Autobond uses video to sell kit globally
The UK-based finishing manufacturer sold £220,000’s worth of kit to Peruvian firm Finishing SAC, including a Mini 76 TH laminator and a 76 RUV roller-coater. “We realised the market lacked a number of basic finishing services for printing and identified this as a growth area,” said Finishing SAC general manager Jose Trillo. “We needed equipment to increase production and contacted Autobond.” Autobond managing director John Gilmore said: “We are keen to make further progress in the fast-emerging South America market. Finishing SAC is showing just how profitable added-value work can be.” The sale is Autobond’s second in Peru and the manufacturer is also in talks with a Brazilian company. “When you see sheets running at 15,000 an hour – that’s what sells the machine, you don’t even need a voiceover,” he said of his company’s videos, which are posted on the Autobond website. “Some companies buy without a demo.” “Around 35 years ago, I’d hitch a trailer to my car, jump in the driving seat and shoot off to Dover or Aberdeen to do a demonstration and not get home until midnight. After a few years, I heard about video and had a film made.” Today Gilmore equips his installation engineers with high-definition cameras to record kit in operation, leading to sales in Moscow (a 105 TPHS) and Lagos (a 74 TPHS) each worth around £150,000. Autobond also sold a £35,000 Micro 52 TP in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, and a £25,000 Mini 52 T to a company in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Gilmore said: “It doesn’t matter if you run a shoe shop or a restaurant; if you make lovely things, customers will beat a path to your door.”...
read moreBenford appoints consultant and NZ agent
The company, which already has partners in North America, India, the Middle East, France and South Africa, has appointed Cosmo Ultraviolet as its agent for New Zealand. Benford managing director Marc Boden said: “Cosmo’s UV experience and market share make it an ideal company for us to work with. Without the right locally based partner, it would be very difficult for companies on the other side of the world, such as ourselves, to find business in the first place.” Cosmo is a supplier of replacement infrared and UV lamps and equipment to the New Zealand printing industry. Owner Bryan Davies said: “Our potential clients in the printing industry are companies looking to upgrade, retrofit or add additional units to existing equipment so the Benford range fits well into our portfolio.” Benford has also appointed David Pelling as technical consultant at its UK site to aid the company’s international expansion. Pelling has more than 30 years’ experience in the UV curing market as well as having experience in the graphic arts sector....
read moreAre the Days of the ListServ Over?
This article is contributed by Keith Whisler, Technology and Research Analyst, Printing Industries of America. He also manages Printing Industries of America’s Production Manager Listserv Group. Eleven years ago I began working with a large multi-facility commercial printing company, and one of the first things they did was include me in the company’s prepress listserv. It was nice at first because, being new, I didn’t get much email. The listserv provided a steady stream of messages to read. Many of which looked interesting, so I began saving them in a separate folder. As time went on, however, I found the listserv to be a useful resource. It was like having over 100 counterparts instantly available to answer questions and provide support. If I couldn’t remember a setting in an application, I just had to ask the question on the listserv to receive multiple answers. Have problems with a file or project? Ask the listserv. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked to have an InDesign file back saved. If something came up that I knew was previously posted on the listserv, I could browse through my archives. It was a great tool that our organization took full advantage of. Nowadays we have Twitter, LinkedIn Groups, online forums, blogs, and an assortment of other social media and information sharing services. All of these have great features and are very useful, but do they replace the good ole listserv? Twitter is great to get an idea out to your followers as long as it is short and sweet. LinkedIn Groups are a great place to share ideas within a specified topic, but maybe not to get answers to questions. You can also muddle through some of the sales pitches that are tossed in to your LinkedIn Group. I’ve used online forums many times to find answers to questions, but it usually takes some time for a response, so if the answer isn’t already posted, I bail. As for blogs—well they’re good for ranting I guess. The listserv, however, is specific to a group or organization, so there is usually a common interest, whether it is research for a law school, information to share within the medical community, or questions and answers in a large company or user group. The postings tend to be relevant to the members. This information also comes to you via email. I know—who needs more email? Keep in mind that setting filters is a great way to organize these messages into their own directory, and unwanted messages can be easily deleted. So are the days of the listserv over? I think not. All of the above mentioned resources can and should be used to help us share and gather information, thoughts, and ideas. It really depends on what you are looking for and how much time you have. Keep the good ole listserv around. It may still come in handy. Printing Industries of America has a number of listserv groups available to members. Click here to see if one fits your interest. To find out about resources from our Center for Technology and Research, including the Production Listserv, Consulting, and Custom Training Services, visit...
read moreIs Packaging Finishing’s Future?
