Man crushed by paper reel airlifted to hospital
According to a BBC report, the accident took place at the Childerditch Industrial Park in Brentwood, Essex, at 11am on 25 September. A spokesman for the Essex County Fire & Rescue Service said that firefighters had assisted in moving the man from the rear of a lorry parked at Unit 51 on the estate to an air ambulance. The man, who was said by the BBC to have suffered “multiple injuries”, was then airlifted to Victoria Park and transferred to the major trauma centre at Royal London Hospital. A spokesman for the Health & Safety Executive confirmed that it was investigating the incident. Units 51-52 house the production and warehousing facilities for UK paper converter and flexographic print business Aspenlink, which supplies coated and uncoated graphic and magazine papers and prints giftwrap and other specialist products. The 2,800sqm facility houses Jagenbeg Vari-Dur and Masson Scott U1A slitter rewinding machines with trim widths up to 2,850mm, and a 1,420mm CMF Flexographic printing machine. The warehouse has a total capacity of 4,000 tonnes, while the firm’s clamp trucks can handle reels up to six tonnes with a diameter of 1,800mm. Aspenlink was unavailable for comment at the time of writing....
read moreMan crushed by paper reel airlifted to hospital
According to a BBC report, the accident took place at the Childerditch Industrial Park in Brentwood, Essex, at 11am on 25 September. A spokesman for the Essex County Fire & Rescue Service said that firefighters had assisted in moving the man from the rear of a lorry parked at Unit 51 on the estate to an air ambulance. The man, who was said by the BBC to have suffered “multiple injuries”, was then airlifted to Victoria Park and transferred to the major trauma centre at Royal London Hospital. A spokesman for the Health & Safety Executive confirmed that it was investigating the incident. Units 51-52 house the production and warehousing facilities for UK paper converter and flexographic print business Aspenlink, which supplies coated and uncoated graphic and magazine papers and prints giftwrap and other specialist products. The 2,800sqm facility houses Jagenbeg Vari-Dur and Masson Scott U1A slitter rewinding machines with trim widths up to 2,850mm, and a 1,420mm CMF Flexographic printing machine. The warehouse has a total capacity of 4,000 tonnes, while the firm’s clamp trucks can handle reels up to six tonnes with a diameter of 1,800mm. Aspenlink was unavailable for comment at the time of writing....
read moreCasepak chairman George Smith passes away
George, who passed away on 24 September at his home in Leicester, led the business through several periods of great expansion. Last year a £21m 150,000 tonnes-per-annum materials recycling facility was officially opened by recycling minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach. Casepak was also crowed Leicestershire business of the year in 2012. In 1997 Casepak moved to a purpose-built site in Enderby, processing 144,000 tonnes of recycled material every year. This marked a quarter of a century since he launched into cartons by opening his own business with just one lorry. George Albert Edward Smith was born in 1936 in Leicester and on leaving the navy aged 19 worked in a local grocery store. In the early 1960s he acquired the city’s Corn Exchange and ran a bingo hall, gaining the moniker “Bingo George”, which stayed with him for the rest of his life. He joined Vinaflex in Leicester, which used expensive cartons to make soles for shoes, and in a bid to reduce costs, started buying second-hand cartons. In 1972 he launched his own second-hand carton business, employing seven people and called Casepak. He identified another niche by selling his unusable cartons for recycling and saw a large and lucrative opening in recycling. Contracts across the Midlands with box makers, printers and news houses soon followed and business snowballed. He was helped by his eight children, all of whom still work in the business, which now employs more than 200 people. Son and joint managing director Mark Smith said his father was great to work with and for, and always made time for the entire team. “George, my dad, had a real recycling vision. He was one of the first to recognise the opportunities that lay ahead. His drive, determination and inspiration shaped the company to become one of the best independent recyclers in the country. He’s already sadly missed.” A funeral will be held at Leicester Cathedral (St Martin’s) on Friday (4 October)....
