Business - Applications

EFI marked its 20-year anniversary as a NASDAQ-listed company by ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square in New York last Friday, 27 January.  EFI CEO Guy Gecht and the participating EFI executives wore suits with their sneakers to bring awareness to Coaches vs. Cancer, an American Cancer Society event that took place this past weekend.

In his welcoming remarks, executive host David Wicks, vice president of NASDAQ, said, "Congratulations on your twenty-year listing anniversary on NASDAQ. When we look at EFI, we see a company that is driven by the entrepreneurial spirit, as EFI helps drive their customers' business success with a scalable digital product and service portfolio that increases their profits, cuts costs and improves productivity on every job from creation to print. Just three days ago, EFI announced fourth quarter results. EFI saw record revenue up twelve percent year over year and the eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. The stock is up over 19 percent year to date. EFI represents a visionary, a game changer, and an innovator."

At the event, EFI CEO Guy Gecht said, "In twenty years of being public it has been a great journey with our customers, shareholders and employees as we are revolutionising the industry. Today we remember what it took for us to achieve eight consecutive quarters of double-digit growth - a focus on customer success and helping customers be very competitive with the best technology, as they are fighting on quality and value. We continue to innovate for our many tens of thousands of customers worldwide. We will continue to innovate with Silicon Valley DNA and hard work for our customers. We will not stop except for this one very brief half an hour, ringing the Opening Bell at NASDAQ." He continued, "This might be the first time anyone has opened NASDAQ in sneakers, and we're happy to help drive awareness of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer event."

This past weekend, college and high school basketball coaches and their staff wore sneakers while coaching games as part of the annual American Cancer Society Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers weekend. By wearing sneakers, the coaches hope to draw attention to the role a healthy diet and regular physical activity play in reducing cancer risk. Find out more at: http://www.facebook.com/coachesvscancer.

To view a video replay of the Opening Bell ceremony and photos, visit www.facebook.com/EFI.Digital.Print.Technology.

For more information on EFI, please visit www.efi.com

ArtSystems says it has proved its position as the leading HP Designjet Wholesale Partner in the UK & Ireland by winning the first ever HP Award of this kind.  Specifically for wholesalers of the HP Designjet channel, the award is based on the best year-on-year sales growth and confirms ArtSystems as the leading performer of the year.

The award was presented to Steve Hawker the MD of ArtSystems by Phil Oakley, the UK & Ireland Country Manager for HP Designjets, at the recent Designjet Channel Annual Review 2011 event held in London.

Steve Hawker, managing director of ArtSystems, comments, "It’s always good to have the recognition of the channel for a job well done, and it’s particularly good when it’s based on a clear business goal. We have all worked hard over 2011 to make it a success and that is now confirmed with this award. We really appreciate getting the award and shall be doing our very best in 2012 to keep hold of it!"

ArtSystems says it is not resting on its laurels and already has ambitious plans for 2012 well under way.

Steve adds, "We’ve been in channel now 25 years; in fact this year is our 25th anniversary as distributor of large format printers, so we have a wealth of experience we can give to both vendors and resellers. It’s the simple things that still count the most, especially when market conditions are tough. Good sales people, good stock levels, good support and a genuine willingness to do the extra bit to make the deal happen. It works for our partners and us and we’ll be doing more of the same in 2012!"

Commuters in Lincoln should find it easier to catch a bus from the city’s central bus station from now on thanks to clearer signage by Allen Signs.  Following a major health and safety review, City of Lincoln Council, in partnership with Stagecoach, which is the main bus company in Lincoln, decided to refurbish the station to improve the safety of passengers.  As well as better signage, the number of stands has been reduced to create more space for the buses to manoeuvre.

Allen Signs in North Hykeham near Lincoln was appointed to redesign and replace the existing signs.  Account Manager Kevin Brocklesby explains, “We conducted a survey of the site and put a proposal together based on the London Underground signage.

The London Underground logo or ‘roundel’ is one of the most recognised British icons and the City of Lincoln Council had identified this as an example of design excellence and requested a similar style.  “The project consisted of 18 different sign combinations including the departure board and multiple bay signs at each stand. To minimise disruption to services we removed the old signage and replaced it with the new red, white and black panels within 48 hours.”

The signage was produced by digitally printing the artwork on to 3mm thick white Dibond panels.

