The VarioPrint 6000 line targets high volume markets and is capable of handling up to 10 million A4 prints per month. Catering to a wide variety of monochrome environments, the series comes in three versions, Standard, TPxp and MICR, which cover different customer market segments including general commercial, book, manual or in-house printing, transactional, and security printing. Each variant is available in multiple speed versions with a facility for temporary or permanent speed upgrades and a choice of paper input and finishing modules.

The Titan presses now run on the Mark 10 version of PrismaSync, Canon’s print server that processes jobs and monitors and controls printer functions. Offering up to eight hours of advanced production planning and scheduling, PrismaSync processes the real-time information to predict necessary operator interventions and allows the remote monitoring of one or multiple presses at a glance.

The TPxp models are designed specifically for direct mail and transactional applications and now benefit from a dedicated TPxp toner, which together with an optional Print Guard Module, provides a higher cohesive strength to increase the durability of prints, important to retain print quality when processed through heavy-duty near-line finishing systems.

All presses in the series are available with temporary or permanent speed licences of 182, 221, 272 and 328 A4 images per minute. Via its DFD interface, the VarioPrint Titan connects with a wide range of standard and heavy-duty finishing equipment, while an optional Light Weight Media kit enables printing on 45 gsm stock.

The VarioPrint 6000 Titan series will be shown on the Canon stand at drupa 2024.

The post Canon tweaks Titan toner presses appeared first on Digital Printer.

The overall mail response figure was up from 4.8% in the same quarter of 2022, reflecting the shift in online shopping to e-commerce, with 3.3% of mail now driving an online purchase. During the recent quarter, 8.4% of mail prompted a website visit, 4.8% an account look-up and 3.3% an online purchase. This purchase rate reflects a healty 40% conversion rate from site visit to purchase, according to Jicmail.

Additional digital interactions now tracked by Jicmail also reveal that mail prompts online searches (2.6% of mail), emails to advertisers (1.1%) and app download and usage (1%).

Mail’s role in driving sales in physical retail stores is also effective, with 2.3% of mail prompting an in-store purchase in Q4 2023, suggesting that ‘real-life brand experiences’ still play an important role for consumers, with even ‘digital’ brands such as Asos and Deliveroo opening physical stores in 2023.

Jicmail said that mail attention has stabilised on a quarterly basis, although it has still recorded year-on-year growth. The average piece of business mail is interacted with for over two and half minutes during a 28-day period, compared to one minute for the average door drop. However, door drops are still described as the most attention efficient mail channel.

The post Jicmail shows web sales conversion boost via mail appeared first on Digital Printer.

The new high speed inserting lines, each capable of completing 30,000 packs per hour, will be located at APS Group’s Preston Brook, Cheshire and Cheadle, Stockport print and mail centres. They follow the installation in 2022 of two similar Fusion Speed lines.

Founded in 1961, APS employs over 900 staff globally with headquarters in Cheadle and a number of regional offices across the UK, Europe and North America. The business serves brands with creative and content, customer communications, and customer experience services and operates several Ricoh Pro VC60000 web-fed inkjet digital presses.

The investment builds on a 20-year relationship between APS and Böwe, with the latest Fusion Speed technology delivering ‘predictable high-speed throughput’, supported on-site by Bowe performance support personnel. The Bowe support team is aligned with APS’s production management to optimise production throughput and maximise equipment uptime.

Steve Goodall, group operations director at APS commented, ‘Our state-of-the-art facilities located at Preston Brook and Cheadle have been purposefully designed for maximum efficiency, ensuring that our clients receive the best possible service. We are thrilled about the capabilities of our latest technology investment, as it will further enhance our clients’ confidence in us to provide them with secure, efficient and reliable services, especially in times of difficulty.’

Steve Basnett, Böwe senior UK account manager added. ‘Simply put, the numbers speak for themselves. When it comes delivering consistent high-speed mailing output the Fusion Speed Inserter is unrivalled and APS Group are leveraging this latest advanced technology to efficiently meet the SLAs [service level agreements] of their clients’

The post APS Group in six-fold Böwe Fusion Speed spend appeared first on Digital Printer.

