Cassie Balentine

Rising Stock

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By Cassandra Balentine

Media plays an important—and sometimes overlooked—role to a print provider. As digital print technologies continue to mature, new and improved substrate compatibilities enable better applications and extraordinary opportunities.

“Digital printing is no longer just about low-cost production, it’s about finding creative solutions for all types of print collateral, exclusive high-end projects, and specialty packaging,” says Greg Maze, senior brand manager, digital and wide format, Neenah Paper Inc.

With a little creativity and specialty substrate options offered by leading media manufacturers, print providers can improve on existing applications such as menus and save the dates, and add new revenue streams like labels, packaging, and point of purchase (POP) items.

Enhancing the Business
Digital print solutions offer variable data, shorter runs, and reduced lead times. However, as these capabilities become old hat, print service providers (PSPs) look for new ways to add value to their service offerings. The answer can be as easy as expanding media and substrate selections.

Today’s digital printing equipment capabilities give print providers the opportunity to augment their services by showing customers examples of what can be done with specialty papers, expanding their offerings of colors, textures, finishes, and weights, as well as digital packaging solutions. “If you’re in the selling seat as a print provider, you’re always looking for ways to differentiate yourself,” says Maze.

By stocking more than standard papers, more sellable options are possible, including synthetic papers that don’t tear, pre die-cut packages, cling, Kraft Board, embedded ID cards, magnets, and labels.

Jeff Luehring, business team leader, Appvion, suggests that expanded service offerings should be aimed at meeting both threshold needs and delighters. “Assuming the print provider is a digital print provider, meeting threshold needs includes making short runs, personalization/versioning, and short lead times. As for delighters—those things that wow the customer—print providers should understand their customer’s product offering, usage, and buying behavior and look for holes that can be filled with better service,” he explains.

Print providers are trying to differentiate themselves from the guy down the street and even online competition. “Materials play a key role in this, especially when specialty substrates are considered. These substrates can enhance their business by enabling them to leverage their digital equipment investment and bring a large variety of work in house that they previously may have passed over or outsourced,” offers Joseph Schember, specialty digital product manager, Mohawk.

Different substrates can enhance a print provider’s business if the substrates meet customer needs that are not being fulfilled by someone else. “These could include new forms of advertising, marketing, or physical functionality. Digital print providers should understand their customer’s product offering or usage. Digital print providers should also ask their substrate providers to articulate the features and benefits of their products, especially if there is something unique about the product,” says Luehring.

To be competitive, PSPs offer a comprehensive service to their clients and meet all of their printed communication needs. “The successful PSP will typically have one or more digital print engine capable of utilizing a variety of specialty paper, anything from a synthetic media for a durable, long lasting printed piece, to an ID card or letter for membership or store value marketing,” says Julia Kuziomko, director, inbound marketing, Relyco Sales, Inc. She says that today’s digital print engines, combined with diverse printing materials, are a game changer for the PSP because it takes their business beyond the borders of traditional printing. “Using something other than plain paper increases opportunity in their existing customers and attracts new prospects. The relatively low per-click cost of the digital engine keeps the cost down and profit up.”

Specialty media allows digital print providers to offer unique and profitable products that others may not offer, says Jim Cirigliano, marketing manager, Magnum Magnetics. He explains that becoming familiar with different substrates and how to work with them provides the flexibility to win and keep specialty jobs when they come up, rather than having to outsource or pass on the jobs outright because the capability isn’t offered.

Laura Hayes, marketing coordinator, Convertible Solutions, says that with specialty media selections, print providers can explore new substrates to offer intricate, pre-converted mailing pieces, thicker finished cards, and six-page brochures without the hassle of outside vendors, the burden of long runs, and with near immediate delivery capabilities.

In addition to expanded product offerings, substrate selections can improve the efficiency of existing applications.

Mellissa Campbell, marketing manager, Masterpiece Graphix, says customers rely on PSPs to offer different materials and options to achieve a better product, turnaround, and cost. For example, if a customer is printing signs on cardstock and then laminating the signs, the PSP can offer to print the signs on synthetics, eliminating the need for lamination and providing a cleaner look and better longevity.

Greg Kestler, director of technical media, GPA, suggests that production digital output devices have greater capabilities today than ever before with the biggest being the ability to print on synthetic materials. “With greater flexibility in the types of different substrates available to PSPs, they are able to offer a variety of products and services.”

