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TRANSCRIPT
August/September 2010 • £50Volume 3
GET OUT IN FRONT OR GET OUT OF THE FIERCELY COMPETITIVE WIDE-FORMAT MARKET
2010
ImageREPORTS
Sponsors:
04 � CUTTING A DASHKey findings of the 2010 Widthwise survey.
08 � AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT How certain companies are pushing the boundaries.
20 � THE FRUITS OF CREATIVITYGetting the message about wide-format potential further up the design chain.
24 � ROOM AT THE TOPHave you the leadership qualities to be one of the best?
26 � IN THE INNOVATION ZONEDoes your company location have an impact on your business?
28 � ANTI-GREEN MESSAGE CHOPPED DOWN TO SIZETime to argue for sustainable print.
30 � BUY TO DIVERSIFYA look at where the equipment budget is going as companies look to new markets.
36 � THE SOFT SELLWhat is print doing to compete in an increasingly electronic media landscape?
38 � IS YOUR PAST RESTRICTING YOUR FUTURE?Who’s best placed for success – long standing print professionals or new business
entrepreneurs?
40 � PARTNERING FOR PROFITAre suppliers doing enough to help you grow your bottom line?
Contents
thanks to our sponsors:
Welcome to the third annual Image ReportsWidthwise Report which, based on datacollected from 222 UK and Ireland printcompanies involved in wide-format print, isthe most sector and regional specificpublication of its type.
Using the feedback provided by wide-format players of all shapes and sizes, this2010 Widthwise Report builds upon the grass-roots experiences and expectations of a truecross section of the industry to provide aninsight into competitiveness and what it takesto become a leader of the pack.
The Widthwise survey was undertakenbetween March and May 2010 and theresulting data compiled, by graphic artsmarket research and strategic consultingcompany InfoTrends, into a series of easy-to-digest graphics that are presented in thisreport alongside associated features byImages Reports technical editor SophieMatthews-Paul and myself.
You can download a digital version of thisreport from the Image Reports website atwww.imagereportsmag.co.uk. If you haveany comments to make on the report there isan opportunity for you to do that online too.
Lesley SimpsonEditor, Image Reports [email protected]
GET OUT IN FRONT
2010
Printed in Great Britain.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem or transmitted by any meanswithout the Publisher’s permission.The editorial content does not necessarily reflect the views of thePublisher. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for any errors contained within the publication.
St. John Patrick Publishers Ltd, 6 Laurence Pountney HillLondon, EC4Y OBLTel: 020 7923 8999Fax: 020 7923 [email protected]
Editor: LESLEY [email protected]
Technology Editor: SOPHIE MATTHEWS–PAUL, [email protected]
Publishing Director:CHRIS [email protected]
Design:ALEX GOLDWATER
Are you a leader or a follower of fashion? As digital
wide-format print has gained momentum and proved
to be one of the most buoyant print sectors, with still
enormous potential for growth, it has attracted a huge
following. So where does that leave you amid the
frenzied competition? Trying to differentiate yourself is where. Players
of all sizes and types have recognised the need to present the market
with something that marks them out. Leading the curve is now a
strategic business priority for long-term growth and success as this
survey indicates.
Of those respondents for whom wide-format is not already 100% of
their business (just 15% of the total number polled said they are all
wide-format) a whopping 74% expect to see the ratio of wide-format
print work increase in the next two years. So it’s unsurprising to learn
that 67% of those polled consider it a high/very high priority to
find/enter new wide-format markets or offer new services.
72% of those polled said they will be buying new equipment
specifically to take them into new markets and 70% said they are
having to make strategic changes within their businesses win work
from new markets or for new applications.
Asked why diversification is such a high priority, growing turnover
came out slightly ahead of improving margin! But perhaps it really has
more to do with the shape of today’s market. Questioned over who is
stimulating new market development, end clients came top of the list.
With respondents also claiming that 43% of wide-format turnover now
comes in direct from the end client (and another 17% from the
consumer markets) its clear why print providers feel pressure to be
more creative and have a business set-up and service offering that
fully engages that end client.
60% of those polled now offer wide-format customers services
beyond print production, finishing and installation – and another 11%
plan to within the next two years. Creative design is the top ‘value-
added’ service, with 49.5% saying that is now part of their portfolio.
Total project management is offered by almost two thirds of
companies (34.7%). Web-to-print and variable data printing are now
firmly on the list, but are still by no means common, each polling just
15.3% - so openings there then – especially when you consider that in
this poll, personalisation/customisation came top of the list of
developments that printers believe will best help them to compete in
the new media landscape! Services like database hosting and
campaign analytics came right down the chart – obviously not yet
considered part of total project management.
According to this year’s Widthwise statistics just over three quarters
of wide-format printers currently undertake poster work (75.9 %),
followed by exhibition/display graphics (67.4%) and then general
banners/flags/signage (64.7%). Way down the scale of current offerings
is industrial speciality print (7.6%), textile printing for garments (9.4%)
and for interiors (12.1%), packaging (10.7%) and cardboard
engineering (13.4%). Asked which niches they had entered over the
last year and/or are planning to become involved with over the next
couple of years, these ‘bottom’ dwellers were identified thus: industrial
(4%), packaging (5%), cardboard engineering (8%), textiles for
garments (6%) and for interiors (11%) – so still relatively slow movers.
The biggest inroads have been made in specialist/bespoke print (19%),
window graphics (17%) and floor and wall graphics (15% each).
The availability of specialised substrates has no doubt had an
impact here. When asked what recent/anticipated technological
development have had/will have the greatest impact in terms of
allowing new applications/opening new markets, 43.2% cited the
expanding range of direct-to-print materials.
However, as continual technological developments broaden the
scope of wide-format print, it seems printers expect the
manufacturers/suppliers to do more to help them maximise their ROI.
65% of those questioned feel manufactures/suppliers should do more
cutting a dash
HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DO YOU HAVE?
100+employees
6%
11-20employees
13%
50-100 employees 4%
0-5 employees 43%
6-10employees
23%
21-50 employees 11%
WHAT IS YOUR ANNUAL TURNOVER?
£5m8%
less than £100K 23%
£100K - 250K14%
£250K - 500K17%
£2m - 5m 10%
£500K - 1m16%
£1m - 2m 12%
04
from this perspective, two percent less
than the amount who think they fail to
‘sell’ the full potential of their wide-
format kit. Accordingly, 43.7% said
they would like a fuller explanation
of the applications potential of
the kit they buy and 36.9%
would like suppliers to be more
involved in showing that
potential to end clients.
When it comes to the issue
of ‘green’ print it seems that
there’s still an uncertainty
about how and where it fits
into the overall scheme of
things. While 68% believe it’s
now more important that it
was two years ago to offer
environmentally-friendly print
options, a significantly smaller
number (41%) said that a ‘green’
portfolio will help them
diversify/win new business. 22% said
it wouldn’t help them, but more to the
point, 37% said they’re not sure. That ‘not
sure’ proportion rose to 49% of the total polled
when asked if there are niches where they believe they can
charge a premium and make a higher margin from ’green’ print.
Only 23% answered yes to this – 28% saying no.
Could this be a reflection that some work needs to be done on the
way in which ‘green’ print is sold – especially within niches where the
value of ‘green’ credentials can perhaps be better exploited? Maybe
an improved understanding of certain markets would help. 13% of
those polled said a lack of market knowledge is hindering hopes of
diversification within their company. Another 13% cited a lack of
knowledge of the full technical capabilities of the
equipment/substrates available to them. But, hardly surprising, time
(32%) and cost (31%) are the biggest problems. Lets not forget though,
how business structure can impact on flexibility and the power to
move forward - 11% said the way the company operates is affecting
its ability to diversify.
Companies are using a variety of tactics to reshape and grow their
business, ranging from retooling their sales force (29.7%) and
rebranding their whole company (26.1%) to researching entirely new
market sectors to get ahead of the crowd. Over 10% of respondents
said they are recruiting a new business tsar to help them diversify. And
8.6% said they are recruiting people with specific new sector
knowledge.
NOTE ON SURVEY DATA
You will find the data from the Widthwise 2010 printer survey
delivered throughout this report as easy to read graphics applied to
specifically associated features.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR TURNOVERIS WIDE-FORMAT?
Under 20%33%
20% - 40%26%
80% - 100%15%
60% - 80%12%
40% - 60%14%
05
2%
8% 13%7%
19% 34%
12%
5%
WHERE IS YOURCOMPANY LOCATED?
When a company
decides to purchase
a wide-format
digital printer from
the EFI VUTEk
family of machines,
the resulting solution isn’t just for present-
day requirements but it also represents a
safe investment for the future. These
versatile UV-curable production systems,
available from UK distributor CMYUK
Digital, are designed and constructed to
output virtually all applications needed in
today’s demanding display and industrial
environments.
Users working with ink-jet technology
need to know that, in the current tight
economy, they don’t have to change
machines to output different types of job.
When EFI VUTEk originally conceived its QS
range of 2 and 3.2 m wide-format printers
the intention was to bring reliable UV-
curable ink technology to the growing
numbers of display producers who wanted
a single printer to produce their flat-bed
and roll-fed applications.
The success of the QS2000 and QS3200
led EFI VUTEk to introduce its GS series, with
the addition of a dedicated roll-to-roll 5 m
UV-curable printer, and these high end
machines were followed up with the price-
breaking QS220. This latter solution offers
many of the features of its more advanced
counterparts but at a remarkably low price
point, enabling first-time users to benefit
from the company’s UV-curable technologies.
Throughout the range of EFI VUTEk
machines which print direct to rigid
substrates and flexible materials there are
few challenges which can’t be met in
terms of application requirements. Display
producers and sign-makers investing in
these printers have gone beyond the
bounds of merely outputting standard
jobs; they’ve been able to move into new
territories involving different types of
media and now offer value added services
to their product offerings.
It’s not just the high levels of technology
and sturdy reliability that’s incorporated
into the QS and GS printers which makes
this happen. The UV-curable ink
formulation’s advanced flexibility and
excellent adhesion plays a vital role when
working with unusual materials and
finishes. EFI VUTEk is the only wide-format
printer manufacturer which also produces
its own inks and this means that, instead
of relying on third-party suppliers, its
chemistry is matched perfectly to its own
machines.
The marriage of printers and inks has
proved to be a winning combination, with
06
Advertorial
MAKING A SAFE INVESTMENT IN WIDE-FORMAT PRODUCTION IS EASYWITH EFI VUTEK’S UV-CURABLE SOLUTIONS. CMYUK DIGITAL EXPLAINSTHE BENEFITS
The full family of EFI VUTEk solutions is available in the UK from CMYUK Digital, andthe company’s website at www.cmyukdigital.com features an innovative, simple-to-use cost calculator for the QS220 UV-curable printer. With this online resource,it’s easy to work out an accurate ROI which takes into account production rates,ink consumption and, even, material costs.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
The VUTEk wayto getting it right first time
07
the latest formulations, including an
opaque white option, now enabling
production companies to be more
adventurous and experimental in the jobs
they can handle. This not only applies to
the world of displays but, because of the
fine quality and high levels of durability
which are generated, industrial
applications can also make the move from
analogue to digital printing.
As well as the traditional families of
materials which can be output using EFI
VUTEk’s QS and GS wide-format machines,
users are working increasingly with a
variety of other substrates to produce
innovative and unusual results. One
successful area which results from the
combination of the print-heads and jetting
capabilities, complemented by the excellent
adhesion of the inks, is with applications
that need to be cut and creased.
Similar successes are being discovered
with direct printing to pre-formed and flat-
sheet glass, along with other industrial
materials and those used in the packaging
and prototyping sectors. From the thinnest
sheets up to a maximum thickness of 5.08
cm, and from conventional display
substrates through to heavyweight
products, such as MDF, as well as
aluminium composites and a vast range of
roll-fed media, the EFI VUTEk QS and GS
series can handle more than 90 percent of
today’s applications.
www.cmyukdigital.com
CHRIS WAPSHOTT OF DURRANTWAPSHOTT: EFI VUTEK QS3220
“This investment has opened doors tonew projects and brought us theopportunity to achieve more creativeresults. Since making the decision to optfor a UV-curable hybrid solution we’vefound an increasing number of clientsrequesting print direct to a selection ofdifferent rigid substrates.
“We’ve made the right choice with theEFI VUTEk QS3220 as it has allowed us tocater for diverse requirements we didn’toriginally calculate into our in-housecapabilities, as well as giving us theoption to experiment with, and use,different materials in the future.”
JAMES DALDY OF ALLPRINT DISPLAY:EFI VUTEK QS2000
“With run-lengths increasing, andgreater demand for work on rigidsubstrates, it was critical that ourmachine choice was right for the futureas well as the present.
“It was also vital that the adhesion ofthe UV-curable ink formulation meantthat it didn’t have problems with flakingand cracking, unlike with our previousprinter where wastage was high becauseof poor, inconsistent performance.”
JOHN SULZMANN OF ARTWORKSSOLUTIONS: EFI VUTEK QS3220
“We cannot compromise with thetypes of application we produce and, forone-offs and longer runs, we must haveabsolute consistency.
“Working with many unusual, premiumand specialist materials, we need resultswhich are right first time and, withunconventional surfaces and coatings,good ink adhesion is vital.”
ANDY WILLIAMS OF ANDESIGN: EFIVUTEK GS3200
“Not being restricted to white materialis a tremendous advantage. The goodopacity of white on the GS3200 isenhanced by the way it can beincorporated into the work-flow, makingit a simple addition to the existing coloursand enabling greater creativity indesigns and how they can beimplemented in a digitally printedformat.”
PHIL PHILLIPS OF SCREAMINGCOLOUR: EFI VUTEK QS2000
“The addition of a wide-format printerwhich uses UV-curable ink now meanswe can output to a vast range of flexibleand rigid materials. And, as we handle a
considerable amount of work foragencies, we have the added versatilityof being able to produce creativeapplications as well as more traditionalposters and banner graphics.
