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    PostPress

    Print Decorating, Binding and Finishing

    ENews

    Get the Most Out of Chargeable Extras

    by Mark Porter, Dienamic MIS Software Inc.

    When was the last time you produced a job without any changes? Are you capturing the revenues for these legitimate extra charges, or are they falling through the cracks? If you’re not gaining more revenue, then you should at least be avoiding costs. If a job is changed during production and you did not collect the extra revenue for the change, then you probably incurred more cost.

    Finishers/binderies provide quotes for customers and customers submit orders. The normal process is to ensure that the job submitted and the quote provided are similar enough that you can approve the production of the job. Once that approval has been given, any customer-driven changes to the order should be chargeable. How do you track these changes and bill your customer so that they feel compelled to pay? And, more importantly, allow yourself to collect the charges without damaging your relationship with that customer?

    You must follow a procedure to record all changes to jobs, chargeable and non-chargeable, to ensure that nothing falls between the cracks and is forgotten. But just recording changes will not allow you to collect your legitimate extra charges. The changes must be documented as to date, time, employee and reason the changes were made to provide the maximum support for your claims.

    Documentation is not enough. The changes must be communicated to the customer at the time they are requested. The changes must be recorded as having been submited in writing to the customer, warned that they were chargeable and that a price was quoted.

    When the job is completed a full listing of all changes should be supplied to your employee in charge of invoicing. They can then decide which charges should be accepted, changed or deleted. The invoicing decisions are determined and the invoice is submitted to your customer. If the customer questions these extra charges you can support your claims by providing the customer with the who, what, where, why and costs details.

    Hopefully your customer will start to provide you with better information when the jobs are first submitted. Either way, your company is in a better position because you are either collecting legitimate extra charges or avoiding the additional costs of providing those changes without charging for them.

    Mark Porter is the president of Dienamic MIS Software, Inc. Dienamic offers a wide variety of software products and services designed specifically for trade binderies and print finishers. For more information, call 800.461.8114 or visit www.dienamicmis.com.

     

    Troubleshooting the Foil Stamping Process

    By Chris Raney, Heidelberg USA

    There is no better way to enhance the visual appeal of a folding carton than by adding a foil element to the printed image. The process lends products an air of luxury intended to grab a consumer’s attention. Hot foil stamping substantially ups the ante by creating a pleasing visual and tactile experience that is the result of combining relief and textured embossing with the application of foil in a single pass.

    The application of colored foil or holographic design produces a special bond between the substrate and the foil, producing an exceptional shine. Embossing elements lend the substrate a multidimensional look and feel. Typical applications include packaging for high-quality consumer goods such as chocolates or perfumes.

    Traditionally a time-consuming and expensive process, improvements enabling efficient foil usage and faster makeready times have increased the competitiveness of hot foil stamping as the ultimate way to enhance a printed image. Below, a few things to keep in mind:

    Waste Not: All hot foil stamping machines offer “step-and-repeat” solutions designed to optimize the efficient use of costly foil in job layouts. Generally speaking, however, it’s not possible to use foils widths less than 2″ wide, meaning there are limitations on how closely different colors can be placed next to each other. Multiple machine passes can be used to obtain the required final effect; however, in addition to considering the cost of re-running sheets through the machine, converters also must take into account the accuracy of the registration that can be achieved. Take care not to create such a challenging design that the resulting waste levels make the product uncompetitive in the market.

    Hot Stuff: Accurate makeready and careful control of heat across the different areas of the sheet will ensure perfect laydown and a superior mirror effect, unmatched by competing processes like cold foil or metallic inks. It is also possible to run combination foil stamping and embossing dies for the ultimate in reflectiveness and relief effects.

    To Die For: Consider carefully some of the recent innovations in die positioning technology to save time during stamping die makeready. Traditionally, embossing dies are mounted onto a honeycomb plate when cold. Considerable experience is required to do this accurately and to compensate for the expansion the dies will undergo when the machine is at operating temperature. Available today are several solutions that combine an image of the embossing dies on the honeycomb with a PDF file of the job. With the use of sophisticated heat expansion modeling, the two can be overlaid accurately, ensuring perfect registration of the embossing dies to the printed sheets.

    Chris Raney is vice president, packaging at Heidelberg USA, Kennesaw, GA. A leading solution provider for the print media industry, Heidelberg manufactures precision printing presses, platesetters, postpress equipment and software for integrating all printshop processes. For more information, call 770.419.6500 or visit www.us.heidelberg.com.