He adds that technology in toner as well as coatings has allowed toner platforms to expand the plastics that they can run. “Low peel, pressure-sensitive white vinyl can now run successfully on most production digital devices, allowing for short-run, POP decals as an example. Short runs allow brands to take on a neighborhood feel with versioning and using local graphics.”

Tips for Expanding Services
Before looking to media options to explore service offerings, digital PSPs should consider their customer’s needs and respect equipment limitations, but also be willing to step outside of the box and push boundaries.

First and foremost, businesses should understand their customers and their customers’ businesses. “Once you know their business models, you can talk to them about their goals and how specialty media like textured, tints, pearlescents, metallics, boards, adhesive-backed materials, and synthetics fit into their applications and solutions. Their businesses can be enhanced by understanding how they can be better solutions providers rather than only being printers,” says Ron Pergande, director of digital media, paper category, GPA.

The most important thing is to ask questions to help clarify the prospect’s needs and gaps before offering solutions. “Once you understand these needs and opportunities, you can begin offering solutions for specific applications using specialty media,” he adds.

Maze says traditional printers who have expanded into digital printing might still find themselves focusing on traditional print collateral materials. “They can look to expand and differentiate themselves by exploring new specialty areas, such as packaging and labeling, to better position themselves as a total solutions provider for their client base.”

The ability to offer unique, higher margin materials can help digital print providers win new business. “They can distinguish themselves in the market with high-end labels that make their products ‘pop’ by selecting a special label material, look, or finish,” says Dave Fox, technical sales and service manager, Avery Products Corporation.

Craig Surette, toner fusion market director, GPA, agrees, adding that today’s substrate options provide more possibilities in every product category, specifically for dry toner technology. “Printers benefit immensely from these choices, allowing them to align substrates with printed applications and their business goals, driving increased revenue and higher margins. With access to great tools and improved flexibility, they can be more confident in selecting the correct substrate.”

“Push the envelope with your customers,” encourages Kestler. “By suggesting materials from polyester and synthetic paper to felt and textured papers, or even magnetic sheets, PSPs can work with their customers to find the right combination of substrate, graphics, and finishing processes to create a truly unique and functional piece.”

Surette says that PSPs need to lead and not follow. “Copying and doing more of the same thing will not grow the business. Instead, work with your customers to build legitimate, valued solutions that generate revenue streams. Everyone talks about this, but a rare few do it.”

Kuziomko points out that many specialty media products offer a blank canvas that can become a variety of finished pieces crossing the range of vertical markets. A synthetic die-cut luggage tag, for example, can serve many purposes as a traditional luggage tag for travel and hospitality venues, but it can also serve as a manufacturing lock out tag, an identifying tag for school sporting gear for travel games, a service/inspection record tag for equipment, a personalized direct mail piece for a marketing company, or even tagging capital equipment for insurance purposes. “The trick is to help your customers see the different possibilities—once they have embraced the concept that specialty media transcends vertical markets and traditional printing, a print provider can typically leverage their services across the company into departments or areas previously untapped,” she offers.

Take advantage of media samples so that sales can promote services internally and with existing customers to gauge demand prior to moving forward with purchasing stock. “There are plenty of online business-development resources for sales training on these products too,” recommends Schember.

However, before getting too creative, it is important that the printing equipment employed is able to handle the job at hand.

Schember urges print providers to try samples and engage with local digital experts to talk about customer applications, needs, and how to run these materials. “Oftentimes, this is the simplest way to get started because some printers don’t think these products will work on their digital press or they’ve had a bad experience with inferior specialty products and are afraid to try again,” he admits.

Cirigliano also stresses the importance of investing in quality media from trusted manufacturers. “Because specialty media isn’t something you’re going to use every day, you need to ensure you’re getting a consistent, quality product to make the printing process smooth for your press operators and profitable for your business,” he adds.

Fox outlines five simple tips for print providers looking to expand their service offerings—choose materials that run well on the presses and provide consistent ink/toner adhesion and color without jamming; consider premium, high-margin materials to help win new business and expand into servicing new applications; demand true technical support to maximize uptime and resolve any potential issues with print quality, performance, or runability; take advantage of free tools and templates to save valuable prepress time and accurately align products; and promote your business using tools that are readily available to help create sales and marketing materials, which could open doors to new markets.

Challenges of New Media
Specialty media solutions typically add value through unique characteristics, and therefore many need extra care to ensure runability.

Print providers must have an in-depth understanding of their equipment to understand what they are capable of—from sheet size to thickness. “Testing media prior to accepting a print job helps prevent a new customer looking for a synthetic menu from becoming the nightmare print job, with media too thick to print, fold, score, or even package successfully,” suggests Kuziomko.

