Bridging The Gap Between Offset And Digital Have You Taken The

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ne w s Bridging the gap between offset and digital Subsequent to Heidelberg exhibiting the five-colour Speedmaster 52 Anicolor at the Graph Expo in the US, late last year, Mele Printing purchased and installed the press. At the time of the expo, New Orleans’ largest commercial print shop for offset and digital printing was actually looking for another digital press to handle the strong growth in order volumes. ‘The Anicolor press presented the precise solution to bridge the gap between our Speedmaster XL 105 and our digital highspeed press,’ explains print shop CEO Mallery Mele. The new acquisition has become the hub of the company’s production. Mele Printing transfers surplus jobs from the digital press and the Printmaster QM 46 to the new machine and can now also produce small-format four-colour envelopes in-house, a task that it had previously outsourced at an annual cost of US $50 000 (approximately R445 420). The competitive advantages that the new press brings are similar to those of the company’s existing Speedmaster XL 105, being speed, cost efficiency, and first-class quality. Mele Printing is currently using the Speedmaster 52 Anicolor up to a capacity of 70 per cent in single shift operation and is benefiting from short make-ready times averaging 10 minutes, fast inking-up with no more than 10 sheets of waste, consistent ink coverage, and user-friendly operation. The company plans to extend production on the Anicolor press to two shifts. More than 250 print shops worldwide are already using the Mallery Mele pictured alongside the Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor from Heidelberg Anicolor inking unit technology launched in 2006 to deliver a cost-effective response to ever shorter print runs and frequent job changes. A total of 10 per cent of the Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor presses sold worldwide are installed in North America. The ‘90-50-50’ formula succinctly encapsulates the advantages of this technology, being 90 per cent less paper waste, 50 per cent shorter make-ready times, and 50 per cent higher productivity.  Have you taken the Printing SA pledge? Printing SA has recently introduced a code of conduct for its members. The values of the code are entrenched in a pledge, which members commit to adhere on completing and returning a self-assessment questionnaire to the association. The pledge certificate is an indication to the broader public that the particular printing and packing company is a member in good standing with Printing SA and that it does adhere to a code of conduct. It also acts as a great point of reference for the print-buying public, which often calls on Printing SA for recommendations about which printer to use. Of course the association cannot give prominence to one printer, yet it can point to the pledge that its members display. In addition, the pledge provides customers with confidence and peace of mind when requesting a quote and placing a print order. The pledge has been well received by members, with the first certificates having been handed over to the national president of Printing SA, Deon Joubert, who is from Merpak Envelopes, and the chairman of the central chamber, Don Lewis, representing Bidvest Paperplus. Both Joubert and Lewis were among the first to return their self-assessment questionnaires. To qualify for your pledge certificate, you must be a member in good standing with Printing SA, and have completed and returned the self-assessment questionnaire. For existing members, the first certificate costs a mere R150, which covers the framing and distribution costs. For new members, the associated costs will be included in their application fees. All future pledge certificates will be provided at no cost; the only condi10 Graphix March 2013 Don Lewis accepting his pledge certificate from Pat Lacy, CEO of Printing SA tion will be the completion and return of the self-assessment questionnaire and membership update forms. If you have not received your self-assessment questionnaire and would like to receive your pledge certificate, please contact your local chamber for more information.  www.graphixmag.co.za news Ricoh calculator eradicates guesswork In an effort to remove the uncertainty surrounding the most effective production technology to use for each job in hybrid environments, Ricoh SA is bringing its digital or offset calculator to South Africa. The tool is free and exclusive to all members of the Ricoh Business Driver Programme. ‘The calculator helps printers determine which of their devices will be optimal for the job and ensure that their presses are used most profitably,’ says Vaughan Patterson, sales manager for the production printing business group at Ricoh SA. ‘The calculator was also demonstrated at Hunkeler Innovationdays in Switzerland, earlier in February. For jobs at either end of the scale, the production technology decision can be obvious. However, there is an increasing grey area, which the calculator addresses. Patterson explains, ‘This is driven by continual price and performance improvements in digital printing presses that extend the run lengths for which these presses are appropriate. The digital or offset calculator provides printers with a fact-based methodology for making these important production decisions.’ The calculator takes into consideration the run length for a range of applications, such as leaflets, business cards, posters, brochures and folders, to determine the most profitable printing platform. Ricoh customers simply enter basic information into the calculator to confirm fixed costs such as labour, consuma- bles and energy consumption for each process. For offset, the make-ready waste, plate production, service and maintenance costs are included. Where digital is concerned, click charges and maintenance fees based on anticipated volumes are important data points. For both offset and digital, equipment depreciation and residual values are also considered. Information on substrates, based on an A3 sheet size and whether the job is simplex or duplex, can also be a factor if different substrates are used in the two processes. ‘We have been very pleased with the offset calculator,’ says Aryen Pellikaan, MD of De Hoop Grafisch Centrum, which was an early beta tester of the technology. Pellikaan’s print centre runs three offset presses alongside its digital colour Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts press. ‘We use it as a basis for jobs, which helps us improve our margins because we have a greater trust in the crossover period.’ Patterson adds, ‘The new calculator can be used in conjunction with our carbon calculator to allow Ricoh customers to accurately assess and offset the carbon emissions generated by individual jobs. It is a part of our continuous research and development to help our customers improve profitability and sustainability, as well as to strengthen relationships with their clients by delivering more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable products.’  GSW announces Omni as sub-distributor One of Africa’s leading digital solutions supplier to the print, signage, textile, packaging and graphics-related industries, Graphix Supply World (GSW) has appointed Omni Technologies as a partner in Port Elizabeth, to meet growing needs in the Eastern Cape. This was subsequent to a successful exhibition at the Sign Africa Roadshow in Port Elizabeth. To keep up with the growing demand for Mimaki and other leading digital technologies supplied by GSW, Omni will also be selling a full range of affordable media like the brand’s high performance vinyl, PVC, wallpaper, canvas, ConVerd boards and high performance inks for Roland. Mimaki large format printers and cutters are internationally renowned for their quality and leading innovative technology. Starting from 60cm-wide print and cut machines, ranging up to 3.2m-wide roll-to-roll printers and UV flatbed printers, Mimaki Engineering is the only digital manufacturer to supply the complete solution. From textile dyesub printers, UV printers, eco-solvent printers and now, Latex printers, Mimaki is an internationally best-selling brand for a reason. At the Port Elizabeth roadshow, GSW exhibited a range of leading Mimaki digital print and cut machines, in addition to Primera desktop label printers, Texjet T-shirt printers and small A4 dye sublimation printers for mug press and heat press fixation onto small items, for corporate branding and more. Also offering laminators, finishing systems and more, customers can be confident that GSW will provide the complete solution, at an affordable price. As the exclusive agent for the majority of the brands it carries, the company strives to stay ahead of the competition with leading digital solutions and continues to grow as Africa’s only one-stop-shop supplier to the www.graphixmag.co.za Wesley Groenewald, GSW sales manager for the Western Cape, outside Omni Technologies in Port Elizabeth print and signage industries. Similarly, Omni Technologies’ success has been built on a commitment to exploring new frontiers, staying on the forefront of technology, tailor making solutions for its clients and offering them unique value. This brand considers itself a business partner of its clients, as opposed to a mere supplier, and seeks to create customers for life. Omni employs a committed and highly qualified workforce of 25 and is based in Port Elizabeth. As part of the Omni Group, its geographical footprint extends across the Eastern Cape, allowing the company to afford the very best in service and support to its valued clients.  March 2013 Graphix 11 news Heritage school receives support from business Through unity of purpose and a drive to work collaboratively, government and businesses can offer a significant contribution towards socioeconomic development. In an effort to support government initiatives, Paarl Media has joined forces with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in support of the campaign, 94+ Schools Project for Madiba. This campaign has identified 94 schools that are in dire need of assistance and Eastern Cape heritage school, Clarkebury Senior Secondary was marked as one of the schools to benefit. ‘Clarkebury has played an important role in the development of youth in South African history, with Nelson Mandela and other of the country’s iconic leaders being a product of this institution. Paarl Media is proud to be able to make a contribution to the upgrading of an institution of such historical significance,’ says Thobela Dikeni, director of business development at Paarl Media. Through discussions with Clarkebury School and the local community, Paarl Media invested in the development of the school’s own multipurpose sports court. This facility offers the learners and the community the opportunity to participate in a variety of sports namely five-a-side soccer, basketball, tennis and netball. ‘Countless studies show that youth who participate in organised sports during their school years do better academically and are offered greater job prospects than children who do not partake in sporting activities,’ says Dikeni. Spectators look on with pride as the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga and Thobela Dikeni shovel the ground at Clarkebury Paarl Media is currently evaluating the option of building a new factory in the Eastern Cape in order to fulfil the growing demand for educational materials in this region. The new factory would mean job creation for the surrounding communities, additional community support and improved sustainability projects.  Epson brings speed and economy to four-colour printing Three cost-effective, high-speed, four-colour printers for CAD, GIS and POS applications are the latest available products in Epson’s expansion of its SureColor wide-format printer line-up. The new models, Epson SureColor SC-T7000, SC-T5000 and SC-T3000, offer fast, reliable printing on coated and non-coated media up to 44 inch (1 118mm), 36 inch (914mm) and 24 inch (610mm) wide respectively. Designed to fit seamlessly into the office environment, the printers feature sleek styling, small footprints and low noise levels, and are operated from the front to allow convenient placement against a wall. The printers are ideal for applications where speed and economy are paramount, such as printing architectural designs and plans, maps, presentations, posters and indoor signage. They take just 28 seconds to produce an A1 print in draft mode on plain paper, and offer optimised running costs with a choice of 700ml, 350ml and 110ml ink cartridge sizes. Further improving efficiency, the printers are quick to set up with automatic photo and matte black ink switching, and are so easy to use that operators do not need special training. All controls are at the front of the machine while media is fed in at the top. The finished prints emerge at the front, stacking neatly into a basket. Tracking how much paper is left on a roll is simple thanks to media barcode printing. Vernon Mellors, large format printer business account manager of Epson South Africa, says: ’When developing a new printer, we always ask our customers what they need. When they told us they wanted a printer that fits easily into their current 12 Graphix March 2013 The Epson SureColor SC-T7000 production environment, we chose to add an HP-GL emulation mode. Another popular request was a hard disk drive for print spooling, so we’ve given all three printers an optional 250GB hard disk drive.’ The new range uses Epson’s new UltraChrome XD Ink. In addition, the brand’s variable-size droplet technology brings clarity to fine detail while delivering optimum efficiency for larger areas of colour. Helping to reduce impact on the environment, the range uses water-based inks, and is qualified by Energy Star for its excellent power efficiency.  www.graphixmag.co.za news Ricoh named among Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations For the ninth consecutive year since the list’s inception in 2005, Ricoh has been named among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the world. The list recognises Ricoh in three areas, being resource management, financial management and employee management. ‘The list identifies companies that are best positioned to thrive in what’s known as a clean economy, which incorporates social, economic and Kevin Wilson-Smith ecological benefits and costs, and it indicates that organisations are aware of and know the full impacts of their actions,’ says Kevin Wilson-Smith, business excellence manager at Ricoh SA. ‘It shows us that our sustainable business operations are having a positive impact.’ Ricoh prioritises employees and the list recognised employee management with an emphasis on safety and diversity. The company also helps customers reduce their environmental impact through its Total Green Office Solutions, which includes a range of products and services for large and small businesses. The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World is the most extensive corporate sustainability assessment in existence, with 4 000 companies evaluated and inclusion limited to a select group of the top 100 large-cap companies in the world. Other Ricoh awards include being recognised by the FTSE4 Good Index Series for the ninth consecutive year, while the global consulting firm Deloitte has rated Ricoh as one of the top global organisations ready for a green and inclusive economy.  Financial Times to stop printing in South Africa British business daily, the Financial Times will stop printing in South Africa by the end of July 2013, a little more than 10 years since its introduction to the local market. According to an article posted on Business Day’s BDlive website, Financial Times communications executive Emily Gibbs, has said the paper will close its Johannesburg print site at Caxton Publishing on 24 July 2013. ‘The decision reflects the increasingly multichannel media consumption habits of our readers, as well as our continued investment in producing premium, awardwinning editorial content from around the globe,’ she explains. The Financial Times’ print run in South Africa is about 1 400 copies daily, including its weekend editions. This print run is said to be a drop in the ocean compared with the publication’s average daily readership of 2.2 million readers worldwide. The Financial Times also has about 4.5 million registered users of its www.graphixmag.co.za online services and more than 285 000 digital subscribers, who pay to access content. British newspaper circulation figures released for last month showed the Financial Times’ daily newspaper sales had dropped by 3.85 per cent compared with December’s 275 375. The newspaper’s South African readers obtained copies either through subscriptions or from selected news vendors. ‘It’s a huge loss in some ways as the Financial Times had a small but very devoted readership in South Africa,’ says Business Day publisher, Peter Bruce. The move was part of the Financial Times’ global strategy of transforming itself into a digital-first publisher. ‘Just like us at Business Day, they are re-engineering themselves,’ says Bruce. The Financial Times was one of the first papers to create an application for readers on Apple’s iPad and iPhone in 2009. University of the Witwatersrand Caxton professor of journalism and media studies Anton Harber said it made far more sense economically for a newspaper with a global brand such as the Financial Times to distribute itself electronically. Professor Harber added that while he would miss the Financial Times’ weekend edition, he believed its app was extremely good. ‘But I will miss receiving those pink pages on a Saturday,’ he says.  HP unveils new photofinishing solutions Earlier in February, HP announced at its Indigo Global Photo Summit, new products and partner offerings that are designed to offer professional and consumer photo labs increased productivity as well as application versatility. The new products and solutions announced further reinforce HP’s strong value proposition and status as leading technology provider for the photo print market. Fresh offerings include: • The HP Indigo WS6600p Digital Press, a web-fed photo press that produces high-quality professional portraits, consumer cut prints and photo specialty products in addition to replacing traditional silver halide (AgX) equipment. • An Ultimate Technographics partnership featuring its photo automation system solution, which is photo layout imposition software developed for HP Indigo WS6600p, and designed to drive complete production of cut-prints, from batch submission to finishing. • A new partnership with Imaging Solutions AG, enabling HP Indigo users to take advantage of multiple finishing products as part of a complete solution for photos and cut prints. • An Athentech Imaging partnership that enables HP Indigo users to take advantage of Perfectly Clear’s most advanced automatic image correction software. Perfectly Clear contains powerful technology applying over 10 patented corrections automatically resulting in stunning images, while saving time and money in editing operations. ‘The rapid adoption of digital photo apps and social networks is leading people to take, share and print more digital photos than ever before,’ says Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo division, HP. ‘The productivity and versatility of the new HP Indigo WS6600p Digital Press enables our photo customers to capitalise on this growing trend.’  March 2013 Graphix 13