Atech appoints Matt Wetton as sales manager for south of England

Atech Ltd has appointed Matt Wetton as Sales Manager for the South of England.  Wetton will cover London and the home counties and will be responsible for the direct sales of consumables and hardware solutions to the wide format print and signage industries.

Wetton has extensive experience in wide format print solutions having previously worked in a senior management role for international coatings company Cytack Ltd.  He has also worked at M2 Products Ltd.

Allan Ashman, managing director of Atech Ltd, comments, "Matt’s knowledge and understanding of the coatings & laminates industry will no doubt be of great benefit to our existing Atech customers and he will be able to help other wide format print providers and copy shops who need these skills to help them grow their businesses. We’re delighted he’s come on board during our 30th Anniversary year and am sure he will be a great asset to the business.”

Wetton adds, "I’m delighted to join the team at Atech Ltd and going back to my roots of supplying first-class solutions to customers that have a real need for expertise and solution providing. I believe that nothing beats face-to-face when it comes to selling and Atech Ltd has this same ethos. They have a great reputation, know their customers well and therefore only supply best in class products. It's an exciting time and I’m looking forward to the opportunities ahead.”

For more information on Atech, please visit www.atech.co.uk.

Xaar profits soar

Revenues for the Cambridge-based manufacturer in the six months to 30 June 2013 rocketed to £67.2m (H1 2012: £37.9m), with growth led by strong demand for Xaar's ceramic tile digital printing technology, particularly in China, which has around 46% of the global ceramic printing market.

Chief executive Ian Dinwoodie said he expected the company's growth to begin to slow down in the coming year. "We've grown by 150% over the past three years; it has been huge. Now we'll take a couple of years to draw breath, targeting a more meaningful growth rate of perhaps around 10%," he said.

Product sales across the company were £63.9m (H1 2012: £34.3m) with Xaar's ceramic applications the key driver.

Dinwoodie said that the company had experienced 36% growth of sales into the packaging market through digital label printing. The division generated £8.3m, accounting for 12% of H1 revenue.

Company headcount, which now stands at more than 700, has increased by almost 50% since 30 June 2012.

Dinwoodie said there would be further "significant hiring" to fulfil its ongoing R&D on existing and new products.

"We are forecasting very robust numbers in the coming years, which will enable us to create a much larger company once we get the thin-film piezo technology (P4) product rolling out," Dinwoodie said.

He added that development of the P4 was on track with the first revenues expected in 2016.

In the wide-format graphics market the company made something of a comeback after losing market share in recent years, achieving revenue growth of 28%; and with the new Xaar 501 GS10 scheduled for release later this year, Dinwoodie expected that to continue over the next two to three years.

Manufacturing at Xaar's Huntingdon facility is at full capacity and the company plans to invest around £30m of capex in 2013/2014, in "further specialised assets to meet market demand".

Looking ahead, Dinwoodie said he expected demand for ceramic tile technology to stabilise. "But there are other ceramic processes that could possibly be digitalised and we are exploring those.

"There will be more adoption of inkjet into packaging and our decorative laminate application. We expect to see results over the next couple of years.

"Based on our thin-film technology we'll be looking at further forms of packaging, textiles and book printing and we'll expect these to kick in between 2016 through to 2022."

Interim dividend, which will be paid on 4 October, increased to 2.5p per share (H1 2012: 1p per share).

Share price was 828.5p at the time of writing, almost four times its value last year, with a 52-week high of 898p (low: 227p)

HP launches flagship flatbed at Fespa

The new machine is targeted at the sign and display, corrugated and retail-ready packaging markets.

The 10000 is capable of 312sqm/hour in ‘Sample Mode' rising to 625 sqm/hr in "sellable" ‘PROD 125' mode and has a bed size of 1,600x3,200mm. It can handle products up to 25mm thick.

It features HP's HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology, which is a combination of new HDR300 printheads, of which there are 312, coupled with new software algorithms for droplet placement and a new pigmented, high adhesion inkset, HDR240.

Xavier Garcia, general manager of HP Scitex Wide Format Printing Solutions, said: "We're are now able to control drop size, drop by drop and that creates a tonal range that replicates very closely high resolution systems like offset and flexo. This is the ‘magic of what the 10000 represents."