The company, which recently added a Canon iX 3200 sheet-fed inkjet press to its fleet, has now acquired Xerox Iridesse and Versant 4100 digital dry toner presses, plus Xerox FreeFlow Core and FreeFlow Vision workflow software. The Iridesse will add new capabilities such as foil-like effects, iridescent hues, and fluorescent colour capability that can help capture mail recipients’ attention. FreeFlow Core will enhance prepress automation, integrating with CFH’s back office and the recently announced FreeFlow Vision Software. This software provides automate, real-time data on production print operations within Xerox and third-party environments.

‘Investing in class-leading Xerox workflows and technology, particularly the additional functionality of the Iridesse, will give new and existing clients more choice and effectiveness in their communications while adding value to our capabilities as we pursue market opportunities,’ commented CFH group production director Steve Cray.

“For over 20 years, CFH has chosen Xerox innovation to complement its growth and commitment to delivering exceptional communication solutions. This investment in the wider Xerox ecosystem leverages leading-edge Xerox technologies and automated workflows that deliver even better service and innovation to clients and prospects,’ said Nick Bridge, general manager of graphic communications and productions systems at Xerox UK.

CFH has recently celebrated its 45^th anniversary as a provider of secure printing. Its Docmail hybrid mail solution is used by over 30,000 organisations. The company says the new investment signals the next phase in the its transformation into a multi-channel communications provider.

The post CFH makes Xerox toner and workflow investment appeared first on Digital Printer.

‘Since 2019, our direct mail volume has increased 40% with a significant shift to letter packs. Last year we processed 82 million pieces of mail,’ said Andrew Dawson, vice president, print operations at the Hird generation family-owned firm. The greater volume is due in part to the installation over two years ago of a Screen TruePress 520 HD inkjet web press.

Growing demand means the company is adding a third shift to the press, and has also seen greater variety in the types of work which requires different finishing modules in various configurations to produce. This includes postcards, letters and self-mailers, plus gluing inline. The modular nature of the MBO offering, supplied by MBO America, has allowed Baesman to address these needs,

The first line, which included a DPS 60 dynamic perf and score unit, was purchased in 2021 and is now operating at capacity. To manage the greater volume, Baesman purchased a second MBO Rollfed Digital Finishing Line that includes the UW 23 unwinder, the SVC 525 sheeter, the DFW 780 folder and the ASP 66 L shingle stream delivery.

‘Before changing to a white paper digital work environment with our new Screen inkjet press, we were using a litho shell workflow. This meant we were taking litho shells to the bindery, sizing them down on a guillotine cutter, imprinting them in an offline process, then back to folding, and finally inserting in the lettershop. We were touching them four or five times before shipment. Now all variable work from the web press prints roll-to-roll for the best press efficiency possible, then straight to the roll-fed finishing line. Folded letter pieces go straight to the inserter, finished postcards and self-mailers go straight to the mail stream, and our touches are minimised,’ explained Mr Dawson.

The improved efficiencies from the first finishing line added reduced hours  to get a job done by 40% to 50% and brought a 25% reduction in turnaround time. With the second line, Mr Dawson expects a further 10% to 15% increase in efficiencies. To channel work efficiently, the new line will be set up for letter work and the original line will be dedicated to postcards and self-mailers.

Baesman also reports that the operating methods and controls used on the new equipment are making it easier to find labour and staff with  training of new operators on a digital line with touchscreen controls simpler than on older manual devices.  

The post Baesman Group takes second MBO roll finishing line appeared first on Digital Printer.

The card carrier can either be pre-printed or printed inline. When pre-printed, it is fed as the primary document, which can be an A4 sheet, or a document with the same dimensions as the envelope, such as an A5 postcard. Alternatively, the carrier can be printed inline, with a floor-standing office printer in place of the primary feeder. The card, as the primary document in this configuration, is fed and read and its data is sent to the customer’s print server to print the personalised carrier. The CardMailer can be supplied with both options.

In either configuration, the carrier can be folded before or after the card has been attached, to suit the application. The card is fed from a top-load, bottom-feed shuttle feeder, and attached to the carrier with hot-melt glue. More than one card can be attached to the carrier. When the carrier and card are attached, codes on both are read by cameras, and this data can be used for matching and/or recording for reporting. If they do not match, the item is diverted, ensuring data integrity.