“Working with rigid materials has alsoled us into the field of cardboardengineering and three-dimensionalapplications being used increasingly inpoint-of-sale. We now have the benefit ofa full wide-format print-and-cut workflowwhich is valuable for production runs aswell as for prototyping.”
SIMON MCKENZIE OF HOLLYWOODMONSTER: EFI VUTEK QS3200
“We’ve pioneered the use of many oftoday’s wide-format digital printingmachines being used for all kinds ofdisplay purposes. As a result, we’vewitnessed the progress which has provedto be a continuing pattern with differentink technologies and how to get the bestof them across a range of different typesof application and end uses.
“The QS3200 has taken us up to a newlevel with UV-curable print and it was anessential investment for the company ifwe were going to be able compete onquality and speed.”
WHAT THE CUSTOMERS SAY:
For wide-format graphics read poster print. That’s what
the majority of those outside of the industry think. And
with over three quarters of those responding to this
poll saying they are in that market, it’s hardly
surprising that that’s the perception. But wide-format
offers way more than that as we know. There are
myriad diverse applications, and the options are growing all the
time as go-ahead suppliers and printers alike continue to innovate
and expand wide-format’s capability and its attraction. And it’s just
as well, given that competition in the wide-format space continues
apace – just look at the figures: of those
surveyed for this report, 74% of those for
whom wide-format is not 100% of business
intend to increase the ratio of turnover from
this sector in the next two years. More are
likely to follow suit. Hence diversification into
new, or at least less populated, markets is
becoming a prerequisite to success.
According to the data supplied by this
year’s survey respondents, window and floor
graphics as well as wall décor are seeing
something of a growth spurt. Printed textiles
for home décor products follows close behind
these applications, but involvement in
cardboard engineering, packaging and
industrial print it seems is yet to prove its value
to the UK and Ireland’s wide-format print
community. But is that set to change? In the US
these are rapidly becoming growth niches for
printers looking to find higher margin work and
actively pursuing new avenues for the full range
of printed product their machines can produce.
Interestingly, while 72% of those surveyed said
they plan to buy new kit specifically to take them
into new niches/markets, there were a significant
number (67%) that said they don’t believe they
‘sell’ the full applications potential of the kit they
already have. Perhaps this reflects a certain
mindset – that the focus has been on filling
capacity rather than looking for ways to utilise the
creative potential of the available systems.
Perhaps, especially among smaller companies,
there just hasn’t been the aptitude for forging a
new way ahead - it’s easy for worries over short-
term productivity and turnover to stymie creativity,
even where management understands the necessity
to be more innovative for longer-term growth.
With a large proportion of those polled saying they do (60%) or
will in the next two years (11%) offer wide-format services beyond
print production, finishing and installation, the fact that offering
creative design came out top of the ‘value-added’ list of services
suggests that print service providers recognise the need to become
more engaged with (prospective) clients higher up the chain. It’s
not just about offering a design service because it has become an
obvious add-on, but about moving the whole discussion from the
‘print buyer’ to the creatives - a milestone development that
enables the sector the opportunity to educate a wider audience
about the potential of what wide-format can deliver.
To highlight how diversification into new
applications/markets can impact your business, a
number of case studies have been put together
specifically for this report. . .
RIOT OF COLOUR 3D cinema is hot. The expectation of what is
visually possible has stimulated the masses – and
subsequently the demand for lenticular print. The
clamour for graphics that penetrate the 2D norm,
together with the advances in lenticular
technology and know-how, are creating new
opportunities for output production companies
with the wherewithal to deal with all that goes
with it.
One such company is Riot of Colour, whose
lenticular journey started back in 1997 as a
diversification tactic. As director Mark Roblett
explains, “We could see our traditional large-
format reprographic market changing fast and
knew we had to embrace change. Large-format
digital print was the obvious transition.
However, with the market still in its infancy we
weren’t convinced by the hardware available
and its ability to match our new business
model. Then whilst at a trade show we
discovered the Durst Lambda - a photographic
digital printer. The quality of print was simply
stunning and there was the added benefit of
being able to incorporate text and logos. Then
there was the print speed 30m2/hr along with
the very cheap raw material cost. It met all
our criteria.
“Initially we found it difficult to fill the
machine as we tried to persuade clients that
this was surely the way forward. So with
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT
08
plenty of capacity we started to look at other things we could do
with this machine and started to experiment. By default we had a
machine that printed continuous tone RGB photographic - a huge
advantage for lenticular printing.
“At this time Kodak (the real pioneer in this field) had developed
systems and machinery all of its own and was producing great
quality lenticular print but at a hefty price. Then the company
began to use its global dealer network to act as sales agents for
lenticular in each country. We used Kodak’s superb quality as our
benchmark and took a period of two to three years to really meet
get up to that.”
But it started to become clearer to Riot of Colour that lenticular
graphics presented a great opportunity to deliver a truly interactive
message just as the market began to demand that. “We saw our
lenticular products sitting nicely in-between regular print at one
end of the scale and the up-and-coming plasma TV devices at the
other,” says Roblett.
“We were only a small company with very little resources to call
on for our marketing. Our challenge was to get the marketers and
brands to buy into the benefits of the technology we had initially
identified. As with any new product to market it doesn’t really
matter how great it is - if people aren’t aware of it and how it can
benefit them you aren’t going to sell much of it.
“The main barriers we were finding at that time was that people
looked at lenticular as a printed item and then made a straight
price comparison with a normal printed poster - logical maybe, but
not a reflection of the true value of what we were delivering.
Slowly with more and more brands on board and good quality
case studies buyers began to look at it as a new advertising
medium in its own right. That was really a breakthrough.”
For Riot of Colour a second key change happened when outdoor
contractor JC Decaux wanted to start offering lenticular print as
specials to the major brands for outdoor poster campaigns. This,
the period from 2005-2007 saw a huge increase in publicity by the
brands using such products in new and exciting ways.
“Innovation has always been part of what we do here at Riot of
Colour. Lenticular has allowed us to enter new markets by
developing new products,” says Roblett.
“We have been able to link our lenticular capability with other
manufacturer’s products to create further revenue streams that
weren’t initially thought of. All of these opportunities allow us to
charge reasonable prices because there is less competition! When a
buyer can see no clear difference between suppliers’ products it
becomes a commodity and the only outcome is that prices will fall
as businesses compete. The key here I guess is to add value to the
print you produce in one way or another.”
Both software and hardware development have helped Riot of
Colour move its lenticular offering on – sometimes requiring a
significant amount of R&D in-house. “Time has taught us that
developing our own software from scratch can be beneficial. On
other occasions we have adapted software for our own specific
needs. A good case is our morphing software (see Hulk image
sequence opposite).
Used initially in the film studios of Hollywood, its primary
function is to take one subject and via a sequence of many similar
but slightly different frames show a seamless transition from a
human being to a robot for example. The film process will use
thousands of frames to do this. Using the same concept we were
able to take this software and provide a cruder version with fewer
frames which was ideal for lenticular,” enthuses Roblett.
“Digital printing machinery has moved on leaps and bounds in
the last ten years allowing us to invest at the relevant time and
move the technology on further again. More recently, through
collaboration with machine manufacturers, we have been able to
perfect and launch a value range. Due to certain machine retrofits
and the availability of new lens stock materials we are now able to
share the great benefits of lenticular. This new approach is
allowing those brands that don’t necessarily have the huge above
the line budgets to use lenticular technology for the first time.”
Roblett admits that working in a specialised print field has its
downside, but says: “Here at Riot many years of development
headaches and long hours have smoothed out all the pitfalls. A
strong head for progress coupled with belief and a good team that
believe in the story are key to successful diversification. This
passion for work helps create a constantly changing environment
for new ideas to evolve. It must also be said clients with boundary
pushing briefs plays its part too.
“A good example of how we are constantly adapting our
lenticular technology is the creation of the UK’s first portable
lenticular display. We had been developing this for over two years
and had all but given up when a new lens stock arrived on the
market, allowing us to pick up from where we had left of. Within a
very short time frame we had perfected the whole system. Not only
was it the first lenticular portable display, you could roll it up and
THROUGH WHICH CHANNELS DOES YOUR WORK COME?
Other 5%Agency 15%
Architect 2%
Trade 10%
PrintManagement
Firm 8%
Direct 43%
Consumer 17%
HOW HIGH A PRIORITY IS FINDING/ENTERING NEWWIDE-FORMAT MARKETS/OFFERING NEW SERVICES?
High 36%
Not a priority 3%
Very high 31%Medium 24%
Low 6%
09
10
use it in exactly the same way as you would a regular printed
display system. It proved an instant hit with oil giant Shell which
loved it and promptly ordered them to be distributed to all corners
of the globe.”
CORAL FABRIC IMAGING It’s been pulsating in the wings since the mid ‘90s, when large-
format digital printing first reared its (what we would now regard)
rather crude printheads. For several years, industry pundits,
witnessing its lucrative popularity in countries such as Germany,
Spain, Italy and the US, have touted it as the Next Big Thing. Now it
seems that talk in the UK concerning the digitally printed textile
market is finally being balanced with dynamic action.
The latest player to pitch a front seat in the burgeoning textile
space is Coral Fabric Imaging, a new collaboration between large-
format digital print and retail specialist Cestrian, and dye-
sublimation expert Coral Design and Display.
“The word is out, the technology is here and large established
companies like Cestrian are investing heavily in this area,” says
Tony Kempton, managing director of the new venture. “We started
talking to Cestrian in 2009. The upshot was they had the space and
the production facilities, and we had the technical know-how and
sales and marketing expertise in using wide-format printed textiles
for a variety of applications.”
Fast-forward just over a year and Coral Fabric Imaging has
everything it needs to drive forward the output of 10,000m2 of
fabric per month. This includes two 3.2m wide Mimaki dye-
sublimation printers, a 3.2m wide Monti Antonio heat press, a 3 x
17m long laser table, plus full-time, highly skilled, in-house textile
finishers.
Concentrating on 3m wide applications, the company services
the events, exhibitions and retail market sectors which also, by
default, means it is regularly dealing with creatives – the ad
agencies, design consultancies, space and architectural practices,
the visionaries - those who are always looking ahead for the next
new thing.
A particularly verdant area for Coral Fabric Imaging is its backlit
fabric lightbox displays. “While traditional lightbox and PVC backlit
signage has always been a popular and effective advertising
medium, evolving fabric construction, the use of dye-sublimation
inks and LED lighting has meant that fabric is becoming the
substrate of choice for a whole range of interior signage, POS,
decoration, exhibition and event graphics,” says Kempton. And
while the production of such a product can be challenging to print
(think stretch, gassing, light-bleed issues for starters), the end result
is quite simply fabulous.
Backlit fabric displays as well as other fabric applications also
have a number of more practical advantages over the traditional
11
signage. The minimal weight of the fabric, for example, not only
simplifies transportation but also gives you a much greater range
of installation options. Replacement fabric panels are readily
available and take only minutes to fit – so messages can be easily
updated or adapted to new market trends. In addition, fabrics are
recyclable and lightweight and this with energy-efficient LED
lighting means that installations have a small carbon footprint and
are comparatively cheap to run: two factors that will please every
client who is concerned about costs and the climate.
However, backlit textiles are only part of what Kempton sees as
a bigger and highly significant area – fabric tensioned systems. The
ability to tension material properly and innovatively has massive
implications for the retail and events markets. Says Kempton: “You
can have extremely narrow width profiles, you can have frames on
walls, you can have ceiling suspensions, you can have free
standing panels, you can create walls, in fact, whole environments
can be transformed.”
And this brings us nicely onto another area of focus for the
company. Working with architects and space planners, Coral is
currently prototyping what can best be described as creative
screen-out pods designed for fabric graphics. The pod system
combines the versatility of modular walls with the benefits of
lightweight fabric structures providing a unique and economical
solution. Scenario: think of a large open plan office, and then in the
middle of it a semi-circular open fronted meeting room adorned
with a full graphic to both sides. By creating the pod, surrounding
sound is reduced to background noise, but if you want to reduce it
further, acoustic solutions can be incorporated within the structure.
Pods can be branded with corporate livery, messages and ambient
designs, as can all upholstered furniture, cushions, soft furnishings
and carpet tiles. Take this scenario out of the office; slightly tweak
it and drop it into retail experiences, events and exhibitions and
you can start to see the potential.
“The momentum is building,” says Kempton. “Every week new
companies are calling us, not just for advice but to place orders.
We are greatly enthused by the amount and frequency of new
business.”
And while Coral Fabric Imaging is championing new application
areas, it is also seeing established applications like theatre
backdrops starting to migrate to fabric. Recently, the music industry
has come calling resulting in the company producing a number of
single-piece, satin, specially finished ‘rock drops’ for the likes of
Mojo, Calvin Harris and the Stereophonics.
The powers that be at Coral Fabric Imaging believe that the time
is ripe to harness the digital textiles market but to do this
successfully means you have to offer more than just the right print
kit. It’s about a new mindset; it involves time-investment and
comprehensive in-house finishing. It involves printers, designers,
creatives, photographers and anyone else that takes part in the
creation of digitally printed products.
There are lots of reasons to use a 3m wide digital direct totextile printer to create printed graphics - more colours, fewerjoins, reduced lead times – all the old chestnuts, but fabricprint innovator Coral Fabric Imaging is creating fabric printsthat would have been traditionally printed onto PVC withstunning results.
THE CHALLENGETo create a lightweight, environmentally friendly alternative toa PVC banner, 12m x 5m in one piece with photographicquality images, bold, solidcolour and sharp text.
THE SOLUTIONTo print onto a polyester basedfabric that has beenmanufactured in the UK andprinted directly to the textileusing the Mimaki JV5 32DS withwater-based dye-sublimationinks. Printing to fabric was theclear choice as it’sexceptionally lightweight at300gsm per square metre andtherefore easier to handle,transport and hang usingtraditional methods.