The new heads use what HP says is a patented technology that can apply different sized drops, 15, 30, 45 pico litre drops simultaneously by merging 15 Pico litre drops ‘mid air'.

According to Garcia, this offers an equivalent resolution of 150 lines per inch (lpi).

Shipping of the FB10000 will begin in November, although it is commercially available immediately on a "restricted basis".

The machine will initially be available as in six-colours (CMYK and Lc, Lm), but Garcia said that an upgrade path had been built into the system - suggesting more colours could be added. He said that white might also be a future option, depending on customer requirements.

The 10000, which is running live on HP's stand at Fespa, has been in development for three years and has been in beta testing at KL Druck in Germany for two months.

The 10000 will be sold alongside the HP Scitex FB7600, but the features on the 10000 will not be retro-fittable to it.

"Basically to introduce the 10000 technology we had to re-engineer the entire press. Architecturally it may look similar to he 7600, but the accuracy required for all the components mean you can multiply by 10 the complexity involved in its construction," said Garcia.

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New large format Ezee MultiBlock photo mounting system from RGBuk

Berkshire-based large format solutions provider RGBuk has added a new product to its popular Ezee range of creative digital wall art and décor products. The new Ezee MultiBlock is a multi image photo block available in either a four or nine tiled image layout.

The face of the black edged 9mm MDF blocks is pre-coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive film allowing prints or photographs to be easily mounted by hand. The backs of the blocks are also pre-coated so they can be mounted to the ready-to-hang backing template giving you the perfect result.

The four-image multi block comes with block sizes of two 6” squares, one 8” square and one 12” square.  The nine-image multi block comes with block sizes of three 7” x 5”, two 6” x 8”, one 8” square, one 8” x 12”, one 12” x 5” and one 12” x 16”.  All of the blocks are slightly undersized so that mounting and trimming is easy.

“Our new Ezee MultiBlock product range has been developed following extensive input from our customers, producing not only a new stylish up to date product but one that can be easily created in house,” says Ben Randall, Managing Director at RGBuk. “The multi block product fits perfectly into our Ezee range of products which takes the difficulty out of producing large format wall art products. It allows just about anyone including high street photographic stores, photo service labs and photography studios to create this product utilising their current in house large or small format printers.”

For more information, please visit www.rgbuk.com

Signtec ‘saves a fortune’ by switching to Nazdar UV inks

Chelmsford, UK-based Signtec Ltd was founded in 1999 and is a major supplier of signage and graphics to customers across the East Anglia region.  With numerous prestige clients, the company currently occupies a 2200 sq.ft. workshop and produces a wide variety of sign and display solutions.

The company has built a reputation for service and has a high customer retention rate.  Indeed, a large proportion of its new business activity is through referrals from existing customers.  At the core of the company’s success lies an Agfa Anapurna machine which enables it to quickly and cost-effectively create output for its commercial and trade customers.

When the company initially installed the Anapurna machine, Signtec used OEM inks.  Peter French, Projects Manager from Signtec, explains, “When we first bought the machine, we’d not even heard of alternative inks.  We gladly sent off our ink order and wrote a large cheque at the end of each month.”

However, over time, the usage of alternative inks became more prevalent and Signtec decided it would be pertinent to trial the new inks.  Quality Print Services (QPS), the main UK distributor for specialist ink manufacturer Nazdar, came to the company’s premises and explained the changeover process.

Chris Bailey, Managing Director at QPS, comments, “We started working with Signtec in March 2012 and we have an excellent working relationship with the business.  We converted the company’s Agfa Anapurna printer across to Nazdar inks at that time.  It was a simple process - we sent in one of our fully-trained engineers who cleaned out the OEM ink, flushed the printer through with Nazdar conversion fluid, refilled the machine with the Nazdar inks and re-profiled the RIP.”

Peter adds, “It was as simple as that; the Agfa machine was up and running on Nazdar inks with no delay or interruption to our printed output.”
Nazdar inks are often significantly less expensive than the original equipment manufacturers' ink, while providing the exact same colour and print performance. Although there are many alternative ink manufacturers supplying products to the market, very few have the credentials that Nazdar brings to the table.

