Hitting the sweet spot

What are the ingredients you need to bake the perfect exhibition? Well, there are more than enough bakeries out there for the visual communications industry trying to define that. FESPA and the European Sign Expo, Sign and Digital UK, VISCOM’s three European events, and the mighty Drupa to name a few. But in 2015 came along another contestant in the great European exhibition bake off, and that was The Print Show (October 11th to 13th 2016, NEC Birmingham).

O Factoid: At last count, The Print Show 2016 was set to host 130 exhibitors from across the visual communications industry. O

 
Its approach was novel, and its first vital ingredient was a goal to build its exhibitor base from the ground up instead of from the top down. Why? Well, it is a fact that industries such as print and its myriad sectors are underpinned by hundreds of national technology and media suppliers that have close relationships with their
customers and are big enough to cope but small enough to care.
 
They represent the bread and butter of our sector, and through this network of companies is represented a vast swathe of solutions to all the growth and diversification needs of industries such as ours. Of course the big brands are then a vital icing on the cake, their sheer size and scale normally means though that they are limited to a highly developed set of core products. These systems are necessary for businesses in our sector to keep running, and by their very nature are often at the productive core of a firm, they are however one flavour of a cornucopia of treats on offer that could help your business expand its waistline.

So with this part of the recipe sorted, the next ingredient thrown into the mix was some healthy education. In 2016, an example of the organiser’s endeavour in this respect has been the creation of The Printers’ Bazaar (see September’s issue or signlink.co.uk for our preview feature on The Print Show, which details what you can expect).
This area of The Print Show has been designed to evoke the markets of south east Asia, where you can source everything from fashion to car parts in one dense concentrated area. In graphics terms, it will see six different ‘shops’ created that cover the fastest growing areas of print technology and products—from print personalisation to vehicle wrapping—with a mass of applications on display to inspire you and educate you about the diversification avenues open to your business.

Fancy a bite?

So, just to give you a flavour of the diversity on offer at The Print Show and why it is well worth a day or two out of your business for a visit, it is perhaps worth hearing from a cross section of its exhibitor base. Nova Chrome is a case in point, as it offers a wealth of printing technology and media that are designed to help its customers create products that are short-run but high margin.

“Nova Chrome UK are pleased to be returning to The Print Show this October, and are looking forward to demonstrating the ease, quality and versatility of dye sublimation printing to an even wider audience than last year,” explains Nova Chrome’s managing director, Ian Howley.



Indeed, following on from the successful launch of the Sawgrass Virtuoso VJ-628 at last year's show, this October will see the introduction of the new SubliJet-HD Fluorescent ink set. This new configuration features Fluorescent Yellow and Fluorescent Pink in addition to the standard CMYK LC LM mix, opening up the ability to produce standard images with a range of spot colours, or design artwork using the 16 pre-configured fluorescent colours.


 
Howley continues: “The system is supplied with colour palettes that can be loaded in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel Draw for easy reference.

“The applications for this versatile system include high visibility signage, safety products and garments and the more traditional promotional products and giftware—giving garment printers, sign shops, and other service providers the opportunity to widen their target audience.



“Other new arrivals include a selection of products designed for the sublimation printing process, including towels, gift tins, new finishes, new sizes of our Chromaluxe photographic products, Photo Slate, and much more besides.”

Batch-baked

In addition to hosting a who’s who of the commercial and wide-format print supply and manufacturing world, another interesting facet of The Print Show’s floorplan is the increasing number of trade suppliers that are offering smaller firms the chance to diversify into new sectors or offer new products without a heavy capital equipment investment.

One such firm is Harrier LLC, which has established itself as a force to be reckoned with after an extensive investment into world-beating print technology. Its key USP is allowing companies such as sign-makers and large-format print specialists the ability to cross sell and offer their customer base a range of products from flyers to glossy brochures and even photo books.



“Harrier Print really is looking forward to exhibiting at this year’s Print Show,” says Julian Marsh, business development consultant of Harrier LLC.


