Sign & Graphics | Bi Monthly Publication of Signage Industry in India

Vista System acquires Green Square

Alandslide development in the territory of Modular Curved Frame Technology (MCFT) is that Vista System International has recently acquired GreenSquare, a promising Australian flat sign system manufacturer. The acquisition was a strategic effort to provide the international sign industry with a comprehensive product offering to cover both curved and flat signage solutions.

GreenSquare is a manufacturer and supplier of state-of-the-art flat modular sign system. Vista System unveiled GreenSquare’s array of flat modular signage products during the recent ISA International Sign Expo 2012 organised in Orlando.

Neoflex printer converts between
solvent and textile in two minutes

One of the most revolutionary developments in the contemporary market, NeoFlex does magic as it is now the only printer capable to convert between a textile and solvent printer and back again in a matter of minutes. This two-minute switch gives users flexibility in the market and offers the ability to diversify the level of products one can offer to end-customers. NeoFlex textile option or NeoTex is a perfect machine for printing full colour images with photorealistic quality on just about any garment.

And NeoFlex’s flatbed solvent technology can be applied to a multitude of substrates including plastics, metals, glass, leather, ceramics and wood. Depending on its application, most media do not require pre or post treatment. NeoFlex solvent option or NeoSol is capable of handling indoor signage, commercial prototyping, interior design, promotional products and more with average ink costs, allowing for better profitable results.

Neschen media certified for Epson Surecolor printer

Neschen has become one of the first manufacturers to have been successful in certifying its media for Epson’s large-format system SureColor SC-30610. The soleprint nolite 175 CA and solvoprint easy dot 100 PE matt are both ideal for the new odourless and nickel-free Epson Ultra-Chrome GS2 ink and provide the highest brilliance, a deep black and bright and intensive colours.

Solvoprint nolite 175 CA is a PET composite film, approximately 175 m thick and ideal for use in roll-up display systems. It has been specially developed for eco-solvent and solvent inks, but can also be printed with Latex and UV-curable inks. It has good scratch resistance, is light-proof and has a high level of dimensional stability. Due to the high water resistance, it is perfectly suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications. This award-winning solvoprint easy dot 100 PE (Top Retail Product 2012) film is an ideal medium for short-term use at expos.

HP partners with Croatian hospital to
create enjoyable environ for young patients

Staff members in the Kantrida Paediatric Ward of Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka (CHCR) in Croatia always considered ways in which they can brighten up the environment, making it more welcoming to young patients. As an answer to it, a Hewlett Packard (HP) partner Studio Graphics Opatija d.o.o. approached the hospital to offer wall decoration of one of the children’s ward using HP printing technology, including the donation of print media and Latex inks, making the hospital stays for the young patients colourful and inviting.

HP and Studio Graphics Opatija donated wall decorations printed on HP Designjet L25500 using HP Latex inks and HP PVC-free Wall Paper, which can be applied easily using only water, while meeting commercial wall-covering standards. With this solution, Studio Graphics Opatija brightened up the paediatric ward with long-lasting, colourful and creative wall murals. One of the benefits of the HP printing solution, including water-based HP Latex Inks, is that there are no lingering odours and it is non-toxic, making it safe to use in a hospital.

Providing additional assurance, prints on HP PVC-free Wall Paper using HP Latex Inks are GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certified. The new décor has provoked favourable reactions from the children, particularly when they see Radoicic’s artwork adorning the walls. After decorating the waiting room and one ward at Kantrida as the first phase, Studio Graphics Opatija is preparing to bring new areas of the CHCR to life over two final phases.

GCC adds new feature for Jaguar cutting plotters

Taiwan-headquartered GCC, a leading manufacturer of a range of versatile cutting plotters, has recently introduced Automatic Blade Length Adjustment for its Jaguar Series. The blade holder with a scale and a carriage with a mark will be provided with GCC cutting plotters to enable users to adjust the blade length in a faster and more user-friendly way.

