Business - Applications

Following discussions with a local charity, Your Sign Company took on the challenge of preparing a variety of vehicles for the 8000kms rally to the Sahara desert.
 
With a number of business men and women involved not only was the brief to "race up" the vehicles, but also to promote the rally and the many businesses involved. With the rally not due to commence until September, the cars can currently be seen touring around the country, as well as attending various shows and shopping centres.
 
The range of cars was diverse and included a £150,000 Bentley GTC, a Range Rover Sport, a Monster truck and a number of 4x4 vehicles. All the vehicles were fully or part wrapped in Your Sign Company's purpose-designed Cambridgeshire premises.
 
"It was great have such a diverse range of vehicles coming through the doors to really test our ability" comments Nick Dowell, Director.  "The rally raises funds for a great cause and as well as all of the vehicle livery, we also supplied a mountain of exhibition displays for the charity dinner event held in early February"
 
Details of the rally can be found at www.sahararally.net

In business, delivering a winning performance and stealing the show typically requires an extra edge over competitors, something that Bruno Schmitz, co-owner of Belgium-based Schmitz Digital Printing sprl, knows all about.

Created in 1988 as a producer of traditional signs, Schmitz has developed into one of the country's foremost suppliers of digitally produced indoor and outdoor large-format graphics across a host of applications for the domestic market, as well as in France and Luxembourg.

This achievement can be attributed to the company's continual investment in new equipment and steady expansion at its original facilities in Ciney. Other factors include a genuine and enthusiastic desire to limit the impact of its operations on the environment; a commitment promoted by Schmitz under its 'Green Attitude' slogan.

Schmitz's eco-responsible attitude was formally recognised last year when the company became Europe's first large format digital print business to receive the coveted Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)(1) certification, a management tool for companies and organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance.

For Bruno Schmitz, achieving the EMAS accreditation was based in no small measure on the company's installation last summer of a HP Scitex LX800 Printer. Running water-based HP Latex Inks, the LX800 offers an increased print width of 3.2m and was acquired by Schmitz as the business sought to upgrade its existing but smaller, HP Scitex LX600 Printer(2).

"Being awarded the EMAS certification required our business to undertake a range of different environmentally responsible methods and practices over a long period of time, but it goes without saying that the HP Scitex LX800 proved pivotal to seeing us make the grade," said Schmitz.

"The LX800 is key to our ability - and indeed our increasing need - to offer customers improved application versatility by printing to a broader spectrum of media," he added. "The fact that we can undertake a virtually limitless array of projects, while still achieving exceptionally good print quality at high production speeds is testament to the fact that the LX800 can uphold its green credentials without compromising in other key areas."

As was the case with the company's HP LX600 printer, the LX800 at Schmitz enables the production team to output printed graphics for use in working environments where odour is a concern, including hospitals or restaurants(3).

The LX800 also eliminates the need for special ventilation(4) at the company's own 2000m2 print facility. Moreover, according to Schmitz, its ability to produce wider prints, delivers added value in terms of responding to the business' needs, as well as to those of its customers.

"Investing in HP Latex Inks technology in 2009 was absolutely the right move for our company and we were keen to be among the first to employ this technology when it was introduced. Beyond the performance attributes, it is aligned to our Green Attitude ethos and significantly strengthened our case for achieving the EMAS certification," added Schmitz. "When the larger LX800 was launched, we were immediately interested, as the increase in width from 2.6m to 3.2m allows us to ramp up production throughput while affording us greater flexibility."

Having installed the LX800 for only a couple of weeks, Schmitz soon had the opportunity to put the printer through its paces on a project commissioned by the organisers of Belgium's renowned Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur (FIFF).

The company subsequently produced a stunning visual communications package for the 25th edition of the FIFF - every aspect was printed using HP Latex Printing Technologies. This included a 50 x 1.6m banner containing 100 large format prints of iconic French-speaking film industry figures, which adorned the exterior of one of the central marquees during the festival.

"As well as the exterior photographs, we also produced a number of gloss, panel-backed re-prints that we affixed to the interior of the same marquee," explained Schmitz. "The HP water-based latex inks really made a difference here, thanks to their odour-free(3) attributes. Upholding the integrity of the original images to ensure as faithful a reproduction as possible, was paramount. Also, despite using two different substrates, it was also vital that we maintained colour consistency and print quality across the whole series of prints."

Having produced the FIFF project on time and to the complete satisfaction of the client, Schmitz acknowledges that the speed of the LX800 played an important role in making sure production ran smoothly. "As is frequently the case with certain jobs we manage, 80 percent of artwork is provided by the client early on, but it's the other 20 percent that can typically arrive at the 11th hour and sometimes leave precious little time to deliver everything on time," he continued. "The same scenario was true of this particular project, but the impressive speed of the LX800 meant that we were not hamstrung from a time perspective and were easily able to complete the job to deadline with even a little time to spare."

