Large Format Review - Business News

 

A whole new look is in store for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) thanks to wide-format inkjet printing technology from Roland DGA Corp. A partnership between the two companies, announced today, establishes Roland DGA as the exclusive printer manufacturer for RCR, a legendary performer on the NASCAR racing circuit and home to three of the top 2010 Sprint Cup Series Chase finishers, including Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer.

“We are honoured to partner with Richard Childress Racing,” said Dave Goward, president and CEO of Roland DGA Corp. “Years of prestigious wins have made RCR a NASCAR legend and favorite among racing fans everywhere. We look forward to sharing in the excitement of this amazing organisation.”

The partnership equips RCR’s new state-of-the-art Graphics Centre with Roland’s most advanced wide-format inkjet printers and printer/cutters including SOLJET PRO III XC-540MT and VersaCAMM VS inkjet printer/cutters featuring Roland’s award-winning Metallic Silver ECO-SOL MAX ink. Through the partnership, RCR will open its campus-like facility located in Welcome, North Carolina, to Roland for training classes, dealer meetings, product demonstrations and other events, and will offer additional support to Roland advertising and marketing campaigns.

Since opening the RCR graphics studio, Roland printers have been working around the clock to wrap RCR’s extensive inventory of racing cars and trucks, show cars and delivery vehicles.

“Roland printers provide RCR’s in-house graphics department with quality, speed, reliability and the ability to print and cut graphics in one seamless effort,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. “Roland printers will give our vehicles a new look and feel, as well as allow us the quality control and quick turnaround we were looking for.”

 

An important new distribution agreement between CMYUK Digital and A Berger will result in the German specialist digital textile manufacturer’s full range of versatile products being available in the UK. This arrangement covers the Krefeld based company’s entire portfolio of materials, which can now be obtained from a single source supplier in this country for the first time.

Suitable for direct and transfer dye sublimation printers, such as those from Mimaki and Mutoh, A Berger’s materials can also be used with most other ink chemistries, including HP’s latex printing technologies. Similarly, there are many products in the company’s catalogue which are ideal for UV-curable and solvent-based systems, with many of the textiles having a universal capability to bring them added versatility.

For CMYUK Digital, the addition of Berger’s digital textiles to its range of products and services is a logical move for the specialist distributor of wide-format printing solutions as it reflects the increasing interest from printers using all types of machine who want to benefit from these materials. The comprehensive range of media includes typical fabrics used for soft signs, flags and banners and also encompasses the rapid growth in demand from the home furnishing and interior décor markets.

Similarly, for point-of-sale and retail advertising, CMYUK Digital is addressing the move towards polyester-based media not only for its lighter weight and ease of handling but also because of the potential to be recycled. Most of the Berger materials also carry B1/M1 fire ratings, thus making them suitable for interior applications, such as light boxes, back-lits and furnishings.

CMYUK Digital’s Jon Price states: “Everyone is predicting a huge increase in interest for digital textiles in the UK but, until now, it hasn’t been easy to obtain high quality materials from a long-standing manufacturer and converter. By bringing Berger’s products to this country we know we can extend the potential of these fabrics into a wealth of different display and décor arenas.

“For users of dye sublimation printers, both direct and transfer, the Berger portfolio of PES and PP polyester-based textiles will enhance the production opportunities available within the digital printing market,” Price continues. “Additionally we expect to see an increase in textile production from companies that have invested in other ink technologies, including HP’s latex plus aqueous-based, solvent-based and UV-curable systems.”

Because CMYUK Digital has decided to offer the entire catalogue of materials from A Berger this means that a vast range of PVC-free products is now available on the UK market for the first time. The company’s textiles bring more environmentally friendly alternatives to users of wide-format digital printers, with art and stretch canvases, black-out and noise-absorbing acoustic media complementing the more commonly employed options used for banners, flags, inflatables, umbrellas and framed displays.

“Although the potential of Berger materials is huge within the dye sublimation market, moving into digital textile production doesn’t mean having to buy a new printer,” concludes Price. “With such a broad selection of media options now available from the company, every ink formulation can be accommodated with reliable, robust coatings on a choice of high quality polyester-based fabrics.”