     

    Q&A: Foiling Over UV Coatings

    This Q&A exchange was extracted from the Foil & Specialty Effects Association HelpLinks forum, an online resource whereby FSEA members can ask questions about challenging projects or conduct research on machinery or supplies and receive advice from the online FSEA community.

    Question:

    We recently came across a “problem project” involving a cover of a perfect bound book. The outside was flood UV coated with “stampable” Gloss UV (this term was used by the printer’s coating supplier). The inside was flood with a “standard” Gloss UV. It was printed on a 100lb matte cover stock. We were stamping on a Brause SBL 1050SEF and the foil required was a shiny silver. After much trial and error, through varying brands and suppliers, we determined Infinity MX10 as running the best – using copper dies at 260 degrees. Foil stamping was on the outside only, but we still had issues.

    Even if we pulled very small lifts (1/2″) out of the delivery, the foil appeared to be picking onto the inside of the cover above it in the lift (just like ink would offset). The surface of the foiled image also looked like it had very fine pitting – perhaps dust on the sheet?

    I was wondering if you had any words of wisdom for foiling over UV coatings (or UV-cured inks)? Would Dyne testing pens be a good investment?

    Answers:

    1. The UV coating has to be imprintable. It must contain no silicones or certain waxes in order to attain proper adhesion.

    2. Can the foil stamping be done before the UV coating is applied? If you’re using a regular gloss or silver foil, generally the foil can be UV coated over the top of the foil. It would be difficult for anyone to identify that it has been coated over.

    3. You can use a permanent marker to test the Dyne level of the sheet surface. It is a “poor man’s” dyne pen, but it gives basically the same results. If the ink beads up you are going to have trouble. The dyne pens have a limited shelf life, but we always have permanent markers around.

    4. We only have two print customers where we will entertain foiling over press-UV. We did extensive testing with both customers to ensure a happy foiling experience for all. Even doing that, we are still cautiously dipping our toes into UV coatings. So far, we have not had an issue, but we work very closely with these folks to maintain consistency in the chemistry.

    If you would like to participate in the FSEA HelpLinks industry advisory, call the FSEA headquarters at 785.271.5816.

    The Big Business of Miniature Printed Products

    by Jack Rickard, Rickard Bindery

    Wouldn’t you like to improve your company’s bottom line with high margin and frequently repeating print jobs? Would a new niche help differentiate your business? Have you ever considered small format “miniature” work? If you thought that miniature printing begins and ends with the pharmaceutical industry, think again.

    The world of miniature printed products, commonly defined as anything with one final dimension 2 1/2″ or shorter, is both varied and profitable. Run lengths are usually short because so many individual pieces fit up fit on a sheet. Even if you’re a printer that prefers long press runs, take a closer look at the business of printing miniature products because the effect on your bottom line can be outstanding.

    By the numbers

    Although the number of impressions is usually small, miniature format printing is profitable because of healthy markups on finishing operations. Even if you outsource the postpress work, markup on outside services will make your effort worthwhile. As long as you have a reliable postpress supplier well versed in the nuances of converting miniature work, your small investment in press time should yield handsome profits.

    Let’s look at an example. Assume you have a job that sells for $20/M finished pieces. If the printing portion of your job is $5/M and outside bindery services are $15/M, your total markup constitutes a 40 percent profit on your printing. How many printing jobs have these kinds of attractive economics?

    Once people understand that miniature work frequently repeats, even those reluctant to embrace outsourcing become converts. After jobs are done once, coordinating with outside suppliers on repeat work becomes routine and remains profitable.

    Less geographic boundaries

    Most normal-sized printing work is geographically sensitive because it’s not economically practical to transport heavy paper long distances. On the other hand, miniature work weighs so little (normal weight ranges between three and seven pounds per thousand pieces) that you can transport work thousands of miles away as conveniently and for the same cost, as across-town deliveries. Therefore the location of you, your customer and your specialized postpress vendor isn’t critical. For example, we recently participated in a large job that was printed in the Orient, folded at our plant in the US and distributed throughout Taiwan. Large jobs such as this fit on so few skids that a profitable vendor relationship can be developed almost anywhere.

    Although your postpress partners may be a thousand miles away, job turnaround times aren’t adversely affected. For instance, Rickard Bindery is located in Chicago and we routinely win miniature folding and stitching work from both coasts. Frequently, setup materials are overnighted and when the job arrives via truck, our machines are nearly ready to run. For miniature printed products, the world is truly a small place.