All Nazdar products are stringently tested internally and via beta sites, prior to release. These products have the best warranty in the business, covering the entire ink train should Nazdar inks be proven to have damaged an approved/compatible printer.
Since the conversion, Peter has been seamlessly running his Agfa Anapurna machine on Nazdar UV inks and states: “We’ve saved ourselves a fortune by using Nazdar ink.”

However, Peter does advise some caution when making the switch-over to alternative inks:  “There are certainly some good deals to be had in alternative inks, but there are also some scare stories out there.  My experience has been absolutely positive and I can say without any doubt, I am a very happy Nazdar customer.  But do buy ink from a supplier you know and one you can actually touch if you need to â€" not one that’s on another continent.”

Peter continues, “The Agfa Anapurna is a superb machine, backed by a renowned company and a very experienced technical team and we have been extremely pleased with our investment.  However, in this financially tough environment, I have to continually look at costs and savings and ink cost has been one of our primary concerns."

Peter concludes, “I have been - and continue to be - grateful to Nazdar for its great ink, its superb engineering skills and its customer service and to Agfa for building such a reliable and robust machine.  Thanks to Nazdar, we’ve saved buckets of cash!”

For more information on Nazdar, please visit www.nazdar.com

For more information on QPS, please visit www.qualityprintservices.com

For more information on Signtec and its products and services, please visit www.signtec-ltd.com

Signpost Signs increases quality, speed and service with Roland SOLJET PRO4 XR-640

From large format banners and photoboards to vehicle livery and exterior and interior signage, Signpost Signs has been fulfilling the signage requirements of its customers for over 15 years. Company owner, Steve Hems, and his team of seven produce its wide range of applications for a variety of customers including local government, schools and colleges, designers and end-users. In December 2012, Signpost Signs purchased a Roland DG SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 printer/cutter through printMAX and the new machine has already had a major impact on the company. It has enabled the team to increase its operational efficiency and produce large format prints quicker than ever before, as well as confidently look to a future where they can offer their customers an even wider range of services.

Signpost Signs has been a loyal Roland user and printMAX customer for over five years. When the company moved to its current base in Sidcup, Kent, it purchased its first wide format machine, a Roland XJ-640 printer. The XJ-640 was purchased as it could be used without having to install an extraction unit, and the machine has been a loyal workhouse, producing all its large format work ever since. However, when the SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 was launched late last year, Steve decided it was time to upgrade his kit.

On purchasing the SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 through Roland Authorised dealer printMAX, Steve commented: “Over the five years we used the XJ-640 we never had any major issues and we have always been happy with the print quality and user experience. However, to stay ahead in a very competitive digital print market I believe it is important to invest in the newest technology to ensure you are able to continually perform at the optimum level. It was a no-brainer for us to stick with Roland products because we’ve had such a good experience and when we heard about the launch of the SOLJET PRO4 XR-640, our minds were made up immediately because it is everything we wanted in a machine.”

Particularly appealing to Steve was Roland’s print and cut technology which streamlines production by automatically printing and contour kiss/die cutting printed graphics. Steve continued: “The integrated print and cut facility on the PRO4 XR-640 has really simplified our work and significantly reduced our production times. Within two weeks of having the machine, we took on our largest print and cut job to date â€" rebranding a fleet of 21 coaches for one of the largest coach companies in the South East. It’s a job we definitely would not have been able to fulfil if we didn’t have the new Roland.” 

Steve also praised the new colours available with Roland’s new ECO-SOL MAX2 inks and the ability to print at full speed without sacrificing the print quality: “Another brilliant feature of the PRO4 XR-640 is the fact there is no compromise to the quality of output when printing at full speed. We still get a top notch finish, just quicker, so we can turn jobs around faster than we could before. I’ve also noticed the improvement the light black ink has to the final finish of prints. The gradients are smoother, as are the flood coatings. These improvements are really appreciated by our customers. Our old Roland did a brilliant job but there are visible benefits to switching to the PRO4.” 

The SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 is Roland’s flagship model. The versatile, high-performance unit is Roland’s widest, fastest and most powerful printer/cutter to date featuring a revolutionary print head design. The inline formation of the print heads and unique design produces ink droplets of seven different sizes which results in a high density finish and flawless photographic reproduction. The SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 is compatible with Roland’s innovative ECO-SOL MAX2 ink which is available in a configuration of up to eight colours including CMYK, light magenta, light cyan, white, metallic silver and light black. These durable inks are suitable for outdoor and indoor use and boast fast drying times and a wide colour gamut to suit any creative project.

