Imaging companies looking to capitalize on retail and branded environments is a profitable, yet challenging move. According to industry leader Brian Hart, owner of Hart Consulting Services, the focus today needs to shift from manufacturing efficiencies, to service-oriented solutions that convert direct expenses to value-driven partnership services.

“In order to accomplish these transactions, businesses must rethink messaging and offerings, and begin to introduce broader solutions that go beyond a printed product,” says Hart.

To help imaging businesses rethink their message, SGIA has teamed up with Hart Consulting Services to offer an industry-focused retail Workshop, filled with interactive learning segments and roll-up-your-sleeves exercises. Available in two locations (Atlanta, April 10–11 and Los Angeles, June 19–20) this Workshop will help you:

• Support your customers through educational programming
• Build relationships with retailers and brand managers
• Learn the common language for the retail market
• Find tools to improve your process
• Apply these strategies to increase sales.

For more details, including Workshop agenda, hotel accommodations and to register, visit SGIA.org, Keyword: RetailWorkshop.

No partisan politics here! SGIA’s leadership met earlier this month (January 9–11) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to discuss upcoming initiatives that will move the imaging community forward.

With 12 steering committees representing different industry sectors, there was a lot to address in three days. But, we are happy to report, no gridlock! SGIA’s Congress of Committees tackled issues head-on, focusing on ways to enhance educational opportunities, indentify growth segments within the community and develop new benefits for members.

Industry segments represented included: Graphics production, printed electronics, garment decorating, inks and chemicals, sustainability, industrial applications, safety and health, digital textile, convention and exposition, membership and — new this year — the Market Analysis Committee, headed by SGIA’s President and CEO, Michael Robertson.

According to Robertson, the first meeting was informative and insightful. “The Committee was quick to target specific challenges that SGIA members within the graphic and sign community are facing,” he said. “The discussions addressed reverse auctions and the adverse affect this approach is having on service-based businesses. Reverse auctions are contributing to the commoditization of imaging.”

Read the full Congress of Committees recap >

You heard us right, soldier. SGIA’s popular Color Management Boot Camp workshop is returning in 2012 (March 27-29, to be exact) to train specialty imagers about the intricacies of proper color management.

Attendees will be subject to:

• Color theory and principles
• Goals of color management
• Device calibration
• Time-tested color management procedures
• The newest print standards and how you can use them to improve customer satisfaction
• Using popular RIP software, including: Wasatch, Onyx and Caldera

Manufacturer reps from Caldera, Mutoh, ONYX, and X-Rite will be present.

Who Should Enlist?
That would be YOU (queue Uncle Sam pointing at you). More specifically, this workshop in SGIA’s state-of-the-art lab, is a must for business owners and production personnel eager to learn how to set up and maintain a color-managed workflow in a production environment.

Training Includes:

• Color management concepts
• Print standards and specifications
• Color measurement instrumentation and profiling software
• Instruction for device calibration and media profiling
• Software for profile viewing and quality control
• Hands on small-group RIP workflow workstations and X-rite equipment

Drop and Give us 20
Although some color concepts are common across the printing industry (offset, flexo, screen), SGIA’s exclusive workshop concentrates on the unique aspects of large format inkjet. So it’s time to take control of your color with this hands-on workshop and make large-format inkjet color management work for you.

Sign up to attend now!

The January/February 2012 SGIA Journal — packed with in-depth articles for the specialty imaging community — is currently in route to your mailbox. Focusing on diversification, this must-read Journal explores how companies are successfully expanding their business through new processes, materials, markets or product mix. Don’t miss the January/February issue, featuring articles such as:

• Diversify Your Offerings with Insight, Not Impulse
  By Vince DiCecco, Your Personal Business Trainer
• The “Wow” Factor of Metallic
  By Eric Zimmerman, Roland DGA Corporation
• New Trends & Opportunities in Print/Cut Heat Materials
  By Josh Ellsworth, Stahls’ CAD-CUT Direct

Special Insert!
Once in hand, don’t forget to flip to page 25, where you’ll find a chart that illustrates the complexity of industrial printing sector. While there is no accurate way to list every single product touched by industrial printing, the chart is intended to portray the main market sectors, a sampling of recognizable products within each sector, the primary substrates, inks used, and the most current and prominent imaging methods.

Can’t wait for the Journal to reach your mailbox? Not to worry, you can view past issues in the SGIA Journal Archive.