By Don Piontek I happened across a pretty thorough analysis of the U.S. printing industry last week. It made for interesting reading. The “ouch” part is that there is no doubt that a large portion of the U.S. printing industry is in negative growth mode. The…
read morePolestar hails £75m contract renewal
The long-term deal with Immediate Media Company is understood to be for a minimum of five years and encompasses 30 titles, including flagship brands like Radio Times, BBC Good Food and BBC Top Gear. The titles will be produced across Polestar Petty, which produces the Radio Times, Polestar Chantry, Polestar Colchester, and Polestar Bicester and the renewal cements a relationship between Polestar and Immediate, through their various guises, that has lasted more than half a century. “This latest contract win is indicative of the positive reaction we’ve had from our clients to the investment plan. We’re also dealing with Immediate Media now, not the BBC, so this validation from Immediate for a long term contract is fantastic, we’re dealing with a new organisation really, so we’re thrilled with this renewal,” said Polestar marketing director – UK print, James Povey. Mal Skelton, production director of Immediate Media Co, added: “This deal is mutually beneficial to both companies and is a reflection of our successful, long-term business relationship with Polestar.” Earlier this month, Polestar revealed a planned £50m spend with Goss International for a total of six presses: two 96pp Sunday 5000s, two 64pp Sunday 4000 short-grain presses, and a pair of 16pp M600s. Speaking at the time, Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert described it as “the largest single spend in print technology worldwide for some time”. The £75m renewal confirms Polestar’s position as Immediate’s primary print provider, although William Gibbons & Sons is understood to produce a significant number of specialist titles managed by Immediate’s Bristol Office....
read moreKodak sells businesses to KPP for $650m
Under the terms of the deal Kodak will hand over control of its Personalized Imaging business, which includes retail printing kiosks and most of its consumer products, and its Document Imaging business arm to the UK Kodak Pension Plan (KPP). The announcement comes just two weeks after Kodak filed a motion to sell its Document Imaging business to office equipment maker Brother Industries however the company confirmed that it was now withdrawing that filing. KPP, which with claims of $2.8bn is Kodak’s largest creditor, will acquire the company for a total of $650m in cash and other assets, a deal that the US firm said had “set the stage” for it to emerge from bankcruptcy proceedings. The agreement is subject to the approval of the US Bankruptcy Court. Kodak entered into bankruptcy proceedings in January 2012 and following a major restructure is expected to exit Chapter 11 this year. It has so far delayed the deadline for filing its reorganisation plans three times, however a draft plan is expected to be filed today. As part of the restructure the company originally announced its intention to sell the two businesses in August last year. Kodak president Antonio Perez said: “The KPP transaction moves us past several key hurdles in our reorganization, resolving all potential claims worldwide, assuring continued operations outside of the United States, placing our Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses with a new owner that recognises their value and is focused on their growth and success, and providing the remaining liquidity we require to emerge from Chapter 11. “We are very pleased with the transaction, the value it creates for our stakeholders, and the dedication and creativity of KPP that made it possible to achieve this extraordinary result.” KPP Steven Ross said that the two organisations had been working collaboratively since the beginning of the case, and that the acquisition provided security for its members. He added: “The businesses that we are acquiring will deliver long-term cash flows to support the plan’s obligations. The financial stability that KPP will provide for the Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses will be beneficial to those businesses’ employees, customers and partners.”...
