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

FUJIFILM backs new climate change initiative

A climate initiative backed by FUJIFILM announces that businesses need to identify climate-related risks and opportunities in order to reduce threats posed by global warming that could ‘destabilise’ financial markets. President Kenji Sukeno has announced that Fujifilm has adopted recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), a think tank established by global banking group the Financial Stability Board (FSB). The TCFD last year urged companies to analyse “climate-related business risks and business opportunities in the mid- to long-term and reflect findings to and disclose financial information in order to mitigate risks that could destabilize financial markets. FUJIFILM’s new Sustainable Value Plan 2030 (SVP2030) aims at reducing group CO2 emissions by 30 percent by March 2031, compared to 2014, and “contributing to a 50 million ton reduction in society’s overall CO2 emissions by encouraging wider use of the company’s low-emission products and services.

Durst opens new headquarters
and Customer Experience Center

Durst has opened a futuristic new headquarters and Customer Experience Center at Brixen in northern Italy that represents a watershed in its transformation into a highly integrated process service provider. Speakers at the opening ceremony were CEO and Co-Owner Christoph Gamper; Owner Harald Oberrauch, Owner Christof Oberrauch; Mayor of Brixen Peter Brunner, Dean of Brixen Albert Pixner; Regional Council of South Tyrol representative Philipp Achammer; and PatrikPedó and Juri Pobitzer from architects Monovolume. In future, Durst will invite more of its international customers to the Customer Experience Center in the 5,700 square meter headquarters that embodies the transformation into a highly specialized, high-tech business. The integrated concept has been incorporated into the the architecture of the building as it connects a new administrative block with production facilities. The iconic design for a company building with a tower was first presented more than 50 years ago, but never realised. Architects Monovolume pursued the original concept and designed a flat, floating ‘wing’ with a six-storey tower. The powder-coated metal façade has 850 multi-colored, luminous window elevations arranged in pixel-like fashion. The pixelated facade of Durst’s new headquarters is also a pointer to the company’s areas of business, as Durst is a global leader in high-performance printing systems – from image data processing and printing to final product finishing – all from a single source.

EPSON named one of Top 100 Global Innovators

EPSON has again been recognised as one of the 2018-19 Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators, one of only 35 organisations to have been recognised for the eighth year in a row since the inception of the program in 2011. The company exhibits consistently strong performance in successfully obtaining rights to their innovation, seeking wide protection and global markets for potential products and services based on that innovation. Clarivate Analytics cited the fact that EPSON regularly files high volumes of patent applications and had good success this year in converting these to granted patent rights. EPSON holds many Patents globally and is working with patent agencies in 20 countries or more at any given time. Clarivate Analytics analyses intellectual property and patent trends based on proprietary data to determine the world’s most innovative corporations and institutions.

Raycus opens India office in Ahmedabad

Raycus is the world’s second largest manufacturer of fiber laser source in various capacities and variants for fiber laser cutting machine, fiber laser welding machine and fiber laser marking machine. In response to the increasing demand for its fiber laser source in India, Raycus has registered as Raycus India and opened its office in Ahmedabad. Raycus India has set plan to keep enough stock of spare parts in its India office. The company’s India office also boasts of strong strength of manpower to provide instant service. “We will be maintaining enough stock of fiber sources with diverse wattages to immediately attend any complaint or failure of fiber source among our clients,” informs Pritesh Patel, Managing and Technical Head, Raycus India.

Raycus manufactures fiber laser sources ranging from 20 to 20,000 watts. Mehta Cad Cam Systems is one of the key users of Raycus fiber laser source in their laser cutting machines. So far, the company has installed more than 200 of their fiber laser cutting machines equipped with Raycus fiber source in India and abroad.