As Congress recesses for the holiday, here is a quick peek at the top issues facing them upon their return. And, what you can expect to hear about as the Presidential race begins in earnest…

Spending cuts at the Department of the Defense – with the failure of the Deficit Reduction Committee to slash $1.2 trillion dollars in federal spending as contained in the debt ceiling package the Department faces a $600 billion cut in spending over the next decade.  Already, Republican candidates are taking the Obama Administration to task over war plans.  Plan on hearing more about this as the race for the President heats up…

Tax Cuts take top billing – no doubt about it, tax cuts will be a central theme in the upcoming Presidential election.  The largest issue on the horizon continues to be the fate of the Bush-era tax rates.  Slated to expire at the end of 2012, the battle is on as to whether or not these tax rates should be extended and what should be included in any effort to do so. 

Other Financial Issues —  another top issue is the fate of the $1.2 trillion in trigger cuts that are expected to take effect in 2013.  These are the cuts that were agreed upon during the debate to raise the debt ceiling.  These cuts, including the spending cuts for the Defense Department, are set to occur because of the failure of the Deficit Reduction Committee to act. 

Top Environmental and Energy Issues – Solyndra will continue to garner the interest of House Republicans.  They will move forward with an investigation into the Obama Administration’s $535 million dollar loan guarantee to the failed solar firm.  Thus far the investigation has not uncovered any evidence that the loan guarantee approval was influence by politics, however, it will continue to be a political distraction for the White House entering the 2012 election.   The other top issue that will continue into 2012 is the Keystone Pipeline.  Environmental groups bitterly oppose the pipeline that will move Canada’s oil sands to the Gulf Coast.  Business groups back the project as it will bring jobs to the states. 

Health Care Issues – the Supreme Court is due to consider the individual mandate provisions of the Affordable Care Act as early as June.   The Court could uphold the law but still remove the provisions mandating that all individuals are required to obtain health care.  And, watch for the issue of health care to continue to emerge as a key issue in the 2012 Presidential election.  All Republican candidates have vowed to sign repeal legislation. 

Web Piracy – online piracy legislation will continue to be hotly debated in Congress.  There is skepticism regarding the legislations ability to enforce copyright laws online by demanding search engines and other Web first to delete links to foreign infringing websites.

SGIA will continue to monitor, report and update the industry on these and other key issues as the country moves into the 2012 Presidential election year.  Stay tuned….

If you live in a major metropolitan area in the United States, you likely know that food trucks are a hot trend for 2011. Using Twitter feeds to share their daily locations with food truck aficionados, these mobile food vendors – many of the offering gourmet or ethnic foods – are raking in big bucks and avoiding the financial burdens of a brick and mortar restaurant.
 
Here in the Washington, DC area, I’ve conducted an extensive survey of food trucks in our area, sampling bulgogi, doner kabob, a delicious lobster roll and more just so I could share the following point with you: Printed vehicle graphics are an essential element to the success of this new food truck movement. They allow these food vendors to differentiate themselves from regular food trucks – often easily identified by their quilted, chrome exterior – that frequent construction and other work sites across the country.
 
High-end food truck graphics convey the brand of the mobile restaurateur, use color and visuals to set the mood of the food, and lend a strong air of legitimacy and cleanliness. Simply put, an attractive vehicle lends credibility, and credibility brings increased business.
 
The concept here conveys far beyond food (though I promise to continue my in-depth investigation). Company vehicles of all stripes benefit from attractively designed and expertly installed graphics and wraps. Let’s face it, the bar has moved: Which plumber’s van would you have more confidence in: Plain white van with underwhelming cut vinyl letters, or fully-wrapped with a design that conveys confidence, proficiency and reliability?
 
If your company produces vehicle graphics, it is important that your sales team understands their inherent value, and that they are selling much more than ink on vinyl. They are instead selling legitimacy and a competitive edge. They are helping their customers identify themselves as “a cut above.”
 
Submitted by: Dan Marx, SGIA

As 2011 draws to a close, we want to take a minute and thank the SGIA community for a wonderful, and productive, year.

Thank you for continuing to support SGIA’s ongoing Webinar series, and we hope they proved useful to you. Remember, as an SGIA member, you have access to the complete Webinar archive, so be sure to catch up on any you may have missed.

Stay on the lookout! The 2012 Webinar series will be announced soon.

All of our expert-lead Workshops — ranging in topics, this year, from screen making, color management and dye-sublimation — were filled to capacity. Held in SGIA’s state-of-the-art laboratory in Fairfax, Virginia, the classes were occupied by industry professionals from around the country, and the world. SGIA’s Workshops are designed to best serve our members and you have showed us, through your participation, they are doing just that.

