2018 May/June

2018 FSEA – IADD Joint Conference – A Look Back at the Events, Content and Networking

June 12, 2018

by Katy Ibsen, managing editor, PostPress

In April, members of the Foil and Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) and the International Association of Diecutting and Diemaking (IADD) joined together just outside Nashville, Tennessee, for the organizations’ joint conference.

Before the conference kicked off, a networking reception was held for the FSEA Young Alliance and IADD NextGen groups, which are networking cadres within the associations specifically created to bring together younger members, helping both associations thrive. The event featured a performance by a current FSEA member and former FSEA board of directors’ president with a history in the Nashville music scene, Guy Dupree.

The much-enjoyed welcome reception and supplier trade fair followed, featuring 34 industry suppliers from across the world sharing their work, new technologies and offerings to conference attendees.

The conference got underway on day two, kicking off with a keynote by author Ken Thoreson, who spoke on leadership and management recipes for industry leaders.

Following the keynote was a well-attended panel on digital finishing vs. conventional finishing. Featured on the panel were Christine Yardley of Print Panther, JohnHenry Ruggieri of SunDance Marketing Solutions and Ross Hutchison of UEI Group. This particular session highlighted the benefits of new digital technology, yet also spoke to the benefits of using traditional approaches. Audience members focused questions on the digital advances.

A series of breakout sessions rounded out the morning. Content and presentations in these sessions included a look at the Hottest Print Trends from Sabine Lenz of PaperSpecs; new opportunities in foil waste disposal from Channeled Resources and Convergen Energy, two innovative companies in waste management, which piqued the interest of many attendees; and a management session from Denise Rice of Peak Performance, Inc., which touched on developing tomorrow’s manufacturing workforce.

The afternoon was filled with networking sessions, also on a variety of topics. Topics for discussion included customer demands, hiring millenials, the changing bindery environment, e-commerce, decreasing spoilage, applications for cold foil decorating and more.

The day concluded with the ever-popular FSEA Gold Leaf Awards and IADD Awards event and reception. FSEA’s Lifetime Achievement award was given to Nelson Stevens, and the Best of Show, J.S. McCarthy’s 2018 Fun & Games Calendar, was announced. Congratulations to all on their accolades.

Day two didn’t end there. Attendees then boarded buses for downtown Nashville, where they took in the sights and country sounds of Music City.

Day three started with FSEA’s annual meeting and project update, followed by general session featuring four eye-opening presentations.

Kelly Goodsel of Viking Plastics (yes, we crossed industries) spoke on his company’s transition to 2-Second Lean, which has created a company-wide environment for improving processes, morale and productivity.

Elena Valentine of Skill Scout, a Chicago-based firm that assists manufacturers hiring millenials, spoke on ways to improve hiring practices to reach and hire talented millennials into our industries. Turns out video is key and easier to produce than we think.

A panel of industry suppliers spoke on trends in packaging and folding cartons, and economist Chris Kuehl rounded out the day by sharing his insights in America’s corporate intelligence, which included current events and the economics – good and bad – behind recent political decisions.

The two associations will come together once again for the biennial Odyssey Expo, to be held May 1-3, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia.

25th Annual Gold Leaf Awards

June 12, 2018

Platinum: Bobst North America; Compact Foilers Ltd.; Crown Roll Leaf; Eagle Systems Inc.; h+m USA, L.P.; Infinity Foils, Inc. – a UEI Group Co.; Kurz Transfer Products; Metal Magic; Owosso Graphic Arts, Inc.; Univacco Foils Corporation; Universal Engraving, Inc. – a UEI Group Co.

Gold: API Group; Brandtjen & Kluge, Inc.; Brausse Group; Breit Technologies, LLC; Great Western Foils; ITW Specialty Films; Konica Minolta; Matik, Inc. (Gietz AG); MGI; Sakurai USA, Inc.; Sun Chemical

Embossing, foil stamping and specialty effects can raise the level of quality, added value, shelf presence, brand recognition and security for a product. These are the types of unique and eye-catching pieces the Foil & Specialty Effects Association showcases during its annual Gold Leaf Awards Competition.

The 25th Annual FSEA Gold Leaf Awards Competition award winners were honored at the 2018 FSEA•IADD Joint Conference held in Franklin, Tennessee. Nearly 300 entries were received from countries around the world, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Denmark and China. Gold, silver and bronze winners were honored in 38 categories. Best of Show and two Honorable Mention honorees also were revealed during the awards ceremony.

See all of the winners at www.fsea.com.

Be Our Guest – Subtle Impressions Opens Doors with Unique Invitation

June 12, 2018

by Brittany Willes, contributing editor, PostPress

When one door closes another one opens. Or, in the case of a unique, interactive wedding invitation created by Subtle Impressions, Inc. of Gastonia, North Carolina, a pair of antique wooden doors open to invite viewers to share in a very special occasion.

As the father of the bride, Subtle Impressions President Jim Schaefer was determined to create a memorable invitation to celebrate his daughter, Carley, and future son-in-law, Ryan’s big day. The design for the award-winning invitation found its inspiration in the wedding venue. Set on a 112-acre tree farm in western Rowan County in North Carolina, The Arbors event center boasted the perfect location for a fairytale wedding – with one exception.

“It was decided the wedding would be outdoors; however, my daughter wanted to enter through a set of doors,” stated Schaefer. All the venue had to offer was a set of static, always-open doors that left much to be desired. Not to be deterred, “My wife found two antique doors, and I made a fully functioning, transportable door frame,” he explained. “Once the frame was finished and assembled we thought it would be neat to incorporate it into the wedding invitations.”

