The 60-plus year-old business specialises in high quality litho, personalised digital print and mailing. It runs two five-colour Heidelberg presses, and two Ricoh Pro C9210 digital colour presses.

Production manager Tony Clark explained, ‘We reviewed how much we were spending on perfect binding and believed, with the right machinery, we could keep a large percentage of it in house, drastically reducing the turnaround times and save on transportation costs. There was also the potential to win more business as we would be more competitive and quicker.

‘We already had a Horizon SPF-200L bookletmaker which has proven to be a great investment, speeding up production and completing a larger variety of finished book sizes. It is well built and reliable. We tested the BQ-270 at the IFS showroom and then visited the Horizon factory in Germany. I was able to network and meet other printers who had experience of using the BQ-270 and the feedback was largely positive. We also researched what else was on the market. We believed for our budget and requirements the BQ-270 was the best system available.’

Mr Clark said that he and his colleagues have been ‘extremely impressed’ with how easy the machine is to operate and the quality of product it can produce, and also praised the relationship with IFS.

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Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. Based on 10 universal principles and the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations, the UN Global Compact pursues the vision of an inclusive and sustainable economy. More than 21,000 companies and organisations in over 160 countries are already signatories to the UN Global Compact.

Heidelberg has actively identified sustainability as key part of its strategic orientation and a basis for its ‘long-term economic success’. Business activities are claimed as being harmonised with ecological aspects and fair working conditions. To this end, the company has committed itself to climate neutrality (Scope 1 and 2, excluding Scope 3) at its production, development and sales sites by 2030. Priority is being given to increasing energy efficiency, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and ‘substantially’ increasing the share of in-house electricity production through renewable energies – the group’s largest photovoltaic system was commissioned at its Amstetten site in Austria this past September. Any remaining carbon dioxide emissions that cannot be avoided by means of optimisation measures will be neutralised in the future by so-called ‘means of voluntary compensation’. From 2040, Heidelberg aims to manage without offsetting (Scope 1 and 2, without Scope 3).

By joining the UN Global Compact, Heidelberg is underlining its commitment to aligning its corporate strategy with the UN Global Compact’s 10 sustainability principles on hu[1]man rights, labour standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption.

Heidelberg CEO Dr Ludwin Monz said, ‘We see our participation in the UN Global Compact as a logical step in our efforts to have the smallest ecological footprint along the entire value chain in our industry. The company has already actively promoted environmental protection and social responsibility in the past and will further strengthen these efforts by becoming part of the UN Global Compact.’

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It’s almost never too soon to start thinking about Christmas, and after another economically challenging year, it’s the period when we hope to make good. The trade printers have already been thinking about it, and have plenty of suggestions.

There is a wide range of products available, from the more obvious staple seasonal items like wrapping paper, cards and calendars to gifts of all kinds, such as snow globes, baubles and gift boxes. Craig Stark at Tradeprint observes, ‘As the holiday season approaches, we witness a significant uptake in the demand for ceramic mugs, coasters, photo calendars, personalised apparel, cushions, and more,’ noting that the company’s recently-launched Online Designer with 3D preview helps customers to check their uploaded artwork will produce the desired product, in addition to the existing automated 40-point artwork check.

Tradeprint has also moved into personalised packaging in a big way, offering an expanded range of products that includes personalised shipping and mailer boxes, custom gift boxes, and bottle boxes. These can be combined with custom packaging tape and sticker products for more complete personalised offerings and suggests that discount offers or even mini catalogues can be included in the box; the company also offers a range of ‘extremely competitively’ priced large for at signage and display products, which it says were very popular last Christmas, perhaps reflecting a return to normality in public events and activities after the Covid restriction period.

Gary Peeling, CEO at Where The Trade Buys (WTTB) reports that ‘Notebooks, mindfulness journals and even diaries are back in fashion. With that in mind we will have a new range with pre-printed stock blocks and proper sewn binding, perfect for brands who want to engage with their customers.’

