Business - Events

 

With the current economic climate there were concerns about the show and whether it was up to the challenge. These concerns were safely put to bed come 10am on the opening day. Crowds flocked to the NEC and saw a glittering showcase at the UK’s premier sign making and digital printing event.

The quality of visitors at this year’s show was unquestionable. From all the information, data and feedback we have received the main point that has kept on cropping up is that the quality of the visitors with money in their pocket was excellent.

Visitors to the 2009 show included:  Delta Display, McLaren Racing, Signs Express, British Airways, Sign-A-Rama, Cadbury, FastSigns, Legoland, Pyramid, Harrods, Linney Group, Ikea, Kall Kwik, Co-operative Group, Hawes Signs, Waitrose, Prontaprint, MOD, Augustus Martin, Jaeger, Cestrian, Motorola, C3 Imaging, Hampshire County Council and many more.

The show data has now been collated and checked, and we can now release our subject to audit ABC certificate which shows a total visitor attendance of 6,127 which does not include repeat visits, and a total overall attendance, including press and exhibitor personnel, of 7,111.

Alan Caddick, Marketing Manager for the show comments: “For us, it is really important to go for an ABC audit. It very much fits in with our ‘open and honest’ approach which is the way we like to work. ABC is a trusted impartial service that gives us a true result of our attendance at our exhibition. This adds value to our business and event and gives us real credibility and integrity when talking to the market place about our attendance figures.”

Fujifilm is joining forces with Fujifilm Sericol, Epson and Xerox to hold a free open day at its showroom in Bedford on Thursday July 9.

If you want to find out what's new in the world of inkjets, inks, dry labs, digital printers and learn about business opportunities and how the market is changing then this event is for you.

The day will feature a series of presentations and an introduction to the new generation of inks and eco-friendly solutions as well as demonstrations of the latest kit, including the Fujifilm Acuity UV Inkjet, the Epson
Inkjet, Xerox iGen Digital Press, Epson Disk Producer and Fujifilm's award winning Drylab.

The event is free to attend but attendees are asked to register in advance. To register for this event please email minilabs@fuji.co.uk  or call 01234 572144.

The event kicks-off at 9.30am with a presentation on the current market for large format prints and photobooks from Nigel McNaught from PMA. Nigel will include the results of research recently carried out by Infotrends and Future Source Consulting.

Following Nigel's opening presentation there will be a look at the latest technology from Epson and Fujifilm Sericol.

After lunch delegates will be able to see all the equipment in action, Peter Hayward, Paul Austin and Jon Cohen from Fujifilm, Nick White from Epson and a team of technical experts will be on hand to discuss the new products.

The day will wrap-up at 4.30 after an open forum question and answer session.

Thursday July 9, 9.30am - 4.30pm, Fujifilm Showroom, St Martins Way Bedford, MK42 0LF.

Pre-registration for all those wishing to attend Ipex 2010 is now officially available via www.ipex.org/register and will result in a £30.00 saving off the entrance fee. The show organisers have confirmed that there will be free fast-track entry for all pre-registered visitors to the international event which will take place from 18th – 25th May 2010 at the NEC in Birmingham UK.

To cater for its international audience, the Ipex organisers have translated the pre-registration forms into French, Italian, German, Spanish and Simplified Chinese. Visitors who register via the website will also benefit from a discounted official Show Catalogue as well as exclusive pre-show email newsletters announcing new event features and visitor incentives.

Comments Nick Craig Waller, Ipex 2010 Marketing Director: “Our online registration system is extremely popular and provides the quickest and easiest way for our exhibitors’ customers and prospects to attend. Pre-registration for Ipex 2010 does not only save the visitor a great deal of time when they actually arrive at the event, it also saves money.

“With over 1,200 international companies representing all sectors of the print, publishing and media industry, Ipex 2010 will bring the world’s leading technology suppliers under one roof. Visitors will be able to discover new products, experience the latest industry innovations and emerging technologies but also get a chance to take away inspirational ideas from the business-focussed features at the event.”

Anyone who arrives at the event without having pre-registered will have to pay a £30.00 entrance fee.

Offering an important information and planning tool, the Ipex website – www.ipex.org – is already playing a crucial role in collecting and disseminating information to exhibitors and visitors alike. The increased functionality of the site enables exhibitors to post far greater detail about their specific plans. In addition, visitors have access to the latest exhibitor lists, including up to date product and service information, floorplans as well as cost-effective travel packages and logistical information.

In response to strong growth in the Irish market, Roland DG (UK), a leading manufacturer of eco-solvent wide-format inkjet printers, engravers and 3D prototyping products has announced the integration of Roland DG Ireland into its operations, effective from 1st May 2009.

Roland DG Ireland previously existed as a sales and service team operating from offices within the Roland Music headquarters in Dublin, but will be based in new dedicated premises, details of which will be announced shortly, where it will also have state-of-the-art demonstration facilities. The integration with Roland DG (UK) means it now has access to the UK operation's well established and substantial infrastructure, which will help it to meet the increasing demand for training, machinery and associated consumables from its large and growing customer base in Ireland. It will also ensure that service levels remain high as Roland DG Ireland seeks to maximise its share of the market.

Said Jerry Davies, Managing Director, Roland DG (UK): "Roland DG Ireland's customer base has grown to the extent that its requirements will be better served by a higher level of dedicated service and support, which is exactly what it will get as a result of this integration. Roland DG Ireland's already successful team has been ably led by Dave Rainsford, General Manager, Roland DG Ireland. They have intimate knowledge of the market and its nuances and have developed some very strong relationships over the years. Now with the backing of the UK operation, they are well equipped to build further on their success."