To create the appearance of antique wooden doors on the invitations, photos were taken and sent to Schaefer’s nephew, Travis Stephenson, owner of Stephenson Designs, LLC. Using the photos and input from the bride-to-be, Stephenson was able to design a realistic and innovative invitation package – the perfect wedding gift for his cousin, Carley.

The doors themselves contain rich earth tones of brown, tan and dark red that convey a sense of warmth and welcome, inviting viewers to reach out and touch. Set against a neutral background of silver (reminiscent of siding) and surrounded by small embellishments, such as colorful flowers and decorative golden filigrees, the doors open to reveal the details of the wedding itself. Framed by the open doors, the calligraphy-style writing in a dark foil encourages viewers to tilt and turn the invitation to catch the light while showing off the simple, yet elegant, font.

“Travis incorporated the pictures of the doors along with other elements that Carley wanted, such as the bride and groom’s initials and the Bible verse set above the open doors and the grass at the bottom,” said Schaefer.

Once the design was finalized, Schaefer and Melanie Hunt, Subtle Impressions pre-press expert, worked together to determine the best print and die layouts, as well as the embossing layers. The invitation itself was printed on one side using 105# Stardream quartz cover stock from Neenah. The printing was done on a Konica Minolta Bizhub C1085.

The invitation was then foil stamped and embossed using three different magnesium foil dies made by Owosso Graphic Arts, Inc. The multi-level embossing die was created by Universal Engraving, Inc. Another two steel rule dies were provided by Dura-Craft Die, Inc. The invitation’s front and inside panels were foil stamped on a Kluge EHD with Kurz Transfer Products metallic gold and metallic brown foil. Following the foil stamping, the sheets were then perforated on a Kluge machine. This was done so that the sheet would fold over in register.

Next, a pattern glue panel was screen printed before folding the front panel onto the middle panel. The antique doors were then die cut and scored while the inside panel was folded over and adhered to the middle panel using double-sided tape. Finally, the invitation was trimmed using a guillotine paper cutter.

Creating a printed piece that incorporated so many different processes was one of the biggest challenges Subtle Impressions faced while designing the invitation. “Once we had the design, determining the best layout for getting all the graphics to line up properly when folded and assembled was definitely a concern,” remarked Schaefer.”And, of course, we were determined to maintain the highest level of quality on every pass to ensure a top-notch product using the least amount of materials possible.”

There can be little doubt of the quality of the end product. According to Schaefer, the invitation received many compliments. “It received even more at the wedding once people realized they were walking through the actual doors that were recreated for the invitation,” he stated.

Given the level of thought and care that went into each detail of the invitation, it’s little surprise it earned a gold award in the Announcement/Invitation category of this year’s FSEA Gold Leaf Awards.

“It felt extremely good to learn that we won the gold,” stated Schaefer. “It makes me proud to know that our people and our vendors – from design, through pre-press, die manufacture and ultimately execution – can pull off a level of quality that has been recognized by our peers at the level of FSEA.”

Changing Print Environments Affect the Bindery

June 12, 2018

by Katy Ibsen, managing editor, PostPress

This year during workshops at the FSEA•IADD Joint Conference, a series of breakout sessions welcomed attendees to discuss current, relevant challenges or trends seen within their own companies.

One such session touched specifically on the changing print environments that can affect the bindery. PostPress followed up with a few of the workshop attendees to learn more about these environments.

Here Matt Seidl, Seidl’s Bindery; David Inman, Trends Presentation Products; and Valerie Price, Coyne Graphic Finishing, share their thoughts.

1.) From our conversation at the conference workshop, several had mentioned that existing machines were being retrofitted or changed to handle new types of bindery/finishing work. Could you expand upon this and discuss some specific types of applications where this has applied?

Matt Seidl: Some of our equipment has become less than optimal with regard to production speeds, parts and service, and operator availability. We have chosen to repurpose them by either retrofitting a new feeder or gluing system, or in another case, we stripped down an old machine to the main belt drives and converted it into a movable conveyor section and offline collator. If you can’t justify maintaining it as it was manufactured – and the salvage value is less than adequate – then think outside the box and perhaps it can be put to good use in other ways.

Valerie Price: We retrofitted our eyelet machines to do metal corner protectors on tile boards. We also use our folder to do sheet counting for our hi-die.

2.) One area of the graphic arts industry that continues to grow is the packaging arena. There also was discussion during the workshop about opportunities in this area, whether with turned edge products or casebound work. Again, could you discuss where these opportunities are coming from and what you are doing to attract this type of work to your operation?

David Inman: Custom packaging is definitely an area that we see continual growth in, year after year. At Trends Presentation Products, we have focused on the high-end, turned edge packaging projects. We are not automated in this area, so all of our boxes are wrapped by hand. Our average run size on an order with our packaging projects typically runs under 3,000 pieces. The customers we deal with are looking for high quality, fast turn with a “wow” factor. We seem to do a lot in the liquor, pharmaceutical and financial sectors. Overall, I think it’s the quality of our work and having great CSRs (customer service reps) that keep the customer coming back. Communication is key. The customer has to be able to trust that the job will be done accurately. With packaging, the information surrounding a job has to move fast in order to meet those quick in-hands dates. It takes a team effort from beginning to end to make it happen. We have a good team here – which goes a long way!

Matt Seidl: We don’t do any turned edge or casebound products; however, we have been buying equipment over the last 10 years that caters to the packaging side of printing – laminating, in-house diemaking, traditional and digital hot foil stamping, and digital spot UV coating. With them, we have expanded our capabilities to produce many more boxes, cartons and POP (point of purchase) types of packaging work.

Valerie Price: Our second company, Diemaster LLC, has seen an extreme uptick this year in folding carton dies – they are rocking.

