M Partners Shortlisted for CIM Marketing Awards

M Partners, Surrey, UK distributor for RMGT B1 presses, service provider for existing Mitsubishi machines, and European service managers for RMGT presses, is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted for the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Marketing Excellence Awards 2018 for its “Real Cost of Ownership” campaign.

Featuring in the “Best Partnership Marketing Campaign” award, M Partners, in partnership with RMGT, is in some esteemed company. Other businesses mentioned in the shortlist include:

• ODEON Cinema Group
• Disney
• 20^th Century Fox
• DreamWorks Animation
• Halfords
• Caffè Nero

All are looking to win an award presented in 2017 to ITV in partnership with The National Lottery, British Olympic Association and UK Sport.

Commenting on the company’s success in being nominated, Murray Lock, Joint Managing Director of M Partners (above, right) said: “Naturally we were blown away to find out that we had been shortlisted by such a prestigious marketing organisation. We are delighted that leading marketing practitioners have been able to see our promotion of the “Real Cost of Press Ownership” as both credible and creative.

“The campaign is on-going and we are already looking forward to implementing the next phase of our promotional strategy, as well as continuing the existing themes.”

The “Best Partnership Marketing Campaign” award acknowledges the delivery of a compelling customer marketing campaign to provide measurable win-win results.

Commenting on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, chief executive Chris Daly said: “I’m delighted to announce the nominees for our Marketing Excellence Awards. We have seen some high-quality entries this year, and the breadth of our nominees is a great demonstration of our profession’s hard work over the past 12 months.

“Despite a challenging climate for business, the UK marketing industry has delivered stand-out campaigns that truly showcase the changing needs of the consumer. Our Marketing Excellence Awards recognise the industry’s achievements and those of the marketing teams and leaders responsible for such outstanding work.

“I would like to offer my congratulations to all who were nominated; they reflect the very best in the UK’s marketing talent.”

CIM’s Marketing Excellence Awards are an annual event created to highlight, celebrate and promote excellence within the field of marketing. These provide individuals, teams and agencies from across the marketing industry with the opportunity to showcase their successes and the impact of their campaigns. The Awards are open to any organisation within the UK regardless of size, sector or industry. The Awards night will take place on the 12th April 2018 at the Dorchester House Hotel, Park Lane, London.

ENDS

ProCo Installing Second RMGT LED-UV Press

Leading print producer ProCo, Sheffield, has announced details of the purchase of a second RMGT (Ryobi) 920 LED-UV press. Installation of the Ryobi 924 LED-UV press is already underway after the company signed an order with Apex Digital Graphics, the official RMGT Ryobi press distributor for the UK in formats up to SRA1, on the final day of this year’s Ipex show.

The first press, a Ryobi 925 LED-UV press, was installed in August of this year. The latest order is for a four-colour version of the same machine, but with an extended delivery and higher-powered LED’s – particularly beneficial for the printing of plastic substrates. Both presses can print 8-up A4 pages to view. An LED-UV curing unit is incorporated into the configuration for near instant drying of the sheet, enabling immediate back-up or progression of the work to the finishing department. PDS-E SpectroDrive inline printing quality control enables the operator to monitor and maintain the quality of the printed sheet throughout the run.

Commenting on the purchase decision, Jon Bailey, CEO at ProCo, said: “The first Ryobi machine, which we have been using for several months now, has allowed us to think totally differently about litho printing at our Sheffield site. The SRA1 format means we can be significantly more competitive on a wider range of work and we’re seeing some very positive early signs about the impact it can have on our business. By offering our clients superior turnarounds, different formats, and competitive pricing we’re opening up lots of new avenues for us and we’re excited about bringing another press into the facility.”

At the time of the installation of the first Ryobi press, Graeme Parry, Production Director at ProCo, said: “While litho is still very much a key part of our offering, we needed to explore how we could maintain it as a viable part of our business, and the new press will help us do that.”

The press has already won the company new business. “The installation of the first press has given ProCo the ability to be more competitive on longer run work. Previously, due to the smaller B2 / SRA2 format, the time frame to deliver, and of course the machine hourly rate, meant that sometimes we had to make compromises to meet customer requirements. The installation of the second press will give us additional capacity so we can continue to meet our customers’ demands for both the short and longer run jobs,” added Graeme Parry.

“With the common sheet format across both machines it will make planning a lot simpler, and give us the ability to switch work between machines when needed.”

With regard to the potential for printing onto plastic substrates, Mr Bailey added: “Being able to print onto plastics within litho is a brilliant addition to our capability. This will now open up new opportunities for us – we currently have some of this type of work going through our large format department, but we will now have the firepower to look at work that requires volume production on plastic substrates.”

The commissioning of the new press commenced in late November and it will be fully operational before Christmas.

“We’ve seen growth within litho over the last quarter and we’re looking forward to be able to push the boundaries in terms of volume of jobs, and of course the impressions, we produce in 2018,” added Jon Bailey.

Commenting on the order for Apex Digital Graphics, Neil Handforth, Sales & Marketing Director for the company, said: “It is a great pleasure to once again add further press firepower to an existing LED-UV user, and another leading UK print provider. The ProCo team have had several months exposure to the benefits of the Ryobi LED-UV system, and have found the productivity of the machine far surpassing their previous B2 litho equipment. Adding the second machine will both enhance their production capability and open up possibilities of taking on even more new business.”