A KAS Mailmaster envelope inserter can be placed inline to receive the carrier and attached card. Additional multiple enclosures can be added, from a single sheet of 80gsm, stapled sets, pre-folded items, reply envelopes, and booklets up to 7mm thick, fed from automatic feeders. The completed pack is then inserted into the envelope and sealed.

According to managing director Stephen Hampstead, the development of the CardMailer came about in response to a specific customer request that involved attaching a card too large for a third-party match and attach unit. Manufacturing began shortly before the Covid-19 lockdown came into effect in March 2020, and a second unit, with envelope weighing, was delivered in 2022. A third unit was sold in 2023 and Mr Hampstead reports that several further sales discussions are ongoing.

The post KAS unveils CardMailer appeared first on Digital Printer.

The Economy Incentive will allow customers in the government sector to make savings on their mail costs. Those that use the Royal Mail Testing and Innovation Incentive (TIS) will qualify for 5% in postage credits when using the Economy product for the first time, or when using Economy for new uses of mail. This means that customers will save approximately 15% on Business Mail and 16% on Advertising mail compared to the Standard mail tariff.

The Economy Incentive is designed for non-urgent mail, offering flexible delivery from large-scale to small-scale mailings. The use of Mailmark technology has allowed Royal Mail to make the pricing more affordable, with delivery between one and four working days after handover to Royal Mail.

Businesses can trial the Economy Incentive via the Test and Innovation Incentive, which supports businesses in testing new mailing applications or in changes to existing mail campaigns.

Lucy Swanston, chair of the SMP, said, ‘The new incentive will be hugely beneficial to SMP members and the print and mail industry working with the government sector, enabling them to offer a service to their customers with more versatility and innovation, alongside great savings. 

‘At the SMP, we hope that the launch of this incentive will help businesses to become more cost-effective in their mailing strategies, helping them to make the case for mail with their own customers and clients. This will also support the wider print and mail industries in creating a more economically sustainable future.’

The post SMP welcomes Royal Mail government sector initiative appeared first on Digital Printer.

James Kinsella, co-CEO of Bluetree, noted that the group had installed the first perfecting Landa press in Europe in 2019 to bridge the gap between litho and digital print and had been using it for stitched and perfect-bound books. Since the 2021 acquisition of high quality book printer Kingsbury Press, the books business has been growing steadily and the plan is to use the new S10P, which will be a seven-colour model, to move more high-end book work to digital. The additional colour gamut of the new press will support both photographic reproduction and enable a move away from the use of spot colours in analogue print.

Mr Kinsella explained that Bluetree’s typical workload runs to some 125,000 jobs a week, ranging from 50 to 5000 copies and noted that the Landa presses will print on the same stocks and sizes as the litho ones, and therefore feed into the same finishing lines – Horizon for stitched booklets and Kolbus for book blocks to be perfect bound. ‘The area that the Landa is making the biggest impact is in booklet work, perfect bound books for example are printed as blocks and then run through our Kolbus KM600. The Landa has enabled much faster turnarounds as well as opening a wider range of materials that traditionally were only available on litho quantities,’ he said.

Bluetree’s second S10P, which will feature double delivery for improved operational efficiency, is scheduled to be installed early in 2024.

Landa executives also revealed further customer details including Model, a Swiss carton and corrugated converter, Bob Jones University of South Carolina in the USA and Wirtz Druck, a 135 year-old German direct mail specialist. Mark Schmidt, managing director of Wirtz, described the S10P as ‘a game-changer’ and said that the company would be transitioning work done under its MailingLiebe brand from mixed litho and digital print to fully digital on the Landa. Installation is currently underway with production planned to begin early in 2024.

Another customer with working experience of a Landa press is Jim Singer of Brodnax 21C Printers, a Dallas, Texas, USA-based commercial printer that has had its S10P in production for around two months and is using it to produce high quality books, 650,000-run direct mail campaigns and a ‘whole spectrum’ of print, including some jobs that were previously done on wide-format equipment. The Landa press here is also a seven-colour model whose colour Mr Singer described as ‘stunning’, saying that he had secured interest from a prospective new client based on the ability to reproduce a specific shade of blue that CMYK-only digital presses could not match. Mr Singer also praised the smoothness of the installation process and quality of Landa’s support.

