The new dittomi.co.uk site is understood to be the first UK implementation of the HP web-to-print software that was launched in September 2023, alongside the HP Latex 630 roll-fed printer, though Time 2 Display had been working with HP on development and implementation of the pilot site since the summer of 2021. HP’s software is described as an intuitive web-to-print solution that saves time with simplified print application design capabilities, efficient production paths and step-by-step guidance on how PSPs can integrate it with an existing e-commerce store.

In addition to enabling Dittomi customer to create their own designs, the site offers a selection of professionally-designed templates, allowing customers to further reduce the cost of design.

‘We are extremely proud and excited to introduce the HP PrintOS Design & eCommerce software to the UK market through our customer validation test partnership with HP,’ said Andrew Wilson, director of Time 2 Display Group, which includes Fordingbridge Print, Xconsumables, Paper Mountain and Paper Meadows, recently joined by merger with banner and flag printer Big Print Little Print.

‘With Dittomi, we aim to revolutionise the way customers approach large format printing. Whether they are professionals or individuals, our platform provides the tools and flexibility to bring their designs to life effortlessly,’ added Mr Wilson.

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Both solutions will be showcased at Fujifilm’s European Print Experience Centres in Germany and Belgium, and will be a major focus at Fujifilm’s Peak Performance Print event in January 2024. 

The partnership will enable customers to see real examples of an end-to-end workflow, from job onboarding via a web-to-print system, to registering the job in an MIS and the full management of a print job to organise, impose, gang print and finish. This will allow customers to consider which elements of their workflow could be updated to add value to their business.

Fujifilm will also have a team of workflow experts at both Print Experience Centres to work with customers to create a ‘next-generation’ workflow that will maximise profitability from their new digital press investment.

John Davies, product group manager for workflow systems at Fujifilm Europe, said, ‘This partnership with EPS showcases our dedication to working with market-leading suppliers in order to create a complete print solution offering for our customers. The growth forecast for digital printing is healthy, but this means there is increasing pressure to manage more print jobs, in order to provide quicker turnaround times, and this is only possible by also implementing smarter automation. We are excited that our complete digital print solution, in partnership with EPS, will deliver the levels of end-to-end workflow automation that our customers require.’

John Morley, global channel partner sales director, EPS, commented, ‘EPS is delighted to extend our reseller agreement with Fujifilm into EMEA, following the success we have seen in Asia Pacific, and we are excited by the opportunity to partner and integrate with Fujifilm solutions.  Customer success is at the heart of what both EPS and Fujifilm do, and this is another example of how working together with industry market leaders offers huge value and opportunities for customers.  I am confident that this partnership will bring fantastic opportunities to automate, optimise and drive efficiencies and we are excited for what the future holds as we continue to work together.’

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The new equipment includes a flatbed printer which can print up to 60 notebooks at a time with a varnish finish, and a 360-degree cylinder printer machine for water bottles and flasks, able to produce 250 items an hour.

Merchr has also installed a Graphtec cutting plotter which can cut high-build heat transfer vinyl to give a raised printing finish when transferred to garments, along with a laser-guided dual heat pressing printer for glitter, neon and textured printing on t-shirts, hats, toiletry bags and other items. The fifth new piece of kit is a 360-degree heat press machine for custom decoration of hats.

The custom machinery was sourced through linked company Product Source Group, through a partnership with an OEM to develop the custom-built equipment to suit Merchr’s specific requirements. The bottle printing machine is called a PSG-360X and the flatbed machine is a PSG-100X.

Jack Fox, Merchr’s head of operations, said, ‘Advancements in technology have opened doors to a new era of sustainable merchandise printing. The ability to print retail quality items on demand, without having to order in bulk, not only enhances our commitment to sustainability but also empowers our store owners with more choice and customisation options.

‘We’re excited to embrace this innovative machinery, as it aligns perfectly with our goal of reducing waste and minimising our environmental footprint while delivering quality products for our users. Customers will benefit from even higher quality printing with varnish finishes and faster turnaround times. For example, it takes only two minutes to full colour print a water bottle.

‘These digital machines are designed and built to integrate with the Merchr ecosystem, enabling ‘cart to print’ in seconds, representing a fundamental advance in the supply chain,’ he concluded.

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The investment is intended to streamline Go Inspire’s manufacturing processes, helping it deliver ‘better experiences, improved performance and new services’ to clients which include Sainsbury’s, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Pizza Hut and Cruise. The implementation of web-to-print will allow the company to expand into the digital print and short-run offset market. Driven by XMPie software, the system will streamline small-run work, reducing costs and administrative efforts while expediting the manufacturing process.

According to Go Inspire, the investments in the web portal and the digital department mark a significant expansion in its commercial print services. The company will now be able to provide digital printing capabilities, enabling clients to self-serve for small lithographic and digital printing jobs, an option that was not previously available. A mezzanine floor has been added, bringing 3883sqft of space to its facilities to accommodate the digital presses and associated finishing equipment.

