1. technology and computing
2. hardware
3. computer peripherals
4. printers, copiers and fax
5. printers

2
14 April
ME Printer’s news service for Gulf Print & Pack 2015
Today’s tête-à-tête
Lois Lebegue
Kodak Vice President
A Slew Of Deals Announced
Deals include digital as well as offset equipment
The first day of GPP as expected
was buzzing with activities and
enthusiasm. Exhibitors seem to
be happy with the visitor turnout
on day one. This year the number
of exhibitors that are offering
print material and supplies are
impressive.
This is a clear sign that GPP is an
exhibition that caters to all sectors
of graphic arts industry. Another
important aspect of the show is the
visitor mix. People from all over the
region are attending the show.
There were a number of
announcements during the first
day including the sales of the
first Linoprint digital press from
Heidelberg to a print house in
Saudi Arabia. Sara Manufacturing
also announced its plan to produce
under license of top European
brands. Kodak also sold an all
Nexpress and a CTP system to a
printer in UAE. Not bad for the first
day. There are many other deals too
that have been sealed during the
show and will be announced during
the following days.
In this year’s event, there are
also a number of wide format
printers on display from different
manufacturers including Mimaki,
Ricoh, Dilli and others. Considering
the SGI exhibition which is a
dedicated large format event
that took place in January, seeing
these machines here in GPP proves
that the show is effective in many
levels. Some pundits argue that
Exhibitions are no longer relevant.
But there is no doubt that most
businesses will be approached at
some point to exhibit at an event.
The initial appeal is considerable –
getting out of the office, meeting
real customers, selling your wares
and handing out leaflets to lots of
prospects.
An established show such as GPP
has a ‘history’ that attracts people
and offers a good platform to
promote products and services.
There is also the element of surprise
or shall we call it the surprise
package.
They seem to be lost in their own
world as they wander by.
You thrust a leaflet into their hands;
mutter a few jaded words about
your offering.
They pause, step closer, and
before you know it they become
a potential customer. Who knows
GPP might surprise you.
ME Printer team of editors is also
busy preparing GPP’s official
newsletter,
dailyprinter.
The
newsletter is printerd on Nexpress
using high quality Mondi paper
using Gold Dry Ink.
We will continue our coverage,
offering news and comments from
exhibition floor. So stay tuned for
more during next days.
ME Printer’s news service
for Gulf Print & Pack 2015
Kodak has a noticeable presence in
this year’s Gulf Print and Pack. The
Company is showcasing a host of
equipment and solutions including a
state of the art Nexpress digital press.
Lois Lebegue, Managing Director,
ALMA region and Vice President of
Eastman Kodak Company talked to
ME Printer about Kodak’s vision for the
future and company’s approach to new
technologies. Here are the excerpts:
The latest organizational restructuring in
Kodak divided the whole world into two
very huge markets.
Lebegue explains the rationale behind
this strategy. “Before our recent
restructuring, the world markets were
divided in four regions and were very
isolated from each other. For Example
Middle East and Africa have more in
common with Asian markets than with
Europe. We have been able to cut layers
in our organization so we can be closer to
our customers. For example if you look at
my business card, you see my cell phone
number printed on it so customers can
find me immediately. As you are well
aware, we have a strong traditional
foundation and this rule applies to our
relationship with our customers.”
There is no doubt Kodak is bringing
modern technology to the market. The
Company recently introduced world’s
fastest black and white inkjet press, the
Kodak Prosper 1000 Plus. Its Sonora
Processless plate is gaining market
share around the world and in our
region. Nexpress digital press is finding
a foothold in the region and first Prosper
6000 press in the EMEA region will be
installed in Masar. Does this mean that
Kodak is all about new technology now?
Lebegue says although Kodak is proud
of its history, the Company is focusing
on its future.” At the moment we are
a very future oriented company. Our
Sonora processless plates, prosper press,
our packaging solutions or functional
printing tools that we are developing for
future shows our commitment to offer
markets state-of-the-art tools which
prepare our customers for future. I don’t
look much to the past.”
Kodak is stll a major player in world of
offset and has high hopes for Sonora
processless plates. The question is what
strategy Sonora plays in Kodak’s overall
approach to the market. Lebegue
explains: “it plays a very vital role. Sonora
has a special place in our customers’
heart, mind and wallet. Using Sonora, a
printer is able to save on consumable,
time, energy, labour and waste.