Operationally, Roland DG Ireland will have the added support of the UK's marketing team and will benefit from improved logistical efficiencies when shipping products from Japan, where they are manufactured. It will also be able to enhance its technical expertise with support from the UK's product management teams across its range of wide format inkjet printers, printer/cutters and engraving machinery, as well as the highly specialist laser scanning and 3D modelling sectors.

Concludes Jerry Davies: "Just as in the UK, Roland DG has a strong claim to being the market leader in Ireland, with an install base numbering in the thousands. We're very pleased to have the Ireland operation on board as we fully expect this to grow and both the Irish and UK markets can look forward to some very exciting developments that are currently in the pipeline."

Roland DG has reported that its 30” UV-curable integrated printer/cutter, the VersaUV LEC-300, was the main attraction at Sign & Digital UK 2009, while its engraving solutions also drew plenty of interest. The VersaUV is the first UV-curable inkjet printer in the world to integrate printing and cutting functions and many visitors to the show had come to see for themselves examples of the machine’s tactile output such as Braille, faux animal skin and leather.

Despite an apparent drop in visitor numbers at the show, the company received a healthy number of leads across its product range and it welcomed the opportunity to highlight the versatility of wide format inkjet technology at the show. The company’s stand had over seventy different applications on display, including window graphics, personalised musical instruments, garments and even a vinyl wrapped snow board. Between the Roland DG stand and those of its dealers, every Roland DG printing, print & cut and engraving machine was available to buy at the show.

Following the show, Roland DG (UK)’s Head of Product Development, Brett Newman, said: “In my view, the market has maintained some of its buoyancy, despite the recession, because businesses in this sector are combating the downturn by diversifying their service portfolio in order to keep their output high. This is highlighted by the interest in engraving this year - engraving is a high value service, yet the technology required is available at a relatively low capital cost. The live engraving demonstrations were very popular and I think many came away with the realisation that the machinery is easy to use - with many skills transferrable from wide format printing and cutting - and will start making them money almost instantly.

“While visitor numbers seemed to be down, I feel that those who did venture out were serious about investigating investment opportunities. In general, visitors spent longer than usual on the stand discussing the products with our technical team, which I think is a reflection of how carefully new capital investments are being considered at the moment. Even so, it’s still difficult not to get carried away when you consider that some of our printers will pay for themselves in a matter of months when used for just four hours a day.”

Beyond printing and engraving, Roland DG also had value-adding personalisation solutions on display such as Xpres’s Gem Tec system for rhinestone personalisation of garments and Eurodrop’s multi-colour doming process for both fabric and printed items.

Concluded Mr Newman: “Considering the challenges that the market and the economy as a whole is facing Sign & Digital UK 2009 has to be classed as a success for Roland DG and its dealers. We were there to showcase the money-making opportunities presented by our products and all of our dealers reported sales over the three days. The show provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to customers, both old and new, the versatility and sheer range of profitable applications that our machinery is capable of”.

At Fespa in Amsterdam on 12-14 May, Screen’s growing commitment towards environmental trends will be demonstrated with its large-format, high quality Truepress Jet2500UV showing its capabilities as a textile printer which complements its versatility to output onto most roll-fed  and rigid materials. Using the company’s own flexible UV-curable ink technology, display producers can now print direct to textiles for a wide variety of durable soft signs, banners and flags without having to resort to traditional two-stage dye sublimation processes.

The Truepress Jet2500UV uses Screen’s flexible UV-curable inks and drop-on-demand variable dot piezo-electric grayscale printheads to make it suitable for producing applications  on virtually all roll-fed and sheet materials. To meet the growing demand for textile-based  displays, these inks have been formulated with the correct levels of flexibility to make them  ideal for printing direct onto fabrics without the need for machine modifications.

The precision achieved from the 6 picolitre droplets, in combination with the elasticity in the  ink’s technology and the correct strength of UV curing, results in strong adhesion with no  flaking and cracking. Typical speeds of 34 square m/hour enable the Truepress Jet2500UV to  compete favourably with dedicated textile print on demand systems. Colours are strong and  vibrant and there is no need for special pre- or post-treatment of the materials.

Because of the drive throughout industry to use greener criteria where possible, producing  display applications onto polyester-based material is becoming increasingly popular because  of its recyclable properties. Polyester fabrics also benefit from being resistant to creasing, lighter and more portable than many traditional flexible alternatives, saving costs on logistics and deliveries as well as simplifying many installations.

At Fespa, the Truepress Jet2500UV has produced all the banners on the Screen stand,  printed at 900 dpi direct onto 2.5m wide polyester banners. This demonstrates not only the convenience of being able to produce applications in one step but also shows the cost and  time benefits gained by printing direct when compared with traditional two-stage sublimation  where additional calendering or a heat press is essential.

The Truepress Jet2500UV is a truly versatile performer and, as well as textiles, it can print  direct to other flexible and rigid materials, with fast and simple change-over between flat-bed  and roll-fed configurations. It has a maximum print width of 2.5 m wide and handles  substrates thicknesses of up to 5 cm and rolls up to 100 m in length. There is a maximum  production speed of up to 67.5 square m/hour, a choice of output resolutions up to 1500 dpi,  and its six-colour ink-set of CMYKLcLm can be enhanced with the addition of a white option.

Screen believes that, by adding digital textile production to the existing capabilities of the  Truepress Jet2500UV, this feature will appeal to users who want to benefit from being able to  utilise a single wide-format printer for all types of application. The printer ships with the  Screen edition Wasatch SoftRIP TX Gold which includes Screen’s own screening algorithm  for accurate, consistent output on all materials.