During the pandemic, manufacturers of equipment have been under pressure to reduce stock levels of parts and spares for their older equipment, often leaving end users with reduced levels of support. Some manufacturers have taken the decision that they will no longer provide service or parts for equipment long since out of production. Some specialist parts such as electrical control boards can no longer be found or are uneconomic to repair.

For current technology, the situation is little better. In recent months the ability to source even the most basic of spare part normally available within days has become critical with lead times now stretching to several weeks or months. This is putting a tremendous strain on the service and supply chain.

Keeping your printing press clean and well lubricated is the very basic maintenance activity that can be done in-house on a regular basis. You can also keep stock on hand of the most important consumables and parts that you may need in the event of a breakdown. Having a stock of critical parts available allows you to replace troublesome parts without having to wait for a supplier delivery.

Just like a car, a printing press requires regular maintenance in order to keep it operating in tip-top shape. You wouldn’t ignore servicing a car so why wait until your press is broken before taking any action? Spotting potential running issues is a skill that requires all your senses. Listening for damaged bearings, gears, a vibration and look for a mark or line in the print. An unusual sound may indicate a potential issue just around the corner. Take action early.

Ensuring that you always have stock of the most critical parts used by your printing press can save you a lot of money. When your printing press is not running because of a failed component, it is not generating any revenue. Often suppliers need some lead time in order to deliver the required parts, which can mean longer downtime. By having stock parts, especially consumables items, on hand, you can eliminate this problem completely and resume printing operations with as small a delay as possible.

The cost of carrying stock is often negated by the savings in reduced downtime. This alone makes it worth your while to stock up on critical parts. Contact your machine supplier for a list of common spares for that particular press, highlight the critical ones to you, and invest in them.

One of the biggest reasons for high repair bills is the neglect of routine maintenance. We would suggest a regular, once weekly time slot is put aside for press clean downs. Each machine should have a maintenance book to record and highlight problems as they happen for the attention of maintenance the following week. By regularly servicing your printing press and performing routine maintenance, you can reduce the risk of running into a serious and costly breakdown.

Just cleaning dust and ink spills from critical areas, checking your drying systems and condition of transport rolls, impression rolls, greasing bearings and gears will save downtime. A well-maintained printing press will also be more efficient and deliver better quality prints. If you ensure that your printing press is well maintained your bottom line will thank you in the long run.

FOCUS LABEL MACHINERY
https://www.focuslabel.com

In the USA, Idealliance has set up it’s G7 certification programme doing much the same thing. In the UK, the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) has a similar scheme offering ISO 12647-2 compliance.

Industry associations have a major part to play in driving standardisation and environmental impact improvement. It’s not an easy role to play, given that sustainability comes in many shapes and sizes, just as printing and publishing companies do.

But none of these associations have done much about environmental sustainability, at least not until now. Working with Prism Environmental in the UK, the BPIF has set up a recycling scheme for display and Point of Sale (POS) materials. The idea is for printers in the sector to follow requirements for managing waste and its recycling. This is not about sorting or collection, but rather it is a management scheme that appears to borrow much from the principles ISO 14001 (Environmental management systems). ISO 14001 is one of ISO’s top sellers and it works on the principles of continuous improvement, with certifications that confirm a company achieves its environmental management objectives year on year.

The BPIF scheme is also about improving and maintaining a company’s waste management and recycling. The scheme provides a starting point for a business’s environmental efforts as well as help defining and achieving environmental sustainability improvements. The scheme is specific to the visual display and POS sectors, and is based on a pledge to fulfill various objectives and targets. BPIF members who take part in the scheme will be entitled to use a special logo on communications related to waste management activities, and includes uncertified members. It is expected that scheme participants will share their targets in order to promote environmental sustainability within the industry.