As well as the series of interior and exterior large format photographs, the FIFF project saw Schmitz print around 100 large format flags and banners to promote the event. Measuring 80 x 250cm and 100 x 300cm these were hung throughout Namur's streets to ensure ample branding presence was provided in advance of and during the film festival. To further grab the attention of both visitors and the city's inhabitants Schmitz was also commissioned to decorate a fleet of more than a dozen official FIFF vehicles with full-colour event graphics. This entailed producing around 40m2 of self-adhesive vinyl on the HP Scitex LX800 Printer, the result of which, Schmitz confirms, captivated the some 30,000-strong crowd of spectators and added an additional head-turning element throughout the eight-day long celebration of Francophonic cinema.

As the curtain fell on the festival, Schmitz acknowledges the leading role played by his most recent digital print acquisition. "We were delighted with the stunning visual quality of the entire printed visual communications package, as was the client, who was keen to source a supplier who could handle a range of different graphic applications for the festival's 25th edition," he said.  "Although this obviously put us in the frame from the outset, the fact that we would be using solutions that are designed for the environment, definitely clinched the deal on this one."

Challenge

• Print wider images while maintaining high speed production with and high output quality
• Undertake print for major film festival, faithfully reproducing iconic photographs by upholding integrity of the original artwork

Solution

• HP Scitex LX800 Printer
• HP Latex Inks

Results

• Stunning package of attention-grabbing graphics, delivered on time and to client satisfaction
• Achieved client objective of utilising solutions designed for the environment, achieved

 

(1) EMAS is a management tool for companies and organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance. Companies can cut costs by reducing consumption of resources, such as energy and water and by minimising the use and waste of materials. EMAS came into force in 1995. Today, more than 5,200 organisations, covering over 7,500 sites, are registered with EMAS. The scheme has recently been revised to reduce costs and bureaucracy, for example by the use of tools like EMASeasy, and to enable organisations located outside the EU to participate.

(2) Formerly known as the HP Designjet L65500 Printer.

(3) Printers using HP Latex Inks use internal heaters to dry and cure the latex polymer film. Some Substrates may have an inherent odour.

(4)  Special ventilation is not required to meet US OSHA requirements on occupational exposure to VOCs from HP Latex Inks. Special ventilation equipment installation is at the discretion of the customer-no specific HP recommendation is intended. Customers should consult state and local requirements and regulations.
 

A 1,000-strong fleet of vans used by workers carrying out essential repairs and maintenance to homes across the UK has been given a brand-new look - with a little help from a major West Midlands signs company.

Lovell Respond - the response and planned maintenance business of national affordable housing specialist Lovell - commissioned Birmingham-based Hollywood Monster to re-brand 1,000 vans at key depots in Wales, Scotland, and throughout England. 

The vans, property of Connaught Partnerships when it went into administration in September, were transferred to Lovell as a part of the company’s acquisition of an interest in the majority of Connaught Partnerships’ contracts and related assets.

The Connaught branding has now been removed and replaced with Lovell and Lovell Respond branding – a major exercise for Hollywood Monster’s team. The company committed 10 fitters to work on the contract for two months, completing around 100 vehicles per week.

Hollywood Monster managing director Tim Andrews said:  “This was the biggest contract of its type for us and I am pleased that we have been able to efficiently deliver the support Lovell Respond needed to ensure that essential maintenance work has been able to continue without interruption.

“It has been a massive challenge to rebrand 1,000 vehicles in a relatively short space of time at locations as far afield as Scotland, Wales, Plymouth and Norwich. As each of the new Lovell contracts began, we had to react immediately. The project has involved mass planning for the company and all departments have been pulling together to ensure the job is perfect.  Our client has been impressed with our communication and fast turnaround and we are determined to ensure this high level of service continues.”

The venture also includes a re-brand of numerous office buildings in the form of exterior branding signage and interior reception signage.

Lovell managing director Stewart Davenport said: “Keeping the workforce on the road and able to deliver vital maintenance services for our customers has been our priority. The support we received from Hollywood Monster has been superb and we are delighted with the new-look fleet.” Lovell has its national head office in Tamworth, Staffordshire, while the company’s Midlands regional office is in Birmingham.

As the largest graphics solutions business in the West Midlands region, Hollywood Monster’s skilled craftsmen provide clients all over the UK with a range of graphics and digitally printed products – from an A4 sign board to the largest building wrap or structure. We are experts in consultancy, project management and planning, offering a bespoke service from supply only to a fully experienced, safe and insured installation service.

