15 Dec 2024

Mimaki JV34-260 printer awarded 'Best of 2011' honour by Viscom

An international judging panel has honoured Mimaki with a Viscom ‘Best of 2011’ award for the JV34-260 baby grand format inkjet printer which was exhibited at the recent event in Dusseldorf.

The JV34-260 featured as a winner in the Large Format Print category and one of the main reasons for the award was its price/performance ratio. The jury felt that the printer’s ability to deliver a high volume of work for customers operating in the digital printing and advertising sectors at a market leading quality made it “a real workhorse”.

Capable of printing outdoor durable work as well as textiles (via transfer paper and sublimation inks) at widths up to 2.6m, its versatility enables companies of all sizes to operate with just one printer. Appreciating the importance of an award from the highly regarded international exhibition, John de la Roche – national sales manager for Mimaki’s exclusive UK & Irish distributor, Hybrid Services Ltd said. “We are delighted that the Mimaki JV34-260 has been recognised by Viscom’s judging panel and the award confirms our belief that the machine is a true printing thoroughbred.”

The Mimaki JV34-260 sports a multiple of array of the latest printheads arranged in an offset configuration, delivering an impressive combination of speed and quality. Supplied in the UK & Ireland with a 2 year warranty, Mimaki’s RasterLink Pro RIP software and with optional bulk ink system, it is a popular choice for companies wishing to move their print output to the next level.

Currently available with a £5,000 trade-in against any 1m or wider outdoor printer, further details can be found by visiting www.hybridservices.co.uk

BGP becomes the first print company to achieve 100% in BPIF’s Seal of Excellence

BGP has announced that it has become the first UK print company to achieve 100% in the British Print Industries Federation’s (BPIF) Seal of Excellence certification for Heath & Safety.  The new Seal of Excellence certification, which was launched by the BPIF earlier this year, is aimed at helping printers show their customers how they have been improving their performance in crucial areas, one of which is Health & Safety. 

Bgp group scored an amazing 100% in the audit requirements, and becomes the first company to have attained the 100% perfect score mark for the prestigious certification in the UK so far.

The company undertook a Seal of Excellence audit in October this year, having previously attained a 93% score in the Seal of Excellence Awards Health & Safety category earlier in the year.  Explaining the company’s achievement, Neil Ironmonger, Health & Safety Manager at bgp said, “Following our achievement at the awards, I called in Tom Rayer, the BPIF’s Health & Safety Adviser for the South West & Midlands Region to see if he could come in and put the company through a Seal of Excellence certification for Health & Safety, and hopefully help us achieve the 100% mark.

Tom then went into bgp to undertake the half-day audit on 17th October, following which he informed bgp they had passed with, “flying colours”, achieving the perfect score.  The comprehensive audit assesses the following criteria; Management of health & safety, control of machinery hazards, slips and trips, workplace transport, skin care & occupational dermatitis and COSHH assessments, upper limb disorders in general, lifting and handling of inanimate loads, working at height and fire.

Neil paid tribute to bgp’s senior management, whom he had said had been “extremely supportive” in terms of improving efficiencies and adhering to his requests.  “It’s also a great acknowledge to the staff, who have also played a major part in helping bgp to attain the award,” he stated.  "Together with their continued support, and the support of both Chairman David Holland and the Board, we can now work together towards achieving zero incidents at bgp.”

A follow-up assessment to ensure the company is continuing to comply with the audit’s criteria is carried out every 2 years.

[photo shows Neil Ironmonger, bgp Health & Safety Manager, with the BPIF certificate]

Oce pledges aid to international disaster zone charity

Océ has pledged aid to MapAction, an international charity for disaster zones that has Prince Harry as one of its patrons.  Agreement has been reached whereby an amount from each Océ ColorWave 600 printer sale to map organisations in the UK goes towards humanitarian life-saving rescue work in disaster-struck countries throughout the world.

The Océ ColorWave 600 is part of a family of wide-format production systems, which uses unique Océ CrystalPoint technology.  It is hoped that around £20,000 will be generated for MapAction by Océ within the first 12 months.

Prince Harry, the Royal Patron of the charity where volunteers of specially trained geographical information systems (GIS) professionals provide crisis support across the world at any time day or night, said, “MapAction harnesses technology to a powerful volunteer ethos. They are a real asset to the humanitarian cause.”

Before aid agencies can help in a crisis, they first require information, such as identifying the people in greatest need, what relief resources are needed and where it is needed. MapAction delivers data in mapped form, from information gathered at the disaster scene. By creating a ‘shared operational picture’, its service is crucial in coordinating response and delivering aid to the right place, quickly.

