Rob van den Braak
Interproof in Frankfurt, Germany has been making dummies and limited series of packaging for the advertising industry for more than 40 years. Their great reputation in this specialised segment got them quite a few big brands as customer.
Interproof´s core business is producing dummies for future packaging products for specialised campaigns. Interproof´s CEO, Wolfgang Marx, explains: you can of course make a 3D presentation or show an animation on a screen, but that won´t allow you to hold the packaging or view it from different sides. A dummy which looks like the final end product is much more convincing. You can really see what it looks like in the shop and what it feels like.
Lookalike
For these type of presentations it is very important that Interproof gets as close to the original product as possible. And that is a skill in itself. Marx: We do not use the same processes as used for mass producing products. That is offset or silk screen if it concerns labels. It is an art to control the colours and materials such that the dummy looks like the future mass product. It just doesn´t work if later the mass product turns out to be very different.”
Interproof uses a Roland DG UV printer, the VersaUV LEC-330 for these types of proofs. This printer was developed especially for this type of work and is able to work with many different types of materials and finishes.
Original materials
The Roland printer offers Wolfgang Marx the opportunity to print on original materials. We can print onto 300 grams cardboard products and synthetic materials. It is important that the colours do not sink into the materials, but stay on the surface. We have the machines to prepare the sheets so that the ink behaves on the materials as it would during the actual mass production. The support from Roland is very important to achieve this and Marx is very positive about this. The support we receive from the Roland technicians is excellent, he says. Roland helps us reach the maximum capacity of the printers. Every order we produce is different, so we cannot standardise. There is a lot of trial and error which helps us in preparing for other orders, which is great.
Big brands
Interproof works with many big brands. Marx: We have produced something for all the big names, but we are very pro-active. There are lots of personnel changes within advertising agencies and with the big brands which often means that people who know our products and the results have gone. It also happens that someone finds out that a simple print won´t work only a few days before the actual presentation. Our strength is in helping these parties with a short turnaround
Fast work
Also foreign advertising agencies use the services of this specialised company in Germany. We see that the world becomes smaller, says Wolfgang Marx. If necessary we can deliver a dummy to London the next day.
It is this specialisation in this particular niche market which makes Interproof what it is. A proof made by specialists is just right. Marx: It´s not just any proof. We also show special effects such as embossed or foil print. In this case we also work with original materials. For example foils embossed with heat. Industrial machines just would not be able to do this, but we know how to create these effects with original materials so that the feeling is the same. There are not many companies who have this skill.
more info: www.interproof.de
Lees verder....Significant developments in the USA. According to the association of book producers AAP the sales in books continue to decline. However, the rise in sales of audio books is spectacular.
Sales of children´s books fell by 16% in the first quarter. Sales of books for adults was up 3.4%. The total turnover in book sales in the USA in the first quarter of 2015 came to 2.2 billion dollars, down 6.6%.
Digital reading however shows a spectacular movement. The number of e-books sold fell by 7.5%, but the number of downloaded paid audio books increased by a stunning 34%. The trend amongst young people seems to be moving towards listening to books instead of reading them. There are also developments in streaming audio books.
Print and packaging expert Sean Smyth wrote the third Drupa Expert Article. A very good article about the hype around inkjet. Down-to-earth and with more than 30 years of experience in our industry he says that inkjet has some way to go still. Not a very long way because for special market segments and small editions inkjet will soon be the best technical solution. His analysis of cost for inkjet with ink prices playing a major role is also very interesting. Read his article via our download page.
Koenig & Bauer rapporteerde voor het eerste halfjaar 2015 redelijk goede cijfers. De order intake steeg met 33,2%, voornamelijk in de segmenten vellenpersen, digitale systemen en krantenpersen. Die stijging kwam vooral van export orders met Azië, Midden en Noord America als de groeiregio’s. Toch loopt de persenbouwer nog licht achter op zijn verkoopvoorspelling voor dit jaar van 1 miljard euro, maar dat moet in te halen zijn. De geprojecteerde winst zal wel gehaald worden, vooral door de implementatie van het Fit@All kostenbesparingsprogramma.
Andreas Weber interviewed Peter Sommer, CEO of Elanders Germany, in Value Media. Sommer believes, after his initial scepticism, strongly in production inkjet. Especially for 3,000 prints or less and when variable data is a value add. Elanders is an originally Swedish company which offers Supply Chain Solutions, Print & Packing Solutions and eCommerce Solutions worldwide. Read Weber´s story, in German, about how a global player uses digital technology to gain and keep clients worldwide.
