Features

Nessan Cleary asked users for their take on this all-in-one textile printer aimed squarely at the graphics market.

In recent years there have been quite a number of textile printer launches, mainly due to the growth in the garments and home furnishings markets. But there has also been movement in the soft signage market with textile printers producing flags and exhibition graphics as well as outdoor banners. But printing to fabrics is not quite as straightforward as with other substrates and many textile printers are designed to print to transfer paper first, necessitating a heat press for the actual sublimation - and the prints will also require fixation so they can be washed without the inks disappearing. 

Nessan Cleary conducts a test to check whether this printer lives up to its promise to deliver good quality results at a relatively low cost.

The Japanese manufacturer Mutoh has been around since 1953, having started off making drafting machines before moving into wide-format inkjet printers. The mainstay of the Mutoh printer range currently is its solvent series, including the ValueJet 1638X that was launched earlier this year and the focus of this test. 

With DirectSmile now in EFI’s domain, should it become part of yours too? Sophie Matthews-Paul considers its place in the wide-format arena.

Do you have the right legal cover in place? Beverley East from Abbey Legal Services, on behalf of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), provides advice.

Recent employment tribunals have held that overtime should be included in the calculation of an employee’s holiday pay. Abigail Halcarz, an employment solicitor in the commercial group at SGH Martineau LLP, considers the ramifications for employers.

Martin Shipp,
Group Operations and Production Director, The Delta Group
http://www.thedeltagroup.co.uk

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

The need to meet narrow lead-times. In this fast-paced market we’re in, efficiency matters. We have to ensure workflows and processes are watertight. This will have significant impact on a clients’ bottom line, so it’s vital get right. We know that time is important to our clients it’s a challenge that we’re always happy to step up to. Having the flexibility and capability within our workforce and technology enables us to adapt with the client as the market evolves. 

Martin Morrissey, MD at Co-op Events, which runs Newtech: The Wide-Format Printing, Displays and Finishing Show, argues that new style trade events such as this are the way of the future.

Having experienced Sign and Digital, Ipex, Drupa et al, both as an exhibitor and as a visitor over a period of many years, like many others I felt strongly that there must be a better way to get new products in front of the print and graphics market. 

Novalia’s mission is “to bring print to life” by integrating conductive inks and electronics technology to make it interactive.

I went to meet with its founder, Dr Kate Stone, to find out how that mission is going, and what part the large-format inkjet print sector can play in that. 
By Lesley Simpson

In an exclusive interview with Sign & Digital UK’s Rudi Blackett, Vivid Laminating’s sales director Richard Marlow and export manager Bruce Cozens talk about why they believe the Easymount wide format systems are so popular, trade shows in Europe, America & Brazil, and why they’ve decided to return to Sign & Digital UK in 2015 after a six-year hiatus.

Creative United was established last year, with support from Arts Council England, to provide a range of financial products and services designed to help grow the UK’s cultural and creative industries. 

Sometimes it pays to bring in the experts. Swiftprint is a case in point, having employed those with colour management know-how to streamline its operations.

‘Solutions’ selling is on the up, and with it increased levels of customer objection to your sales pitch. So how do you effectively manage that? Tony Hodgson, director of PODi for Europe, provides tactical advice.