In terms of Landa’s growth plans, Sharon Cohen, chief business officer, said that three years ago there were only 11 units installed but that number had grown quickly to 50, particularly in the last year. New CEO Gil Oren revealed that a third unnamed investor had joined Benny Landa and Susanne Klatten and that following significant growth in 2023, ‘We are expecting another big leap in 2024’, with the 100th sale expected to be achieved ‘quite soon’.

The post Bluetree buys second S10P as Landa hits 50 installations appeared first on Digital Printer.

TCW offers a broad range of direct mail and wide-format printing services across its two sites and already has an HP PageWide web-fed inkjet for high volume variable data mailing work. The company says new investment will strengthen its capacity to deliver high-volume personalised mailing projects for the financial and retail sectors. By transferring previously litho-printed runs to inkjet, TCW will be able to benefit from enhanced automation, productivity and flexibility. This will particularly support the production of gaming sleeves for point-of-sale applications.

The Canon press is expected to provide reliable high-speed inkjet printing with quality to rival that of offset, thanks to its 1200dpi native resolution printheads and  colour management software, plus the ability to print consistently on a range of coated and uncoated media. The ink and printhead combination is claimed by Canon to achieve 91% reproduction of Pantone spot colours, verified by Fogra.

A further consideration when selecting the iX3200 was the sustainability credentials of the device, which include lower power consumption per page printed and the use of water-based ink with a very high de-inkability rating.

Tom Lipman, director, TCW Solutions, commented, ‘We’re delighted to continue working with Canon. Over the years, we’ve had all types of different toner-based machines but have never known reliability like that of the VarioPrint iX. As one of the fastest print providers in the market, we’re excited for the new device to push us even further to offer our customers bespoke high-quality products with even more competitive turnaround times.’

Stuart Rising, head of commercial print at Canon UK & Ireland, added, ‘We’re excited for our relationship with TCW solutions to develop. The installation of the VarioPrint iX will enable the business to drive growth as it diversifies its offering for a variety of markets, while ensuring quality and efficiency remain at the core of what they do.’

The post TCW moves from litho to inkjet with Canon appeared first on Digital Printer.

After opening remarks by Two Sides UK managing director Jonathan Tame, the BPIF’s Charles Jarrold provided an update on the industry’s progress, noting that its net worth had increased from £11.7 billion in 2021 to £13.7 billion at the start of 2023, reflecting a bounce-back from the pandemic period. However, confidence going into the third quarter of 2023 is ‘fragile’ after Q2 failed to meet expectations.

As supply chain issues have improved and confidence is growing that inflation has peaked, top concerns are now around skills shortages and competitor pricing, though energy costs remain high on the list. Packaging and books have held steady as sectors, but the focus for commercial print must now be on data, targeting and analytics, said Mr Jarrold.

The latter point was  fleshed out by Mark Davies of Whistl, who suggested that the digital advertising duopoly of Meta (Facebook) and Google is ‘facing its own disruption’ as a result of falling consumer confidence in the veracity of digitally delivered messages, questionable claims about reach and advertising fraud, estimated to be worth some US $100 billion in 2023. Changing privacy regulations and technical implementations will further erode its advantages, he added.

By comparison, Mr Davies said that print is able to provide a ‘pretty decent response’ in terms of transparency and verifiable results, and cited examples of brands that were moving from digital-dominated campaigns to using print, with direct mail seeing its biggest growth in Q2 of 2023 since 2006. ‘Money is moving out of digital and into print,’ he confirmed.

Canon’s wide-format specialist Matthew Faulkner provided an insight into how emotional states play into purchasing decisions and how brands might use a ‘wheel of emotions’ to understand how and when to best tap into this. From this he explored how graphic imagery can affect emotional states and be used positively to enhance indoor environments, building on humans’ evolutionarily hard-wired responses to certain types of landscapes, and connecting this to opportunities for bold design to feature is social media promotion of retail businesses.