Steve concluded: “Now we have the PRO 4 XR-640 we are able to target more markets and offer our customers more services. We will be printing and installing larger contour cut wraps for vehicles on a regular basis and we are also looking to produce bespoke digital print wallpapers for the commercial and domestic market. Our new Roland has really boosted our future prospects.”

To find out more about Signpost Signs and its services please visit: http://www.signpostsigns.co.uk

To find out more about Roland DG and its products please visit: http://www.rolanddg.co.uk or for further details about printMAX please visit www.printmax.co.uk or call 01420 511539.

Xaar achieves record results in 2012

Revenue increased by 26% over the same period to £86.3m (2011: £68.7m) while gross margin improved to 47% (2011: 44%) and for the first time since 2007 Xaar increased the dividend by 33%. Xaar attributed its record results to the continuing success of its Platform 3 (P3) technology in the digital printing ceramic tile market.

Sales in graphics arts shrank across the year by 28% to £13.1m (2011: 18.1m) although the company said that it had "arrested the decline" in the second half of 2012 with the first recorded revenue increase "for some time". The company said that a significant change was not expected in the sector until the planned release of Xaar 501 GS10 at the end of this year.

Sales into the packaging market grew 3% to £12m, representing 14% of total sales.

Chief executive Ian Dinwoodie said that the growth in sales revenue had been bolstered by the company's £22m capacity expansion programme at its Huntingdon, Cambridge facility since 2011.

He added: "On the back of the success of our P3 technology and in response to growing demand we will be expanding our manufacturing capacity further than previously announced.

"This should underpin Xaar's growth prospects for both the short and the medium term. P4 research and development spending will accelerate over this period, positioning Xaar to deliver further growth over the longer term horizon."

Looking ahead Dinwoodie said that Xaar expected to continue to be the dominant leaders in the ceramic market and added that he anticipated volumes in label and deco laminates to continue to grow albeit at a slower rate.

He said: "We expect to gain market share back in graphic arts and expect some of the advanced manufacturing processes to start cutting in over the next three to five years. Further on from there we expect our next generation P4 to generate revenue from around 2016/17."

The company invested £8m in R&D in 2012 including a 50% growth in R&D staffing levels and Dinwoodie said: "We have a lot of R&D on the pipelines which will generate strong revenues for us for a long time ahead."

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Clicks Digital Solutions 'increases print consistency and overall business productivity' with GMG

Large format printing specialist Clicks Digital Solutions says it has been able to increase both print consistency and overall business productivity significantly as a direct result of its recent investment in GMG ColorServer, SmartProfiler and EcoSave applications.

From its 10,000 sq.ft. location in Clerkenwell, central London, Clicks Digital Solutions has over 20 years’ experience as a specialist digital print services provider. Working with a range of Blue Chip advertising and retail clients, its 40 employees operate a 24 hour shift roster producing exterior hoardings, retail POS, exhibition graphics and display materials. Equipment ranges from large format machines from Inca Digital, HP and Fujifilm, as well as HP Indigo digital presses for general commercial print work.

“With such a diversity of output equipment, our previous colour management workflow was fragmented,” says Dave Spaul, Clicks Digital Solutions’ Managing Director. “We were relying on each machine’s RIP to handle both output and colour management, and found we were wasting time tweaking output to ensure consistency across devices. We realised that we needed a single, centralised colour management system that could control and co-ordinate colour output across all of our printers, as well as something that was more robust in terms of ripping jobs.”

Dave was already familiar with GMG, and their colour management reputation. “I know several companies that use GMG solutions and are very happy with both the results as well as the positive impact that it has brought to their business.”

GMG ColorServer standardises and simplifies colour management to deliver accurate and consistent results across disparate output devices; while GMG SmartProfiler is an easy-to-use, intelligent “wizard” application that enables even inexperienced users to create extremely accurate device colour profiles.

“We have just completed the creation of profiles for all our devices, and the business benefits are already becoming apparent,” continues Dave. “Depending on the particular job - or how busy we are - we can allocate elements of the same job across any of our devices and have the utmost confidence that the colour will match. We can load-balance and speed-up production to meet tight deadlines without the potential danger of compromising on quality.”

