Offset Printing
MANROLAND AND EASIBIND HAIL OPEN DAY SUCCESS
Friday 16. October 2009 - On the 30th September and 1st October, close to forty representatives from across the printing and creative industries, with interests ranging from design to procurement, attended an open day at Easibind Internationals Derbyshire plant, organised in conjunction with manroland GB.
Throughout the day, attendees experienced first hand Easibinds exceptional value-added printing on polymers, lenticular and “TrueView” 3D applications – all printed on a ROLAND 500. There were also live demonstrations and case studies of the companys end-to-end integrated workflow, product re-engineering services and the personalising of litho printed “TrueView” 3D sheets with digital technology.
Said Norman Revill, Managing Director, manroland GB: “Creativity and diversity are prerequisites for commercial success in the modern print market. In the face of rising challenges from the internet and other digital media, printers must champion prints unique selling points to the creative industries and keep them up to date regarding new applications. That is what this open day was all about – to re-affirm prints real potential in the eyes of creatives and get printers thinking about all the added value applications that are open to them.
“In the face of growing challenges from the internet and other digital media, future success for most printers rests on capturing the imagination of print buyers and creatives and, on that level, the open days were a resounding success. Easibind has a strong claim to being one of the most advanced and creative printers in the country and the open days were a great opportunity for printers and creative professionals alike to see the huge scope for innovation modern printing technology allows. On the day, I was fascinated to see how manroland printing technology has helped the company to turn its 3D imaging and lenticular projects into a commercial reality, for example. I would like to thank all those who attended and especially Easibind for opening its doors to all of us.”
Harry Skidmore, Chairman, Easibind International: “The open day was a great success, with printers able to evaluate the latest manroland technologies and printing applications in a live production environment. The range of attendees created a lively network on the day, and everyone benefited from the overall input of the creative and production discussions.
“The star of the open day was the ROLAND 500. Over the two days we ran a range of materials from 70gsm paper to 1000 micron polypropylene through the press, demonstrating quick job changes, and triple ink rolling systems. “Seeing is believing”, was the general comment as we demonstrated sub-surface printing, colour on colour (opaque colour materials with 5 colour inks and UV coating), lenticular, and stunning Pure 3D, which received positive comments from everyone. Creative and marketing teams need to see for themselves the sheer variety of print mediums available that can support screen-based advertising and promotions. Print can be portable, postable, in-store, personal, retained, and used to reinforce key messages on location, and on time.”
The day began for attendees with a walk through of Easibinds automated file preparation and imposition from client print ready PDFs, including online proofing, to annotation and sign off; and its automated workflow production. This was followed by an explanation and overview of the technology and HumanEyes software behind Easibinds lenticular and “TrueView” 3D printing applications, with stunning examples and case studies. “TrueView” 3D is a printing method unique to Easibind, which employs advanced polymer lenses to give a consistent illusion of depth, from every viewing angle, and is printed on the companys ROLAND 505 LV press.
As a demonstration of how printers can combine offset litho and digital printing technology for unique and high-value promotional materials, delegates watched as “TrueView” 3D sheets – printed on the ROLAND 505 LV – were personalised with each delegates name on the companys HP Indigo. They were then cut to shape on a digital cutting table before being transferred to the finishing department and assembled as penholders and writing pads.
The second half of the day featured a presentation on security features such as Microtext, TrueView 3D, Guilloche Patterns, Taggant Inks, Invisible Inks, Special Security Inks and IRIS (Innovation in Recognition Identification). Easbind recently received a boost for its environmental credentials when it received the news that it had been awarded the coveted Carbon Trust Standard, for its impressive and consistent reductions in CO2 emissions. And the Easibind environmental story was demonstrated further by an overview of the heat exchange system installed on the ROLAND 500 press that supplements the production facilities heating with heat generated on press and reduces Easibinds overall energy consumption. This was followed by a case study demonstrating its closed loop take back recovery and recycling initiative – a service provided by Easibind which takes back products from customers after their useful lifecycle through a Quality Protocol set up by The Environment Agency. This forms part of an exemption scheme for early recovery of waste, which can be recycled efficiently with no premium.
Finally, the day was wrapped up with an overview of Easibinds Advanced Logistics Management system and client “on-line” portal interfaces for stock control and product re-ordering.
Harry Skidmore concluded: “As the only commercial printer in the UK to date to be awarded the highly respected Carbon Trust Standard, Easibind can truly be considered as something of a standard bearer for the green issue in the UK print industry. This award puts us alongside some of the UKs biggest companies, such as Marks and Spencers, Next, Tesco and Morrisons and it was great to combine such great news for Easibind with a successful event such as this. We really appreciated the support of manroland and most importantly the visitors who agreed to spend a whole day to take a complete panoramic view of Easibind innovation and investment. Thanks also to all of the Easibind staff who contributed on the day.”