read moreCasepak chairman George Smith passes away
George, who passed away on 24 September at his home in Leicester, led the business through several periods of great expansion. Last year a £21m 150,000 tonnes-per-annum materials recycling facility was officially opened by recycling minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach. Casepak was also crowed Leicestershire business of the year in 2012. In 1997 Casepak moved to a purpose-built site in Enderby, processing 144,000 tonnes of recycled material every year. This marked a quarter of a century since he launched into cartons by opening his own business with just one lorry. George Albert Edward Smith was born in 1936 in Leicester and on leaving the navy aged 19 worked in a local grocery store. In the early 1960s he acquired the city’s Corn Exchange and ran a bingo hall, gaining the moniker “Bingo George”, which stayed with him for the rest of his life. He joined Vinaflex in Leicester, which used expensive cartons to make soles for shoes, and in a bid to reduce costs, started buying second-hand cartons. In 1972 he launched his own second-hand carton business, employing seven people and called Casepak. He identified another niche by selling his unusable cartons for recycling and saw a large and lucrative opening in recycling. Contracts across the Midlands with box makers, printers and news houses soon followed and business snowballed. He was helped by his eight children, all of whom still work in the business, which now employs more than 200 people. Son and joint managing director Mark Smith said his father was great to work with and for, and always made time for the entire team. “George, my dad, had a real recycling vision. He was one of the first to recognise the opportunities that lay ahead. His drive, determination and inspiration shaped the company to become one of the best independent recyclers in the country. He’s already sadly missed.” A funeral will be held at Leicester Cathedral (St Martin’s) on Friday (4 October)....
read moreCaspak chairman George Smith passes away
George, who passed away on 24 September at his home in Leicester, led the business through several periods of great expansion. Last year a £21m 150,000 tonnes-per-annum materials recycling facility was officially opened by recycling minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach. Casepak was also crowed Leicestershire business of the year in 2012. In 1997 Casepak moved to a purpose-built site in Enderby, processing 144,000 tonnes of recycled material every year. This marked a quarter of a century since he launched into cartons by opening his own business with just one lorry. George Albert Edward Smith was born in 1936 in Leicester and on leaving the navy aged 19 worked in a local grocery store. In the early 1960s he acquired the city’s Corn Exchange and ran a bingo hall, gaining the moniker “Bingo George”, which stayed with him for the rest of his life. He joined Vinaflex in Leicester, which used expensive cartons to make soles for shoes, and in a bid to reduce costs, started buying second-hand cartons. In 1972 he launched his own second-hand carton business, employing seven people and called Casepak. He identified another niche by selling his unusable cartons for recycling and saw a large and lucrative opening in recycling. Contracts across the Midlands with box makers, printers and news houses soon followed and business snowballed. He was helped by his eight children, all of whom still work in the business, which now employs more than 200 people. Son and joint managing director Mark Smith said his father was great to work with and for, and always made time for the entire team. “George, my dad, had a real recycling vision. He was one of the first to recognise the opportunities that lay ahead. His drive, determination and inspiration shaped the company to become one of the best independent recyclers in the country. He’s already sadly missed.” A funeral will be held at Leicester Cathedral (St Martin’s) on Friday (4 October)....
read moreA PGSF Success Story: How One Former Recipient Found Industry Success
It’s a positive sight to see all of the 2013-14 Print and Graphic Scholarship (PGSF) recipients, and we wish them the best of luck in their education and future careers! Did you know that since 1956 recipients like them have been making significant impacts as industry professionals? And PGSF is still pushing forward to give more print and graphic arts students an education upon which they can build thriving careers. We caught up with Joseph Schember of Mohawk Paper, a former PGSF Scholarship recipient who’s just joined the new PGSF Board of Directors. Here he talks about his experience as a student recipient and now as an accomplished industry professional. Joe was excited to share his story and eager to leverage his new role as a board member to give back to PGSF, which he credits as the platform for his success. From where he sits in his big office at Mohawk today, he still expresses his gratitude to PGSF and its drive to help students go from the classroom to the pressroom, boardroom, or wherever opportunity lies. Q: Tell us about your current work in the graphic arts industry and what you’ve accomplished since graduation. Joseph Schember: I have been with Mohawk Paper for the last 2½ years as Specialty Digital Product Manager. I assess our clients’ needs and how we can help them make high-value products using their digital equipment by using premium substrates. I enjoy my work here at Mohawk and respect how the company has expanded over the last 80 years and expanded their brand around products for the rapidly growing digital printing market. Before Mohawk, I was with Canon USA doing product marketing of the Canon Color imagePRESS family of digital presses after graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology. Working with two different suppliers allowed me to see the market as a whole—while with Canon, I would help printers by selling them needed equipment; now with Mohawk, I’m talking to those same printers, but this time I’m showing them ways to leverage their digital printing equipment to produce premium customer applications on high-value substrates. It’s given me a round perspective of their operations and how they work together—finding out where the opportunities are for them to make money. Q: How did PGSF support your career? JS: PGSF supplies financial benefits, of course, but there are many other ways they’ve helped me get to where I am. I got involved in the industry immediately through networking. We (PGSF Scholarship recipients) are encouraged to write a letter to a different donor or sponsor for each year we are in the scholarship program updating them on what we’re learning. These contacts are from all across the industry, so I became more aware of different companies and jobs, and they encouraged me to look at all the opportunities. Although I studied Graphic Media Publishing at RIT, I saw many other fields that interested me. Being a PGSF recipient is also a fantastic resume builder. It helped me get my first job! Q: What did it mean to you to win a PGSF Scholarship? JS: I am very appreciative of all the support PGSF has provided me and other students. It instills a sense of pride and confidence that I was chosen for this honor. I feel the program...
