Printing Error May Undermine Banknotes

The quality of the world's banknotes has been questioned after the leading printer suspended production over paper issues.  The uncertainty has seen the company's share price fall to a three-year low. 

De La Rue, which produces banknotes for 150 countries from its Hampshire base, will not confirm whether inferior notes have ended up in circulation.  The company has been forced to suspend the relevant production and shipment departments to allow for an investigation.  The probe was issued after delivery teams noted paper issued to central banks and other printers was sub-standard.  De La Rue discovered irregularities in the quality and production of the notes at its 600-worker plant in Overton, Hampshire.

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New E-Mail Marketing System Installed at Aztec Mailing Centre

With the creation of our new company Aztec Mailing Centre we initially offered a direct mailing service.  We have now expanded this to include a brand new E-Mail Marketing service.  Using our design studio we can create you a template for your company and send out your companies latest offers and deals direct to your customers inbox.  Offering a full tracking system you will be able to see what clients have opened your mail, what links have been clicked on and how successfull your campaign has been overall.

This new exciting opportunity can help and build up exsisting customer relationships or build brand new customer links to help improve your business and make you more successfull.  For more information contact sales@aztecmailingcentre.co.uk

CPI announces inkjet ambitions at digital book printing conference

Book printing giant CPI has revealed ambitious plans to increase its digital firepower with more inkjet webs.Speaking at Interquest's Digital Book Printing Conference, held in London yesterday, CPI's chief technology officer Bernard Kieffer said the group had "understood very quickly" the necessity to transform its fixed costs in the face of decreasing run lengths.

The firm installed Europe's first HP T300 inkjet web, complete with integrated binding line, last autumn and the kit went fully live two months ago.
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Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Printing Industry

IPEX is many things – a celebration of print, a Euro-centric gathering of major and minor vendors, a walkable show that makes it easy to enjoy the variety of offerings that compose our industry – but it’s certainly no drupa. On a lower budget, and with much less fanfare, our British compatriots put on a show that entertains but seldom surprises. Until now. Today’s introductions marked the tipping point, the day in which a new wave of technology crashed like a tsunami onto the beachhead of the status quo…

Kodak began the day with a pre-show press event to unveil the new PROSPER 5000XL inkjet web press. Unlike the secretive technology demo from drupa 2008, this time the covers were lifted and engineers held aloft the magical Stream inkjet heads for all to see.  Read More ........

Ipex unveils plans for record-breaking 'House of Print'

Atlantic to show drop-on-demand with unique white ink

Drop-on-Demand (DoD) inkjet printing systems bring unique white ink capability for printing
on dark backgrounds commonly used in the Industrial printing, packaging and card markets.

The industry's broadest line of high-resolution digital UV inkjet and coding solutions for narrow printing applications will be on display at IPEX from 18 - 25 May, 2010, in Hall 6, with solutions for the packaging, labelling and card markets as well as the commercial and product printing sectors. The Omega line addresses technical and cost-efficiency requirements as well as offering white ink DoD printing for maximum printing flexibility. 

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Offset to Stay Strong at IPEX 2010 with Top Names in Lineup

Almost 150 lithographic technology companies from across the globe will take over one third of the 60,000m2 of Ipex 2010 net floorspace when the international exhibition opens at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, from 18th - 25th May, 2010. All major offset manufacturers will have a major presence at the show, including Goss, Heidelberg, KBA, Komori, manroland, Mitsubishi, Presstek, Sakurai, Ryobi, Shinohara, UPGroup and Shangahi Electric.

Amidst the current economic climate, Ipex 2010 has remained a popular platform for offset companies to showcase their machinery and newest technologies. Of all lithographic press manufacturers situated across the four halls 6, 7, 8, 17 and 20, Heidelberg, KBA, Goss, manroland and Komori will have the largest stands at the show.

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New Plate System Added at Aztec

We here at Aztec Print are continually striving to increase our product quality and services to our customers.  This week we have purchased and installed a brand new metal plate machine.  We have disposed of our old plastic DPX plate maker and replaced it with the new Plate Rite 2055Vi flatbed violet recorder. 

Screen's thermal computer to plate solutions are unbeatable for their quality, accuracy and reliability. They consistently output plates with a dot sharpness and registration accuracy that enable superior process control and fast make-ready times. They also offer the benefits of easy daylight handling and exceptional production efficiency for both short and long runs.

Canon and Oce join forces to lead printing industry

CANON and Oce have reached an agreement to create a global leader in the printing industry but combing the two company’s history and clienteles.

“We are delighted to welcome Oce, the ideal partner in every respect, into the Canon Group,” Canon President and COO Tsuneji Uchida says.  Canon and Oce will build upon each other’s strong history and proven track record of innovation and customers to create joint enterprise of long term successes.

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Sales lead generation requires follow-up efforts

Writing for the MetroWest Daily News, marketing consultant Bob Martel said that companies should nurture and follow up potential sales through a mixture of online and offline communication. He added that marketers should base approaches around client buying behaviour within their industryAmong other suggestions, Mr Martel advised growing businesses to master the use of direct mail in the coming year.

"Email has its place but do not discard the proper use of newsletters, sales letters, postcards and dimensional mail. Learn how to mail properly so that you maximise impact and control postage costs at the same time," he said.

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Direct mail has improved with the rise of quality printing

Royal Mail launches ad sale to readdress strike damage

Royal Mail has launched the UK’s first-ever ‘DM Sale’ to help address damage caused by the recent the Communications Workers Union strike It aims to appeal toadvertisers who use direct mail to try new campaign tactics and encourage those that don’t to discover its benefits. A discount of 20 per cent will be available on new or additional mailings in March and April 2010. The initiative is designed to encourage advertisers who don’t use direct mail to test it as a stand alone activity or as part of an integrated campaign as well as enabling existing DM users to try different campaign tactics during the two-month period and maximise the use of their data.  Read More .....

Direct mail 'has most influence on purchasing decisions'

- Nov 6 2009, 11:29 AM

Direct mail has a bigger influence on purchasing decisions that other advertising channels, new data suggests.

ExactTarget's 2009 Channel Preference Study revealed that 76% of consumers in the US have purchased something after receiving a flyer through the post, compared to 67% who bought a product or service after watching a television advertisement, printweek.com reports.

Heidelberg Manroland merger has been called off 

Source: Proprint.com

A possible merger between manufacturing giants Heidelberg and manroland now appears
to be unlikely.

According to German paper Handelsblatt and media agency Reuters, sources close to the two companies said that uncertainty now surrounds the rumoured merger, following an announcement by Heidelberg last week stating that its second-quarter results would fall below expectations.

Shares in Heidelberg have since lost more than a fifth of their value, dropping 21 per cent to €5.83 ($A9.50) as of yesterday (Monday 12 October).

Handelsblatt reports that this had led to the two companies "pulling the plug" on the deal.