As well as ColorServer and SmartProfiler, Clicks has deployed GMG’s EcoSave option that allows a reduction in ink usage of up to 20%, depending on the job and device, while maintaining consistent and accurate colour output.

“Previously I had suspicions about the benefits of colour management,” continues Dave, “but hearing the strong positive feedback from companies that have implemented GMG solutions, together with our own initial experiences with the system, clearly show that GMG ColorServer, together with SmartProfiler and EcoSave, will have a significant impact on our business.”

Toby Burnett, GMG UK MD, says: “In common with many of today’s print services providers, Clicks needed fast, accurate, worry-free output across its wide variety of devices. Removing output inconsistencies and streamlining their production workflow brings significant colour management and productivity gains.”

[Image shows Dave Spaul, MD, Clicks Digital Solutions]

Image Factory returns to HP for second Scitex FB7600

The new machine complements the firm's existing FB7500, which has been upgraded to FB7600 specifications, and forms part of the company's plan to phase out its screen printing operation.

Image Factory's second Scitex flatbed enables the Chippenham business to shut the second of its three screen printing lines and migrate more of its POP and POS work to digital production.

This new machine has been configured with HP's white ink kit that allows the press to use the manufacturer's HP FB225 white Scitex ink and print on a range of applications, including backlit signage and window displays.

Image Factory head of digital technologies Tim Boore said the addition of white ink to HP's offering has produced "excellent and cost-effective" results.

He said: "The ability to print white really puts the last nail in the coffin for screen as far as we're concerned.

"We will retain our last screen line for one- and two-colour jobs and special projects requiring metallic inks, but our normal work is going to be digital."

The 3.2m-wide flatbed FB7600 can print on a range of rigid and flexible substrates, such as corrugated board, paper, foam board, Dibond and plastics for both indoor and outdoor applications.

It can print on sheets of up to 1,650 x 3,200mm in size and up to 25mm thick.

Boore added: "The speed and capacity of these printers has enabled us to shut down one of our three screen printing lines, and when we've completed the options and upgrades, we'll be able to shut down a second."

"The result of these investments is that we have presses with identical functionality that enable us to move work from screen to digital."

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Xaar taking part in 'Make it in Great Britain' exhibition

Xaar is lining up alongside 38 other iconic British businesses taking part in the ‘Make it in Great Britain’ exhibition. The impressive display featuring leading British manufacturers opens today at the Science Museum, London, and is the culmination of the ‘Make it in Great Britain’ campaign launched last year by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The campaign challenges outdated opinions of modern manufacturing and dispels the myth that Britain ‘doesn’t make anything anymore’.

Xaar was chosen from hundreds of UK companies to participate in the showcase of British manufacturing.  The company, whose printheads jet a variety of fluids onto a range of materials, has remained at the forefront of industrial inkjet printing technology for 20 years.  Most recently Xaar’s leading printhead, the Xaar 1001, has changed the face of printing in the ceramics industry worldwide.

“This event is an excellent showcase for British innovation,” said Ted Wiggans, Xaar's operations director. “Xaar is a great UK manufacturing success story. Our printhead technology was invented in the UK in 1990, we went public in 1997 and today we have a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Huntingdon and employ over 450 highly skilled staff globally.”

The ‘Make it in Great Britain’ exhibition is open from 24th July to 9th September to coincide with the Olympic and Paralympic games.

For more information about the event, please visit www.bis.gov.uk/makeitingreatbritain.

For more information on Xaar, please visit www.xaar.com.

Service Graphics prints giant backdrop for Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto tour

Service Graphics, the large format print and display division of St Ives Group, was selected by client Hangman, the set design and construction company, to print a giant backdrop for Coldplay's European 'Mylo Xyloto' Tour.  Measuring an impressive 6,200 square metres, the backdrop covers the stadium seating behind the stage and has been produced in multiple sections to allow it to be manageable and to fit the various different-sized venues.

The brief was for a lightweight, waterproof and flame retardant backdrop which could be folded away for easy transportation between locations. Service Graphics has produced a quantity of different sized sections, the largest of which are 20x20 metres, taking over 10 days in printing time alone. Produced on acrylic coated ‘Visiontex’ material the backdrop was printed using the company’s NUR Expedio machine housed at its Skelmersdale site.

