SGIA announced the winner of the esteemed Howard A. Parmele Award yesterday evening during the Expo's Thursday Night Dinner Party in Las Vegas. Michel Caza, owner of Michel Caza Erul in France and an industry veteran of more than 50 years, was selected for his extensive contribution to screen printing and the SGIA community.
"This year's Parmele Award honoree entered the screen printing industry in 1954 and started his first company in 1963," said Joe Shondel, SGIA's immediate past chairman, who presented the award. "He is recognised as the European pioneer of UV inks for a wide range of graphic and industrial applications."
Caza has been a member of the Association for more than 25 years, and in addition to this year's Parmele Award, he was honored with the distinguished SGIA Swormstedt Award in 1981 for best published technical article. He also was inducted into the Academy of Screen Printing Technology by his peers in 1982 and served as ASPT Chairman in 2003.
He also has held various leadership positions within SGIA, and has served with many organisations around the world.
Roland DGA Corp. today announced the launch of a Spanish-language version of its consumer website designed to better serve Spanish speaking businesses across the Americas.
“The new Spanish-language site features over 400 translated pages of comprehensive information, including product overviews, applications, company news, and case study articles profiling top Roland users,” said Rick Scrimger, vice president/general manager for Roland DGA Corp.
The Spanish-language site was developed to accommodate the growing segment of Spanish-speaking businesses within Roland DGA’s sales territory, which spans the United States, Central and South America, and Canada.
Like the English-language site, the new site has user-friendly drop-down menus that enable access to information both by product category and core applications. Viewers can research the latest Roland technology for wide-format inkjet printing, cutting, engraving, 3D scanning and milling for applications ranging from sign making, vehicle wraps, apparel decoration and label production to package prototyping, personalization of awards and gifts, industrial marking, subtractive rapid prototyping, reverse engineering and jewelry design.
Touch Systems Ltd is delighted to announce its new partnership with All Print Supplies Ltd (APS), one of the leading suppliers of paper and vinyl media to the digital print, sign and graphics industry, to offer an integrated price list solution for its Clarity Software users.
With the release of the new APS price list, ordering supplies from APS has just become a headache-free process for Clarity users and should empower them to improve turnaround times and accuracy in sales, as well as enhancing their customer service quality. Customers can now effortlessly browse the price list in Clarity for all their requirements and then use the integrated Purchase Ordering module to place their order, creating a traceable and real-time workflow process with reduced errors.
Richard Gamlin, MD of Touch Systems, explains: “Having the full APS price list within Clarity offers significant time, convenience and administration savings for our customers. It simplifies the way they browse and select items from the APS store, whilst reducing the need to manually enter all the parts, prices and descriptions, as they will already be pre-populated within Clarity. There will be no need to refer to other documents or web sites for APS part information, as it can all be driven and ordered from inside Clarity.”
There are over 2,000 rolls of material all described and detailed ready for users to quote and sell this media as part of their jobs, with detailed product descriptions on the Items already populated for user convenience. APS expects to benefit from the price list integration due to its ease and convenience of use and hopes to increase its customer satisfaction and sales volume capacity.
EFI celebrated the sale of its 100th VUTEk GS Series grand format printer. EFI VUTEk has scored a swift century with Leeds-based Quarmby Colour's decision to purchase a GS3200, 3.2 m UV-curable flatbed and roll-to-roll hybrid solution. This enterprising company, which already owns two VUTEk QS2000 machines, opted for eight colours plus white ink to extend its existing production capabilities and grow its position as a leading UK display producer.
A family owned and run business that was formed back in 1994, Quarmby Colour produces an extremely diverse portfolio of display applications, ranging from outdoor and indoor retail and event advertising, point-of-sale, exhibition graphics and wallpapers. Additionally, the company specialises in the creation of bespoke sets and backdrops for film and television, all of which are printed digitally using only its VUTEk grand format printers.
As the first wide-format print specialist to install two VUTEk QS2000 UV-curable printers, Quarmby Colour's decision to invest in the GS3200 was based on the system's high quality, fast throughput and quick and easy change-over when different types of jobs are being produced. The company admits to looking at alternative options, but quickly realised that the EFI VUTEk combination of high standards of output, excellent ink adhesion, versatility and reliability couldn't be bettered.
Since EFI launched its VUTEk GS3200 printers last year, the adoption by display producers wanting exacting levels of efficiency, plus high throughput rates across all types of rigid substrates and roll-fed materials, has exceeded expectations. With maximum speeds of 233 square m/hour and photorealistic quality at a true resolution of 1000 dpi, these 3.2 m machines are now used world-wide by businesses wanting a fast return on investment whilst benefiting from greater productivity and time efficiencies on all run lengths, from one-offs to multiple prints.
