Business

Canon UK has completed the integration of Océ into its business in the UK and Ireland.  Océ N.V.is now officially a wholly owned Canon Group company operating worldwide.

Since joining forces, Canon and Océ have jointly developed new products and worked to strengthen their marketing and service capabilities. The new organisation will work to maximise synergies with the aim of creating the overall No. 1 presence in the global printing industry.

The Océ brand, which is renowned world-wide for its production printing, wide format printing and business services capabilities, will continue to operate as a product brand under the Canon name.

Hasse Iwarsson, Managing Director of Canon UK & Ireland, states, “I am proud and excited to be leading our company as we complete the process to integrate the local Océ operations into the Canon UK business. Today marks the start of a new era in which we will use the combined strengths of Canon and Océ to offer the industry’s broadest portfolio of print products, services and solutions to our customers in the UK and Ireland.”

The Canon UK & Ireland integration process started in September 2012, led by Hasse Iwarsson after Canon Inc. acquired and took full ownership of Océ N.V. in January 2012. The combined workforce is now 2150 across the UK and Ireland, headquartered at Woodhatch in Reigate, Surrey.

Agfa, Blase, Caldera, Canon, Colorgate, Durst, Ergosoft, Fujifilm, Huntsman, Hymmen, Image Expert, Impulsa, IMI, Industrial Inkjet, INX Digital, J-Teck, Kala, Kiian, Lumejet, Marabu, Mimaki, Neschen, Print Color, Sawgrass Europe, Xennia and Xaar have all confirmed their attendance at InPrint 2014 as founding exhibitors, signalling a strong level of support for InPrint 2014, with a little under one year to go to the launch event.

InPrint, the Industrial Print Show, which is co-located with the manufacturing event Hannover Messe, has gathered tremendous support since the launch of the show in 2012. With this in mind, some of the leading innovators in the field of print technology have confirmed their intention to exhibit with over 50% of floor-space already sold.

Frazer Chesterman, co-director of InPrint 2014 explains, "Interest in InPrint 2014 certainly seems to reinforce the fact that industrial print is deemed to be both an important and exciting area for innovative growth in the future. And InPrint clearly has caught the imagination of the print technology sector. As well as there being leaps forward within inkjet development in industrial applications, according to our research it is equally clear that ‘smart’ screen printing and speciality print also has a considerable level of interest and presence, especially as it is related to astronomical growth within key sectors such as consumer electronics."

Mark Hanley, President, IT Strategies adds, "The big target for the future where print technology is concerned is most certainly the industrial sector. Good information is an essential basis for understanding. Obviously visiting InPrint is a good starting point, but in advance of that, the IT Strategies/InPrint free white paper will be available soon, as will our full Market Intelligence Report, which will be released in June. IT Strategies is entirely focused on this area and we look forward to working with the FM Brooks team to deliver insight and analysis around the industrial print markets through the InPrint Show."

Founding exhibitors make their own comments about their decision to participate at InPrint:

Agfa Graphics confirmed their participation and has become a founding sponsor. Tom Cloots, Industrial Print Marketing Manager explains further ‘Agfa is delighted to announce that we will be exhibiting as a founder sponsor at InPrint 2014 in Hannover. This is in recognition of the tremendous importance that Agfa places upon the industrial sector as an area for innovation and future growth. The co-location with the Hannover Messe show truly provides an excellent opportunity to connect with a community of manufacturing decision makers and we are excited to be part of the development of InPrint: The Industrial Print Show. Agfa has proven already that we have the capacity to bring highly innovative technologies to the market, and we look forward to connecting our innovative technology with a new set of manufacturing decision makers at InPrint 2014’.