Details of Océ’s charity link-up with MapAction have been revealed following GeoCommunity 2011 where there were live print demonstrations on Océ’s ColorWave 600 system.

Roger Wedge, the Communications Director of MapAction, the charity that started with a first emergency response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has since been to 30 different humanitarian crises, said, “Mapping support during the early phases of a response is critical, as aid agencies and donors quickly try to understand the situation on the ground.

“We have been involved with many disasters over the world, more recently Haiti, Japan and Libya, where we took with us maps printed on the Océ ColorWave 600. In these emergencies we have supported thousands of different national and international aid teams bringing help to millions of people whose welfare and very existence have been threatened by devastating events.

“Clearly we can’t bring a printer with us, so it’s vital to be able to produce fantastic quality, detailed maps that could mean the difference between life and death situations. We are very grateful to Océ to agreeing to contribute to our fundraising in that they will give us an amount from each sale of an Océ ColorWave 600 to map organisations. The support from Océ is clearly a very important part of fundraising for us.”

Duncan Smith, Director of Océ UK’s Wide Format Printing, said: “As an international leader in digital document product systems and management, it’s reassuring that our award-winning Océ ColorWave 600 is helping out in a practical way in crisis-hit areas and we are delighted that sales to mapping organisations are helping to contribute cash aid.”

He added: “Océ and MapAction both exhibited at AGI GeoCommunity Conference 2011 – the largest independent UK GIS conference of the year – and visitors were amazed to witness live printing of maps within 60 seconds when they said their own systems normally take at least 20 minutes!”

Esri’s Peter Jolly, President of the British Cartographic Society, said at the conference: “Océ is one of the companies that provide a very fine product for the printed map.”

[photo shows Roger Wedge, Communications Director of MapAction, flanked by Richard Turner (left), Océ UK Wide Format Printing Systems Marketing Manager, and Ryan Milne (right), Océ UK Wide Format Printing Systems Product Manager, at the launch of the agreement to provide cash aid for MapAction]

Digital signage industry expected to grow throughout the Middle East by 26% in 2012

International Expo Consults (IEC) part of Falak Holding, one of UAE’s multi-faceted business conglomerates, stated that with the advent of new technology the ‘Digital Signage’ industry is expected to grow exponentially in 2012 across the region. As per the research carried out by Intel Corporation, the digital signage industry worldwide is growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 26 percent and predicts that the world will have over 22 million digital signs by 2015.

Digital signage is a form of electronic display that shows television programming, menus, information and advertising to name a few. Digital signs such as LCD, LED or projected images can be found in public and private environments, such as retail stores, hotels, restaurants and corporate buildings. According to a new report by Global Industry Analysts Inc. the global digital signage systems market is expected to reach $13.8 Billion by 2017.

“An emerging technology in this space, digital signage, has rewritten the rules of marketing, enabling enterprises to deliver information to their employees and customers more effectively. Furthermore, digital media technologies have completely transformed the landscape in which enterprise and media companies operate by enabling them to optimise their business processes. New delivery mechanisms have also allowed marketers to use innovative strategies to reach their customer bases effectively,” comments Mr. Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, Chairman of IEC. 

“The market sees digital signage as a more beneficial compared to static signage because content that updates frequently can be digitally updated, saving the cost of printing. Digital signage also has the ability to be interactive with imbedded touch screens, movement detection and image capture devices. Increasing adoption among a wider base of industrial sectors as an effective medium for interactive advertising and decreasing costs of purchasing, installation and maintenance also augurs well for the future of the market,” said Mr.Sharif Rahman, CEO, IEC.

IEC will unveil its 15th edition of the ‘Sign and Graphic Imaging Middle East’ (SGI) show in early 2012. The show will be held from January 31st - February 2nd at the Dubai World Trade Centre. SGI is one of the most anticipated events of the year in the region for exhibitors and visitors in the signage, outdoor media, screen and digital printing industries.

“It’s a special year for us and we will introduce new components such as the ‘Digital Signage’ and the ‘Digital Commerce’ industry sectors at our show next year. We had a strong turnout from across the GCC as well as East Africa, the Sub Continent, Europe, Asia among other geographies. The quality of visitors who attended the last edition of SGI Middle East was amongst the best we have ever seen and we expect the trend to continue into 2012,” added Mr.Rahman.

Screen UK partners with Roland to add powerful UV-curable platform to product range

Specialist pre-press and digital solutions supplier Screen UK has partnered with Roland DG (UK) to add a powerful yet cost-effective UV-curable platform to its existing wide-format product family. This agreement will result in greater penetration for Screen UK into the display and flexible packaging prototyping market segments which complements the company's existing systems for the inkjet, offset and flexo markets.

The Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 is a combination flat-bed and roll-fed wide-format printer designed and manufactured for high standards of finish on a variety of applications where durability and excellent ink adhesion are required. It incorporates CMYK, white and clear making it ideal for customised graphics and displays as well as packaging prototypes.

The addition of the VersaUV LEJ-640 to Screen's current product portfolio of inkjet solutions brings a high quality but low investment point to users who either want an auxiliary machine or who are entering the digital wide-format market for the first time. The inclusion of white ink makes it ideal for working with non-white and transparent materials, such as window films, whilst the clear varnish can be used to generate special finishes and textures.

"We have been increasing our presence significantly in the wide-format arena and needed a solution with a lower price point but which didn't compromise on production standards," says Bui Burke, Screen VP Sales. "Logically it made perfect sense to form a partnership with Roland DG at the quality end of inkjet printers. As we both have head offices and manufacturing in Japan, this gives us a natural synergy."

Screen UK introduced the Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 to a diverse range of end users at the company's recent Widescreen 2011 event held at its Milton Keynes UK headquarters. This open house proved to be the ideal location for launching the partnership as it was supported by material and finishing specialists and attended by customers interested in investing in specialist inkjet solutions.

The addition of the 1.62m Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 augments Screen's existing wide-format UV-curable platforms, and the company sees the machine complementing the capabilities of its own Truepress Jet2500 2.5m system. It will appeal to commercial printers wanting to extend into inkjet production at a realistic price point, as well as to existing customers who need to add to their digital capabilities with a versatile solution which can be used to output on to rigid and flexible materials.

The Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 perpetuates the company's philosophy of producing wide-format inkjet platforms which lead on innovative technology and capabilities. Designed to be easy to use, the machine features rear and front folding tables to support rigid substrates up to 13mm thick and 250 x 1625mm in size, with fast change-over to roll-fed mode.

Incorporating low cost, long life LED curing, the Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 is claimed to have the lowest power consumption in its class, and utilises Eco-UV inks and a maximum output resolution of 1440 x 1440dpi. It is supplied with Roland VersaWorks production software which includes full support for the Roland Color System for accurate reproduction of spot colours, plus 72 ready-to-use textures that can be applied to designs incorporating clear varnish.

Mat Drake, Business Manager – Commercial Print, at Roland DG sums up: "We're seeing increasing opportunities within the offset litho and flexo sectors for users wanting to reap the benefits of a quality wide-format device. Our partnership with Screen UK enables us to combine experience and resources for print companies looking to bring proofing, prototyping and a wide range of print options in-house."

 

Clarity launches low cost e-marketing tool ideal for sign & display businesses

Clarity Software has launched a new online product designed to make it easier for small and mediium-sized businesses - including sign and display companies - to manage and deliver successful online marketing campaigns.

Clarity Marketing, a trading division of Clarity Software, is a software system based purely 'in the cloud' at www.clarity-marketing.com and is available to anyone; regardless of whether they have a Clarity MIS system installed.

With prices starting from just £10 per month, Clarity Marketers can use the simple designer to publish branded and personalised bulk email messages to users. The system tracks the open, click-through and forward rates, and creates graphical charts and graphs to present detailed reports in an easy, quick-glance view.

Many businesses find it hard to segregate and organise their contacts and end up with a messy database which is hard to manage. This was a key factor in the system's development, with product developer David Moxon creating a drag and drop interface to add unique tags to contacts and enable users to build highly targeted lists to optimise success.

Clarity Marketing aims remove the technical obstacles of internet marketing, making it easy to increase revenues and improve customer service. Clarity Marketing's product director Emerson Welch explains, “E-marketing is one of the most cost-effective strategies currently available to businesses, and we wanted to give SMEs the best chance of reaping the benefits of it, irrespective of their knowledge and proficiency.”

“Our online system helps you organise your contact data, find your ideal target audience and tailor messages to trigger the best possible campaign responses. It can be used for sales generation or to improve customer service with proactive and reactive messages, and even allows you to manage offline campaigns alongside online ones.”

Emerson continues, “We've made it as simple as possible with an educational marketing workflow, whilst retaining powerful flexibility for impressive brand creative design under a supportive campaign infrastructure.”

“This is such an exciting product and we have a huge road map of features to come, including social media integration, website integration, geo-location and powerful fully-automated response mechanisms.”

Customers beta-trialling the system have already chosen to invest, and the official launch at the recent Clarity Software User Group Meeting generated an overwhelming response, with many attendees activating their free 30-day trial the same day.  Clarity Marketing says it will change the way SMEs carry out their online sales generation and service communications.

For more information, please visit www.clarity-marketing.com