Prismm Environmental’s role is to evaluate applications to the scheme by BPIF members. Their reports will confirm a firm’s current waste volumes and recycling efforts. Annual evaluations will report any increases or declines and Prismm will also record overall recycling, recovery and landfill volumes of display and POS materials. Based on annual reporting from Prismm to the BPIF, the association’s Visual Display and POS Steering Group will use the data for ‘ongoing sector analysis’.

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. Verdigris is supported by: FESPA (www.fespa.com), Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com/sustainability/), HP (www.hp.com), Kodak (www.Kodak.com/go/sustainability), Practical Publishing (www.practicalpublishing.co.za), Miraclon (https://miraclon.com), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

THE VERDIGRIS PROJECT
http://verdigrisproject.com/

Train them

Give your employees what they need to do their jobs. There is nothing more frustrating than tackling a project when you don’t have what is necessary to successfully complete it. When you train your employees on customer service, you are showing them you value them by investing the time and money to ensure they will be successful. That training must be consistent and continuous in order to make an impact.

Listen to them

When employees feel that they have no input on what they do and how they are required to do it, they become discouraged. Ask them for feedback and be open and honest in responding to their concerns. Ask what you can do to make their jobs easier and, as a result, make them more enjoyable. Ask what their goals are within the company — and what you can do to help them achieve those goals.

Respect them

We’ve all, at one time in our lives, had bosses who lost their tempers, berated employees in front of others or disrespected employees in other ways. If you must have a conversation with an employee who is not doing well, do it behind closed doors and do it respectfully. Employees need to feel loved, valued and appreciated every day.

Praise them

When you praise an employee, do it publicly; it will serve as a motivator for other employees. Be specific and sincere. Do it in a timely manner, and do it often. If you wait six months, that praise loses its thunder. Be sincere and specific.

Recognise them

We all like to be recognised for doing a job well. Unfortunately, many employees are recognised only when they make mistakes. Try to catch employees who are doing a good job and thank them for it. My friend, who is an accountant, recently left his job after just 45 days. Why? During his performance review he received only negative comments — even though he had performed well enough to uncover embezzlement in the company.

Motivate them

Money can definitely be a motivator, but it’s usually short-lived. You can pay your employees extremely well, but if you don’t motivate them they will underperform and, eventually, they will leave you.

Coach them

Become a coach, a nurturer. Just as athletic coaches must bring team members together to perform at their highest levels, you must bring your employees together and get them to work as a team to achieve the goals you have set for them.

Be flexible

When the epidemic hit in 2020, many companies had to allow employees to work from their homes. Those employees proved that they could be just as — if not more — productive as they would have been in the office. Now you might be faced with employees who are having difficulty finding daycare or are facing other issues and would like to work at least part-time from their homes. You would do well to make accommodations to help them deal with those issues.

Conduct exit interviews with employees who leave your company. Why? Because they will give you insight about what went wrong. While most employees will tell you they are leaving because they can make more money somewhere else, most are leaving for other reasons. When they share those reasons with you, you will have the opportunity to evaluate them and determine how you and others in supervisory positions can adjust your own attitudes and behaviours and help you retain employees.

John Tschohl is a professional speaker, trainer, and consultant. He is the President and founder of Service Quality Institute with operations in over 40 countries. He is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on service strategy, success, empowerment and customer service.

JOHN TSCHOHL
www.johntschohl.com

The ideas behind the Circular Economy aren’t much talked about in the grassroots printing business, but some of the principles are starting to creep into conversations. Three main objectives underpin a circular economy: design products to eliminate waste and pollution; keep products and materials in use for as long as possible and support the regeneration of natural systems.

Print Service Providers (PSPs) printing on paper substrates obviously contribute to recycling and regeneration. Printers produce most of their prints on paper and efforts to improve plastic recycling continue to gain ground. Digital printers often specialise in high value short run work produced on demand and in the required quantities. This is obviously less wasteful than the disposable print created on spec in case someone might want it.

They also deliver high value print products that consumers want to keep. We treasure work such as photo albums and family posters especially if it is customised. Packaging printers are designing packaging to minimise materials and waste for brand owners who want greater environmental sustainability for their products. And across printing methods, printers are raising the quality of their output whilst simultaneously improving production efficiency to minimise waste.