    Layout and packing issues

    Miniature product folding sequences and format are important because reader usability and bindery productivity is at stake. For example, there are two common ways to layout a 24-panel miniature piece: one column of 24-panels; or, three columns of 8-panels. The later is easier for consumers to read and runs faster in the bindery. While printers may not care which imposition is chosen, end-users, binderies and chief financial officers do.

    There are several ways to pack miniature products. Common solutions include trays, rubber bands, cartons with chipboard dividers and bulk packing – commonly known as “popcorn-style.” While trays are slightly more expensive, they have an advantage because product easily can be loaded directly into the chute of inserting machines, saving a great deal of costly labor.

    To buy or not to buy miniature postpress equipment

    If your company is skilled in miniature folding and you have a proven need for more capacity, buy the equipment. However, if you are considering bringing miniature folding capabilities inhouse for the first time, beware of some caveats.

    The skill set required for successful miniature folding is very different than for regular-sized work. Miniature folding setups are more involved and operators need highly specialized dexterity skills. Although many miniature products are produced on thin stock, proportionately they are thicker than normal-sized work. Folded miniature products with a lot of panels may be quite bulky relative to its size, which can cause significant problems for the uninitiated.

    Miniature products usually need to be compatible with mechanical inserting. In these cases, folded products should lie flat so sucker-driven inserting and packaging machines can automatically feed them. Lying flat is also important to avoid “tenting” which negatively affects fill count for products being inserted along with the printed material. If a folded product tents after insertion into a container or bottle, it is likely to cause a short fill and be rejected. Sometimes glue must be used to keep very thick pieces closed but frequently there are more attractive methods of accomplishing this lay flat state. Some miniature folding and stitching companies have invested a lot of time developing non-glue lie-flat solutions.

    There are substantial working capital considerations inherent in miniature format finishing. Assume you have a job that is 60 percent outsourced with a 20 percent markup. Twelve percent of the job will flow right to your bottom line just for communicating with your vendor. Since you have 30 days to pay, the time gap between your revenue inflow and cost outflow is quite small. In fact, cash flow is hindered by keeping work in-house because you pay for this work at the end of the week, in the form of pay checks – which is equivalent to a net loss of 25 days on your payables. Additionally, critical cash is tied up in very specialized hardware. Companies that outsource finishing require substantially less working capital to maintain their business.

    Pharmaceutical work

    The pharmaceutical segment of the miniature products industry requires substantial administrative and quality assurance programs that exceed normal commercial graphic arts practices. For example, companies processing pharmaceutical work need folders equipped with automatic blank sheet detectors. Additionally, “locked” work-in-process inventory capabilities for lot mix-up prevention is a prerequisite along with many other infrastructure requirements. Count verification procedures are extremely stringent.

    Conclusion

    Printing by its very nature involves distribution to the reader. Newspapers and mail have been the traditional primary channels for promotional printing. The piggyback nature of distribution for miniature products will broaden the base of your company’s markets. Onserts and instruction sheets into blister packs are rapidly growing segments of miniature printing. “Gaming” products, kids’ stickers, consumer product inserts and hang-tags are all hot. And as usual, pharmaceutical inserts – the backbone of the miniature products industry – continue to drive a lot of printers to the bank … to make deposits that are anything but small.

    Jack Rickard, president of Rickard Bindery, Chicago, IL, is president of the Printing Industries of Illinois and Indiana and former president of the Binding Industries of America. Rickard Bindery is a company specializing in discovering solutions to challenging bindery jobs. For more information, call 800.747.1389 or visit www.rickardbindery.com.
    Reprinted with permission.

     

    Q&A: Thermal Kisscutting

    by Doug Pendergast, Owosso Graphic Arts, Inc.

    Also known as thermal diecutting, thermal kisscutting gives designers, screen printers and diecutters the ability to create products with complex designs and intricate details unachievable with conventional steel-rule cutting dies. Any platen press with heat, dwell and pressure can thermal kisscut, including clamshell and four-post presses. The market for thermal dies continues to grow because they are easy to use and the vinyls that thermal dies can cut have a wide range of uses.

    What is thermal kisscutting used for?

    Fleet markings to self-adhesive alphabets, from delicate pin stripings to splattered-effect decals, from kid’s stickers to safety signage, thermal kisscutting offers a world of possibilities for the graphic arts industry. New pressure-sensitive vinyls are available for a broad spectrum of applications, including indoors, outdoors, underwater, low-temperature and reflective, just to name a few.

    How does it work?

