Prime Group takes first Oneflow as Precision switches to saas pricing
The beta installation, which was originally intended for May, was put back after Nottingham-based Prime Group opted to wait for the cloud-based, software-as-a-service (saas) version of Oneflow to be ready. Oneflow founder Chris Knighton explained that all beta sites had decided to wait for the saas version, with Netherlands-based Digital4 due to install the software over the next few weeks. The cloud-based version has been favoured by beta sites principally because of price, said Knighton. Where previously Oneflow was being priced at around £7,500 for implementation, around £25,000 for annual subscription, and £10,000 upwards for on-site tablet and server hardware, the cloud version is expected to be much more cost effective for most users. “The implementation fee is now only £600, and this will be refunded as ‘click charge’ credits after 12 months if the company decides to stick with Oneflow,” explains Knighton. “Then, instead of an annual subscription fee, users will pay a charge per item, which will be around £1.60 if the company is processing around 25-50 items per day, but could be as low as 3p if printing more.” Knighton explained that ‘an item’ was classed not necessarily as an individual print product but batch of identical products, so six identical calendars for example. Illustrating how OneflowCloud was likely to be more cost-effective than the company’s dedicated platform version, Knighton added that a 25 items per day, 220 days per annum digital printers would pay around £8,800 a year in item charges. A dedicated platform version of Oneflow is still available for those customers expressing data security concerns. However, the 180 or so sites worldwide that have expressed an interest in purchasing Oneflow once it is commercially available in January have all favoured OneflowCloud, according to Knighton. He said: “The message we are receiving loud and clear is that guys want OneflowCloud because it’s more cost-effective and can be deployed faster. It means we can automatically connect into our customers without the need to install any onsite hardware or software. In terms of ease of deployment and support we can accelerate the roll-out of the system in different countries because we can install it remotely.” The benefits of Oneflow over other workflow systems is that it enables ultra-short runs to be produced cost effectively by automating the entire process from file submission to shipping without any manual intervention, said the vendor. “It’s the first workflow system we’ve seen that really allows digital printers to capitalise on the capabilities of their machines,” said technical manager at Prime Barney Netherwood. “All the management for the dispatch and the operation for print seems to be handled exceptionally well by Oneflow and it seems to be the only product that does that.” He added: “This will allow us to offer unparalleled visibility of where each individual piece of print is in the factory. From our customers’ perspective it makes us much easier to work with and allows us to grow without the need for multiple additional workflows.”...
read moreDuncan Print invests to bite into food sector
The litho and digital printed carton manufacturer in Welwyn Garden City notched up British Retail Consortium (BRC) accreditation, enabling it to diversify its packaging services to include food producers, said sales director Keith Davidson, whose company was audited by SAI Global. This follows the purchase of a six-colour Heidelberg XL105, commissioned just over a year ago to enable the business to tackle long runs. It runs alongside an existing B3 Heidelberg, used for short run materials across sectors including horticulture. “This is a period of exciting growth for us and we want to move into different directions,” he said. “We hope food could form 20% of our turnover and aim to increase it from £7m to £10m in four or five years. We serve several markets and will continue to do so: we do not want to overcommit to one market, we’ve seen competitors do this and get burnt.” The BRC accreditation certifies that the group is meeting standards required of companies supplying food and related packaging. The standard is benchmarked against the Global Food Safety Initiative’s guidance document. Chief executive Bill Duncan said: “Our move into the food market is a logical expansion of our packaging offering, which currently accounts for over half the company’s turnover. Food packaging is a growth area, particularly in the branded, artisan, sector where we can demonstrate our creativity in packaging design as well as customer value.”...
read moreTech-ni-fold to replace in-person installations with instant-play video tutorials
The cards incorporate a built-in landscape screen about the size of an iPad screen which plays video footage as soon as the card is opened. The cards will incorporate play, pause, fast-forward and rewind buttons, and other buttons, pressed through the card, for various videos. This will enable the company to offer a range of tutorials on installing the machines and offering trouble shooting advice. The cards will be offered as a substitute to an engineer installing the vendor’s CreaseStream mini desktop creasing and micro-perforators. Graham Harris, managing director of Tech-ni-fold, said that the company would always lend service support in person where requested, but that this new initiative was designed to save customers the approx £300 cost of having an engineer install the systems. “A lot of people haven’t got time to see demonstrations. This supports that kind of method of business where people look on the web and order something through the post. This adds to this and gives the user that bit more confidence to order it, take it out of the box and gets started as soon as possible,” said Harris. He added: “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t put it on some of the more high-end machines and even eventually the Tri-Creasers, because if we’ve got someone who hasn’t paid attention to the product training there’s always a couple of question marks, but if we put one of these into the box we’re absolutely sure it’s going to answer the questions once those sales people walk off.” According to the developers of the video card technology, the identity of which Harris declined to reveal, this is the first time a company has used the system for instructional purposes. Tech-ni-fold will be demonstrating the instant-play video card technology at the British Inventions Show, Barbican Exhibition Centre, 24-26 October. The vendor will also be delivering technical demos of the CreaseStream mini and hosting a Christmas card challenge where visitors compete to crease as many cards in 60 seconds as possible. Tech-ni-fold is offering free tickets to the show. Contact the company on 01455 554 491 to secure one....