Not your typical Christmas stocking – custom tote bags are within WTTB’s gift

WTTB has also added garments such as hoodies via a new apparel range which can be personalised and could be adapted for events such as Christmas Jumper Day or as branded wear for fundraising events in the run-up to the festive season. Likewise, there are branded aprons on offer and Mr Peeling notes that personalised Advent calendars are as popular with adults as with children.

Leicester-based Flexpress mainly sells Christmas cards and calendars but also offers gift tags, wine boxes and wrapping paper. MD Steve Wenlock says, ‘We’re not planning to add anything new this year, but we’ll probably look to include some fighting lines in our Super Saver range.’

It’s a similar story at Rotherham’s Route 1, where the company’s Macauley Hardeman says, ‘We have made the strategic decision to prioritise our core products, namely greetings cards and calendars, and refrain from expanding our print portfolio this year. Our goal is to solidify our position as market leaders in these key product categories by delivering unparalleled quality and efficient turnarounds.’

Whether their Christmas ranges are being expanded or not, all four have continued to invest in equipment and software to maximise their productivity and efficiency in order to offer competitive pricing and reliable turnaround times. Flexpress has added a Duplo booklet-making machine and three-knife trimmer, plus a big software investment in Rip, imposition and workflow. Route 1 has got its Landa S10P press into full-time production, supported by two new Multigraf Touchline TCF375 creaser/folders and another Autobond Mini laminator.

WTTB has a £1.6 million automated binding line being installed as this article was written, following on from the garment investment in a DTFMagic Pro 60 direct-to-film printer earlier in the year. Tradeprint had a major investment period in 2022 with the addition of a Canon VarioPrint iX3200 sheet-fed digital press and a Heidelberg XL106 LED UV offset press, which respectively have reduced minimum order quantities and turnaround times.

The power of print

But it’s not just about what your customers buy, it’s about what you can sell, and the argument is put succinctly by Mr Wenlock: ‘Most businesses tend to see marketing as a cost rather than an investment so cut back on it, at the time they need it most. As a response we’ll be adding products to our Super Saver range to try to help our clients be able to offer a high-quality, low-cost option.’

However, Mr Peeling points out that ‘Digital marketing costs have increased so both hospitality and retail need to find tangible ways to attract customers at what should be their most profitable time of year. Display and print marketing not only offers great value but will also help drive return.’

Mr Hardeman echoes this theme, saying, ‘Print marketing… becomes especially relevant during Christmas, the most heavily marketed time of the year. In a digital age, print materials can evoke emotions, provide a tactile experience, and stand out from digital clutter,’ while Mr Stark points out that print can be used to support an online presence:

‘Printed advertisements, such as flyers, posters, and banners, can be powerful tools in promoting your website or social media pages. These tangible materials can attract potential customers and drive traffic to your online platforms.’

Other advice revolves around carefully targeted and simple-to-follow offers. Mr Wenlock advocates, ‘sell print as an investment as opposed to an expense. Use every opportunity to deliver proof of concept,’ citing Flexpress’s free raised spot UV and raised foiling sampling service as ways to do that. Mr Stark suggests that consolidating purchasing via a single supplier will streamline procurement, always helpful if and when the desired Christmas rush arrives.

But the main advice is that given at the start, which is to start early. Mr Peeling provides a timeline: ‘Planning is all-important as the main activity takes place in October for delivery in November in time for Christmas. Decide what products you are going to focus on and decide on your target customers. Think about having samples in hand ready to go and make sure that discussions with clients about their marketing and product needs start in early September to raise awareness, with a view to orders being closed in October.’

Mr Hardeman adds further impetus, noting that, ‘The Christmas rush arrives swiftly, and even as early as mid-summer, we’ve seen an influx of Christmas print orders. Ensure your customers know that you’re their go-to printer for all their Christmas printing needs, so they can plan ahead and avoid last-minute stress.’

Since Christmas can often be a stressful time for families, it seems a double win not to let it be one for business. Have a great one!

