Business - Knowledge

In the run up to FESPA Digital 2012, Large Format Review asked FESPA’s managing director Neil Felton to explain more about the FESPA’s activities beyond the exhibition and here’s what he said...

“The FESPA brand is synonymous with major exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the Americas which draw wide-format printers to major cities around the world to review latest developments in printers, software, inks and substrates.

FESPA events have built a reputation for offering visitors excellent value beyond the show floor, from conferences and interactive features to live competitions, debates and workshops. Our success in attracting growing visitor audiences is the envy of the trade exhibition world.

Away from the shows, the FESPA brand is familiar through our social media platforms, including our own Wide Network, while in the UK the national association for screen and digital wide format printers recently adopted the name ‘FESPA UK Association’, abandoning its former brand – Prism – to reemphasise its connection with FESPA, and highlight the value this link delivers for UK printers.

That move highlights what is possibly FESPA’s best kept secret. The exceptional growth and diversification of FESPA’s event portfolio since 2005 has arguably blinkered the print community as to FESPA’s real mission – to invest in a bright business future for wide format print.

To understand that, it helps to rewind fifty years (FESPA celebrates its golden jubilee in 2012) to the foundation of FESPA by a small group of highly committed national screen printing associations. They came together as FESPA to network and share knowledge as the sector gathered momentum, moving away from its craft base and becoming a more industrialised process. Technology has always been a driver, and in the last ten years, FESPA has adapted its proposition to reflect the digital revolution, and help printers to take advantage of the inherent opportunities.

From those modest roots, FESPA has blossomed into a truly global organisation, with a member base spanning 37 countries , and serving more than 200,000 individual stakeholders, from members to exhibition visitors and suppliers. Our strapline, ‘United We Print’ embodies that global ‘family’.

FESPA was founded as a not-for-profit organisation, but with the growth and commercial success of the FESPA events, the organisation now generates substantial revenues. Once the operational costs are taken care of, surplus revenues are destined for reinvestment for the benefit of the global wide format print community through FESPA’s Profit for Purpose programme. FESPA’s shareholders ARE the wide format industry, a fact which makes FESPA very different from any other exhibition organiser in the print space.

Some of the reinvestment is managed directly by FESPA, which commissions significant market research and publishes this in the form of regular Surveys and Reports, summaries of which are available to the entire community, with the full research findings made available free of charge to members of its national associations.

FESPA.com offers a superb online resource library for printers, and specialist publications such as the FESPA Planet Friendly Guide and the FESPA Sensations special effects showcase are available to help printers address business critical challenges like improving environmental performance, or promoting their capabilities to print buyers.

Beyond the guide, ‘Planet Friendly’ is a brand that embraces a range of resources for printers, from publications and advice lines to the live Planet Friendly ‘clinics’ which will be run by FESPA’s environmental experts on the FESPA stand (B15a) at FESPA Digital 2012 in Barcelona.

Developing and delivering content that can change printers’ business for the better is a mantra for FESPA. This is evident in the rich conference programmes that are delivered free of charge at FESPA exhibitions (the Explore Conference at FESPA Digital 2012, for example) and in the global programme of FESPA Summits and Congresses staged by FESPA with the involvement of its national associations.

At grass roots level, FESPA’s community can access more local educational and networking opportunities via the national associations, who have easy access to FESPA co-funding to deliver initiatives such as training days, round tables, technical seminars, and competitions to highlight creativity, print skill and best practice.

In the last seven years, FESPA has reinvested a staggering three million Euros back into the global community. More detail on this will be available in FESPA’s new Reinvestment Report, which will be launched on site at FESPA Digital 2012 in Barcelona.

So when you walk through the doors of FESPA Digital 2012 in Barcelona (and you can still register online at www.fespadigital.com if you haven’t already), as well as exploring the world of positive opportunities that exist for your print business, you’re also plugging into a global FESPA community of over 200,000 printers. That’s the real force of FESPA.”