A combination of water-basedinks and the range of eightcolours achieves vibrant coloursand striking photographic
quality output on the display polyester material. Once thefabric is printed, it is taken off the powered take-up roll on theMimaki and put onto a 3m wide Monti Antonio heat press to fixthe prints and make them wash and lightfast. Printed insections, each one is laser trimmed to ensure that each tileoverlaps and married up to the next panel perfectly. Stitchingeach section together to ensure that the detail on the joinsdoesn’t move is as critical to the final job as the quality of theprint. The end result is not only impressive it ticks all the boxes interms of being environmentally sensitive.
CORAL CASE STUDY
VGL: SURFACE VIEW House and Garden, Spaces, Time: Style and Design, The Sunday
Times Home Supplement – you name the interiors publication and
VGL’s Surface View operation has been featured in it. Why?
Because it’s truly inspirational – not only from a graphics point of
view but from a business development perspective.
Surface View is in essence an on-line bespoke print ordering
service that lets anyone create fabulous wall coverings, blinds etc.
(see examples pictured above) to fit their space.
You simply go to the website, select the kind of product you
want and then choose from a catalogue of over 1,000 images from
major collections such as the V&A National Gallery, Royal
Photographic Society, Getty Images, Natural History Museum and
Marvel. In most cases you get a choice of substrate/textured finish
and, once processed, the print is shipped with easy self-install
instructions – usually within ten days of the order being placed.
You can even buy gift vouchers for the products!
And it doesn’t stop there. Surface View also offers more
specialist services too: for instance, it has joined forces with
Formica to provide large-format printed bespoke laminates for a
wealth of uses – e.g. kitchen splash backs. It also provides
consultancy for architects, interior designers etc. who seek
something a little bit different. Not only will the team discuss how
Surface View’s graphics products can enhance their interiors vision,
it will undertake on-site surveys and look after on-going
management and graphics rotation where required.
“We have fantastic technology here because we’ve always
believed in the importance of being at the forefront and invested
in new developments accordingly. Our digital inkjet capability is
therefore very high and a couple of years ago we came to see that
we could really target interiors where we believed there to be huge
potential,” says Michael Ayerst, managing director of Reading-
based Vinyl Graphics Limited (VGL).
The company’s equipment list is impressive, including an Onset
S20, Durst Rho 320R, DuPont Artistri 2020 and Oce CS9065 among
various NUR, Vutek and Inca printer offerings and a substantial
amount of in-house finishing kit.
“We had a relatively good recession at VGL and didn’t stop our
investment programme,” says Ayerst. “In 2009 our turnover didn’t
grow but we grew our customer base and we’re confident of
growth in 2010 – we’ve had a good start so far. Surface View is
key to that growth and we expect it to account for a bigger
WHICH NEW NICHES HAVE YOU ENTERED IN THE LASTYEAR AND/OR ARE LOOKING AT BECOMINGINVOLVED IN OVER THE NEXT 2 YEARS?
Industrial specialty 4%
Specialist/Bespoke 19%Textile forGarment 6%
CardboardEngineering 8%
Textile for HomeDécor 11%
Floor graphics 15%Wall Décor 15%
WindowGraphics 17%
Packaging 5%
12
IF WIDE-FORMAT IS NOT 100% OF YOUR BUSINESS,DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE THE RATIO OF WIDE-FORMATTO INCREASE IN THE NEXT 2 YEARS?
Down 2%
Static 24%
Up 74%
proportion of the business as a whole as time goes on.”
So far Surface View, which is run a separate part of VGL but uses
the same equipment, accounts for a relatively small part of the
parent company’s £8m turnover, though as Ayerst says, this is
expected to grow. But it’s not all about money. “For us, setting up
Surface View was about learning what we could do with Web-to-
print too. It was about finding out about potential new markets
and it allowed us to open a dialogue with a new customer-base.
“Digital print as a whole sector is growing all the time and we’re
determined to find new business all the time,” stresses Ayerst.
“There are new substrates coming to market constantly and we
form relationships where it makes sense to do so – for instance,
with Formica and ContraVision etc. But having a good product is
one thing – then you have to be able to sell it. Surface View gets
people talking to us rather than us having to invest time and enery
to go and seek them out.”
As an online service, Surface View practically sells itself in that it
is very accessible and extremely easy to use. At the moment
around 60% of the work coming through that portal are consumers,
and interestingly, about half of the turnover from the site is for
international customers. But Ayerst is fully aware of the importance
of actively marketing the service too; he employs a PR company
with expertise in the interiors market which works on getting the
company coverage in interiors publications, blogs on new
offerings/jobs etc. Plus, there are four or five Surface View staff
focussed specifically on marketing/growth opportunities.
“It’s very complicated going into a new market and developing it
– you have to be very proactive. With Surface View the jobs come
in W2P but it means we can use that to open a wider conversation
and learn more about the user-base.
“Also, it’s important to understand why people are using Surface
View,” adds Ayerst. “It’s not about buying print as such, its about
buying an image really. If people only want to buy print, they can
go anywhere. What people are buying into here is the whole
image, quality, service aspect. And people will pay for that. That
people buy on price alone is one of the biggest misleading bits of
information in the print sector. We do high value work at Surface
View.”
Holding licenses for the images Surface View carries in its
catalogue is key and is under constant review and expansion. “It
started when I came across some etchings in an Oxford shop,
bought them, scanned them and produced prints. I took them to
the V&A and showed them and they said they would work with us
and have supported us ever since,” says Ayerst. “We have since
talked to lots of other museums, galleries and creatives holding
image collections and we’ve managed to get many of them on
board now too. We only choose images we really like and think will
work in the interiors market and it seems to be paying off.”
Scroll through the Surface View website (www.surfaceview.co.uk)
and you’ll get an insight into the level of interest for its products
and services. Birmingham Hospital’s new maternity ward for
instance features a wide range of murals and glazing graphics
from the photography collections, and Redweb’s Bournemouth-
based head office has been given a woodland feel by using
images from the Nic Miller selection. The list goes on and on.
“It’s got to the point where people are coming to us and we
have orders coming in from around the world. Surface View has
established what we can do for interiors. I think that if you’re going
to enter a new market you have to be very focused and really
understand why you want to enter that market in the first place,
then put in enough financial, time and creative resources to make
it happen,” enthuses Ayerst.
DIGITAL IMAGING SERVICESYou imagine, we create. That strapline sums up Digital Imaging
Services’ strategy. Just glimpse at its website and you realise it
does far more than deliver print. It provides what everyone in the
industry it talking about, but what far fewer are actually managing
to achieve – it’s actively going out and stretching customers’
imagination and delivering specialist, tailored graphic solutions
way beyond the norm.
“We go to client’s and say ‘Have you seen this?’,” says founder
Mark Bradley, who set up the Wolverhampton-based company in
1997 with a partner he has since bought out. “Like them, we need
to evolve and that means getting the message out into the market
that we can provide all sorts of creative solutions. We deal mainly
with creative teams within agencies to get together campaigns with
maximum impact. It’s about having the knowledge of what your kit
can handle and what substrates and inks can deliver, then it’s all
about using project skills as well as print skills to bring something
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO DIVERSIFY, WHY AREYOU DOING SO?(PRIORITISE 1-5, NUMBER 1 BEING THE HIGHEST)
DO YOU UNDERTAKE RISK ASSESSMENTSOF NEW MARKET SECTORS?
No 55% Yes 45%
13
different to the table. That’s what we’re always trying to do”
That’s exactly what the company did in producing enormous
brick wall vinyl installations for Manchester City Football Club to
promote a game against Chelsea. Graphics were produced for right
across the brickwork exterior of the Printworks development and
Umbro Design Store in Manchester’s city centre, plus a 60m long
hoarding was produced for the stadium itself.
“We deal with Manchester City’s agency Design By Music anyway,
so they came to us saying they wanted something that would have
massive impact,” says Bradley. “We immediately said forget
banners etc. and started to think about other options. We had used
the Wall Wrap product from Hexis for smaller jobs before and
could see how we could use it to produce something with a real
wow factor on a job of this scale, so we put the idea forward and
Music went with it.”
Digital Imaging was intrinsically linked to the project from
conception through to the de-rigging of the wall graphics, taking
the weight of burden off the agency’s shoulders. “We actually went
and measured up the wall spaces being used and then went and
told the agency what dimensions the graphics needed to fit so that
they didn’t have any of the hassle of doing that. When we got the
PDF of the graphic we then sorted out all the crossover and bleed
requirements as the final image was made up of many graphic
tiles. Our own team installed the prints over 48 hours, which was
difficult because of the heights and scale of the job, not to mention
the bad weather conditions, and the fact that you need certain
temperatures etc for the vinyl to adhere properly so we were there
with heat guns etc. When the graphics were due to come down
about four weeks later, we handled all the de-rigging too,” says
Bradley.
The 10 x 10m vinyl banner of Shaun Wright Phillips was made
up of over 120 individual different sections of 1350 x 1000mm
pre-printed brick vinyls produced on Digital Imaging’s Vutek
QS3200 before being assembled and heat gunned onto the
exterior of the Printworks to create the stunning graphical ‘graffiti’
pictured here.
The complexity of the project not only included the installation
of the brick vinyl, but also the wrapping in vinyl of ducting,
electrical installations and the production and installation of a
printed steel panel that fit in with the overall design.
“What new substrates can deliver in terms of creativity is
something we watch very closely,” says Bradley. “We do quite a lot
14
of work with suppliers in prototyping applications because we
need to be able to offer something different.”
GTMS “Pushing creative concepts and then project managing the whole
thing from design, print and build to transportation and installation
is what it’s all about,” says Dominik Short of Concept and Build, the
joint venture formed under two years ago by the event
production/wide-format print specialist GTMS which he directs, and
large-scale prop-maker Model-Tec Studio.
With Hampshire-based GTMS’s deep knowledge of the events
market and long-term working relationship with Model-Tec, the
Web-based Concept and Build offering (www.concept-build.co.uk)
simply makes sense. “This service is a designer's dream, providing
tailor-made solutions for artists, creative directors and engineers
alike. Combining our efforts with Model-Tec Studio gives us the
tools to deliver really unusual branding projects,” says Short. “We
want to stand out from the crowd and so do our clients – everyone
needs to find a differentiator.
“In the events market there are all sorts of opportunity and
design and build 3D projects especially attract notice. We realise
we have to spend on R&D and trial new ideas and applications to
keep ahead of the game. We brainstorm every month and go to
lots of shows and events to see what is happening.”
Short is emphatic about the importance of getting ideas right in
front of the client. “The point is, we have to be proactive and go
and tell clients what is achievable. Our intention is to get involved
earlier in the design process – not cutting out agencies – but
working hand-in-hand with them from the start.”
Showing-off its work is a core part of Concept and Build’s
marketing plan. “Direct marketing doesn’t pay off,” says Short.
“People want to see actual jobs – they want to see pictures. So we
put cool, sexy jobs on our website and we do a bi-monthly online
newsletter telling people to go and have a look at what we do.
(See case study over-page) Plus we go and get in front of clients as
much as possible, in front of the person who takes ownership of
the brief. They say they want X, and we say OK, but how about Y or
Z, and up-sell. The difficulty is when you get to procurement
departments because they’re only interested in driving costs down.
Their growth will stymie the creative potential of wide-format.”
But Short adds: “Our clients are into visual communication, so as
long as we can show them visuals of what we can do for them and
IF YOU DO, OR PLAN TO, WHICH ADDED-VALUE SERVICES ARE THEY?
15
DO YOU OFFER WF CUSTOMERS SERVICES BEYONDPRINT PRODUCTION, FINISHING AND INSTALLATION?
No, but will within 2 years 11%
No 29%
yes 60%
16
One of the coolest and most renowned hotel brands in theBalearics brought GTMS on board to brand and theme a newmusic venue hotel. The Ibiza Rocks brand and Big Active,which oversaw the design element, enlisted the company toget the new Mallorca Rocks Hotel ready for opening thissummer.
Work began in October 2009 when the GTMS teamattended a site check of a closed hotel complex in Magaluf,Majorca which Ibiza Rocks, in partnership with Spanish hotelchain Fiesta, wanted to turn into the Mallorca Rocks Hotel. InApril 2010 the main rebrand installation took place over eightdays with a specialist team of six from GTMS.
The job included installing an180m of pink LED inset floorand ceiling feature in the main reception and backstage bararea. This was a ‘first’ so extensive research went intodesigning a floor system that would meet expectations. Whenguests walk into the main entrance at night they will now seelines and angles of hot pink light carved into the seamlessgrey floor resin.
A giant two metre plectrum shaped logo wasmanufactured from aluminium. The logo was laser cut fromthe face and back illuminated with LED light to reducemaintenance and offer low energy costs.
The sign on the front of the Mallorca Rocks hotel was 18mwide x 1m height. It was constructed from aluminium trayswith built up lettering and the sign was illuminated bychasing bulbs on a running sequence to give the feel of atraditional bulb sign.
The event sign was constructed to emulate that of atraditional cinema sign. Due to the size, back illuminatingthis was impossible so GTMS built a bespoke solution to fillthe 7m x 7m space spanning three balconies. Several 7m
long C section wall strutswere installed beforeinstalling 21 mixedaluminium and steel trays.The bottom three rowswere created from steelso that CNC cut acrylicbacked magneticlettering could beapplied. Fabricatedaluminium letters were fitted to face of the sign for the mainlogo. Lighting was formed of lighting troughs secured to eachedge of the sign.
Additional branding and signage supplied by GTMSincluded flag and poles, directional signage, room numbers,neon signs, wallpapering and window vinyls.
GTMS CASE STUDY
17
DO YOU THINK YOU “SELL” THE FULLAPPLICATIONS POTENTIAL OF YOUR KIT?