The post Holidays are coming appeared first on Digital Printer.

Based on the new Ricoh Pro 9500 and Pro 7500 models launched in August and September 2023 respectively, the machines are essentially aimed at volume CMYK production and more creative five-colour work, with a range of fifth colour options which include white, clear, invisible red, gold and silver toners, plus neon yellow and neon pink.

As with the previous generation, Heidelberg’s main point of differentiation from Ricoh’s own offering is in its its front-end and prepress integration expertise across offset and digital print using a ‘two printing processes – one workflow technology’ principle. This allows steps from job creation and preflight checking through to colour management and imposition to be automated and pre-costed. The presses and DFE also link into Heidelberg’s wider ecosystem that includes consumables, digital services, software, cloud-based solutions, training, consulting, inventory management and logistics.

The Versafire LP is aimed at cost-effective production of larger volumes and/or lots of short runs. Suitable for up to a million clicks each month, it is said by Heidelberg to be one of the market’s most productive SRA3 toner-based digital presses. Functions such as automatic register along with calibration, inline colour measurement and content monitoring should maximise reliability in production.

The fifth toner in the Versafire LV offers flexibility in wide-ranging applications in short-run printing, while its level of automation and upgrade options offer excellent flexibility and investment security, according to Heidelberg.

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Mr Giralt will be responsible for sales at a global scale, plus marketing and strategic product management. Together with managing directors Steffen Pieper and Bernd Sauter he will also be responsible for shaping the company’s business strategy. 

He brings a long and proven professional experience in the printing industry, including in particular previous experience in digital printing and digital embellishment in leading positions at HP Indigo, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen and Leonhard Kurz.

‘We truly expect to start a new chapter in the history of Kama with his knowledge of the business and enthusiasm, and [to] strengthen our presence in the international markets,’ commented Mr Sauter.

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The company supplies local and national organisations including the NHS. Established in 1982, it runs Heidelberg MO litho presses and Konica Minolta Bizhub digital presses. 

Managing director Jim Monks explained the investment decision thus: ‘We had a Horizon bookletmaker that we had been running for around 20 years. It had always worked well and was very reliable. It was time to replace it and so we talked to IFS about finding the right system to suit our needs. Because we knew how good Horizon booklet-makers are the SPF-200L booklet-maker was the natural choice.

‘When considering the options we decided twin collating towers would be the best choice because of the number of repeat jobs we have and the fact that they would be made faster by the extra collating capability. We also liked the programmability via the touchscreen set up. We can store our regular jobs which saves us time on make-readies. This makes us more productive and has expanded our capacity.’

The booklet-maker’s impact is already being felt, according to Mr Monks. “It produces jobs quicker which means we can take on more work. As a result, we can look for new opportunities knowing that we have the capacity,’ he confirms.

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Due to component supply bottlenecks, the Polar Group had initiated court-supervised protective shield proceedings for restructuring purposes.  SOL Capital Management will support and drive the future direction of the company with a ‘significant’ injection of capital. SOL is taking over 100% of the shares in Polar Mohr and the business operations of Adolf Mohr, which had been family run businesses for over a century.

‘Our position as an industry leader will be boosted by this new start and the additional funds from SOL Capital. Through further automation, solutions that enable our customers to significantly increase productivity and support their competitiveness, we will further expand and consolidate our leadership in innovation,’ said Thomas Raab, managing director of the new Polar Cutting Technologies. ‘I would like to thank all employees, customers, suppliers and our sales and service partner Heidelberg, who supported us during the challenging phase of the protective shield proceedings.’

Haiko Stüting, the managing partner of SOL Capital, added, ‘The aim is to further strengthen and expand the market leadership of the Polar companies worldwide. With the existing resources and new approaches, we have the best prerequisites for developing new technologies and solutions.’

‘The current developments have no impact on the working conditions of our employees. These will be maintained as part of the transfer of operations. With the comprehensive knowledge of our we are also optimally positioned in the area of human resources,’ noted Mr Raab. ‘In addition, our supply and purchasing situation is improving. Our most important suppliers are already sending very positive signals.’