Hollywood Monster services a variety of industries across the UK including:  industrial, commercial and residential construction & development; retail; professional services; exhibition; event and stadium; museum & theatrical. Hollywood Monster was created in August 2009 with the coming together of sister companies Hollywood Signs and Monster Digital. Employing in excess of 55 people, the 30,000 sq ft premises is situated in the centre of the UK, providing an excellent distribution centre to the rest of the UK, complemented by sales offices in Birmingham and London.

Photo caption: Tim Andrews, managing director of Hollywood Monster, and Stewart Davenport (in mirror), managing director of Lovell, display the newly rebranded maintenance vans.

Avery Dennison, in conjunction with Mutoh America, will offer ten car wrap training sessions around North America in 2011 as part of its Car Wrap Training Program. Master installer Justin Pate will teach the classes using Avery Dennison's vehicle wrap materials, MPI 1005 Supercast Easy Apply RS, with Avery DOL overlaminates.

"We had an exceptional response to our joint vehicle wrap training program with Mutoh in 2010," said Paul Roba. "We're building on that success and tailoring this year's program to serve the needs of the growing wrap business."

Justin Pate, a globally recognised graphic installer, will teach all of the wrap classes utilising Avery MPI 1005 Easy Apply RS, a popular choice with installers because it is easy to use and quick to install with excellent printability.

"Over my 15-year career, I have wrapped more than 2,500 vehicles," said Pate. "I developed my Universal Graphics Installation System (UGIS) as a result of that experience. UGIS is a fluid, easy-to-learn installation system that reduces mistakes and ensures quality, resulting in significantly lower install times."

The Avery / Mutoh Car Wrap Training Program is designed to provide wrap installers with an in-depth understanding of graphic installation techniques to gain a competitive advantage in the vehicle wrap industry.

As a sponsor of the 2011 Car Wrap Training Program, Mutoh will provide printed graphics with their Mutoh ValueJet 1614-64. This printer is the "Wrapper's Choice" for speed, size and quality. It includes the i2: Intelligent Interweaving Print Technique, a dot control system that virtually eliminates banding and increases quality of output.

The workshop consists of two days of training and an optional third day for a wrap certification test. Training sessions will focus on all of the critical steps needed to improve the quality and speed of car wrap installations. Class sizes will be maintained at a maximum of 15 students to allow for more one on one teaching. The subjects that will be covered include:

• Tools
• Properties of the film
• Removals
• Cleaning
• UGIS: Universal Graphic Installation System
• Layout/Key Panel
• Registration
• Problem Solving
• Hardware Removals
• Post Install Tips

Participants of the class will receive an NT Cutter A-551P knife, Avery Toolkit including print media and laminate, and a Martor safety box.

Car Wrap Training Sessions will be held:

• March 3-5, Dallas, TX
• Sign Warehouse, 2614 Texoma Drive, Denison, Texas 75020
• March 7-9, Orlando, FL (Location to be announced)
• May 2-4, Los Angeles, CA
• May 5-7, Phoenix, AZ
• July 28-30, New York, NY
• August 1-3, Atlanta, GA
• September 8-10, Toronto, ON, Canada
• September 12-14, Dallas, TX
• October 27-29, Chicago, IL
• October 31-November 2, Seattle, WA

 

Arlon and Mutoh America team up for the third year in a row to sponsor the Graphics of the Americas Vehicle Wrap Centre that will be featured at the GOA tradeshow in Orlando, FL on February 24 - 26, 2011. Arlon will be featuring DPF 6000XRP, a 2-mil cast film with X-scape technology which will be used for vehicle wrap demonstrations throughout the show. These free instructional demos will be running each day of the show to educate end-users on the proper techniques and tools needed to complete a profitable vehicle wrap. The demonstration times for February 24th and 25th will be 11AM, 1PM and 4PM and February 26th the sessions will be at 11AM and 1PM.

All graphics will be printed on Mutoh Americas ValueJet 1614-64" printer and it will also be exhibited in the wrap centre booth along with Mutoh's ValueJet 1304-54" printer and Kona 65" plotter.

"Arlon is very excited to be able to take part in the Graphics of the Americas Vehicle Wrap Center and partner up with Mutoh once again," said Phil LaFata, VP of Marketing and International Sales, Arlon. "This year's wrap demonstrations will be highly informative for printers and installers targeting the wrap segment."