It is important to focus on how well a substrate will run through a press to minimize jams. “Make sure the substrate accepts the toner or liquid ink well, is scratch resistant, and the colors lay down well. If running pre die-cut label materials, make sure the die-cutting technology is such that labels do not pre-dispense in the printer so that inks can bleed off of the labels without any issues such as build up on the edges or ink not adhering to the edges,” notes Fox.

Cirigliano points out that the use of proper press settings are very important when working with new media that is thicker or heavier than a shop’s usual substrates. He says media manufacturers often offer printer profiles for specific presses that you can download to determine the optimal settings for running that material. Additionally, it is a good idea to use media that is independently tested and qualified for use on a specific press type.

“Assuming the new media offerings have passed the print provider’s market needs test, they will want to understand if the new media is compatible with their equipment. This includes thickness, basis weight, ability to accept toner, ability to stand up to the heat, and runability through post-processing equipment,” says Luehring.

Kestler suggests media distortion is a challenge for some. “Depending on the environment the printing press is in, plastics can become softer, shrink, or stretch, and registration can become an issue,” he warns.

Static is another challenge. “Digital printing utilizes static to draw the toner to the substrate or charges the sheet with both positive and negative charges to separate printed areas from non-printed areas. Just as oil and water do not mix in offset lithography printing, these charges and the use of static can create post-print nightmares when printing on plastics and specific papers. Make certain your print environment is controlled and follows the OEM’s guidelines to help resolve this issue,” suggests Kestler.

Schember believes the most important thing to remember is that not all specialty products are created equal. “Providers should make sure that the products that they are using are designed for digital printing and that the material supplier works directly with OEMs to test and certify their media on the various presses. It’s also important that the supplier has the expertise to help them print and even sell these products. You get what you pay for in this market, so cheaper products are typically missing technology either in the top coating or material itself to get great toner/ink adhesion, minimize static, withstand the heat of a fuser, feed reliably, achieve vibrant colors, or meet the durability requirements of the end user’s application.”

The Options
Media selections are abundant, and specialty media offerings are on the rise, especially with more mature toner-based print engines. Here, we highlight a few specialty substrate solutions.

Appvion offers NCR Paper Brand Superior and NCR Paper Brand Xero/Form II Carbonless Paper, which is compatible with all production electrophotographic equipment. A special grade of NCR Paper Brand Superior is designed for HP Indigo presses.

NCR Paper Brand Superior and NCR Paper Brand Xero/Form II Carbonless Paper individual ply range in basis weights from 20 to 23 lb. The paper is guaranteed to run clean and smooth on digital equipment. The stock has a heavier basis weight, consistent caliper, and provides an overall stiffer sheet for consistent performance and runability. The caliper is 4.3.

With NCR Paper Brand Carbonless, users create a range of applications including business forms, receipts, bill of landing, and invoices.

The company’s Appleton Digital Paper line enables menus, gift cards, cookbooks, labels, tags, and signage.
Avery Products Corporation offers 12×18-inch sheetfed label stock for liquid and dry toner digital presses, ideal for short run, print on demand requirements. For dry toner presses, the company offers substrates in full sheet and pre die cuts including White Matte, White Glossy, Kraft Brown, and TrueBlock. These substrates have been tested to run in Xerox iGen, Konica Minolta bizhub, and Ricoh Pro series presses.

GPA carries a wide selection of coated and uncoated text and cover weight papers, pressure-sensitive papers, synthetic pressure-sensitive media, and pre die cut, pressure-sensitive papers.

GPA offers business development managers to assist its customers in navigating the “complicated world of specialty substrates, especially synthetics, and what is best for the application in question,” says Kestler.

For HP Indigo, the company offers a variety of substrates in full sheet and pre die cuts, White Matte, White Glossy, Clear Glossy, Kraft Brown, TrueBlock, White Semi-Gloss, Durable PET, White Soft Touch, Sliver Matte, and name badge material. These substrates have been certified for use with HP Indigo presses by Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Convertible Solutions offers papers with impressive thicknesses, unique forms, and pieces once associated with longer runs or outside converting services. Products can be used to create business cards, postcards, brochures, photobooks, mailers, magnets, menus, table signage, and coasters.

All of Convertible Solutions’ products are certified for HP Indigo. All products are safe for most digital presses when used within the parameters of the press, says Hayes.