He continues: “Harrier is one of the UK’s leading digital printing companies with unrivalled HP Indigo production capacity. Due to the seasonality of our core photo business we are able to offer this capacity to the market providing high quality, economical, fast turnaround digital print and finishing to trade customers.

“As well as our Indigo production capability we have about 20,000 square feet of bindery where we IUV varnish, laminate, cut, crease, fold, saddle stitch, wire-o and PUR bind. We also have high-end Kolbus hard case making and casing in production lines in-house. This gives us the capability to produce tens of thousands of soft and hard cover books a day with the option of full variable personalisation at no extra cost.”

Harrier’s trade digital customer base includes other printers, agencies, designers, marketers, print brokers, and facilities management companies. As well as digital ink, Harrier is one of the UK leaders in personalised gift products. Indeed, a massive project undertaken in the last year included the production of more than 220,000 personalised mugs for Nutella as part of a nationwide marketing promotion project.

Marsh concludes: “Anyone visiting the show who is considering a move into digital, already outsources trade digital, or has the opportunity for a large scale personalised promotions project should drop by the stand and talk to the team.”

Another key player in this trade-supply sector that is gracing The Print Show with its presence is Matic Media, one of the fastest up and coming players in the trade supply sector. It is another fine example of the diversity of products and services on offer at the exhibition though, as it has finely honed and developed the concept of trade print supply by connecting its customers directly to its extensive production technology.

 
“With over 60 percent margin, you can access immediate pricing and a true ‘web-to-press’ platform for the best trade prices,” explains Richard McCombe, managing director of Matic Media.

 
McCombe’s reference to ‘web-to-press’ is distinct from the ‘web-to-print’ concept, as you are able to cut out the middleman and directly send your print-ready file to its printers, reducing turnaround times even further.

McCombe continues: “Today’s business is driven by ‘on demand’ everything. Need the price now; need the specifications yesterday; need the proof immediately; need it printed as soon as possible—the reality of today’s print market is we just need everything quickly.

“Our ‘web-to-press’ large-format print platform is pioneering, offering the ability to have your own virtual large-format print department with true transparency.

“The way it works is that we have created a web platform that provides instant pricing and immediate online artwork checking that enables your files to be sent directly to our wide-format print production facilities.

“Our system simplifies the pricing process and speeds up a formalised proofing process to get your print to our printers with minimum effort, quickly. The ordering platform is web-based and can be accessed anywhere in the world on almost any platform.”

McCombe concludes: “Our service is for trade only and cannot be accessed by consumers. In order to gain access to this service, a user will complete the registration form and applicants will only supply access to those who demonstrate being a trade professional.”

Cookie cutter profits

Another very interesting specialist in the trade supply area that has launched a new service to allow for diversification into another high-margin print product area is Labo Print. The firm’s account manager, Julia Kuczynska, revealed that The Print Show will be the site to unveil this new strategic offering and that it spells a bright new horizon for the firm.



“Labo Print heavily specialises in large-format printing, and we are recognised as one of Europe’s leaders in this field, exporting hundreds of prints every day to many countries,” explains Kuczynska.

She continues: “Our company has selected The Print Show as the UK event that will help us to launch our new products—cardboard displays and digital printed labels. Whether you want a cardboard display for a retail store, event or trade show, Labo Print can create any style cardboard display for you, and don’t forget that our cardboard displays are 100 percent recyclable, therefore your company can be eco-friendly.

“Our labels are digitally printed on EFI Jetrion 4900ML 330 delivered on rolls for machine or hand application. These labels can be used in the food and drink industry, logistics, cosmetics and many others. Our labels are also made to the highest standards and fully comply with the requested regulations. Further to this, they are the perfect solution for producing short runs of multiply types, as there is no minimum order.”

Kuczynska concludes: “Years of experience in the industry, a group of the best experts and an excellent machine park based on the most modern digital printing technologies—all of this allows us to constantly provide our services at the highest, European level.”