For more information, please visit www.fespa.com

[photo shows Neil Felton, managing director of FESPA]

SGIA's Sustainability Recognition Programme, which recognises specialty imagers as they take steps toward developing a sustainable business ethic to meet customer demand, is now accepting applications for 2012. SGIA members are encouraged to apply now before the February 24 deadline.

All programme applicants are eligible for the Award, which is determined based on the submission of the facility's sustainability policy and programme information.

In today's global marketplace, specialty imagers must find new and innovative ways to improve their competitiveness. According to the 2011 SGIA Market Trends and Product Specialties Report - available soon for download - 25.4 percent of imagers are making profitable use out of, and actively marketing, their sustainability efforts, up from 22.4 percent in 2010. SGIA's Sustainability Recognition Programme provides member companies with marketing and promotion to help them stay competitive.

SGIA members may submit applications up to and including 24th February, 2012.  For more information, please visit www.sgia.org

SGIA's 2012 series of Webinars will present essential information about today's hottest industry topics - from imaging technologies and business management issues to new laws and mandates affecting the community. The upcoming Webinars offer something to each industry sector, including wide-format digital imaging, screen graphics, finishing techniques, graphics installations and business management.

The 2012 Webinar series kicks off with Business Metrics for Graphics Producers, on January 18 at 2:00 pm (EST). According to the organisers, it will help 'attendees' to learn to determine the true financial health of their company, create pricing strategies that guarantee expected profit and project business growth in the months and years to come.

February will offer an expert-lead session each week, comprising:

• Supercharge Your Printed Wearable Sales, on February 1
• Taking Stock of Your Safety & Health Program, on February 8
• Sign Installation Strategies, on February 15
• Art Preparation for Digital Garment Decoration, on February 22
• Monitor Calibration and Soft Proofing with Photoshop CS5, on February 29.

All SGIA's Webinars are free unless otherwise noted, broadcast online and 60 minutes long, beginning at 2:00 pm EST.

For a complete Webinar schedule and session descriptions, please visit www.SGIA.org

Rob Makinson, co-founder and managing director of South Africa-based Midcomp, has been in the large format print business for over 20 years.  In this spotlight feature, he focuses on the rise in print demand prior to the 2010 Football World Cup event and highlights the key differences between the South African and UK digital print businesses.

Headquartered in Johannesburg, Midcomp employs 32 people and has a turnover of approximately £8million.  Rob started the company with Andrew Pine in 1991 and it initially supplied HP drafting plotters to the South African marketplace.  Midcomp also sold the very first ink jet plotter in South Africa.

Since this time, the company has grown as a distribution business.  Its primary supplier remains HP and Midcomp distributes HP’s entire digital printer range from small format through to 5m-wide Scitex machines.

Selling to the South Africa market differs to sales made in the UK and Western Europe.  According to Rob Makinson, “At present, the South African wide format digital print marketplace typically lags behind the UK market by about 9 to 12 months.  However, this gap is beginning to close and we are seeing new technologies introduced to the South African market more rapidly.”

There is also a smaller target audience to address.  Rob says, “The challenge in South Africa is one of economies of scale.  Print businesses end up paying more for the same equipment and then this kit is underused as the demand volume is just not there.  The challenge for manufacturers and distributors alike is to increase volume demand – thereby driving demand for faster and wider printing equipment.”

The Football World Cup held in South Africa in 2010 helped to drive demand for digitally printed output.  However, rather than buying new printers, print shops were using their existing printers to their fullest possible extent.  Rob comments, “In fact we only sold one printer specifically to handle increased print demand related to the World Cup.  As labour is perceived to be relatively more cost-effective in South Africa, most print shops would run a second or third shift on existing equipment to meet the increased demand for output.”

“Our busiest department at this time was our technical support unit!  Printers were being utilised to a far greater extent – 24/7 in some cases – and were being run into the ground,” continues Rob.

