Business - Knowledge

Large Format Review was offered the chance to sit in on an interview between Colourgen, the UK’s leading specialist distributor of large format digital colour printing solutions, consumables, bespoke software, engineering and support services, and Dragan Gardasevic, managing director of Colourgen reseller, Random Choice Solutions.

Dragan Gardasevic has nearly 20 years experience in digital printing and is a familiar name to many in the industry.  In the following interview, he discusses the ethos behind Random Choice Solutions and focuses on the benefits of Epson’s range of wide format printers…

Colourgen (COL) How did Random Choice come to be?

Dragan Gardasevic (DG) I formed Random Choice with Mary Gray back in 2003 after my previous company merged with MC Imaging. At that time we were resellers of prepress and digital photography equipment. With Random Choice we were able to remodel the business to be more focused on a specific range of applications and services. Fortunately, even in this industry you can still make money using your brain, not just shifting products!

While we have essentially modeled the company as a consultancy, our core business falls into three categories. The first is hardware and equipment sales. We have been selling Epson wide format printers since day one and we have more recently moved into solvent printer sales. We also sell software RIPs from the likes of EFI and Caldera.

The second part of the business is technical services and we are particularly strong at colour management. We also provide installation, training and support. Finally, we have also established ourselves as a strong consumables sales company. We try to deliver real value to customers, ensuring that our inks and media work well together with the machines our customers have. We will also develop profiles etc to help customers get up and running as quickly and as accurately as possible.

We have had a pretty good run over the last couple of years, despite the general doom and gloom in the market. I believe this is because of our commitment to helping customers work their way through the minefield of options out there.

COL Why have you focused on the Epson range for water-based printers?

DG We have sold Epson printers right from the beginning. I suppose this is because of our photographic and proofing background. In terms of quality there is really very little that can touch the Epson range. They are all excellent quality, easy to use and very reliable.

More recently we have been selling more printers into the display market and here too the Epson range is second to none. As we have moved into display and sign-making, we have also been drawn into the solvent market and once again, Epson is right there with another top quality product.

Our proofing expertise has meant we are very strong with the EFI RIP, but as we have moved more into display and sign-making, we have become committed to the Caldera RIP, which works really well with the Epson GS6000.

COL What is it you like about the Epson GS6000?

DG The GS6000 has always been an interesting product for us because it comes from a family of printers we know very well and it also takes us into a market that we are trying to attack. It took a while for the product to have the right range of media to accompany it and also to be able to offer it at a more appropriate price point, but now that those issues have been resolved, it is an excellent printer for companies looking for a little bit more than a traditional solvent printer. It is still a little more expensive, but the advantages more than outweigh this increase for customers with the right requirements.

With the GS6000, our customers can give themselves a real competitive edge in what is a hugely competitive market. No other solvent offers the high end quality of the GS6000 and this is something that printers can use to win more business and carve their own niche in the market.

We have sold the printer into established printing companies that are fed up with outsourcing work and losing revenue. With the GS6000 they can go to their customers and deliver a complete printing solution, retaining profits and providing an overall better service. Each time we have demonstrated the difference in quality, the customer has been smart enough to realise that this gives them more options and more opportunities to gain more business at a higher value. This makes the GS6000 worth the small additional premium over more standard solvent printers.

The fact that we also work with Colourgen is a key factor. I have worked with them for many years for all our Epson products. They are an excellent partner, well informed, reliable and trustworthy and they know their products very well.

COL How does the RIP help with these sales?

DG A similar strategy with the Caldera RIP really. It is more expensive than some other RIPs, but it delivers something a bit different that can help the customer make money. It seems pointless to invest in a printer like the GS6000 and not have a RIP that lets you get the very best out of it. Our own expertise helps in this area as we can provide the colour management and profiling tools they need to ensure they are successful in their venture.

Caldera and the GS6000 go very well together. Caldera has an unprecedented number of tools and includes features that are geared up to meet the actual requirements of display and sign printing and the GS6000 creates output of unparalleled quality. As well as the GS6000, Caldera supports a long list of printers and is excellent in a networking environment. I come from a computing background, so setting up complex printing networks is an area where Random Choice can really excel and provide value for our customers.

COL How important is the environmental consideration of buying a GS6000?

DG There are no nasty black crosses on the box, which is a very important part of a sale and you don’t need any extraction, which balances out the additional cost of the printer. The Caldera RIP optimises the process to ensure as many substrates as possible can be printed on successfully.

However, overall I am a little cynical over green issues, where there has been a lot of hype and not a lot of sense spoken.