read moreA PGSF Success Story: How One Former Recipient Found Industry Success
It’s a positive sight to see all of the 2013-14 Print and Graphic Scholarship (PGSF) recipients, and we wish them the best of luck in their education and future careers! Did you know that since 1956 recipients like them have been making significant impacts as industry professionals? And PGSF is still pushing forward to give more print and graphic arts students an education upon which they can build thriving careers. We caught up with Joseph Schember of Mohawk Paper, a former PGSF Scholarship recipient who’s just joined the new PGSF Board of Directors. Here he talks about his experience as a student recipient and now as an accomplished industry professional. Joe was excited to share his story and eager to leverage his new role as a board member to give back to PGSF, which he credits as the platform for his success. From where he sits in his big office at Mohawk today, he still expresses his gratitude to PGSF and its drive to help students go from the classroom to the pressroom, boardroom, or wherever opportunity lies. Q: Tell us about your current work in the graphic arts industry and what you’ve accomplished since graduation. Joseph Schember: I have been with Mohawk Paper for the last 2½ years as Specialty Digital Product Manager. I assess our clients’ needs and how we can help them make high-value products using their digital equipment by using premium substrates. I enjoy my work here at Mohawk and respect how the company has expanded over the last 80 years and expanded their brand around products for the rapidly growing digital printing market. Before Mohawk, I was with Canon USA doing product marketing of the Canon Color imagePRESS family of digital presses after graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology. Working with two different suppliers allowed me to see the market as a whole—while with Canon, I would help printers by selling them needed equipment; now with Mohawk, I’m talking to those same printers, but this time I’m showing them ways to leverage their digital printing equipment to produce premium customer applications on high-value substrates. It’s given me a round perspective of their operations and how they work together—finding out where the opportunities are for them to make money. Q: How did PGSF support your career? JS: PGSF supplies financial benefits, of course, but there are many other ways they’ve helped me get to where I am. I got involved in the industry immediately through networking. We (PGSF Scholarship recipients) are encouraged to write a letter to a different donor or sponsor for each year we are in the scholarship program updating them on what we’re learning. These contacts are from all across the industry, so I became more aware of different companies and jobs, and they encouraged me to look at all the opportunities. Although I studied Graphic Media Publishing at RIT, I saw many other fields that interested me. Being a PGSF recipient is also a fantastic resume builder. It helped me get my first job! Q: What did it mean to you to win a PGSF Scholarship? JS: I am very appreciative of all the support PGSF has provided me and other students. It instills a sense of pride and confidence that I was chosen for this honor. I feel the program...
