Business

Epson America, Avery, and SkinzWraps have joined forces to produce and display the world's most expensive car ever to be wrapped. A Bugatti Veyron worth an estimated $1.7 million will be on display in Epson's booth at SEMA 2010 (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas, Nov. 2-5.

The custom wrap was designed, printed and applied by SkinzWraps using an Epson Stylus Pro GS6000 printer and Avery MPI 1005 Supercast media. A total of seven days were required to complete the design, print the wrap and apply it to the car. At the conclusion of the show, the car will be transformed quickly and easily back to its original design.

"Epson is extremely excited to work with Avery and SkinzWraps to unveil what's surely the most prestigious and high-priced automobile ever to be wrapped," said Reed Hecht, product manager, Epson America, Inc. "In the world of engineering, there aren't many vehicles that underscore the winning combination of style, performance, beauty, and speed like a Bugatti Veyron. These are characteristics that Epson shares and pursues with passion when it comes to engineering the world's most incredible ink jet printing technologies, so we're very proud to demonstrate those accomplishments in such a unique way."

The Bugatti Veyron is the most expensive and fastest sports car in the world and hailed by many as the greatest automobile ever made. This exotic two-passenger car is powered by a quad-turbocharged, 8-liter, 16-cylinder engine that produces 1,001 horsepower. The Veyron's powerful engine and 7-speed transmission with AWD enables it to achieve a top speed of 253 mph, a speed it can maintain up to 12 minutes before consuming all of its fuel.

"Designing and applying a wrap to an automotive masterpiece like the Bugatti Veyron requires the ultimate degree of skill and concentration, the right materials and of course the best printing technology imaginable," said Peter Salaverry, CEO, SkinzWraps. "The Epson Stylus Pro GS6000 produces images with rich, vibrant colors, smooth tones, and deep blacks with amazing shadow details. Combine all of that with the amazing quality and durability of Avery's adhesive backed vinyl and you get a solution that's worthy of being featured on a Bugatti Veyron or any job that requires the best of the best."

Drytac, one of Europe’s leading adhesive coating and laminating film manufacturers specialising in products for the graphics finishing and display industry, has recently acquired the assets of TENEKA-Folien.

TENEKA, established in Germany in 1931, is a world renowned brand of book covering films and other specialty self adhesive products.

“For Drytac, the acquisition of TENEKA was a sensible purchase”, said Drytac President Marc Oosterhuis. “Drytac is always exploring new markets for its range of pressure sensitive and heat activated adhesives and over laminates, and the strong TENEKA brand name, proprietary and proven adhesive formulations, coupled with Drytac’s well established manufacturing facility in Bristol, will allow TENEKA to significantly expand their product range”.

Arne Petersen, former Managing Director of TENEKA-Folien, has joined Drytac Europe as the Sales Manager for the TENEKA brand. Enthusiastic about his association with Drytac, Arne said “TENEKA will continue to offer the same high quality and excellent service that our customers are familiar with. We are already receiving orders from both new and existing customers and with the development of new products, I am very excited about the opportunities ahead”.

 

IIR Print Group, the organisers of Ipex, the largest English-speaking global technology event for print, publishing and media has launched Ipex World [www.ipex.org], an easy to use online networking and resource portal dedicated to print professionals worldwide.

Ipex World is built on the huge amount of information generated by the Ipex exhibition; a database of currently over 1,000 industry suppliers, which is expected to increase rapidly over the coming months; as well as an established community of over 200,000 professionals worldwide. As such, it is fast becoming a trusted information hub, providing the print community with a global platform to build international business relationships.

The website provides users with a number of useful features, such as videos, latest products and industry developments, articles, white papers, press releases, presentations, an international digital events calendar as well as photos. Industry suppliers will also be able to source global agents and distributors suitable to their business requirements via Ipex Connect.

Nick Craig Waller, Ipex World Marketing Director, says: "Every four years, Ipex provides a powerful platform for the global print industry to network, buy and build business relationships. Following on from the success of Ipex 2010, we wanted to extend that value online between Ipex years to provide a powerful year-round directory, lead generator and valuable information hub to connect the global print community.