The acquisition by SOL Capital is a combined asset and share deal. The new company now operates as Polar Cutting Technologies GmbH. Both teh German Polar-Mohr and the Chinese subsidiary companies were also acquired. The company’s headquarters will remain in Hofheim am Taunus.

In the run-up to the agreement with SOL Capital, the group sold its approximately 50,000sqm factory site in the centre of Hofheim, paving the way for the construction of a new factory in the Hofheim am Taunus region that meets today’s production requirements.

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Ms von der Goltz most recently worked with Fresenius Medical Care as senior vice president of global financial strategy. Among other things, she initiated and led international value creation programs and, as head of the global acquisitions and investment committee, had a formative influence on the M&A activities of the DAX-listed group.

Chairman of the supervisory board, Dr Martin Sonnenschein, said, ‘We are very pleased to have gained Tania von der Goltz, a highly competent financial expert with many years of experience, for Heidelberg. She will make a difference in the successful further development. We were thus able to fill the CFO position that had become vacant in a timely manner and ensure an orderly transition.’

Dr Monz added, ‘I am very much looking forward to working with Tania von der Goltz. Together we will drive the strategic realignment, financial strengthening and cultural transformation of Heidelberg that we have started.’

Ms von der Goltz said, ‘I am extremely excited about my new role, to work with the executive board and employees to help shape the path we have taken towards sustainable value growth. I would like to sincerely thank the Supervisory Board for its trust.’

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In the period until his actual departure, Mr Wassenberg will work with the supervisory board and the CEO to ensure an orderly transition of his duties and responsibilities into new hands.

Dr Martin Sonnenschein, chairman of the supervisory board of Heidelberg, said, ‘Over the past three years, Marcus Wassenberg has done effective work both in restructuring the company and in driving forward the transformation. His imminent departure is also an expression of the milestones achieved, the financial successes achieved and the regained future viability of Heidelberg. We thank him for his important contributions.’

Chairman of the management board, Dr Ludwin Monz, added, In Marcus Wassenberg, we are losing a committed innovator and I am losing a very valued board colleague. Despite the unexpected challenges of the pandemic and the current uncertain geopolitical situation, he and his colleagues have restored the company’s robust economic performance. We will now continue unwaveringly with the strategic development of our portfolio and business model innovation.

Mr Wassenerg said, ‘The task now is to further strengthen the core business and at the same time drive forward the development of new business areas based on the company’s extensive competencies, for example in electromobility, automation and sensor technology. Under the leadership of Ludwin Monz, the company is excellently equipped for this permanent innovation task.’

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They still have pages printed on paper and have covers that have to be bound in some way. They’ve survived bannings, burnings, and more recently, the rise of e-readers and even the Covid pandemic, which actually gave some categories a boost. What has changed of course, is how they’re printed and bound. The ‘print lots and hope to sell them all’ model is very much on the way out, with print-on-demand now being the norm for many publishers, reducing waste and inventory-related costs, and meaning that – provided the artwork is available in a suitable form – nothing need be ‘out of print’ any more.

Printing books is no longer the preserve of large printers either. Anyone with a digital press and some binding kit can get in on the game, and despite the presence of behemoths like Clays and CPI, who churn out millions of copies, there is still room in market for smaller players. That’s certainly the view of Dave Button of Essex-based 4edge, a specialist book printer that was set up in 2003 to tackle publishers’ backlists.

His plan from the outset was to focus solely on digital printing of books, and it worked: ‘We were very lucky, the market came to us,’ he recalls. His clients are mostly small-to-medium publishers, which the company has grown alongside. The work is wide ranging, including instruction manuals, journals, paperback, brochures and casebound books.