Danny Cook, group operations director at Go Inspire, commented, ‘We are thrilled about these investments and their potential to transform our manufacturing capabilities and expand our service offerings. We now have the ability to produce short run volumes, closing the gap in the ever-changing needs of our marketing clients, specifically with the addition of the Xerox Iridesse press, allowing us to provide customers with print enhancements including silver, gold, and fluorescent. The company remains committed to delivering exceptional print and marketing solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients.’

The printing and finishing equipment aspect of the upgrade includes seven Xerox digital presses in total, with various Nuvera and Versant models, as wells the Iridesse. Enhancements to Kodak Prosper variable data hardware have also been made. Finishing and paper handling equipment from Stahl, Palamides and Komori, including a pallet-fed folder with robotic stacker, has also been added.

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Sitma was founded in 1965 and offers direct mail and transpromo packaging systems, post-press collating, inserting, addressing and wrapping systems, film packaging systems and e-logistics for book and e-commerce markets as well as parcel sorting solutions. The move allows Tecnau to strengthen its position with the addition of a well-established brand and product portfolio and to boost its diversification in the e-logistics segment, begun recently with the opening of the newTecnau Automation & Packaging division.

With head offices in Spilamberto in northern Italy near Modena, Sitma has sales and service branches in France, Japan and the United States, which now add to the established Tecnau direct presence in the United States, Germany, Belgium, Singapore and Sweden. Tecnau is distributed and supported in the UK via Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS).

‘We are very excited to welcome all Sitma employees, customers and partners to the bigger Tecnau family,’ said Stefano De Marco, chief executive officer at Tecnau. ‘Sitma has a long history in the graphics business with a very consolidated and high-performance product mix. Over the last few years Sitma was able to diversify and apply its technical expertise to the fast-growing e-commerce business, developing sustainable, pack-to-size technological solutions as well as energy saving and low-running-cost parcel sortation systems.

‘Tecnau endorses this strategy and will provide all the necessary support to retain and expand further the wide customer base in traditional segments and to broaden the portfolio and customer base in new growing areas.’

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Charlotte Tueckmantel, GM/VP, Global eCommerce, Publication & Enterprise Print, outlined the generic benefits of web-to-print, namely winning new business, fuelling overall growth and growing share of spend within existing customer accounts, also noting that customers generally want to work with fewer vendors, thus  simplifying their supply chains.

Reiterating the ‘platform’ nature of the MarketDirect suite , comprising the StoreFront, PackCentral, Cross Media and Fulfilment modules, Ms Tueckmantel outlined changes being rolled out in version 14 of StoreFront through 2023 and beyond. An improved buyer experience, particularly on mobile devices, is key to this, aiming to have the ‘fewest clicks to check out’. The incorporation of touch controls is also seen as something to engage both e-commerce customers and development staff within print companies.

SmartCanvas  tools are being rolled out across the suite components to facilitate easier site design and development, enabling updating of user interfaces and improving compatibility with mobile devices. These will also enable customers to personalise products for themselves. StoreFront already has integration with the Picscart image generation tools announced at Connect in January 2023 and these are expected to help solve the ‘content problem’ via ‘Moonpig-style’ templated designs for corporate or academic users who don’t want to tie up in-house graphic design resources; contextual online help and tutorials will also be available to help.

Coming in the autumn 2023 release of SmartStore will be increased SEO optimisation and a unified experience across desktop, tablet and phone implementations, while the Fulfilment module will gain support for trade show services and products. Another development will be SmartMatrix, a way of handling products that come in multiple versions or variants: a T-shirt offered in a choices of four sizes and five colours could mean 20 separate products to set up and manage, but they can all be administered as one product, for example. Plans for 2024 include the ability to include additional HTML pages within the StoreFront structure rather than linking to separate sites, more dashboard facilities and more intuitive workflows.

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The purchasing process is handled by a network of long-standing partners in each country and supplemented by a web shop operated by paper merchant Europapier.

Bernhard Cantzler, head of marketing and business development at Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper, explained the reasoning behind this move: ‘For us, digital and analogue go hand in hand. We use digital possibilities and our distributor network so our customers can get Mondi papers for their analogue projects quickly and reliably. We want to make sure that our paper enthusiasts get exactly the paper they want. This digital approach has been well-received.’

The new setup completes the range of digital platforms, according to Mondi, complementing  mymondi.shop, which has been providing ordering and service options to direct customers for over five years. ‘mymondi.shop is reserved for customers with larger order quantities. With the latest extension, companies that need smaller quantities can buy them via mymondi.net, our public website for Mondi brands, which was previously limited to information and inspiration and now also allows you to source our papers,’ said Mr Cantzler.

In the United Kingdom, the web shops of existing Mondi partners have been fully integrated. Customers are redirected to the specific product page to simplify the ordering process. If speciality products from the Pergraphica or Color Copy ranges are not offered by the distributor network, there is a web shop operated by Europapier.

‘This allows us to offer a broad portfolio of specialities. Products that are perhaps bought less often are available in the web shop. As a specialist in fine paper with many years of experience in international logistics, Europapier is a reliable partner who can also process complex orders in a short time,’ said Daniel Richter, managing director of Europapier Austria.