[photo shows Dragan Gardasevic, managing director of Random Choice Solutions and the Epson GS6000 printer]

About Colourgen
Colourgen is the UK’s leading specialist distributor of large format digital colour printing solutions, consumables, bespoke software, engineering and support services. The Company is the exclusive UK distributor for the Seiko IIColorPainter W Series, V-64S and H-Series mild solvent printers and entire Mutoh range. Colourgen also distributes EPSON’s aqueous large format printers and consumables and the Seal and Kala ranges of laminators and finishing products. Colourgen specialises in delivering total solutions based on the industry’s best, most reliable products together with unrivalled consultancy, installation, technical support, maintenance and training.

The latest FESPA Economy Survey has revealed that 70% of respondents are looking to diversify their business to improve business growth. The top areas in which print service providers (PSPs) plan to develop into are interiors (17.4%), label printing (16.67%) and signage (15.53%).

Over half believe that the market has not fully recovered (52.44%) but the outlook of printers remains optimistic despite the challenging environment, with three quarters of respondents believing that the market will grow in 2012, with an average expected growth of 14.5% across the year for their business.

Reflecting on 2011 end of year sales, 20.4% of respondents said they were better than expected, a fifth said they were better than 2010, and 40% reported that they have done as expected.

The Economy Survey was commissioned by FESPA and carried out by its research partner InfoTrends on behalf of its global wide format community. As part of FESPA’s Profit for Purpose reinvestment programme, the main objective of the survey is to collect valuable insight into market trends and gauge business outlook for 2012 and beyond. The information was gathered from 225 respondents who are engaged in wide format printing from across the world.

Over half of those who took part in the survey were printers (52.9%); one fifth were resellers and 10.2% manufacturers. Europe dominated the survey’s geographical split with over half of respondents (57.3%) located in the region, followed by North America, Asia, Africa, South America and Middle East respectively.

According to FESPA’s Economy Survey 5, a third (33.3%) of respondents said that the primary reason for investing in a new wide format printer would be to accommodate different media and/or a wider range of applications with output quality and running costs being the other top criteria. A UV-curable inkjet printer was the highest area of investment (50%), followed by latex or another durable aqueous inkjet printer (31.6%).

62.7% of respondents indicated that ‘green’ printing, or printing using more environmentally-friendly practices has seen an increase in demand as a service, with over one fifth planning to invest in an eco-or light solvent printer. Over a third (36.9%) also cited seeing a rise in customer demand in applications requiring white ink printing, 35.6% in versioning/variable data printing and 23.1% in printing QR codes or other interactive elements.

Printers believe that there are some challenges within the area of digital signage, with 80% of respondents believing that digital displays has, is or will impact on wide format digital print applications. Of the 80%, impact on POP graphics was deemed to be greatest (23.3%), followed by billboards, backlit, and vehicle graphics respectively.

FESPA Managing Director Neil Felton comments, “We know that our global wide format community look forward to the findings and emerging trends identified in the FESPA Economy Survey. It is heartening that our 5th Economic Survey results show that PSPs have optimism in their own entrepreneurialism. It is a very positive sign that over 70% of respondents plan to diversify their business to increase their bottom line. This commercial intelligence will inevitably stand PSPs in good stead over the forthcoming year.”

He continued, “The findings are also encouraging for the FESPA Digital 2012 event that will enable PSPs to ‘Explore the Wider Opportunities’. As our campaign collateral says, ‘business is a journey’ with challenges and opportunities along the way. No printer needs to feel they are at a standstill; there are proactive business decisions they can consider, for example, can they try to implement new technologies or processes, diversify into different wide format applications, experiment with new substrates and inks, develop new services or business models, increase automation, offer more complete end-to-end solutions, or even move into entirely new market segments.

With 400 exhibitors in a single giant hall, and the charismatic city of Barcelona as the backdrop, a visit to FESPA Digital 2012 is guaranteed to give wide format print service providers all the information and insight they need to plan the next stage of their own journey and build their business.”

The full FESPA/InfoTrends Economy Survey 5 is available as a benefit to members of FESPA affiliated associations, visit www.fespa.com to find out about your national association.

Prism, the UK trade association representing the interests of screen and digital wide format print service providers, has rebranded as FESPA UK Association, adopting the brand of its umbrella federation of trade associations.

Established in 1934 as the Display and Screen Printing Association, FESPA UK Association was one of the founding members of FESPA in 1964, and the UK association is now one of 26 European member associations and 10 global associate members of FESPA.

FESPA UK Association remains a separate company, trading autonomously from FESPA. However, FESPA UK Association is able to benefit from FESPA’s programme of reinvestment, which diverts surplus revenues from FESPA’s global portfolio of events and exhibitions into projects and initiatives for the benefit of its global community of print service providers.

Many of these projects are delivered via FESPA’s member associations, and FESPA UK Association can apply for funding for specific projects via FESPA’s Projects Committee, which uses a panel of FESPA board members, executive staff and association representatives to assess project applications for their value to the local printer community.