‘If it’s pages in a book, we do it,’ he says. On the press side, 4edge started with a Heidelberg Digimaster and a pre-Kodak Nexpress to serve this market. and have subsequently followed developments in toner print, both colour and mono. The company moved premises in 2017 with the plan to add an inkjet press, but so far hasn’t found the right one. ‘I’m quite fussy in terms of production, such as getting the grain direction of the paper right. The big players don’t do this,’ he adds. ‘We ensure it’s done the best as it can be, as it’s part of the publisher’s brand. We ensure the end result couldn’t be better in short-run.’

By short run he generally means under 2000 copies, and typically around 300, but 4edge has produced ‘book of one’ projects and still does occasionally. A key piece of equipment at the Essex site today is a Müller Martini InfiniTrim three-knife trimmer bought in 2018, which revitalised the business, according to Mr Button. Printing is nowadays done on a Canon ImagePress C8000 and a Konica Minolta C14000 for colour work and three Océ (as was) Titan presses. Unusually, 4edge operates a reel-to-sheet paper handling model in which the paper is cut before printing to feed to the cut-sheet presses, using kit from Tecnau and its predecessors. Mr Button says that as well as a saving on price for buying in reels, the system eliminates problems like double-feeding and can give an improved yield through careful cutting to size.

For certain formats, such as A4 books, the cross-grain issue that would arise from working from rolls means that cut-sheet is better and paper is bought that way for such products. Jobs are received by FTP or email. There’s no web portal, and Mr Button is unapologetic about that: ‘People use us because they want to, and we employ skilled people,’ he argues. Once jobs are received, they are processed through Canon’s Prisma software and job metadata is added to the PDFs, detailing attributes such as the extent, size and material requirements for each. The Canon software is also able to drive the Konica Minolta press. For jobs that don’t need to go through the InfiniTrim, there’s a Polar guillotine with a barcode reader to recall settings. Binding is handled by a Horizon BQ500 added in 2021, and a Müller Vareo digital perfect binder.

‘The only manual process is putting the book blocks into the binder,’ Mr Button says. Imposition is done via the metadata attached to the PDF at the outset. The company is in the process of building an extension to house the yet-to-be decided inkjet press; planning permission was granted in early 2020, but the pandemic caused a delay. It’s now scheduled to be finished later. in 2022, with the intention of having selected the press by the end of the year.

Scaling up an altogether bigger operation is TJ Books, a 53 year-old business that has been located in Padstow, Cornwall for nearly all of that time. It’s run by Andy Watts and financial director Andy Adams, who acquired it at the start of 2018, prior to which both had been in the book industry. Mr Watts had known the business previously and, wanting to ‘do something different’ and seeing ‘a gap for a more creative approach’ made a successful offer to the then owners. The years 2018 and 2019 went well. Mr Watts says that in 2018 he and Mr Adams ‘learned the business’ and in 2019 they drew up their strategy, with the plan for its implementation to happen in 2020. The arrival of Covid-19 saw 50% of sales lost overnight and the loss of a stock replenishment contract. The firm survived 2020 and saw recovery begin in 2021 and is now aiming to be back at pre-Covid levels by the end of 2023. Despite all this Mr Watts says, ‘we carried on, didn’t go off course’ and in 2020 and 2021 the company made significant investments totalling some £1.7 million in digital presses, MIS and infrastructure, also moving equipment around within the factory to improve physical workflow.

The goal was to achieve an automated production line, from paper reel to printed and bound softcover book or book block for case binding. This involved two parallel production lines based around existing Canon ColorStream web inkjets, bracketed by Hunkeler Book Line equipment for unwinding, and inline cutting, folding and binding. Two Müller Vareo perfect binders are used, together with an InfiniTrim for completed soft cover books or bound blocks for subsequent case binding. The Canon presses, which are between six and four years old, are about to be replaced with two ColorStream 8000 models, the first due to arrive in August and the second in October 2022. According to Mr Watts, these will bring greater flexibility in the company’s capacity, transferring more litho work to inkjet.