No 67%
Yes 33%
WILL YOU BUY NEW KIT SPECIFICALLY TOTAKE YOU INTO NEW NICHES/MARKETS?
No 28%
Yes 72%
how unusual 3D displays/design and build projects will help them
stand out, we have a conversation. Once they start asking
questions and the dialogue is opened we know we can win
business because of the different elements we bring. Most of the
wide-format print jobs we undertake now includes some sort of
workshop/build element to it.
“We’re aware that we don’t want to try and get too clever and
stretch ourselves too thin but we have to dip our toes in the
water and look at new ideas all the time – it’s the only way to
stay in business. GTMS (together with Concept and Build) will be
a very different business in three years – it will have to be
because you have to keep looking ahead. You can’t shut yourself
up and say ‘this is what we do’, you have to get out and look for
trends and evolve what you do accordingly,” ends Short.
WHAT TYPE OF WIDE-FORMAT PRINT WORK ARE YOU CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN?
This has seen the professional
photographer and managing
director of Lincoln-based Double
Red Studios establish a long and
trusted relationship with major
motorcycle manufacturers, the
likes of which include Harley-Davidson,
Honda and Kawasaki.
Three years ago, after building a
successful reputation as one of the UK’s
premier motorsport photographic agencies,
Wright decided to relocate the company to
a 3000 sq ft purpose-built facility to meet
its expanding needs. The move itself was
also aligned to Double Red’s decision to
increase its service offering and extend its
capabilities beyond photographic capture
work with the addition of a high quality
large format printing arm. This relocation
was ultimately marked when, on moving
day itself, the company installed a Canon
imagePROGRAF iPF9000 large format
printer. “Prior to 2007, I guess you could
say we were really only dabbling in large
format printing,” recalls Wright. “We
operated an aging ENCAD machine, but
wanted to undertake premium level
output work for some of our existing
customers, as well as win new accounts.
For quality reasons, we had thus far been
unable to achieve this, so we knew it was
time for change.
“We had already been talking to Honda
Racing about producing some large display
prints for them, but realised that we would
need to invest in new equipment in order
to actually produce output that would meet
their high expectations for lifelike quality,”
he adds.
As a photographer, quality and
consistency were, in Wright’s eyes,
fundamental to Double Red’s eventual
proposition. “My experience has taught me
that if printed photographic output fails to
meet the customer’s expectations, then
those involved usually look for someone to
blame. Typically, if it’s an issue with quality,
the printer will blame the photographer
and vice-versa.
“We knew that, providing we purchased
the right equipment, producing sub-
standard output wouldn’t be an issue,” he
adds. “By taking charge of the photography,
processing and large format printing, then
we could confidently manage the whole
job and take complete responsibility for it
from start to finish.”
With this in mind, and based on his high
regard for Canon photographic equipment,
Wright and his team ran a series of media
tests to ascertain the output quality of the
imagePROGRAF iPF9000, while also
keeping a close eye on other market
offerings.
“The investment in new equipment was
an important step for our business, so we
naturally reviewed the large format options
from other suppliers,” says Wright.
“Ensuring consistent quality and stability
across the entire workflow was crucial for
us and in the end it was evident that only
Canon could meet our requirement of
supplying a true, end-to-end system. Not
just that, but for as long as I could
remember, I had been completely satisfied
with the build quality and reliability of their
cameras, so for me it was as much about
the brand integrity and the solid support
structure that we are afforded, should we
ever need it.”
As anticipated, the iPF9000 has delivered
to Double Red’s exacting demands on all
counts. Indeed, from a quality perspective,
the results often surpass the team’s
expectations. Featuring a new 12-colour
pigment ink system, the imagePROGRAF
iPF9000 enables Double Red to produce
eye-catching 2400 x 1200 dpi prints up to
60” and with exceptional colour stability.
“Quite honestly, the impressive
18
AdvertorialDouble red studios rides aheadwith increased output quality
AFTER PHOTOGRAPHING HIGH PERFORMANCE SUPERBIKES ATMAJOR RACING EVENTS FOR 21 YEARS, JAMES WRIGHT, CERTAINLYHAS AN EYE FOR FAST, RELIABLE, WELL BUILT MACHINES THAT DELIVERJAW-DROPPING OUTPUT.
ENSURING CONSISTENT QUALITY AND STABILITY
ACROSS THE ENTIRE WORKFLOW WAS CRUCIAL
FOR US AND IN THE END IT WAS EVIDENT THAT
ONLY CANON COULD MEET OUR REQUIREMENT OF
SUPPLYING A TRUE, END-TO-END SYSTEM
James Wright, Managing Director, Double Red Studios
“”
19
reproduction on some of the more difficult
colours has surprised us,” admits Wright. “For
us, shooting images of superbikes invariably
means that the subject matter features a
large amount of chromes and anodised
parts. With our previous large format digital
inkjet equipment, or even by using a wet
process, we would have struggled to
faithfully reproduce these colours, but can
now do so with stunning accuracy.”
Not being printers by trade, Wright and
his colleagues were also mindful of the
need to acquire equipment that they could
become quickly familiar with. “The ease of
operation and plug and play aspect of the
iPF9000 was certainly another factor that
weighed in its favour,” smiles Wright. “We
needed something that we could easily get
to grips with and that would quickly be up
and running and making money for us.”
Given Double Red’s heritage as a high-
end photographic agency within the world
of performance motorcycle racing, the
iPF9000 has found a particular niche in
this market. “As a company, we usually
have our own merchandising unit at the
major superbike events across the UK,
where our large format prints of the riders
in action are in increasingly high demand
and never fail to grab the public’s
attention,” explains Wright.
In addition, as well as serving the needs
of local businesses, the iPF9000 installation
has enabled Double Red to strengthen its
ties with the Honda Racing Team, by
offering large format output alongside its
traditional photographic services. This
includes printing the high-resolution
graphic display systems featuring the
team’s logo and those of its sponsors,
which are used within the pit garages at
various UK circuits during the superbike
racing season.
Three years down the road, Double Red
continues to go from strength to strength,
an achievement for which, according to
Wright, the imagePROGRAF iPF9000 has
definitely played a major role. “If tangible
evidence of the success of the iPF9000
installation was required, then the facts
speak for themselves; thanks to its vibrant
output quality, Double Red has secured
work that we would have not previously
picked up – or indeed have had the
confidence to even pitch for in the first
place,” he explains. “This alone, shows that
our investment in the iPF9000 was a wise
one and with this as our own performance
engine, we are assured of remaining on
track moving forward.”
Call: Canon Central Sales 01737 229022
or visit: www.canon.co.uk/largeformat
or receive a FREE sample print:
www.sampleprint.co.uk
THANKS TO THE IPF9000’S
VIBRANT OUTPUT QUALITY, WE
SECURED WORK THAT WE WOULD
HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY PICKED UP –
OR EVEN HAVE HAD THE CONFIDENCE
TO PITCH FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE
James Wright, Managing Director, Double Red Studios
“”
Apple is the poster boy for a certain brand of
creativity. But the apparently endless stream of
innovative, revolutionary products – the iPod,
iPhone and iPad being just the most recent –
issuing from Apple is a red herring. A very
profitable, glamorous red herring but, all the same, still a false clue
that could lead many bosses astray as they try to make their
businesses more creative.
Larry Keeley, president of the Doblin group, a US firm which
advises on innovation, says the problem with launches like the
iPhone is that people often draw the wrong lessons from their
success. “They think innovation is all about creating a hot sexy new
product but there are many other ways of being creative which
affect how you make money. Truly successful companies are
innovative in many different ways at once.”
As the wide-format industry seeks solace from an ultra-
competitive market by seeking out new markets and profitable
new applications, it could do well to heed Keeley’s words. In his
view creativity and innovation are as much about focus (fewer
ideas is better, too many companies generate too many to
compensate for a high failure rate and get lost), discipline
(concentrate on creativity that could make a serious difference to
your business), culture (creativity can be found in any aspect of
your business) and not getting too bogged down in financial
analytics: “Guessing cashflow for something new four years from
now is a waste of money and is usually wrong”.
Most of all, Keeley says, companies should not rely too much on
their own skills: “Your internal competencies are important but the
real drivers should be the met and unmet needs of customers and
non-customers.”
In this respect, at least, the wide-format industry is getting
something right. The 2010 Widthwise survey does suggest that new
developments in the market are being driven most often by the
end clients, followed by printers themselves, suppliers, consumers
and architects who have already, the figures suggest, superseded
agencies as a driver of new developments.
Yet Donna Brown, head of offline production at OgilvyOne,
suggests the industry could do much better. And one big step it
could take in the right direction is to sell itself more creatively: “The
dynamics have really changed. There is often no clear path from
creative to production. Quite often the client comes to an agency
already saddled with a concept, an expectation of media or even a
supplier in mind.”
The industry’s customer base is becoming more complex, the
relationships between different elements of that customer base,
have become less predictable. “Printers need to know how to
grab the audience. One company asked me to look at a marketing
pack aimed at creatives and I had to tell them that there was no
way creatives would even look at their pack because of its design
alone - it just wouldn’t enthuse them enough to open it.”
THE FRUITS OF
CREATIVITY
20
If you’re selling people to who regard themselves as on the
creative cutting edge, you need to sell yourself in a certain way.
The old school direct mailer, which looks as if it has been designed
and printed by hacks for other hacks just isn’t going to cut it
anymore. In part, Brown says, the clichéd direct mail brochures
reflect the industry’s recruitment policy: “Many printers say they do
design and creative work but they are often really just Mac
operators – not what agencies and clients would regard as ‘real’
creatives.”
Hiring ‘real’ creatives might sound expensive but the need is
urgent, Brown says, because many creatives have no idea what
wide-format can do. And the failure to communicate or educate
creatives, especially designers and art directors, about the many
intriguing things they could do with wide-format, is allowing
others to make the case for rival media.
Indeed, Brown wonders if the industry needs to rethink its basic
terminology: “Print needs a different term, to reinvent what it is. It
doesn’t sound quite right for a company to refer to itself as in
‘marketing services’ but it’s better than ‘printer’. We are seeing
more ‘print service providers’ become true partners with their
clients and making themselves invaluable.”
Such relationships may spark creativity. Albert Einstein famously
noted that a problem cannot be solved from within the context
that it was created. But thinking outside the box - blue sky thinking
if you want to pigeonhole it - can seem like a waste of time when
there is capacity to be sold. The problem is, as Keeley has
observed, that “people think innovation is expensive. But in the
long run failure to innovate costs more.” It’s just that the cost of
that blue sky session or that risky launch is easier to quantify than
the cost of a massive missed opportunity.
By developing strategic partnerships with clients, wide-format
printers will find it easier to focus on what Keeley calls the “met
and unmet needs of customers and non-customers”. The US design
consultancy IDEO, which helped redesign the car dashboard for
Ford, has found that the most fruitful insights often come from
personal experience or conversation. Many companies might feel
more comfortable if they can justify their creative by crunching
numbers but experience suggests that this approach isn’t always
possible, desirable or more effective than personal knowledge.
Such conversations and collaboration could also help wide-
format printers realise that creativity isn’t just about product. New
applications could be lucrative but they shouldn’t be the sole focus:
a printer might make as much of a difference to its bottom line by
dreaming up a new, more creative way of selling to a customer.
This approach has its limits. As Henry Ford once observed, if he
had asked Americans to name their dream mode of transport, most
would have asked for a faster breed of horse and he would never
have created the Model T Ford. Some leaps are so big as to be
unimaginable and yet – and here the iPod is a relevant example –
those are often the leaps that transform an industry.
WHO IS MOST STIMULATING NEW MARKET DEVELOPMENT?(NOTE: ASKED TO PRIORITISE 1-9, I BEING THE HIGHEST)
21
Advertorial
Not many industries
escaped from the recent
downturn in the global
economy and wide format
digital print was no
exception to this, driven
particularly by the negative effect on marketing
and advertising budgets. However, the global
market is still valued at over 50 billion euros
and with ever-developing technologies and
consumables, it continues to provide
opportunities for growth in sales and profit.
Any company can employ wide format,
whether this is getting started with a digital
production facility to broaden service and
application offering or looking to upgrade to
increase productivity.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SALES ANDPROFITABLE GROWTHPrint service providers are looking for good
service, support and innovation to help
maximise returns from any investment.
Selecting the right hardware, software or
consumable is a difficult task, especially in an
ultra-competitive marketplace.
With comprehensive products and support
from a whole spectrum of world leading
manufacturers Robert Horne Group makes this
easy. Extensive digital print, cut and finishing
solutions are offered to satisfy all requirements
with cost-effective packages matched exactly
to customer needs at any stage of the
production workflow. From input to output
Robert Horne is a trusted partner, with the
entire product portfolio backed up by a service
that is second-to-none.
COMPLETE SOLUTIONSTeaming up with the best-in-class digital print
and finishing manufacturers, including Canon,
HP, Mimaki, VUTEk, Seal and Zund, addresses
varying productivity and format needs.
Encompassing aqueous, eco-solvent UV, roll
and flatbed options, gives entry-level through
to high production solutions.
Combined with the above Robert Horne has
expert understanding of industry leading
specialist software bringing key advantages in
versatility and productivity. Whether it is
signmaking with Signlab’s print and cut
capabilities, or ripping with Onyx, Fiery or
Rasterlink, advice and support is offered for
confident production of even the most
ambitious of print projects.
Robert Horne also supplies all inks to
complement the above printers. Some newer
ink developments from Mimaki include white
full solvent ink for the Mimaki JV33 series of
printers, enabling enhanced results on clear
film and the launch of new environmentally
friendly and cost-effective 2 litre ink sacks for
use in the bulk ink system. Metallic inks are
also coming soon.
