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This printer? That printer? At times it seems that there is so little to choose between models these days.  The choice is now increasingly about you and your preferences - not the product.  Large Format Review's Marc Burnett is convinced that exceptional customer service is the way to win new customers and retain existing ones.  He says…

So you’re a reseller of wide format printing solutions, and you want to win more business. You want to win that business without having to slash your prices to the point where the business is not worth having, or perhaps even worse, so that the profit you make will not adequately cover the costs of the ongoing support that your customer will rightfully expect.

The difficulty is, regardless of what products you represent, pretty much all wide format printers now work reliably and effectively. Certainly within their particular niche – typically defined by the type of ink used – they are all fairly comparable in terms of performance and their ability to get the job done.

Whereas once upon a time you could sell on the basis of some technical advantage or some incomparable benefit unique to your product, today a customer can increasingly make his or her wide format printer purchasing decision with the flip of a coin.  The chances are that the printer will deliver on the most relevant daily production needs.

So, in this maturing market where technical differences are now minimal, where reliability is a given, and where the choices of product and supplier are numerous, the decision regarding which printer to buy and from whom is no longer about specifications, it’s about people buying people.

What was once a technical race to the finish line, is now a people business – the customer will buy you, your business and your philosophy. It’s all about trust.  Customer support is not a cross you have to bear; it is an opportunity to ensure your customers remain your customers forever.

Provision of quality customer support is an opportunity for you to build a long term relationship with your customer. It’s also an opportunity for you to build and cement a reputation. And your reputation is everything.

Some years ago I worked at a company that was generally accepted as the leading independent UK supplier of innovative wide format printing solutions.  The business was built on being first to market with the very latest emerging technologies. We sold the UK’s first Encad Novajet, the first electrostatic, the first UV flatbed printer.  In a nutshell, we sold innovation and we sold opportunity.

The trouble was, such innovative equipment usually came with teething problems attached – and ironing out these bugs, which typically involved site visits, was only ever seen as an unwanted overhead.  It was a cost that had to be carefully managed and minimised. In short, customer support was seen as a necessary, but perhaps rather unwelcome, evil.

Naturally this led to an uneasy relationship with some customers – particularly those customers who were early adopters and expected, rightfully so, to have their hands held through any initial troubles.  Ultimately, this innovative supplier of ground-breaking technology suffered from poor customer retention levels and today the company is no longer trading.

Which leads to the question: how do you avoid the above, and ensure that your customer service levels are going to generate happy, loyal and long-term customers?

Ethics, ethics and ethics…

Warren Buffet, the oracle of value-based leadership, once had this to say: “I want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear on the front page of their local paper the next day, to be read by their spouses, children and friends… If they follow this test they will not fear my other message to them: lose money for my firm and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm and I will be ruthless.”

There are two vital things you need to take from the quote above: the ethics of your business have to come from the very top, and every single person in your business – from boardroom to warehouse – has to buy into it.

Only with that level of top-to-bottom all-in investment in nurturing and protecting your reputation can you hope to turn your business into a truly ethical and customer-focused operation.  And if you do, it will win you new customers. Just as importantly, it will help you to retain your existing customers.

In this day and age, everyone and everything is under review; the supply chain is being scrutinised constantly. When buying like for like and closely-comparable products from vendors such as Amazon, customers are making their buying decisions based purely on ratings, reviews and reputation.  Ignore that trend at your peril, pay lip service to it and you’ll get found out as a charlatan, invest in it and you will reap the rewards.

For far too long the wide format print industry has been built on a premise of over-promising and under-delivering. Change that, and you’ll stand out from the crowd.

But – and this is the real crux of the matter – you have to change it completely. Don’t just pay lip service to it; don’t simply pretend to be ‘customer-focused’; and certainly don’t lie about it.

If every single member of your staff applies the Buffet rules above, they’ll perform better, they’ll produce more, and just as importantly, they’ll be happier for it.

Inside the workplace, and further afield, treat people with respect, do what is right, always seek to improve, and accept personal responsibility for your own actions.

