Law Design and Print installs secondhand SM 74
The pre-owned eight-colour machine, supplied by Printers Superstore, will tackle material such as menus for the restaurant and takeaway market, said managing director Kam Law. He reckons his Birmingham business handles up to a third of the UK’s 18,000 or so Chinese restaurants. The SM 74 cost £255,000, prints just under 10,000 sheets an hour and has a “low mileage” of only 15m impressions, according to Law. His company uses 2,000 tonnes of 130gms gloss paper a year to produce menus, which accounts for 98% of business. The four-back-four machine dates from 1999 and was one of the first Speedmasters to incorporate the CP2000 operating system with touch-screen off-press controls. Water cooling means less heat is released into the print room. It joins two other Speedmaster 74 long perfectors – an eight and a ten colour. Law said the new machine was the company’s best press, saving time and adding capacity. Law Design and Print operates from three units, for print production, finishing and storage, covering a combined 2,800sqm. The company is 28 years old and has grown from a one-man operation to a 35-staff business with a turnover of around £3.5m. “The latest machine had a low mileage and that’s what really attracted me, along with the price” he said. “It replaces a five-colour Sakurai. We serve the Chinese food industry, but we’re making progress in the Asian and pizza markets now, which are much bigger. “We’re already producing 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday, but the extra capacity the new Speedmaster brings gives us room for expansion. We would like to replace the other two Speedmasters with a Heidelberg 102, which prints 12,000 sheets an hour, a big advantage.”...
read moreLaw Design and Print installs secondhand SM 74
The pre-owned eight-colour machine, supplied by Printers Superstore, will tackle material such as menus for the restaurant and takeaway market, said managing director Kam Law. He reckons his Birmingham business handles up to a third of the UK’s 18,000 or so Chinese restaurants. The SM 74 cost £255,000, prints just under 10,000 sheets an hour and has a “low mileage” of only 15m impressions, according to Law. His company uses 2,000 tonnes of 130gms gloss paper a year to produce menus, which accounts for 98% of business. The four-back-four machine dates from 1999 and was one of the first Speedmasters to incorporate the CP2000 operating system with touch-screen off-press controls. Water cooling means less heat is released into the print room. It joins two other Speedmaster 74 long perfectors – an eight and a ten colour. Law said the new machine was the company’s best press, saving time and adding capacity. Law Design and Print operates from three units, for print production, finishing and storage, covering a combined 2,800sqm. The company is 28 years old and has grown from a one-man operation to a 35-staff business with a turnover of around £3.5m. “The latest machine had a low mileage and that’s what really attracted me, along with the price” he said. “It replaces a five-colour Sakurai. We serve the Chinese food industry, but we’re making progress in the Asian and pizza markets now, which are much bigger. “We’re already producing 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday, but the extra capacity the new Speedmaster brings gives us room for expansion. We would like to replace the other two Speedmasters with a Heidelberg 102, which prints 12,000 sheets an hour, a big advantage.”...
read moreSurface Print Company makes first wide-format digital investment
The family-owned business, which is the UK’s only flock wallpaper manufacturer, has bought a 3.2m wide HP Latex 3000 printer to allow it to produce one-off and bespoke digitally-printed wallpapers and a 1.5m wide Latex 260 printer. Abigail Watson, sales director at The Surface Print Company, said that while the Latex 260 had originally been bought to provide samples for the Latex 3000, it was also being used to provide a quick sample service for the firm’s traditional wallpapers. “We’ve already had customers who are going to be printing on the traditional machines use the Latex 260 for sampling,” she said. “A digital sample is not going to look like a machine piece, but it gives a good idea and it’s very quick – the customers who have used it were really pleased with how quickly they could get to grip with the colouring.” According to Watson the total investment in setting up the digital suite, including the equipment, digital front end, software, building works and air conditioning was around £400,000. The firm has also taken on new staff as a result of the digital investment and general growth. Watson said that while digital was still very much a niche market in wallpaper printing, it was growing and had a number of unique benefits versus traditional wallpaper printing. “We’re finding that our customers, who already print using a wide range of our textural techniques – like flock and beads – are starting to print digital. At the moment it’s a small market and it will never replace something like flock or beads because it can’t give the texture, but it certainly is a growth market and it has the benefits of no maximum colours and no repeats,” she said. Watson added: “Our traditional business is mainly done on non-wovens and we also print a lot onto foils now. We can print the same substrates with the digital printer, but it gives us more flexibility on widths versus our traditional presses, which print the standard 52cm or 68.5cm widths. With the digital we can print any width up to 3m.” The two HP latex printers were delivered to the firm earlier this month by CWE Solutions. HP’s Latex 3000 printer was launched at Fespa 2013; it can print at speeds of up to 77sqm/hr for indoor use and up to 120sqm/hr for outdoor graphics. It can print onto a wide range of substrates including wallpapers, foils, nonwovens and vinyls....