Beyond digital printing, companies are using other techniques to enhance value, such as innovative screen technologies that help optimise output quality on different substrates like kraft or uncoated papers. This takes digital colour management a step further, because it exploits screening technologies within the colour managed workflow. It’s also an approach companies can take to get older presses to perform better. We have spoken to a number of printers using new screening methods who say that the technology has also made possible very fast start-up and improved chromatic stability on long runs, as well as easier cleaning. It all makes for more sustainable production.

Innovation of this sort allows print buyers to use different printing methods with greater confidence. We are seeing a clear migration away from gravure printing for instance. Sometimes it is to offset or flexo, but for short run work it is often to digital printing. Buyers can trust that there are PSPs around who will deliver, including digital printers. We are not yet seeing a clear preference for any particular digital printing technology, but inkjet is starting to gain ground in some packaging applications on the basis of improved quality and speed.

As brand owners start paying more attention to how print products are designed, PSPs are well placed to help. Technology that allows for control over run lengths, improved ink usage and recyclability all make a positive contribution to the sustainability conversation. And that’s a big positive for the Circular Economy of print.

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. Verdigris is supported by: FESPA (www.fespa.com), Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com/sustainability/), HP (www.hp.com), Kodak (www.Kodak.com/go/sustainability), Practical Publishing (www.practicalpublishing.co.za), Miraclon (https://miraclon.com), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

THE VERDIGRIS PROJECT
http://verdigrisproject.com/

The figure below shows the choice that a converter faces when they decide to make an investment, as well as a range of digital overprinters and sophisticated bespoke integrations, some as a part of manufacturing and filling lines. This shows the high number of players now competing in the wide range of packaging applications, offering new
capabilities and functionalities with steadily increasing productivity and lower costs.

Technology map 2019

The 2021 map below did get more crowded, as suppliers launched new and improved models, but there was a high-profile exit. Smithers tracks developments in this market sector, publishing reports and running conferences on the future of digital packaging, bringing together hundreds of brands, retailers, packer/fillers, converters, designers, agencies and designers to meet with equipment and ink/toner suppliers, with workflow and logistics companies also involved. It is an excellent forum and over the years the conversation has moved on from the technology to asking if it does actually work, to the business benefits from digital and how consumers will respond to the new capabilities.

Technology map 2021

Quality, reliability and speed are no longer issues for inkjet and electrophotography package printers. Nor is speed with sheetfed machines offering 10,200 B1 sheets per hour and web presses up to 305m per minute in formats up to 2.8m wide, making productivity comparable to litho, flexo and gravure competitors. Printhead and equipment manufacturers have developed many solutions that eliminate inkjet artefacts, compensating for nozzle outs in real time that extend the life of the heads and machine uptime.

Inkjet will be the real winner, with faster machines being shown, particularly in flexible packaging. The wide-web Kodak Ultrastream system from Uteco, Windmöller & Hölscher and Comexi have announced systems as have Fujifilm and Screen, with others in development and Koenig & Bauer are pushing their RotaJet into high volume applications.

It is used in cartons, along with the sheetfed VariJET from the K&B Durst joint venture. EFI will doubtless try to widen their market into cartons and probably flexible packaging. After all, the Bolt textile machine from Reggiani looks like it would be a pretty powerful flexible packaging device with a few modifications. Some from the myriad of narrow web label printers will show wider, faster inkjet presses, as will some of the current wide format inkjet suppliers.

It is not just printing. Some vendors have single pass, highly automated systems to print and finish corrugated boxes, cartons and flexibles in a single pass. This is commonplace in labels. For other packaging, the enabler is combining digital print with digital finishing, adding automated control systems to drive the press, measure and check the print then track through finishing which may be coating, laminating, cutting, creasing, folding and gluing, together with a wide variety of embellishments. The digital front end controller is becoming increasingly powerful to drive the digital print section, to measure and control quality and then to set and drive the finishing technology. This approach replaces the traditional skills of the press minder and finishing journeymen operators, which is important because skilled labour is a resource that is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain.