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Andreas Weber interviewde voor Value Media Peter Sommer, de directeur van Elanders Germany. Sommer gelooft, na aanvankelijk sceptisch te zijn geweest, sterk in production inkjet. Zeker als de oplage minder dan 3.000 afdrukken is en variabele data een toegevoegde waarde is. Elanders is een van oorsprong Zweeds bedrijf dat wereldwijd Supply Chain Solutions, Print & Packaging Solutions and e-Commerce Solutions levert. Lees in het Duitstalige verhaal van Weber hoe een globale speler digitale technieken inzet om wereldwijd klanten te winnen en te behouden.
Packaging is a growth market and labelling is one of the more profitable segments. Not just because of the digital label presses such as the Screen True Jet L350UV, the Xeikon 3000 or the HP Indigo WS4000 which are able to do small quantities, fast delivery times and affordable personalization, but also because of the possibilities the new digital technologies offer the market. From app readable bar codes offering more product information to allergy sensors. Techrepublic editor Lyndsey Gilpin listed a number of these in the article which can be read via this link.
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Verpakkingsdrukwerk is een groeimarkt en labeling is één van de betere segmenten daarin. Dat komt niet alleen door de digitale labelpersen zoals de Screen True Jet L350UV, de Xeikon 3000 of de HP Indigo WS4000 die kleine oplagen, snelle levertijden en gepersonifieerde labels betaalbaar produceren, maar ook door de mogelijkheden die nieuwe digitale technieken deze markt bieden. Dat loopt van barcodes die via een app meer productinformatie leveren tot allergiesensors. TechRepublic editor Lyndsey Gilpin zette er voor ons een aantal op een rijtje, te bekijken via deze link.
For the second year running Esko and Artevelde University College Ghent organised a special International Honours Class in flexible packaging and prepress. 18 students from Europe, Canada, Slovenia and Finland attended the Honours Class. According to Jan de Roeck, Director of Solutions Management at Esko, the Class is an example of the company´s dedication to education and of the efforts they make to achieve this. Students attended practical and theoretical workshops by Esko experts. Haike van den Bulcke, a student from Belgium, was very happy to be able to add the hands-on experience with state-of-the-art Esko software to what she already learned at University. More information about the Honours Class via this link.
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Voor de tweede keer organiseerde Esko en Artevelde University College Ghent een speciale internationale Honours Class met als thema flexibele verpakkingen en prepress. Dit jaar waren er 18 studenten in deze diepgaande Honours Class met deelnemers uit Europa, Canada, Finland en Slovenië. Volgens Jan De Roeck, directeur Solutions Management bij Esko, is de Class een voorbeeld van hoe serieus zijn bedrijf educatie en kennisoverdracht neemt en van de inspanningen die zij daarvoor bereid zijn te doen. Studenten die deelnemen aan de Class kregen in het Esko hoofdkwartier twee weken lang praktische en theoretische kennis voorgeschoteld door de experts van Esko. Haike Van den Bulcke, een Belgische deelneemster aan de Class, was net als de andere studenten blij met de kans om de op de Universiteit geleerde theorie te combineren met hands-on sessies met de geavanceerde Esko software. Meer info over de Honours Class vind je via deze link.
More than 3,000 visitors from the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg) visited the FESPA 2015 in Cologne. Next year FESPA returns to Amsterdam for its Digital event: FESPA Digital 2016, 8-11 March 2016 in the RAI, Amsterdam. The 2016 edition marks the 10 year anniversary of the Digital event which was launched in Amsterdam in 2006. About 3600 printers and print service providers from the Benelux visited the Digital event in 2006 and 2009.
Roz McGuinness, FESPA Divisional Director comments: “It’s terrific to see the number of Benelux visitors to FESPA 2015, especially ahead of our return to Amsterdam next year for FESPA Digital 2016. The growth in attendance to FESPA 2015 is a positive indication of the importance Benelux printers place on FESPA as the place to discover valuable ideas and innovations for their businesses.
“It’s clear to see that the peripatetic cycle of our exhibitions is working and attracting new geographical audiences. Since the 2009 event in Amsterdam, Cologne has been the nearest event in geographical terms to Benelux, which we can see reflected in the visitor statistics.”
Christian Duyckaerts, FESPA Vice President, President of the screen and digital work group of Belgian trade association Febelgra, and Managing Director of Belgian company Retail Communicators comments: “FESPA 2015 was a resounding success and it’s superb to see so many visitors from Benelux in attendance. The location of Cologne was very beneficial for Benelux visitors and next year in Amsterdam will be even better. Returning to the region in 2016 means that we will be able to engage even more deeply with visitors from Benelux, while also targeting visitors from new vertical markets for digital wide format print.”
For more information on FESPA Digital 2016 visit: www.fespadigital.com
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VIGC BOPE 2025: Redefining print. Success in a digital world. Met o.a. Peter Luit als gesprekleider binnen het panelgesprek ‘Platformeconomie, kansen voor grafimedia bedrijven?’
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