Digital Domain - January 2013

Personalization Market Drives Growth

IRVINE, Calif.—Delivering personalized products is a specialty at Favors and Flowers, a New York City-based company that has been providing customized products since 2003. "There's a strong trend now toward using names, logos, and even photographs to personalize favors," said Joanne Mann, who founded Favors and Flowers with her husband, Elkin Mann.

To handle its demand for personalized products, Favors and Flowers purchased the Roland VersaStudio BN-20 20-inch desktop inkjet printer/cutter with CMYK plus metallic ink. "The BN-20 fits perfectly with our business," said Elkin. "It's extremely easy to use and gives us great results. It has print and cut features all in one machine, which speeds up our production and lets us make changes on the fly."

Favors and Flowers uses its BN-20 to produce customized product labels and decals for garments, banners, and floor graphics. "Having the BN-20 has allowed us to broaden our product range," said Elkin. "It has a lot of functionality for us."

Lion Labels Expands On-Demand Capabilities

ITASCA, Ill.—Xeikon NV announced that Massachusetts-based Lion Labels, Inc. has purchased and installed a Xeikon 3300 digital color press. With 50 years of label printing expertise, Lion Labels offers labeling solutions for a variety of industries, including pharmaceutical and medical, advertising, cosmetic, food and beverage, and private labeling.

Many of Lion Labels' customers are start-up companies that need labels for new or test market products, and the Xeikon 3300 meets this need for productivity, high print quality, and versatility for shorter print runs. "The Xeikon 3300 was the ideal solution for us to grow our digital labels, " said Michael Berke, Lion Labels' general manager. "This press has allowed us to price our digital labels services more competitively and win more business. We can print on a wide range of substrates, while being more cost-effective for shorter runs, because there are no makeready costs. Our digital and flexo technologies complement each other perfectly."

"Lion Labels is another example of a company taking advantage of the paradigm shift in the tag and label market," said Michael V. Ring, president of Xeikon America. "Today, many brands can no longer afford to buy huge quantities of labels because the nature of the competition demands less waste and no obsolescence."

Color-Logic Named HP Partner

WEST CHESTER, Ohio—Color-Logic has been named a Silver Technology Partner by HP Scitex. With this partnership, HP Scitex and Color-Logic will enable large-format printers to produce eye-catching images on metallic substrates. The new Process Metallic Color System by Color-Logic adds a new capability to HP customers. Typical of the jobs which can be printed using this technique are package prototypes, store end caps, signage, and posters.

The ability to use white ink is critical in these applications, since printing on metallic substrates demands that the substrate be masked where no metallic effect is desired. The Color-Logic design software permits graphic designers or prepress personnel to produce properly masked files with just a click of the mouse, using a simple plug-in in their conventional design software.

Color-Logic Chief Technical Officer Richard Ainge, commenting on the designation, said: "The ability of the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press to print on metallic substrate, coupled with the availability of white ink, makes our partnership a winning combination for both companies."

MGI Appoints Distribution Partner

MELBOURNE, Fla.—MGI Digital Graphic Technology, a supplier of multi-substrate digital printing and finishing solutions, has appointed Ferrostaal Australia, Ltd. as its distribution partner for Australia/New Zealand. The MGI product range now complements many other branded products Ferrostaal offers in the print, finishing, and packaging portfolio.

"We are very excited to partner with Ferrostaal for the Australia/New Zealand market," said Michael Abergel, executive VP and managing director for MGI USA, Inc. "Their breadth of experience with offset printing, packaging, and bindery technologies, along with their strong customer relationships and technical support, is the perfect complement to our digital printing and finishing solutions." pP