With a long history in the production of textiles, going back to the late 19th century, in 1977 the original company Schüssler took over its customer A Berger whose primary activities today concentrate on the development of textiles for digital printing. The growing, comprehensive portfolio of materials is designed to cater for all ink technologies and every type of application where polyesters and mixes can be used to replace conventional display products.

CMYUK Digital is the UK authorised distributor for EFI VUTEk UV-curable wide-format printers and Mutoh’s Viper TX 1.6 and 2.2 m direct-to-textile system, designed for the soft sign and display markets. The company also supplies the Zünd G3 contour cutting solution, as well as a selection of OEM inks for a variety of manufacturers.

Epson has signed a global sponsorship agreement to become Official Office Equipment Partner to Manchester United, one of the world’s most famous football clubs.

The agreement, which starts immediately, sees Epson, one of the leading manufacturers of printers, projectors and scanners worldwide, supply Manchester United with its equipment throughout Old Trafford.  The deal will see Epson align its brand with the world-class club and raise its profile in Europe and globally where the club is followed.

The partnership is launched at Old Trafford today, ahead of Saturday’s game against Blackburn Rovers, with manager Sir Alex Ferguson, chief executive David Gill and the entire first team squad in attendance.

Speaking at the launch event Epson’s Global President, Mr Minoru Usui, said: “The partnership with Manchester United aligns Epson with an exciting and globally recognised brand, bringing us closer to our customers worldwide.  Leading the way through constant creativity and innovation both brands share a commitment to achieving the highest standards.  Our vision to excite and inspire customers is represented by Manchester United’s success on the pitch and the unique printer and projector technologies for which Epson is renowned.”

Epson expects the agreement to allow the brand to get closer to its customers and their passions. Epson believes in giving something back to the communities in which it operates and there are strong synergies with Manchester United, who also has a strong community spirit and is well-known for its local community programmes.

Manchester United’s chief executive David Gill said: “We are obviously delighted to have Epson as one of our commercial partners with immediate effect and are looking forward to developing an exciting communications programme that helps us both achieve our business goals.  Epson is a superb global brand, that sits perfectly alongside our existing partners.”

The agreement will be announced to fans at half time during the game against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, 27 November.

 

 

Large Format Review (LFR) today announced it has achieved massive growth in its readership figures. October 2010 was the first month ever where the site recorded over 500,000 hits.

Breaking down this data further, there were 33,000 unique visits from 10,000 unique IP addresses - averaging over 1000 unique visits per day.  Over 128,000 individual pages were served to LFR users.

Abi Ricketts, the recently appointed editor of LFR, comments, “These readership figures back up the fact that LFR is the large format digital printing industry’s fastest-growing online news portal.  Visitors to the site are able to find out what is newsworthy in the large format digital printing industry in a format that clearly suits them.”

Graph on the left shows statistics for year up to October 2010, whilst graph on the right shows growth since site launch in April 2009 - we are working hard behind the scenes to ensure this rate of growth continues.

 

Making the most of LFR - suppliers and manufacturers:

We would encourage all industry suppliers and manufacturers to send their news stories and press releases to us - this is a completely free service that will see your story displayed on the LFR website, as well as going out to our weekly eNews list (26,000 recipients).

If you contract out your PR, please ensure that they have included newsdesk@largeformatreview.com on their distribution list. You can also add colleagues and contractors that you think would be interested in receiving our Weekly eNews Bulletins by clicking here - they will be sent an email asking to confirm their acceptance.

For those looking for a bigger and more permanent presence, you could consider advertising on the LFR website.  As stated above, our website now gets over 1,000 unique visitors every single day from large format print professionals looking for new products and new opportunities.

Download our Media Pack for the latest information.

 

Making the most of LFR - print providers...

Send us your case studies or success stories and put your name up in lights. Bought a new printer recently? Tell us why, and let the world know that your business is developing. Again send such stories to newsdesk@largeformatreview.com - it's completely free.

 

Interact with LFR...

As well as our main website at www.largeformatreview.com, you can also find us online on Twitter and LinkedIn

We can particularly recommend Linkedin; developed specifically for business, Linkedin doesn’t run the risk of blurring your professional life with your private one; and with more than 25 million users, it serves virtually every industry and profession.

So why not come and join us on the LFR Group, where you can read the latest News, start conversations with, and canvas opinion from, a network of LFP professionals that are already on Linkedin. You can even use Linkedin to find employees (or employment).

