Mimaki adds to digital textile range with Tx500-1800B launch
The new machine, which is sold in the UK by Mimaki’s distributor Hybrid Services, joins the TX400-1800D direct-to-fabric and the TS500-1800 and TS34-1800A transfer paper printers in Mimaki’s textile printing range. Like its predecessor, the TX400-1800D, Mimaki’s TX500-1800B can print reactive dye, sublimation dye, acid dye and pigment inks, making it compatible with a range of pre-treated fabrics, including: cotton; silk, nylon and wool; polyester or transfer paper. All inks come in two litre ink bottles. The machine’s have similar print widths with the TX500 marginally narrower at 1,820mm to the TX400’s 1,850mm. Minimum print width on the TX500 is 210mm and it can handle media weights of up to 60kg and thicknesses up to 5mm. One of the main differences is in speed, where the TX500 is almost 1.5x as fast as the TX400 in comparable print modes (eight-colour, 600x600dpi, eight pass bi-directional printing) with an output of 60sqm. In four-colour printing, the TX500 has a maximum print speed of 140sqm/hr (in 300x300dpi draft mode), dropping to a maximum eight-colour print speed of 85sqm/hr at the same resolution. At its highest 600×1,200dpi resolution, the TX500 has a maximum four-colour print speed of 45sqm/hr and a maximum eight-colour speed of 22sqm/hr. Features include a conveyor belt that feeds the fabric without tension, enabling high-quality printing on elastic materials, and a variable dot function that is said to deliver “rich gradation without banding” and “accurate printing of fine lines”. Mimaki Europe general marketing manager, EMEA, Mike Horsten said: “We believe that the TX500-1800B will speed up the gradually growing transition to digital printing in the worlds of textile and apparel. “Fashion designers and others in the industry will be able to produce vibrant small lot products on unique materials that were not readily available for digital printing in the past. This includes cotton, silk, hemp and rayon.” He added that the TX500 used less ink and water, resulting in less waste, than other printing methods. Pricing was unavailable at the time of writing, but is expected to be announced before the end of the year. The TX400-1800D costs from £55,000....
read moreCogent B2B poised to rebrand St Ives Bradford
Cogent B2B acquired the Bradford business in an £8m deal at the end of September. It already owned Prospect Mailing Services and Griffin Direct Marketing. Chief executive Kevin Dunstall told PrintWeek that the enlarged business, which has sales of more than £70m and employs almost 400 staff, would be brought together under one legal entity – the renamed St Ives Direct Bradford – and one brand in the next couple of weeks. Some enclosing and polywrapping equipment is being relocated between sites to improve efficiencies. “At that point the position of the business will be clear,” Dunstall said. “It’s all focused around production, that’s the key. We are not interested in being the lowest-priced provider, we want to be the best quality service provider. “During September the business overall beat its bottom line budget and this month it’s looking like it will do the same,” he added. Dunstall said that reports about the business having problems meeting its wage bill were inaccurate: “There was an issue at Prospect when we merged banking systems and had to process the wages manually last month, but it hasn’t affected St Ives staff at all. They were paid on the day we completed, have been paid on time this month, and will continue to be paid on time.” Dunstall has appointed Andrew Keighley as sales director at the business. Keighley joined St Ives four months ago, having returned from working in the USA for two years. Prior to that his thirty-plus years in print involved senior roles at Polestar Wheatons, Wyndeham Group, and Howitt. “Andrew has a very interesting background, is very capable and is very keen on moving the business forward,” Dunstall said. He also highlighted the fact that Bradford managing director Jim McKie and finance director Guy Barnett have remained with the company. Paul Jubbs, the former operations director at Communisis, has joined as director of direct mail and fulfilment. “I provide the investment and direction of where the business should go, Jim has day-to-day responsibility,” Dunstall explained. With some £7m of new business wins in the four months since his appointment, Keighley said he was optimistic about the prospects for the company as an independent: “We have had the shackles released and can really get out there into the wider marketplace. There’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm here.” Dunstall said a three-year plan to invest and grow the business was in place. “I’d like to think this is a positive thing for Bradford. It was clear that St Ives was moving away from commodity print. The business is now owned by someone who wants to invest and take it forward,” he said. “The team we have can truly deliver outstanding results.”...