Magnum Magnetics offers its DigiMag PLUS, DigiMag Duplex, and MuscleMag products. DigiMag PLUS is direct-printable magnetic media, qualified by the RIT for the HP Indigo and Kodak NexPress. Cirigliano says it also works with Konica Minolta, Xerox, and other similar machines.

DigiMag Duplex is a two-sided magnet media that prints on both sides in a single pass on presses including HP, Kodak, Konica Minolta, and Xanté. It is well suited for postcards, sports schedules, and other direct mail pieces. It can be sent through the U.S. Postal Service.

MuscleMag is a thin, high-energy printable magnet that Cirigliano says combines thin media with exceptional magnetic strength. “The media is designed to be very thin for smooth feeding and easy cutting while having stronger holding power than a refrigerator magnet,” he offers.

The MuscleMag media is well suited for vehicle signage as well as outdoor and indoor signage and graphic applications that require thin but strong magnet material. It is printable on a variety of digital presses including HP Indigo, Kodak NexPress, and Xerox iGen.

MasterPiece Graphix helps print providers put ink on a variety of substrates, from synthetic papers to exotic wood. “Printers rely on Masterpiece Graphix to help them determine what their digital press can do and provide the support to help them successfully run the materials,” says Campbell. The company’s newest swatchbook contains a sampling of synthetic paper, rigid vinyl PVC, styrene, polyester, metalized board, wood veneer, and soft touch materials for digital presses.

The company’s materials are engineered to print on dry and wet toner digital presses, including solutions from Canon, HP, Kodak, Konica Minolta, MGI, Ricoh, and Xerox. Testing is always recommended to ensure the specified material fits the application.

Mohawk has a broad offering of nearly 1,000 products available in its Specialty Digital portfolio. This portfolio offers benchmark products for both cutsheet dry toner and HP Indigo presses. The categories include Mohawk Synthetics, Mohawk Pressure Sensitive, Mohawk Dimensional, Mohawk Magnetic, and Mohawk Embedded Cards. The company also offers Mohawk Custom Solutions, which are variations of the portfolio categories where digital products are custom manufactured specific to customer needs.

Mohawk provides interactive compatibility charts for popular digital presses from Canon, HP, Kodak, Konica Minolta, MGI, Ricoh, and Xerox. The charts also provide baseline settings and tips for running products specific to each press model.

Neenah’s Digital Papers portfolio includes 49 colors including brights, pearlized, fibered, and whites; 17 unique finishes, plus folding carton board for packaging and pressure-sensitive papers. The company’s Digital Papers portfolio includes 20 popular Neenah brands, all engineered for high-performance digital printing equipment.

The company’s Neenah Explore series features printed samples, designed to inspire and educate printers and customers about what is possible with digital printing and specialty media.

Relyco offers a full line of specialty media designed for both dry toner based engines, such as Canon, Konica Minolta, OKI Data, Ricoh, and Xerox, as well as some products compatible with liquid-based toner systems such as the HP Indigo.

Relyco offers a trained staff to guide print providers on whether it is recommended to print a particular media, and can help design a custom solution.

The company understands that print providers are searching for low volume, competitively priced media to run on their digital print engines. “We partner with all the major OEM printer manufacturers who have tested and approved our products. From synthetic ‘money’ used by a swim club, training guides used by a nationwide restaurant chain, and ID cards used for a student ID, Relyco has a media solution and the expertise to help today’s print provider navigate specialty media options,” concludes Kuziomko.

Advancements in print equipment also play a major role in the continued acceptance of specialty media.

New Options
With specialty media options, print providers can offer everything from labels to eye-catching mailings.
“We’re always amazed at the creative uses print providers come up with for our products. You’re really only limited to the imagination of your customers and designers,” says Schember.

“New discoveries can be made by stretching creative thinking and pushing limits,” adds Maze. “Today’s digital production presses are capable of producing amazing results. Don’t be afraid to try specialty papers and processes to reach your client’s imaginations.”

In addition to traditional options, digital print providers benefit by understanding their customer’s print needs and goals and being well versed on the range of media options compatible with their devices. Offering creative solutions and taking advantage of the latest media selections help PSPs differentiate themselves from the competition. dps

Jul2016, DPS Magazine

Let’s Get Technical

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By Melissa Donovan

Architects, engineers, and construction (AEC) as well as the computer aided design (CAD) community rely on wide format technical printers to maximize efficiency. A number of feature sets cater to both markets, most importantly multifunction capabilities—print, copy, and scan—all on one device. These demands are different than years past simply because of the need to communicate well in a faster amount of time with people dispersed at different locations.