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The company says the update delivers more flexibility and connectivity to its customers, focusing on automation, connectivity and visibility. The new features of V46 include a Sign Off App, which allows iPhone or Android phone users to upload information directly to a job bag, review, check, sign off LFP and signage jobs anywhere at any time, and is said to be easy to use for both internal andexternal team members.

An Outsource Portal allows greater control, connectivity and automation when ordering from suppliers, delivering both artwork and purchase order details straight into the Suppliers portal. IQ Link allows customers to collaborate with fellow IQ users to offer products not currently manufactured in-house. Dynamic synchronisation of purchase orders, job tracking, and progress in production information should reduce the need for calls and emails.

Advanced integration with Infigo web-to-print/e-commerce installations delivers live pricing and stock control plus product ‘Push’, giving dynamic updates in Infigo storefronts, again saving time. Other features include an Approve module, Data Capture, Commissions, Promotional Products, Single product creation quick ordering, Expanded stock size options, new dispatch export mass shipping, Capacity planner updates, APIs and Webhooks for further integration.

PrintIQ’s Global sales director Paul Bromley said, ‘V46 is an incredibly powerful advancement for our MIS and has been developed by listening to our customers and the marketplace that they serve. We consider ourselves to be both innovative and consistent with our technological advances ensuring our solution never stands still in this market sector and the main reason why customers are looking to migrate to a new MIS ‘present day’ solution.’

PrintIQ will be at at Sign & Digital UK from 21 to 23 March; see Digital Printer‘s show preview for more. 

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Designed to enable print-on-demand customers to ‘sell more’, the MarketDirect range has over 3000 customers and includes four modular variants: Cross-Media omnichannel campaign development and management  (developed from the DirectSmile software acquired by EFI in 2014), the StoreFront e-commerce portal, PackCentral for tags and labels and Fulfilment for non-print product picking and packing. Collectively these form part of EPS’s certified solutions offering.

Revisions to MarketDirect StoreFront will see the ‘themes’ replaced by more flexible element blocks and a framework that allow for greater visual flexibility in the design and presentation of portals, without needing to understand HTML or CSS technologies, but allowing those who are adept with such things to add their own HTML or Javascript code. Version 14.0 is due in the second quarter of 2023 and is particularly focused at quick printers and franchise operations, among others.

Also coming is integration of image editing and AI-based generation technology from Picsart. This originated as a popular smartphone app for editing and enhancing images for posting on social media; it achieved 100 million monthly users and was at one point the 19th most downloaded app, according to its developers.

This technology has been developed to scale and integrate with MarketDirect StoreFront so that its fully editable text and graphics templates can be selected and modified by users from within the StoreFront environment. In addition to typical image editing controls governing colour, brightness and details, there is an AI-based upscaling option that can effectively add back missing detail from very low resolution images, allowing larger use or solving the perennial problem of web-resolution images being used for print.

The AI-based capabilities within the Picsart technology also allow image generation from text-based descriptions, with some impressive results from apparently bizarre instructions such as ‘a surrealist image of a cowboy facing a view of the galaxy’. More practically, this has the potential to enable synthetic image generation for users who don’t have illustration capabilities of their own or access to photo libraries. It could potentially enable additional types of print materials to be generated by print shops that could not otherwise generate such material.

EPS plans to charge initially for this integrated capability on a royalty-only basis which is only paid if the customer buys the product in question. It is expected to become available within MarketDirect StoreFront from April 2023.

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Programmatic mail is direct mail triggered automatically (with suitable permissions) by customer actions – or lack of them – in digital sales channels. In a trial conducted by JD Williams with Paperplanes, using programmatic mail increased response rates by 6%, average order value by 8% and reduced abandoned basket rates by 14%.

Royal Mail Wholesale’s new scheme should enable businesses with e-commerce operations to more easily take advantage of technical advances in the targeting and delivery of physical mail linked directly to consumer behaviour within the digital sales process. Using permissioned, first-party data, companies will be able to send individually targeted direct mail to non-converting web visitors, with the aim of it reaching them the next day, or within 48 hours (presumably subject to any further industrial action, though none is planned as of 5 January 2023).

SMP chair Lucy Swanston said, ‘Programmatic mail is such an exciting new development for marketers. We are proud Royal Mail Wholesale has been fleet of foot in launching this incentive scheme so the print and mailing industry can more easily capitalise on this technological advance to help their customers seamlessly combine the strengths of digital and print to significantly increase ROI.

‘Programmatic mail builds on the love consumers have for mail and makes them love it more because they receive it, tailored specifically for them, and at the right time, while their initial digitally sourced interest is still fresh.’

Under the incentive, customers will be able to post programmatic mailings at Royal Mail’s Advertising Mail rate, including mailings which are below its 4000 items per day contractual threshold, via a consolidation route. The incentive is open for applications until 3 February 2023. Each accepted application will run for 12 months and is subject to a minimum 50,000 items requirement over that period, plus other conditions.

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