The Opportunities in Print tradeshow was on the road again recently, this time in the Menlo Park Hotel, Galway, at the end of January.
Promoted by Print and Finishing Equipment (PFE), Irish Business Systems, Wildcard Software, Neopost Ireland and DWS Supplies the show once again targeted the commercial print sector and sign makers. It displayed a wide range of equipment from each company designed to showcase finishing, digital wide format print, software, small format digital print, fulfilment as well as digital print materials.
Yvonne Maguire, marketing assistant, PFE says: “The event was a great success and it was encouraging to see the number of customers from both the print and sign industries attend on the day, bringing great positivity to the industry for 2012. As usual we had a prize of a new IPAD on offer to visitors which was won by Louis Donnellan of I Supply Ltd, Tuam, Co Galway.”
PFE pop up stand produced on a Roland VersaUV LEJ-640Some of the equipment on show included;
PFE: Duplo finishing range, Roland wide format range, Drytac Laminator and Keencut Evolution.
Irish Business Systems: Xerox range of digital printers
Wildcard Software: Printlogic System: complete MIS system, estimation, fulfilment, accounts etc.
Neopost: franking machine and folder inserter
DWS Supplies: digital print materials, range of plotter cut materials, Avery tapes etc.
If you missed the show, contact any of the following companies for details on the types of machinery showcased.
PFE
Tel: 00 353 (0) 1 8604872
Irish Business Systems
Tel: 00353 (0) 1 4622646
Neopost
Tel: 00353 (0) 1 6250900
Wildcard Software
Tel: 00353 (0) 1 6177957
DWS Supplies
Tel: 00353 (0) 1-4148555
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The new suite of Xerox cloud services aims to help Irish small-and mid-sized businesses access services previously available only to global corporations.
Xerox will sell them through its value-added resellers and include infrastructure as a service (IaaS) for midrange and Intel systems, cloud backup, and disaster recovery services.
The idea is to ensure that a company’s applications, data and IT platforms are secure. These services are priced to serve the target businesses with annual revenue of €7.6 to €190 million.
“Cloud technology is often presented as a complex, ‘big company’ infrastructure solution,” said Ken Stephens, senior vice president of cloud services at Xerox. “But, in fact, managing IT operations in the ‘cloud’ is just as relevant and affordable for smaller companies and can have even more of an impact. Expanding Xerox’s IaaS and backup and recovery services to small firms are the next step toward offering a full suite of business cloud services that they can access on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model.”
This could be a smart logical move by Xerox, particularly with the growth of cloud space as a technology. It should give the company more opportunities to sell additional products and services to this market.
New services include:
• Xerox Cloud IaaS for midrange and Intel systems.
• Support for the conflicting demands of multiple operating systems, databases, legacy applications and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
• Secure cloud services via five global data centres that house multi-tenant technologies and virtualised LANs.
• IaaS is quickly installed and ready to use with an on-demand “click and pick” provisioning process.
• The IaaS ensures complete tracking, auditing and reporting capabilities.
• Cloud backup and disaster recovery service.
• Recovery of data, applications and operating systems on a server can be restored in less than 24 hours.
• An affordable approach for enterprises and small to medium firms needing remote backup and disaster recovery at a monthly, utility-based price, where the customer pays only for what they use.
• No long-term contracts required.
• The business cloud infrastructure used for corporate enterprises also is available for small to medium firms.
• Data backup is replicated, secured, encrypted and conducted daily.
“No matter the size, scope or location of a company, there’s a common denominator: how to manage costs and risks. Xerox delivers a utility model approach, intense security controls, systems and data redundancy, even a customised company-wide disaster recovery plan,” added Stephens.
For more information, visit http://www.xerox.com, http://news.xerox.com, http://www.realbusiness.com
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Xerox has won best International Shared Services of the Year at the Irish Contact Centre and Shared Services Awards 2011. The prize recognises the strong operational performance, service delivery innovation and global support provided at Xerox’s Dublin Global Delivery Centre (GDC) for more than 100 corporate customers. It was also named runner-up for the Customer Retention Programme award.
