TODAY, FEW industrial processes have escaped the digital revolution. And printing is no exception. Digital inkjet has continued to advance into POP, poster printing, outdoor durable graphics and exhibition graphics addressing both the higher volume and speed segment as well as the short run sector of these markets. The advantage of digital in short run continues to be its economic advantages over traditional analog.

Change is afoot at the Midlands based solutions provider S P Group Ltd who have recently installed a Chim 92 screen cleaning system supplied and supported by Vision Supplies Ltd.

Prior to the introduction of the R3 scheme, Allsignsgroup's waste was collected in 250kg wheelie bins and it is estimated that 12 bins were going to landfill every week at a cost of £150 per tonne. With an annual waste bill in excess of £30,000 there were sound financial reasons along with the environmental concerns to justify joining the R3 scheme. In fact, before the initiative was introduced, very little of the company's 220 tonnes of commercial waste produced each year was recycled.

The sheer variety of technologies under the wide format umbrella (print & cut, print only, aqueous, solvent and UV, plus print & cut UV following the launch of Roland's VersaUV LEC-300) means there is virtually no limit to the variety of products wide format printers can offer both core and new, adjacent markets. However, crucial to success in the dynamic world of wide format is workflow: conducting the orchestra of the shop floor.

Unlike other heating methods, contact drying systems work by drying inks from the substrate surface to the top side of the ink. This means the technology actually works in reverse to heated air and infra red (IR) ovens, which dry from the ink's top side down to the material surface.

Lauren Displays' journey began in 2006 when it invested £1.2milion in both digital and lithographic kit in order to offer customers a one-stop-shop for point of sale and display related products.  Then, in August 2007, the company was bought wholly by London based agency Creo Retail Marketing in an affiliation that should see the joint turnover of the two entities soar to £20million by 2011.

There can't be many wide format printers that haven't suffered the consequences of a head crash. One minute everything is fine, moments later the printer is stalled, the job is ruined and the trouble has only just begun. With luck, the situation can be recovered with some TLC. Unfortunately, it's more likely to require a visit from an engineer to replace a damaged head.

Decision - Time

April '08's edition of Screen Process & Digital Imaging featured the announcement of Lauren Displays investment with Vision Supplies Ltd. After extensively researching the market place Lauren had decided to make a significant investment in new screen cleaning equipment.

Robert Horne Group is synonymous with offering printing substrates to the commercial print sector. Building on this experience the Group has invested in developing what is claimed to be the largest, most comprehensive range of wide format digital print hardware, software and consumables.

Poor service support from commercial suppliers business to business, has a much more dramatic effect, fast moving companies can ill afford to receive poor levels of service from their commercial partners. Poor service generates a significant amount of wasted time within any company, from time spent chasing up incorrectly supplied or damaged goods to the amount of time taken by accounting departments to issue and re-issue invoices or credit notes, as we all know time is money.

In 1995 Minto established Digiset, which operates from 300m2 premises in Gateshead, as a specialist pre-press bureau providing reprographics services to local print companies. However, the late 1990s saw a fundamental market shift. Computer-to-plate systems let an increasing number of printers take pre-press in-house, drastically reducing demand for film and reprographic services.

Robert Horne Sign & Display has launched an ambitious new recycling initiative, designed to help customers implement more environmentally friendly waste management policies. Editor Jon Barrett asked business development director, Steve Lister, to explain the R3 programme

A Fresh Approach

Retail marketing specialists Creo have recently acquired leading print and point of sale manufacturers The Lauren Group. The move increases Creo's turnover significantly and creates a new force in the POP market by uniting the creative and project management excellence of Creo with the manufacturing facilities of Lauren, facilities which are second to none. Creo can now offer its clients flexible POP solutions that maximise budget, impact and brand awareness at the point of sale. Creo's unique core services include creative, project management and product fulfilment with many blue chip companies on their client list including Universal Pictures International, De Vere Hotels & Leisure and Bloomsbury Publishing to name a few.

It is my belief that in the UK we often talk ourselves into recession, if we listen to the British press and the various reports on TV then it is probably time for us all to lock the doors and walk away, but as we all know we should probably give most of these reports the same amount of time we give to Page 3 of the tabloids, it was Kipling who said "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs - you will be a man, my son!" (a much abridged version of his poem IF).