WIDEST CHOICE OF MEDIA ANDSUBSTRATESWhether looking to produce flexible or rigid
displays, indoor or outdoor signage, point of
sale, banners, vehicle wraps and hoardings to
name but a few, Robert Horne offers the
largest range of wide format digital print
media that can satisfy price, performance and
environmental requirements. The range
includes;
� dtec, a PaperlinX brand that gives continuity
of product across Europe, is a complete
range of inkjet media and finishing
consumables for use on leading thermal and
piezo printers using dye based, pigmented,
solvent, eco-solvent and UV inks. With
economy, premium and speciality options
depending on the application.
� Avery, Orafol and LG self-adhesive vinyls, with
22
Robert Horne GroupComplete Wide Format Digital Solutions
guaranteed matched overlaminate systems
� Harman Technologies Opaljet pop-up and
roll-up media
� Extensive selection of Seal laminates and
adhesives
� Widest selection of rigid substrates including
foam board, foam PVC, aluminium composite
display board, acrylic, polycarbonate and
polypropylene, from brands including
Foamalux, Reynobond, Altuglas and Priplak
� Complementary displayware including
pop-up frames and roll-up cassettes
Application areas set to grow include
POP displays and in particular, textile
based signage. Robert Horne will be
launching in autumn 2010 the new Soft
Signage Collection that will feature an
innovative range of banners, fabrics, canvases
and wall coverings.
Responding also to the increasing
importance of green drivers, there is also the
‘Green Box’, a collection of substrates that are
more environmentally friendly compared to
traditional options.
FOGRA STANDARD COMPLIANCEFOR PROOFINGAlthough the global wide format print
market is worth over 50 billion euros,
commercial printers account for a very small
percentage of this. With relatively low start-
up costs, compared to the investment in litho
printing machinery, digital wide format can
provide a real opportunity in improving
efficiency as a proofing resource or
diversifying services offered.
Press Match Proof Bundles from Robert
Horne offer a fully Fogra certified proofing
system with the option of a ‘pay-as-you go’
recalibration service by one of our certified
Fogra proofing engineers. This not only
reduces the system cost, but also offers
peace of mind that the system can be
recalibrated at anytime by a professional
engineer without the risk of unnecessary pre-
press production or down time.
Complementing this is the new Fogra
approved dtec Colour Standard Proofing
Paper; a microporous coated semi-matt
photo paper that is ideal for proofing and
indoor graphics. The coating is designed to
achieve the maximum colour gamut
available from piezo pigment printers,
although it is universally compatible. It is
also instant drying, smudge resistant and
cockle free.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUYRobert Horne has two comprehensive
facilities in the UK that can demonstrate full
workflow. Manchester focuses on direct to
substrate flatbed solutions and houses a
Vutek QS2000, while Northampton features a
range of aqueous, eco-solvent and solvent
solutions.
TOTAL TECHNICAL SUPPORT…INAN INSTANT!Technical Support is the most important
service any systems provider can offer and
customer feedback has shown that Robert
Horne offers an excellent service. A team of
digital specialists with many years
experience in the wide format aqueous,
solvent and UV markets, are on hand to help
with all aspects of pre and post installation
of equipment.
Telephone support is available on all the
systems supplied, including the unique
‘Instant Technical Support Service’ - no need
for onsite visits to trouble shoot the system
thus minimising downtime. Online diagnosis
can also fix issues related to the system or
the software and reinstalls can be
undertaken when needed, files can be
transferred and connections checked. Onsite
training includes:
� Installation and training of Mimaki, Roland,
Canon and HP printers
� Training on Signlab, Fine Cut Rasterlink Pro,
Versaworks, Onyx, Digital Factory and Fiery
XFEX (these can also be done online)
� Training on general printer care and
maintenance
� Training in colour management and the
generation of ICC Profiles
COLOUR PROFILING The majority of profiling is undertaken by in-
house Colour Technicians who have the
experience and technology to create very
accurate ICC profiles. With priority given to
the RIPs Robert Horne supplies, the aim is to
have a complete suite of profiles for the core
range of digital products always available
online. Onsite profiling is also available if
fine-tuned colour workflows are demanded.
Robert Horne specialists can provide
workflow assessment and colour
standardisation.
For further information on any of the
products and services offered by Robert Horne,
please visit www.roberthorne.co.uk and for
dtec digital consumables www.dtec-media.com
23
Business as usual is dead. The fiscal crisis has made that
painfully clear. Just in case there were any lingering
doubters, the Widthwise 2010 survey suggests that 70% of
the wide-format industry is having to make strategic
change to win business with new applications of the
technology - which may or may not be in new markets.
What kind of strategic changes are printers making? Three out of ten
are restructuring or refocusing their sales or marketing teams, almost
28% are working more closely with suppliers to identify/sell new
applications, more than one in four are redeveloping their brand and
one in nine have appointed a new business development manager. An
impressive 23% are spending more time on R&D as they seek new
applications. This is especially true for companies with UV flatbed
machines who realise there are so many different ways they can utilise
their print units to satisfy new markets and earn a crust. One in six
respondents now involves their in-house creative teams earlier in
projects.
Printers can’t be accused of complacency. But almost two-thirds of
respondents admitted their efforts to diversify had been hampered by
the evil twins: time and money. (A staggering 13% admitted they didn’t
know enough about their own machines to help them diversify.) For
some, understanding a new market boils down to asking an unpaid
intern to research it. Others have hired someone with ‘new business’ in
their title and made it their problem. (To be fair, this is slightly more
effective than asking a senior manager with sundry day-to-day
responsibilities to add new business to their portfolio and promise
them loads of unspecified support that never materialises.)
Strategic change isn’t easy – that’s why there are so many books,
conferences and seminars on the subject of change management. And
the paradox is that, as Robert Cialdini, author of the bestselling book
‘The Science Of Influence’ notes, the circumstances that force us to
think afresh also encourage us to resist change: “When things change,
we are hard wired to become risk averse to a fault. We over-
compensate. It makes sense if you think about it. In the Stone Age,
when things changed drastically, sticking to your terrain could be the
difference between survival and being killed by a mammoth.”
Cialdini’s advice to a manager seeking to encourage change is to
make the value of an opportunity that might be missed absolutely
clear. Sounds negative but Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahnemann and
Amos Tversky found that the subjects in their studies were more risk-
seeking when threatened with a loss than when offered a reward.
When changing focus, it’s even more crucial to stay focused.
American billionaire Warren Buffett has a few guiding principles any
business can learn from. He looks for niches where businesses have
consistently generated cash – although this isn’t always easy if a new
markets and/or applications are appearing. He looks for businesses that
have the same track record, asking bosses: “If you could shoot one of
your rivals, which one would it be?” He refuses to be influenced by
fashion (largely shunning airlines and the internet in favour of
unglamorous, but reliably profitable markets like insurance and
confectionery). And he asks the same question of all of his investments:
“Does the company have a moat?”
By moat he means a clear, durable, defensible, competitive
advantage over the opposition. Such moats can be hard to define in an
industry as competitive and crowded as wide-format printing but, as
printers look to diversify, the idea of a moat is a useful touchstone. You
may be surprised by the source of your competitive advantage: it might
be your understanding of the technology, but it might equally be the
way you service customers.
Another Buffett yardstick might help printers as they refocus. As a
stock market investor, he is especially keen on stocks that have what
he calls ‘mindshare’ – brands like Coke and American Express that
resonate in their customers’ minds. So your management might
want to ask how much your brand resonates with customers. Would
ROOM AT tHE top
24
ARE YOU HAVING TO MAKE STRATEGICCHANGES WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS TO WINBUSINESS FROM NEW MARKETS/APPLICATIONS?
No 30%
Yes 70%
WHAT HINDERS YOUR HOPES OF DIVERSIFICATION?
Businessstructure 11%
Lack ofknowledge ofnew marketsectors 13%
Lack of knowledge on fulltechnical capabilities of
equipment/substrates 13% Cost31%
Time32%
they prefer you to any other supplier and, if so (or, indeed, if not)
why is that?
As you ponder strategic change, ask the big questions, like: what
business am I in? Print? Or something more challenging, amorphous
and, hopefully, more profitable – offering marketing expertise to your
clients in a wide range of media, from print to Twitter and video? You
may decide it makes no sense to broaden out to offer all these services.
Equally, you might feel you can’t afford not to – even if that means
allying with other companies.
The change management industry is only excelled in volume, noise
and hype by the innovation industry. There are zillions of books,
courses and thinkers that claim to have
cracked the DNA of innovation and yet,
paradoxically, there are zillions of
businesses that never do anything
innovative. One reason for that may be
that even the enlightened minority of
business leaders who want to
encourage innovation seriously
misunderstand it. Book titles like ‘The
Innovative Leader: How To Inspire You
Team And Drive Creativity’ encourage
the misperception that innovation is a
process. But real innovation isn’t about
six point plans, it’s a cultural value. The
cliché among consultants who work
with companies is that “innovation is a
contact sport”.
You won’t inspire anyone if
innovation is a top-down process - yet
another an initiative from head office
that staff don’t understand properly or
don’t have time to implement or think
about. Innovation has to be embedded
in a culture. It can be taught, works
best when teams are involved and isn’t
something good companies practice on an ad hoc basis. Companies
like Procter and Gamble continually monitor their innovation
performance to develop what they call their innovation muscle.
Cialdini says: “Companies need to set up mechanisms that ensure
collaborative exchanges, whether the collaborations seem necessary to
a management or not. To do less is a fool’s gamble. Too often the
reason an inspiration never becomes commercially viable is not
because of weaknesses in the idea, but because of weaknesses in the
way the idea is advanced up the chain of command.”
Change isn’t easy. Nor is innovation. But for wide-format printers
who want to thrive rather than merely survive, they are essential.
IF YOU ARE MAKING STRATEGIC CHANGES, WHAT ARE YOU HAVING TO DOTO WIN BUSINESS FROM NEW APPLICATIONS/MARKET NICHES?
25
If you had to select one place as the UK’s hotbed of
innovation what would you say? Central London? One of
the country’s IT clusters like Silicon Fen near Cambridge?
Give up. The surprising answer, as uncovered by Dr
James Simmie of University College, London, is
Hertfordshire - the county with the highest level of R&D activity
and employment in the UK. If you measured innovation
another way – by ranking parts of the UK according to the
percentage of firms that had introduced innovations – you got
another surprising answer: Berkshire.
These findings seem to fly in the face of common sense.
Certain cities have become famous for being rather good at certain
things (eg Milan and fashion, London and finance, Los Angeles and
entertainment). That strength has a magnetic affect, attracting talent
and funding a network of companies and services to support that
industry. That certainly has been the policymakers’ view, especially in
the UK where the powers that be have become excited by the need
to establish ‘clusters of excellence’. The idea of nurturing a creative
industry cluster in London was especially trendy. Yet when Simmie
asked companies if they would be interested in becoming, in some
vague way, part of a cluster of innovation their answer resembled the
time-honoured rebuke with which printers have responded to the
trade press: “Why should I tell my competitors what I’m doing?”
Simmie’s researchers found the traditional view of clusters was
nonsense. When choosing a location, businesses were much more
likely to be influenced by the availability of an educated workforce,
venture capital, and the proximity to national and international
transport links. Clearly, the issue of why a company is located
where it is – and in what way (if any) that affects their business –
is an enigma that will perplex policymakers and economists for a
while yet.
Set against that confusing backdrop, what are we to make of the
regional variations in the 2010 Widthwise survey? The regional
IN THE INNOVATION
ZONE
THROUGH WHICH CHANNELS DOES YOUR WORKCOME? (OF YOUR WIDE-FORMAT TURNOVER,STATE % FROM EACH AREA)
HOW HIGH A PRIORITY IS FINDING/ENTERING NEWWIDE-FORMAT MARKETS/OFFERING NEW SERVICES?
26
breakdown of respondents is intriguing. The fact that 34% of
respondents from the South East of England probably accurately
reflects that region’s dominance of the wide-format industry. In
contrast, Scotland, with only 2% of respondents, is a tad under-
represented.
What all eight areas – the Midlands, south east England, south west
England, north east England, north west England, Wales, Scotland and
Ireland – have in common is an emphatic interest in new markets
and new services. The quest to find, develop and exploit new sectors
where printers can add value remains as urgent as ever. In many
instances, this might simply be a case of needs must. The Irish
economy has been hit especially badly – its GDP shrank by a record
7.1% in 2009 – and it is probably no coincidence that over 40% of
respondents from Ireland had a very high interest in developing new
markets and services. Wide-format printers in north west England
were almost as keen on developing new business as the Irish. The
least interested in developing new opportunities were printers in the
Midlands – although even there half of respondents ranked new
business as a high or very high priority.
But what kind of new applications and what forces are shaping
this quest for new business? The markets companies had expanded
into – or were planning to move into – varied immensely across the
UK and Ireland. Floor graphics, wall decor, window graphics and fine
art/photography were consistently popular. Textile printing for
home/interior decoration had tempted a number of respondents,
especially in the Midlands and Ireland. Cardboard engineering and
specialist/bespoke work attracted a significant number of
respondents in the north east of England. Packaging was not
especially popular, although some respondents in the north west of
England obviously regarded this as a promising sector.
Looking at which channels wide-printers got their business from, it
was hard to see any correlation between this and any specific moves
into particular markets. Fundamentally, three types of customer
dominated the mix in every area surveyed: consumers, agencies and
the end client. Sometimes, the mix between the three changed a bit –
agencies were especially influential for the Scottish printers and
consumers in the north east of England – but they controlled most of
the wide-format industry’s revenue. Architects are a small, yet
significant influence when judged on the volume of work they deliver
for wide-format printers in the UK and Ireland. But they look
considerably more influential when printers were asked who was
stimulating the most new market development. In Ireland and
Scotland, architects had a bigger say in driving new development
than agencies and suppliers.