Digital functions—such as scanning and cloud-based document sharing—allow for a complete all-in-one device. With the latest software advancements, AEC and CAD professionals rely more on virtual collaboration tools, and therefore require less printed output. However, the printed page still plays a role in a Web-based world.

Mobile Multi-Tasking
The feature sets AEC and CAD professionals look for on technical printers involve multi-functionality, mobility, and speed. Efficient multifunction printers (MFPs) are sought after in this space.
Len Koerts, HP DesignJet global marketing director, HP, Inc., believes this is partly a result of the adoption of building information modeling, or BIM. Users need devices that offer printing, scanning, and copying—all within a single footprint.

Out of those functions, scanning or digitizing is the most important, according to Chris Wysong, senior manager, product marketing, wide format and finishing solutions, Ricoh USA, Inc. “Scanning is especially big in CAD because the marketplace is slowly but surely moving to a PDF workflow, so getting all the documents in an electronic format is important. Digitization is also key in the AEC space, because many AEC places have years of hard copy drawings sitting in specialized storage.”

Another important factor, especially for on-the-go users visiting clients or job sites, is mobility. “Large format printers need integrated Wi-Fi connectivity to adapt to users’ working styles and also facilitate collaboration among all the members of a project. Finally, AEC professionals value ease of use, which allows them to concentrate on their core businesses and not printing,” says Koerts.

In addition to multifunction capabilities and mobility, the AEC and CAD community desire speed, just like any other segment. “AEC and CAD professionals are looking for fast print and copy speeds and accurate plotting precision. Also, being able to instantly collaborate with other locations and customers has become a critical requirement for this market,” explains Matt Kochanowski, product manager, professional imaging, Epson America, Inc.

Communicating in Color
AEC and CAD professionals haven’t always requested multifunctional devices with mobility features. These demands have changed in past years, primarily due to the need for faster communication and effortless collaboration.

“Today architects, engineers, and contractors, as well as their net of contributors, team-up more than ever to work on a single project. There is a need for faster coordination between the different team members who may be on the same site or in remote offices,” says Koerts.

Color helps with faster communication, minimizing mistakes and making documents easier to read. “Color workflows can reduce error and improve decision making by clearer communication in the collaboration process,” shares Bob Honn, director, marketing services, Canon Solutions America.

He gives examples of architects using color in presentations to convey detailed designs, or engineers relying on color to clarify complex drawings that help reduce mistakes in production. In GIS, more maps are produced in color to facilitate interpretation. Color is used for educational and training purposes, as color-coded views of schematics and drawings aid in understanding the material.

“Color transmits exactly what the architect wants to communicate, improving communication by highlighting corrections, priorities, concerns, and warnings,” agrees Koerts.

Color is increasingly popular because wide format technical devices offer high-quality output and efficient speeds. “Historically, there have been compromises in mechanical print speed, processing speed, dry time, media/document handling, and other aspects compared to monochrome large format systems. However, today, users do not have to make these same compromises,” suggests Honn.

Collaboration in the Cloud
The latest wide format technical printers incorporate digital collaboration features like scanning and cloud-based document sharing.

“Large format technical document systems with scanning capabilities are ideal on-ramps to the cloud,” says Honn. “As long as the cloud storage provider has an FTP front end that enables scan to FTP functionality, users can store any documents they chose.” This allows jobs to be scanned to the cloud for an entire project team to access anywhere.

The Océ PlotWave and ColorWave family of products can integrate into any WebDAV compliant cloud—public or private—allowing users to access documents from the point of need directly at the device’s UI.

The company recently introduced the Océ PlotWave 345/365 systems, which were developed with technical users in mind. According to the company, the systems were built to retrieve files from the cloud using a smartphone or computer, or to send a print request to the printer via Océ Publisher Mobile.

The devices also feature the company’s Océ Image Logic technology, which is designed to turn imperfect originals into perfect copies and scans.

Additionally, the recently introduced Océ PlotWave 450 features Océ ClearConnect touchscreen, designed to make it easy for users to handle complex documents.

“Many wide format printers now provide the ability to instantly share scanned images and data seamlessly between computers and other wide format printers. The integration of wide format scanners on wide format printers has provided the AEC and CAD markets with a fast and easy way to make edits to large format and instantly collaborate with their colleagues,” says Kochanowski.