3.) The amount of digitally printed materials continue to increase, and the volume of more conventional offset work has decreased. What changes have been made in your bindery/loose leaf operation to adjust and react to these changes?

Matt Seidl: The most recent change was the purchase of the MGI Jet Varnish 3D Classic platform, which has allowed us to economically produce the smaller digital runs that require digital foil or spot UV and alleviate the issues with digital printing registration using the IA acquisition system. We also now have the ability to design digital foil and spot UV files in-house, as well as make immediate adjustments to customer files, all in a matter of minutes. That really makes our existing and new customers excited.

David Inman: Trends Presentation Products is a little unique in the fact that we have made digital print our priority going back to as early as 2000. Our Fast Impression line of ring binders allows our customers to have custom, high-quality, digitally printed ring binders in as little as three days at times. We print in house using a Xeikon digital press, allowing for wide format printing to fit most needs. The ability to print, laminate and then bind in one shop makes a huge difference toward lead times. Over time and with experience, we have structured ourselves internally to process these orders quickly. It’s been our niche for almost 20 years now.

Valerie Price: We noticed the biggest change in our mounting department. Adjustments have to be made to mount digital material successfully. The adjustments had to do with the thickness of the printed material and grain direction of the substrates (following internal research and development).

4.) It was mentioned that longer runs are still important to your operation, but customers are wanting even long-run jobs completed in less time. What adjustments have you made in your operation to help decrease lead times and increase production rates?

David Inman: Our biggest adjustment really came from accepting the fact that faster delivery times is the new norm. Trends Presentation Products has always worked hard for quick turn times, but in recent years those lead times have become shorter and shorter. We live in a “want it now” culture. So we have spent a lot of time trying to streamline various operations in house. This includes using check sheets through the prepress process to ensure art is set up properly and gets to the press as quick as possible. Communication between the front office and production also is critical. Changes are needed and occur routinely with jobs. Internally, we have set up a system that communicates those changes as they come out, limiting errors and minimizing additional costs to jobs. We also work flexible shifts as needed to adjust to the workflow. Obviously, the quality in craftsmanship still has to be there with each job, regardless of how fast the order is needed; as a company we have worked hard to keep our employees, too. This makes a big difference, and we have been very fortunate in retaining our employees. Another thing that doesn’t get talked about a lot is maintaining good relationships with our vendors. Oftentimes a portion of a job may involve work from another vendor. Getting prompt service and building trust with them can play a key role on whether a job makes it on time.

Valerie Price: Lead times, what are those? Nearly everything that we see – they wanted it yesterday. We often have to adjust scheduling on machines. This can create multiple set-ups and more cost for us. We like to have the complete project on our floor before we begin production. This is not always feasible, as customers at times want to “feed” the project to us as they are printing. This is mainly on jobs that are being sent elsewhere to be kit-packed – then they need some of everything.

Matt Seidl: The first thing was to ask our vendors what they need from us to expedite our turn times for receiving materials like dies, foil, film laminate, etc. The feedback we got on best ordering practices and proper channels was very helpful in getting our needs met from multiple vendors. Second, we make sure we accurately determine how much time is needed to complete a job upfront before it is received. Most often a good job pre-flighting the work and a little communication in advance really keep things moving on a reliable schedule.

Creative solution to meet customer’s needs

Perfecta USA developed an internal program to assist customers in doing more with less.

“In the bindery, our customers must do more with less every day. To help with these conditions Perfecta developed the optional S2C Programming for all new TS Paper cutters,” said Larry Hollingsworth. “The JDF job with a picture is given a barcode. The operator scans the barcode and, in under 30 seconds, the programmed job and picture comes up on the screen and the picture moves, rotates and gets smaller as the sheet is cut. The picture matches the sheet at all steps during the program, even with complicated gang jobs.”

Five Major Technology Advances in UV/EB Curing Print Market

June 12, 2018

Article courtesy of Smithers Pira

Figure E.1 Radiation curing print and packaging market, 2012-2022, by value ($billion, constant 2016 values)

According to “The Future of Radiation Curing Print Markets to 2022” forecast developed by Smithers Pira, print produced using radiation curing (UV and electron beam) inks and varnishes in 2017 totalled roughly 1.38 trillion A4 prints, a value of $63.4 billion. The market is growing at around two to three percent annually in tonnage terms.

With ink revenues growing faster than the overall graphics and packaging market, users are taking advantage of instant drying to improve their production efficiencies and exploit both decorative and functional properties of the inks and coatings. Radiation curing not only saves time by instant drying, but it also enables various efficiencies across a wider production process.

While print volumes in graphics generally is falling by three percent per year between 2012 and 2022, the radiation curing print segments of this, and the still booming packaging market, are poised to expand market share. Radiation curing volume will grow by 25 percent by volume and 33.6 percent in value terms across this period.

Smithers Pira identifies the key developments in ink and varnish formulation and curing technologies that are underpinning this expansion.

Low-energy UV curing

UV curing methods are changing. The majority of ultraviolet drying in 2017 is still carried out using mercury vapor quartz lamps, but these take time to warm up and there are potential health and environmental hazards at end-of-life.

These limitations are amplifying the benefits of low-energy curing. This curing system is designed to dry the print using much less energy than the traditional mercury vapor lamps, with a single mercury doped lamp. The system uses special inks that command a premium over the traditional UV curing inks and varnishes. These lamps do not emit the shorter UV wavelengths that generate ozone, removing the need for ozone extraction. They produce less waste heat, so require less cooling, which further reduces the power consumption.

The technology now is being taken up in North America and Europe. Low-energy curing can be used on perfecting presses with two lamps to dry each side, and Komori has commercial web presses using H-UV technology instead of a hot air oven, thus reducing the press footprint – which is important in its home market of Japan, where the very high cost of real estate makes space saving potentially a significant cost advantage.

