Consumables
UPM active in PrintCity Competence Centres at drupa 2008
Thursday 15. May 2008 - During drupa 2008, PrintCity Alliance members will showcase their combined knowledge in seven Competence Centres and the new Print4Life Lounge in the PrintCity area in Hall 6. UPM is active in four of them; Value Added UV Printing, Value Added Web Offset, Digital TransPromo and Print Meets Electronics.
UPM is a major supplier of sheet-fed and other printing papers in the Value Added UV Printing Competence Centre. In the Centre UPM contributes to UV-technology, which is being used to add value to the printed product. The project group has published a UV guide about the business opportunities for brand owners and printers including economic implications.
“The technology is becoming more common, therefore it is important that all parties involved are working together to find an optimal solution for the printer and the end user,” says Hans-Joachim Kölln, UPM, Director, Marketing & Sales Services.
The Value Added Web Offset Competence Centre includes VAPoN (Value Added Printing of Newspaper), Energy Efficiency and Ultra Wide (heatset) Web. All three areas offer multiple choices to printers and publishers for product enhancement or process improvement. Reports and flyers will be available to inform about the outcome in all three areas.
The Digital TransPromo Competence Centre highlights the opportunities of the increasing Transpromo business, which combines transactional documents, such like telephone bills, with promotional printing that reinforces the brand, customer loyalty and enables one-to-one communication. The UPM DIGI range offers several woodfree coated and uncoated digital printing papers in large diameter reels for this purpose.
The Print Meets Electronics Competence Centre concentrates to clarify the different possibilities in the fast developing area of integration of electronic media and paper. UPM participates in the Centre with its UPM Ella Store Labels (electronic price labels), UPM Presence smart floor and its RFID (radio frequency identification) applications.
“The Competence Centres are visible results of PrintCity projects, which have partly been running for years. They show the different aspects of business solutions and therefore offer solutions to all parties in printing industry,” Kölln tells. “The key is networking. PrintCity has member companies and associated project members within the whole production chain, from pre-print to post print.”
UPM has been actively involved in creating Sustainability, Energy and Environment report (SEE). It is made to help the printing industry to better understand the versatile issues and offer some solutions and best practices. The report will be distributed at drupa in the PrintCity area and in the PC members’ stands. The project is also introduced in PC’s Print4Lounge area.
UPM has also taken the lead in the PRINTplusX project, a joined project of PrintCity and the f:mp (Fachverband Medienproduktioner). The aim is to scientifically measure the impact of Value Added Printing. Three virtual brands for lifestyle and electronics products have been created. The applied finishing techniques on the printed material will be analysed with the support of Stuttgart Media University. Initial survey results will be presented in PrintCity’s new Print4Life Lounge, which invites brand owners, designers and print buyers to discover the capabilities and opportunities of creative new print & package projects.
The companies involved in the Competence Centres continue their work in the different PrintCity activity groups. Work results are reported regularly in PrintCity seminars and through special reports also after the fair.