Epson’s SureColor T-Series can be equipped with an optional multifunction module that enables the user to copy and scan, sharing images across a network by email or to a remote SureColor T-Series multifunction system.

The HP DesignJet T830 MFP offers a 36-inch color printer with an integrated scanner at a low price point. Collaboration is central, as AEC and CAD professionals can use integrated scanning to capture and share feedback. Using the HP All-in-One Printer Remote application for iOS and Android, users can scan, share, and print from a smartphone or tablet.

Wysong agrees that scanning is the next thing in digital collaboration. “To help facilitate quick, high-fidelity collaboration, people are looking for devices that can scan directly to email, SD card, or thumb drive, or to a folder on a local network or cloud storage, right from the machine.”

The Ricoh MP W6700SP, announced in April 2016, allows users to distribute information via high-quality, color scanning to email, USB drive, SD card, folder, FTP site, or document server. A two-roll drawer enables printing or copying while scanning.

The Printed Page
Printed documents remain prevalent in today’s on-the-go world, though this role has evolved from traditional AEC and CAD setups.

“Print plays an important role, as it enables AEC professionals to see the big picture and the details at the same time. This is something that you cannot see on the screen of your smartphone or tablet if you have a large construction project, such as a hospital or an airport, for example,” explains Koerts.
He cites print as important for several users in scenarios like when the superintendent, architect, and subcontractor need to review a plan at a construction site and make annotations or when a general contractor needs the authorization stamp from administration to start construction.

Honn argues that while print’s role hasn’t changed, over time the method in which it is consumed has evolved. “The print and distribute model of the past has been replaced by the distribute and print approach, which means that print consumers, namely the downstream tradespeople that respond to bids and build from plan sets, use more unique ways to access content that they will then print.”

He provides examples such as purchasing color and monochrome printers to produce prints at point of need, outsourcing printing that was once received from the general contractor or project owner, or accessing data digitally on a tablet device, from a plan room, or collaboration software.

Wysong agrees, saying that AEC and CAD are more of a print on demand market now. “These days, printing is the last step in the process, not the first. You’re not printing things in case you need them, you’re printing them because you need them.”

For instance, if a printer is available at a job site, and some part of a multi-page planning document is needed, the user can find the page and then print a small portion of the job without wasting paper. “While printing the whole thing can be expensive, it also means printing some pages is key. It can help bring out details that may be overlooked on the screen,” continues Wysong.

Tree Towns
Tree Towns Imaging & Color Graphics celebrates over 60 years in business. Based in Elmhurst, IL, it originally specialized in technical document reproductions and added wide format color printing services as the industry changed and demand for reprographic services declined. With a core customer base of architecture, engineering, and construction firms, the addition of wide format expanded its clientele to include advertising and communications firms.

“We’ve remained competitive by providing a valuable service and by investing in innovative equipment to separate ourselves from the competition, that helps us keep up with the turnaround times our customers demand,” explains Chuck Wingard, president/owner, Tree Towns.

By mid-2014, the company operated two HP Designjet L25500 and two HP Latex 260 printers. While working with color on the display side, the staff at Tree Towns quickly realized how beneficial it could be to the technical printing sector, which is still a mainstay of its business. “Based on what we’ve seen, color can help with communication around architectural plans and other technical documentation. With demand for color technical documents increasing, finding the right color printer for our shop was a priority,” continues Wingard.

In response, Tree Towns added the HP PageWide XL 8000 Printer, which offers both color and B&W printing, ideal for color wide format and quick production of technical documents. Speed is equally important as color to Tree Towns. “A high level of line quality is what we look for. Sometimes architects use very light lines and shading. It is important that it prints clearly and this printer can do both color and B&W, fast,” he says.

Implementing the printer into the business’ existing workflow was “practically seamless,” according to Wingard. HP examined Tree Town’s processes and made it so the HP PageWide XL 8000 worked effortlessly right off the bat. In addition, operators were already familiar with many of the nuances of the HP printers, so training was fairly simple and they were up and running in no time.

Most of the work on the printer has been on 20 lb bond paper in both color and B&W with sharp lines, fine details, and smooth grayscale. The HP PageWide XL 8000 prints up to 30 D/A1 pages per minute. Wingard hoped to achieve higher volumes of print with the newest printer and has been able to do that while simultaneously raising the quality of what it provides to technical customers.