UV LED curing

UV LED curing uses light-emitting diodes that emit a narrow band of UV, delivering a peak of UV energy, which provide a broad distribution of output across the spectrum, including visible and infrared.

LED curing offers even less energy than the low-energy mercury bulb UV systems, and there is an instant on-off, which can reduce further the downtime required in waiting for the lamps to come to full power, as well as providing significant energy savings through synchronization of cure with ink laydown. The drawback is limited availability of suitable inks, and the high cost premium currently associated with them.

The range of UV LEDs commercially available is growing, shadowing LEDs wider use in general lighting installations. Printers that are already using UV LED are reporting energy consumption as much as 70 percent lower than conventional UV systems. Another attraction of UV LED systems is their color brilliance, stemming from higher pigment content.

UV LED is moving beyond niche applications into higher-volume segments in some European countries, such as sheet-fed printing, where the technology has the advantage of being able to provide high color strength.

Electron beam curing

Electron beam curing uses a high-powered electron beam to initiate the free radical polymerization reaction. A curtain of accelerated electrons is emitted toward the printed surface in an evacuated chamber. The energetic electrons pass through a titanium window foil toward the wet ink, the energy is absorbed by the ink layer and the curing process takes place.

The benefit of the technology is the penetration of electrons into the body of the inkfilm, rather than just at the surface, ensuring good through-curing. It is widely used in the Americas on wide web presses but less so in Europe.

There are developments to broaden its use through lower-cost and smaller EB curing units, including for the first sheet-fed processes, and ink technology to broaden the use on flexo and gravure presses. The proportion of electron beam in radiation curing remains low, at just four to five percent in 2017, with most in North America and lower elsewhere.

Low migration inks and coating

As radiation curing is widely used in food, pharmaceutical and tobacco packaging, it is important that no components can migrate from the print into the product and cause any organoleptic effects. This is particularly important in tobacco packaging, where the criteria for odor-free and migration-proof packaging are driven by the fact that tobacco is hygroscopic.

Odor and taint are potential issues for all converters. Ink manufacturers are formulating low-migration inks using selected components, which should ensure that migration from the resultant printing ink film will be within accepted migration limits.

Ink formulators may choose components from the known range of approved ingredients, or choose the new classes of materials becoming available that offer inherently lower potential contamination. This issue now is being approached via new legislation announced in 2017 in the EU and other markets like Japan.

Hybrid inks

Several ink manufacturers are exploring new methods of formulating inks to broaden the range of applications for UV and electron beam inks and to improve their performance on press. In flexible packaging on common impression flexo presses there is limited space for interdeck drying, and ink manufacturers are developing UV and EB curing inks with water or solvents. These act as diluents, and there is a degree of evaporation at the print stage that enables improved wet-on-wet trapping.

There are developments in water-based electron beam gravure printing, for example IdeOn at Amgraph Packaging in Connecticut uses water as a diluent for electron beam-curable gravure inks.

A significant advantage of these hybrid inks is that they are not classified as hazardous materials, which traditional 100 percent solid UV inks and coatings are. This means manufacturers do not have to apply a hazardous chemical label onto the pack, and they can be transported in bulk – whereas a UV ink categorized as hazardous cannot be transported in a container larger than 25 litres.

“The Future of Radiation Curing Print Markets to 2022” provides quantitative market sizes for the major technologies in radiation curing globally, forecasting the markets to 2022 by curing, method print process and end use application. For more information, download the brochure at https://www.smitherspira.com/industry-market-reports/printing/radiation-curing-for-print-markets-to-2022.

Article courtesy of Smithers Pira, originally published in January 2018. Smithers Pira is the worldwide authority on the packaging, paper and print industry supply chains. They provide world-leading expertise and market intelligence, and offer a range of testing services supported by comprehensive facilities in the United States and United Kingdom. For more information: www.smitherspira.com.

2018 FSEA Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Nelson Stevens

June 12, 2018

by Katy Ibsen, managing editor, PostPress

From left: FSEA Executive Director, Jeff Peterson, Joyce Porter and Nelson Stevens, Lifetime Achievement Honoree.

In April, the Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA), honored Nelson Stevens, of Finisher’s Exchange, LLC., Grove, Illinois, as the recipient of the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award. Much of Stevens’ career has been on the forefront of the finishing industry, being an integral part of the growth for major international equipment brands. Stevens has been a member of FSEA since its inception in 1992, contributing to the association’s success.

When asked about his feelings of being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Stevens quickly replied with a bit of laughter, “Total shock! I didn’t even know the award existed!” The response is indicative of his humility regarding a celebrated career in the finishing industry, as well as toward the ongoing support of the FSEA, an association he helped build.

With a storyteller’s tone, Stevens recalls a pivotal moment in FSEA’s history, as well as his own.

The Foil Stamping & Embossing Association (now FSEA) began back in the early ’90s. “The association didn’t have many members because it was too early for a lot of finishers to be involved,” said Stevens. “So budget was a delicate subject. John Tinnon was instrumental and so was I – at that time, we were members of the group – but it was a pretty small group. So we went to a meeting in Chicago, and we each donated (money) to get the organization to a better footing.”

Today, the association has grown tremendously and has served its membership over the last three decades with networking, continuing education and a connection to the industry’s evolution.

For Stevens, it is the enrichment and joining of small and large finishing companies that continues to give him great pride in the FSEA.