There are only six seats remaining in the first Workshop of 2012, “Precision Screen Making for Industrial and Printed Electronics Applications,” taking place February 21–23, 2012. Students will have the opportunity to improve upon screen consistency and will be given the skills to pinpoint problem areas and their causes and find solutions to unique, task-specific applications.

Don’t miss your chance; register now!

To all who participated in SGIA’s Surveys & Statistics this year, thank you! These annual reports provide important industry trends and data, used by specialty imagers everywhere. Check out all of SGIA’s Surveys & Statistics, and download the newly released 2011 Financial Outlook & Business Growth Plans Survey Report.

And last, but not least, thanks for an amazing 2011 SGIA Expo! This year’s event was a huge success. From the Pre-Expo Business Development Conference to the jam-packed show floor, New Orleans was buzzing with new equipment and award-winning specialty imagers. Planning for the 2012 SGIA Expo — in fabulous Las Vegas — is well underway. Sign up now to be notified when registration opens.

Happy holidays, and a happy and prosperous new year from SGIA!

When phrased as a question, its one we get all of the time. What is the shape of the industrial printing industry? What is industrial (as compared to graphic)? When, if ever, can textile, graphic and commercial printing be considered industrial? Also, why do we refer to it as “imaging” rather than printing? In many cases it’s a subtle difference. In others it’s not so subtle at all.

A few years back, the SGIA Industrial applications committee put their heads together and came up with an answer. Industrial printing/imaging is defined as any imaging that is done as a manufacturing process (meaning the final finished part is created by the act of printing) or that is done as part of a manufacturing process on sub-components that are part of another finished product. Further refinements of the answer stipulate that in general, industrial printers are not standard print-for-pay or print by contract facilities open to the public. For the most part, industrial printers support one facility as an in-house printer (an OEM printer) or contract to a very narrow band of constituent companies within a specific industry.

As you can already conclude, this answer did not make everyone happy. Although this definition goes a long way toward covering the most business types, there are many gray areas. Let’s look at a few of those and see where it helps further define certain print operations that slip through the cracks.

Textile/garment printing: Most people would claim that garment printing is a contract business and cannot be industrial. What they are not taking into account is that when garment printing reaches a certain scale….it becomes industrial by default because it starts using unique and dedicated equipment and falls outside of general public venue. Examples are the large cut-and-sew mills in Asia and Central America. Designs are printed on large strips or rolls of cloth that are then laser or plotter cut and sewn together. In other cases, raw bolt-goods textiles are printed with rotary screen, inkjet and belt printers to produce yard goods for any number of sub-industries. These businesses are industrial by scale alone.

Deposition printing: The other necessary mindset when trying to define industrial printing is to realize that printing does not always use ink (in the normal sense) nor does it always produce an image. The most common form of industrial printing is actually deposition printing. As the name suggests, this is printing that may use any platform from screen print to inkjet to flexography to deposit a precision layer of ink, suspended particles or virtually any liquid or semi-solid material. This is typically done to make a substrate into a functional part of some other product by adding a material to it that allows it to interact elsewhere. These can range from colors to medicines to conductive products to adhesives. The possibilities are endless.

Additive and subtractive imaging: A refinement to the deposition mindset is to not always think of industrial imaging as printing at all. There are many types of industrial imaging whose substrates (metals, glass, plastics, and composites) start with coatings that are not printed at all. For example, metals may be anodized, electroplated, powder coated, oxide coated, painted, sputter-plated, vacuum deposition coated or dip-coated. Plastics and glass may be laminated, painted, sputter-plated, vacuum deposition coated or flame sprayed. This is only the first step in making a raw substrate into a material that may then be imaged by laser ablation, etching, chemical machining, sandblasting, routing, plotter cutting, die cutting and a range of other methods. These are subtractive methods. There are also additive methods of imaging that use appliqués, decals, in-mold decoration (IMD) in-mold labeling (IML) and still further methods of working with deposition printed and direct printed products that can be referred to as leveraging or multiplier technologies like roll-to-roll processing and converting of printed materials.

The world of the industrial printer may have little to do at all with printing as the consumer normally perceives it. With a little better grasp of the range and detail of industrial printing, check out the 4th quarter SGIA journal for an overview of industrial imaging technology

Ray Greenwood, SGIA Staff