While digital presses are the new, shiny and sexy headline grabbers, more important is the enabling software, because the only way of making money from a digital press is to print saleable output and a powerful workflow is vital to prepare the artwork files and keep the print queue well stocked. In 2019, this was a barrier for packaging converters getting
into the sector as many do not have prepress and data handling skills.

The good news is there are many companies providing solutions – integrating into management information systems to automate administration and automation functions which is necessary to handle many short run jobs, and to prepare variable content. Workflow is becoming collaborative and automated, where designs are produced and approved, then loaded into job queues for automated colour management and imposition with no manual involvement at the converter. The MIS is linked – ordering substrates and planning the production on printer and finishing to meet the customer requirements and optimise capacity at the converter.

Digital workflow can be daunting for packaging converters used to handle a few large jobs but it is the way of the world. Simplifying supply chains is the key to future success in supplying packaging and labels. Esko is the market leader with a broad variety of specialist packaging software tools showing how to automate the repetitive processes involved with packaging design, approvals and prepress with integrations to third party MIS and digital presses. They are joined by Hybrid Software and many small specialist providers selling apps and solutions.

All these packaging developments are ultimately driven by end customer expectations, or rather demands. In the increasingly connected world (accelerated by Covid-19) these demands and expectations are changing, with more engagement and interaction to improve the consumer experience of the brand. Digital printing allows brands to make content decisions closer to the consumer, helping them to provide more than just the traditional containment and protection functions of the pack, with information and promotion. Digital print and finishing of packaging can provide a wider range of functions beyond analogue capabilities, which is why it is growing so quickly.

The appetite for innovation has not been diminished. Companies are taking stock and developing their future strategies and digital is firmly on the mainstream. The pandemic allowed many business leaders time to assess their operations in light of changing customer needs as demand patterns changed.

Innovation is key, with techniques to overcome cognitive barriers (past experiences stopping changes) under traditional corporate control valves. Companies need accelerators to change following McKinsey Analysis which shows that courage is one of the defining success factors. Waiting for cheaper and better technology to mature does not pay off in the short-term, but companies making inkjet work for themselves are seeing the pay-offs now. More will join in.

DRUPA
https://www.drupa.com/

Almost every day another consulting group states that they can help printing companies become more environmentally accountable. Offerings range from some sort of sustainability scheme or service, to overpriced environmental consulting. There is a bandwagon cranking up and lots of people are in line waiting to board.

It is all very entrepreneurial and innovative. And it is great that new businesses and services are springing up to support the graphics industry as it transitions to a more sustainable future.

Print Service Providers (PSPs) are building their sustainability credentials because it is what print buyers expect. If a printing company has credentials, such as certification to ISO 14001 (Environmental management systems), they increase their chances of getting the work. If they have got an environmental policy of some description, that is brownie points too. But the PSPs who haven’t a clue how to have the sustainability conversation, provide an excellent opportunity for organisations offering environmental and sustainability advice to do a little business.

Caveat emptor, because it isn’t always necessary for PSPs to bring in outside advisors because sustainability is about common sense. The basics all printers, especially digital printers, should keep in mind when it comes to their sustainability messaging are just that: basic. Print has a one time carbon footprint during production, unlike electronic media which needs energy to view.

Print also has the quality and experiential edge, in that is unmatched on screen and it can be touched and felt. It makes a great companion to digital campaigns, acting as a catalyst for online actions, for instance through QR codes. Print is also based on a sustainable resource: paper can be recycled up to seven times. Recycling and reprocessing plants are established and functioning and the resource, trees, is renewable. The rare earth metals and plastics based on petrochemicals and used in electronic devices, are not.