“You meet many entrepreneurs and family businesses, and there’s enrichment which FSEA brings to them about a number of subjects – everything from investment strategy to technical applications of embossing or diecutting and stamping,” said Stevens of the association’s benefits. “It’s FSEA that helped small businesses grow. There’s a number of finishers that I’ve come to know who have done extremely well. The FSEA also has enriched the knowledge of the major companies, like Hallmark Cards, American Greeting and so on… I enjoyed the little guys being there at the same time. I’m continuing to call on little guys, hoping that I can help them make the right choices as they try to expand.”

The BOBST years

Stevens’ career began in 1967 with BOBST. At the time, there were only six BOBST salesmen in North America. Stevens went on to be the sales manager, working out of New Jersey. Stevens helped place machines in both major corporations and small family businesses, providing great service to the company that gave him his start.

Stevens fondly reflected, “I’ll never forget the time – if you wanted to show visuals, a machine operating, BOBST had tapes. These tapes were on reels that were 12 or 14 inches wide and I carried a 16-millimeter projector with me on the plane so I could show these movies to people. Things have changed a lot!”

During his 13-year tenure, Stevens witnessed firsthand the competitive environment of finishing machinery – sparking the next chapters of his career.

“Over the years of having been with BOBST, up until ’81, they were challenged by a company called a IIJIMA, a Japanese die cutter producer. That was the primary challenger to BOBST, and the first generation machines at that time were running at 4,000 to 4,500 sheets per hour, rated speed. And so BOBST decided to up the ante,” he explained.

Stevens was at the center of BOBST’s race to develop the most efficient machine for the print finishers, and with that development came higher costs to printing firms. The market changed right before Stevens’ eyes.

“For all those early years, printers had been using a Miehle flatbed diecutter, and they wanted to get a first-generation BOBST but could not because the prices were too rich,” Stevens said. “So the better firms, that could afford the $7,500 SP102-e flatbed diecutter machine, started to let their first-generation machines become sold on the market. So when I left BOBST, it was to market and sell this first-generation machine to the small firms that could not afford the more expensive higher-speed machine.”

Independent Machinery

Stevens formed Independent Machinery, Inc., in 1981 and focused his efforts on selling refurbished BOBST equipment and machines.

“He saw an opportunity,” said Joyce Porter, Stevens’ daughter. “He had a lot of his clients say, ‘Geez, you know I really can’t afford a BOBST, but I like the technology.’ So he kind of put two and two together and said, ‘Why don’t we offer a refurbished BOBST, and I’ll have people work on the equipment, give you peace of mind and have you save on your investment but have the technology that you want.'”

The company saw significant growth during this time and equipped many small printers with the technology they needed to propel their own businesses. Eventually services expanded to include Stevens acting as a sales agent to, and eventually representing, seven international manufacturers.

Stevens’ company worked with Keck Machinenbau, selling its machinery for forming CD cartons and X-ray boxes; Vega Group, selling folder-gluers; TUENKERS, selling litho-laminators; Gietz, selling hot foil stamping equipment; Billhofer, selling laminators; Heiber and Schroeder, selling window machines; and in 1999, SANWA, selling diecutters. All the while, Stevens built a network of trained technicians who supported all of the machinery, maintaining parts and providing repairs.

When Gietz called

A pivotal moment for Stevens and his company was when he was approached by Heinrich Gietz in 1991 during a tradeshow. “He said, ‘I have a good feeling. Let’s talk a little further about your becoming an agent,'” Stevens recalled.

He flew to Switzerland and struck an agreement with the international printing and packaging manufacturer. At the time, Stevens said, many firms wanted to replace their presses that ran 1,200 to 1,400 sheets an hour with a Gietz that could produce 2,500 to 3,500 sheets an hour. He, along with his sales team of seven, tackled the North American market.

The Gietz agreement and tenacity of his team placed more than 60 Gietz foil stamping machines in print finishing companies throughout the country, many of which were sold for the purpose of foil stamping and embossing wine and spirits labels.

Of course, to Stevens, this was business as usual.

“There were quite a few Gietz running on the West Coast with private family firms, and some with a major firm out of Peoria, Illinois. They enjoyed the Gietz. It was a major player in the wine label business at the time,” said Stevens. Part of that major player role was the fact that firms liked the Gietz, and at the time they could afford it, so they were able to optimize their business into the wine and spirits industry.

Going strong by the mid-2000s, Stevens’ company succeeded at selling another innovation: a 40-inch Gietz foil stamper, superseding the BOBST 34-inch machine.

“The new Gietz would run as high as 7,000 sheets an hour, so there was an interest,” he explained.

Stevens’ daughter, Porter, sold the first one to RockTenn Company (now WestRock) for cosmetic packaging, and Stevens sold the second to Hallmark for greeting cards.

Unfortunately, Independent Machinery was affected by the Great Recession and closed its operations in 2009. That doesn’t change the amount of pride Stevens had for the company’s success or the livelihood it provided his employees.

At one point, his company maintained seven technicians and six salesmen. He knew he’d have to face darker days when the market declined, and Stevens didn’t take that sentiment lightly, as he sees himself in every one of his customers.

“The takeaway for me was the fact that, every single day, he did all he could to improve his customers’ capabilities in the most honest way with the best solution and operating at the highest level of integrity,” said Porter. “I think anybody in the industry will tell you that this man is all about integrity. He is as honest as the day is long. He genuinely cares for people’s well-being and wants their businesses to develop and flourish. He loves to educate, loves to coach and would take the time to get in the car and drive somewhere just to go talk to somebody – not necessarily with the sale in mind, but wanting to be of help. And that’s who Nelson is. He’s that type of person – he cares about people first and foremost, and the sale is second.”