In addition, as a member of FESPA’s global network, FESPA UK Association has access to an invaluable network of contacts, market intelligence, technical knowledge and best-practice which can be shared with its UK members.

FESPA UK Association itself has been the organiser of important UK events such as the recent Think Tank, which brought together leaders from the UK screen and digital print community representing businesses with sales totalling more than £1 billion. In 2012, FESPA UK Association will host its Congress, and will introduce new member benefits serving the needs of all sizes of print business.

FESPA UK Association President and Chairman of Simpson Group, Mark Simpson, explains, “Adoption of the FESPA UK Association brand is an important step, reinforcing the association’s deep roots in the global FESPA organisation. The brand highlights to members and the industry at large the close ties between the association and FESPA, which is of course recognised worldwide as a federation of trade associations and as the organiser of market-leading exhibitions and events.

Simpson continues, “Using the FESPA UK Association brand, we have a renewed opportunity to build on the association’s 77-year history, develop our value to members, and take the UK member community to new heights. In today’s challenging commercial environment, membership of an active and well-resourced trade association which is part of a strong global network gives its members immediate and cost-effective access to invaluable market insights, information, contacts and - above all – opportunities. We are confident that the FESPA UK Association name will attract important new members who will contribute fresh ideas and impetus to our work, while using membership to develop their own position in the market.”

FESPA CEO Nigel Steffens adds, “With our flagship FESPA 2013 exhibition taking place in London in June 2013, the UK will become a focal point for the global screen and digital printing community over the next 18 months, and printers in the UK can benefit enormously from that through membership of the FESPA UK association. For 50 years, the FESPA brand has stood for community, knowledge-sharing and the importance of mutually supportive relationships, so we wish FESPA UK Association and its members every success in this exciting new phase of its evolution.”

The FESPA brand is used by FESPA UK Association under licence from FESPA. Use of the brand is entirely optional for FESPA member associations and is governed by regulations laid down by the FESPA Board and approved by the members. FESPA UK Association is the first FESPA member association to opt to licence the FESPA brand.

For more information about how to become a member of FESPA UK Association, contact Peter Kiddell at peter.kiddell@fespauk.com.

FESPA UK Association’s website is at www.fespauk.com.

Large Format Review's man on the ground - Signtec's Peter French - bemoans the last minute Christmas print panic...

If there is one thing that winds me up, it’s the late rush for Christmas stuff.  Doesn’t everyone realise that Christmas always comes at the same time of year every single year?  Customers have all year to think about their product and advertising requirements for the Christmas period and you would imagine they would order whatever they need in plenty of time.

But, does this happen in reality?  No.  As mid-November arrives, work comes piling in.  Complete shop fit-outs for the two-month rentals, banners selling everything from Christmas trees to bookings for your staff party and window graphics for seasonal gifts and decorations.  On the face of it, there’s still six weeks to go until Christmas.  However, these companies often want their bespoke solutions for Monday morning.

And then there is the job that’s been kicking around for six months that’s nothing to do with Christmas, but now becomes urgent.  Oh and I nearly forgot - the job that needs to be done over Christmas, when the customer’s shop is closed or the van isn’t being used.

I don’t know what it is about signage, but it seems to be the last item on everyone’s list.  I remember a Christmas some time ago, a customer who wanted a back-to-back tray hung off the wall at 90 degrees. The customer designed and manufactured the fixings for this, which must have taken many hours or days.  With two days to go before the opening - and with the press and photographers coming, dancing girls set, balloons put up and the mayor planning to attend - we get the email requesting we manufacture a custom-designed panel and have it powder coated in a non RAL colour, signed and fitted, all in 2 days... 

Sadly, it was not possible to meet these requirements.  We supplied a free banner for the opening, but of course our reputation could easily have been damaged by such a scenario.  Even if the customer’s expectations are unrealistic, if you can’t meet them, you put your reputation in danger.  With the abundance of online forums, blogs, social media etc, it is all too easy for a customer to post “could not meet the deadlines so had to postpone the opening” for all the world to see.  And it wasn’t even your fault.

This is the danger we all face this time of year.  In the busiest time on the high street, our customers have their own timeline to work to and, unfortunately, you have to work to that. But as a supplier to many customers, you have many timelines and deadlines to meet.  Forget your own plans and scheduling, it’s the customer’s deadline that matters now.  It’s a bit like spinning plates trying to keep the show running.  Fail to deliver at your peril.  Forget your staff party, a night out with your mates or a meal with friends you haven’t seen since last Christmas – it’s time to put in those 14 hour days again!

We wouldn’t have it any other way though, would we?  This is part of the thrill of the industry.  It makes us feel useful and important and reassures us that we will be around for many Christmas’s to come.  To all my customers, bring it on!  We’re ready!

