is being run this year, so you can see jobs from start to finish, from filing through to finishing. Visitors can see our Prosper heads, which can be blended with litho kit. “That said, not everyone wants to go to shows to buy kit. But people do want to learn, and you can do so here without feeling pressure to buy thanks to seminars on every day. Everything that goes on in the print room comes under the spotlight including recycling and humidification.” Prepress, press and post-press suppliers will be on-hand to show off technology across key sectors of the short-run, commercial printing sectors. The seminars this year are focusing more heavily on interactive Q&A sessions. Speakers include Kodak digital print marketing director Erwin Busselot,...