Poised to Serve
Wide format technical printers are popular in AEC and CAD environments thanks to multifunctional capabilities like print, copy, and scan with mobility and digital collaboration. The combination of these features provide today’s on-the-go professionals with the opportunity to efficiently share plans, documents, and more with peers and clients. The newest devices not only provide production-like speeds, but high-quality color, which helps to reduce mistakes and clarify confusing items in a document. Like many segments of digital print, AEC and CAD is a print on demand market and the latest wide format technical printers are poised to serve it well. dps

Jul2016, DPS Magazine

Digital Trends

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By DPS Staff

Print providers often boast a varied skill set to attract a broad audience and to ensure their customers don’t look past them for all print—and sometimes creative and marketing—needs. As part of this strategy, these shops must stay on top of the latest trends and offer the newest technologies to remain competitive.

One-Stop Shop
Established in 1976, GAM Graphics and Marketing offers digital, wide format, and offset printing services as well as mailing, bindery, fulfillment, marketing, and creative services. With this scope of offerings, the company targets a range of clients from technology and entertainment to hospitality and financial services. Based out of a 14,000 square foot facility in Northern VA and the metro Washington DC area, the shop employs a staff of 16.

The company originally started as a place where students of the local Grace Christian Academy could learn a marketable job skill. The shop quickly became well known with hundreds of customers in Loudoun County. Brother and sister team, Nathaniel and Faith Grant took over the business their father, Reverend Charles Grant, started and built it up to what it is today.

The goal, according to Nathaniel Grant, president, GAM, is to be a one-stop shop for all of its clients. “What I mean by that is you come to GAM to have us create the piece that will hit the mark with the client, and then we produce, finish, and mail or deliver it to you. We strive to make a customer’s engagement with us one of the best you have ever had, and most memorable,” he shares. “We look for technology and machinery that will allow us to do this,” he offers.

The shop utilizes a range of digital printing equipment, including the RICOH Pro C7100X 5th Color Digital Press and the RICOH Pro L4160 Latex printer. “We’ve been using the Ricoh digital presses for about eight years, and those two for about two years,” shares Grant. He says the shop is pleased with the results.
The RICOH Pro C7100X prints up to 90 color pages per minute on a variety of substrates from traditional paper products to synthetics, envelopes, and textures. The solution also features the option for clear or white toner in addition to CMYK, which enables users to highlight point of purchase displays, business cards, menus, and oversized prints. For working with darker paper stocks, users can choose the entire document, selected images, or specific text with clear coating. Users can switch between the two options, a feature GAM utilizes.

“We’re always on the lookout for new, creative ways to get our clients’ messages across and the Ricoh presses help us do this at an affordable cost point. The presses we purchase for production need to be at a price point that makes sense for our business and also have a good service record. Ricoh meets both of these needs,” says Grant.

The shop runs a variety of media on the RICOH Pro C7100X, including Pro Digital Paper, Finch, Mohawk, and Neenah, just to name a few. “We prefer that for digital, the paper be available in digital cut sizes,” explains Grant. He says this helps the shop produce jobs faster without as many steps.

For its wide format output, the print provider looks to solutions from Fellers and Grimco as its suppliers, and trusts them to recommend the right media for the project at hand.

Celebratory Print
GAM recently created invitations for its long-term client’s 50th anniversary dinner. Inova Blood Services, a customer of the shop for more than ten years, wanted a traditional invitation with an elegant look, including gold foiling.

The job took a total of two weeks, from job submittal to delivery, but only 24 hours between proof approval and mailing.

To create the invitations, GAM used the RICOH Pro C7100x with the 5th station clear option. Pieces were then scored and folded using a Morgana Digi-Fold. For media, the shop used 100# ProDigital Silk Cover. Grant says in his experience, clear toner stands out well on this media.

The first run was 1,000 pieces with additional runs of 200 ordered after.

For the gold foil, the dilemma was creating the effect without incurring the cost of foil stamping, which it was able to successfully accomplish with the RICOH Pro C7100X. In the past, GAM would have had a die made, which Grant estimates would have cost about 60 percent more and taken over a week to produce.

Digital Offerings
By investing in the latest digital technologies, print service providers—like GAM—offer solutions that help their customers stand apart from the crowd. By understanding market needs and pushing the boundaries of its equipment, a shop’s talent and creativity is able to shine through. dps

Jul2016, DPS Magazine

Drupa 2016 Highlights

by

DPS Staff

From May 31 to June 10, 2016, the print industry was inundated with new product announcements, launches, and debuts during drupa 2016. Held at Düsseldorf Fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany, the event focused on several themes including print, packaging production, multichannel, “green” printing, 3D printing, and functional printing.

