By Harvey R. Levenson, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California

Typically, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) provide equipment installations and technical support as their sole services to customers. In the graphic communication industry, the customer base includes printers, publishers, packaging companies, and related service providers, as well as content creators such as advertising agencies, design studios, and companies that produce products and create content for their own in-plant printing facilities. Examples of the latter are insurance companies, utilities, healthcare providers, food manufacturers, government agencies, and schools, to name just a few.

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Interview with Olaf Hartmann, Managing Partner of the Multisense Institute

The Multisense Institute for Sensory Marketing in Remscheid is scientifically concerned with the effects of various communication channels and on this basis advises companies on the optimisation of their marketing strategies and product development. Now the team around the managing partner Olaf Hartmann has evaluated more than 300 international studies in a meta-analysis of the advertising effectiveness of print. In an interview, he explains some of the surprising findings.

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European business leaders have identified new printing technologies as key enablers of agility and innovation. According to a new study commissioned by Ricoh Europe, the majority of the 3,150 decision makers surveyed say agility (77%) and innovation (69%) benefits are key investment drivers for new printing technologies.

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Inkjet is being applied successfully in most markets and all regions globally – the more specialist the market, the higher the growth rate.

The cost of inks remains an issue, but for those investing in inkjet, service support is the key criteria followed by overall cost considerations.

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Prokom, Konica Minolta’s user community for production print providers, has unveiled a new website and branding and today announced the keynote speakers for its second global conference in Budapest, Hungary, June 6 and 7.

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By Eef de Ridder, Director of Commercial Printing, Commercial and Industrial Printing Group, Ricoh Europe
2018 is going to be a defining year for direct mail. Legislation, trends and initiatives are converging to encourage a shift in the balance of power between online marketing and printed direct mail.

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Clear pattern of improvement demonstrable for most but not all markets and regions since 2013
Strategic challenges for print mean that clear investment strategies are recognized as best way forward
5th drupa Global Trends Report will be released by the end of April 2018

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Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group, has highlighted the significant role played by literature in enhancing dialogue between the world’s cultures, and the role of children’s books publishers in building young generations who are capable of understanding other cultures. “Literature has the capacity to travel far and wide and helps us to explore a world outside of our own. The role of children’s books publishers is to publish material that has a positive moral impact on children, helping them to understand many ethical and cultural values about life, and emphasise their role and duty towards humanity,” said Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi.

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Canon will be showing live printing, as well as highlighting its imaging supplies, professional services businesses and service capabilities at PrintWeekLive! at the Wasps Arena, Coventry, on March 7-8, 2018. Canon technology will range from wide-format devices through to examples of work completed on its cutsheet technology.

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Hop Industries, manufacturer of the durable Hop-Syn synthetic paper, today announces a new trends report about the proliferation, and its contributing factors, of UV and LED digital printing. Fast emerging as a cost-effective and high-quality alternative to traditional printing methods such as offset and flexo, UV and LED digital printing has several notable advantages. The report highlights these advantages, as well as the sustainability factors that are driving print service providers (PSPs) to embrace UV and LED technologies. These include durable substrates designed for UV and LED printing, which are also environmentally-friendly, such as Hop-Syn synthetic paper. Hop-Syn comes in multiple grades, and delivers high quality results on leading digital printers such as EFI and swissQprint, recently featured at SGIA Expo 2017.

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