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Growing green
THE NEW 2009 Planet Friendly Guide is designed to tell printers all they need to know about process relevant environmental legislation from Brussels and Westminster. More importantly, it explains how to maximise the business advantage of these developments.
Machin Consulting's Paul Machin is the legislative and materials advisor for the publication. Paul states that for a printer to be sure of meeting increasing legislative requirements, the Planet Friendly Guide is an essential source of information. As the document is available online, any changes in the legislation can be incorporated swiftly.
Alongside the guide is the wide format survey, said to provide an up to date picture of what is happening in the market in the UK and Europe. Both documents are produced by Fespa for its member associations, with Prism being one of the largest.
The good news is that despite some casualties in the industry, members report that orders are flooding in after a slow January. These should be treated with circumspection however, as the ability to pay is paramount. Prism's company performance tracking service can offer valuable insight when accepting orders.
Another increasingly buoyant area of the market is textile printing. Retail outlets now prefer to buy from the UK, where deliveries are more reliable and turn round much slicker than shipping goods across the world. Added to this is concentration of textile printing expertise within the UK industry. This knowledge has been harnessed by Prism with training programs suitable for all levels of expertise from novice to highly experienced.
Prism claims to understand how screen, digital, litho and pad printing processes can work together. Developments are occurring in all of these techniques with Prism working hard to keep abreast of new technology. The organisation's AGM on 7 May at Robert Horne, Northampton, will explain some of the latest developments to members.
One last area where members report growth is in point of sale (POS). In spite of the credit situation it is an area that is thriving. Yes, there are cutbacks on advertising, particularly on television, but whereas the move to internet advertising is disastrous for TV, this has not been the case for point of sale.
Although people are becoming accustomed to buying on line, they still go into shops, some just intending to browse, but good POS advertising will convert this interest into a sale. The last seven seconds in front of a product is the decision time, so there is no substitute for a well designed and superbly printed piece of POS to act as a catalyst. Digital display screens have their place but impact-laden print is here to stay for many years and Prism aims to be here to support the industry.
Prism is a member of Fespa and the UK association for print specialists and manufacturers. For more information on Prism, go to www.prismuk.org. If you have any comments or questions, please call on 01737 240792.
