Expand Vol. 3 No. 7
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Test the Latest Technology at LexJet’s Open House and Demonstration Event
LexJet will host an open house and technology demonstration at the LexJet Technology Center in Sarasota, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 14. The event will showcase the latest technology available in wide-format printing, featuring every component of the digital printing process, including sneak previews of products and equipment not yet released to the industry.
Each vendor featured at the event will provide multiple half-hour presentations throughout the day, as well as open discussion times to answer your questions and provide in-depth product information.
Dr. Ray Work, author of Digital Graphics magazine’s monthly column, Think Ink, and one of the industry’s preeminent experts on digital technology will also be on hand for an Ask the Expert session.
Participating vendors include FLEXcon, HP, Onyx, Hahnemuhle, OKI Printing Solutions, and Digital Equipment Company, manufacturer of the Legend 72HUV. There is no cost to attend, and morning snacks, an afternoon lunch, and afternoon snacks will all be provided.
Click here to register for the event, or contact a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538 for more information.
Lloyd’s of Indiana to Distribute and Demo the Legend 72HUV
Lloyd’s of Indiana recently acquired a Legend 72HUV from Digital Equipment Company, and will distribute the 72-in. wide UV-curable hybrid (roll-to-roll and flatbed) printer to the signmaking, wide-format printing, and commercial graphics markets. Lloyd’s of Indiana will also provide live demonstrations at its facility in Indianapolis.
Priced at under $80,000, the Legend 72HUV is engineered to meet and exceed the performance of printers priced over $250,000.
"Since our print shop installed the Legend 72HUV, we've seen wide-format printing costs reduced dramatically, with as much as 50 percent of supply costs and 80 percent of labor costs eliminated," says Garry Jones, CEO of Lloyd's of Indiana. "And, what really sets the Legend apart from other UV-curable printers is how it's built; it's print-shop tough. Other machines at the Legend's price point are built like lightweight office equipment,and have much higher suppy costs."
The Legend uses ColorWide UV-curable inks that allow printing on an endless variety of coated and uncoated materials, both roll and rigid, including foam boards, PVC boards, MDO, fabrics, vinyl, polycarbonate film, backlit film, vinyl, Coroplast, and aluminum.
The Legend 72HUV is designed to provide an uninterrupted production workflow, and includes a number of enhancements not found on other printers in its price range to ensure that users are able to produce a higher number of jobs each day on the wide assortment of signs and displays required for graphics packages.
Those features include the Legend’s automatic printhead maintenance system, its integrated roll handling system for quick changeover from rigid to roll material, the ability to print on unusually heavy materials and accommodate extra-large roll media, and the seamless integration of software and hardware driven by Onyx, the industry standard RIP.
“Lloyd’s of Indiana shares the same vision as Digital Equipment Company. Both companies believe in satisfying the customer’s needs first and finding ways to boost their production while lowering their costs, thereby increasing their profit margins and bottom line,” says Jason Metnick, director of strategic partnerships and acquisitions for Digital Equipment Company. “Both Lloyd’s of Indiana and Digital Equipment Company, working together, are dedicated to supplying the best product and the best service in the industry.”
Production Print Providers Encouraged to Add Wide-Format Printing Services
During a webinar hosted by the printing-industry information and consulting group What They Think.com, Tim Greene and Barb Pellow of InfoTrends and David Pitts of Classic Graphics discussed why it makes sense for commercial providers of production printing to add wide-format graphics to their product mix.
Barb Pellow, a group director at InfoTrends, noted that the “the customers for whom you produce print ads, brochures, catalogs and sell sheets also are spending heavily on signage.” Plus, these same customers who are seeking shorter turnaround times, shorter runs, and more personalization in their print-production jobs want the same things from their signage providers.
Tim Greene, InfoTrends’ director of inkjet technologies, talked about InfoTrends research that estimates that the U.S. retail value of wide-format digital printing will rise from $10.8 billion in 2008 to $11.9 billion in 2011. He said that while other forms of advertising are being disrupted by technologies that allow consumers to skip ads (such as Tivo and satellite radio), outdoor and P.O.P. advertising continue to grow.