Consultants can help printing companies with carbon footprinting their businesses and the print they produce. Carbon calculators for print abound but they mostly come with strings attached: certifications that cost, sharing the data and signing up for a membership. Creating communities is what the online and live business worlds are all about. However, the data sharing dimension is about data not community and developing priority data sets is another new business the sustainability industry is developing.

Aggregate data can only be trusted if it is based on a common model. Fortunately, there is a calculator for measuring a print run’s carbon footprint: ISO 16759 lays out the requirements for quantifying and communicating the carbon footprint of print media products. PSPs who want to create accurate and trustworthy carbon footprinting data should start with this document. Or if working with an external organisation, check that their calculator is based on the standard. Within the graphics industry only Ricoh and Heidelberg have developed certified calculators based on ISO 16759.

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. Verdigris is supported by: FESPA (www.fespa.com), Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com/sustainability/), HP (www.hp.com), Kodak (www.Kodak.com/go/sustainability), Practical Publishing (www.practicalpublishing.co.za), Miraclon (https://miraclon.com), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

THE VERDIGRIS PROJECT
http://verdigrisproject.com/

It has been clear for several years that technical advances in the graphics industry are giving way to material innovations. And as packaging moves into pole position as the most dynamic of print applications, developments in this field are becoming more than interesting.

First off, the materials must remove waste from supply chains, be that pre or post-consumer, of the packaging materials themselves and of their contents. Such requirements place considerable demands on the design of the package and its composition. Laminates that preserve foods that can be heated for consumption way down the line have been available for a while.

Printability is assured, but recycling such materials remains a considerable challenge. The packages must also be convenient to use and not rage inducing. Efficient delivery of their contents that is also not rage inducing must be assured. The packages must be cost effective to produce for rapid turnarounds. Obviously the printability and recyclability of the material matter but there are still too many unresolved questions relating to recycling.

Increasing awareness of pollution and food safety place additional pressures on packaging supply chains. Standards such as ISO/TS 22002 can help but only go so far. This series of documents focuses on food supply chain recommendations, specifying prerequisite programmes on food safety in catering, farming and packaging/manufacturing. But as a technical specification it can only provide recommendations rather than requirements. As of now there is no part in this series under development for recycling.

Much work is underway in the sorting and detection of laminates, although it will take years to gain real traction. For example V-Shapes, a developer of polypropylene single dose sachets, is working with Tomra – a producer of customised sensor-based sorting systems – to identify the V-Shapes packages in waste streams. The V-Shapes sachets are constructed of various materials including a substrate from Sihl GmbH designed for recyclability and for use in inkjet printing. The V-Shapes materials are also compatible with Sihl GmbH’s Artysio recyclable packaging films for inkjet printing with water-based inks. The Tomro sensors can be tuned to identify these materials in a waste stream so that they can be routed for the appropriate recycling method.

Hitting all the targets for safe and sustainable packaging is not easy. But it begins with cooperation and openness to new ideas, plus a considerable dose of imagination and luck. In working together V-Shapes, Tomra and Sihl have created a viable model with the potential to up-end current recycling expectations. For the foreseeable future these innovative materials will be lost in an ocean of waste that still cannot easily be sorted, but that won’t be forever.

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. Verdigris is supported by: Agfa Graphics (www.Agfa.com), Digital Dots (www.digitaldots.org), EFI (www.efi.com), FESPA (www.fespa.com), Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com/sustainability/), HP (www.hp.com), Kodak (www.Kodak.com/go/sustainability), Practical Publishing (www.practicalpublishing.co.za), Ricoh (www.ricoh.com), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

THE VERDIGRIS PROJECT
http://verdigrisproject.com/

The uptake of processless printing plates is finally starting to really gain pace, which is great news for the environment. In the lead is Kodak with over 5000 sites using its Sonora plate. The company recently got a massive vote of confidence for Sonora X when Online Printers Group based in Fürth, Germany, committed to the plate on a mammoth scale.