Also Sonora offers the possibility to
printers to come up with innovative
printed materials. Using Sonora,
printers are also able to save money.
It is environmentally friendly. In China
there is a huge demand for Sonora for
the environmental benefits it offers.
40% of newspaper plates used in
Brazil are Sonora. Kodak has several
plate manufacturing sites across the
globe including US, Europe, China and
Japan. Each manufacturing site can
compensate for the shortcoming of
another site in case of a natural disaster,
similar to Tsunami in Japan.”
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Ricoh Opens Its First Office In Dubai
Heidelberg’s Linoprint C Series Finds Its First Buyer
Patrick Giordano talks about Ricoh’s Expansion In the Middle East
Al Khalaf Holding from Saudi Arabia place the first order for
their company Nabak Printing & Packaging Factory
Ricoh, the global technology giant
headquartered in Tokyo, Japan
grabbed serious eye balls at Gulf
Print & Pack 2015 with the launch of
much awaited Pro C7100/C&100X
series and Ricoh Pro L4100 series.
Ricoh is being represented by Giffin
Graphics here at the event. Another
notable development is their OEM
contract with Heidelberg. Patrick
Giordano, Director, Production
Printing Business Group from
the Commercial Division spoke
exclusively to ME Printer Editor in
Chief, Eskandar Jahanbani about
Ricoh’s vision for the Middle East,
their strategies, OEM contracts and
views about Gulf Print & Pack 2015.
Ricoh’s core division lies in managing
office automation products which
takes up 80% of their business
and managing document services.
Patrick said, “It is a service umbrella
that helps customers manage more
than workflow.” He added, “In the
last 3 years, Ricoh has developed
a new sub division where it has
added distribution channels where
it sells projectors, low end printers
and cameras.
Ricoh boasts a number of
OEMcontracts. The latest is the one
with Heidelberg. Ricoh believes in
long term agreements. Patrick also
emphasized on the global trends in
the print industry. He mentioned
that though there has been a shift
from offset to digital, just 1% of A4
digital printing takes place globally.
Patrick predicts that three to four
years down the line, digital printing
will increase and Ricoh reckons to
add value to the job. The growth
potential is humungous. That’s
precisely the reason why Ricoh
invests heavily in research and
development. Patrick emphasized
on the use of latex technology
which he believes has started to
penetrate into the industry.
Middle East market is gradually
becoming an important player in
the region for Ricoh. In lieu with
further expansion in the Middle
East, Ricoh opened its first office
in Dubai on 1st April, 2015. Patrick
adds,” The new office will take care
of the entire GCC operations.”
He is confident that Ricoh will be
able to capitalize on the growth
opportunities that the Middle East
has to offer.
Patrick also mentioned about their
partnership with Giffin Graphics.
“Giffin Graphics is very happy and
investing heavily in Ricoh”, he adds.
Ricoh has been transforming the
market and happy supporting all
the transformations happening in
the market.
Patrick also makes a special
mention about Gulf Print and
Pack 2015. He says,” It has given an
excellent platform to showcase new
technologies and products and also
interact with customers and peers
across industries.”`
Heidelberg finally unveiled the
Linoprint C Series machine here at
Gulf Print & Pack. There was a lot of
buzz surrounding this launch and
it surely kept up to its reputation.
With Linoprint C series of digital
printing systems from Heidelberg
it’s not a case of offset versus
digital printing, but rather offset
plus digital printing. It is basically
designed for the cost-efficient
manufacture of shortruns and
print products that are difficult or
expensive to produce using offset
printing. Linoprint C combines the
benefits of both methods. While
offset printing scores highly when
it comes to production run costs
and quality, digital printing makes
it easy to meet other requirements
such as fast delivery times, printing
variable data, and processing an
amazingly wide range of materials.
It is even possible to combine the
two types of production in a single
job. As a versatile all-rounder, the
Linoprint CV is not only capable of
four-color printing. It also supports
production with an additional color
(white) or a coating. This flexible
all-rounder is the only press in its
class to go one better than fourcolor printing and offer white as
an additional high-opacity color
or, alternatively, a full-area or
spot coating with outstanding
gloss characteristics. With cutting
edge innovative laser technology,
the Linoprint CV delivers razorsharp high-resolution images. The
Linoprint CV also demonstrates its
credentials with other challenging
materials.