Pad Printing has come a long way from the hand engraved copper plates and gelatine pads of Stoke-on-Trent in the 1960s. Then, you would expect that. To give you an idea of the process, a copper plate was hand engraved with the design. This was mounted on a printing machine featuring a large gelatine printing pad (often over 400mm diameter) that picked up the image from the plate and transferred it to the ceramic ware.

Electronic Print Services (EPS) is to produce a life sized replica of the Minster’s famous Great East Window, which features the world’s largest expanse of medieval stained glass, to hide scaffolding while the window itself is being restored.

These days ‘flying the flag’ means many different things. The origins might be military but today flags are more likely to be found flying corporate logos, as this article explains

In a splash of news, Roland DG invited Screen Process and Digital Imaging to preview two print hardware innovations and explore the company’s environmental standards. Read on to discover more

Less than a year ago Vision Supplies Ltd the Leeds based consumable supplier launched a new range of Multi Substrate UV process inks, the first product launched was THINK - Type 01 a unique formula of screen printing ink designed to appeal to a broad sector of point of sale printers.

Designed for photography, fine art and proofing professionals, Epson’s 64in Stylus Pro 11880 is the world’s first large format printer to feature the company’s latest micro piezo TFP printhead technology and UltraChrome K3 ink with vivid magenta. Read on to discover more

The UK screen print sector has faced a number of tough challenges in the last few years. In particular, the movement of low value work (such as sign and textile printing) to low cost regions and the growth in high quality digital printing, especially for short run jobs.

Corporate identity and colour play a fundamental role in visual communication. This can only be guaranteed with colour management as Durst explains

Sensient Technologies specialises in the manufacture and marketing of colours, flavours and fragrances. In this article SP&DI discusses the company’s past, present and future with the company’s chairman and CEO, Kenneth Manning.

Stopwatch in hand, Screen Process and Digital Imaging’s editor, Jon Barrett, timed Inca’s new Onset UV flatbed printer. The result, 500m2/hr. Is this the end of screen printing? I doubt it. Is it a new technological dawn for a slice of the global PoP market? Definitely

Visit any leading tradeshow for the graphics and signage industries such as Fespa, SGIA, ISA, Photokina and Viscomm and you could be forgiven for thinking there were no analogue technologies left for printing and imaging.

Sakurai Graphic Systems Corporation was founded in 1928 by Ryuzo Sakurai as a paper trading house. Over the past 79-years it has expanded to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sheet-fed offset and cylinder screen printing presses, with customers in more than 60 countries.

It is well recognised that the screen, sign and traditional print markets are very adept at embracing new technologies and consistently looking for creative solutions that complement existing product offerings to help enhance their business models.

With two Sakurai cylinder presses and four Siasprint machines, Kenton Instore is wedded to the screen process. Screen Process and Digital Imaging visited Kenton’s Birmingham facility to explore the benefits of its newly installed CST computer-to-screen system

There is little doubt that environmental issues are gaining pace in the wide format printing industry. Big print customers, like high street retailers, are announcing demanding new environmental roadmaps, while equipment and consumable suppliers join the race with new products and services.

Capital Print & Display currently based in Stratford, London have never been shy of making major capital investments in order to be at the forefront of printing technology a philosophy adopted early on in the formation of the company by David Gill in 1980. Their plant list reads like a who’s who of the latest in technology, massive expansion plans are underway for 2007 during which time they will be moving to a completely new high tech purpose built factory in June.

Q: In terms of ‘building’ materials, how does large format media fit?

A: Legislation for materials testing is due to building safety and the legislative nature of developed countries. Building materials are subject to industry standards and accepted because we all live and work in buildings. It is the basis for understanding the nature of fire resistance. We must recognise that buildings and their materials have been around longer than graphics.

The quality of digitally printed media is determined by the position of the ink droplets on the media surface.

A remote proofing nirvana requires support for two hallmarks of good proofing: accuracy and consistency. The requirement for accuracy is clear: the proof must match the press. However, accuracy becomes more complex in remote proofing. The whole system is only as accurate as the combination of all its parts. Real standardisation of colour becomes critical.

The dedicated premises at the College’s Green Lane Campus brings together a combination of cutting edge industrial technology and leading training provision. The Academy has taken delivery of equipment including an AJ-1000 which prints at up to 90m2/h.