Xerox’s Dublin GDC is one of four worldwide centres that provide customer support services and technical expertise for Xerox devices as well as Xerox managed print services (MPS). The judges in particular commended Xerox for its 100 per cent customer retention rate and also cited several major service innovations at the Dublin GDC. These include a system that allows Xerox’s MPS customers to log issues from a Smartphone or tablet computer and a Xerox sustainability calculator that monitors the environmental impact of printing.
In total, 35 companies were nominated for an Irish Contact Centre and Shared Services award across 18 categories. The awards are hosted by the Contact Centre Management Association (CCMA) Ireland.
Lurlene Duggan, general manager, Xerox GDC, said: “Xerox is committed to continually improving customer service. We know that the better we can serve our customers, the more they can focus on what matters most to them – their real business. With a highly skilled team and technological innovations that ensure the best delivery platform possible, we’re achieving the highest standards of service, and we’re honored that CCMA has recognised us for that accomplishment.”
Dorothy O’Byrne, managing director of CCMA Ireland, added: “This achievement has positioned Xerox as a market leader in international service delivery. Xerox’s Dublin GDC is setting an exceptionally high standard and is leading the field for global customer support.”
For more information, visit http://www.xerox.com, http://news.xerox.com
http://www.realbusiness.com or http://www.acs-inc.com
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 Things have moved on from these vinyl cut graphics of 1992! |
 Bee Signs were specialists in vehicle graphics even back in 1993 and working from the garage at the house too! |
 Marie Byrne with the wonderful range of colour vinyls for cut graphics in 1995! |
 Martin with his award in 2001! |
 Darina posing for magazine article in 2010! |
 Believe it or not this is a gate printed large format |
 BEE SIGNS 'Gerber Dimension 200x' Router range of 3D Graphics 2010! |
 Welcome to BEE SIGNS 2012! |
When Martin Byrne and his wife Marie started a small signage company in Tallaght, Dublin, in 1991 neither anticipated that BEE SIGNS would survive and thrive to celebrate its 21st birthday. Like all these stories the company started in the couple’s garage, moving on to a bigger Portacabin in their back garden before finally settling in its first proper industrial premises in the Cookstown Industrial Estate, Dublin.
Darina Byrne Gaynor, MD of the company, explained how BEE SIGNS has developed since then.
“I was in college when my dad said he was going to start up a company called B Signs,” she said. “As a project I decided to create a logo which ended up as BEE SIGNS. Both of them ended up putting the logo on the sides of their cars and we received plenty of advertising out of this.”
At the time the main production machine was the Gerber HS Plotter which was linked to a computer. Soon after, BEE SIGNS upgraded to a Gerber Edge which allowed printing of spot colours on to vinyl. A year later the machine was upgraded to print photos onto vinyl, something which was still relatively unusual in signage at the time.
As the years passed, BEE SIGNS concentrated on general signage, graphics, vechicle graphics, shop fronts and exhibition displays.
Darina added that the firm has had a long relationship with companies such as the Dublin Airport Authority, all Dublin’s county councils, the ESB and at one stage it was responsible for the State’s Spar shops.
But there is more to this family than meets the eye.
“In 2001 my father won ‘Tallaght Person of the Year’ in the business category,” she continued. “In 2010 I won the same award, so something must have brushed off from father to daughter.”
Darina finished her design course in 1992 and joined the company. As she said: “I wanted to get working!”
BEE SIGNS soon outgrew its initial premises in Cookstown and moved to its present location in Greenhill’s Business Park, Tallaght, Dublin.
Fast forward to today and Darina has been running the business since 1996.
“We have a router, two LF machines; a HP LaserJet 8000 and a ColorPainter 64S as well as full finishing facilities now,” she said. “The company has developed vast experience in the sign business over the years. We even do personalised canvas prints for people. A lot of our work today is flat panel signs for shop front or safety signs, A-frames, that type of thing.”
One of BEE SIGNS best customers at present is Textile Recycling Ltd which is a principal commercial sponsor of registered charity Breast Cancer Ireland.
“All the Breast Cancer clothes banks you see around the country in recycling centres have decals on them which we print,” added Darina.