The 2010 results do not really suggest that printers found their
suppliers of kit or substrates massively helpful in their endeavour to
develop new business. In Ireland, Wales and the south east of
England they were less instrumental in new business than design
and print colleges. Surely, as suppliers know their equipment better
than anyone, there must be greater scope for some mutually
profitable collaboration here? Suppliers might counter that too many
British and Irish wide-format printers are too cautious, too short term,
to relish such collaborations. Whatever the cause, the industry is
missing out. Equally, you could argue that printers need to engage
more deeply with consumers if they are to conceptualise the kind of
breakthroughs that might make a big difference to their business.
There is no evidence in the 2010 survey that any area has the edge
when it comes to opening up new sectors where printers can add
value. The case of south east England might explain why. In this
region – especially in London – is a cluster of agencies with access to
sizeable budgets which could fund innovation. Yet the results of this
survey suggest that the agencies’ influence in driving new business is
roughly on a par with that of architects and colleges.
If Simmie’s research into the location of businesses in the UK
teaches us anything, it is to distrust easy, sweeping generalisations.
The 2010 Withdwise survey reinforces Simmie’s point. There is no
regional monopoly on innovation or creative drive in the wide-format
printing industry in the UK and Ireland.
WHICH NEW NICHES HAVE YOU ENTERED IN THELAST YEAR AND/OR ARE LOOKING AT BECOMINGINVOLVED IN OVER THE NEXT 2 YEARS?
WHO IS MOST STIMULATING NEW MARKETDEVELOPMENT? (RATE: 1 IS THE HIGHEST)
27
How does it feel to be working in dead tree media? That
is the sneering, ecologically smug label the online
community is trying to pin on the printing industry –
and it’s been working. Luckily, the printing industry,
recognising what exactly is at stake, is striking back.
Print has made tremendous strides in regulating and verifying the
environmental impact of its activities. Contrast this to IT: there is no
universal, trusted eco-rating system for PCs – even though a PC
running a flight simulator game may use 76% more energy than a
washing machine – and in America computer servers now account for
a bigger percentage of energy consumption than TVs.
Print is responsible for much less irreducible mess in the world’s
landfill sites than IT, which is one reason Greenpeace has challenged
firms like Apple, IBM and Dell to produce a greener computer. Though
some non-paper substrates used in wide-format print are hard to
recycle, new schemes from suppliers like Hewlett Packard and Robert
Horne will help address this issue. There is much more to be done
because, as Stephen Goddard, Hewlett Packard’s environmental
leadership program manager, puts it, “If you can’t prove you are taking
a sustainable approach, consumers won’t buy from you.”
For wide-format printers, sustainability is not a new issue. But, after
the recession briefly distracted buyers, the environment has soared
back up the industry’s agenda. In this Widthwise poll, 68% of
respondents said sustainability had become more important over the
last two years. A slight majority (41% agreed, 37% disagreed) believed
sustainability could help them win new business but only a minority
(23%) felt they might find a niche where their sustainable credentials
would enable to charge them a premium price.
Goddard says that “with a genuine commitment to sustainability,
and a strategy for engaging customers on the topic, printers can
remain competitive in a dynamic market environment by positioning
themselves as valued business partners to print buyers. Commercial
printers are unlikely to be able to charge a premium, but they can
grow revenue by attracting new environmentally conscious
customers and strengthening their relationship with customers they
already have”.
Sustainability is a good way to start a conversation with customers,
probably more successful than a straight sales pitch. Environmental
awareness among print buyers varies immensely but in Goddard’s
view they usually fall into one of four categories:
1. Sophisticated. These will usually be large corporations that
already have environmental policies in place, are well informed and
will require solid, certified proof of the printer’s environmental
credentials and detailed information on how documents are produced
and printed. These are, Goddard suggests, “excellent customers from
which to learn” and may invite printers to help them on wider issues,
such as reducing the waste they generate. Printers selling to this kind
of customer might consider applying for some certified sustainability
program or a standard such as ISO 14000. In the US, over 20 printers
have joined a body called the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership.
2. Enthusiasts. Often small to medium sized businesses which are
keen to reduce their environmental impact but don’t have the
resources or the systems to turn enthusiasm into results. They may
need guidance on the environmental impact of their print buying and
may have a shallower understanding of the issues.
3. Novices. These customers haven’t really thought about green
issues but are willing to be convinced of the benefits. They may need
reassurance that becoming more environmentally friendly isn’t
expensive and could even cut costs through efficiencies and reduced
wastage.
chopped down
28
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO OFFER ‘GREEN’OPTIONS THESE DAYS?
No change25%
Not sure37%
No 22%
Yes 41%
Less important than2 years ago 7%
Moreimportant
than 2 yearsago 68%
WILL A ‘GREEN’ PORTFOLIO HELP YOU TODIVERSIFY/WIN NEW BUSINESS?
ANTI-GREEN mESSAGE
TO size
4. Laggards. These buyers haven’t thought about sustainability and
don’t want to because, they assume, it will cost them money. They
might need to be encouraged to consider the benefits in terms of
costs and competitiveness. Goddard says “Educating these customers
is likely to be an ongoing process over time”. In other words, don’t
expect them to turn green overnight.
You have probably encountered all these types of customers. The
key, Goddard suggests, is that this is a conversation, not a one-off
presentation. Best practice is constantly evolving, regulations change,
and printers will need to continually explain what they are doing, why,
what the environmental benefits are and how they can prove those.
Depending on the kind of conversation – and the eco-awareness of the
customer – you might be able to agree a series of sustainable goals.
The experience of Minnesota printer Big Ink, one of three wide-
format printers in the USA to join the Sustainable Green Printing
Partnership, shows how these conversations with customers can
develop. In 2007, Thomas P. Trutna, owner of Big Ink, set out “ten
ways to be kinder to earth without harming the budget”. He admitted
his ten-step eco-program was hardly rocket science. Some ideas were
obvious – double-sided printing of signs, designing timeless artwork
by avoiding dates or putting them on cut vinyl which could be
changed, giving junk material to local schools were budding artists
could use them as canvases and maximising image placement to
reduce waste. Others were more strategic – such as Trutna’s decision
to explore white-faced cardboard, reinforced paper and mesh fabric as
heavy-duty alternatives to polyvinyl, petroleum-based substrates.
Big Ink created a ‘Green Team’ to lead the initiative and, by
investigating each issue, discovered new opportunities to go green. The
company’s goals now include eliminating the use of PVC-based
material by 2014 and reducing its landfill waste by 20% a year. Such
concrete goals resonate with customers. Recently Big Ink launched a
zero-waste graphics recycling program to take back and recycle clients’
unwanted items, keeping thousands of pound of graphics out of
landfills. And the company engages in a clear, candid dialogue with
customers, with a succinct sustainability policy and a note on how each
of its materials can be disposed prominently displayed on its website.
Trutna’s message is that “it is easy being green” – and you don’t
have to harm the budget. The easier it is to go green, the harder it will
be to fool customers with the kind of greenwash that is long on
rhetoric and short on specifics.
ARE THERE NICHES WHERE YOU CAN CHARGE APREMIUM AND MAKE A HIGHER MARGIN FROM‘GREEN’ PRINTING?
Not sure49%
Yes 23%
No 28%
29
Ink technologies and machine specifications have continued to
move in the direction of UV-curable formulations but,
according to the survey results, it is also evident that the use
of solvent-based chemistries remains very prevalent. This is, of
course, mostly dominant in the roll-fed arena. As
developments have continued to make these products safer and
lower in odour, so has the additional challenge of HP’s latex
printing technologies brought a new option for users in this area.
Nonetheless, there has been a strong upsurge and continuation
in developments by manufacturers of UV-curable machines, and the
popularity of these units has been encouraged by vastly improved
inks which eliminate many of the former problems which some
users experienced. As the de facto method for printing direct to
rigid materials, flatbed machines have proved to be increasingly
successful with this formulation and print service providers are now
able to experiment with a wider range of materials, such as
corrugateds and glass.
Roll-fed machines using UV-curable inks are also gaining in
popularity, with stand-alone units being complemented by the large
number of hybrid options available. Most of these use a table
system to switch from reels to sheets although one or two units are
primarily based on a vacuum bed with an integrated roll-to-roll
unit. This type of configuration can be found on printers such as the
Mimaki JFX-1631, the Gerber Ion and the Océ Arizona family. This
latter type of printer offers good stability for rigid sheets as these
remain static whilst the gantry moves but it has to be considered
that, if a unit has no zoned vacuum bed, sufficient hold-down is
required across the entire table when it is not covered with a
complete sheet.
With solvent-based ink formulations, lower odours and fewer
VOCs are now accepted as essential in newer machines. Again,
chemistries have been adapted to make these products more
pleasant to work with and the latest additions to manufacturers’
portfolios claim in many cases not to need any additional
ventilation and ducting.
Print-and-cut workflow is retaining its popularity, either in a
combination printer/cutter format or with the addition of a contour
cutter/router, with the latter being essential when working with
rigid materials. Roland’s overall lead of this market sector has been
challenged by Mimaki and both companies now offer hybrid roll-
fed systems which can also be used as a cutting plotter or as a
print unit.
However, the introduction by Roland of its metallic ink has
extended the options for which its units can be used and, not
surprisingly, the company added this feature to combination units,
first in the SolJet Pro III XC-540MT and, latterly, in the VersaCAMM
VS-640. In print-and-cut environments, the ability to produce step-
and-repeat labels, decals and stickers can now be enhanced with
the addition of pearlescent and metallic effects and finishes.
The suggestion that, in many areas, wide-format printing is taking
BUY TO
DIVERSIFY
30
WHAT TYPE OF WIDE-FORMAT PRINTERDO YOU OWN?
WHAT TYPE OF WIDE-FORMAT FINISHINGEQUIPMENT DO YOU OWN?
on narrower applications is proven by the numbers of users with
combination print-and-cut machines and those who own contour
cutting equipment. Better workflow and a greater demand for
smaller applications, such as labels, name-plates, identity cards,
decals and stickers coincides with improvements in software, such
as the ability to incorporate personalisation and variable data
options. Nested jobs can be laid out to optimise larger sheets of
material, and today it is possible to maintain fine enough
registration for double-sided printing which can be cut to shape
accurately.
It is interesting that Mutoh, Roland and Mimaki have all side-
stepped into different market areas with specialist products. Mimaki
has always been known for its industrial as well as its graphics
equipment, whilst Mutoh has made inroads into textiles and Roland
is now targeting specialist label, packaging and prototyping
applications. The introduction of the Mimaki UJF-3042 has enabled
sign-makers and display producers to adopt a low-cost desktop UV-
curable machine which can be used for the production of small lots
and promotional goods whilst Roland’s VersaUV LEC-330 is finding
favour for high quality specialist stickers, labels and tactile signs as
well as within the packaging prototype and short-run market.
At the other end of the scale, the last year has seen no less than
three new 5m machines being introduced, all of which use UV-
curable inks and also provide the option of being able to print
multiple jobs simultaneously. These units from EFI Vutek, Durst and
WP Digital join existing systems such as the Fujifilm Sericol Uvistar
and HP’s superwide options. All these manufacturers see that there
is demand for grand-format graphics but also are aware of the fact
that, for busy production houses, the ability to print three jobs at the
same time is a benefit.
Many of the smaller wider-format printers also give users the
option for printing to two rolls simultaneously and this feature is
now being optimised with easy-change loading and alignment
options. This capability is also addressed by Rips and workflow
options being streamlined to handle multiple applications and
simultaneous printing.
31
DO YOU EXPECT TO INVEST IN OTHERPRODUCTS ASSOCIATED WITH WIDE-FORMATIN THE NEXT 2 YEARS?
Not sure27%
No 14%
Yes 59%
DO YOU EXPECT TO INVEST IN A NEW WIDE-FORMAT PRINTER IN THE NEXT 2 YEARS?
Not sure29%
No16%
Yes55%
Print-and-cut and print-to-cut workflows areenabling display producers to output
smaller nested applications
32
UV-curable printers now start as a modest investment and move
up to heavy-duty industrial strength units. At the lowest end of the
scale, and suitable for general displays and point-of-sale jobs are
units from manufacturers such as Mimaki, Agfa with its Anapurna
family and HP with its recently introduced FB500. As entry-level
steps into working with rigid materials, all these options serve their
purpose well and enable users to decide on which areas to
concentrate in the future. Many a print company has invested at the
low-end as an introduction and today’s models incorporate good
quality and reliability that simply wasn’t available a few years ago.
Wide-format inkjet printer buying patterns have not changed that
much in recent years. An additional point of interest thrown up by
this poll is that many printers are likely to have, and still be using,
relatively old systems and technologies. Asked what type of wide-
format print equipment they use, over half the respondents said
they use some form of solvent-based machine, and if you consider
the high number of sign-makers participating in the survey, perhaps
this is a reflection that this type of solution still represents a
relatively low investment cost with high quality, durable output
across a range of coated and uncoated flexible materials. When it
comes to the type of finishing kit in use in the wide-format sector,
over half of those polled said they own a laminator to protect and
enhance output.
The combined poll numerics for UV-curable machines shows a
surprisingly high number of users with flatbed units compared with
hybrid models which are able to work with rigid and flexible
materials in a single solution. In terms of true flatbeds, the main
machines incorporating this build are those from Inca Digital plus
HP Scitex’s FB7500 at the mid- to high-end of the market and the
EFI Rastek being an example of an entry-level table; certainly the
majority of units fit in the hybrid space and respondents might well
consider a combination printer as a flatbed solution as their work
comprises purely applications on rigid substrates. This principle
applies across all budgets and production expectations, right up to
the Durst 1000 which competes at the highest end for throughput
speeds.
The percentage of those polled using dye-sublimation for non-
textile applications is predictably low, with this process being used
primarily these days in the gift and promotional goods’ market
sector. Despite the continued optimism for the future of textile
printing, the data from respondents shows a still disappointing
popularity although there is a wider range of machines coming
onto the market from manufacturers such as Hollanders, Mimaki,
Mutoh and DGen.
