Free pre-registration for North Print & Pack 2013 now open

Free pre-registration for North Print & Pack 2013 is now open.  The event takes place at the Harrogate International Centre between 14th and 16th May 2013.  By pre-registering at www.printandpack.co.uk, visitors will benefit from fast-track entry and will receive regular email updates from North Print & Pack 2013 on features and events, ensuring that they don’t miss any opportunities to optimise their available time at the show.

North Print & Pack 2013 marketing manager Angelina Stojsavljevic comments, “The momentum for North Print & Pack 2013 is gathering rapidly, and the wider event focus that now includes print for packaging will attract a wider range of visitors than ever before. We have a great line-up of exhibitors across the digital, offset and print for packaging sectors â€" a number of them exhibiting at North Print & Pack for the first time - and some are bringing working presses. The 2013 event will clearly reflect visitor appetites and incorporate the feedback we received with the 2011 event.”

In addition to the seminar programme, which will address industry issues, opportunities and trends, North Print & Pack 2013 will present an Applications Zone where exhibitors will display finished products to highlight the power of print. Angelina continues: “The Applications Zone is not only a fantastic chance for printers to see some of the latest ideas and opportunities in print, but is another great reason for them to bring their customer, the print specifier, along to the show.”

She concludes, “North Print & Pack 2013 will deliver a highly relevant experience to network, view products, explore applications and take away inspirational ideas, and will be a valuable time investment for the UK’s print service providers, publishers and marketers. By pre-registering, time poor visitors will ensure they are fully up to date with the seminar programmes, and exhibitor, feature and other logistical information when they plan their time at the show.”

For more information about North Print & Pack 2013, please visit www.printandpack.co.uk.

GPT set to demo new GPT190s printer at Sign & Digital UK 2013

Graphics Printing Technologies (GPT) is set to return to Sign & Digital UK for the 4th consecutive year with 'even more exciting' offers on show.

GPT will be showing the brand new GPT190s (Mimaki) 1.9mtr wide super-fast solvent printer. The unique printer has been adapted by GPT and can print high quality SA Vinyl at 24 sqmph and high quality banner at 38 sqmph, with faster modes in development.   The GPT 190S incorporates double print heads (as the Mimaki JV34 260) to deliver the additional speed and quality.  Heavy duty roll feed, bulk ink system and a trough for typically unbacked mesh, are offered as optional extras to further enhance the offering.

Also on the stand will be the latest Mimaki JV400 160LX 1.6m latex printer running full speed. Stuart Cole, general manager of GPT, says, “The Mimaki Latex printer is now delivering on all its promises, and has been successfully installed by GPT at several sign-makers across the UK. Representatives from users will be on the stand at certain times and will be happy to offer their opinion on this beneficial printer.”

Another new printer on the stand from Mimaki will be the UJF6042.  An A2 LED UV cure flatbed printer, a larger version of the current UJF3042HG but with higher 1800dpi quality print (upto 150mm deep) alongside, will be its smaller brother, the UJF3042FX.

GPT will also have information, videos & interviews on the new Mimaki JFX500 2131 UV cure flatbed printer, producing 65 sqmph of highest quality print, the forthcoming Mimaki JV400 SUV printer with its unique technology for the most robust ‘instant usage’ high quality print, and the rest of the Mimaki range of printer and cutters.  GPT will also be showing the Epson and Canon range of products, laminators, RIP software from Shiraz and Wasatch, and a media centre.

Stuart Cole concludes, “Visitors to the show will be able to benefit from our extensive knowledge and experience on a huge range of applications and solutions and we look forward to a busy and profitable show.”

Xanté to exhibit at upcoming Packaging Innovations Show

Xanté, a global provider of print solutions, has announced its participation in the upcoming Packaging Innovations Show which takes place in NEC, Birmingham, UK on 27th and 28th February, 2013.  The company will showcasing a number of its solutions on stand number 28.

Customers visiting the Xanté booth will have the opportunity to see various types of exciting technology designed to innovate their print environment including High Speed Inkjet Printers for large format and labels.

CEO and President Robert Ross states, “Our customers make Xanté products, we just build them. Packaging is one of the big growth markets on the horizon and we are ready to help our customers compete with ground breaking, yet affordable technology.”

The company will be showing the Xanté Excelagraphix 4200 Inkjet Print System which features the revolutionary Memjet Waterfall Printhead Technology™.  The system delivers more than 3 billion drops of ink per second, for print speeds up to 8 times faster than

The Excelagraphix L850 Digital Narrow Web Press is another focus of the event.  This affordable narrow web / label solution allows customers to go digital and meet the demand for fast full colour labels, tags, decals, tickets and much more. This complete digital inkjet print system features the revolutionary Memjet Printhead Technology™ that delivers blazing print speeds while increasing overall shop production and profits.