‘The market is going that way, with shorter runs and turnaround times,’ he notes. The shorter runs range from one copy up to about 1500, but the deciding factors include both run length and pagination. ‘We can back-fill the litho presses, there’s plenty of life left in them, but work that requires more setups will go inkjet,’ he explains. The Canon inkjets are complemented by Ricoh Pro C72000 and Pro C9200 cut-sheet toner machines, with long sheet capability for book jackets. There is also a Canon iX series cut-sheet inkjet, added in early 2021, to support a move into colour book production. This prints onto offset stocks, and filled a gap in the offering. These presses are supported by a Duplo DuSense digital UV coater, which has ‘been great, seen a lot of use and is perfect for short run’. The MIS part of the investment is the EFI Pace system, which went live in April 2021, replacing an older Imprint system. ‘It was a bit like going from litho to digital,’ says Mr Watts, ‘EFI gave us all the modules and visibility we needed, it’s future-proof.’ Workflow decisions on litho or digital print are still made by humans, but the system is fed with production information for scheduling, which includes live job feeds from TJ’s publisher clients. Turnaround is from 24 hours, depending on the service level agreement with each client.

A significant investment in presses, MIS and infrastructure has left Andy Watts of TJ Books feeling positive

The work for inkjet output is batched by the EFI MIS, which also carries out estimating and shopfloor data collection. Mr Watts is confident about the future. ‘We’re now back to pre-Covid levels with 146 staff and very positive about the business going forward. We’ve rebalanced financially and are adamant about sticking to our strategy – if you keep getting knocked off-course you’ll never get where you’re going. Bumps and hurdles are expected.’ Bella Italia Another large book printer is Grafica Veneta, located in the Padova area of northern Italy. Producing some 150 million books a year and with a turnover of €100 million, it operates from a 100,000sqm carbon-neutral facility driven by solar power and employing 750 people.

Since 2021 it has also owned Lake Book Manufacturing of the US, in order to better serve its customers there alongside those in Europe and North Africa. Predominantly an offset printing operation, Grafica Veneta added digital printing to better serve customers wanting short runs, buying a mono Canon ColorStream inkjet and a four-colour ProStream model, to which a Fujifilm JetPress 720S was added for very short run and cover work. Nicola Franceschi, head of research and development at the company, says that the Canon presses give ‘a balance between very good quality and the achievable speed’, printing on the same stocks as the offset presses. He describes the investment in the B2 Fujifilm press as ‘a milestone to add a new level of service on the very short run productions [for] our customers’.

Subsequently the company decided to swap its original model for the newer JetPress 750S. ‘The quality was excellent, so when we became aware of the Jet Press 750S – a machine that produces the same quality at faster speeds – we were immediately interested. We evaluated the performance and it was an easy decision to upgrade our digital sheet-fed printing line,’ says Mr Franceschi. ‘We’ve shortened our overall printing time for each job and improved our service for the book publisher by providing them with shorter print runs,’ he adds. The further upgrade to the HS JetPress specification is being considered. ‘We are expecting better economies in terms of ink consumption and speed of the machine,’ he notes. There is a further investment in the offing, which Mr Franceschi says is ‘an important investment in digital Inkjet technology, which actually represent the most advanced solution on the market’, but which he couldn’t reveal at the time of writing. We hope to report on that in Digital Printer later in the year. Small is beautiful At the other end of the scale is Wiltshire-based Ripe Digital, a previous Digital Printer Supreme Award winner. The small business does a variety of bespoke book work for its customers, which include local design students, groups of which are invited to visit the company to learn about print. Ripe likes doing creative work, with a focus on creative use of materials and finishing to add appeal and value, ‘even if it initially seems daunting,’ as director Clive Humphries puts it.

The printing is done on an HP Indigo 7800, supported by Möhr and EBA guillotines, plus a DK laminator. The most recent additions are a Morgana PowerSquare 224 stitcher-trimmer, which arrived in April 2022, and a DigiFold Pro XL, also from Morgana that was offered as a good deal trade-in on a 12year-old predecessor.

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