read moreSurface Print Company makes first wide-format digital investment
The family-owned business, which is the UK’s only flock wallpaper manufacturer, has bought a 3.2m wide HP Latex 3000 printer to allow it to produce one-off and bespoke digitally-printed wallpapers and a 1.5m wide Latex 260 printer. Abigail Watson, sales director at The Surface Print Company, said that while the Latex 260 had originally been bought to provide samples for the Latex 3000, it was also being used to provide a quick sample service for the firm’s traditional wallpapers. “We’ve already had customers who are going to be printing on the traditional machines use the Latex 260 for sampling,” she said. “A digital sample is not going to look like a machine piece, but it gives a good idea and it’s very quick – the customers who have used it were really pleased with how quickly they could get to grip with the colouring.” According to Watson the total investment in setting up the digital suite, including the equipment, digital front end, software, building works and air conditioning was around £400,000. The firm has also taken on new staff as a result of the digital investment and general growth. Watson said that while digital was still very much a niche market in wallpaper printing, it was growing and had a number of unique benefits versus traditional wallpaper printing. “We’re finding that our customers, who already print using a wide range of our textural techniques – like flock and beads – are starting to print digital. At the moment it’s a small market and it will never replace something like flock or beads because it can’t give the texture, but it certainly is a growth market and it has the benefits of no maximum colours and no repeats,” she said. Watson added: “Our traditional business is mainly done on non-wovens and we also print a lot onto foils now. We can print the same substrates with the digital printer, but it gives us more flexibility on widths versus our traditional presses, which print the standard 52cm or 68.5cm widths. With the digital we can print any width up to 3m.” The two HP latex printers were delivered to the firm earlier this month by CWE Solutions. HP’s Latex 3000 printer was launched at Fespa 2013; it can print at speeds of up to 77sqm/hr for indoor use and up to 120sqm/hr for outdoor graphics. It can print onto a wide range of substrates including wallpapers, foils, nonwovens and vinyls....
read moreFespa promotions target global growth
Michael Ryan and James Ford will handle events from the group’s worldwide event calendar. The former will head up next year’s launch of Fespa Africa. He will also drive growth for Fespa’s Brasil and Eurasia shows, launched this year, and Fespa Mexico, which has been running for five years. Ford will cover the main European exhibitions including Fespa Digital as well as Asian events including Fespa China. Ryan has been with Fespa over a decade and Ford has been with the group for eight years. They are part of a seven-strong sales team at the UK base in Reigate, Surrey. Ryan said: “Our goal is to increase numbers of international exhibitors and visitors through the various regions. This involves looking at what the market wants and where the industry is going. These markets have such potential for global manufacturers. “Everyone is still very focused on the European and US markets but I would like to see increasing numbers of international products that we can bring to the other markets. At the Eurasia show, for example, there were direct partnerships with HP, Fujifilm and Roland. “The key thing is getting the right balance of improving visitor numbers but ensuring they get to see the best technology. Fespa is a not-for-profit organisation but it would be good if the shows prompted investment in seminars and sharing knowledge to help growth in the industry.” Fespa managing director Neil Felton said: “In less than a decade Fespa has transformed itself from an international trade association with a single, three-yearly European event, to a global event brand with a footprint on four continents. “It has a growing reputation for content-rich business events attracting senior decision makers. Mike and James have been instrumental in this development and their promotion now gives them full ownership of sales and exhibitor account management for the events they work on.”...