“We are participating in this packaging event due to the large amount of prospects we have in the UK and Ireland and expect to expand our presence in these markets,“ says Arthur Verwey, VP of intl Sales and Marketing. “We have always enjoyed doing live demos because we are 100% behind showing what we can do and talking to our customers. The speed and quality for packaging applications is something to experience in person. As they say, seeing is believing!”

Additionally, Xanté will run live demos with Ilumina 650 GS the digital solution for short run, heavy stock and specialty printing and packaging.

For more information, please visit www.xante.com

Fespa unveils new content and says June show likely to be biggest yet

According to Fespa, close to 30,000sqm has already been confirmed for the London show with the "digitally focused" South Hall of Excel already sold out. The top 10 exhibitors alone have collectively increased their footprint by more than 15%.

"We have signed commitments from all of the major players [and] if we close the doors right now we will be as large and comprehensive as we were in Munich, but we have five months to go and we're not going to be complacent," said Fespa managing director Neil Felton.

Speaking at last week's two-day Fespa Global Summit, where around 150 delegates heard presentations on the opportunities in the wide-format arena from industry experts, leading buyers and creative agencies, Felton said that much of the success of the core European Fespa event is driven by its strategy of ‘satellite feeder' shows in places such as Mexico, Brazil, China, Eurasia in Turkey and a focus on educational content.

"The content has to be relevant and a real reason for a print service provider to attend the show, it's a must have, not a nice have," he said.

Extra events in London will include European Sign Expo, which will run adjacent to Fespa for the first three days of the main show. The new event is the result of a collaboration with the European Sign Federation.

Another of the new features of Fespa has also been born of partnership; the Promotional Products Business Academy was created with CTCO and aims to highlight the opportunities in promotional products, including garments and gifts.

Fespa is also introducing Creative Corner, which will aim to promote the capabilities of print to creatives, designers and brand owners. Another new feature is The Pilot's Briefing Zone, which builds on the success of the Charlie's Corner feature of previous event to offer technical advice on garment decoration.

Established features such as Print Shop Live, Fespa Wrap Cup and Hall of Fame will also be part of the educational programme in June. However, the flagship content element of Fespa 2013 will be the Jet Set Conference, which will be able to host around 100 delegates on the show floor.

"The conference will be focussed on business leaders, and it will aim to make sure that they understand what the opportunities are, whether it's promotional products or new applications or new clients," said Felton.

Fespa will run from 25-29 June at London's Excel. The eponymous event is organised by the umbrella organisation of 36 wide-format trade associations across the globe. It's a non-for-profit organisation that, according to Felton, has reinvested £3.4m in the industry, through educational events and research.

Tweet

Rapid 9 'blown away by brilliance' of Mimaki JV33 printer

 

Mimaki reseller YPS has supplied Newcastle-based sign and display producer, Rapid 9, with a Mimaki JV33 printer in order to boost the company's throughput.  The new printer was installed to meet the increased demand created when Rapid 9 successfully bid for a large new contract.

Oliver Whickham set up Rapid 9 to serve the local area's display needs in October 2011. With a workforce of nine providing everything from lightboxes to large marketing installations, Oliver needed to add to the JV3 on which he built the business to satisfy higher demand from his ever-expanding client base â€" and has been pleasantly surprised by the results.

"We thought the JV3 was great but we were blown away by how brilliant the JV33 is; it's been running superbly," Oliver says. "We've just picked up a big new contract so the JV33 is running even more work alongside our existing JV3. They're brilliant for what we do and would consider no other machine now: they're bomb-proof!"

This reliability has been important to Rapid 9 but, faced with expansion and more demanding work, time management has also been critical. "Buying a second Mimaki has enabled us to split our work into two divisions," he explains. "We can have two jobs in production at once with two members of staff working on them, plus two vans out doing separate deliveries. This has decreased our production time and improved our turnaround, meaning we can win and deliver work more quickly."

YPS has supplied Oliver and Rapid 9 since they began trading and it's the long-standing support and technical help that have made this a win-win business relationship. "Garry helped me with a very technical piece of work using a flat-bed when I was at my previous company, where he was instrumental in helping the company pioneer digital equipment. I often come to Garry for advice now: he gives me honest and intelligent responses even if there's no direct business benefit to him," Oliver says.

"YPS are local, friendly and will do anything to help you with your technical enquiries, as well as having fantastic products. I wouldn't recommend YPS," he laughs, "because I want to keep them a secret!"

For more information on Rapid 9, please visit www.rapid9signs.com

40% of exhibitor space already sold for InPrint Show 2014

The InPrint Show, scheduled to take place between 8th and 10th April 2014 in Hannover, Germany, has already sold 40% of exhibitor space.  The organiser of the event, FM Brooks, believes this is due to the fact that companies are eager to be part of this new event whilst gaining advantage of the special founder booking rates, set to expire in April 2013.