Christian Gasser, Product Manager LFP from Durst explains the reason that Durst will be exhibiting, 'Inkjet technology is increasingly used in the industrial sector. In addition to the decoration of glass, ceramics, furniture and wood applications, functional applications such as membrane switches, manometers, tachometers or cover plates seem to be perfectly suitable for inkjet printing. Our strategy is to apply inkjet technology to industrial markets. For this reason we decided to exhibit at InPrint where we expect to be in contact with the manufacturing industry. Our new Rho IP engine is a purpose build inkjet solution for industrial applications which is designed to fit into industrial production lines.'

Roberto Zinser, Business Manager, Canon explains why Canon are taking part in InPrint as an exhibitor and founding sponsor  ‘Canon is committed to developing technology that meets the needs of the marketplace and we have recognised for some time the need to connect with industrial markets as need and demand changes. The future potential of industrial print is exciting and the InPrint Show truly provides us with the perfect platform in which to communicate and connect our innovative technology with the manufacturing sector and the growing number of industrial applications.’

Sebastien Hanssens, Vice President of Marketing at Caldera explains why Caldera will be participating at InPrint 2014 ‘Caldera has been working on some new industrial applications based on inkjet technologies, and the InPrint show will be a great event to showcase these new developments and position ourselves a value adding key player of this market. We are confident the event will enable market players to interact among themselves and benefit from a large crowd of visitors.'

Jon Bultemeyer, Chairman, ESMA explains why ESMA are supporting InPrint ‘ESMA has long been committed to driving print excellence within the field of speciality and industrial printing. This has developed over the years into a committed conference programme on industrial printing including functional printing, printed electronics, glass printing and more recently interior decoration. We continue to believe that industrial printing remains an incredibly important and exciting area for development for speciality print including screen as well as inkjet print production. As a result ESMA sees InPrint as an ideal forum for expanding the awareness these print processes can provide to Brand Owners or Component manufacturers. Whether it be introducing new opportunities and techniques or to fine tune existing processes, InPrint provides an interesting meeting point for the entire supply chain. ESMA strongly supports any such event which provides the industrial community such awareness opportunities.’

Jon Harper Smith, Marketing Manager, Fujifilm Europe Graphics Division, explains about Fujifilm’s decision to participate ‘Developing digital printing solutions for the industrial and packaging markets presents a number of distinct technological challenges. At Fujifilm we are uniquely positioned to meet these challenges as we have access to and knowledge of these markets through our heritage businesses, combined with our unrivalled ability to develop new technologies. We have printhead, ink and software capabilities in house, and are able to combine these technologies to offer new and advanced products. We welcome the opportunity to present our innovations to the wider manufacturing sector, and the decision to participate as a founding exhibitor at InPrint 2014 reflects our conviction that industrial print technology has enormous potential.'

Dr René Pankoke, CEO, Hymmen explains why Hymmen has made the decision to take part in InPrint as founding partner ‘Industrial scale Manufacturing is making its own transition into digital, and Hymmen has invested in creating digital print technology that enables imaging solutions for industrial scale output. Hymmen with its new digital print technology is specifically focused on the laminates and interior and exterior decoration business, e.g. furniture, flooring, wall coverings and decorative building materials. The InPrint show, with its unique focus on industrial and manufacturing focused print, is therefore the perfect platform for us to showcase Hymmen's advanced industrial, digital print technology.’

Mike Willis, Director of IMI Europe explains why IMI has become a strategic partner to InPrint 2014 ‘The time is right for InPrint, with the growing interest in inkjet and other technologies to bring new possibilities and great benefits for industrial print users. IMI has been a leading community for the development of inkjet since the beginning of the technology so it is a natural development for us to form a partnership with InPrint to develop value for both of our communities.’

Fabio Festorazzi, CEO, Kiian, explains why Kiian will be taking part in the event ‘Kiian is an established leader in the field of ink innovation for industrial applications, and has been for some years. It is clear that the industrial sector is a growth area for our industry, and as such it is a key component of Kiian’s strategic direction for the next few years. Our decision to become a founder partner for InPrint will undoubtedly bring our products into a new market. At InPrint, visitors will be able to learn about Kiian’s industrial products, our vision and values for the future, and we are excited to be playing a key part in the development of the event’.