"The Ipex 2010 website generated remarkable user statistics pre-and post-event, so naturally we felt it was our responsibility to keep that momentum alive. We've already received very positive feedback from the industry with a number of suppliers, global associations, industry experts and publishing houses already committed to providing engaging content to the website as well as valuable market information and discussion forums."

Printers using the website can create their own profile to connect with other print professionals around the globe via the 'Printer2Printer' peer networking facility.

This will enable them to discuss ideas and questions, share experiences, best practices and gain important industry knowledge and feedback.

"With a comprehensive global marketing campaign for Ipex World under way, we are confident that Ipex World will become a strong and important link to provide suppliers with a platform to maintain ongoing relationships with visitors during non-Ipex years. We look forward to welcoming users to the website over the coming months," concludes Nick Craig Waller.

 

Semper International has announced that there are still mixed signals about the state of the printing business from results of their most recent Industry Insight survey.

Since February 2003, Semper International has provided a quarterly survey offering estimates of trends in the printing and graphics industries. To prevent bias, survey questions—both qualitative and quantitative—are designed by Semper corporate partner Cvent. Survey participants include more than 300 small, medium and large printing companies; both clients and prospects of Semper International. Participants provide data on revenue and hiring as well as estimated outlooks on future trends. Data is requested from a random sample and are not screened. To preserve confidentiality, individual company information is not part of the tabulation.

"They warned us things would be a little bumpy," said Dave Regan, CEO Semper International. "This election season has certainly put a negative spin on just about everything. The pundits and the Fed warned us that things would be improving, but it would be up and down. It seems clear that we have seen several soft spots the last few months. While annoying, they are definitely surrounded by some busy spells. Overall, this fall has been decidedly better then a year ago and certainly better than the spring."

The most recent survey indicates a mixed bag of business trends:

 

• About 60 percent of companies surveyed reported a profitable Q3. While down quarter-to-quarter, it was stronger than a year ago.
• Looking at the first two weeks of Q4, current sales indicate a strong increase—although this could be a seasonal trend. The number of companies reporting a decrease in sales dropped from 35 percent to 24 percent, with those reporting increased sales taking a corresponding gain.
• About 80 percent of the companies interviewed expected even or increased sales during Q1, 2011.
• The vast majority of respondents indicated that hiring levels remained the same, although there was a slight increase in companies hiring—and a noticeable trend that they were releasing less employees.
• More than two-thirds of companies reported that healthcare is the labour cost component that increased the fastest last quarter—nearly five times greater than those reporting base pay, the next component.
• The greatest competitive threat to printers is technology (48 percent), far exceeding supply costs (24 percent) and labour costs (19 percent).
• Print buyers place the greatest pricing pressure on offset printing (55 percent) and digital printing costs (20 percent), where there is clearly a lot of excess capacity, it is the largest component of job cost, and where print providers fight for market share.
• While referrals (31 percent) and online searches (25 percent) seem to be the most popular ways to find employees, there was a jump in reliance on flex hiring (16 percent). In uncertain times 'try before you hire' still makes a lot of sense.

 

 

 

Marking the increase in popularity of wide-format ink-jet production within the commercial print sector in Ireland, Roland DG (UK) has announced the appointment of Print and Finishing Equipment as its distributor. This agreement sees the leading Dublin based supplier bring on board complementary digital solutions to boost its current portfolio.

Formed more than 25 years ago, originally to service the demand for in-house print finishing equipment, PFE has grown significantly to encompass digital as well as analogue solutions. The addition of the Roland SolJet Pro III range and the VersaUV LEC-330 and LEC-540 will enable the company to extend into wide-format with two important product families that embrace the needs of today’s offset litho and flexo sectors.

The Roland SolJet Pro III range includes innovative print-and-cut solutions, with the XC-540MT incorporating metallic and white inks. Its durable Eco-Sol Max inks and integrated contour cutting are popular amongst the label sector for digitally produced short runs, as well as for the production of innovative signs and displays.