"We were looking for reliability, versatility, high-quality and high-speed in our search for our first 3 metre printer, said Damian Quarmby, director of Quarmby Colour. "It also was vital for us to have a solution where changing from flatbed to roll-fed and back again was quick and easy, enabling us to move from one job to the next swiftly and smoothly. The GS3200 was the logical choice in terms of capability, quality and productivity. We expect to meet our customers' demands for wider-format capabilities to produce television and movie backdrops, for example."
The VUTEk GS Series is also making its mark with users and end customers seeking greener solutions in their printed output. By removing non-environmentally friendly elements from the overall production process, display specialists can offer direct-to-substrate solutions which don't need additional laminating or adhesives. Its UV-curable eight-colour ink-set plus white are formulated to optimise both quality and durability, and are VOC free. The configuration can be switched to VUTEk's Fast-4™ mode when four-colour print is required at even higher throughput rates.
"The swift adoption by print service providers world-wide endorses the powerful capabilities of our top-of-the-line VUTEk GS Series printers, helping companies make the move from analogue to time saving and energy efficient digital production," states Frank Mallozzi, senior vice president of sales and marketing, EFI. "I'm thrilled, but not surprised, that we have achieved our 100th sale of the GS Series so quickly. In combination with our EFI Fiery® XF RIP solution and our own UV-curable seventh generation inks, these innovative machines are helping users to grow their businesses with guaranteed colour-accurate, durable and vibrant results across all types of media."
Since its acquisition by Amari Plastics Plc in July 2010, Graphic Printing Technologies (GPT) has enjoyed an immediate increase in interest and sales. September is a record month in terms of sales, with several large new systems across the UK. GPT has also enjoyed increased response to marketing campaigns, particularly around its Shiraz CoverPlus Service offering to Shiraz RIP users.
Stuart Cole, General Manager of GPT, explains, “The strength and backing of Amari has really allowed us to flourish, despite the difficult market trading conditions. Existing and prospective customers are buying in to what we are doing, and now have the critical mass to give them the security and peace of mind that they are looking for. Sales for September 2010 have exceeded any other month for us and we fully expect this trend to continue over the coming months.”
GPT is scheduled to move to its new 4,500sqf offices in Reading by the end of October. “As soon as we settle in to the new offices, we will be encouraging customers, partners, prospects and press to visit us to see exactly what GPT is all about. We will have one of the best and most comprehensive demo facilities in the country, as well as office space and warehousing capabilities, making us even more responsive and capable when it comes to our customers day-to-day requirements,” adds Cole.
Robin Howard, Finance Director for Amari Plastics Plc, comments, “Right from the start, we had a high degree of confidence in GPT and what they could deliver. So far, they have met these expectations and we are delighted with how the business is moving forward, showing strong sales and a positive pipeline.”
GPT has also enjoyed an unprecedented response to its offer to provide customers with the latest version of the Shiraz RIP software’s. As part of the GPT Shiraz CoverPlus support scheme, customers are entitled to all upgrades as well as GPT’s unrivalled and comprehensive support service. The capabilities in the new Shiraz versions, particularly around migration to the new Adobe engine, are proving very popular, and GPT is keen to help as many of its customers as possible to enjoy these benefits.
Color-Logic has certified the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 printer as an Effect-Proof Partner for use with their Process Metallic Color System.
Color-Logic Director of Operations and eCommerce Dave Bowden, commenting on the certification, said: "A key element in the success of any colour process system is a consistent, reliable proofing device. Color-Logic certification tests clearly demonstrated that the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 is such a device, and its ability to proof on both metallic and clear substrates makes it ideal for designs destined for label and packaging applications."
Bowden continued: "The Process Metallic Color System by Color-Logic utilises a silver ink plus a conventional CMYK ink set to produce hundreds of metallic hues. With a metallic substrate, the substrate, rather than a silver ink, is used to achieve the effect. With metallic substrate, a white ink must be laid down where the metallic effect is not desired in the printed image. The Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 WT7900, combined with Epson UltraChrome White Ink technology and Epson MetallicProof Film enables the designer and printer to use white ink in conjunction with CMYK process colors on a silver metallic base, and thus is particularly well-suited for proofing Color-Logic designs. The Epson technology works extremely effectively on metallic as well as Epson ClearProof Film, eliminating issues often present with other proofers used in packaging design and package proofing applications."
