Growing together at PacPrint 2017
As the largest trade show in Australia has come to represent both the printing industry and the signage sector, one company has assumed the mantle of being the complete supplier across both sectors – Starleaton. In a matter of a few short months since its takeover of DES, the Eaton family-owned company has grown into a living symbol of our integrated industry.
Gathered around its symbolic ‘Tree of Life’ centrepiece, Starleaton’s mighty 483m2 PacPrint stand is a gateway to the changing role of printing and signage companies. Riding the crest of technology integration that is redefining the role of graphic arts producers across every sector, Starleaton has assembled an array of products and services to showcase its ability to deliver at a new level.
This confident assertion of its new identity brings together wide format inkjet printers from the US and Japan, the best of Swiss-made CNC digital cutters, top MIS and colour management systems, scanners and monitors, laminators and coatings and of course, one of the widest ranges of board and roll substrates.
Starleaton’s industry focus pivots on its new engagement as agent for EFI, the US-based wide format and software giant. Ben Eaton, CEO, has no doubt that the alliance with EFI will clarify the company’s direction as it expands. Following a January visit to EFI’s Connect conference in Las Vegas, CEO Ben Eaton is convinced the company has the depth and breath of technology he needs to meet the market demands.
It happened in Vegas
“I was very impressed by EFI in Vegas. Everywhere you turned there was another Aussie. I didn’t realise EFI had such a big range of products. It’s not only wide format equipment but there’s all the MIS too. And then there’s the Fiery RIPs and workflow,” says Eaton.
Although the main EFI wide format printer, the 3.2 metre wide Vutek HS125 Pro, will occupy pride of place on the Starleaton stand, it will share the space with other EFI inkjets as well as engines from Epson and Oki in addition to a Zünd G3 L cutting table. All will be operating under the shade of the ‘tree of life,’ a giant structure made from Starleaton’s Falcon Board.
“PacPrint is the beginning of a new era for Starleaton. We’ve worked very hard for the past six months bringing the two companies together. Now it’s time for the industry to see what we’re able to deliver. At this PacPrint it’s all about our customers. As they grow, so will we,” says Eaton.
Wide-format treasure trove
Starleaton’s decision to put EFI centre stage on its stand at PacPrint is sure to attract visitors keen to see the new direction. The huge Vutek HS125 Pro, at 3.2 metres wide, will be one of the largest inkjets at the show.
With UltraFX Technology UV flatbed capable of printing up to 125 boards an hour in quality print mode (90 per hour in POP), the Vutek HS125 Pro is a clear indication that Starleaton is determined to target high volume graphic producers with both equipment and substrates. Visitors will be able to see the engine in full flight throughout the show.
It’s not the only EFI engine on the stand. Two other EFI inkjets, the FabriVU 340 digital textile printer and newly released at FESPA, the Pro 16H, an LED-UV engine, will also be put through their paces. The FabriVU 340 is rapidly earning its place as one of the leading textile printers in the burgeoning marketplace for inkjet printed fabrics. It’s a market that Eaton believes holds great promise for many Starleaton customers.
“There’s growing demand for products such as inkjet printed soft signage, interior décor, flags, banners, backlit displays and theatrical backdrops. More printers are finding there’s a ready market out there,” he says.
The FabriVU 340 has a top speed of 500m2 per hour or 250m2 hour for higher image quality, closer inspection work. With an output of up to 2400dpi the results are quality assured.
On the other hand, Eaton is presenting the Pro 16H as a new mid-level ‘workhorse’ engine. Handling media up to 1600mm wide and 50mm thick, this flatbed doubles the speed of its predecessor, the 1625, at up to 90.7m2/hr in express mode. “This is almost a world release,” says Eaton. “Just two weeks after FESPA it is certainly the first southern hemisphere showing. I believe it is ideally suited to the ANZ small to medium sized sign and display printers.”
Not only but also
There is more than one string to the Starleaton wide-format bow. Conscious of the need to provide for different requirements from customers, Eaton is quick to point out that Epson, Roland DG and Oki inkjets make an important contribution to the overall offer.
As a renowned supplier of Hahnemühle museum-grade papers as well as art canvases, Starleaton will have four Epson SureColor printers on the stand demonstrating the highest levels of colour fidelity and resolution for the photo and fine art market. Visitors will be able to see for themselves the results from Epson’s extended nine, ten or 11-colour genuine Ultrachrome HD Epson inksets.