The proof is in the pudding.  In 2014, 3M was recognised as the World's Most Ethical Company by Ethisphere, a USA-based independent centre of research, best practices and thought leadership that promotes best practices in corporate ethics and compliance.  Interestingly, the average length of service for a UK-based 3M employee is 15 years. Quite simply, ethical practices - both business and personal - foster a sense of contentment.

Whether consciously or subconsciously, people actually want to do the right thing, they want to make customers happy, and they want to be empowered to do that.  So give them that power, because ultimately quality customer service in a maturing market where products all perform to similar levels is the fundamental reason why customers will buy from you, and will continue to do so for years to come.

You know how it is. You go to a trade show to find out about the latest print technology, and how it might improve your production process. What you invariably get is a barrage of specifications thrown at you: print head this, variable dot size that.  Frankly, it’s just datasheet brinkmanship.

Whilst at HP’s Sign & Digital UK press briefing, held to officially launch the new Latex 300 series machines in Europe, a question was asked by one of the journalists present.  Step forward Rana Raychoudhury, Worldwide Principal Technical Consultant for HP Large-Format Production and HP’s resident expert in Latex technology. 

Rana stands out from the crowd courtesy of his ability to explain highly complicated technology clearly and concisely in layman’s terms - for the uninitiated it was a revelation.  This ability seems fairly unique within the wide format print industry, so we spoke to him at Sign & Digital UK and asked him to explain exactly what makes the new HP Latex technology so good.  Rana, who has been designing printers since 1994, sat down and explained the tangible benefits that the new HP Latex 300 series brings to the sign and display print professional.

Rather than compare HP’s latest technology to its predecessor at HP - or indeed competitor offerings - LFR asked Rana to explain how HP set out to make Latex 300 the solution of choice, or in HP’s own words: “the default solution when selecting a wide format machine”.

Rana explains, “Prior to its launch, there was a huge amount of research done by HP with end user customers - and indeed non-HP customers - as to what could be improved with the previous generation of HP machines.  The general consensus was that end users wanted a machine that gave them sellable output, both quickly and consistently.  The key message was that it was not just about the speed of output, but how quickly you could then use that output and make money from it.”

So HP set out to reinvent its Latex technology, resulting in the launch of the HP Latex 300 series comprising the HP Latex 360, HP Latex 330 and HP Latex 310 models.

The HP Latex 360 Printer has been designed to help medium-sized Print Service Providers (PSPs) expand their businesses and boost their capacity; The HP Latex 330 Printer is targeted at helping small PSPs expand their businesses without blowing their budget; The HP Latex 310 entry level machine is targeted at smaller PSPs and quick printers.

What unites all three models are the cornerstones that they were built on: Versatility, Ease of Use and Green Credentials.

Versatility

The new Latex 300 series has been designed from the ground up to be as versatile as possible.  The new machines are suitable for a broader range of applications than ever before - including banners, vinyl, back-lit and non-permanent textiles - thereby enabling print service providers (PSPs) to capture more of their customers’ business needs and keep more of their work in-house.

Due to the versatility of latex technology, choosing a printer model is no longer a restricted choice - one Latex printer can now meet multiple application demands.  HP is offering far more than a simple vinyl and banner printing solution.

Simply put, the Latex technology enables PSPs to print more - more easily, more reliably, and on more media - and all on the one device. Rana explains, “If you know how to print a banner on one of the new machines, you’ll know how to print textiles.”

The media landscape for Latex has also changed dramatically of late.  With the first generation of Latex printers, there was little incentive for third party media manufacturers to develop product for the HP Latex platform. 

“At the start of the Latex revolution, we had to work with what media was available on the market.  That’s very different today,” explains Rana.  “Now, with nearly 20,000 HP Latex printers installed worldwide, media manufacturers are queuing up to get their media certified.  In some cases, businesses are actually developing Latex-specific consumable lines - they are optimising their media for HP Latex machines.”

Ease of Use

The new intuitive touchscreen is key to the simplicity of operating the new series of machines.  On the 360 model, it’s 8” wide; on the other two machines there’s a 4” panel.  New profiling features have been added, alongside automatic alignment and colour calibration.  A QR code also sits on the screen which offers instant access to online videos should the need arise for a little support.