EFI announces definitive agreement
to be acquired by an affiliate of Siris Capital Group

EFI has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the ‘Agreement’) to be acquired by an affiliate of Siris Capital Group, LLC (‘Siris’) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.7 billion. Siris is a leading private equity firm focused on investing and driving value creation in technology companies that provide mission-critical solutions and are facing technology transitions. Under the terms of the Agreement, which has been unanimously approved by EFI’s Board of Directors, an affiliate of Siris will acquire all the outstanding common stock of EFI for $37.00 per share in cash. EFI may solicit alternative acquisition proposals from third parties during a ‘go-shop’ period over the next 45 calendar days. EFI will have the right to terminate the Agreement to enter into a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement.

FESPA China 2019 cancelled

FESPA regrets to announce the cancellation of FESPA China 2019, following the recent launch of the event in January 2019. The decision not to proceed with this year’s event is disappointing as there was increasing demand from the manufacturing community for this show, however, as a result of challenges arising with the venue and co-located event, which FESPA was unable to resolve to its satisfaction, unfortunately, the only course of action available is to cancel at this time. FESPA remains committed to serving the community of specialty printers and manufacturers in China and across Asia, and will return to the region with Asia Print Expo in 2021, dates and location to be announced nearer the time.

AXYZ International rebranded
and restructured as AXYZ Automation Group

Leading manufacturer of high-performance CNC routing and cutting solutions, AXYZ International has announced a major rebranding and restructuring initiative. The company embraces a change in name, a new corporate identity and realigned marketing strategy. Implemented by the parent company in Canada, the rebranding programme follows acquisition of the US-based waterjet cutting systems company WARDJet. This signaled AXYZ International’s entry into the waterjet cutting sector and precipitated the decision to carry out a total rebranding programme. In consequence, since the beginning of February this year, AXYZ International has been trading as AXYZ Automation Group, a name that recalls the company’s inception in the 1990’s when it was known as AXYZ Automation.

SAi strengthens board with three new appointments

SAi has recently announced the addition of three new members to its board. Dan Purjes, Edna Purjes and Rudy Baron will work alongside existing board members to support strategic planning and decision-making for the company. Dan Purjes brings a vast amount of business development expertise to the role, having taken several businesses from start-up to profitable enterprises with – in some cases -revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars. Edna Purjes also offers a wealth of knowledge in business management. Drawing on her design and business major, Purjes launched a wall-covering business and takes credit for its growth into a leading manufacturer within the industry. Rudy Baron joins the board with solid print industry that stems from his acquisition of an AlphaGraphics franchise.

FESPA 2019 to focus on printed fashion textiles

The Print Make Wear fast fashion factory feature at FESPA Global Expo 2019 in Munich, which is scheduled to organise from 14-17 May 2019, will double in size compared with its launch in 2018. HP, Mimaki and EFI are among those who will be demonstrating their latest technologies. Taking the form of a live production environment, Print Make Wear addresses every step in the garment production process, from planning, design and prepress, to printing, drying, cutting, sewing, welding and embellishment, to packing and retail display. Technologies to be showcased at Print Make Wear 2019 will include direct-to garment digital and screen printing presses with both automatic and manual presses printing on water-based inks, while the roll-to-roll digital technologies will include dye-sublimation as well as other textile print technologies, with the support of brands including Adobe, Adelco, EFI, HP, Mimaki, Vastex MagnaColours, Easiway and Premier Textiles.

New GIS solution to drive FUJIFILM Dimatix printheads

Global Inkjet Systems (GIS), the leading strategic partner for OEMs and system builders, has announced the introduction of its new advanced solution to drive a wide range of FUJIFILM Dimatix printheads, which includes the latest high-performance Starfire SG600. The new GIS Head Management Board (HMB-FD-HV) can drive up to 4 x FUJIFILM Dimatix Starfire SG600 or 4 x Starfire SG1024. In addition, the HMB-FD-HV can be configured to drive a large number of Polaris, Sapphire, Emerald, Nova, Galaxy and S-Class printhead ranges from a single board. This new compact HMB is based on GIS’s Ethernet platform that consists of data management, waveform generation and printhead diagnostics, all accessed via Gigabit Ethernet with a robust protocol and standard Ethernet components.