Although they have only been available on the market for two
years, HP’s latex printers have already made an impact amongst the
display fraternity, with the former Designjet L65500 being joined by
two smaller L25500 models. The spring 2010 announcement by HP
of its LX800 3.2m version has come as no surprise. This is
complemented by the transition from the Designjet portfolio to the
Scitex nomenclature of the 2.5m unit, now renamed the LX600.
Whilst it is true that, in this year’s survey, the percentage of users is
still relatively small, the adoption of this technology is predicted to
show a steady growth once all four machines become accepted as
solvent-based printer replacements.
Industry talk about the demise of aqueous-based printers is
firmly thwarted by poll respondents, with users of this technology
level-pegging with those who operate UV-curable printers. The
photography and fine art markets are clearly areas where this type
of ink formulation retains its popularity but proofing is also another
area to benefit from this chemistry, as seen in products such as the
Epson WT7900 which is the first to feature white. For short-term
applications, such as posters, these systems overall should continue
to hold their own and, judging from the numbers of users with
IN TOTAL, HOW MUCH DO YOU EXPECT TOINVEST IN WF PRODUCTION OVER THENEXT 2 YEARS?
250K+GBP11%
150K - 250KGBP 6%
75K - 150KGBP 9%
20K - 75KGBP 29%
10K - 20KGBP 26%
<10K GBP19%
IF YOU ARE INVESTING IN WF PRODUCTSOTHER THAN PRINTERS, IN WHICH AREASIN THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
Other 6%
Finishing50%
Software44%
Direct-to-textile printing has yet to take off in the UK
laminators, it is likely that many
businesses use these machines
in combination with their
printers to output high quality
graphics for a variety of end
purposes.
Manufacturers of aqueous-
based machines, namely Epson,
Canon and HP, have refined
their inks and introduced
options such as on-board
spectrophotometers to ensure
consistently high colour
accuracy. Greater numbers of
colours are also enhancements
and their life expectancies are
able to maintain the archival
properties expected with this
type of chemistry. The
difference between printhead
types is negligible these days
and it is purely down to user preference which machine type is
preferred as all offer similar, acceptable results.
Print-and-cut units, namely those from Roland DG and Mimaki,
have held their places and, ipso facto, add to the overall numbers of
users still working with solvent-based ink formulations. Taking into
consideration that nearly 33% of businesses using this chemistry
own a combination unit demonstrates clearly that this type of
workflow is not diminishing. These figures contribute to the theory
that contour cutting will continue to flourish, either in the form of a
combination unit or with the addition of a separate table.
Confirmation of this trend can be seen in the expected level of
investment into non-printing but associated products during the
next five years. Half the respondents confirmed that finishing was
the most the most important option being considered and this rated
only slightly below the 55% of users who expected to purchase a
new wide-format printer in the next two years.
Quantifying likely expenditure on printing equipment showed
that the highest percentages of respondents planned to invest
between £10,000 and £75,000 before the middle of 2012 with only
17% intending to purchase mid- to high-end systems. Perhaps the
greatest surprise is the 6% who stated they would considering the
bracket between £150,000 and £250,000; within this sector lies a
large number of UV-curable printers which could be deemed mid-
range production units and would be expected to rank higher in
popularity for future purchasing plans. A surprisingly high number,
too, also stated that their intention was to invest less than £10,000
in equipment but this must confirm the ongoing popularity of
aqueous-based printers and, perhaps, very low-end or second-user
eco-solvent based machines.
These purchasing plans also demonstrated proposed moves into
new niches and markets, with 72% of respondents stating that their
intended investments were specifically for this purpose. Conversely,
67% of users questioned felt that they weren’t selling the full
applications’ potential of their existing equipment which, logically,
would lead to fewer purchasing new solutions. Thus, there appears
to be a disparity between optimisation of machines currently in use
and future investment plans.
Considering the investment levels outlined here, the greatest
importance overall appears to lie in the ability to print direct to a
wider range of materials plus faster print speeds, both of which
gained the highest percentages. Both these criteria, however, can
only really be achieved satisfactorily by purchasing higher end
equipment which is designed to factor in both of these options. In
fact, with 32% wanting more accurate colour controls and 29.3%
seeking improved ink adhesion, these properties also align with
more costly systems. These criteria, once potential purchasers look
closely at their specific needs, might shift the spend expectations of
those polled.
Cost is a vital element when considering how to benefit from
latest developments in technologies and their associated machine
WHAT RECENT/ANTICIPATEDTECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS DO YOUCONSIDER TO HAVE HAD/TO HAVE THEGREATEST IMPACT IN TERMS OF ALLOWINGNEW APPLICATIONS/OPENING NEWMARKETS?
Some of today’s UV-curable printers use vacuum tables
33
35
options. However, it should be noted that with untapped potential
in existing equipment, users might well find that there are future
opportunities which can be realised without making additional
purchases in the immediate future.
Many of these opportunities, such as personalisation, don’t
require investment beyond software and the ability to optimise
features which often lie buried within it and the print device.
Similarly, experimentation with different materials and finishes can
be carried out on established systems. It is the combination of
design teams and machine operators who can, and should, find
ways to become more creative and promote ideas to end
customers, trade clients and agencies.
Investment trends in wide-format digital print always lie with
growth in related technologies, alongside improvements within
machines and their associated printheads and inks. Yet although
there have been many refinements during recent years, the
longevity of existing equipment shows that many older machines
are still in regular use. How the respondents to the survey will
decide ultimately on where to invest next remains to be seen but
the economy and greater environmental concerns are likely to play
a major role in their futures.
� Users want to invest but many have limited resources;machine manufacturers need to respond to this factor
� More flexible UV-curable inks will encourage greaterconfidence with adhesion on a wider range of substratesand better results when contour cutting
� Print-and-cut and print-to-cut workflows will generatewider user of machines for nested, step-and-repeat andsmaller applications such as labels and decals
� Special inks and finishes will see applications diversify andcompete more closely with some areas of screen-printing
� Wide-format digital printers are being used for narrowerapplications
� Textile printing has yet to be adopted widely in the UK; theease of use and versatility of new machines should makethis a more attractive option
MUST NOTE DEVELOPMENTS
Entry-level UV-curable printers include the Mutoh Zephyr
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SUPPLIERS, DO YOU FEEL THERE IS TOOMUCH COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR:
SUPPLIERS, DO YOU STRIVE TO TAKE ON NEWPRODUCTS TO BE COMPETITIVE? WHICH?
HP’s SmartStream Designer InDesign plug-inis one VDP option for display producers
Asked what recent technological print-related
developments will better help them compete in the
new electronic media landscape, survey respondents
gave a fairly even emphasis to personalisation, mail
merge facilities, QR codes, bar code integration, cutting
and creasing for 3D applications, metallic ink and lighting options.
Finding areas into which to digress is not always simple, and
technological developments making their way onto the inkjet market
involve varying levels of expertise and, necessarily, cost. But existing
printing machines can benefit from software updates and plug-ins
and that can help expand portfolios and make the print offering
much more attractive to end clients.
Combining personalisation, customisation and variable data, all of
which utilise similar working methods within the process of file
creation and their output, is an area that really shows off the benefits
of wide-format digital print.
We have seen this formula being applied in digitally printed direct
mail and other small-format applications for many years. Logic
would now decree that variable data holds a relevant place in the
wide-format sector, particularly where a background graphic can be
Ripped once and text and images merged to allow streamlined,
uninterrupted processing of jobs with minimal manual intervention.
An Image Reports round table event held during 2009 concentrated
on this aspect of job creation and workflow with the verdict
unanimously in favour of ensuring end customers and agencies
were made fully aware of VDP capabilities within wide-format and
that, subsequently, customisation demands would increase.
The need for mail merge for use in customised output has often
been fraught with concerns relating to ownership of the data and
who carries the responsibility if the wrong elements end up being
combined in the final job. Some wide-format software includes a
VDP option which enables personalisation to be incorporated at the
Rip stage but there is now an offline option which removes the
weight of responsibility as designers can generate a Rip-ready file
without even needing to own a print device.
The sheer convenience of variable data printing cuts a swathe
across all types of digital print. Even those using wide-format
machines for producing step-and-repeat labels, bar codes, identity
tags and other smaller jobs can benefit from producing output with
unique identification. Again, on the topic of print applications
becoming smaller and more repetitive in shape if not in total
content, digital output lends itself strongly to personalisation of gifts,
pens, key-fobs and other items which, formerly, were best suited to
pad printing.
Perhaps it is an unusual association to link the use of VDP with
print-to-cut workflows yet it is in this area where logic would decree
the production of small lots where personalisation provides the
unique aspect. Within combination machines, Roland’s VersaUV LEC-
330 has made a name for itself in being able to cut and crease, as
well as produce high quality UV-curable output which can include
white and clear varnish; multiple layers of the latter can be built up to
create a tactile finish, including sufficient depth and clarity for Braille.
Yet this machine, too, can be put to good use for customisation of a
wealth of labels and stickers, including up-market products for
specialist products where the quality of finish is of key importance.
Similarly, in smaller format industrial printers, such as those from
Mimaki, the combination of UV-curable ink and personalisation
means that thicker materials can be decorated in a single job,
including ready-made products such as pens and iPhone cases. This
type of application links graphical output with a means of
the soft Sell
36
identification for industrial users and consumers,
moving the marking of items for security reasons
into the same field and machine usage as for the
promotional sector.
Print-and-cut, of course, sits side-by-side with
cutting and creasing requirements. Discussions on
follow-through with contour cutting is limited only
by the size of the printer and the table being used
to produced the application. Roland’s latest
combination machines include, for the first time, a
solvent-based metallic ink and it was a wise move
to incorporate this into a solution which was most
likely to be popular in the label and decal market.
Investment into these specialist ink options is not,
of course, restricted to smaller sizes and different
effects are certain to find their way into
applications which are only limited by the width of
the machine.
Other developments are linked more to the
electronic media landscape and the ability to make
print a complement and not a threat. In terms of integrating QR
codes into an end application, this provides the customer with an
additional channel that extends beyond his poster or hoarding, with
the viewer having an instant link to further related resources through
the use of a reader on a mobile phone. Generating and printing QR
codes is simple, and their modus operandi decrees that their content
needs to be readable from a sensible distance from which the data
can be captured. In common with barcodes, the inclusion of this
information adds value when each poster site requires differing
information in the embedded code and, once again, can bring into
play customisation algorithms.
Although LEDs and other forms of illumination generated some
response in this poll, there does not appear to be a significant
movement of print service providers looking to incorporate this
technology into their overall remit. Whilst there are display specialists
who show an interest within this market area, it is still debatable
how noticeably electronic screens compete with a printed product in
locations where moving messages and narrowcasting aren’t
applicable. Content driven devices will continue to make their
presence felt increasingly across the display arena, perhaps
challenging some outdoor advertising sites. However, at the present
time they it would appear they are not viewed as a particular threat
to the wide-format sector.
Adding or enhancing existing production facilities will enable
display producers to move into new landscapes, with the addition of
special ink effects and customisation to technologies which users
already work with and understand. Print-to-cut workflows extend
existing capabilities; many companies already use trade suppliers
that have invested in flatbed cutting tables but it is apparent that
those who do are considering bringing this work in-house.
37
WHAT DEVELOPMENTS WILL BETTER HELP YOU COMPETE IN THE NEWELECTRONIC MEDIA LANDSCAPE. (LIST IN PRIORITY “1” BEING THE HIGHEST)
The latest generations of UV-curable ink include ‘clear’ which can be layered toproduce tactile finishes, thus opening new doors to display providers
Does background have an impact on how innovative a
company is? Are ex. sign makers or screen printers more
or less innovative in terms of wide-format offerings than
entrepreneurs with no print legacy?
Of the wide-format print providers who responded to this year’s
Widthwise survey, 36% were primarily operating other sign-making kit
when they moved into inkjet. Only 13% were involved in screen-
printing. Inevitably both the pre-press and photolab sectors were also
eager early adopters, but its interesting to see that almost a quarter of
respondents said they had been primarily operating offset litho
printers. So is this backdrop likely to influence the inkjet sector as it
moves forward?
If you consider the early days of wide-format graphics and how
they were produced, there is no particular sea change from analogue
to digital methods but more of a gradual acceptance as technology
became easier to use and more reliable in the results it produced.
Respondents were asked which technologies they were using
primarily when they first bought into wide-format inkjet printers.
Showing the overall experience and length of time in this market
sector, nearly half of those who completed the survey stated that they
had owned an inkjet printer for more than five years whilst only 10%
invested for the first time in the past twelve months.
Considering that the acceptance of wide-format digital print as a
mainstream production process has been with us for at least a
decade, it is interesting to note the dates that the remaining
respondents first invested, with a quarter only buying in to the
technology for the first time within the past three years, and 18%
making their initial purchases between three and five years ago. With
reference to the type of equipment owned by these respondents
there is logic in both the longevity of the machines in use and the
time when they were purchased originally as solvent-based ink
chemistries represented the highest number of print types by a large
margin.
38
IS YOUR PAST RESTRICTING
YOURFUTURE?
A large number of sign-makers moved into wide-format digital
print having had experience of using computerised cutting systems
from the main players at the time, such as Roland, Mimaki, Mutoh,
Graphtec and Spandex/Gerber. The earliest machines did not use
inkjet technology but, instead, concentrated on thermal transfer
which provided a transition for many wanting to move into durable
colour graphics, with the Gerber Edge and the Roland ColorCAMM
coming into this category. However, because the main cutting plotter
manufacturers evolved into inkjet production it was logical that many
within the sign industry would remain with the manufacturers and
suppliers they knew. These machines competed with offerings from
HP and Epson on the aqueous-based front, with eco-solvent ink
options coming online subsequently from the piezo-electric
printheads used by Roland, Mimaki and Mutoh.