The printer automates many of the things that previously a specialist would need to do.  Rana explains, “Many of the important controls have been moved from the PC to the printer itself.  When printing output, there is no excuse not to do it correctly.” 

The printers are pre-populated with data.  HP-branded media and generic media profiles are already preloaded and other substrates from other manufacturers are in the cloud and can be readily downloaded from the printer’s touchscreen.  Of course PSPs can also create their own media profiles for the media they use most commonly - very easily in the case of the 360 model.

There is no need for daily maintenance or cleaning of the printers, leaving more time for the PSP to produce print and make money.  The output comes out of the printer dry and ready to use, which eliminates any drying bottleneck.  This is achieved with a new drying system akin to hairdryers!  The heating units - four in the 310 and 330 machines; six in the 360 - warm up quickly and efficiently and the hot air is recirculated for further operating efficiency. In short it gets up to operating temperature quickly, and printing starts sooner.

Rana says, “The new printer controls measure more, and measure more accurately.  Also, as the heat units have been moved outside of the printer, there is less heat inside the printer - which then extends the lifecycle of the print head.  Additionally, since we have less heat within the printer itself, we are now able to use more substrates without risk of cockling the media.” 

Green Credentials

HP has spent a lot of time and effort in ensuring that the new Latex 300 series printers are as ‘green’ as possible.  The company went through an extended process of gaining the relevant environmentally-focused certifications for the printers, the accompanying OEM inks and the HP media created for the Latex machines.

Any prints produced on recyclable media using HP’s OEM inks are fully recyclable - there is nothing hazardous in the ink formulation.

The HP Latex 300 series printers are also more efficient due to improved speeds.  As well as being fast, they are also economical.  HP says that - on average - PSPs can achieve 100sqm of output per litre of ink for typical applications such as poster printing.

Additionally, the printers switch into an energy-saving ‘sleep mode’ after just twenty-five minutes of inactivity - yet they take fewer than two minutes to warm back up.  When PSPs are not using the printer, they can switch it off at the power source - there is no need to leave the power running overnight for maintenance purposes.

To summarise, the new HP Latex 300 series offers PSPs high quality output at fast speeds, outstanding durability (up to five years outdoors laminated; three years without lamination) and is suitable for almost unlimited applications.  The range offers superior productivity, and easy operation and maintenance.  The output is odourless, meets and exceeds tough environmental standards and ultimately leads to an altogether healthier working environment.

So what next?

With the introduction of the three latest models, HP now has a significant portfolio of Latex printers starting in price from £10,500.  HP says that the latest generation of machines has been developed in order to make Latex the de facto technology of choice for the wide format print market.

Feedback from often-cynical HP resellers at the recent Sign & Digital UK 2014 show also suggests that HP’s confidence might be justified. “They’ve got it right,” said one reseller we spoke to.  “Latex has fully matured now.”

On that note, it will be very interesting to watch the market over the next few years to see if Latex really does become “the technology of choice”.

For more information on the HP Latex 300 series, please visit HP's original press release, covered here on LFR: http://www.largeformatreview.com/large-format/4707-hp-announces-hp-latex-300-printer-series-and-hp-designjet-z-series-production-printers

If you  are considering using alternatives inks in your printer and are about to start talking to some suppliers, we’d suggest that you put your tin hat on.  You are about to about to enter a war zone!

You see, the alternative ink market is arguably the most difficult to navigate.  It is an ugly market absolutely rife with misinformation, hidden agendas and one where myth is often sold as fact.

The root of these problems is the highly competitive nature of this market. Manufacturers and their agents want to retain your ink business. Alternative ink suppliers want you to switch to their inks. And never the twain shall meet.

Let’s break the above problem down into bite-sized chunks and arm you with some information that will stand you in good stead while you try to separate seller fact from seller fiction.

Firstly, the divide that exists in this market is not between Good Ink vs. Bad Ink, as it rightly should be.  It is more typically between OEM-branded ink and alternative inks. This does neither side any good. 

This scenario does not exist in other sectors of the print market.  For example, buying media - branded or third-party - will not open you up to anywhere like the levels of near-hysteria you will have to deal with when considering an ink swap.