Production challenges included colour consistency and the requirement for the backdrop sections to match up - even when used in differing configurations. Service Graphics had to work closely with Hangman as the final product needed to look its best and be as easy to install as possible for the tour crew at each venue.

Scott King, Sales Director of Service Graphics, says, “We are thrilled to have been selected to provide graphics for such a high profile tour. It demonstrates the variety and quality of the products and services we offer and positions Service Graphics as a ‘best practice’ service provider.”

For further information on Service Graphics, please visit www.servicegraphics.co.uk

Fujifilm announces XMF PrintCentre V3

Fujifilm has launched the latest version of its cloud-based web-to-print solution, XMF PrintCentre V3.  XMF PrintCentre is a hosted web-to-print system that allows print companies to create multiple e-commerce web sites for selling print, and manages the whole print buying process from online purchasing through to delivering print-ready PDF files into a print production system such as Fujifilm’s XMF Workflow.

Many new capabilities have been added including a new text editor module for managing variable text within the existing WYSIWYG template editor, enhanced PDF pre-flight control for ad hoc print jobs, and a new, larger preview of jobs being ordered. In addition, the system now includes many features designed for printers specialising in wide format printing. These include new front and back office capabilities that allow wide format printed products to be easily and quickly added to the XMF PrintCentre web store, and additional flexibility in how the products are priced.

“XMF PrintCentre V3 contains enhancements that make the processes of buying print for the web store, and managing the products that are sold on the web store, quicker and easier. We have also introduced different elements to the system to suit the requirements of wide format printers, reflecting the need for the customised sizing of specific printed items and for flexibility in how these types of printed products are priced,” comments John Davies, business strategy manager for FUJFILM Europe. “Ensuring printers can easily add any new printed product to their web store is one of the critical factors of a successful web-to-print system, as printers need to take advantage of sales opportunities as quickly as possible,“ he concludes.

XMF PrintCentre V3 is commercially available in Q2 2012.

For more information, please visit www.fujifilm.com

Pyramid acquires Leeds, UK-based Sydney Beaumont

Pyramid Display Materials has acquired self-adhesive vinyl distributor Sydney Beaumont.

Based in Leeds, UK, Sydney Beaumont’s has been supplying self adhesives to the sign, display and exhibition industries since 1966.  Majoring on sales of high quality German self-adhesive vinyl manufacturer X-Film, Sydney Beaumont’s recently became exclusive national distributors of the range in the UK.

Dennis Morgan, Pyramids Managing Director comments on the acquisition “Sidney Beaumont have a great history in the industry, being the first ever distributor of the Fascal range in the U.K. When we first spoke to Beaumont’s about the possibility of them joining our group both parties realised what a good fit it would be. The Pyramid Group would gain a presence in Yorkshire with Beaumont’s benefiting from the support of a larger company together with being able to expand their product range to their customer base. We can now give Beaumont’s customers the option to buy a much larger range of digital roll and flat sheet products at very competitive prices due to Pyramids buying power”

Geoff Leigh, who will continue as Managing Director of Sydney Beaumont, also commented on joining the Pyramid Group, “This is great news for all of us at Beaumont’s. Having the option to sell an enhanced range of products to our customer base will ensure the business continues to grow for many years to come and with the backing of Pyramid in the form of marketing and logistics support I’m confident we can become an integral part of the group”

Dennis continues, “Along with Gottlieb Packaging, the acquisition reinforces our strategy of diversifying the group into areas aligned to our core retail display market but giving us specialist expertise in what we class as niche markets. Beaumont’s gives us that in both the CAD vinyl and rapidly expanding vehicle wrapping markets”

Sydney Beaumont customers will be contacted in the coming weeks with news of the enhanced product and service offering now available.

SAi opens Brussels-based dedicated training and technology centre

SA International (SAi) has opened a dedicated training and technology centre, located at its new Brussels-based EMEA headquarters.   The new, multi-purpose facility will serve as a state-of-the-art demonstration, training and testing centre and will offer specialist educational sessions on key SAi software and applications to the company’s extensive and growing reseller and OEM network, as well as to end-users.