More direct mail ammunition followed from Ian Gibbs of Jicmail and the DMA who warned against setting short-term targets at the expense of long-term growth. Speaking about the price sensitivity brought in by cost-of-living worries, he noted that a campaign of continuous discounting and price comparison sensitivity only produces a customer base that expect further discounts, evidenced by a large drop in brand loyalty in 2023.

Mr Gibbs provided some persuasive figures for print’s value as a high attention channel, and demonstrated that when viewed in terms of cost per minute for the attention of an ABC1 consumer, it is competitive with TV and OOH and cheaper than digital channels.

A strong sustainability theme came from Maya Kjellberg of Ikea, who explained how packaging was integral to the Swedish company’s success. She explained how successive rounds of revision and process redesign are driving down materials usage, increasing recycling rates and reducing the amount of single-use plastic, with a figure of 70,000 tonnes across the 468 stores reduced to 41,000 tonnes in 2023 with the aim of being plastic-free by 2028. Innovations such as paper-based pallets instead of the conventional wooden ones have alone saved the company €50 million a year.

Packaging, or forthcoming EU regulations that affect it, was also the topic of the presentation from Anna Papagrigoraki of the Confederation of European Paper Industries, who explained the current and impending legislation that has originated from EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s ‘European Green Deal’ announced in December 2019. Ms Papagrigoraki explained the various current and forthcoming EU Directives that affect packaging, some of which are still being debated, particularly in terms of the use of plastics, with the overarching aim that all packaging should be reusable or recyclable by 2030. Her advice was, ‘This will be coming to the UK in form, so keep your sustainability reporting clear and up-to-date’

Sustainability was also central to the message delivered by Simon Heppner of Net Zero Now, who argued that the initiative is helpful to business’s long term success, including their ability to attract younger workers who value environmental credentials. He explained how mandatory carbon reporting will be extended progressively to smaller businesses and that finance availability and terms are increasingly tied to ESG performance.

Mr Heppner advocated an approach that involves calculating greenhouse gas equivalent for all parts of a business’s operations, including ‘Scope 3’ emissions, which relate to suppliers, then setting targets using the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) model. Once actioned, reporting and continuous iteration of the process should follow. Mr Heppner is aiming for industry collaboration to develop print-specific data and advice, having tackled eight other industry sectors.

Mark Shayler of innovation and environmental consultancy Ape presented a musically-oriented take on the enduring tactile and other physical properties of print, interspersing analysis of seminal album sleeves with print campaigns from the 1950s onwards. Espousing print as the ‘quiet’ against the ‘noise’ of digital channels, he contrasted the development and packaging (in both senses) of popular music over the decades with other commercial campaigns, and summarised creativity as the ability to ‘imagine a world that is not here yet’.

One of the most topical presentations was from Henry Coutinho-Mason, consultant and author The Future Normal, who outlined the breakneck pace of development in AI, noting that ChatGPT is less than a year old but has already diversified into several ‘custom’ variants to suit different applications, while Amazon and Microsoft have introduced AI-based tools this year. He suggested that this summer’s call for regulation by the big players was actually a means of shutting down their prospective competitors.

Mr Coutinho-Mason noted that basic human needs and desires do not change, but described a shift towards an ‘expectation economy’, with expectations usually defined by customers’ experiences in other sectors. He gave various examples of AI applications, ranging from programming aids and medical report writing to automated dating site review and setting-up of recommended prospective partners, plus insights into how AI can support a range of roles and tasks, as well as enabling entirely new business possibilities such as a recording artist making a synthesised version of her voice available to fans to produce – and monetise – their own songs.

Wrapping up the proceedings, Two Sides’ Mr Tame updated on the organisation’s membership, now at 600 around the world, and presented highlights from its most recent study, from June 2023. This showed rising concerns over data privacy online and desire for a right to choose between paper-based or online communications. Awareness among consumers of the increasing area of European forests is still very low, however, though improved on previous years. Two Sides’ anti-greenwashing campaigns have reached millions of consumers around the world and the organisation is encouraging retailers and brands to adopt its ‘Love Paper’ branding.

The post Power of Print makes compelling case appeared first on Digital Printer.