read moreTech-ni-fold to replace in-person installations with instant-play video tutorials
The cards incorporate a built-in landscape screen about the size of an iPad screen which plays video footage as soon as the card is opened. The cards will incorporate play, pause, fast-forward and rewind buttons, and other buttons, pressed through the card, for various videos. This will enable the company to offer a range of tutorials on installing the machines and offering trouble shooting advice. The cards will be offered as a substitute to an engineer installing the vendor’s CreaseStream mini desktop creasing and micro-perforators. Graham Harris, managing director of Tech-ni-fold, said that the company would always lend service support in person where requested, but that this new initiative was designed to save customers the approx £300 cost of having an engineer install the systems. “A lot of people haven’t got time to see demonstrations. This supports that kind of method of business where people look on the web and order something through the post. This adds to this and gives the user that bit more confidence to order it, take it out of the box and gets started as soon as possible,” said Harris. He added: “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t put it on some of the more high-end machines and even eventually the Tri-Creasers, because if we’ve got someone who hasn’t paid attention to the product training there’s always a couple of question marks, but if we put one of these into the box we’re absolutely sure it’s going to answer the questions once those sales people walk off.” According to the developers of the video card technology, the identity of which Harris declined to reveal, this is the first time a company has used the system for instructional purposes. Tech-ni-fold will be demonstrating the instant-play video card technology at the British Inventions Show, Barbican Exhibition Centre, 24-26 October. The vendor will also be delivering technical demos of the CreaseStream mini and hosting a Christmas card challenge where visitors compete to crease as many cards in 60 seconds as possible. Tech-ni-fold is offering free tickets to the show. Contact the company on 01455 554 491 to secure one....
read moreNew PrecisionCore tech at heart of Epson’s latest inkjet label press
The Japanese manufacturer plans to create whole product ranges around the new technology, and one of the first will be its new SurePress L-6034V/VW UV inkjet label press. Announcing the expansion at the recent Labelexpo show, Minoru Usui, president of Epson, said: “PrecisionCore has the potential to place piezo inkjet as the dominant printing technology. We are just getting started. It can expand the scope of printing and open up new markets.” Usui said PrecisionCore combined simplicity, quality and speed thanks to the use of MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) and advanced piezo materials that are just one micron in thickness. The heads can be arranged in modules, making them suitable for both desktop and industrial printing devices. The SurePress L-6034V/VW was shown as a concept at Drupa as the SurePress ‘X’. It uses PrecisionCore in a linehead configuration. It is Epson’s first UV label press. The €500,000 (£423,000) device will begin shipping next summer. It can print CMYK plus white, along with digital varnishing in flood or spot, matt or gloss effects. The white ink facility is an option. In a standard configuration white would be applied first, but an optional rewind unit means it can also be applied last if required. Duncan Ferguson, director of professional graphics at Epson Europe, said: “We are achieving an exceptionally smooth UV ink finish without the relief or lumpiness typical with other UV inks.” The SurePress can print onto paper as well as labelstock, and can also print onto “sensitive” substrates such as polyethylene thanks to its low energy usage. It has a 330mm print width and runs at 15m/min, making it slower than competing devices. However, Ferguson countered the speed aspect: “Rather than focus on speed, we focused on quality because there have been some reservations about UV inkjet quality overall. “People get hung up on speed, without looking at the profit they can potentially make,” he stated. Epson’s new direct-to-garment printer also uses the PrecisionCore heads....
read moreNew PrecisionCore tech at heart of Epson’s latest inkjet label press
The Japanese manufacturer plans to create whole product ranges around the new technology, and one of the first will be its new SurePress L-6034V/VW UV inkjet label press. Announcing the expansion at the recent Labelexpo show, Minoru Usui, president of Epson, said: “PrecisionCore has the potential to place piezo inkjet as the dominant printing technology. We are just getting started. It can expand the scope of printing and open up new markets.” Usui said PrecisionCore combined simplicity, quality and speed thanks to the use of MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) and advanced piezo materials that are just one micron in thickness. The heads can be arranged in modules, making them suitable for both desktop and industrial printing devices. The SurePress L-6034V/VW was shown as a concept at Drupa as the SurePress ‘X’. It uses PrecisionCore in a linehead configuration. It is Epson’s first UV label press. The €500,000 (£423,000) device will begin shipping next summer. It can print CMYK plus white, along with digital varnishing in flood or spot, matt or gloss effects. The white ink facility is an option. In a standard configuration white would be applied first, but an optional rewind unit means it can also be applied last if required. Duncan Ferguson, director of professional graphics at Epson Europe, said: “We are achieving an exceptionally smooth UV ink finish without the relief or lumpiness typical with other UV inks.” The SurePress can print onto paper as well as labelstock, and can also print onto “sensitive” substrates such as polyethylene thanks to its low energy usage. It has a 330mm print width and runs at 15m/min, making it slower than competing devices. However, Ferguson countered the speed aspect: “Rather than focus on speed, we focused on quality because there have been some reservations about UV inkjet quality overall. “People get hung up on speed, without looking at the profit they can potentially make,” he stated. Epson’s new direct-to-garment printer also uses the PrecisionCore heads....