According to event host, Messe Düsseldorf, approximately 260,000 visitors from 188 countries travelled to the show.

Printing Equipment
The latest in digital printing equipment—particularly inkjet—took center stage.

Canon introduced the new continuous feed inkjet press, the Océ ColorStream 6000 Chroma. The solution features the company’s new Chromera ink set with a wider gamut and higher optical densities than previous formulations.

FUJIFILM Corporation announced a partnership with EPAC Technologies to create an automated system to fulfill the demands of the printing industry. With the partnership, Fujifilm unveils its 5D Printing Strategy.

HP unveiled the HP PageWide C500 Press, a flexible post-print corrugated solution designed to integrate into a standard production environment. The company also showcased its first step towards digital combination printing.

Kodak announced details of its new KODAK NEXPRESS ZX Digital Production Color Presses, NEXPRESS Opaque White Dry Ink, and the Max Platform.

Konica Minolta displayed its latest in printing, applications, and know how. Attendees witnessed the company’s KM-1 B2+UV Inkjet Printer first hand.

Landa announced strategic agreements with Quad/Graphics as well as Cimpress and hosted live print demonstrations of the Landa S10, Landa S10P, and Landa W10 Nanographic Printing Presses as well as Landa Nano-Metallography.

Pitney Bowes announced an upgrade to its AcceleJet printing and finishing system, which according to the company, results in 33 percent faster print speeds—up to 328 feet per minute.

Ricoh announced a new MH5220 Industrial printhead designed for industrial printing applications including labels, packaging, and wide format graphics.

Xerox highlighted the new cutsheet Xerox Brenva HD Production Inkjet press along with the continuous feed Xerox Trivor 2400 Inkjet Press. The company also announced a partnership with KBA to develop a 40-inch B1 digital sheetfed press for the folding carton market—the KBA VariJET 106 Powered by Xerox.

Finishing
Automated finishing eliminates bottlenecks at the end of the line for high-volume production environments. Several product announcements tout efficient production throughout the finishing stage.

The MBO Group introduced several post press lines, including the new LeMans and Monza Signature Production Systems and the K8-RS Digi-Folder.

MGI Digital Technology released addition to its JETvarnish 3D digital enhancement product portfolio. The JETvarnish 3DW and iFOIL W system is an integrated, roll-to-roll print embellishment solution suited to the label and tag marketplace.

Highcon announced a new portfolio of products, including the Highcon Euclid III, Highcon Beam, and Highcon Pulse.

Kluge demonstrated advancements in folding and gluing, laser cutting, foil stamping, and UV coating.
Muller Martini focused its attention to Finishing 4.0 and demonstrated how signatures from both digital and offset could be processed with a smart workflow solution.

Standard Finishing showcased new solutions from both Standard Hunkeler and Standard Horizon. New products include Hunkeler’s proprietary Dyna-cut technology, featured as part of a book-on-demand solution for variable format inline book production. Horizon debuted the BQ-480 Perfect Binder, which features quick set-up and changeover for variable book production.

Zünd introduced its new D3 cutter, which is the company’s latest flagship cutter. The device features a dual-beam cutting system with twin beams operating independently and simultaneously in one efficient production workflow.

Workflow
It is not just equipment that makes an impact. Behind the scenes, software and workflow tools drive improvements in speed, efficiency, and productivity.

EFI released Fiery Navigator, a cloud-based product that gives print service providers insight into their production data to optimize resource allocation, ensure compliance with operating procedures, and make smart equipment decisions. Fiery Navigator is the first offering based on EFI’s new cloud platform.
Additionally, EFI announced an agreement with Esko that brings a combined workflow solution to market that enables companies to produce packaging with a single seamless and integrated workflow by connecting EFI Fiery digital front ends with Esko workflows and EFI enterprise resource planning and MIS solutions. The goal is to provide a unified production ecosystem for packaging companies.

Kodak introduced several key alliances, including a collaboration with Landa Digital Printing to provide an automated digital workflow to drive the Nanographic Printing press for mainstream commercial applications. The company also announced a partnership with Komori, in which it will deliver interoperability between the Komori KP-Connect Printing Task Control Software and KODAK PRINERGY Workflow.

The Next Four Years
We look forward to these products and partnerships maturing over the next four years. drupa 2020 is sure to showcase an evolved industry. Inkjet and packaging continue to be hot trends, as we look towards functional and 3D print on the horizon. dps

Jul2016, DPS Magazine