Greene pointed out that in some cases P.O.P. isn’t part of a company’s advertising budget, but rather its merchandising budget. This makes P.O.P. less susceptible to some of the budget belt-tightening that occurs during economic downturns.
Greene presented other statistics that showed the size and diversity of the opportunity to sell wide-format graphics. For example, he cited U.S. government data that showed there are more than 2 million retail establishments, banks, restaurants, and bars. He said if you walk into any one of the sites, you can see hundreds of square feet of all types of different graphics.
For print providers who only used aqueous inkjet printers as proofing devices, Greene presented an overview of all types of inkjet printers, discussing their strengths, weaknesses, and comparative operating costs of aqueous, eco-solvent, robust solvent, and UV-curable ink technologies.
David Pitts said his printing company Classic Graphics was pulled into the wide-format printing business after one of their major clients said they would prefer dealing with a single vendor instead of sending some work to a screen printing company and some work to Classic Graphics.
Until last year, Classic Graphics had been producing all of its work on 40-in. sheetfed presses and an HP Indigo digital press. To expand the range of signage they could produce, they installed a UV-curable flatbed/roll hybrid printer in July of 2007 and an HP TurboJet 8500 in April of this year. Classic Graphics has since trained a sales rep to focus exclusively on large format, and she acts as a specialist on calls with sales reps to existing accounts.
During the webinar, Pitts showed some of the projects his company has done for various retailers, including a grocery-store display that incorporates an acrylic rack holding multiple brochures at its base. He says the addition of wide-format graphics printing has helped drive new print jobs to his other equipment.
He admits that Classic Graphics had to make some adjustments to its operations. For one thing, large-format printing is priced differently than offset, said Pitts. He noted that pricing varies widely, and that certain jobs can be quite profitable.
The prepress workflow is also different, Pitts said. He advised webinar attendees to be prepared for challenges related to installation and plan to buy multiple devices to produce a range of products. Pitts said printing companies who get into wide-format graphics should also be prepared to invest in finishing equipment, such as a digital die cutter, and allocate plenty of space for material handling.
The webinar was sponsored by HP and entitled: The Next Killer App: Are You Getting the Most Out of Inkjet? A PDF of the webinar slides can be downloaded from the What They Think website.
Earlier this year, InfoTrends released a publication to help teach newcomers to the business how to sell wide-format graphics. Entitled Selling Wide Format, the document provides a checklist for preparing or examining a wide-format sales strategy and discusses some of the best practices employed by wide-format service providers on a worldwide basis as well as in some local U.S. markets.
SGIA Makes It Easier for Buyers to Find Specialty Printing Services
Every year, SGIA receives thousands of requests from print buyers looking for companies that can meet their specific imaging needs. To provide them with better referrals, SGIA recently upgraded its Find Print Providers resource on SGIA.org.
Site visitors can search by Product, Technical Capability or Location. The Product section includes the following 20 categories, each of which includes several sub-categories.
Ad Specialty
Adhesives
Apparel
Architecture/Interior Design
Art
Awards, Ribbons, and Recognition
Bags
Containers
Decals/Labels
Electronics
Flags, Cloth, Fabric, Towels, Blankets
Fleet Markings/Transit Advertising
Glass and Ceramics
Heat Transfers
Industrial; Packaging
Plastics
Presentations, Posters, and Photographic
Retail Displays and Exhibits
Security
Signs and Banners
Print buyers can also search for print providers based on type of technology used. For example, they can conduct a search for the nearest company in their area equipped with a UV-curable flatbed printer or an inkjet printer up to 97-in. wide.
The Find Print Providers resource gives SGIA members an ongoing opportunity to connect with new customers. “It’s important for SGIA members to make sure their keywords and descriptions are up-to-date so they’re getting the most referrals possible,” Michael Robertson, SGIA’s president/CEO said. |
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