FSEA News

June 12, 2018

FSEA Announces New Board Members

FSEA has announced the election of three new board members that were ratified by the current FSEA Board of Directors and voted upon at the recent FSEA Annual Meeting during the FSEA/IADD Joint Conference in Franklin, Tennessee. Gene Petrie, manufacturing resource leader, Hallmark Cards Inc., has been added to the board as a new Active board member. Petrie has 29 years of experience at Hallmark in the manufacturing and packaging of its greeting cards line and is located at its Greetings Production Facility in Lawrence, Kansas. Chris Eckhart, president of Eckhart & Co., Inc., has been elected into the newly formed Bindery/Loose Leaf position on the board. Eckhart’s company provides bookbinding/finishing service and the manufacturing of custom packaging products. Eckart & Co. is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Scott Tacosik, product manager for KURZ Transfer Products, will fill the open Associate (Supplier) position on the board. Tacosik has more than 24 years of experience in the printing, packaging, and finishing industry. He currently manages the product line of graphic stamping foils, technical support resources, and research and development strategy for KURZ out of Charlotte, North Carolina.

New FSEA Executive Board Positions Announced

With the addition of new board members and the completion of Matt Seidl’s term as chairman, new executive board positions where announced by the FSEA Board of Directors. Mark Baugh, president of D.E. Baugh Co., Inc., (Indianapolis, Indiana), steps into the chairman of the board position. He is the first ever second-term chairman for FSEA. Greg Greenwald, president/CEO of Scarab Printing Arts (St. Charles, Missouri) will move into the chairman-elect position and JohnHenry Ruggieri, president of SunDance Marketing Solutions (Orlando, Florida) will take over as the new secretary/treasurer.

FSEA Announces New Binding and Loose Leaf Division

FSEA has announced the formation of a new division specifically focused on binding and loose leaf processes. This new division has been developed to support bindery and loose leaf operations in the graphic arts industry.

“As we see continued consolidation within the printing industry – and with many of our current FSEA members already involved with binding and finishing processes – this was a natural step forward for FSEA,” said Jeff Peterson, executive director.

Benefits provided to new members of the FSEAs Binding and Loose Leaf Division will include access to statistical surveys in the “Members Only” section on the FSEA website. An email-driven community (the Binding/Loose Leaf HelpLinks) will be developed specifically for those working in binderies and loose leaf provider companies to share questions and challenges. Members of the new division will be listed in the printed FSEA Sourcebook of Active and Associate (Supplier) members, and will have its own section for bindery and loose leaf services in the online sourcebook, www.FinisherFinder.com.

In addition, members of the new division will receive access to financial benefits, including the Grainger discount program, which provides discounts on all Grainger products; shipping discounts, including up to 29 percent on FedEx shipping and over 70 percent on LTL freight shipments; and Printers 401k, a collaboration of 401k specialists (powered by Diversified Financial Advisors) who assume specific fiduciary duties for member companies retirement plans.

For more information on the new Binding and Loose Leaf Division of FSEA, call the FSEA office at 785.271.5816, email jeff@fsea.com, or visit www.fsea.com.

In Memory…

Robert N. Gallagher, age 79, of De Soto, Kansas, passed away on April 2, 2018. Gallagher served on the inaugural board of directors of FSEA as secretary/treasurer from 1992-1995. In 1996, Gallagher served as chairman of FSEA. Gallagher was born in Kansas City, Kansas on February 14, 1939. He met his wife, Arlice, at the University of Kansas in 1960 and they were married in 1962. In 1967, he and Harvey C. Ray purchased Ace Box and Die, Inc. They soon branched out into foil stamping and embossing and added diemaking in-house with the addition of DieMasters in 1988. In 1992, Ray sold his share to Gallagher, who became the sole owner of Ace Inc. With the help of his son-in-law, Marty, Gallagher designed a quickchange foil system for the Bobst 102. It allowed the foil rolls to be pre-set with the proper spacing for quick changeover when new foil was needed. In 2002, he sold the company and retired to his small farm in De Soto. Gallagher loved his family and was interested in all the doings of the grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Arlice, four children, 19 grandchildren (another grandchild preceded him in death) and 8 great grandchildren.

“Fun & Games” by J.S. McCarthy

June 12, 2018

by Lara Copeland, contributing editor, PostPress

“We are going to keep innovating and doing more and being better.” That is what J.S. McCarthy Vice President of Marketing Michael Tardiff said last year after the company received the Foil and Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) “Best of Show” award for its 2017 self-promotion calendar aptly titled “A Symphony in Color.” This year, the team at J.S. McCarthy (JSM), Augusta, Maine, did exactly as Tardiff said they would. Its 2018 self-promotion calendar again won “Best of Show,” leaving Tardiff feeling both flattered and surprised.

FSEA Executive Director Jeff Peterson was just as surprised as Tardiff. “This was our 25th anniversary presenting our FSEA Gold Leaf Awards,” stated Peterson. “We’ve never had back-to-back Best of Show winners. It is certainly a testament to the outstanding work and creativity J.S. McCarthy has put into their self-promotion calendars.”

Tardiff, who has worked on the company’s calendars since 2010, said that the theme is something the design team – which consists of his mother, Patty Tardiff, special projects; designer Sue Bourdon of Bourdon and Company and himself – thoughtfully chooses each year. “In our first meeting, we throw ideas out and usually the one that keeps the conversation going is the winner,” Tardiff explained. This year, the idea of “Fun & Games” started as the team reflected on all their favorite board games, which then evolved into figuring out how they could highlight those with special effects. “That’s when we decided to design a game box,” he continued. “It was a ‘game changer’ for us since it highlighted the very thing we were looking to showcase: our packaging capabilities.” The “Fun & Games” theme offered JSM the opportunity to achieve a design aesthetic that highlighted the most processes it could in the best manner possible.