About Peter French: Peter has been working in the sign industry for 9 years having spent a lifetime in IT. Specialising in kick-starting businesses, Peter worked in many diverse business sectors.  For most of the time at Signtec he has been at the forefront of large format printing with both solvent and UV technologies.

In this feature - full of festive fun - Frazer Chesterman, Director of FM Brooks and co-founder of EcoPrint Europe Live 2012, lists his five favourite eco-friendly finds for Large Format Review...

1. Rhino Poo Pad – This notepad is ethically produced by Eco Print and made from 100% recycled paper and card and real Rhino Poo sourced from UK Safari Parks (approx 25% dung and 75% paper).   How is it made?  The dung is collected, washed and then boiled with natural ingredients which cleanse it and remove any bugs. It is then dried and turned into a 'paper pulp'.  The plastic ring binder is fully recyclable and the clear cornstarch display bag is 100% biodegradable – thereby offering an eco-friendly stocking filler for green enthusiasts.  NB. The paper is entirely odourless!  For more information, visit www.ecoprintuk.com
2. Cornstarch Display Bags - These bags – briefly referenced above – are perfect for packaging up Christmas cards, greetings cards, wedding stationery and the like.   Available in a variety of shapes and sizes, all bags are supplied with a self seal strip, if desired.  They offer an eco-friendly alternative to standard polypropylene.  The bags are made from cornstarch (annually renewable) are fully biodegradable and compostable, breaking down to CO2 and H2O.  For more information, visit www.ecoprintuk.com
3. ILFORD Biomedia 250 – On a slightly more serious note now...  This is a great alternative to printable stoplights and is ideal for applications such as roller pull up banners.  Ilford has developed a universal coating that works for latex, Eco Solvent and Aqueous all from one roll.  For more information, visit www.ilford.com
4. ILFORD UV 750 micron Biomedia – This product offers users a more environmentally responsible PVC-free board.  It has a similar structural performance to 1 or 2mm foam and has a smooth print surface. Suitable for many applications, as it is both heat formable and flexible.  I particularly like the fact that Biomedia uses enzymes to break down the material in landfill.  For more information, visit www.ilford.com
5. Dufaylite Ultraboard – This product evolved from internal doors and aerospace! Eco Ultra Board offers a range of lightweight boards, made from recycled paper and board, which can be used for cost effective exhibition panels and display solutions.  The Eco UltraBoard range is based on the well-established Dufaylite honeycomb structure and is available in a large range of sizes and thicknesses.  The surface quality of the card facings lend themselves to the production of high quality output making it an ideal eco-friendly solution for dramatic POS and other promotional presentations. For more information, visit www.dufaylite.com

Do you have a product you think should be included in Frazer’s Fab Five?  If so, please email us on abi@largeformatreview.com and tell us why...

In his latest article for Large Format Review, Marcus Timson, Director of FM Brooks and co-founder of EcoPrint Europe Live 2012, praises Apple’s sustainable approach to design...

It’s a really simple principle. If we design with the right materials in mind at the start of the creative process, then it is likely that the resulting product will be kinder to the environment, better for society and ultimately boost our profits.

And when it comes to design, there is no other brand as iconic as Apple.

But Apple is not really noted as being a particularly sustainable company. However, its success – and indeed Steve Jobs success – was grounded in a need to fuse art and science.  The attention to design detail is well documented and no one can deny that Apple’s financial sustainability is very healthy indeed.

Through innovation, this business grew like no other, yet Apple has also done what it can to minimise the environmental impact of its outstanding growth.

Because Apple designs products with maximum efficiency – through innovative design allied to the use of the right materials – it reduces its overall carbon footprint whilst boosting its economic growth.

If you refer to the Apple website, it states: “We know that the most important thing we can do to reduce our impact on the environment is to improve our products’ environmental performance. That’s why we design them to use less material, ship with smaller packaging, be free of toxic substances used by others, and be as energy efficient and recyclable as possible.”

If you’ve bought an Apple product, you will know that the packaging alone is a work of art. It is very much part of the purchase experience.  Its creation will surely have followed the Apple ethos in its printing and production.  That in itself is a big force for change and Apple does this because it knows it has to align with the fact its customers want their products to chime with the trends and concerns of the marketplace.

On its website, Apple continues “Since 2008, as our revenue grew 74%, our greenhouse gas emissions grew only 57%. And we’re the only company in our industry that can claim that every product we sell not only meets but exceeds the strict energy guidelines of the ENERGY STAR specification.”

Those of us who admire Apple for its innovation, its astronomical growth and market leadership, can also rest assured that its products have a commitment to the environment as well.  Design inspires growth, innovation and sustainability and a strategic commitment to sustainability has significant benefits for profit and planet.

For more information on Apple's environmental stance, please visit http://www.apple.com/environment/

For more information on Eco Print, please visit www.ecoprintshow.com