 

 

With the winter season underway at mountain resorts across Europe, the team at French large-format print specialist, Light Air, just finalised a massive print job on behalf of leading mountain-sports equipment manufacturer, Rossignol. This saw the Lyon-based company produce a series of wide-format graphics for the high-focus Rossignol Demo Tour—a multi-country, multi-resort alpine roadshow comprising events that allow skiers and snowboarders to test (for free) the company's latest equipment ranges.

"Rossignol's brief was succinct and clear," said Light Air's Commercial Director, Jean-Baptiste Aguettant. "We needed to produce 'intense, jaw-dropping printed graphics which would uphold a brand image that embodies superior quality, attractive design and high reliability.'"

This winter, ten European countries will play host to the Rossignol Demo Tour, which between them will stage around 110 individual test events. Given the scale and importance of the Tour, Rossignol sought a print partner that could deliver on two key prerequisites: first, to produce stunning promotional graphics that would maximise its visual impact and ensure head-turning interest throughout each resort; secondly, to do so by employing print technology that would not betray Rossignol's environmental philosophy and century-old respect for the mountains.

According to Aguettant, this combined requirement perfectly matched Light-Air's service offering, which is spearheaded by a trio of HP large-format digital inkjet printers, the most recent of which is the HP Scitex LX600 Printer, running water-based HP Latex Inks. This print stable has, in only a short space of time, seen Light Air earn a reputation as a fast provider of vibrant wide-format graphics that embrace a plethora of outdoor advertising and branding applications.

"We moved into large format printing only five-years ago and at FESPA 2007 were amazed at the potential of the high-speed, five-metre HP XL1500," he said. "Until then, we were focused more on traditional neon signs and had to sub-contract our large-format requirements to other print providers, which was not only expensive, but didn't give us full control over the quality of our production. Today, our print facility is 100 percent HP and our own appreciation for greener technology is demonstrated by the fact that we were the first print service provider in France to install the versatile HP Scitex LX600. The blend of attributes afforded by our printing arm meant that we ticked all the boxes for Rossignol, and as such, we are the sole supplier for this multi-country showcase."

Kicking off in Italy at the end of November, the focal point of Rossignol's Demo Tour centres on a purpose-built, specially-branded 'demo village'. This is set to comprise a series of massive inflatables, including two 36 sqm and 20 sqm tents, 3m-high totems and several huge arches marking the foot of ski runs. More importantly, these will all be adorned with attention-grabbing company and event logos featuring in-built durability to withstand the outdoor use and inevitable adverse weather conditions demanded of the six-month ski season. Additional promotional branding will be provided by a series of 6m-tall vertical flags, as well as a fleet of more than 30 support vehicles covered with self-adhesive vinyl graphics that also sport the Tour's official livery.

"In total, we will probably have printed around 265 sqm of banner material and used about 20 sqm of adhesive," continued Aguettant. "However, as with most of the projects that come through our door, despite knowing that this one was due, we only ended up having a week in which to complete the job."

Working to such an extremely tight turnaround from receipt of artwork to delivery of printed materials to Rossignol was, Aguettant acknowledged, no mean feat. Indeed, he is quick to highlight the massive contribution played by the HP LX600 Printer, whose odourless, water-based inks, he says, achieve a performance comparable to low- or eco-solvent inks. The printer features three 108mm HP 786 Designjet Printheads supporting a firing frequency of up to 24 KHz. Each contains two colours of ink and 1,200 nozzles per inch—or 10,560 nozzles per printhead. This enables Light Air to produce high-resolution prints at up to 1200dpi, while meeting the demands of high-speed, 70m2 production-volume printing.

"The beauty of the LX600 is that, not only can it help lower the impact of printing on the environment—thereby fulfilling an increasing customer stipulation to use greener production methods—but in doing so, it doesn't compromise one iota on speed or quality," he explained. "Instead, we benefit from fantastic image quality at very high production speeds, which given the seemingly impossible timeframes with which we sometimes have to contend, have meant the difference on more than one occasion."

As a company, Light Air has capitalised on its HP large-format print arsenal, which as well as the HP Scitex XL1500 Printer and HP Scitex LX600 Printer, also includes an HP Designjet 9000 Printer. This three-pronged HP printing capability not only delivers a broad, multi-faceted applications offering to Light Air's customers, but also enables the business to act as a sub-contractor to other print providers lacking wide-format capabilities of their own. Supported by a nationwide network of certified Light Air installers, and with an eye on a possible extension to its existing 800 sqm facility, the company continues to increase its dominance as one of France's foremost wide- and super-wide format outdoor branding companies.

"We are still a relatively young company, but our steady, profitable growth has been thanks to HP's innovative large-format technology," said Aguettant. "We have always endeavoured to remain abreast of our supplier's latest developments and would not rule out further investment in HP kit to ensure our continued ability to serve customers' future needs."