JSM’s printing operation serves several markets – from designers at various colleges to purchasing agents at health care companies. Tardiff said, “We have a wide range of customers that this calendar hits, so we have to be careful to not overdesign – we need to reach a broad audience.” Tardiff commented that most in the industry are aware that JSM can do coatings, foil, diecutting and embossing, but the team wanted its folding carton capabilities to be acknowledged since it is a growing segment. Assuming most people in the world have fond memories of childhood games, the designers moved forward with the theme and began attempting to incorporate its carton capabilities into the project.

“We decided to create a box design that had that look of a leather box – like you’d see an old-fashioned Scrabble game come in,” Tardiff said. The box was printed with a stock image of pebble leather and then the title of the piece (2018 Fun & Games) was foil stamped in a metallic blue and the company name in metallic silver. A cribbage tray was then added to store a deck of cards, which “allowed us to do a bigger box to give a bigger wow,” he said.

The company’s HUV Komori Perfector was used to print process inks on the outer box on 24pt tango C2S heavy weight white. The inside of the box cover includes the production notes for each month of the calendar. As stated earlier, using an SBL foil stamper, the box received blue and silver foil on the cover of the box with the company name and title. The box also was run through a Bobst VisionFold and a Bobst ExpertFold for folding and gluing. The cribbage tray was printed on 24pt. Carolina Cover White to create the wooden and felt backgrounds. Bourdon augmented the cribbage table design with a clear foil for the “2018,
“JSM,” and the holes on the table. The cribbage table was embossed, debossed and diecut on a Bobst. The felt portion of the table received a soft touch aqueous coating. The cribbage tray holds a boxed deck of cards printed on an HP Indigo 7600 digital press and features digital process inks and gloss UV coating.

The 12-page calendar uses wire-O binding and a hanger and features one month per page. Each month showcases JSM’s various printing and finishing capabilities. For instance, January’s background is a black and red checkerboard printed on 100# Royal Sundance Smooth Cover Eclipse Black. Bourdon created the game board to size and shrunk the calendar grid to make it playable. “We were looking for an authentic checkerboard look, and we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to showcase black stock with metallics and white ink,” Tardiff said.

The January page was printed on a Komori 8-color press and then was foil stamped on a Bobst. A silver foil was used to create “January 2018” across the top of the checkerboard. Red metallic foil also was used for the red squares on the checkerboard and to denote the holidays – New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day – on the calendar grid. To top it off, JSM created embossed and diecut checkers using a Bobst diecutter on 122# Pike C2S Cover Black and 122# C2S Red. Tardiff described January as “a tough month to proof and visualize, but we are so happy with the way it turned out.”

The design team thought a winning combination of “eights” would not only highlight the eighth month, but also be a nod to its three 8-color printing presses. “Add some metallic stock and white ink, and I would say we hit the jackpot,” Tardiff exclaimed. Using 12pt Hampden C1S ½ mil silver metalized paper, Bourdon used a stock image of a slot machine and tweaked the marquee and background to create the August page. JSM used a sculpted emboss to make the machine and other elements on the page “pop.” The page also was spot UV coated to give dimensions to the rays in the background. Because the August page was printed over the metallic silver, two hits of opaque white ink were necessary to cover the metallic sheen in certain areas of the design. A final touch to the August page included a specialty UV coating that provided dimension to the rays around the embossed slot machine.

The December page of the calendar utilized a 130# Creator Star Gloss Cover stock and was first printed on a Komori LS840 using special Kaleidoscope inks. Red and black foil were used to highlight special dates on the calendar, and a large area of silver foil was stamped in register around the King of Hearts design using a Bobst foil stamping press. A spot dull varnish was applied to the images of the boxes and King of Hearts design on the page. Finally, the entire silver background was embossed with a special pattern that uniquely highlights the December page. “December was our chance to bring our theme full circle,” Tardiff concluded. “Just in case people put the box away we thought a cribbage theme might remind them of the board that was included in the box, and we wanted to try out a new foil stamping pattern provided by a vendor.” He continued, saying, “We loved how the pattern worked well with the shapes we already included.”

The industry and customers alike have praised JSM’s self-promotion 2018 calendar. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard ‘I didn’t think you could top last year, but you did,'” Tardiff exclaimed. He said it was a fun piece to do, and he enjoys the various perspectives the design team brings to the table. “I think we end up with a successful theme each year because our design team is careful to consider all the places the calendar may hang,” he said. “We are able to decide on a universal theme that can connect with the broadest audience while also speaking to our capabilities.” He said that while this may be their strength, it can be the biggest obstacle they encounter during the project. “We try to highlight as many special techniques while staying on theme – that is the challenge every year!”

The acclaimed piece has won industry awards, and Tardiff credits the company’s success to the “amazing people here doing great work every day.” In addition to winning the FSEA award for “Best of Show,” an award given to just one of the 38 FSEA Gold Leaf Award Gold winners, JSM’s self-promotion 2018 calendar also won the Gold for “Best Use of Foil and Embossing – Self Promotion.” Additionally, the calendar recently won a pinnacle award at the Printing Industries of New England Printing Awards of Excellence Competition. “These awards are a true testament to not just the design team’s hard work, but to all of our employees’ efforts.”

Goal Setting and Follow-through

June 12, 2018

by Dianna Brodine, assistant director, FSEA

As I sat down to work on this issue’s Book List, I was distracted by an advertisement for an accessory that would make it easier for me to manage my planner, notebooks and other workday necessities. I went back to using a paper planner a few years ago…partially as a strategy to gather all of my sticky notes in one location. I’m an obsessive list maker and goal setter, and I’m fascinated by strategies for increased productivity and organization. For me, the combination of a paper planner and a blank notebook has added an element of organization to my hectic work life that was much needed.