As a result of this high usage prior to and during the World Cup period, Midcomp now runs a 24/7 support service for its customers.  Rob concludes, “We have to offer round-the-clock support as – at times – our customers are running 24/7 shifts.  It gives us a unique selling point in the marketplace as no other company in our business offers the same deal at present.”

As for the future, Midcomp will be focusing on working with manufacturers to help drive demand for printed output.  If volumes can be increased, the demand for new printing equipment will also increase.

For more information on Midcomp, please visit www.midcomp.co.za

[photo shows some of Midcomp's staff outside the Johannesburg office]

Roland’s first international Creative Awards competition has attracted hundreds of entries and as a result deadline for entries has been extended.  Roland customers worldwide now have until 29th January 2012 to showcase their best work and compete for prizes including a trip for two people to Japan, an Apple iPad2 and a new Roland device of their choice. The deadline to enter the Roland Creative Awards has been extended in response to the popularity of the competition, which has received over 600 entries since its launch on 21st September 2011.

“We have received such a high calibre of entries so far, from imaginative boat wraps to stunning exhibition stands, beautiful jewellery, wacky car wraps and even model helicopters”, said Gillian Montanaro, Head of Marketing at Roland DG (UK). “We’re really seeing inspiring creativity and innovation from Roland users, and invite everyone to take a look at the Roland Creative Awards website and vote for their favourites.”

The Roland Creative Awards is open to users of Roland equipment across the globe at www.rolandcreativeawards.com. Entries will be judged based on Creativity, Innovation and Execution in each of the 14 regions representing 123 countries. More than 75 prizes are being awarded worldwide, including:

• Monthly People’s Choice Awards – This award recognises one top entry per region each month, as voted by site visitors. Four winners will each receive a Canon Powershot SX230HS digital camera
• Honourable Mention Awards – Two Honourable Mentions will be named in the UK, each winning an Apple iPad2
• Regional Winner – Regional winners will receive a trip for two people to Japan to celebrate 30 years with Roland DG and compete for the Worldwide Grand Prize in April 2012
• Worldwide Grand Prize – The competition’s top entrant worldwide will win a Roland machine of his or her choice: a popular 42” VersaCAMM VS-420 printer/cutter, an EGX-360 gift engraver, a JWX-30 jewellery model maker or an MDX-40A milling machine.

Judging for the worldwide grand prize will take place during Roland’s 30th Anniversary Celebration, to be held in April 2012 at the company’s global headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan.

To participate in the Roland Creative Awards, Roland owners must submit entries online by 29th January 2012.  For more information, visit www.rolandcreativeawards.com

The UV LED Curing Association, founded by Integration Technology Limited, Lumen Dynamics and Phoseon Technology, has published its inaugural UV LED Glossary of Terms.   This is the organisation’s first major accomplishment since its formation just one month ago.

The three companies are diligently working to define and establish agreed-upon UV LED-based guidelines for UV LED curing applications. The founders believe the association’s work will have a positive impact towards enabling the adoption of UV LED technology within the printing, coating, and adhesive industries.

The UV LED Glossary of Terms provides a consolidated list of curing terminology specific to ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs) and can be found on the association’s website www.uvledcuring.org. Curing systems made of UV LEDs as well as the technology’s use in manufacturing processes has been evolving at a steady pace since 2003, yet this is the first ever consolidated effort to document this unique language for the UV curing industry. It is the hope of the association that its glossary of terms will give potential users a better foundation with which to navigate and evaluate UV LED technology options.

The UV LED Curing Association was established to address a growing need within the market for current and potential researchers, suppliers, integrators and end users to gain a better understanding of UV LED technology and the significant benefits it brings to numerous applications. While complimentary to other existing and well established organizations, the UV LED Curing Association focuses only on UV LED curing technology and its applications.  Additional information about the association and UV LED curing can be found at www.uvledcuring.org.