Technology | What to Watch
MICHAEL TYRELL, DIRECTOR, SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL PRINT
“Knowing our costs and margins can be one of our biggest headaches - working out exact costs of a product from quote to delivery, including consumables, overheads and wastage. Better, and easier, integrations with Rips, CNC Cut Software, CRM and MIS are super important for us. “We’re also looking at AI improvements. Adobe has
started to introduce AI but, to my mind, it’s still quite primitive and needs work before it can be used with any confi dence from a design perspective. Advances in AI for pre-press would be amazing - processes like add bleed, remove crop marks, alter colour profi le and upscale resolution, proof-read a PDF. “We’d love to see more independent companies offering support and maintenance of large-format print equipment too. The manufacturers, for obvious reasons, have a hold on their labour and price of consumables. Some more competition in this market would be great.”
IAIN CLASPER-COTTE, MD, FABEREXPOSISE AND NORTHERN FLAGS
“We are looking deeper and deeper into effi ciency on account admin., fi nishing, packing and dispatch. We are also planning on looking at hardware and software that can help keep building our effi ciencies. So often what we have found is that the salesman’s patter is often not what the reality is. We are therefore planning to evaluate potential investments far more rigorously. “We are fortunate to have invested heavily in additional print capacity over the past two years so, at both Drupa and Fespa in 2024, we intend to be focusing on how we can fi nish better and how we can source more green substrates. We have been really conscious that, often, the claimed performance improvements are not worth the investment. We are also conscious that many green credentials are overstretched. We are looking for fully circular substrates working with both substrate suppliers and our waste management partners.”
TONY COOPER, OPERATIONS MANAGER, ROCKET GRAPHICS
“I feel the onus has been placed on us, the printers, to offer sustainable solutions without very much support from material suppliers or the government. I would like to see a more collaborative approach to sustainability, with the government especially offering more in the way of helping recyclers to pursue innovative ideas and methods.
“The constant comment I hear back from the recycling companies is that there is no money to be made of recycling this or that and so they drop the service, with us - the printers - storing large amounts of returned or materials earmarked for recycling. Green energy is not recycling it is a marketing vernacular to feel it’s an acceptable method of disposing of waste materials.
“I feel that inks have come a long way, with better colour saturation points and the ability to hit a wider range of colours now. The only area for improvement I see is the amount of ink wastage still going on. The new Colorado appears to be leading the way in reducing the amount of ink wasted on purges and fl ushing but I would like to see more manufacturers investing in this type of waste ink technology. “Newer machines are much more energy effi cient
BETTER, AND EASIER, INTEGRATIONS WITH RIPS, CNC CUT SOFTWARE, CRM AND MIS ARE SUPER
IMPORTANT FOR US MICHAEL TYRRELL
than previous ones and I see this as continual improvement. The government and energy companies could offer much more in the way of incentives to use greener energy. The advancement of energy technology, particularly in solar energy and recapture, means the length of time needed to see a return in the investment is considerably shorter than it used to be. Companies should be actively targeted by the government to offer advice on new technologies and the grants available to make these changes.” Procurement manager Martin Nethercoat adds: “I would say that there are lots of materials that manufacturers claim are recyclable but they cannot tell you where to get it recycled. Also, waste product has to be supplied back to recycling companies in a certain way so they can process it. The waste is normally collected on 40ft lorries, or in skips, but current recycling capabilities tend to be based in the midlands and north of England, leading to more pollution moving the items. “We need a more centralised plan from government to link the material manufacturers, printers, processors, end users and waste companies to all have to process materials and better educate the users and public as to what can and can’t be recycled.”
WE ARE PLANNING ON LOOKING AT HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE THAT CAN HELP KEEP BUILDING
OUR EFFICIENCIES IAIN CLASPER-COTTE
THE ONLY AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT I SEE IS THE AMOUNT OF INK
WASTAGE STILL GOING ON TONY COOPER
www.imagereportsmag.co.uk | 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28
