Business

Reinforcing its position as the world leader in digital printing innovation, EFI is to demonstrate a comprehensive range of UV-curable products at FESPA 2013, complemented by its workflow management and MIS/ERP systems. The company’s stand will feature machines from its VUTEk and wide-format portfolios, including the new HS100 Pro which is making its debut in the UK, along with greyscale and LED-curing options.

With the emphasis on cost-effective and efficient production criteria, EFI’s wide- and superwide-format printers all incorporate high levels of productivity and versatility, enabling businesses to grow their market reach and become more profitable. With the drive for greater productivity, minimising waste and saving time throughout all processes, the company also now offers innovative marketing tools that complement the printing process.

Being shown in the UK for the first time, and heading the FESPA line up of wide- and superwide-format printers from EFI is the VUTEk HS100 Pro, which unlike competitive high-end platforms removes the need to compromise between speed and quality. This 3.2m flat-bed and roll-fed system has greyscale print-heads and benefits from a unique Pin & Cure technology that enables precision ink lay-down, even at the highest speeds, plus gloss control to produce different surface finishes.

More than 100 VUTEk installations go “green” with LED curing

Since the launch of LED (or Cool-Cure) technology at Fespa Digital 2010 in Hamburg, Germany, EFI has installed over 100 LED curing printers worldwide. Based on their average ink usage VUTEk LED users are experiencing approximately 50% more print volume than VUTEk GS models without LED curing, demonstrating that EFI Cool-Cure can help customers grow their business. Their expanded application range and versatility are the result of their ability to print on speciality substrates while increasing productivity and lowering operating costs. They produce no VOCs and less waste, use fewer consumables and less energy and have the ability to print on environmentally friendly materials without warping or head strikes.

“Our new VUTEk GS3250LX is more ‘forgiving’ when it comes to printing on vinyl and fabrics,” said Tony Barnett, managing director of John E Wright (Nottingham, UK.) “I expect the machine to add £1m in two years to the firm’s turnover, currently £6.5m.”

EFI’s latest ink technology includes a thermoforming product that enables users to produce deeply formed applications on thermoplastic media for a broad range of applications where the ink must conform with the material without cracking or splitting. The elasticity of this ink is designed to withstand post-process heat forming, cutting and routing, and is optimised for use with the new VUTEk GS3250 Pro-TF and GS2000 Pro-TF wide-format UV-curable printers.

The new EFI Fiery® XF Version 5 now has a fully customisable interface and provides a flexible and scalable high-speed digital front end and colour management workflow solution for wide- and superwide-format print specialists. Among its notable new features is a Web Control Center (WCC) which uses a SaaS model to deliver distribution of proofs via remote control between all sites using Colorproof XF and Fiery XF.

MIS/ERP productivity tools will also feature prominently at FESPA as printing companies acknowledge the need to streamline their operations, eliminate touch-points in their workflow, and improve communication. This move to greater accountability is simplified with EFI’s productivity products, with Pace and PrintSmith Vision business management software and Digital StoreFront web-to-print being examples that provide key elements for integration value increasingly by wide-format printer users.

Showing for the first time in Europe SmartSign Analytics captures and reports on the viewing of signs and displays via a webcam which runs facial recognition software. This monitoring system enables businesses to garner valuable data and reports gender and age range of the viewer, and time spent looking at a sign.

Combining of all its options for wide-format print providers and sign-makers, EFI is showing highly innovative solutions to new and existing customers by creating future-proof technologies. Full information and real-time demonstrations are available on the company’s stand at FESPA 2013, showing how printing companies can open the door to new and profitable opportunities.

For additional information about EFI, visit www.efi.com.

Mosaic POP opened its doors this month and can now offer a full range of points of purchase services, including retail display, digital, field marketing and sampling to provide an end-to-end service. Led by managing partners Lisa Williams’ and Ian Carnazza’s wealth of experience in the industry, the new division links together York-based Mosaic Group’s related disciplines of marketing strategy and creative, print management and fulfilment.

The team aims to exploit twin gaps in the point of purchase services market. Smaller brands seeking to win space in a crowded retail environment will benefit from big-agency know-how, while larger clients can gain a more responsive team, dramatically improving speed and customer service, while backed by PLC confidence.

“We’ve had our eye on the POP sector for a while,” said Mosaic Group CEO, Tony Gill. “Lisa and Ian are the final pieces of the jigsaw. By combining their know-how with the economies of scale and provenance of a £33m turnover marketing, print management and fulfilment group I’m confident we can give customers the best of both worlds.

“We’ve developed our Complis platform support retailers in executing POS orders quickly using technology to automate and measure in store campaign performance. Combined with the fulfilment team’s ability to pick and collate collateral quickly and accurately the only thing missing was the senior knowledge people to lead the team.”