read moreThe host for the PrintWeek Awards revealed
Fresh from his sell-out ‘Craic dealer’ tour last year, the all-round comic genius and host of Mock The Week and The Apprentice: You’re Fired, Dara O’Briain will ensure that this year’s Awards ceremony will be a night to remember. Held on Monday 21 October in the stunning setting of the Great Room at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane – there’s no better place to network with the industry’s leading printers and print buyers and celebrate the power of print than the PrintWeek Awards. Tables and seats are selling out fast. To book your place call, Rhiannon Hanson on 020 7501 6344 or click here to book online....
read moreThe host for the PrintWeek Awards revealed
Fresh from his sell-out ‘Craic dealer’ tour last year, the all-round comic genius and host of Mock The Week and The Apprentice: You’re Fired, Dara O’Briain will ensure that this year’s Awards ceremony will be a night to remember. Held on Monday 21 October in the stunning setting of the Great Room at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane – there’s no better place to network with the industry’s leading printers and print buyers and celebrate the power of print than the PrintWeek Awards. Tables and seats are selling out fast. To book your place call, Rhiannon Hanson on 020 7501 6344 or click here to book online....
read moreAvon Graphic Technologies in administration
The Bristol-based company, which was founded in 1975, appointed FRP Advisory last week. Neither FRP Advisory nor Avon Graphic Technologies were unavailable for comment at the time of writing. Avon Graphic Technologies was one of the largest third-party equipment and consumables suppliers in the region with an estimated turnover of £3m to £4m, according to Agfa. Agfa Graphics UK & Ireland country manager Joergen Vad said that Agfa had contacted its customers in the region to try to minimise disruption caused by Avon’s collapse. “To my knowledge all of the manufacturers are doing this,” he said. Vad added that Agfa had been aware of problems at Avon for some time, but that the end had come quite suddenly. “I came [to the UK] in April and we were already aware then that there were problems,” he said. “The pay pattern was disturbing and we had them on cash payment [a lot of the time]. We tried talking to them to understand what the problem was but they had been giving us some hope that they would be able to sell their way out of the situation.” Vad said Avon’s collapse was a sign to everyone in the industry, including manufacturers and dealers, that they needed to differentiate themselves and make sure they were adding enough value in order to justify their businesses. “You have to ask what do I want to do and how can I specialise,” he added. “The trends are what they are: lots of products are commodities, pricing is transparent, so you need to understand what value you’re adding – it’s not enough to just buy and resell anymore. “You also need to make sure your costs are low – and this is the same for everyone in print – we all need to look very carefully at our businesses, not as a craft or as family [owned], but as a business. When I ask dealers, ‘how are your costs relative to the size of your business’ most would agree that they could and should trim. But they don’t because it’s a difficult thing to do.” Vad said that most of Agfa’s customers will be picked up by Litho Supplies, which is based in Weston-super-Mare, although Essex-based print supplies business Service Offset Supplies has said it is recruiting some former Avon staff to “provide continuity of supply to many of their loyal customers”....
read moreAvon Graphic Technologies in administration
The Bristol-based company, which was founded in 1975, appointed FRP Advisory last week. Neither FRP Advisory nor Avon Graphic Technologies were unavailable for comment at the time of writing. Avon Graphic Technologies was one of the largest third-party equipment and consumables suppliers in the region with an estimated turnover of £3m to £4m, according to Agfa. Agfa Graphics UK & Ireland country manager Joergen Vad said that Agfa had contacted its customers in the region to try to minimise disruption caused by Avon’s collapse. “To my knowledge all of the manufacturers are doing this,” he said. Vad added that Agfa had been aware of problems at Avon for some time, but that the end had come quite suddenly. “I came [to the UK] in April and we were already aware then that there were problems,” he said. “The pay pattern was disturbing and we had them on cash payment [a lot of the time]. We tried talking to them to understand what the problem was but they had been giving us some hope that they would be able to sell their way out of the situation.” Vad said Avon’s collapse was a sign to everyone in the industry, including manufacturers and dealers, that they needed to differentiate themselves and make sure they were adding enough value in order to justify their businesses. “You have to ask what do I want to do and how can I specialise,” he added. “The trends are what they are: lots of products are commodities, pricing is transparent, so you need to understand what value you’re adding – it’s not enough to just buy and resell anymore. “You also need to make sure your costs are low – and this is the same for everyone in print – we all need to look very carefully at our businesses, not as a craft or as family [owned], but as a business. When I ask dealers, ‘how are your costs relative to the size of your business’ most would agree that they could and should trim. But they don’t because it’s a difficult thing to do.” Vad said that most of Agfa’s customers will be picked up by Litho Supplies, which is based in Weston-super-Mare, although Essex-based print supplies business Service Offset Supplies has said it is recruiting some former Avon staff to “provide continuity of supply to many of their loyal customers”....
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