In fairness, it is not usually the printer manufacturers at fault here.  Very rarely will you hear a manufacturer rubbishing the competition.  More typically it is the agent or reseller - protecting their ongoing revenue stream - that will have a hatful of horror stories to tell you.

“Put alternative ink in your printer and it is going to explode into a million pieces and no one is going to help you, because it will be your own fault.”  Sounds dramatic? Well, if you don’t believe it, feel free to make a few phone calls to some resellers and you’re bound to hear some stories approaching that level of silliness.

It would be much better if both manufacturers and alternative ink suppliers could work together to rid the market of the rogue products that are clearly second-rate, clearly made of inferior ingredients and that  exist only to make a fast buck on the back of the customer’s desire to make some cost-savings. The recession has been great for the alternative ink market, but at the same time it has also opened up the market to some inks of questionable quality.

There are some very good alternative inks out there

Manufacturer ink is your default position. It’s usually more expensive, but high levels of competition between the various resellers help to keep the price competitive. Because the ink has been developed specifically for your printer, it is obviously covered by warranty and should be completely trouble-free.

However - and this an important point - very few printer manufacturers actually make their own ink.  So it’s fair to say that nearly all ink is alternative  ink.  In many cases, manufacturers buy their inks in from an outside source, with notable suppliers including DuPont, Nazdar, 3M, Toyo and Sun Chemical, to name a few.

Now the majority of those ink suppliers are huge operations, with huge R&D budgets and more scientists than you can shake a stick at – and they’re all beavering away to create reliable high-performance inks for your printer.

But – crucially – not all inks are created equal. Product X from supplier A might have an improved colour gamut; product Y from supplier B might have excellent compatibility with a broader range of media; and product Z from supplier C might have better outdoor durability.  Point being, it is not guaranteed that the ink carrying the same brand as the printer is superior.

There are good alternatives out there, and anyone that tells you otherwise is being a little conservative with the truth.  Further, given that inks can deliver different benefits for different applications, you might well find that an alternative ink product actually offers better performance for your particular application.

A good example of this is in the field of UV-curable inks.  There are some manufacturer-branded inks that do not lend themselves well to edge-to-edge printing or for use in graphics that are cut to shape, because the inks chip at the edges.  In this particular instance, there are definitely superior alternative inks available.

Ink choice is not as clear-cut as Manufacturer Ink vs. Alternative Ink.  It is about Good Ink vs. Bad ink and you can buy good ink from a number of different sources and under a number of different guises.

Think of it like petrol; you are comfortable buying your petrol from any one of a number of reputable petroleum companies and you do so without any concern whatsoever. The problems would only come if you started buying your petrol from a chap who was metaphorically mixing it up in a bucket in his garage from poor quality ingredients.

Reputable is the key word, buy from a reputable supplier, with a known pedigree, and you should avoid problems.

So what about the bad inks - and how do you avoid them?

The easiest way to avoid problems is to stick with the manufacturers branded ink. It’s your failsafe position. But - as detailed - some alternative inks are actually better for particular applications.

The first thing to avoid when sourcing a good ink for your printer is to buy on price alone.  If you buy with price as your only criteria, you are far more likely to end up with a costly printer repair job on your hands.   For every horror story you hear about alternative inks, the probability is high that you are being told about a problem caused by an ink that was purchased on the basis of price alone.

Nothing is for nothing, there are no free rides, and you get what you pay for. If you pay a ridiculously low price for your ink, you are probably going to be using an ink with lower grade ingredients, badly ground pigments, colours that fade more quickly and chemicals that are quite possibly dangerous.

If you want to put a good ink in your printer and be safe going forward, then due diligence is necessary.  Ask the would-be supplier for customer testimonials and talk to the customer cited in the testimonial. It will only take you a few minutes and you’ll get genuine hype-free feedback.

Secondly, ask about the levels of warranty available. Is the ink manufacturer prepared to stand fully behind their ink with a warranty that will match or even exceed the warranty provided by the printer manufacturer? If not, why not? Reliable ink does not cause breakdowns or printer failures and therefore can be safely backed up with a comprehensive warranty. Honestly, if you take one piece of advice only from this feature let it be this: No Warranty, No Sale.