 

Designed to provide an exciting yet practical demonstration suite for new and existing customers, Roland DG (UK) has opened its innovative Creative Centre as its UK head-quarters in Somerset. Located just minutes off the M5 at Clevedon, this new facility has been planned to show all of the company's solutions in a walk-through lay-out, with its families of machines complemented by comprehensive production examples from each system.

The Roland Creative Centre is rich in the types and varieties of application which can be produced using its equipment, including full-colour wide-format printers, high quality vinyl cutting, routing and engraving. These examples of output show how the company's systems can generate productive and unusual solutions, demonstrating how even modest investments can be used to create profitable, eye-catching work on all types of material.

The layout of the new Creative Centre enables visitors to view the production processes, from start to finish, showing initial designs being processed before being passed to the output device. Full-colour jobs can be seen generated with Roland's VersaWorks RIP before being sent to one of the company's printers, and the same artwork can be used to demonstrate how the different ink technologies can be used for high quality and unusual results.

Unlike most showrooms, the purpose of the Creative Centre is to emulate a true production environment so that visitors can see how Roland's machines work in day-to-day situations. Visitors can also compare solutions to assess which suits them best with experts always on-hand to discuss creative opportunities and how they can be generated using the best combinations of machine and material.

"Roland's existing and potential customers come from all walks of life, and various different areas of commerce and industry; because we know every requirement is different, we understand the importance of not categorising our solutions or our users," states Jerry Davies, managing director of Roland DG (UK). "The concept of digital production means that it can be used by everyone, from start-ups through to established organisations wanting to enter into new markets. The comprehensive suite of systems displayed in our Creative Centre shows new avenues of flexibility and versatility for a vast range of business opportunities."

The Creative Centre takes visitors through all the different processes on offer from Roland, and how results can be created quickly and easily. The solutions demonstrated include photo impact engravers and production options for rapid prototyping, reverse engineering, precision milling and engraving. These are complemented by the company's renowned families of vinyl cutters, and the latest generation of wide-format ink-jet systems including print-and-cut automation, featuring solvent-based metallic and white inks and UV-curable options, again with white ink, plus clear varnish.

Davies concludes: "Our Creative Centre offers far more than a demonstration suite, enabling users to stretch their creativity and gain ideas about how to generate more profitability. All of our production solutions are backed up by our comprehensive RolandCare support, and specialist courses at the Roland Academy are available for users wanting to move into new business opportunities which we can help them unleash."

 

 

HP today announced financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2010, with net revenue of $33.3 billion, up 8% from the prior-year period including a slight negative currency impact of about one percentage point.

In the fourth quarter, GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $1.10, up 11% from $0.99 in the prior-year period. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.33, up 17% from $1.14 in the prior-year period. Non-GAAP financial information excludes after-tax costs of approximately $0.23 per share and $0.15 per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 and 2009, respectively, related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

"HP proved once again that it is able to execute given its market strengths and technology leadership," said Léo Apotheker, HP president and chief executive officer. "I have seen firsthand that we have talented people who are focused on delivering value for our customers. Our market opportunity is vast, and I am confident that we will extend our leadership into the future."

"HP continued to execute in the fourth quarter, delivering growth, expanding margins and increasing earnings per share double digits," said Cathie Lesjak, HP executive vice president and chief financial officer. "We continue to invest in the business, in sales and in R&D, while driving further efficiencies."

Information about HP's use of non-GAAP financial information is provided under "Use of non-GAAP financial information" below. Unless otherwise noted, all growth rates included in the narrative below reflect year-over-year comparisons.

Full Year Fiscal 2010

Net revenue for the full fiscal year 2010 was $126.0 billion, up 10% compared with the prior-year or up 8% when adjusted for the effects of currency. GAAP operating profit was $11.5 billion, and GAAP diluted EPS was $3.69, up from $3.14 in the prior year. Non-GAAP operating profit was $14.4 billion, and non-GAAP diluted EPS was $4.58, up from $3.85 in the prior-year. Non-GAAP financial information excludes $2.1 billion of adjustments on an after-tax basis, or $0.89 per diluted share, related to the amortization of purchased intangible assets, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2010

Fourth quarter revenue was up 10% in the Americas to $15.1 billion. Revenue was up 6% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and up 8% in Asia Pacific to $12.4 billion and $5.8 billion, respectively. When adjusted for the effects of currency, revenue was up 9% in the Americas, up 11% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and up 3% in Asia Pacific. Revenue from outside of the United States in the fourth quarter accounted for 64% of total HP revenue, with revenue in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) increasing 12% while accounting for 10% of total HP revenue.