It’s been a while since I’ve looked for newer books on the topic and, after a little research, three stood out – including a new release from the man who financed Google.

Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
Author: John Doerr
Released: April 24, 2018

In the fall of 1999, venture capitalist John Doerr met with the founders of a start-up whom he’d just given $12.5 million, the biggest investment of his career. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had amazing technology, entrepreneurial energy and sky-high ambitions, but no real business plan. For Google to change the world (or even to survive), Page and Brin had to learn how to make tough choices on priorities while keeping their team on track. And, they needed timely, relevant data to track their progress – to measure what mattered.

Doerr taught them about a proven approach to operating excellence: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). In this goal-setting system, objectives define what we seek to achieve; key results are how those top-priority goals will be attained with specific, measurable actions within a set time frame. Everyones goals, from entry level to CEO, are transparent to the entire organization.

In Measure What Matters, Doerr shares a broad range of first-person, behind-the-scenes case studies, with narrators including Bono and Bill Gates, to demonstrate the focus, agility and explosive growth that OKRs have spurred at so many great organizations.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Author: Cal Newport
Released: January 5, 2016

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep spending their days instead in a frantic blur of email and social media, not even realizing there’s a better way.

In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four “rules,” for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.

Deep Work takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories – from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air and no-nonsense advice. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
Author: Gino Wickman
Released: April 3, 2012

Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you? All entrepreneurs and business leaders face similar frustrations – personnel conflict, profit woes and inadequate growth. Decisions never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. But, there is a solution. Based on years of real-world implementation in more than 100 companies, the Entrepreneurial Operating System® is a practical method for achieving the business success you have always envisioned.

In Traction, you’ll learn the secrets of strengthening the six key components of your business. You’ll discover simple, yet powerful, ways to run your company that will give you and your leadership team more focus, more growth and more enjoyment. Successful companies are applying Traction every day to run profitable, frustration-free businesses and you can, too.

Industry Influencer: Thayer Long

June 12, 2018

Thayer Long, president of the Association for Print Technologies, will serve at the helm for two years amid its transition from NPES to APTech. Long believes APTechs work is important to the customers and businesses they serve, but more important is knowing that they are in a unique position to have a positive impact on people’s livelihoods and well-being.

Thayer Long, president of the Association for Print Technologies (formerly NPES), has more than 20 years of experience in leading several industry-sponsored organizations and associations through times of change and transformation, specifically in the construction, finance and electrical industries. With his background, Long now has the opportunity to serve as president of the Association for Print Technologies (APTech) for two years.

How did you find yourself in the printing and imaging industry?

I started my career in publishing, working as a production assistant. My father also spent his career working in the packaging industry. When the position at the association became available, there was a natural gravitational pull that led me to apply and see where the journey took me. I could not be more thrilled on what the association leadership and the team I have the honor of working with has accomplished.

What role, under your leadership, will the Association for Print Technologies have in the industry?

Any industry is a community of sorts, and the printing industry is no different. We see a need, and thus an opportunity, to bring a far greater amount of alignment to the industry value chain. We believe an industry that is in alignment is one that is maximizing success and profitability for its participants. What does alignment mean? In essence, it means that the value chain partners believe and see how their goals or definitions of successful business outcomes are shared by their other value chain partners, especially those on either side of them. The complexity of printing and its vast array of applications – and also how printed products interact with other technologies – is demanding greater collaboration from the onset, and thus alignment.

How has the rebranding of APTech, formerly NPES, improved resources for your membership?

Our rebrand and vision announcement is just the beginning, not the end point. We have an 80-year legacy of which we are very proud, but there is an exciting journey still to be taken. Andy Grove, the leader of Intel, is quoted as saying “Success breeds complacency; complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” What people can expect from APTech are two things: first, an unyielding drive to ensure what we are doing is relevant to the business outcomes of our member customers; and second, a much broader engagement with all aspects of the print value chain.

What challenges are you seeing in commercial printing, and how can APTech’s mission help alleviate them?

There are tremendous opportunities for the industry – but the most critical, in my opinion, is the opportunity for the industry to evolve itself. As our association manifesto states, printing is powerful, permanent and universal. It is arguably the single most influential and impactful movement on human history. As we evolve the industry into its next being, we need to do it in a unified fashion (hence the alignment focus as stated above). Our mission then will include convening the industry community through events and conferences – like our signature event PRINT – educating and providing actionable business intelligence for all components of the global print value chain, being an advocate for the industry in a more digital world and promoting industry standards that help advance the industry.

Tell me a little bit about the value of the APTech-managed organizations (GAERF, International Color Consortium and PRIMIR).

We offer great products and brands through the association. Our research program, which is known as PRIMIR, serves as an invaluable tool for industry members to gain insight into industry trends and to conduct forecasting. Our annual research and trends conference went through a major overhaul this year – and it now is known as the PRIMIR Insights Conference. Everyone should come to San Francisco in July! The International Color Consortium is a major platform for the ever-evolving area of color management, and one that is growing even more complex as the color gamut continues to expand as does the number of substrates that are now being printed upon. GAERF is home to our workforce development efforts, a number one issue facing almost everyone in the industry. GAERF is currently undergoing a robust strategic planning process, so everyone should stay tuned for more information.

What are your predictions for the industry over the next 10 years?

Wow, not sure I can predict that far out, but fundamentally we know the pace of change and technological advances is increasing, not decreasing. I believe in the industry, and therefore I believe in the next 10 years the industry will continue to evolve, adapt, lead and innovate itself. The applications of printing will grow. The value chain will be pushed closer and closer together. My hope is that people today heed this call to action, to change.

For more information: www.printtechnologies.org.