For the more production minded sign printer there will be the OKI ColorPainter M-64s, the category-leading machine for printing on PVC, banner films and poster materials. The SX eco-solvent inks and Infotech printheads deliver durable signage throughput faster than any other. At 66.5m2 per hour through six or seven-
colour channels, including a new grey, it means that even without lamination, ColorPainter prints last for years outdoors without noticeable fading. There will also be the economy version of the M-64s, the OKI ColorPainter E64s – slightly slower but with higher resolution.
Waterproof board from inside out
How do you make a paperboard for outdoor use that is water resistant, environmentally sound and able to compete with the best in terms of printing? Ben Eaton wondered whether it could be done when he heard of the Oppboga Outdoor Board from Sweden. There he learned about infusing water resistance into the structure of the board rather than trying to coat it.
Starleaton has long been recognised as one of the leading suppliers of boards and laminates for the signage industry. It has always carried a wide range of printable boards and substrates by leading brands including Brett Martin Foamalux, Ultra White DP, Falconboard, FiberMark, Converd, Helixx and others.
With five warehouses across Australia, it has a reputation for being the supplier most likely to stock that specialised product to solve a customer’s problems. Its wide range of products means customers know Starleaton is their best chance of meeting that deadline, of sourcing the niche substrate.
At PacPrint, Eaton is showcasing a new product he believes will change the way the industry looks at outdoor signage. Oppboga Outdoor Board is the solution printers have been waiting for. It’s tough, waterproof, 100 percent recyclable – unlike polypropylene sheets – and takes standout print on both sides.
“Oppboga Outdoor Board prints beautifully on both sides, with digital UV, offset or screen print, because it’s fibre-based and has a very smooth white surface. It can be die-cut, hole-punched, erected and hung with ease and is very robust indeed. At the end of the campaign, it is 100 percent recyclable and de-inkable – it already contains around 60 percent recycled fibre,” says Eaton.
The new board takes its place among a wide variety of boards, films, laminates and textiles on the Starleaton stand E30, which is likely to prove to be one of the most colourful at the show.
It prints and cuts perfectly
The task of printing and cutting the Oppboga Outdoor Board for Starleaton’s PacPrint stand went to long-established print company and Starleaton customer, John Fisher and Co in Marrickville, Sydney. Tony Fisher, director, could not be more pleased with the way it worked.
“We printed it on our EFI GS3250lx Pro, then cut it on the Zünd G3 2XL 3200 digital cutting system. It worked perfectly. The combination of machines and board is hard to beat,” said Fisher.
Making the most of colour
When Starleaton acquired DES in late 2016, along with it came a reputation for leading the way in colour management. With products such as CGS Oris and PressMatcher; X-Rite, Pantone, Eizo, Just Normlicht and what was once the Best Rip, now EFI XF, DES had the tools and human expertise to solve almost any colour issues in offset, flexo, digital and wide format.
Russell Cavenagh, Starleaton’s new NSW state sales manager and product champion for the colour management portfolio (pictured), was with DES for 13 years before the merger, and says: “I believe we earned a reputation as the go-to company for top-level colour manage-ment and now we are part of Starleaton, I know the commitment is stronger than ever. Visitors to our stand at PacPrint will see a sizeable area devoted to colour management. We will have two highly qualified experts on the stand from CGS, Germany – Christoph Thommessen and Bernd Rückert – who have visited many times and will be demonstrating, among other things, how ORIS PressMatcher and InkSaver can transform a printer’s business and save money.”
Starleaton has six local colour experts of its own in Cavenagh, Peter Way, Daniela Barth, Mark Rixon, Craig Mandelson and John Bennett – all capable of going beyond plain ICC profiling and matching output across devices and processes such as UV, Solvent, Aqueous and Latex.
“It’s a comprehensive colour service offering and one unrivalled from a single source in Australia,” says Cavenagh, “With a portfolio that includes EFI Vutek, Epson, Roland DG, OKI and Canon wide-format hardware; colour management becomes even more critical as the higher productivity devices are attracting commercial offset buyers who want the same output quality from flatbed UVs and roll/hybrid machines as they get from their offset and proofing devices.”
See and learn all about top-level colour management from Starleaton at PacPrint 2017, Melbourne Exhibition Centre from May 23-26 on stand E30 right in the middle of the show.
Starleaton’s ‘Tree of Life’
Visitors to the Starleaton stand will gather around a giant ‘tree of life’ made entirely from the company’s Falcon board substrate. The ‘tree’ will tower over the display of technologies in a clear indication of Starleaton’s passion for paper-based point of sale and signage alternatives. The huge colourful centrepiece will be the largest board substrate construction at the show.