    “Cutting” might be a misleading word. Melting is actually more accurate. In order to melt the face of pressure-sensitive vinyls, thermal dies use a combination of three factors: heat, dwell time and pressure. However, thermal dies just “kiss” the vinyl, leaving the paper liner, or carrier, intact. Of course, different combinations of heat, dwell and pressure are necessary for crisp, sharp “cutting” of the various types of vinyls. Keeping these three factors in check will reduce the build-up of melted vinyl on the shoulders of the die.

    What type of makeready is needed when using thermal cutting dies?

    Properly mounted dies on a well-maintained press hardly require makeready since the surface of the die is of even height. An even counter board underlay, such as poster board, chip board or polyurethane, will help in cutting. It also will protect the edges of the die from dulling or smashing.

    How do you keep the vinyl from sticking to the die?

    A Teflon-like coating can be applied to the die prior to thermal cutting. This allows the material to slide off the die without sticking. Release coatings are most helpful on fine detail and difficult jobs. Even with the newer release agents, remember to keep heat settings in check. Too much heat will result in burned material, raised ridges on part edges and, in some cases, cut parts that get heat-welded to the backing sheets.

    What’s the largest die that I can use for thermal kisscutting, and how do I prevent the overexpansion of the die?

    The largest single piece die that can be chemically etched for thermal kisscutting is 120×30″, with an image area of 119.5×29.5″. Using the Magnesium Die Thermal Expansion Formula, you can precisely calculate the amount of expansion the die will have. This is mainly needed when matching to a pre-printed area.

    Are there special instructions for ordering thermal cutting dies?

    When ordering, information such as pressure-sensitive vinyl thickness, image size, image right/wrong reading and other general information are required.

    Are there special instructions for storing thermal cutting dies?

    When finished cutting, it is best to remove the die from the press while it is still hot, gently prying it off (the hotter the die is, the easier it will come off). Take care not to let it fall face down. Before the die cools, use a natural-fiber brush to scrub off any residues. Dies are easier to clean while still at cutting temperature. To avoid magnesium corrosion, coat the die with something like Pam™ cooking spray. Of course, this prevention is not necessary if the dies are already coated with a Teflon-like release coating. In addition, dies will last longer when stored in a low-moisture, chemical-free atmosphere.

    Doug Pendergast is national account director for Owosso Graphic Arts, Inc., Owosso, MI. Since 1949, Owosso has been creating dies for letterpress, halftones, embossing, debossing and foil stamping in addition to thermal kisscutting, membrane switch overlay embossing, fabric embossing, soap stamps and heat sealing dies. For more information, visit www.owosso.com.

    Report: E-Book Use Rises, but Print Still Popular

    A new study from the Pew Research Center indicates readers prefer both print and electronic books. Some 76 percent of adults (age 18 and older) said they read at least one book in the last year.

    Of the 1,000 American adults surveyed, about seven in 10 reported reading a book in print, up four percentage points over the previous year’s survey. In almost every demographic, Pew found that e-books are being read more than ever. The use of e-books has risen to 28 percent, up from 23 percent in 2012, and 14 percent of adults listened to an audiobook.

    Seventy-three percent of respondents in the 18-29 age range read print books in the last year, but the same demographic is adopting the e-book faster than any other. Often, these people are reading both print and electronic devices.

    Though e-books are rising in popularity, print remains the foundation of Americans’ reading habits: Among adults who read at least one book in the past year, just 5 percent said they read an e-book in the last year without also reading a print book.

    In general, the vast majority of those who read e-books and audiobooks also read print books. Of the three (over lapping) groups, audiobook listeners have the most diverse reading habits, while relatively fewer print readers consume books in other formats:

    • 87 percent of e-book readers also read a print book in the past 12 months, and 29 percent listened to an audiobook.
    • 84 percent of audiobook listeners also read a print book in the past year, and 56 percent also read an e-book.
    • A majority of print readers read only in that format, although 35 percent of print book readers also read an e-book and 17 percent listened to an audiobook.

    Overall, about half (52 percent) of readers only read a print book, 4 percent only read an e-book, and just 2 percent only listened to an audiobook. Nine percent of readers said they read books in all three formats.

    For more information, including the full report, visit www.pewinternet.com.

     

    Tax Foundation Ranks Best States for Business

    Wyoming, Florida and Indiana rank among the 10 best states for taxes on business, while companies in states like New York, New Jersey and California must struggle with the worst tax codes in the country, according to the newest edition of the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index.

    Several states have moved in the rankings since last year, with Texas dropping out of the Top 10 for the first time, landing at No. 11, and Virginia and Kentucky both falling three places to No. 26 and No. 27, respectively. On the positive side, Arizona climbed five ranks to No. 22 and Kansas shot up six spots to No. 20. Smaller changes were noted in several other states.