And make sure you get that warranty in writing, because the inane witterings of a pushy salesman are meaningless and indeed worthless if you have not got written confirmation.

What ink should you buy?

In a nutshell, there is no easy, catch-all answer. It depends on the printer you have and the types of applications you are using it for.  With some printers, you’d definitely want to stick with the manufacturers’ ink to achieve optimum results.  However, there are other printers within which you could happily use alternatives ink solutions and would – as well as save money – even improve performance in certain areas.  The point is, the good ink is out there - and it comes wearing a variety of labels...

The development of affordable LED technology for UV-curable printing systems has continued apace for more than a decade, with few manufacturers now denying its benefits over mercury vapour lamps. With more and more customers demanding more environmentally friendly output together with lower prices, any investment in the printroom this year should be with LEDs in mind.

Just the somewhat Victorian words 'mercury vapour' may be enough to put off eco-conscious print customers when the clean-sounding 'LED' is available elsewhere. But the numbers stack up too: thanks to LEDs' ability to direct energy more efficiently into curing rather than heat, the overall power consumption is significantly less than that used by mercury lamps.

Comparing its own systems, EFI VUTEk states that switching to LEDs could reduce a wide-format printer's energy use by 75 per cent – the LED technology used in the VUTEk GS3250LX gets through around 3.6kW per hour, while the VUTEk GS3200's four mercury vapour lamps consume around 15kW per hour, or 9,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year for LED versus 46,800 for mercury vapour for those businesses running a two-shift, five day week - with an average cost of £0.15 per kilowatt hour at UK standard rate, that is an annual saving of nearly £6000 in electricity alone. Comparing the exposure system of metal halide lamps (mercury vapour lamps with added metal halogens), Mimaki estimates that MH can use as much as 15 times more than its standard UV-LED curing unit.

Moreover, Mimaki – creators of the first LED UV printer, the UJV-160 and maker of UV-LED systems including the JFX-1631 and UJF-3042 – also points out that LEDs offer lower energy consumption due to their instant-access approach; MH lamps must cool down before they can be switched on then heat up again before use, and therefore tend to be left on semi-permanently, while UV-LEDs can be turned off between jobs and reactivated almost instantly when needed. This level of 50 per cent use equates to consumption of more than 30 times as much energy by the MV system compared to UV-LED.

Among the chief benefits of the latest breed of UV-LED printers promoted by their manufacturers is versatility. Belgium-based digital print business Triakon adopted UV-LED curing in the form of an EFI VUTEk GS3250LX and found heat-sensitive and thinner materials were suitable for printing without head strikes or buckling with the 'cool cure' technology. Fellow VUTEk user BCF Digitaldruck und Mediengestaltung of Remscheid, Germany found that hard PVC of thicknesses as low as 0.2 to 0.5mm were now printable, while fewer stable panels like hard foam PVC panels were subject to shrinking or expanding due to heat exposure. The latter company also claims to achieve good results with laminated corrugated board, due in part to losing the need for a strong vacuum; a lower heat means the printheads can be lowered onto the substrate.

Using thinner, and therefore more lightweight, materials also reduces costs – EFI VUTEk user PVS In-Store Graphics reports savings its customers 30 per cent on the lower cost of materials plus an additional 30 per cent on shipping, as the business can roll up its work rather than transporting it in flat boxes. EFI adds that recycled materials can be used more readily too, again appealing to environmentally conscious consumers, while Mimaki highlights the business advantages in adding more unusual substrates to printers' portfolios, such as wood, plastic and 3D objects.

LEDs also last longer than mercury vapour lamps, to the tune of a 20,000-hour lifetime compared to under 2,000 hours, meaning less downtime and lower costs. BCF Digitaldruck und Mediengestaltung reports changing the mercury lamps on its previous VUTEk GS3200 up to five times a year at a cost of $4,000.

Triakon are one of a number of EFI VUTEk users who are realising significant commercial and financial gains from the switch to LED UV curing. Read ourTriakon case study here.