read moreWiltshire printer wins local eco award
The 28-staff printer scooped the eco gong at the Wiltshire Business of the Year awards and was shortlisted in the growth category last week. Judges praised the Corsham-based company, whose clients include blue-chip companies, agencies and charities, for installing power-optimisation units, insulation and rainwater harvesting at its site as well as running waterless six- and four-colour Komoris. Environmental officer Libby Ferguson said by bringing finishing in-house, the £2.8m-turnover company had managed to make the price of waterless production more competitive for clients. Park Lane Press “stumbled” into the environmental approach 14 years ago when the hard water of Wiltshire forced the company to look at alternative ways to improve the quality of print by cutting out its water requirement. As a result it implemented an environmental management system, set targets to improve eco performance and achieved ISO 14001 certification. Investing in waterless printing, which eliminated the use of water and reduced paper, ink and electricity consumption, had formed part of the environmental strategy, Ferguson said....
read morePrintfine upgrades digital finishing operation
The cutter has been purchased to help the company meet demand for smaller-format digital work and comes just a month after Heidelberg installed a new Stahlfolder TH 82 at the company’s site in Liverpool. The £4.5m-turnover commercial print firm is expanding the digital side of the business, which also produces wide-format work, by upgrading its digital finishing kit and building web-to-print capability into its website. “We bought a Xerox iGen5, which takes a larger sheet and is faster than our previous machine, so the new finishing kit is intended to handle the increased throughput of digital work,” said managing director Peter Scott. “We have a big litho set-up, but we’re doing more and more digital work and what we’ve found is that litho and digital don’t really mix; you have to run the two operations almost as two different companies.” The Polar 78 will replace a Perfecta 115 and will be used to help finish the company’s range of commercial print products, including brochures, leaflets, catalogues, mailers, stationery and...
read moreM13 Graphics Adds Mitsubishi Diamond 3000LX Sheetfed Press
SCHAUMBURG, IL—April 24, 2013—Print service providers face intense pressure these days to deliver finished products in ever-shorter timeframes. M13 Graphics has made a name for itself nationwide through its ability to produce exactly…
read moreGetting Real: Interactive Training for Interactive Print
Are customers going to be more enticed to purchase from you if they can see a 3D image on your printed piece? Actually, according to numerous new studies like one from Nellymoser, novel linking technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) are really gaining momentum in the integrated print marketing universe thanks to the extended uses of mobile phones. No longer a futuristic fantasy of overzealous marketers, AR, image recognition, and invisible water marking are quickly growing in popularity. Although customization and QR codes are still being used successfully, consumers’ desire for more realistic experiences is creating viable applications for these new technologies. How to Apply AR in the Real World So how can printers implement AR and other ever-increasing linking tools and start seeing the ROI? At events like Integrated Print Forum 2013, you will see, step-by-step, how to create AR pieces in real time with hands-on lab sessions that effectively link print to digital content and engage customers. Joe Marin, Senior Instructor/Manager, Training Programs (whom you may know if you have ever attended a training workshop or attended a webinar for Printing Industries of America), leads this IPF session and has also authored several white papers and blogs on the subject. His skill and enthusiasm get you involved in your learning. If you are not quite sure how to begin to apply AR, here is Joe to fill in some of the details: When AR is integrated with print, it can link the consumer to online, relevant content or offers. Combining print with an AR scene is typically accomplished by using a marker. A marker is a specialized barcode that is mapped and linked to the digital AR application. The marker is the “trigger” that is placed in front of the smartphone camera or webcam where an AR software application is installed. It is this marker that retrieves the data via an application or Internet connection and becomes the reference point for the AR scene that is displayed on the monitor or smartphone. Click here to see a video where I demonstrate the use of AR. AR overlays real life with relevant, computer-generated information. An example of augmented reality that we are all familiar with is how it is used when watching a football game on television. Current game information (yards to first-down, player information, time remaining, etc.) is superimposed over the actual live gameplay, providing up-to-the-second information. Using this example, we can see how AR is used enhance a person’s understanding of what they are currently viewing. (Read more on Joe’s hands-on lab sessions like “Augmented Reality with Print!” at IPF 2013 here.) There are many successful case studies for AR, including a package printing promotion that received world-wide press. LEGO partnered with an AR software developer to create a box that, when held up to a kiosk at LEGO stores, combines 3-D animation with a live video feed. The result for the customer is an animated, finished toy displayed on top of the box the person is holding. The box can be rotated to show the finished LEGO toy from all angles. Get Started on Expanding Print Using new linking technology like AR will expand print capabilities because it allows you to connect with your audience in real, unique ways and engage them in your message. With...
read more