swissQprint opens new subsidiary in Spain

Swiss developer and manufacturer of digital large-format printers, swissQprint, has opened a branch in Spain. This newly opened swissQprint Spain is intended to develop the Spanish market more strongly. The new subsidiary has fully taken over the sales and service activities from the previous partner. Based in Badalona (Barcelona), swissQprint Spain is under Managing Director Jorge Suberviola Freire, who is an experienced swissQprint specialist from activities in the past. swissQprint Spain offers the full range of flatbed printers: Nyala, Impala and Oryx. Karibu, the new swissQprint roll-to-roll printer, will soon be added as the printer is set to launch in May 2019.

Asia Print Expo delivers successful event

Asia Print Expo 2019, which took place from February 21-23 in Bangkok, hailed a success by both visitors and exhibitors, cementing the event’s position as a leading meeting point for Asian screen, digital and textile printers and signage. Around 4,207 individual visitors travelled to the expo from 54 countries. Taking into account visitors attending the event across multiple days, the show attracted a total of 4,681 visitors, an increase of 8 percent compared with FESPA Asia 2018.

Visitors from the host country, Thailand, made up 80 percent of the audience. The other top ten countries were India, China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka, underlining the event’s reach in the ASEAN region and beyond. Exhibitors commented positively on the seniority and purchasing intent of visitors, reinforced by FESPA’s own visitor data, which shows that 68 percent of delegates were business owners or hold senior business positions and 83 percent of attendees were decision-makers or involved in the decision-making process. A total of 77 companies from 17 countries exhibited at Asia Print Expo with many sharing positive impressions of their participation.

EPSON SureColor printers win
Red Dot: Best of the Best Awards

EPSON has won its first Red Dot: Best of the Best Award in the Product Design category for its SureColor large-format printers. In addition, five EPSON inkjet printers, one scanner and one projector model also received Red Dot Awards. Designers and companies from 55 countries entered more than 5,500 products in the competition. The Red Dot Design Award, created in 1955 in Germany, is organised by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen Design Center and is recognised as one of the most prestigious awards in the design field. A jury of experts evaluates the products announced during the past two years and selects the best designs based on nine criteria. The EPSON SureColor printers recognized with the Best of the Best Award were SC-T5450, SC-T3450, SC-T3450N, SC-T3400, SC-T3400N and SC-T5400.

Océ Arizona 1380 GT demonstrated
at Sign & Digital UK 2019

Canon offered a big chance to discover its innovative flatbed platforms and multi-media capabilities reshaping the future of print at their stand at Sign & Digital UK 2019, which was held from April 2-4 at NEC, Birmingham. During the three-day show, Canon would demonstrate its new Océ Arizona 1380 GT to show how the power of smart technology could maximise productivity and media flexibility while retaining exceptional quality. This state-of-the-art flatbed printer is designed to future-proof print operations. It boasts of unique Océ Arizona Xpert software capable of automating complex applications to produce real-time print files, self-learning technology, instant-on printing, and outstanding speed, as well as print quality across rigid and flexible media for the widest possible range of applications.

FUJIFILM integrates its XMF
Workflow with EFI and Tharstern

FUJIFILM Graphic Systems has announced its XMF Workflow portfolio has fully integrated with EFI Pace MIS and Tharstern MIS (Management Information System), offering PSPs enhanced productivity and lower costs. XMF can now provide customers with the best opportunity to stay ahead of the competition and maximise profit potential, automating processes and giving them full control of the flow of information throughout production. XMF’s integration with Tharstern enables PSPs to benefit from advanced automated production direct from the MIS system into the XMF Workflow.

A key benefit of this integration is the ability to deliver additional PDF content attached to an MIS job, with the help of automatic page assignment for future reference purposes. Moreover, the integration of XMF with EFI Pace allows users to benefit from complete two-way end-to-end workflow integration.