Due to its uniqueness and multi
utility, Heidelberg already found
its first buyer for Linoprint C. Al
Khalaf Holding, a well established
group in Saudi Arabia have
already booked the machine for
their company Nabak Printing
& Packaging Factory.
Other
Companies in the group include Al
Khalaf Advertising and Advertising
System Factory. The Company is
a well-equipped institution with
an experienced technical team to
meet all the needs of the clients.
The Company is already using
other Heidelberg offset presses. Mr.
Ahmad Alhalaf, the President of the
Company said, “We are very happy
with Heidelberg’s service and
technology. We already had very
good experience using Heidelberg’s
offset equipments and are looking
forward to use the new Linoprint C
series too.”
2
14 April
ME Printer’s news service for Gulf Print & Pack 2015
Kodak Strikes Nexpress Deal
Hot Spot
Cool Solutions By technotrans
technotrans has been known
as a system supplier for the
liquid technology in the printing
industry for several decades.
What most printers do not know,
technotrans is supplying a wide
range of other products that are
related to liquid technology and
cooling. These are not only used
in the offset industry but also in
the digital, flexo, corrugated and
gravure printing.
The main focus are as usual
solutions that improve the
productivity as well as the quality.
“We need to provide printing
companies products that boost
their competitiveness,“ says Niels
Siegel, head of technotrans Middle
East.
In the digital printing sector the
highly energy-efficient omega.
line cooling equipment is available
for small - to large-format printing
presses. “Today’s digital industry
has developed fast. To be able to
supply a high quality the presses
became more and more powerful.
Stable conditions during the
printing is what technotrans stands
for,“ explains Niels Siegel.
The co-operation partners MERLIN
and Valetech which are leading
suppliers of air humidifying and
ink dispensing systems worldwide
complete
technotrans›
liquid
technology range. The humidifying
concepts prevent electrostatic
charging, particulates, dimensional
fluctuations of paper, and the
undesired deviations of shape and
fit, thereby ensuring trouble-free
printing processes.
With the ink dispensing solutions,
costs in the mixing of special
colours for flexo, coatings, gravure,
screen or offset inks can be reduced.
Consumables And Supplies
Sarah Manufacturing To Produce Inks Under License
From Leading European Companies
Sarah Manufacturing, a major
ink manufacturer in UAE market
has made major tie ups with
international
companies
like
Kingfisher Inks Ltd. from London,
England and Chimigraf from
Barcelona, Spain. Kingfisher Inks is
a well-established brand in the UK
for the past 25 years manufacturing
and developing water based flexo
inks and varnishes for narrow web
label printers. David Stocker, the
Managing Director of Kingfisher
Inks Limited said, “The deal is
that we have the material and
technology for narrow web flexo
inks and narrow web label printers
and Sarah Manufacturing will be
manufacturing here in the Middle
East under our license. “Middle
East is an expanding market and
such an association is a win-win
situation for both the companies.
Sarah Manufacturing will be
catering to the Middle Eastern
markets under this manufacturing
license. It has also made a similar
arrangement with Chimigraf from
Barcelona. Chimigraf has been a
leading player in the European
market for more than four decades.
They manufacture a whole range of
inks from water based liquid inks,
solvent based liquid inks, inject inks
to ink concentrations. Acquiring
manufacturing licenses from such
leading European Companies
will give Sarah Manufacturing
competency,
expertise
and
competitive edge over other
players in the market.
Gulf Market Is Important For Metrograph GmbH
Metropgraph, a trading and
manufacturing company from
Berlin Germany will be turning 25
on June 28th, 2015.
The journey has indeed been
successful
and
iconic.
The
company has been into trading of
bookbinding machines, spare parts
and consumable for press, printing
and packaging majorly catering
the Middle Eastern markets. It also
provides repairs and maintenance
services. The company is known to
provide customized solutions for its
clients.