The perfect finish

So from high-value product creation to trade printing, another vital ingredient that could help give you a competitive edge is, of course, having the right finishing technology. One firm in this respect that has built its reputation over several decades is D and K Europe, which will use The Print Show to demonstrate how its laminating equipment can help bolster the performance and efficiency of commercial printers, or help those in sectors such as sign-making diversify their business to offer both narrow and large-format print products.
 
“On stand C06 will be the latest addition to our range, the Neptune, a fully automatic laminator for sheets up to B3 size. Compact and easy to use, the D and K Neptune 3754 B3 laminator is designed with today’s short run, print-on-demand market in mind,” says Karen Turner, commercial manager of D and K Europe.



Talking to Turner, she explains its features make it equally adept at running both digital and lithographic output, and an optional rewind unit is available to rewind specialist laminates and foils. This latter element is also an important part of D and K’s offering, as it stocks a full range of laminating, encapsulating, and wide-format films.
Turner continues: “Also on display will be our most popular model—the award winning Europa B2 laminator. Launched in 2010, more than 300 units have since been installed throughout Europe and Australasia. For the wide-format print market we will be showing our Atlas MF 165, which is capable of processing thermal, cold and heat assist films up to 1650mm in width.”



With wide-format print technology in mind, The Print Show really does pack a punch. Indeed, this year its floorplan will represent a large swathe of brands in this sector, whether shown directly by the manufacturer or an authorised dealer. These include; OKI, Fuji, EFI, Signmaster Systems (OKI, Roland DG), Konica Minolta (EFI), Spandex (HP, Gerber, Mutoh, Epson, Swiss Q Print, Durst, Roland DG), Grafityp (Roland, Mutoh), Colourbyte (Epson, Canon, HP), Printmax (Mimaki, Roland DG, HP), and the aforementioned Nova Chrome (Sawgrass).

Profit processor

So last but not least, any show worth its hundreds and thousands in this sector needs to attract what is today the secret ingredient of any visual communications businesses success—the right software. A perfect example in this regard is Infigo Software, which continues to extend the valued partnerships built with customers and to lead the revolution of technology within web-to-print, photobooks, and marketing solutions.

“With phenomenal demand for our product and services we have to continue to grow our product offering, expand our team and deliver exciting new feature sets,” says an enthusiastic Douglas Gibson, managing director of Infigo Software.

He continues: “Nowhere else can a customer get a total solution like Catfish and all its modules, replacing competitive solutions from around the world that have not moved forward or just don't do what they say on the box.”

At this year’s Print Show, Infigo Software will be demonstrating some very interesting additions to their product suite, which were very well received at this year’s Drupa. These include a new 3D preview engine, which enables customers to view photorealistic previews of personalised products, a BETA print driver allowing users to print from any Windows application directly into the Catfish web-to-print platform by converting native files to print ready PDF’s, and a dynamic theming engine that accelerates its highly flexible website skinning capabilities.
Gilbertson adds: “The new third party single sign-on integrations, including SAML and CAS, and the introduction of an extensive and highly flexible MIS interface, delivers integration with multiple MIS vendors including: Tharstern, Optimus, Imprint, Press Wise, Veracore, Avanti.

“Finally, Symphony, the newest addition to the software set, now has the addition of data verification, with the introduction of Mega Edit Pro into the workflow, as well as reporting improvements and a redesigned user interface—this software solution makes cross-media marketing easy, allowing marketers to efficiently launch and track campaigns across print, e-mail, and SMS.”

With the aim of demonstrating this technology in action for real-world applications, Infigo Software will be partnering with Altodigital and Duplo UK at The Print Show to showcase the software in action from customer submission, right through to delivery of the printed personalised product.

So, with this recipe now almost ready for baking, the final most important core ingredient for a great show is of course lashings of fun. The Print Show certainly seems to have delivered in this respect, offering everything from hands on workshops on 200-year-old working printing presses to create your own unique takeaway mementos, to futuristic Oculus virtual reality experience pods—not to mention its very own built-in pub, The Printer’s Arms. Taking it all into perspective, it seems all that remains for you to do is to head out to the NEC and take a bite of this mouth-watering concoction for yourself.

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