Time savings also apply when wait-time for prints to dry following mercury vapour curing is eliminated; LED-cured work is touch-dry on completion as well as insoluble, meaning it can be rolled up straight off the bed to save space, or can be printed on again – for instance in layers for tactile printing.

Whilst UV printing is not without its disadvantages - operators can suffer skin conditions such as dermatitis if in direct contact with UV ink before it is cured, and UV light can cause damage to eyes - manufacturers have eliminated dangerous ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and therefore the necessity for major ventilation, which is perhaps another perfectly viable reason to consider the upgrade to current and safer LED UV print technology.

In all, the benefits of LED curing compared to mercury vapour or metal halide lamp technology are too numerous to ignore. Healthier and simpler to use for operators, with cost savings and environmental pluses that can be passed on to the customer, the equipment currently on the market is definitely worth investigating.

Further reading...

1. LED curing and high productivity makes VUTEk GS3250LX the 'obvious choice' for Triakon

2. Mimaki White Paper - Why UV-LEDs are revolutionising ink jet printing

 

 

Ian Turnbull, Operations Director at Sihl Direct UK, discusses the importance of selecting the right media for the right application.  In this article, his focus is on roll up and pop up displays...

"You would be right in thinking that there is very little difference between roll up and pop up displays. They are virtually the same, except that with roll ups the retraction is normally done by rolling the media away, whereas with a pop up, it is usually folded down.  Both types of advertising are a must for companies wanting to be permanently present in the market.

To get the best out of either version - roll up or pop up - the display needs to be printed on the right material.

The opacity factor

Simply put, the higher the opacity the better, when it comes to roll up and pop up banners. A banner with 100 per cent opacity allows absolutely no light through, which means customers get a much clearer look at the display than one which is letting in light. This is why Sihl‘s products are usually equipped with a grey back which blocks out almost all backlighting.  However, Sihl does offer alternatives to the grey back. The Mirano POS Photo Paper PE 220 satin 3674 has a white back, but contains an opaque film in its composite structure, which also enhances the paper‘s edge tearing resistance. This means that despite the thinness of the paper, an almost perfect opacity of 99.8 per cent is achieved.

Colour consistency

When using roll up and pop up media for an exhibition stand or something similar, a combination of stiff and flexible print media is often required. 170-220 μm thick films are usually used in roll up systems. For pop ups, a more rigid 300-450-μm material is needed in order to guarantee enough stability. Different media usually produce different whites and colour rendering in the printed picture. Even when colours are properly managed, an inconsistent overall picture is unavoidable. For this reason Sihl offers product groups with identical coatings in a variety of thicknesses.

Curling

No one wants their pop ups and roll ups to curl.  Ideally, the edges of a print remain absolutely flat and neither curls forwards or backwards. The way the material has been stored and transported can affect whether it curls or not, as can the structure of the material. For example if the components react differently to changes in temperature and humidity. Polyester or rigid PVC based Sihl media barely react to environmental influences and usually remain perfectly flat.

Scratch resistant

These kinds of displays are often used several times and in different places so inevitably they are exposed to a certain amount of wear and tear. Ideally, a pressure sensitive lamination is applied to these products for protection against damage, but this not only means additional expense, it can also cause one sided tension on the front. Sihl media, especially films developed for solvent inks, are extremely scratch resistant and are therefore suitable for use without additional protection. The SuperDry Roll-up Film 190 satin 3471 and Mirano POS Photo Paper PE 220 satin 3674 in combination with pigment inks, are also highly scratch resistant thanks to their satin surface texture. Therefore they are suitable for use without additional protection.

Something all these films have in common is that with or without lamination, they are significantly less expensive than the products which combine a laminate layer, print medium and reverse side light barrier. Above all, ply bond strength and printing quality are significantly better with Sihl’s products.

Whether the display needed is a roll up or pop up, Sihl Direct UK can offer the most suitable media for the right use."

About Sihl Direct

Sihl Direct UK is part of the global Diatec group. The company is a leading coated media provider for the large format printing industry. In addition to media for the latest generation of digital printers, Sihl Direct sells a wide range of media for photo, office and large format applications.

For more information, please visit www.sihl-direct.co.uk