The move into wide-format inkjet has meant different things to
the varied industry sectors. Whereas sign-makers wanted primarily to
produce one-offs and low volumes of full-colour applications,
screen-printers wanted to be able to produce large graphics in short
runs to save on makeready and chemicals. This latter reasoning
could also be added to reasons behind the litho segment also
wanting to adopt digital, with both these also being able to adopt
lower cost proofing methods once machines became good enough
to reproduce accurate colour. Many within the pre-press sector were
tempted by wide-format; their experience of working with text and
graphics had been eroded by desktop publishing, and the reduction
in use of conventional repro methods necessitated a move to new
services. This invariably involved the use of wide-format printers.
Similarly, photolabs were presented with a chemistry-free mode of
production which, again, was enhanced by the freedom presented
with inkjet output at larger sizes, formerly only achievable with the
Durst Lambda.
The historical reasons for buying into wide-format inkjet by the
different sectors is indicative of the type of applications being
produced today. Those with a creative bent, and already producing
signs and displays, are now representative for bringing innovative
additional elements to their work. Obvious examples include the
variations which can be produced on unusual materials which,
hitherto, have not been a part of the digital remit. Three-dimensional,
thermo-formed and creased and folded applications have presented
their own challenges when it comes to inks and substrates but
improvements are now manifesting themselves to enhance versatility
of finished jobs.
Users of wide-format print, no matter which sector they come from
originally, rely on either their own or third-party creativity to push the
boundaries of how innovative they can be in their production
processes. There are no hard or fast rules denoting which sector
provides the most interesting designs and subsequent results, and
businesses have been cross-fertilised with knowledge patterns
brought in by individuals and their respective strengths. A savvy
digital printer which has taken the trouble to get the best out of its
Rips and ink formulations will score over a user who has only taken
on the basics in knowledge terms.
Certainly, wide-format digital printer users, regardless of
background, now have a great opportunity to experiment with
specific designs, file types and materials. Unlike analogue processes,
the minimum print order can be one; no significant time and financial
losses need to be incurred if an intended creation has to be
enhanced or modified prior to production.
Innovation comes as much from thought processes of
management as it does from production experience and it is the
melding of the two which is responsible for print producers coming
up with output which appeals to end customers. Making sure that
client bases and agencies are aware that ideas can be limitless also
lends a hand in bringing something different and eye-catching to
the table.
39
WHEN DID YOUR COMPANY BUY ITS FIRSTINKJET WIDE-FORMAT PRINTER
1-3 years ago 25% Over 5 years
ago 47%
in the lastyear 10%
3-5 years ago 18%
WAS YOUR COMPANY ALREADY INVOLVED INWIDE-FORMAT PRINT PRODUCTION AT THAT TIME?
No 59%
Yes 41%
WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DID YOU PRIMARILY OPERATEWHEN YOU FIRST BOUGHT INTO INKJET WF?
Litho23%
Screen13%
Sign-making 36%
Photo lab18%
Prepress10%
Suppliers do not do enough to help users of wide-format
equipment to maximise their ROI according to 65% of those
polled. Asked, where they would like to see more
involvement over 40% said they want a fuller indication of
the applications potential of their kit, and over a third
(36.9%) said they would like suppliers to participate more in showing
end clients that potential. This certainly fits with the message that a high
proportion of survey respondents are seeking to diversify and are
buying new kit to get into new markets/niches. So what are suppliers
doing to help the sector grow new business?
The tough economic conditions of recent times have affected
suppliers as much as they have end users. Most distributors and resellers
offer a full range of services, including printing equipment, ink,
materials, software and related options such as technical support and
help with colour handling and profiling. Whilst manufacturers encourage
both their supplier channel and many end users directly, it is the larger
companies which have the resources to lay on dealer days and
customer events whilst smaller operations tend to rely on sales
personnel, advertising, mail-shots, tele-marketing and other direct
methods of reaching their targets.
Responsibility for end users is not always adopted by manufacturers
and, in general terms, the higher the level of investment, the greater the
likely involvement of the actual producer of the equipment. This is a
natural quotient and, where high costs are involved, it is inevitable that
the end user group for the systems involved will be smaller and easier
to manage direct, rather than through a local sales channel.
Whilst distributors and resellers are able to demonstrate certain
ranges of product at their own facilities, this is not practical where cost-
intensive high-end printers are involved. Again, large manufacturers can
host open-house events where families of options can be displayed in a
quasi production environment but these facilities are not an option for
channel. The only convenient solution for potential purchasers is to visit
a site where the intended printer is already in use; but not every print
producer is particularly happy to allow its competition into its premises!
Given that the majority of suppliers offer a full range of products
and services, many concentrate on certain manufacturers’ equipment
linked with preferred Rips and materials. Not every channel seller
provides the same combination of printer, software and associated
material and this choice is either down to the end user and his own
preferences or to the reseller’s ability to promote his own product
selection.
Manufacturers will gain if their sales channel understands
comprehensive options and opportunities from the products they
deliver and this, obviously, will help when it comes to the information
they in turn can give end users.
Suppliers when questioned said they believed quality to be of the
highest importance when it came to the purchasing of new equipment
but, their perception was that end-users were driven primarily by the
keenest price. The result therefore is that, in effect, the print community
gets what it pays for – and that doesn’t necessarily stretch to in-depth
ROI/applications analysis.
It is encouraging to note overall that channel remains enthusiastic
about adopting new product offerings. In an environment where
longevity of some machines is encouraged by sensible service contracts,
there will always remain hope that older equipment will be superseded
ultimately and this, of course, is where communications play an integral
role in the supplier’s operation.
WHAT THE SUPPLIERS SAYStuart Cole, managing director of Graphic Printing Technologies says:
One of our key printer suppliers is Mimaki and it is particularly helpful in
terms of innovation and targeting new markets thanks to its fantastic
PARTNERING FOR
Profit
40
AS CONTINUAL TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTSBROADEN THE SCOPE FOR WF, DO YOU THINKMANUFACTURERS/SUPPLIERS DO ENOUGH TO HELPYOU MAXIMISE ROI?
No 65%
Yes 35%
WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THEMMORE INVOLVED?
41
product development programme. The company keeps producing new
products designed to open up the market beyond traditional solvent ink
applications.
Another of our printer suppliers is Agfa whose whole ethos is to
create innovative machines that open up new areas of business. With
the basic market essentially saturated with machines, they are focusing
on areas where customers can operate in new, less populated markets
in order to help drive their own sales.
Our suppliers (the kit manufactures and distributors) offer good
advice to GPT in terms of application information, but they tend to rely
on the closer relationships and extensive knowledge that resellers like
ourselves can provide. We have the inherent contact and experience to
be able to advise customers with more considered, independent and
targeted information.
The manufacturers and distributors also leave it to companies like
GPT to provide the networking skills required to broker relationships
across industries and geographical regions. Through reference sites and
technical knowledge, we can educate companies across the UK on the
innovations and applications being done elsewhere in the country.
Jeff Biggs, managing director, and Melanie Enser, marketing manager
of Colourgen, say: Most of the compaies supplying Colourgen with
product try hard to help the company and its customers innovate and
target new, growth and niche markets. This support, during such lean
times, is invaluable to new market and sales growth.
Most of the manufacturers work hard to develop relationships with
creative customers in new markets, too. Sometimes this is driven by
success in other countries, which they are instructed to replicate and test
in the UK. In other cases a new market sector emerges seemingly from
nowhere on the back of one sale or a perceived need or opportunity in
a particular market. New product launches, which address new markets,
also play a large part.
Most manufacturers will now provide support with promotions and
rebates just for those dealers/distributors attending a show. This gives
them a competitive advantage during and after the show for a short
period, but it still means the exhibiting company has to foot the full
costs of the event.
In Colourgen’s market, particular mention needs to be made of
Epson, Seiko, Mutoh and Seal who have all been, and continue to be,
very proactive in developing new markets and working closely with the
channel and end users.
Larger manufacturers are prevalent at major tradeshows where they are increasingly showing the
applications their kit can deliver.
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SUPPLIERS, WHICH IS PERCEIVED TO BE THEMOST IMPORTANT TO END-USERS
SUPPLIERS, WHICH DO YOU PERCEIVE SHOULDBE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACET?
Amari is proud to provide
a local service, with
stock and conversion
facilities based at each
branch. These
strengths, combined
with local staff and their own delivery fleet,
means Amari provides an excellent service
to its customers.
During the last decade, Amari Plastics
has developed its business to match the
ever changing needs of its customers.
This has been accelerated by the
establishment of digital printing across a
broad spectrum of companies. In 2005
Amari Digital Supplies (ADS) was
established in recognition of this change.
ADS is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Amari Plastics and specialises in selling
roll media to digital customers – either
directly or through, and by supporting,
Amari Plastics. Working with leading
global brands such as MACtac, Soyang and
Hydrosol, ADS provides the right quality
with the right service for your needs.
In 2008 Amari launched a new range of
products to support customers entering the
world of flat-bed digital or ‘direct to
substrate’ (DTS) printing. The DTS range
was established with 15 products which
have been chosen either for their suitability
for direct to substrate printing or that have
been specifically engineered to optimise
performance in this application. The
cornerstone of the DTS range is the 3A
Composites (formerly Alcan Composites)
materials. Offering the premium grades of
Dibond, Dibond Digital, Kapa, Foam-X,
Forex Classic, Forex Print and the unique,
100% recyclable (and designed only for
DTS printing) Forex Smart. 3A currently
provide 8 of the DTS product range – a
fact which supports their claim to be
Europe’s leading manufacturer of display
and POS/POP materials. Worthy of special
note are:
KAPA. The unique and premium foam
centred boards – including the new Kapa
Tex, a textured sheet which can be printed,
cut and creased to manufacture canvas
boards without the need for wooden
frames or stretching
Forex Print and Forex Smart, a foam
PVC and a styrene based product
respectively, engineered and designed
purely for DTS printing; and
Dibond Digital, the highest quality,
digitally printable ACM in the world.
Amari carry the full range of 3A products
in the UK and can offer an unparalleled
service level – whatever your needs.
The success of Amari’s DTS range with
key UK printers has meant that it has
recently been extended to 20 products
including some innovative new grades as
discussed below.
Bubble Print Board®. One of the
founding principles of the DTS range has
been that of sustainability and sound
environmental credentials. Hence the
emphasis on products that contain
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Advertorial
AMARI PLASTICS IS THE UK’S LEADING SUPPLIER OF MATERIALS TO THESIGN AND DIGITAL PRINTING MARKETS. ESTABLISHED IN 1975, AMARIPLASTICS HAS GROWN AND EVOLVED INTO A GENUINE NATIONALSTOCKIST OFFERING A DIVERSE RANGE OF PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONSTO ALL CUSTOMER NEEDS ACROSS ITS NETWORK OF 29 DEDICATEDSTOCKING LOCATIONS – TRULY A ONE-STOP SHOP OFFER.
Changing to meet your needsAmari Plastics
significant elements of recycled materials,
or that are themselves 100% recyclable.
One of the products that fits these criterion
is the new Bubble Print Board®.
Manufactured in Europe, Bubble Print
Board® is a 100% recyclable Polypropylene
sheet that is suitable for indoor and
external POS, signage and graphics. A
combination of bubble like cells laminated
between 2 virgin layers of Polypropylene, it
is incredibly rigid, super smooth and
because it is corona treated offers
excellent printability. Bubble Print Board®
also utilises recycled material in its
manufacture. Available in 8 x 4’ and 10 x
5’ sheets from 3mm to 10mm, Bubble Print
Board® is ideal for short term external
advertising and is a cost effective and
environmentally friendly replacement for
Foam PVC or Aluminium Composite.
Multiply Digital®. A welcome addition to
DTS range is Multiply Digital®.
Manufactured in Europe, Multiply is
exclusive to Amari Plastics and offers a
robust, sustainable and quality solution for
hoarding panels, POP / POS and temporary
shop front in-fills. Made from Beech
Plywood, Multiply offers the highest quality
white face ideal for DTS printing, and a
phenolic-coated back which provides
weather resistance. Multiply can be routed
or shaped and requires no extra finishing
(although it is recommended that the
edges are sealed for external use) and is
ideal for long term POS /POP fixtures.
Available in 6.5mm, 12mm and 15mm
thicknesses, in 8’ x 4’ and 10’ x 4’ sheets
sizes, it is single-sided white faced as
standard, but can be supplied double-
sided to order. Check out
www.multiplydigital.com for more details
and examples of applications.
Falcon Board. Another example of a
quality product that takes the environment
into account is Falcon Board. Falcon Board
is a honeycomb paper based product
manufactured in Europe, is 100%
recyclable and whose manufacture utilises
a large percentage of recycled paper.
Available in 8’ x 4’ and an undersized 10’ x
5’ in 6mm, 10mm and 18mm, Falcon
Board is available in 3 different grades.
‘Print’ for DTS work, ‘Build’ for DTS work
where a 3D item is required (an enhanced
structure allowing for complex and tough
3D POS /POP stands to be manufactured)
and ‘Mount’ for lining and mounting of
prints. Falcon Board is suitable for internal
POS/POP, signage and display.
ViPrint Graphic Grade Polypropylene.
Available in a wide range of colours,
finishes and sizes from stock. Amari are
continuing to respond to customer
requests by developing a range of white
ViPrint, on the roll at 1370mm wide for UV
Digital print.
The latest exciting development in the
evolution of Amari Plastics is the recent
acquisition of Graphic Printing
Technologies – a leading distributor of
solvent, aqueous and UV digital printing
equipment and consumables to the UK
print market – so completing the circle of
customer needs.
Amari Plastics’ Product Development
Manager, Jamie Manifold commented
“whatever the size of your business or the
application you have, you should give
Amari Plastics a call. Our huge range of
branded, quality products, local stocks and
conversion combined with a great service
ethic means we can deliver what you need,
where you need, when you need it”.
For further details on specific products or the
DTS range please contact your local Amari
Plastics office, consult the website
www.amariplastics.com or contact Amari
Plastics at [email protected]
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