Miles Bentley, LumeJet's Commercial Director explains why Lumejet are participating at InPrint 2014 ‘We have been looking for a suitable trade show to unveil the LumeJet technology to the professional print community for a while. For us it was important that the show we chose matched our own aims, ambitions and vision and we believe that we have found that match in InPrint. It is the perfect opportunity to present a business case for the ultra-high quality output achievable with the LumeJet S200 printer. It’s also an ideal showcase for the future developments we already have in the pipeline. By the time the LumeJet S200 is displayed in Hannover, it will have been in the market for almost 9 months, moving from beta sites to full production systems and we will be delivering the innovative print technology that is at the core of InPrint 2014.’

Mike Horsten, Marketing Manager EMEA, Mimaki comments: 'Industrial printing is taking giant leaps forward and keeps you as a company at the forefront of innovation. Inkjet technology plays a huge role in this booming market and it is a Mimaki field of expertise. That's why we're proud to be a founding partner of the InPrint show, dedicated entirely to this specific market segment. We're excited about showing how Mimaki printers can realise the innovative industrial design concepts and how we put our printing expertise to good use for these emerging industrial markets. I'm confident the print knowledge exchange at InPrint will lay solid foundations for more innovative successes in the future. Looking forward to April 8th 2014!’

Simon Wilcox, Head of Marketing at Sawgrass Europe explains 'The merging of creative digital imaging technologies and industrial scale personalisation is accelerating and diversifying at an almost unbelievable pace. At Sawgrass we believe that the possibilities for the cross-pollination of ideas, technologies and visions of the future that the InPrint event offers are enticing, intriguing and ultimately will change all of our perceptions of the world we live in.'

Dr Tim Phillips, Marketing and Business Development Manager, Xennia explains why InPrint represents the perfect opportunity to take part in ‘We believe industrial will be the major source of growth in digital printing over the next 10 years. Xennia is at the centre of industrial digital technology and as such we are delighted to be a founder partner of the InPrint exhibition: the first show focused on this exciting growth market.’

Richard Barham, Sales and Marketing Director, Xaar plc. explains why Xaar decided to become a founder exhibitor 'Xaar’s industrial inkjet technology is driving the transformation of traditional analogue manufacturing processes to digital manufacturing, in areas as diverse as printed electronics, ceramics, CMOS, packaging, glass, laminate flooring and more. We are proud to be a founding partner of InPrint, a unique event which will showcase cutting edge innovations that are starting to have a significant affect across many sectors.'

US-based visual merchandising firm, Marketing Alliance Group, reproduced an eye-catching retro 50s-style pin-up mermaid on a wooden placard in stunning detail. The sign, printed in five colours on a poplar wood board using an Inca Onset S40, was commissioned by contemporary artist Brendan Coudal.

“It’s very important to our client, Brendan Coudal, that his artwork is printed to the highest standards,” says Jeanette Bender, Creative Director at Marketing Alliance. “After all, his name is on every piece! His customers are high-end boutique retail stores, national retail chains, restaurants and bars.” she adds, “so it’s critical that we, as a manufacturer and printer, share the artist’s passion and attention to detail.”

Coudal begins by painting his creations in oil on canvas. He then digitally photographs and proofs the pieces before making slight adjustments and typographical additions in Photoshop. After perfecting the artwork, Coudal sends the files to Marketing Alliance for reproduction on more challenging substrates than canvas. “Wood is difficult,” remarks Bender. “It has to be cut with the grain in the right direction, and we have to make sure that it doesn’t absorb any moisture, otherwise it will bow. We now have a specific storage location to prevent any moisture problems.” Beyond that, “we have to find the right balance of ink to lay down to meet our client’s requirements of vibrancy and quality.”