In the new Automatic Blade Length Adjustment, there are 10 units on the scale; each unit equals to 0.05 mm, allowing users to adjust the blade length for 0.00-5.00 mm according to different materials and applications involved. Users will no longer have to remove the blade holder from the carriage when the blade length has to be adjusted, thus simplifying the work flow and raising job efficiency.

Kyocera starts mass production
of its world’s fastest printheads

Tetsuo Kuba, president, Kyocera recently announced that they will start mass production of their most acclaimed two new inkjet printheads — KJ4B-Y for water-based ink and KJ4A-B for UV-curable ink. Being key components for inkjet printers, both the printheads offer the world’s fastest print speeds. KJ4B-Y provides high-resolution printing combined with a print speed that is approximately 1.3 times faster than Kyocera’s conventional products, by ejecting ink up to 40,000 times per second from each ink nozzle, resulting in approximately 100 million drops per second from a printhead with 2,656 nozzles.

And KJ4A-B provides high-resolution printing by ejecting ink up to 30,000 times per second from each ink nozzle, resulting in approximately 80 million drops per second from a printhead with 2,656 nozzles. This allows high-speed and high-resolution printing for an increasing number of commercial items using UV-curable ink that enables printing on non-absorbent materials including films and plastics.

Canon imagePROGRAF builds on
its award winning line of printers

Versatile 36-inch Canon imagePROGRAF iPF765 large-format printer is built on the company’s award winning line of 5-colour printers. The iPF765 device includes: a new stacker basket, a password protected interface lock and a 250GB hard drive with 8GB dedicated to printer memory. These new features add to this already flexible print solution which is designed to meet the speed and precision requirements.

The newly designed stacker basket of Canon imagePROGRAF iPF765 increases the productivity of these already feature-laden printers. Also, the stacking option can be enabled or disabled depending on user preference. The increased hard drive capacity on the iPF765 streamlines the printing workflow by bearing the processing workload on the printer to increase overall print processing times. A new interface lock system enhances the security functions on the printer and provides an option for administrative control to determine who has accessed to the printer.

Sunrise Media & Effects, Kolkata goes for EFI Rastek H650

Another breakthrough in the state-of-the-art production facility of Kolkata-based Sunrise Media & Effects Pvt Ltd is the recent adoption of EFI Rastek H650 printer. This high-end H series Rastek UV hybrid printer is capable to deliver best-in-class image quality at the speed of 230 sq ft/hr in resolution upto 1200x900 dpi. Addition of the Rastek printer has boosted the company’s machine portfolio which however already comprised an array of high-end printers viz. HP Designjet H45500, HP Designjet 5500PS, HP Designjet L65500, HP Designjet 9000, HP Designjet Z6100PS, HP Indigo Press 3500 and others including solvent printers.

Incepted in the year 1996 as a film production company, Sunrise Media & Effects ventured into the realm of large-format printing in 2005 with the unveiling of a production facility, which stood out unique in the eastern Indian market. Today, widely known across the region for their exclusive activities in in-shop branding, vehicle wraps, outdoor signages, standees and others, Sunrise Media & Effects is a chosen destination for a number of leading corporate clients including Nike, TATA DoCoMo, Big Bazaar, Asian Paints, Shoppers’ Stop, Titan, Reebok…to name a few.

The company’s overall job profile includes indoor and outdoor print solutions, installations, fabrications and digital offset prints catered under the company’s firmed objective to provide service on demand to all clients with assured quality.

JKM opens new office in Bengaluru

An authorised 3M distributor for commercial graphics in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, JKM Graphic Solution Pvt Ltd expands its closer presence across the region with the opening of a new office in Bengaluru. Headquartered in Chennai, JKM has been in service to fulfill the needs of any 3M materials of a number of signage vendors. Opening of its new office in Bengaluru will augment the company’s activities in the city.