As a knowledge hub, the training and technology centre will provide instructional trainings on productivity and workflow-enhancing software packages like the award-winning SAi PixelBlaster and recently-introduced SAi Flexi Cloud and SAi PhotoPRINT Cloud, as well as the popular EnRoute CAD/CAM software for the CNC machining market. Educational sessions will also cover colour management, ICC profiling and proofing applications.

Forming part of SAi Europe’s new offices, the premises include a fully-equipped showroom comprising hardware and consumables from leading manufactures. This includes a suite of wide-format printers, as well as vinyl cutters and specialized spectro-photometers for ICC profile creation. This will enable SAi’s technical staff, OEM partners, resellers and end-users to test and profile new print devices and media and explore new applications and techniques in conjunction with its foremost software solutions.

“SAi’s software solutions are some of the most popular and widely-used packages among large-format printing and signmaking businesses,” said Sarit Tichon, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, SAi.

“A dedicated, purpose-built training and testing centre enables us to effectively communicate to audiences the multitude of performance-enhancing attributes delivered by such solutions. This intensive familiarisation will better equip them to fully harness the feature-rich functionality of SAi’s software in their pursuit to maximise design and production,” she added.

SAi’s new training and technology centre is fully operational and as the company’s primary facility of its kind, will cater for the training needs of audiences across Europe and beyond. The centre is located at Leuvensesteenweg 555 bus 3, 1930 Zaventem, Belgium.

As well as Brussels, SAi also has offices in the USA (headquarters); São Paulo, Brazil; Pune, India; Shanghai and Hong Kong, China and Tokyo, Japan.

AZPRO Group invests in HP Scitex FB7600 and HP Latex 3000 Printers to meet client demand

Arizona, USA-based AZPRO has installed an HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press and purchased an HP Latex 3000 Printer to meet growing client demand with faster turnaround times.

AZPRO specialises in vehicle wraps, fleet graphics and point-of-purchase (POP) displays. The company has enjoyed consistent growth since opening its doors in 2004, including a 35 percent increase in business this year alone. With a rising influx of project requests, workload volume began overflowing existing equipment capacity. The company invested in the new HP technology to better meet current client demand, helping complete jobs faster and at a higher quality than with previous equipment.

“We have seen remarkable, double-digit growth in recent years and the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press and HP Latex 3000 Printer will provide the high power and quality we need to turn up our production even further,” said Chris Prenovost, co-founder and owner, AZPRO. “On the second day the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press was running, a job came in that would have previously taken multiple days and printers. With the new HP press, it was finished before lunch.”

Installing its first HP digital printer in 2005, AZPRO’s portfolio also includes an HP Latex 850 Printer, two HP Latex 260 Printers (formerly HP Designjet L26500 Printers) and an HP Scitex FB700 Printer.

Since the installation of the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press, AZPRO has expanded its scope of work with current clients while bringing in new business.  The company recently took on a project for a national grocery chain to print posters for an employee performance programme. Using the new press, AZPRO printed 150 sheets in just two hours for 120 Arizona locations with installations beginning the next day. A job of this print volume would previously have taken multiple days for printing alone.

According to Chris Prenovost, the HP Latex 3000 Printer will also alleviate project back-up by absorbing high-volume jobs from other printers. With HP Latex quality now available at faster speeds, the company will largely look to this device to support its fleet graphics customer base.

“High-volume print providers are being pushed to produce jobs faster than ever, facing challenges to meet tight turnarounds without sacrificing quality,” said Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, Americas Graphics Solutions Business, HP. “The speed and print quality of the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press and HP Latex 3000 Printer will allow AZPRO to retain and grow current clients while opening the door to new product offerings.”

For more information on the solutions purchased, please visit www.hp.com/go/signanddisplay

[Image shows HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press]

Peter Miles to head up newly created digital textile division at APS

All Print Supplies (APS) has expanded its sales team with the appointment of Peter Miles to the position of Textile Product Specialist.  He will head up the company’s newly created digital textile division and will focus on introducing APS’s growing range of textile substrates and compatible inks to printers and sign makers.

Says Kevin Wallace, Managing Director, All Print Supplies, “The wide format textile sector is experiencing double digit growth year on year and has a great future ahead of it. This has been driven in part by a dramatic improvement over recent years in the quality and versatility of wide format machines, which in turn has opened up huge opportunities for printers.