Luckily, Marketing Alliance’s Inca Onset S40 is more than up to the task of printing on poplar. “The actual printing part of it is nothing out of the ordinary,” says Bender. It seems, in fact, that the client has become accustomed to the consistent high quality of Marketing Alliance’s work. “We make colour proofs before we run the jobs, but they end up being for our own internal review. The artist trusts us enough to take responsibility for the printing. He doesn’t see the final results until production. We have a good relationship and print all of his art projects.”

The final product – aside from the eye-catching piece of retro signage, of course – is customer satisfaction. “He has been pleased with not only the vibrancy and overall exceptional quality,” reflects Bender, “but the consistency, care and craftsmanship in every piece. It directly results in happy customers and repeat orders.” In the case of this collaboration with Brendan Coudal, it also directly resulted in an Inca IDEAs Award in the Retail Interiors category for the Marketing Alliance Group.

At Sign and Digital UK 2013, Tetenal will be showcasing the Kodak Commercial wide format range of papers including the unique Photo Tex Repositionable Fabric, an aqueous self adhesive wall paper, available in 24”, 36”, 42” and 60” widths in 30.5m lengths. Information and swatches of the entire range will be available from Tetenal on stand M4.

Ilford Omnijet commercial inkjet papers, also distributed by Tetenal UK, has introduced three new Nanosolvent™ papers into the range, described as ‘High productivity papers, the next generation of Ecosolvent media.’ The papers come in Premium Gloss and Premium Satin finishes, both available in 255gsm and 200gsm.

Jeremy Roy, Tetenal’s Wide Format product manager and Tetenal's newest recruit, Sarah Punt, now Inkjet Sales Manager, will be at the show, presenting the latest additions to Tetenal’s range of commercial inkjet media.

Tetenal will also be manning the Epson stand on Tuesday afternoon, demonstrating the SureColor Ecosolvent printers.

In its capacity as an official news resource for the event, LFR will be on stand P132 at Sign & Digital UK 2013 next week and we'd love to talk to as many of you as we can.

Signmakers and display print professionals: – come and tell us about recent equipment installations, interesting jobs you've produced and any other news you think is relevant to our readership. It's completely free to get your relevant news included in LFR - so come and talk to us and we'll try to make you famous!

Manufacturers and suppliers: - come and talk to us about using LFR to get your message out to an engaged audience of sign and display print professionals for whom LFR is an important daily news resource.  Our website gets over 80,000 visitors monthly and we distribute our weekly eNews Bulletin to over 35,000 international recipients.

To find out more about the promotional opportunities available through LFR and learn how to broadcast your news to the world, come and talk to us on Stand P132 - we're right inside the front door!

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Colourgen has announced it will be unveiling an expanded portfolio of Mutoh wide format print and cutting solutions at Sign and Digital UK 2013. The new Mutoh products extend the range of applications and quality of service that customers can achieve, as well as offering value for money and include:

• Mutoh DrafStation RJ-900X: a new 42” printer for everyday sublimation printing.  It is ideal for start-ups and established businesses wanting to extend their product portfolios.
• Mutoh ValueCut Series: a new range of high performance cutters for professional sign cutting applications.  Available in 3 widths – ValueCut 600, ValueCut 1300 and ValueCut 1800.
• Mutoh ValueJet 2638: a new 2.6m ValueJet for high quality production work.  It features a staggered dual head set-up with latest generation 1440 nozzle piezo heads. The new printer achieves a top speed of 48sqm/h and production speed of 36sqm/h.

“Mutoh printers continue to be the leading choice for the wide format specialty market because of their superior image quality and reliability, which becomes especially critical during peak periods. With the improved performance of Mutoh’s new solutions, our customers will be able to handle growing print volumes and reach untapped new markets,” says Melanie Enser, Product Marketing Manager for Colourgen.

The entire extended portfolio of Mutoh solutions will be displayed at Stand H50, Sign & Digital UK (April 30 – May 2) in Birmingham, UK.

[image shows Mutoh ValueJet 2638]