According to research consultancy, IT Strategies, industrial print has a market valuation of €80 Billion and with a CAGR for industrial inkjet of 11%, it is not surprising there is high interest for an event that connects innovative print technology with the manufacturing sector.

Industrial print is widely regarded as the next big opportunity for print technologies, as traditional print markets either level off, or contract further.

"There is no doubt that there is a high demand and enthusiasm for InPrint, a trade show that is focused upon showcasing innovation in industrial print technologies within the manufacturing process," says Frazer Chesterman, director of InPrint Show's founding company, FM Brooks.

"And it is inspiring for us to receive such a superb reception for InPrint as it proves that print technology manufacturers want an event that opens up new markets in the manufacturing sector," adds Marcus Timson, co-director at FM Brooks.

"What is also clear is there is no support for the concept of adding another event alongside a traditional graphic show as this will not attract a manufacturing audience," Chesterman concludes.

InPrint is uniquely co-located with the Hannover Messe which attracts a large attendance of manufacturing decision makers from across Germany and other key manufacturing centres such as Asia and South America, meaning InPrint is perfectly placed to succeed in bridging the gap between the print technology sector and industrial, manufacturing decision makers on a pan-European and international scale.

Exhibitors within the print technology sector have clearly indicated a strong level of support for niche events that open up new markets. As a process, inkjet has matured in graphic production and is now fully transferable into new applications in packaging, ceramics, glass, textile, interior design and decor as well as more functional applications such as printed electronics, medical and instrumentation production as well as proofing, prototyping and 3D Print innovation providing a spectacular array of new revenue opportunities.

InPrint has been developed over a period of the past 12 months with contributions from leaders and experts across the print spectrum and founder partners and ambassadors will be announced in April 2013.

Roland to unveil new 'flagship' model at Sign & Digital UK 2013

Roland is to launch a new, flagship model at this year’s Sign & Digital UK. Whilst still firmly under wraps, the company believes that 'all eyes are sure to be on the Roland stand' when the machine is unveiled for the first time in the UK on the first day of Sign & Digital UK.

As well as the new launch, Roland DG will also be using the show to demonstrate its 64 inch SolJet Pro 4 XR-640. The new SolJet, which was launched by Roland towards the ends of 2012, has already received widespread praise from customers.

The SolJet Pro4 XR-640 combines accelerated print speeds with Roland’s renowned integrated print/cut technology, an innovative new print head design, both seven- and eight-colour configurations, and new Eco-Sol Max 2 inks in nine colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK), plus light cyan (Lc), light magenta (Lm), white (Wh), metallic silver (Mt) and new light black (Lk).  The SolJet will be joined on the stand by a VersaCAMM VS-640 printer/cutter, representing the world’s best-selling wide-format printer/cutter family â€" the VersaCAMM series.

Gillian Montanaro, head of marketing at Roland DG (UK), comments, “Sign & Digital UK always gives us one of the best opportunities we have each year to engage with lots of our customers, dealers and other partners and get a great feel for how the industry in general is performing.  This year we have the launch of a very exciting new product which will make its UK debut at Sign and Digital UK, as well as showcasing the SolJet Pro 4 XR-640 which is fast becoming another huge Roland success story. But it’s not just about the technology, it’s about what our customers do with it and on the Roland stand you’ll see stories from a range of users explaining what their Roland has done for them.”

Once again, Roland’s legendary hospitality will be a prominent feature, with a café serving drinks and snacks and giving the Roland team and visitors an opportunity to meet in a more relaxed environment. Roland has also dedicated a section of the stand to highlighting the benefits of its warranty scheme, RolandCare, and the Roland Academy.  RolandCare is one of the most value-packed warranties in the industry and stands alone in delivering a 98 per cent first time fix rate, using 100 per cent genuine Roland parts and guaranteed response times. James Johnson, RolandCare’s Sales Manager will be on hand to answer any questions about the RolandCare packages and how they can help ensure they protect any investment in Roland technology.

For those wanting to learn more about the extensive range of courses run at the Roland Academy, including the Intermediate Digital Print Course, BN-20 boot camp and vehicle wrap courses, Joe Wigzell the Academy and Creative Centre Manager will be available throughout the course of the show to answer any questions and take course bookings.

Finally, a selection of Roland customers, some of whom are fast becoming industry celebrities in their own right following their profiling in the ubiquitous ‘I’m a Roland User’ campaign, will also be on hand throughout the show to give visitors to the stand first hand advice on how the Roland machines truly perform day in day out.  James Sahota from Group 101 recently profiled in the campaign, has invested in both eco-solvent and latex technologies and will be able to discuss with visitors the virtues, benefits and comparisons of these two technologies from a user’s perspective.