“Skilled, hands-on customer service and know-how, plus buying power and a polished fulfilment machine adds up to more effective point of purchase programmes and better return on investment for clients. We’ve already had a great deal of interest and are in advanced talks with several customers.”

Lisa Williams has over 15 years’ experience in the points of purchase field, working with leading brands and retailers taking a multi-channel approach. Coming from a design background, she has particular expertise in retail display, understanding what makes drives purchase behaviour and communicating the brand story, all informed by her own passion for shopping.

Ian Carnazza has over 20 years’ experience in strategic management of successful points of purchase campaigns. He has worked on promotional activity with brands and retailers including POP, packaging, contract packing and field marketing activity to both boost short term sales and secure long term market share for sustained ROI.

The team, based in Mosaic Group’s print management and fulfilment creative hub just outside York, has experience of working with some of the leading names in fast moving consumer goods across a variety of sectors including Health & Beauty, Food & Drink, Confectionery, Electrical, Sports and Fashion.  Their knowledge of how to work with retailers to get the most from all sales environments is benefitted from direct experience of the major grocers and top high street brands.

[Photo caption: Managing Partners Ian Carnazza and Lisa Williams are welcomed by Mosaic CEO, Tony Gill, as they launch the group’s new point of purchase division, Mosaic POP.]

Visitors looking to inject some creativity into their visit to FESPA 2013 will find what they are looking for at the Print Inspiration Runway.  The new feature is an exhibition of 'awesome' print provided by exhibitors to showcase how effective print can be across multiple applications.

To engage visitors, each piece showcased will be supported by a case study about how it was created and how effective it was for its intended purpose. Visitors looking to find out more will be directed to the exhibitors stand to speak to them directly. Brands illustrating their creativity in the runway include 3M, Canon, Decca, Durst, Eurobest, EFI, Esko, HDM Stuttgart, HP, Kiwo, Marabu, Printed Electronics, Premier Textiles and Sun Chemical.  Confirmed pieces of print to be displayed include interior design, garments, printed electronics, outdoor, screen print effects, ink technologies, in-store and vehicle graphics.

Duncan MacOwan, head of events and new media comments, “We are constantly seeing impactful and innovative uses of print being used across our global community and wanted to showcase these examples to illustrate what print can do for businesses. Our aim at FESPA 2013 is to provide printers with inspiration as well as the tools to enter new business opportunities and to help them further explore their creative side!

“Targeting new audiences to benefit our community is a FESPA USP and part of our Profit for Purpose initiative. This year we’re targeting brand owners to illustrate the power of print. Showcasing awesome examples of print in the Print Inspiration Runway will hopefully inspire these brands and designers to see the part print can play in the marketing mix. This will also open up the communication channels between the brand owners and printers enabling them to discuss how these ideas can be transferred to brands’ real-life objectives and campaigns.”

For more information about FESPA 2013, please visit www.fespa.com/london

Caldera has announced that it will join other leading industry manufacturers as a major sponsor of the FESPA Wrap Cup Masters Series, taking place at FESPA 2013 in London. Alongside Mimaki, HP and 3M, Caldera will support the competitors with the critical software for the production of vehicle graphics and will also provide prizes for the winners.

The event will give potential wrap champions the opportunity to see how Caldera's software is used by some of the trade's elite wrappers to ensure colour accuracy and precision prints. Already used by some of the world's leading materials manufacturers for profiling, Caldera's solutions offer a premium solution for vehicle graphics specialists who put quality above everything.

"We are thrilled to be involved with this competition at FESPA and we're looking forward to seeing the fantastic creations it is renowned for," says Joseph Mergui, CEO, Caldera. "Some in the vehicle wrap community might think Caldera's solutions have more functionality than they need, but we think this event will show them that features like Compose and Tiling are perfectly suited to the job."

Taking place over the five days of the FESPA show, the competition will feature a qualifying heat on day one for the big final, featuring 32 eager vehicle wrapping pros. Days two and three will see a new element to the four-year-old tournament with a team competition, the FESPA Nations Cup, where 16 pairs of contestants will battle it out to create the best car wraps and window tints. The individual final on days four and five will whittle down the 16 qualifiers from day one to the overall Wrap Masters.

A prize package worth more than €370,000 includes software from Caldera plus a laminator, a vinyl cutter and a substantial discount voucher for HP printers.

"Caldera has been known for many years as one of the leaders in RIP software, and when you see the changes and adaptation of digital printing into vehicle wraps it is a major plus to have a tool like that on hand," comments Dirk Moebes of Mr ClipArt, the organiser behind the competition. "I am delighted that Caldera has seen the value of talking to the car wrapping industry for the first time at FESPA 2013."