read moreA PGSF Success Story: How One Former Recipient Found Industry Success
It’s a positive sight to see all of the 2013-14 Print and Graphic Scholarship (PGSF) recipients, and we wish them the best of luck in their education and future careers! Did you know that since 1956 recipients like them have been making significant impacts as industry professionals? And PGSF is still pushing forward to give more print and graphic arts students an education upon which they can build thriving careers. We caught up with Joseph Schember of Mohawk Paper, a former PGSF Scholarship recipient who’s just joined the new PGSF Board of Directors. Here he talks about his experience as a student recipient and now as an accomplished industry professional. Joe was excited to share his story and eager to leverage his new role as a board member to give back to PGSF, which he credits as the platform for his success. From where he sits in his big office at Mohawk today, he still expresses his gratitude to PGSF and its drive to help students go from the classroom to the pressroom, boardroom, or wherever opportunity lies. Q: Tell us about your current work in the graphic arts industry and what you’ve accomplished since graduation. Joseph Schember: I have been with Mohawk Paper for the last 2½ years as Specialty Digital Product Manager. I assess our clients’ needs and how we can help them optimize their equipment. I enjoy my work here at Mohawk and respect how the company has expanded over the last 80 years and expanded their brand around digital printers. Before Mohawk, I was with Canon USA in Digital Equipment Product Marketing after graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology. Working with two different suppliers allowed me to see the market as a whole—while with Canon, I would help printers by selling them needed equipment; now with Mohawk, I’m talking to those same printers, but this time I’m showing them ways to use their equipment more efficiently. It’s given me a round perspective of their operations and how they work together—finding out where the opportunities are for them to make money. Q: How did PGSF support your career? JS: PGSF supplies financial benefits, of course, but there are many other ways they’ve helped me get to where I am. I got involved in the industry immediately through networking. We (PGSF Scholarship recipients) are encouraged to write a letter to a different donor or sponsor for each year we are in the scholarship program updating them on what we’re learning. These contacts are from all across the industry, so I became more aware of different companies and jobs, and they encouraged me to look at all the opportunities. Although I studied Graphic Media Publishing at RIT, I saw many other fields that interested me. Being a PGSF recipient is also a fantastic resume builder. It helped me get my first job! Q: What did it mean to you to win a PGSF Scholarship? JS: I am very appreciative of all the support PGSF has provided me and other students. It instills a sense of pride and confidence that I was chosen for this honor. I feel the program helped me stay motivated and disciplined, since I had to keep my grades up at RIT to be eligible for the yearly scholarship. I am excited to continue my...
read morePixartprinting buys Italy’s first Rhotex 320
The company invested in the 3.2m-wide inkjet machine, which was installed this summer, in response to growing demand for textiles-based soft signage banners, as opposed to those printed on PVC. According to Pixartprinting managing director Alessandro Tenderini, textiles offer a number of “unbeatable advantages” over PVC. “Disposal of the materials is simpler than PVC, the materials are lighter, easily foldable and transportable. They suffer less creasing and may be used more times than PVC banners,” he said. Pixartprinting has produced a range of textiles products, including flags, posters and expo graphics, since 2007, but a recent increase in demand has required the company to boost production capacity at its facility in Quarto d’Altino, near Venice. According to the printer, the Rhotex 320 “was the only system that matched our specific needs, such as around-the-clock productivity, image quality, reliability and process automatisation”. The Rhotex 320 prints in six colours at speeds of up to 110sqm/hr and a resolution of 600dpi. It employs water-based dispersed-dye inks, which Durst says ensures it is an environmentally friendly option. “Many European countries are heavily regulated by environmental laws, which inevitably result in standard PVC materials being replaced by environmentally friendly textiles,” said Tenderini. Durst Italy sales director Alberto Bassanello added: “We are only at the beginning. Textiles printing has still not been fully explored and may have applications in many areas.”...
read moreHeidelberg hails XL success
The firm has installed 110 printing units at UK customers since the show took place in May 2012, with most of the individual presses being Speedmaster XL 106 models. Sales director Jim Todd said that the productivity being achieved with the XL and associated automation meant that one press could replace two or even three old presses. “Some of our customers believe the XL could easily achieve 75m impressions a year,” he noted. “And finishing technology now has the automation and performance to match XL presses,” Todd added. Heidelberg UK managing director Gerard Heanue said that after the huge industry shake-out the company now had 3,300 UK customers, compared with 10,000 in 2000. He said results at the company have turned the corner: “Our market share is the highest it has ever been in B1 and B2, and also in finishing. Sales are up and our operating profit is the highest since 2000.” The B3 market has been squeezed in-between B2 and digital presses. Todd described it as “95% down in the last five years and now a very small market.” Todd said the B2-format Anicolor launched at Drupa was likely to begin shipping around the end of the year. “We are seeing a lot of interest in this press from packaging printers due to waste reduction. They can save a lot of sheets of very expensive material, resulting in six-figure savings.” Among the new perfectors in the UK is Heidelberg’s longest B1 press anywhere in the world, a 17-unit XL 106 at Chesapeake East Kilbride fitted with ten printing units, three coaters, four dryers and inline cold foiling....
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