Roland’s ground-breaking VersaUV LEC-330 and recently introduced 1.37m wide LEC-540 fit PFE’s remit perfectly, too, as many of the company’s customers are involved in the packaging, prototyping and specialist label markets. Highly opaque white ink and clear varnish complement this machine’s flexible UV-curable CMYK inks and LED curing, combined with its colour accuracy and ability to print, cut and crease a vast range of materials.

Duncan Groom, managing director of Print Finishing and Equipment, comments: “We’re very excited about this agreement with Roland DG, as we see it bringing huge opportunities to us within the wide-format market. Having investigated all the options currently available within the ink-jet sector, Roland’s solutions are exactly the right products for the commercial print sector and that’s why we were so eager to form a relationship with the company.

“The SolJet Pro III XC-540 and the VersaUV are the most versatile systems on the market today and, with a customer base that wants to do everything on a wide-format machine, these two models tick all the boxes,” continues Groom. “PFE has a high reputation for supplying high quality print finishing equipment and we believe that Roland’s machines are exactly the right products for our market.”

www.rolanddg.co.uk

Tel: 0845 230 90 60

 

Because of the increasing levels of interest from the commercial print sector wanting to move into wide-format ink-jet production, Roland DG is now offering succinct and practical information on a dedicated microsite located at www.rolanddg.co.uk/RCM9. This forward-thinking manufacturer of versatile ink-jet systems has also produced a special printed guide explaining the benefits of wide-format production, and this is available free of charge via the same web page.

As a long established manufacturer of reliable, high quality production systems for the digital arena, Roland DG has always reacted positively with emerging markets for its technology. The company’s latest print-and-cut solutions echo the burgeoning requirements of the commercial print sector and, consequently, offset litho businesses, packaging specialists and proofing houses are amongst those increasingly turning to Roland’s wide-format ink-jet solutions. The potential for new avenues of creativity has now moved far beyond simple poster production into increasingly versatile applications which fit the remit of each commercial segment, with new opportunities made possible with the flexibility of durable inks and special finishes.

“Although familiar with display production, the general print sector falls outside the categories usually associated with wide-format digital print, such as sign-makers, photolabs and digital bureaux,” explains Brett Newman, Roland DG (UK)’s Technical Director. “This is the reason why we have developed a new area on our web site for the commercial side of the industry which, currently, is looking to invest in ink-jet technology.

“In addition to outlining our product portfolio, we’re also offering our valuable free guide which includes all the information needed when considering the purchase of a wide-format machine,” continues Newman. “Print companies already have the production skills; now we can help them make the transition into all areas of short-run digital output, including colour matched proofing, labels and packaging prototyping, as well as signs, displays, point-of-sale and a wealth of additional innovative applications.”

Roland DG believes that, as well as offering the print-and-cut technology needed for the production of wide-format output, companies established in other sectors of the printing industry also want to know how to maximise their investments into ink-jet. Today’s end customers increasingly want to use a single supplier for all print requirements, and Roland’s “Ten reasons to get into wide format digital print” endorses the benefits and opportunities available to the commercial sector and its existing client base.

The choice of eco-solvent-based and UV-curable ink formulations also brings with it the ability to print specialist applications which feature unusual textures and finishes. Roland’s VersaCAMM VS quartet of solutions is available in a range of sizes and offers metallic and white ink options, whilst the VersaUV LEC-330 and LEC-540 both use flexible UV-curable chemistry, a highly opaque white and a versatile clear varnish, along with LED curing. Both product families include precision contour cutting to exacting tolerances, and all Roland printers are supplied with the versatile VersaWorks RIP.

“The commercial print sector is an important growth area for Roland DG and, as such, it deserves a properly structured approach when wide-format digital print is being considered,” Newman concludes. “For a comparatively small investment, businesses can now extend their service offerings into new lucrative areas and, for users who want specific help, the Roland Academy offers specialist courses covering all aspects of software, applications, production and finishing.”

www.rolanddg.co.uk/RCM9

Tel: 0845 230 90 60