Services

Services revenue increased 0.4% to $9.0 billion in the fourth quarter. Revenue in each of Infrastructure Technology Outsourcing, Application Services and Technology Services grew roughly 1%. Business Process Outsourcing revenue was down 11%, including a 7% negative impact due to the divestiture of ExcellerateHRO, LLP (EHRO). Operating profit was $1.5 billion, or 16.7% of revenue, up from $1.4 billion, or 16.2% of revenue, in the prior-year period.

Enterprise Storage and Servers

Enterprise Storage and Servers (ESS) reported total revenue of $5.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up 25%. Industry Standard Server revenue increased 32%, while Storage revenue increased 14% and Business Critical Systems revenue grew 10%. ESS blade revenue was up 51%. Operating profit was $730 million, or 13.9% of revenue, up from $481 million, or 11.4% of revenue, in the prior-year period.

HP Software

HP Software revenue increased roughly 1% to $974 million in the fourth quarter. Business Technology Optimization revenue increased 4%, and Other Software revenue decreased 6%. Operating profit was $247 million, or 25.4% of revenue, up from $234 million, or 24.2% of revenue, in the prior-year period.

Personal Systems Group

Personal Systems Group (PSG) revenue increased 4% to $10.3 billion in the fourth quarter. HP maintained the leading market share position in PCs worldwide with a 2% increase in unit shipments. Notebook revenue for the quarter was down 3% from the prior year period, while Desktop revenue increased 13%. Commercial client revenue was up 20%, while Consumer client revenue declined 10%. Operating profit improved to $568 million, or 5.5% of revenue, up from $460 million, or 4.7% of revenue, in the prior-year period.

Imaging and Printing Group

Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) revenue increased 8% to $7.0 billion in the fourth quarter. Supplies revenue was up 6%, while Commercial hardware revenue and Consumer hardware revenue were up 22% and down 2%, respectively. Printer unit shipments increased 14%, with Commercial printer hardware units up 43% and Consumer printer hardware units up 7%. Operating profit was $1.2 billion, or 17.4% of revenue, versus $1.2 billion, or 18.1% of revenue, in the prior-year period.

Corporate Investments

HP Networking revenue increased 227% overall in the fourth quarter including the impact of the 3Com acquisition, which was completed last April. ProCurve revenue grew 50% over the prior-year period.

HP Financial Services

HP Financial Services (HPFS) revenue increased 11% to $809 million in the fourth quarter. Financing volume increased 11%, and net portfolio assets increased 14%. Operating profit was $73 million, up from $66 million in the prior-year period.

Asset management

HP generated $3.2 billion in cash flow from operations for the fourth quarter. Inventory ended the quarter at $6.5 billion, with days of inventory flat year over year at 23 days. Accounts receivable of $18.5 billion was up 2 days year over year. Accounts payable ended the quarter at $14.4 billion, down 5 days from the prior-year period. HP's dividend payment of $0.08 per share in the fourth quarter resulted in cash usage of $181 million. HP also utilised $4.0 billion of cash during the quarter to repurchase approximately 96 million shares of common stock in the open market. HP exited the quarter with $11.0 billion in gross cash.

Outlook

For the first quarter of fiscal 2011, HP estimates revenue of approximately $32.8 billion to $33.0 billion, GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $1.06 to $1.08, and non-GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $1.28 to $1.30. First quarter fiscal 2011 GAAP and non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates include a one-time gain of approximately $0.04 per share primarily related to the disposition of real estate.

First quarter fiscal 2011 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.22 per share, related primarily to the amortisation of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

HP expects full year fiscal 2011 revenue in the range $132 billion to $133.5 billion, GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $4.42 to $4.52, and non-GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $5.16 to $5.26. GAAP and non-GAAP diluted EPS includes a one-time gain of approximately $0.04 per share primarily related to the disposition of real estate.

Full year fiscal 2011 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.74 per share, related primarily to the amortisation of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.