Mumbai-based Hitech Systems, organized a knowledge-sharing session on lamination process at the Sunville Banquets in central Mumbai business district of Worli on 7 June. The event focused on imparting knowledge to commercial offset printers, digital printers, book printers, photo album makers, binders and packaging printers.
In the opening session, Parag Shah of Hitech Systems talked about the solutions that the company offers. Hi-tech was established in 1989 and since 2007 it has emerged as a leading name in the short-run, on-demand and quick print finishing solutions business.
After the opening session, Ladislav Moc, managing director of Foliant, gave a presentation on the lamination process. Foliant is a Czech Republic based company that specializes in manufacturing lamination machines and is distributed in India by Hitech Systems.
Moc started his talk by citing a golden rule of lamination; that one should never buy or use a wider laminator than is really necessary. “It is valid for distributors as well,” he said. “They should never sell a wider laminator than what the customer requires.”
He informed the audience about lamination and technologies that compete with it, primarily UV varnishing. According to Moc, UV varnishing is only a partial competitor to lamination given that both technologies are competing only in a small segment of the market—in the surface finish of the medium class magazine cover sheets.
The major drawback of UV varnishing technology is that it is not certified for children’s books and magazines due to the presence of noxious compounds. On the other hand, polypropylene foil is certified even for contact with foodstuff, Moc said, adding that this makes it safe even for children.
Another difference that Moc pointed out that existed between the two technologies is that when the varnished sheets are creased or folded, the varnished coat develops a break and a white line appears on the sheet surface. But in case of a lamination, the sheet will remain intact even after it is bent or folded, he said.
Moc concluded his presentation by informing the audience about the various solutions that Foliant offers.
Value addition for further growth
In the final session of the evening, Amit Shah of Spectrum Scan argued that printers need to add value to the printed product in order to grow in today’s competitive environment. He said that value addition can happen in both the pre-printing and post-printing stages.
“We have to think of what we can do for our customers before the printing process and after the printing process. I feel post-printing value addition is the biggest differentiator,” Shah said.
In the pre-printing stage, printers can add value to the artwork, layout or by color correction. In the post-printing stage, Shah said, printers should explore ways to use scented inks, computer-controlled spot gluing, UV inks, specialty stocks, special effect coatings, UV curable gloss and dull coatings, metallic process color system, embossing, fluorescent inks, die-cutting and foil stamping.
“These are some of the exciting post-printing services that will add significant value to your printed products,” Shah said.
He also advised printers to visit global exhibitions to stay abreast with the latest technologies. “Visit exhibitions across the globe and get exposed to latest developments. Do not restrict yourself to just drupa,” he concluded.