    The State Business Tax Climate Index, now in its 10th edition, collects data on over a hundred tax provisions for each state and synthesizes them into a single, easy-to-use score. The states are then compared against each other, so that each state’s ranking is relative to actual policies in place in other states around the country. A state’s ranking can rise or fall significantly based not just on its own actions, but on the changes or reforms made by other states.

    The Top 10 states in 2014 are Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Florida, Washington, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah and Indiana. The 10 lowest ranked states are Maryland, Connecticut, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Vermont, Rhode Island, Minnesota, California, New Jersey and New York.

    The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan research organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937. For more information, visit www.taxfoundation.org.

     

    OSHA Releases New Resources on Hazardous Chemicals

    The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched two new web resources to assist companies with keeping workers safe.

    The first is a toolkit to identify safer chemicals that can be used in place of more hazardous ones. The toolkit walks employers and workers step-by-step through information, methods, tools and guidance to either eliminate hazardous chemicals or make informed substitution decisions in the workplace by finding a safer chemical, material, product or process.

    Another new web resource, the Annotated Permissible Exposure Limits, will enable employers to voluntarily adopt newer, more protective workplace exposure limits. OSHA’s PELs set mandatory limits on the amount or concentration of a substance in the air to protect workers against the health effects of certain hazardous chemicals; and OSHA will continue to enforce those mandatory PELs.

    Since OSHA’s adoption of the majority of its PELs more than 40 years ago, new scientific data, industrial experience and developments in technology clearly indicate that in many instances these mandatory limits are not sufficiently protective of workers’ health.

    For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

     

    PIA Moves to Online Training Platform

    PostPress

    Printing Industries of America has announced a major restructuring in the model for its delivery of technical training.

    Beginning in 2014, PIA will introduce a new online training platform that will offer training for members without requiring them to budget for travel costs to Pittsburgh. Offering distance training allows PIA to be more nimble in educational content development, providing timely courses on cutting edge technologies.

    Classroom-style learning and face-to-face networking opportunities will continue through the organization’s Continuous Improvement and Color Management Conferences and the Print Leadership Summit. And vendors within the industry also have offered their training facilities going forward for hands-on equipment training. In addition, PIA will continue to offer a toll-free technical hotline, unbiased research and commentary on the latest technologies impacting the industry through white papers, case studies and its monthly Tech Alert publication, conflict resolution services with its lab and technical consulting.

    PIA also believes that multi-channel marketing and cross-media strategies will be critically important to the future of the industry and, as such, will continue to expand The Integrated Print Center to keep members current on integrated marketing communication trends, tools and techniques through hands-on applications, online video training series, learning management systems, reports and relevant information feeds.

    For more information, call 800.910.4283 or visit www.printing.org.

     

    Proper Die Management Saves Time, Money

    by Mark Porter, Dienamic MIS Software Inc.

    A large number of companies in the print finishing, trade bindery, diemaking, packaging and diecutting industries use steel rule, foil and embossing dies. Any user of dies can save a tremendous amount of money simply by managing those dies correctly.

    Generally, die users have a large inventory in their plant, but the ability to find these dies is often a time-consuming – if not a time-wasting – exercise. The result is remaking dies that already exist, which wastes thousands and thousands of dollars and cuts into profits.

    By using a system with extensive searching and sorting provisions, you can find the right die to meet a customer’s needs. These sorts should include the die specs, as well as the finished product specs.

    Images of the die and the finished product will allow you to quickly identify that you have the correct die. Using a bar coding system, a location finder and computerized take-out and put-back process, you can ensure dies are located where expected. Once a die is found, record all specifications about the press run to ensure you can get the die quickly up to speed on the next run.

    A die management system should track the components (i.e. type of rule, punches, wood, etc.) including costs that make up that die and track all employees that assemble or maintain the die. The condition of the die should be monitored to ensure you are aware of any retooling requirements. Automatic notifications help the Die Shop foreman know when a die needs attention. A good system also tracks the disposal of dies.

    By utilizing a die management system, you no longer have to stop production to retool a die or lose valuable press time and/or risk late jobs because a die was not ready to be used at the beginning of a press run. This can save thousands of dollars in lost press time and/or overtime charges to keep jobs on schedule – not to mention risking your relationship with the customer by delivering the job late.

    Dienamic MIS Software Inc., St. Catharines, ON, Canada, provides estimating, MIS and online software systems designed specifically for print finishers, binderies, diemakers and users of dies and foils. For more information, call 800.461.8114 or visit www.dienamicmis.com.