read moreBrace of post-press vendors commit to Ipex
Duplo has confirmed that it will return to Ipex, having previously announced the cancellation of its 630 sqm stand in March this year. However, speaking at the time the firm said that it would review the decision in November after it had spoken to its customers. According to Duplo UK managing director, following various discussions with key accounts the overwhelming response from customers was that they regarded the show as an important event in the UK calendar and they “would definitely be going”. “That gave us the green light we needed to go for it, it was by far the most important factor in us returning to the show,” Jolly added. The firm will take 122 sqm stand at the show, around 20% of its former footprint. According to Jolly the reduced presence was largely down to the fact that the company will treat the show “primarily as a UK project”. He added that Duplo would use its Automated Precision House headquarters in Surrey as its demo base for International distributors and customers, shuttling them to and from the show as required. He said the company would also be using Ipex and Automated Precision House for a number of product launches. “March 2014 will be a bit of purple patch for our R&D, so we expect to have some new products to be ready for delivery around the same time as Ipex,” said Jolly. Meanwhile, Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS) has also confirmed a “significant presence” at Ipex. The company, which is the UK agent for Horizon, has confirmed that it will be taking 357 sqm stand at the show. Around 25% of the space it had provisional booked last year, although Ipex event director Trevor Crawford highlighted that in terms of floorspace IFS will still be in the top five. Bryan Godwyn, IFS joint managing director added: “Ipex 2014 is the key exhibition for IFS in 2014. It’s an opportunity for printers of all shapes and sizes to assess their product portfolio and consider how their next investment might help them expand their business reach.” Godwyn added that he anticipated a number of IFS’s manufacturing partners would use the show to launch new products. “Duplo and IFS’s decisions are great news, we’ve got the momentum going again and I think a lot of that is because the show is only 5 months away and people are starting to realise that they need to start driving sales and messaging, and Ipex is the perfect platform for that,” said Crawford. “Anyone that thinks this is just going to be a UK show is going to have their expectations exceeded when a high proportion of the visitors that will pour into the show will be international. If you look at our international visitor promotion schedule, we haven’t pulled back on any of that. “We have got a large number of major brands exhibiting, whom have some exciting innovative solutions as well as engaging and insightful content and I’m confident Ipex is going to be a great show.”...
read moreAutobond appoints Indian distributor
Malhotra will add Autobond’s range, including its Micro 52 SD TP B2 laminator, 120m/min Mini 105 TPHS B1 laminator and its offline 52 SUV and inline 36×52 spot UV inkjet machines, to its portfolio, which includes products from HP, Fujifilm, Renz and Morgana. Bimal Chaku, vice president of marketing and sales at Malhotra Graphics, said that the two companies had met at Drupa 2012, where Malhotra was looking to add laminating and spot UV varnishing to its range of finishing equipment. “Autobond’s selection of thermal and water-based laminators impressed us, as did the company’s offline spot UV machine,” said Chaku. “The offline capability was vital, as there is plenty of competition for spot UV in the Indian market; however all of it comes integrated with a digital printer. “Autobond’s SUV machine gives us that all-important USP to enable our customers to spot UV varnish for premium applications – such as corporate brochures, product catalogues and even packaging – with either a digital or an offset machine. That versatility makes it a very attractive proposition.” Chaku added that there was “great demand” for finishing equipment in India, from both digital and offset printers, as everyone recognised “how profitable added-value print is”. Autobond managing director John Gilmore said: “The Indian market is becoming an important one for us, with a strong demand for lamination and a growing trend for spot UV varnishing. “We’re delighted to have Malhotra Graphics on board. We both share the same vision of the Indian market and we envisage that, by working together, we can ensure customers have the best machinery, service, and support available.” Autobond has also reported increasing demand for its products in Germany, where its distributor Binderhaus recently received two orders for the Micro 52 SD T laminator at Druck+Form 2013. The Micro 52 SD T is a heavy-duty commercial laminator, aimed at short-run, multi-colour digital B2 and B3 production. It runs at up to 25m/min, has a Heidelberg Stahl suction drum feeder, optional perfecting and a footprint of just 2m x 1m. Gilmore said: “Since launching this new range of laminators, we have sold more machines in Germany in the past two years than in the past 22 years.”...