Parking Services Officer at the City of Lincoln Council Janet Martin said she’s very happy with the end result.  “I’d done some research and found the style of signage used by London Transport in and around the underground stations very clear and easy to read close up and from a distance,” explained Janet.  “Allen Signs created a really effective and attractive design which met all the requirements of the brief. Replacing the signage logistically was quite a challenge as the bus station is in use seven days a week and there’s a constant stream of vehicles and people.  Allen Signs, however, managed to complete the refit in two days, and I was impressed by the service they provided from start to finish.”

For more information about Allen Signs, please visit www.allen-signs.co.uk or follow @signsDA on Twitter.

Avery Dennison has added an economical ‘general purpose’ surface cleaner to its established range of Avery Tools for professional graphics application teams.  The Avery Flat Surface Cleaner has been designed to clean all kinds of flat panels as well as rigid-sided vehicles.  It is cost-effective and creates optimal conditions for self-adhesive graphics application to ensure a smooth, durable finish.

Avery Flat Surface Cleaner is available in 5-litre cans from Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Solutions distributors across Europe.   It partners the proven high-performance Avery Surface Cleaner for demanding surfaces - such as those featuring prominent rivets and deep corrugations - as part of the extensive Avery Tools portfolio.

For more information, please visit www.europe.averygraphics.com

The wide format UV-curable inkjet market is the smallest, yet the most competitive product segment within the wide format digital printing industry. The global market for wide format UV-curable inkjet printers and supplies is expected to grow from $1.42 billion in 2010 to $3.04 billion in 2015 for a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.4%.

“We’re finding that dozens of global and regional competitors in the wide format UV-curable inkjet hardware market are being drawn to this segment based on high production volumes and attractive hardware profit margins,” commented Tim Greene, Director of InfoTrends Wide Format Service.

A tremendous interest in UV-curable inkjet as a production technology comes from several key aspects of the technology that support print service providers (PSPs) in meeting customer needs:

• Faster production speed and the elimination of “dry time”
• Lower operating costs due to higher ink efficiency
• Improved performance on a wide variety of media products including flexible media
• Better environmental properties of UV-curable inkjet especially vs. solvent inkjet

The 2011 Wide Format UV-curable Inkjet & Supplies Market Forecast reveals that UV-curable technology is expected to play an important role in a recentralisation of the wide format digital graphics market. In the early stages, a key to success has been providing reliable technology that delivered high-quality print production.

InfoTrends’ research indicates the UV-curable market is moving to a new stage where the solutions that surround the printer are increasingly important. The tools that are available that enable automated production and meaningful operational metrics are going to become increasingly important as commercial printers and other “high-end” operators adopt wide format UV-curable printers. Wide format UV-curable printing system providers that understand this, and develop or partner to create solutions packages, will have the greatest selling opportunities.

The report is available immediately for purchase. For more information, please visit www@infotrends.com.

Steve McCurry, one of the great masters of photography this century and winner of several World Press Photo Awards, will be exhibiting at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome until 29th April 2012. Featuring over 200 photographs taken during more than 30 years of his extraordinary life as a photographer and reporter, it includes some of McCurry’s most iconic images, including the famous portrait of the Afghan girl with green eyes. In addition, the exhibition offers the opportunity to see a selection of his Italian photographs; a tribute to Italy and the result of his stays in numerous cities and regions, from the Veneto to Sicily.

Steve McCurry has been using Epson technology for several years in his New York studio and chose Epson's Stylus PRO 11880 wide format machine to print more than 50 of his photos especially for the exhibition. Working alongside print shop Berné Art Studio in Varese, McCurry and Epson spent many months painstakingly studying proofs, testing, colour adjustments and fine editing right up to the final prints which, as McCurry himself says, allow him “to see the same colours and feel the same sensations” he remembers when taking the shots.

To recount the process, the exhibition will include screenings of a video called ‘Epson presents Steve McCurry, Making of – 2011’, where, in addition to McCurry’s photographs, Epson technology, inks and papers take a starring role.

The video is available on the following link: http://www.stevemccurryroma.it/allestimento.php?lang=eng

“We have a long history of collaboration with photographers”, said Martin Johns, Market Development Manager, Pro Graphics, Epson UK. “We are proud that Steve McCurry uses Epson technology to capture his extraordinary images and we are happy to support him in his new exhibition in Italy.”

For more information on Epson, please visit http://global.epson.com/

[Images credited to Steve McCurry exhibition images by Tommaso Martelli]