The new office of JKM Graphic Solution in Bengaluru was inaugurated by Ajai Nanavati, managing director, 3M India; and PT Mukund, executive director, 3M India, flanked by other eminent industry personnel in the region. When talking to Sign & Graphics about the company’s new expansion venture, Rahul Jain, managing director, JKM Graphic Solution Pvt Ltd remarked, “Opening of our new Bengaluru office is a new step towards enhancement in activities for a better and more resourceful product range and service to our customers.” In addition to being a 3M Distributor, JKM Graphic Solutions has been into the activities related extensively to signage specification development which helps end-users opt for the right media products for right applications.

3M expands warranty and guarantee programmes

With three new additions of printer and ink platforms, 3M Commercial Graphics has expanded its warranty and guarantee offerings. SIIT GX 3M ink series for use in the Seiko I Infotech ColorPainter H Series Printers are now covered under the 3M MCS Warranty and two new OEM inkjet printers and inks are now covered under the 3M Performance Guarantee. Goal of 3M Commercial Graphics with such expanded warranty and guarantee programmes is to continue to collaborate with reputable partners to offer its customers the best products and solutions in the industry. Providing users with valuable tools for productivity, quality and cost effectiveness, the combination of SIIT GX 3M inks and ColorPainter H Series Printers offers graphics manufacturers added peace of mind under the 3M MCS Warranty.

Kruthi Computer Services inaugurates HP Demo Centre

Followed by the inauguration of Hewlett-Packard Demo Centre at its premises in Mahalashmipuram, Bengaluru-based Kruthi Computer Services Pvt Ltd has celebrated the company’s 20th Year Anniversary in an eventful occasion. Opening of the HP Demo Centre acknowledged gratitude to all of the company’s customers and vendors including Hewlett-Packard (HP), Autodesk, Microsoft, Adobe, etc. “This HP Demo Centre is first-of-its-kind ever established in south India,” mentioned TM Raghavendra Bayari, general manager-Product Sales, Kruthi Computer Services Pvt Ltd. As a chief guest at the historic occasion, Neeraj Sharma, president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP India Sales Pvt Ltd inaugurated the demo centre where an array of HP Latex printers, HP Technical plotters and others are on display. Other guests of honour attended in the inaugural function included K Udaya, principal chief architect, PWD, Government of Karnataka; Ajay Bagepalli, channel director - India, Autodesk Asia Pte Ltd; EH Kasturi Rangan, president, Redington India Ltd.

Sun Sign & Technologies organises Starflex gathering

Attended by a group of eminent market players and customers, Sun Sign & Technologies recently organised a get-together party in New Delhi. Mr Daniel from Starflex was present as special guest at the eventful gathering. Deepak Gupta along with the team of Sun Sign & Technologies graced the occasion where participants gained fruitful business interactions. Sun Sign & Technologies is authorised Indian distributor of Starflex.

Marabu ink gets Oeko-Tex 100 certification

Tampapur TPU ink of Marabu has been certified with the award Oeko-Tex Standard 100 by the Central Headquarters of Oeko-Tex in Hohenstein, Germany. Tampapur TPU is the first pad printing ink on the market to have achieved this certification. The certification recognises Marabu’s socially conscious approach to business.

Under their slogan “One World – One Label, Confidence in Textiles”, the goal of Oeko-Tex is to ensure the general public is made aware of textiles which pose no risk to health. For the decoration of tag-less label textiles, Tampapur TPU has been fully certified. This certificate not only means that the ink ‘theoretically conforms’ to the standard, but also has been certified by the institution itself of complete performance.

MACtac in association with
Sunrise Graphic Solutions launches products in India

In a recent development in the graphic manufacturing industry, MACtac has appointed Sunrise Graphics Solutions as pan India channel partner. MACtact introduced products at launch sessions held recently in Bengaluru and Chennai. Bert De Weerdt, export manger and Jos Snijders, digital development marketing manager, MACtac Europe, Belgium graced the occasion. More than 300 print partners and signage manufacturers attended the occasion to provide their support to the MACtac product launch.