read moreMimaki adds to digital textile range with Tx500-1800B launch
The new machine, which is sold in the UK by Mimaki’s distributor Hybrid Services, joins the TX400-1800D direct-to-fabric and the TS500-1800 and TS34-1800A transfer paper printers in Mimaki’s textile printing range. Like its predecessor, the TX400-1800D, Mimaki’s TX500-1800B can print reactive dye, sublimation dye, acid dye and pigment inks, making it compatible with a range of pre-treated fabrics, including: cotton; silk, nylon and wool; polyester or transfer paper. All inks come in two litre ink bottles. The machine’s have similar print widths with the TX500 marginally narrower at 1,820mm to the TX400’s 1,850mm. Minimum print width on the TX500 is 210mm and it can handle media weights of up to 60kg and thicknesses up to 5mm. One of the main differences is in speed, where the TX500 is almost 1.5x as fast as the TX400 in comparable print modes (eight-colour, 600x600dpi, eight pass bi-directional printing) with an output of 60sqm. In four-colour printing, the TX500 has a maximum print speed of 140sqm/hr (in 300x300dpi draft mode), dropping to a maximum eight-colour print speed of 85sqm/hr at the same resolution. At its highest 600×1,200dpi resolution, the TX500 has a maximum four-colour print speed of 45sqm/hr and a maximum eight-colour speed of 22sqm/hr. Features include a conveyor belt that feeds the fabric without tension, enabling high-quality printing on elastic materials, and a variable dot function that is said to deliver “rich gradation without banding” and “accurate printing of fine lines”. Mimaki Europe general marketing manager, EMEA, Mike Horsten said: “We believe that the TX500-1800B will speed up the gradually growing transition to digital printing in the worlds of textile and apparel. “Fashion designers and others in the industry will be able to produce vibrant small lot products on unique materials that were not readily available for digital printing in the past. This includes cotton, silk, hemp and rayon.” He added that the TX500 used less ink and water, resulting in less waste, than other printing methods. Pricing was unavailable at the time of writing, but is expected to be announced before the end of the year. The TX400-1800D costs from £55,000....
read moreCogent B2B poised to rebrand St Ives Bradford
Cogent B2B acquired the Bradford business in an £8m deal at the end of September. It already owned Prospect Mailing Services and Griffin Direct Marketing. Chief executive Kevin Dunstall told PrintWeek that the enlarged business, which has sales of more than £70m and employs almost 400 staff, would be brought together under one legal entity – the renamed St Ives Direct Bradford – and one brand in the next couple of weeks. Some enclosing and polywrapping equipment is being relocated between sites to improve efficiencies. “At that point the position of the business will be clear,” Dunstall said. “It’s all focused around production, that’s the key. We are not interested in being the lowest-priced provider, we want to be the best quality service provider. “During September the business overall beat its bottom line budget and this month it’s looking like it will do the same,” he added. Dunstall said that reports about the business having problems meeting its wage bill were inaccurate: “There was an issue at Prospect when we merged banking systems and had to process the wages manually last month, but it hasn’t affected St Ives staff at all. They were paid on the day we completed, have been paid on time this month, and will continue to be paid on time.” Dunstall has appointed Andrew Keighley as sales director at the business. Keighley joined St Ives four months ago, having returned from working in the USA for two years. Prior to that his thirty-plus years in print involved senior roles at Polestar Wheatons, Wyndeham Group, and Howitt. “Andrew has a very interesting background, is very capable and is very keen on moving the business forward,” Dunstall said. He also highlighted the fact that Bradford managing director Jim McKie and finance director Guy Barnett have remained with the company. Paul Jubbs, the former operations director at Communisis, has joined as director of direct mail and fulfilment. “I provide the investment and direction of where the business should go, Jim has day-to-day responsibility,” Dunstall explained. With some £7m of new business wins in the four months since his appointment, Keighley said he was optimistic about the prospects for the company as an independent: “We have had the shackles released and can really get out there into the wider marketplace. There’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm here.” Dunstall said a three-year plan to invest and grow the business was in place. “I’d like to think this is a positive thing for Bradford. It was clear that St Ives was moving away from commodity print. The business is now owned by someone who wants to invest and take it forward,” he said. “The team we have can truly deliver outstanding results.”...
read moreBrace of post-press vendors commit to Ipex
Duplo has confirmed that it will return to Ipex, having previously announced the cancellation of its 630 sqm stand in March this year. However, speaking at the time the firm said that it would review the decision in November after it had spoken to its customers. According to Duplo UK managing director, following various discussions with key accounts the overwhelming response from customers was that they regarded the show as an important event in the UK calendar and they “would definitely be going”. “That gave us the green light we needed to go for it, it was by far the most important factor in us returning to the show,” Jolly added. The firm will take 122 sqm stand at the show, around 20% of its former footprint. According to Jolly the reduced presence was largely down to the fact that the company will treat the show “primarily as a UK project”. He added that Duplo would use its Automated Precision House headquarters in Surrey as its demo base for International distributors and customers, shuttling them to and from the show as required. He said the company would also be using Ipex and Automated Precision House for a number of product launches. “March 2014 will be a bit of purple patch for our R&D, so we expect to have some new products to be ready for delivery around the same time as Ipex,” said Jolly. Meanwhile, Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS) has also confirmed a “significant presence” at Ipex. The company, which is the UK agent for Horizon, has confirmed that it will be taking 357 sqm stand at the show. Around 25% of the space it had provisional booked last year, although Ipex event director Trevor Crawford highlighted that in terms of floorspace IFS will still be in the top five. Bryan Godwyn, IFS joint managing director added: “Ipex 2014 is the key exhibition for IFS in 2014. It’s an opportunity for printers of all shapes and sizes to assess their product portfolio and consider how their next investment might help them expand their business reach.” Godwyn added that he anticipated a number of IFS’s manufacturing partners would use the show to launch new products. “Duplo and IFS’s decisions are great news, we’ve got the momentum going again and I think a lot of that is because the show is only 5 months away and people are starting to realise that they need to start driving sales and messaging, and Ipex is the perfect platform for that,” said Crawford. “Anyone that thinks this is just going to be a UK show is going to have their expectations exceeded when a high proportion of the visitors that will pour into the show will be international. If you look at our international visitor promotion schedule, we haven’t pulled back on any of that. “We have got a large number of major brands exhibiting, whom have some exciting innovative solutions as well as engaging and insightful content and I’m confident Ipex is going to be a great show.”...