After 21 years in business BEE SIGNS is going strong. It has a natural connection to its local community in Tallaght and the two awards – one to father, the second to his daughter – is a testament to this commitment.
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Campaign for Children poster by Speciality PrintingSince taking over the goodwill last February of Speciality Print & Design, directors Russell Altman and Harry Crean have invested significantly in the new concern, now trading as Speciality Printing. The company uses a mix of litho and digital print to service its client base and has steadily built up a reputation in the graphic design area all over Ireland. Based in Donore Avenue, Dublin 8, Ireland, it specialises in colour printing and binding, bespoke print management systems and digital printing.
Altman said the company upgraded its main litho press, a Heidelberg Speedmaster SM74 5-colour press with coating unit, and was now increasing production in the digital division using a high end Develop ineo+ 6501digital colour press.
“The change from the original company is that we are now printing for a wide range of direct customers as against concentrating on trade work as our core business,” he said. “We do a lot of college work, promotional material, and we have now begun to build up a good list of well-known charity organisations such as Campaign for Children and St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) where we are developing a niche market for the company in this sector. Although the mainstay of the business is centred on high-quality litho work the fact that we also have top of the range digital capabilities allows us to offer clients solutions which other companies just can’t compete with.”
Altman added that Speciality Printing now offered extremely high-quality digital print at very competitive prices.
“We are competing against anyone in Ireland and the intention this year is to double the throughput on the Develop ineo+ 6501 digital colour press. So we are not just focusing on our litho department, but on our digital as well. For short-run work, it’s ideal and it also gives us the flexibility that if our litho machines are full we can handle some of the overflow on the Develop because the quality it produces is so close to litho.”
Another key area for Speciality Printing is thermographic printing, a process which relies on heat to create the letters or images on a sheet of paper, in particular hot foil and hologram printing.
Altman concluded saying that the investments made at Speciality Printing had allowed the firm to focus on high-quality work and offer clients both litho and digital print solutions to an extremely high standard.
Tel: 00353 (0) 1 4536077
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Agfa M-Press LEOPARDDublin based HORIZON Innovative Digital & Print Solutions are having an official launch day of their Agfa :M-Press Leopard on Friday January 27th 2012.
This revolutionary new machine is the first, full production/commercial site of its type installed, not only in Ireland, but across Europe. The investment is part of HORIZON’s commitment to innovation and forward thinking and is specifically aimed at the Point of Sale market. The company is today, one of the leading suppliers of both digital and screen print solutions across virtually every market sector in Ireland.
The event will take place between 12-2pm at Horizon’s HQ, Horizon House, on the Navan Road, Dublin.
If you would like to attend this event and view the :M-Press in action, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , quoting Digital Print News (www.dpnlive.com).
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Many companies plan to participate in the Print and Finishing Equipment (PFE) tradeshow in Galway on January 31st. PFE plans to showcase an extensive array of equipment designed for the print and sign industry in Menlo Park Hotel on the day.
Roland VersaCAMM VS-540 on show from PFEAmong them are: Neopost, one of Ireland’s leading providers of in-house fulfillment and document handling solutions; Wildcard Software, which specialises in business management systems; Irish Business Systems (IBS) which focuses on Xerox printing equipment; and last but not least, DWS Supplies, supplier of point-of-sale/point-of-purchase products and equipment.
Yvonne Maguire of PFE said: ‘PFE will be demonstrating products from well-known brands such as Duplo, Ideal, Drytac, Komfi and Keencut. Also as a key distributor of Roland products we are delighted to be showcasing the Roland VersaCAMM VS-540 Eco Solvent Printer. This will also be accompanied with other Roland wide format machines.”
She points out that the VS-540 printer has several special features which should be of interest.
‘The metallic and white ink option allows Roland VS users to add value and sophistication to virtually any graphic. Eco – Sol Max Metallic Silver ink can be printed as a spot colour, or combined with CMYK to produce a wide range of metallic and pearlescent colours. Also Roland’s Metallic Texture System Library allows you to easily apply unique patterns and textures to metallic colours for added impact. Simply select a texture or pattern from the Roland swatch library in Illustrator and apply it to your graphic.’
