Features

Earlier this summer this sector saw a breakthrough - Soyang and waste partner Blue Castle announced a scheme for recycling PVC banner material. Gardners, a test site, has been impressed. So should you be getting in on the act?

New UV inkjet flatbed machines from Inca Digital and Fujifilm offer a speed increase of over 50%, ‘single cycle’ print mode, full automation and 30-second job set-up.

How much is your company worth? In the 1970s and 1980s, valuing a business was relatively straightforward. You estimated the worth of your key tangible assets, totted these figures up and, if the company was being sold as a going concern, added in a little something for goodwill. That traditional yardstick is still reflected in most PSP’s financial statements. It is still the way most accountants like to work. But there are there other considerations.

The print industry - and the large-format sector specifically - has bemoaned the lack of women running businesses for as long as I can remember. Signs Express is witnessing an increase in female franchisees - up 40% in the last 20 months. So I went to talk with the Sara Jeffery, the network’s head of brand and recruitment, to ask: “Is franchising the route to getting women into print management?”

By Lesley Simpson

 People want to know if their promotional print spend is delivering. So is digital technology - and its integration with print - fulfilling that requirement? We asked PSPs for their comment…

Simon Creasy takes a post trade show look at the newest product launches for the digital inkjet print market.

Catherine Cresswell and Ron Gilboa of Keypoint Intelligence consider whether UK PSPs not rushing headlong into apparel printing are missing out.

What are manufacturers doing about roboticised machine handling, and will PSPs get a good ROI from their investment in more automation?

Imagine making 50% margins on your inkjet printed products! Well, there’s a design company in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, that thinks it can do just that.

What’s having the greatest impact on your business at the moment?

The newly published Image Reports 2019 Widthwise survey does suggest that printers are reflecting on environmental matters. Are you one of them - and is your view impacting your business as well as the world around you?

Quarmby Colour in Leeds has been revealed as the first UK installation for the EFI™ VUTEk® h3 superwide format hybrid LED inkjet printer. However, it won’t remain an h3 model for long, as Quarmby has already opted for the field upgrade to the higher-throughput VUTEK h5 model.