The Wrap Cup Masters Series speeds into London for the grand final at FESPA 2013.  The 'adrenaline fuelled' competition showcases the skill and creativity of vehicle wrappers and is designed to recognise and promote the global vehicle wrapping community at their best and illustrate how vehicle decoration can be an effective tool in the marketing mix.

The Wrap Cup Series was launched at FESPA 2010, Munich, and has since enjoyed pit stops at FESPA Americas 2011, FESPA Mexico 2011 and 2012, FESPA Digital 2011, Digital 2012 and FESPA Brasil 2013, picking up finalists along the way. At FESPA 2013 the Wrap Cup Series sees its grand final take place where the 16 finalists will battle it out to be crowned the Wrap Cup Masters Champion.

The three day event is sure to be one of the show’s most animated and exciting features. Taking place on stand S90S, visitors can watch vehicle wrapping superstars battle it out through several rounds to hold the coveted title – The Wrap Cup Master. Day one will see the final qualifying heat, where three lucky vehicle wrappers will get the chance to compete in the grand final. The remaining two days (28th – 29th June) will host knock out events and the overall Wrap Cup Masters Champion will be announced on Saturday 29th June 2013. The final round will take place between 13:30 – 15:00 and the official prize giving where the winner will take home €15,000 worth of prizes will take place at 15:30 on the Wrap Cup stand.

On days two and three of FESPA 2013 the competition shifts up a gear and the Cup of Nations - the world cup of vehicle wrapping – takes over. This highly anticipated competition event will see national teams compete against each other to become the best vehicle wrapping country in the world and for their chance to win prizes to the value of €9,000.

Duncan MacOwan, head of events and new media comments, “Over the last three years the Wrap Cup Masters Series has built momentum leading up to the grand final at FESPA 2013. To celebrate the fact FESPA 2013 is in London, we’ve chosen the Mini Cooper as the car of choice. The FESPA Wrap Cup Series has proved extremely successful attracting high volumes of visitors to the stand. Adding the Cup of Nations to this year’s line-up will also add an extra dimension to the feature, where visitors and exhibitors can come and cheer on their country.”

The final qualifying round on day one is full. However, if you’re interested in entering a team for FESPA’s Cup of Nations please visit http://www.fespa.com/wrapcup/ for more information.

UK developer Integration Technology Ltd (ITL) says its major 2013 roll-out of UV LED and UV Arc solutions will continue at FESPA.

On stand N3S, the all new LEDZero Solidcure 2 is the latest UV LED curing unit drawing on ITL's 10 years of experience in developing semi conductor light engines. Solidcure 2 offers class-leading dose and linearity of output surpassing other water cooled units of this type in the world. Slim and ultra compact, this water-cooled system has a standard output power of 12W/cm² @ 395nm with alternative wavelengths such as 365nm, 385nm and 405nm available as options.

Fully scalable in both length and width, the LEDZero Solidcure 2 can be tailored to meet extremely specific UV LED requirements on a wide range of applications, including high speed inkjet printing, high speed roll to roll flexographic and offset printing; screen printing; converting; and a wide range of other industrial applications.

Specification benefits include field-replaceable modules offering even further extended service life; driver electronics fully integrated within the lamp head; switch mode power supply unit for world-wide compatibility. Also available in a HD version offering twice the dose of the standard model, the ground-breaking LEDZero Solidcure 2 is commercially-available from July (2013).

FESPA London will meanwhile host a live application of ITL's new SubZero LED system. Although primarily designed for wide format graphics platforms, the SubZero LED will be demonstrating it's high cure capability by being equally at home in a single pass high speed application at the show.

This revolutionary new air-cooled curing solution has a compact footprint and all the proven features and benefits of the established SubZero arc system range making for an easy conversion to UV LED technology for any platform currently using the world leading SubZero.

The SubZero arc program is also enhanced with the launch of two new models on show for the first time. Firstly there is added cure length in the new SubZero 220 along with a new high power version of the very popular SubZero 170 model, which produces 50% more output power than the standard version.

Also on show - and again new for 2013 - ITL's super compact MZero LED utilises all of the proven features and benefits of its sister arc product and incorporates them into an LED alternative enhanced by extra functionalities such as instant on/off, variable power and low temperature operation and a plug and play feature to the lamp head design enabling simple machine integration or field installation.

Ideally suited to digital inkjet applications such as small plotters, 3D product printers or marking and encoding applications, the MZero LED is also equally at home curing inks, coating or sealants in a variety of other industrial applications.

For more information, please visit www.uvintegration.com

[photo shows the established ITL SubZero arc UV curing system and its newly-launched LED curing counterpart]