read moreAutobond appoints Indian distributor
Malhotra will add Autobond’s range, including its Micro 52 SD TP B2 laminator, 120m/min Mini 105 TPHS B1 laminator and its offline 52 SUV and inline 36×52 spot UV inkjet machines, to its portfolio, which includes products from HP, Fujifilm, Renz and Morgana. Bimal Chaku, vice president of marketing and sales at Malhotra Graphics, said that the two companies had met at Drupa 2012, where Malhotra was looking to add laminating and spot UV varnishing to its range of finishing equipment. “Autobond’s selection of thermal and water-based laminators impressed us, as did the company’s offline spot UV machine,” said Chaku. “The offline capability was vital, as there is plenty of competition for spot UV in the Indian market; however all of it comes integrated with a digital printer. “Autobond’s SUV machine gives us that all-important USP to enable our customers to spot UV varnish for premium applications – such as corporate brochures, product catalogues and even packaging – with either a digital or an offset machine. That versatility makes it a very attractive proposition.” Chaku added that there was “great demand” for finishing equipment in India, from both digital and offset printers, as everyone recognised “how profitable added-value print is”. Autobond managing director John Gilmore said: “The Indian market is becoming an important one for us, with a strong demand for lamination and a growing trend for spot UV varnishing. “We’re delighted to have Malhotra Graphics on board. We both share the same vision of the Indian market and we envisage that, by working together, we can ensure customers have the best machinery, service, and support available.” Autobond has also reported increasing demand for its products in Germany, where its distributor Binderhaus recently received two orders for the Micro 52 SD T laminator at Druck+Form 2013. The Micro 52 SD T is a heavy-duty commercial laminator, aimed at short-run, multi-colour digital B2 and B3 production. It runs at up to 25m/min, has a Heidelberg Stahl suction drum feeder, optional perfecting and a footprint of just 2m x 1m. Gilmore said: “Since launching this new range of laminators, we have sold more machines in Germany in the past two years than in the past 22 years.”...
read moreUK economy grows 0.8% in Q3
Output increased across all four main industrial groupings in Q3, including agriculture (1.4%), production (0.5%), construction (2.5%) and services (0.7%); manufacturing output (which falls within the production grouping) rose by 0.9% for the second consecutive quarter. Third quarter GDP was up 1.5% on Q3 2012, despite the fact last year’s quarterly figure was boosted by the Olympics and Paralympics. According to ONS estimates, GDP is now some 2.5% below its pre-crisis peak in Q1 2008; from the peak in Q1 2008 to trough in Q2 and Q3 2009, the UK economy shrank by 7.2%, beating previous downturns in the early nineties (when the economy shrank 2.9%) and at the start of the eighties (when GDP decreased 5.9%). “This shows that Britain’s hard work is paying off and the country is on the path to prosperity,” said George Osborne on Twitter....
read moreUK economy grows 0.8% in Q3
Output increased across all four main industrial groupings in Q3, including agriculture (1.4%), production (0.5%), construction (2.5%) and services (0.7%); manufacturing output (which falls within the production grouping) rose by 0.9% for the second consecutive quarter. Third quarter GDP was up 1.5% on Q3 2012, despite the fact last year’s quarterly figure was boosted by the Olympics and Paralympics. According to ONS estimates, GDP is now some 2.5% below its pre-crisis peak in Q1 2008; from the peak in Q1 2008 to trough in Q2 and Q3 2009, the UK economy shrank by 7.2%, beating previous downturns in the early nineties (when the economy shrank 2.9%) and at the start of the eighties (when GDP decreased 5.9%). “This shows that Britain’s hard work is paying off and the country is on the path to prosperity,” said George Osborne on Twitter....
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