The organisation is one of the largest online print providers in the world, producing print for over one million customers in the United States and Europe, both with offset and digital printing presses. Online Printers Group is a sort of collective with facilities in the UK, Denmark, Poland and Spain. Together these various printing plants boast 189 sheetfed offset printing units for four and eight colour printing. The group also has a wide array of digital presses. Most of the output is B3 format.

Founded as a conventional printing company in 1984, Online Printers Group shifted to becoming an online provider in 2004. Today, Online Printers Group produces over three billion pieces of print annually for business-to-business customers including print shops, resellers and agencies. Offset presses at the company’s three sites in one German town account for over half of these sites’ output and on average require over 3000 printing plates daily. Sonora X, imaged on three Kodak Magnus Q800 platesetters, is now the plate of choice for most of this production.

The Sonora and Magnus Q800 platesetter investments at these facilities are part of Online Printers Group’s commitment to sustainability, as well as its bottom line. The company’s production processes are designed to minimise resource use and cost. This was also the case with digital prepress and computer-to-plate adoption. Efforts to save money make for an environmentally sustainable business model as well as helping the business’s profits. It is amazing that this message still isn’t clear for so many printing companies.

Online Printers Group has optimised everything from online ordering through to shipping, so that the environmental impact and cost of its print production are minimised. All production facilities across five countries are using Sonora plates so this is a huge vote of confidence in the technology.

Early worries about coatings contaminating fountain solutions or blocking filters are no longer valid. Instead, people are focusing on contrast and quality, cost and performance on press. Computer-to-plate has turned a big corner with processless platesetting, helping print’s carbon footprint and production efficiency. Let’s hope the trend to processless continues to accelerate.

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. Verdigris is supported by: Agfa Graphics (www.Agfa.com), Digital Dots (www.digitaldots.org), EFI (www.efi.com), FESPA (www.fespa.com), Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com/sustainability/), HP (www.hp.com), Kodak (www.Kodak.com/go/sustainability), Practical Publishing (www.practicalpublishing.co.za), Ricoh (www.ricoh.com), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

THE VERDIGRIS PROJECT
http://verdigrisproject.com/

For the majority of firms in the graphics business this will basically be a very big yawn. But as consolidation continues apace in the printing and publishing industries, especially as the pandemic bites deeper, large companies looking for large investments should take heed.

The Alliance has called on asset managers – people who make investments in big companies – to collaborate. The organisation sits on top of some $5 trillion and has committed to move all of these investments to investments with net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. The goal is to reduce risk for ‘market segments that for now do not have the appropriate risk-return profile’. The good news is in the ‘for now’ bit, but the bad news is that the graphics industry’s ‘risk-return profile’ as it relates to climate change mitigation is definitely not yet robust.

This will impact business economics in the printing and publishing sectors, because asset managers will be selective about how they prioritise investments. This includes printing companies, their suppliers and manufacturers. As investment companies such as OpenGate Capital and Black Rock move more aggressively into this industry, we can expect greater sensitivities to meeting the Alliance’s interests.

UN’s Environmental Programme Finance Initiative Head Eric Usher said, ‘The accelerating climate crisis… means it is now even more imperative that blended capital is delivered in a climate-smart and net-zero-compatible manner.’ Members of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance are now working with a select number of asset managers to develop packages that support the project’s initiatives and that fit the needs of institutional investors. These are expected to range between $300 million and $500 million and will be open to Alliance members and non-members. How this will affect an industry being hammered by the pandemic is not certain. What is certain is that when the money people get involved, change is inevitable. The graphics sector has a chance to up its game in climate change mitigation and to thrive.

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. Verdigris is supported by: Agfa Graphics (www.Agfa.com), Digital Dots (www.digitaldots.org), EFI (www.efi.com), FESPA (www.fespa.com), Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com/sustainability/), HP (www.hp.com), Kodak (www.Kodak.com/go/sustainability), Practical Publishing (www.practicalpublishing.co.za), Ricoh (www.ricoh.com), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

THE VERDIGRIS PROJECT
http://verdigrisproject.com/