read moreFespa promotions target global growth
Michael Ryan and James Ford will handle events from the group’s worldwide event calendar. The former will head up next year’s launch of Fespa Africa. He will also drive growth for Fespa’s Brasil and Eurasia shows, launched this year, and Fespa Mexico, which has been running for five years. Ford will cover the main European exhibitions including Fespa Digital as well as Asian events including Fespa China. Ryan has been with Fespa over a decade and Ford has been with the group for eight years. They are part of a seven-strong sales team at the UK base in Reigate, Surrey. Ryan said: “Our goal is to increase numbers of international exhibitors and visitors through the various regions. This involves looking at what the market wants and where the industry is going. These markets have such potential for global manufacturers. “Everyone is still very focused on the European and US markets but I would like to see increasing numbers of international products that we can bring to the other markets. At the Eurasia show, for example, there were direct partnerships with HP, Fujifilm and Roland. “The key thing is getting the right balance of improving visitor numbers but ensuring they get to see the best technology. Fespa is a not-for-profit organisation but it would be good if the shows prompted investment in seminars and sharing knowledge to help growth in the industry.” Fespa managing director Neil Felton said: “In less than a decade Fespa has transformed itself from an international trade association with a single, three-yearly European event, to a global event brand with a footprint on four continents. “It has a growing reputation for content-rich business events attracting senior decision makers. Mike and James have been instrumental in this development and their promotion now gives them full ownership of sales and exhibitor account management for the events they work on.”...
read moreUK dubbed a bad place to manufacture by Grangemouth boss
The Daily Telegraph has published excerpts from a presentation Ratcliffe is said to have given to George Osborne that began with a slide stating: “The UK frankly has not been a very attractive place to manufacture”. Ratcliffe, who has already moved Ineos’s headquarters to Switzerland after the company was refused VAT deferrals during the Credit Crunch, has called for a reduction in corporation tax for manufacturing companies to 12%. He also called on the government to reduce environmental taxes on energy, which add €6 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the UK, versus €1 in Germany and zero in the US Gulf, making the UK one of the most expensive countries for big energy users. Ratcliffe is said to have told the chancellor that Britain lacked USPs for manufacturing investment, that it was disadvantaged on transport costs and that to this could be added “energy, pensions, government attitude, unions, infrastructure qualitys, skills and tax”. The shale gas boom in the US has given American companies a big advantage on energy costs, he claimed, while Germany benefits from “excellent skills” and “a very strong manufacturing base” and China has “a massive market” and “cheap labour costs”. Ratcliffe also criticised the “aspirational targets for university attendance” pushed by successive governments, which have led to a decline in the UK’s vocationally skilled workforce. The government should “get rid of the idea that everyone should get a degree regardless of whether it is worth anything”, he added. Ratcliffe told The Telegraph that he had simply been trying to impress upon the government the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy and the fact that “if you want to encourage manufacturing in the UK, you have to have some reason to invest”. Ineos’s Grangemouth plant was recently in the news after a dispute with Unite left the 800-staff business facing closure; the decision to close the plant, announced last week, was reversed when the union acquiesced to the company’s demands for a three-year pay freeze, an end to the final salary pension scheme and an agreement not to strike for three years....