Ute Horvath from Metrograph
shares why such exhibitions
are important. She states, “Gulf
market is important for us and to
participate in such an event gives
us an excellent platform to interact
with our customers, acquire new
clients, understand the market, get
well versed with the new trends and
Kodak’s New UAE Channel Partner for NEXPRESS Press
Closes Deal with Royal Printing Press at Gulf Print & Pack
Kodak kick started the 2015 edition
of the Gulf Print & Pack by adding
a new channel partner in the UAE,
Qatar Computer Services (QCS)
to further boost regional sales
of the KODAK NEXPRESS Digital
Production Color Presses. Having
already sealed its first NEXPRESS
Press sale to the UAE’s Royal
Printing Press at the event, the new
partnership is already paying off.
The regional feedback for the
NEXPRESS
Press
has
been
impressive – customers have
praised the press capability to
deliver offset quality prints for
even short-run jobs, and the
Sharjah-based Royal Printing Press
has confirmed that this was their
primary motivation for acquiring
the machine.
“We were in the market for a
high-end digital machine as we
often receive orders requiring
personalisation and glossy finishes.
Thanks to the NEXPRESS Press’s Fifth
Imaging Unit Solutions and KODAK
NEXPRESS Glossing Unit, the press
delivers high gloss results without
using the harmful chemicals that
are employed by UV machines,” said
Sherryl Mathew of Royal Printing
Press.
With NEXPRESS Press latest Fifth
Imaging Unit Solutions in place
after printing, the sheets are run
through the KODAK NEXPRESS
Glossing Unit where the coating is
transformed from a satin finish into
a high gloss finish. Gloss coating
not only adds impact to prints, but
also extends the life of the print.
After the conclusion of the Gulf
Print & Pack 2015, the NEXPRESS
Press on display at Kodak’s stand A1
will be carted off to be setup at the
Royal Printing Press.
Daily Highlights
Mepco Gulf Is Promoting Mondi’s Kraft Line Of
Products
Mepco Gulf is a leading paper and
board trader in the Middle East,
North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The group has achieved
the prestigious 5th rankingin the
TOP 100 SMEs by the agency of
the Department of Economic
Development in Dubai (DED) for the
years 2011 - 2012. The Company has
5 offices around the globe including
UAE, Egypt, India, Lebanon and
Tunisia.
The Company sells more than
1600000 tons of different brand
and grades of paper annually.
The Company represents Mondi
and a number of other top paper
manufacturing brands in the region.
Fadi Baaklini, the Company’s
Managing Director says, ”GPP is a
good platform to promote their
Mondi Kraft line of products as
well as uncoated fine paper. The
Company has been working Mondi
for past 15 years.” We have a solid
cooperation with Mondi. and our
major reason to participate in Gulf
Print is to announce an exciting
news about Mondi. The Company’s
new €70 million PM7 has gone live
in Štětí, Czech Republic recently.”
”The machine will produce white
kraft paper mainly for industrial
bags and shopping bags. The
machine’s annual paper capacity
is 155,000 tonnes. The PM7 will
produce white kraft paper for
Industrial Bags, Shopping Bags,
Consumer
Bags,
Protective
Packaging, Coating and Lamination,
Ream Wrap and other high quality
wrapping. It will enhance Mondi’s
production capacity considerably.”
Adding to Baaklini’s comments,
Gerhard Pachler, Mondi’s sales
Director for Speciality Kraft paper
says,” The new PM7 meets high
environmental standards. It will
have a positive environmental
impact due to the integration of the
pulp to paper production process
without the intermediate steps
of drying and transporting of the
pulp. In Mondi, we buy woods from
certified resources. We don’t own
forests.”
”We have paper production sites
around the globe and we make our
own pulp. We are a fully integrated
paper manufacturing Company.
The
demand
for
paper
packaging in Europe is on the
rise while due to environmental
concerns
the
demand
for
plastic
packaging
declining.”
There’s also a sharp drop in demand
for newsprint.
In the Middle
East and other countries such
as India there is still demand for
newspapers. I believe the newsprint
market eventually stabilizes and
there will always be a demand for
printed newspaper.”
To Check Dailyprinter Online Go To
meprinter.com/news/4764/
gain valuable feedback from the
customers regarding the products.
This event is extremely good and
important from our perspective.”
Metrograph will also be participating
at DRUPA 2016 and IPEX 2018.