Sunrise Graphic Solutions is engaged in channelising digital media to its exclusive partners and the company will be managing sales and business development of MACtac products in India along with other product support. The product launch was designed practically with product display, showcase of manufacturing facility, etc. The occasion provided not only essential knowledge but also a great opportunity to share experiences both technical and regulatory issues about challenge of graphics industry in India.

Om Sai Signgrafix unveils as one-stop signage corner

Inauguration of Om Sai Signgrafix Pvt Ltd in Bengaluru has marked a new milestone of complete signage solutions in the region. Blessing the curtail raising occasion of the company, father of St Anthony’s Church in the city inaugurated the facility in the presence of a fraternity of industry people as well as the team of Om Sai Signgrafix (OSS) comprising R Bakthavatchalu, chairman; Prabhu, managing director; K Subramanyam, director (production) and Venkata Raju, director.

Prabhu has a long experience in the field of signage as he used to work with some eminent signage majors in the city. “Our main objective behind the establishment Om Sai Signgrafix as a one-stop signage corner is to deliver best ever signage solutions to clients,” said Prabhu, director, Om Sai Signgrafix Pvt Ltd. The company boasts of its full-fledged infrastructure of 15,000 sq ft which is perfectly put up to engage in activities including exterior signs, printed graphics, plotter cut vinyl graphics, CNC router cut 3D channel letters, ACP pylon, 3D thermoformed/vacuum formed signs, retro-reflective signs, etc.

Drawing on its long-standing reputation of quality and craftsmanship, which they have earned while associating with some of the leading signage players of the country, Om Sai Signgrafix is now all set to kick off its prominence in service and products at pan India level. “We look ahead to deliver the finest service or product fulfilling any demands of customers,” asserted Prabhu.

Zünd establishes presence in India

Zund Systemtechnik AG announces its expansion into India with the hiring of Sanjib Kumar Baruah as country sales manager. With an installed base of approximately 80 systems, Zünd has been actively involved in the Indian market for many years. Opening an office in India will permit Zünd to establish closer relationship with its customers and partners across the Indian sub-continent and help facilitate customer support. The company intends to have service and application technicians to its Indian team to further enhance local service and support.

Sanjib comes to Zünd with many years of experience in the Indian printing and digital graphics industry. Having worked for widely-known companies like Proteck Machinery, Presstek, Durst and ScitexVision/HP, he is well connected and has a strong background in different aspects of sales, marketing and business development for international/multinational companies.

Bordeaux expands to new inkjet technologies

Keeping drupa in mind to demonstrate its current products and solutions for the graphic art digital printing market, Bordeaux is introducing its expanded range of inkjet technologies and unique R&D capabilities for a wider range of applications such as textile, electronics, etc. Bordeaux is an independent inkjet ink and fluids developer and manufacturer whose developments are solely based on its in-house R&D team. The company is responsible for high standard products based on extensive know-how in the field of inkjet.

Also staging at drupa 2012 includes the company’s wide-spread commercial products, among them is its latest UV LED inks with substantial elongation properties. The UV LED ink with improved properties will further complement the Bordeaux UV and UV LED product lines suitable now for a wider variety of printers and especially suitable for a wider variety of UV applications that is expanding continuously.

Neschen’s self-adhesive film named ‘Top Retail Product’

Based on the readers’ poll of a specialist retail publication, Neschen’s solvoprint easy dot 100 PE adhesive film has been awarded Top Produkt Handel (Top Retail Product) 2012. With such prestigious prize, the retail world extensively highlights the added value of Neschen’s new self-adhesive digital print film. Solvoprint easy dot 100 PE self-adhesive digital print film can be applied quickly and easily, even by untrained users, and without using a squeegee. The air channels create ‘dot-shaped’ adhesive coating to allow for bubble or wrinkle-free application, and the film can also be repositioned if necessary.

Unique features of solvoprint easy dot 100 PE make this film a perfect medium for short-term deployments, such as at events, or also for use in showrooms where speed of application and cleanliness are key requirements. Furthermore, the adhesive film is ideal when a number of locations are to be supplied at once or if frequently changing advertising messages are being conveyed.