“A number of our customers are moving into textile printing to grow their product portfolio and revenue streams, so as a specialist wide format media and inks provider, it makes sense for us to expand our offering to ensure we can meet their needs in this regard as well.  The appointment of Peter and the formation of the new division will enable us to formally focus our efforts on a very exciting market.”

Peter Miles brings with him over 10 years’ experience in the print industry, most recently as a specialist sales manager for CMYuk’s textile division.  At All Print Supplies, he will oversee all aspects of the company’s new digital print textile range, from researching and introducing new products to the market, to sales and customer service.    He comments, “I have a broad base of experience of taking textiles including latex, UV, solvent and dye sublimation products to market and I’m very enthusiastic about the opportunity to help APS make a real impact in the textile sector.  The company is a very impressive operation and has all the technical facilities in place to be able to provide support for customers who are looking to move into this market, including a fully-equipped testing laboratory and profiling across various printer, RIP and ink platforms. It’s got a rich heritage in the print industry and invests in really understanding its core markets, so I‘m confident together we can make a great success in the textiles sector too.”

Kevin Wallace concludes, “The Textile Product Specialist is a newly created role and reflects our commitment to building our brand and product portfolio in this market. Peter’s immediate challenge is to help customers understand that there are robust, quality alternatives to ‘just’ dye sublimation on textiles. And, that printers and sign makers already have the answer to this in their existing wide format machines.  Printing textiles on their own wide format machines will give them more control over deadlines and quality as well as more profit in their pocket.  This is the message we’re taking to the market â€" we want to work with our customers to help them diversify, expand their product portfolio and maximise the real potential of their machines. The launching of our new textiles division and the appointment of Peter is the next step in this process.”

Apex Digital Graphics' Bob Usher named Chairman of Picon

Bob Usher, Managing Director of Apex Digital Graphics, has been elected as Chairman of Picon, the UK association of print industry manufacturers and suppliers.  He succeeds Peter Morris, CEO of Friedheim UK, who has completed his two-year term.

Like Peter, a top priority for Bob will be to increase the effectiveness of the UK print industry’s representations to government and other bodies, and he believes the recent formation of the Graphic Print & Media Alliance (GPMA) will provide a major boost to lobbying efforts.  “Peter deserves a lot of credit for his role in bringing together the seven trade associations that form the GPMA.  The UK print, media and graphic arts industry now has the opportunity to find a stronger, louder collective voice and appeal successfully for the support we deserve as the country’s sixth largest industry.  I shall be working hard with the other GPMA members to bring other trade bodies on board.”

Another early objective for Bob will be working to ensure the success of Ipex 2014.  “It’s important for the UK printing industry that Ipex continues to be successful, and I expect the new venue and a host of new features for Ipex 2014 to cement its position as a significant international exhibition.  We shall do all we can to support the organisers by encouraging all Picon members to exhibit.”  He also aims to continue broadening the membership of Picon, with a particular focus on attracting new members from the digital and cross-media sectors.

“Picon is in excellent hands with Bob as Chairman for the next two years,” says Peter Morris.  “The depth of industry experience he brings to the role, particularly from the digital side, will benefit members considerably as the implications for digital technology within the industry become clearer.  For myself, I look back on the last two years with pleasure and pride, especially the creation of the GPMA as an umbrella industry organisation for a previously disparate collection of sector representatives.”

Bob has worked in the printing industry since 1966.  He started as a technician with Rotaprint, then joined AM Multigraphics, followed by Itek Graphic Products. He founded Apex Reprographics in 1989 which became Apex Digital Graphics in 1995 following the introduction of CtP technology. Today the company is the UK distributor for Ryobi presses and supplies Konica Minolta digital presses.

Picon’s recent AGM also elected Andy Cook, Managing Director of FFEI, to the Picon Council, which now comprises the following: Tim Klemz, Compact Engineering; Ron Chambers, Kadant; Gerard Heanue, Heidelberg; Peter Morris, Friedheim International; Keith Dalton, Fujifilm UK Ltd; Robert Flather, Kolbus; Neil Sutton, Komori; Quen Baum, Morgana; Brian Filler, Screen.  Picon has also announced three new member companies:  thermoplastic extrusion specialists C&K Extrusions, and digital press specialists MGI Technology and Ricoh.