About ProCo

ProCo works with customers to help them achieve amazing results for their marketing projects by using the latest litho and digital print technologies, combined with what it describes as digital wizardry to make it all happen. ProCo employs over 140 staff at its Sheffield and Stansted sites, and runs several HP Indigo digital units across both sites, with currently one Ryobi 925 LED-UV press, one manroland B2 litho press, an Agfa Jeti Tauro 2.5m Hybrid and an Agfa Anapurna 3.2m roll-to-roll engine. The company produces commercial printing with a focus on direct mail and personalisation, as well as building bespoke workflows for clients. It has ten in-house programmers working on such tasks.

 About Apex Digital Graphics 

Apex Digital Graphics Limited is a specialist in the supply and service of pre-press and press equipment. Apex is the official UK distributor for the RMGT Ryobi range of printing presses through to SRA1 format and Cron metal-based platesetters. Apex also distributes the Konica Minolta range of digital printing equipment. The company offers national service coverage, and a one-stop shop for print consumables featuring next day delivery. Apex Digital Graphics can be contacted on 01442 235 236 or via the www.apexdigital.co.uk web site.

ENDS

ProCo: Litho Not Dead, SRA1 and LED-UV Make it Viable

ProCo, Sheffield, has become and latest high profile print business to invest in LED-UV SRA1 litho equipment from RMGT Ryobi. The Ryobi 925 LED-UV press has been purchased from Apex Digital Graphics, the official RMGT Ryobi press distributor for the UK in formats up to SRA1, and for Cron computer-to-plate solutions. The press is due for installation at the company in August of this year.

The RMGT Ryobi 925 is a five-colour litho press for 8-up A4 format print production. An LED-UV curing unit is incorporated into the configuration for near instant drying of the sheet, enabling immediate back-up or progression of the work to the finishing department. PDS-E SpectroDrive inline printing quality control enables the operator to monitor and maintain the quality of the printed sheet throughout the run.

Commenting on the purchase decision, Graeme Parry, Production Director at ProCo, said: “We were looking to bring in new technology that ran hand-in-hand with our clients’ needs of reduced delivery times, and these are aided by the high running speed and vastly reduced drying time that LED-UV brings. Litho is certainly not dead but we needed to explore how we can still offer it as a viable service and maintain it as a viable part of our business, and the new press will help us do that.  The new machine will replace one of our two existing B2 presses, adding much needed extra capacity and firepower, as well as bringing all of the benefits associated with the LED-UV technology.

“What first attracted us to the press was the combination of the SRA1 sheet size and access to LED-UV curing, along with the latest automation and press intelligence, all in a compact B2 footprint. Within the market there was not anything else that gave this amount of bang for your buck.”

With specific reference to the sheet size capability of the new machine, Graeme adds: “The SRA1 sheet size will really change litho production at ProCo. Having the ability to run 8-up A4 on a single sheet means more productive running in comparison to our current B2 presses. It will naturally absorb the work we are producing currently whilst also adding much needed additional capacity. Having access to the bigger sheet size will mean a reduction in the amount of section work and that will make us more competitive in the market, and drive more volume through the press.”

With a focus on the RMGT Ryobi’s market leading curing technology, Graeme comments: “There are a number of advantages that LED-UV offers, but the main driver was the reduced drying time that it brings. To our clients, speed of turnaround is a major factor, and with LED-UV curing the sheet that lands in the delivery it is pretty much dry immediately, even on uncoated stock with heavy ink coverage. The positive effect of this is that our finishing department will be able to start work on the sheet straight away, where as previously there was an element of drying time. The end result is a quicker and better service to our customers.”

The configuration selected is a five-colour version of the popular 920 Series: “From the analysis that we have conducted with customers, there is still a big demand to have access to spot colours running in conjunction with CMYK. Within our scope of work there is still a very real need for the use of specials, so it was a necessary part of the configuration of the press.”

Commenting on the order for Apex Digital Graphics, Neil Handforth, Sales & Marketing Director for the company, said: “This is another very significant order for Apex and for RMGT because once again it has come from a very high profile and well respected print business. ProCo has taken its decision to invest in litho equipment from RMGT Ryobi because it offers the business an advantage that is not available from other technologies or from other suppliers.”

Press Detail

RMGT’s increasingly popular 920 Series features a maximum paper size of 920 x 640 mm, enabling the eight-up printing of A4 size pages, as well as A1 size posters. The versatility of the press extends to stock thickness, with the 920 Series being capable of handling paper ranging from 0.04 mm onion-skin to heavy 0.6 mm card stock.

The LED-UV curing system was pioneered by Ryobi, with the company unveiling its first such product at Drupa in 2008. Developments in ink technology and manufacture have now caught up with the huge potential offered by LED-based UV drying equipment. LED-UV ink is now manufactured in Europe and is available from most major ink suppliers. The last two years or so has seen a growing commercial acceptance of LED-UV in the UK and Europe, following on from widespread success in Japan. The environmental benefits of the technology and the significant cost savings through reduced power consumption are the two outstanding benefits of the equipment. Adding LED-UV also eliminates the need for powder spray, and removes ozone from the process, with the required ducting for extraction. The stunning productivity and quality of the technique are self-evident when the system is viewed in action.

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