For more information about the event and the machinery on show, phone 00 353 (0)1 8604872 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. And if you’d like to register for the event, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to reserve a place.
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 NEW Sign+Digital logo |
 Roland VersaSTUDIO BN-20 on desk with computer |
Sign+Digital has just started marketing the Roland VersaSTUDIO BN-20 printer. The company maintains that this new offering from its Roland portfolio of LF machines is ideal for anyone wanting to move into large format digital printing. In fact, it’s ideal for anyone looking for a solution to handle short-run digital print jobs!
Sign+Digital is one of Ireland’s leading suppliers of consumables and capital equipment to the sign-making and digital printing industry. In existence for over nine years, the company is based in Airton Close, Tallaght, Dublin 24, where it operates from an 8,000 sq ft warehouse offering an extensive range of sign materials, digital media, display products, digital printing equipment and tools and accessories. It boasts a state-of-the-art built Sign+Digital Creative Centre which is open to the trade and includes a purpose-built Roland showroom. Here, customers can view a demonstration on any machine or get inspiration on innovative product ideas and applications to boost business prospects.
The Roland VersaSTUDIO BN-20 is a 20-inch desktop inkjet printer / cutter developed to provide custom print / cut jobs on demand without a large investment in equipment and with a desktop footprint.
Features include:
- Eco-SOL MAX ink in CMYK or CMYK+Mt (Metallic Silver);
- Roland automated Ink Circulation System for economical operation;
- Roland VersaWorks® RIP software;
- USB interface;
- Supports Windows design software including CorelDRAW® and Adobe® Illustrator®;
- New print head technology.
Sign+Digital sales manager Derek O’Mahoney said the Roland VersaSTUDIO BN-20 printer was a very versatile and economical machine capable of producing durable graphics for both indoor and outdoor use as well as metallic effects.
He added: ‘It’s not going to be pigeonholed into any one particular area due to its flexibility. The machine is ideal for any signmaker or digital printer who wants to make that jump into large format print but without having to make a significant investment. It’s also very suitable for a small print shop that is restricted space wise.’
O’Mahoney also pointed out the VersaSTUDIO BN-20 printer had special features which gave it an edge in the marketplace.
‘For a 20-inch machine just look at what it offers,’ he continued. ‘Metallic ink capability, print / cut on machine, and a very small footprint. It allows people to produce labels, T-shirts, small decals – that sort of thing. But I suppose what sets it apart from any other printer of its size is its metallic capability. This offers our customers new potential revenue streams such as garment printing. And we are also getting inquiries from potential new clients about this machine as well. It has the new Roland print head technology, which is a key selling point, as well as Roland’s VersaWorks® RIP software with free regular updates as well.’
Sign+Digital’s philosophy has always been built on ‘making it easy for customers’. And it looks like the introduction of the VersaSTUDIO BN-20 to its stable of Roland large format inkjet printers will continue to allow the company to pursue this objective.
Tel: 00353 (0)1 427 5240
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
HP Indigo 5500McGowan’s has just installed a HP Indigo 5500 Digital Press at its recently opened facility on the Edgar Road in Belfast. The press was installed to cater for an increase in small format work which the company has developed since it set up a dedicated sales office in Northern Ireland some weeks ago.
The HP Indigo 5500 delivers offset-like results, enhanced photo-quality and supports 68 ppm full colour, 136 ppm in 2-colour and 272 ppm monochrome in one press, regardless of media type or thickness.
Tony Roe, MD of McGowan’s said:
“The new Indigo machine was installed last week in our Belfast office. So I guess you can say that it’s no longer just a sales office. We're already looking to advance it to a large format production facility as soon as the demand requires it and we decide the best kit for purpose. We're only open 2 months yet the demand for Indigo small format work has been such that logistics were beginning to be an issue, so we put an Indigo and finishing kit up there to cater for this demand.”
As one of Irelands leading digital print providers McGowan’s set up a sales office in Northern Ireland to further develop this market and Roe feels that the Indigo installation is proof that their decision was the correct one.
“We're delighted with the start we've made up there,” said Roe. “I see no reason why we can't replicate in Belfast what we do down in Dublin.”
Tel: 0044 28 9081 2108
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