read moreMimaki to unveil latest wide-format flatbed
The new device is set for commercial availability from UK distributor Hybrid Services in the first quarter of 2014. The JFX200-2513 is intended to be an entry-level option for printers in the sign and display sector. The manufacturer said the CMYK-plus-white machine can print at up to 25sqm/hr on sheets of 2.5×1.3m and up to 50mm thick and offered high-quality output at an affordable price. According to Mimaki, the new printer produces high-quality print by generating ink dots in three different sizes at once. It also employs a white ink for use on transparent materials, for backlit displays for example, or dark substrates. The machine has been designed with ease-of-use in mind, with the control panel, vacuum valves and ink supply on the front of the unit. General manager of marketing for Mimaki Europe, Mike Horsten said: “It is designed based on customer input as an entry-level printer with extreme ease of use but also incorporates many of the advanced features that Mimaki is known for in the sign and display graphics industry.” The new printer will be available with a range of ink options to support different substrate types. LH-100 is a hard UV-cured ink, which Mimaki said offered high rub and chemical resistance while maintaining image quality. LUS-150 is a low-cost UV-cured ink designed to be flexible so it can be used on curved surfaces without cracking. PR-100 is a primer ink that can be used as a pre-treatment agent to improve ink adhesion on difficult substrates. The machine will have its debut at Viscom next week....
read moreMimaki to unveil latest wide-format flatbed
The new device is set for commercial availability from UK distributor Hybrid Services in the first quarter of 2014. The JFX200-2513 is intended to be an entry-level option for printers in the sign and display sector. The manufacturer said the CMYK-plus-white machine can print at up to 25sqm/hr on sheets of 2.5×1.3m and up to 50mm thick and offered high-quality output at an affordable price. According to Mimaki, the new printer produces high-quality print by generating ink dots in three different sizes at once. It also employs a white ink for use on transparent materials, for backlit displays for example, or dark substrates. The machine has been designed with ease-of-use in mind, with the control panel, vacuum valves and ink supply on the front of the unit. General manager of marketing for Mimaki Europe, Mike Horsten said: “It is designed based on customer input as an entry-level printer with extreme ease of use but also incorporates many of the advanced features that Mimaki is known for in the sign and display graphics industry.” The new printer will be available with a range of ink options to support different substrate types. LH-100 is a hard UV-cured ink, which Mimaki said offered high rub and chemical resistance while maintaining image quality. LUS-150 is a low-cost UV-cured ink designed to be flexible so it can be used on curved surfaces without cracking. PR-100 is a primer ink that can be used as a pre-treatment agent to improve ink adhesion on difficult substrates. The machine will have its debut at Viscom next week....
read moreUK dubbed a bad place to manufacture by Grangemouth boss
The Daily Telegraph has published excerpts from a presentation Ratcliffe is said to have given to George Osborne that began with a slide stating: “The UK frankly has not been a very attractive place to manufacture”. Ratcliffe, who has already moved Ineos’s headquarters to Switzerland after the company was refused VAT deferrals during the Credit Crunch, has called for a reduction in corporation tax for manufacturing companies to 12%. He also called on the government to reduce environmental taxes on energy, which add €6 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the UK, versus €1 in Germany and zero in the US Gulf, making the UK one of the most expensive countries for big energy users. Ratcliffe is said to have told the chancellor that Britain lacked USPs for manufacturing investment, that it was disadvantaged on transport costs and that to this could be added “energy, pensions, government attitude, unions, infrastructure qualitys, skills and tax”. The shale gas boom in the US has given American companies a big advantage on energy costs, he claimed, while Germany benefits from “excellent skills” and “a very strong manufacturing base” and China has “a massive market” and “cheap labour costs”. Ratcliffe also criticised the “aspirational targets for university attendance” pushed by successive governments, which have led to a decline in the UK’s vocationally skilled workforce. The government should “get rid of the idea that everyone should get a degree regardless of whether it is worth anything”, he added. Ratcliffe told The Telegraph that he had simply been trying to impress upon the government the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy and the fact that “if you want to encourage manufacturing in the UK, you have to have some reason to invest”. Ineos’s Grangemouth plant was recently in the news after a dispute with Unite left the 800-staff business facing closure; the decision to close the plant, announced last week, was reversed when the union acquiesced to the company’s demands for a three-year pay freeze, an end to the final salary pension scheme and an agreement not to strike for three years....
read more