Printing Company T’Hooft in Aalter Belgium has invested in new press automation of Q.I. Press Controls (QIPC). The specialist in measuring and control systems for the printing industry will install IDS-3D closed-loop colour control on the Koenig & Bauer Compacta 818 press.
Printing Company T’Hooft was founded almost 70 years ago by Raphaél T’Hooft and is still a real family business today. Over the years, the company has grown to one of the most important players in the Benelux and far beyond by continuously investing and offering added value to its customers. The decision to install the IDS-3D colour control system was a very conscious one. Tom Desmet, production manager at Printing Company T’Hooft, says, “Due to the fast, accurate start-up that the QIPC system makes possible, we expect to be able to reduce the start-up waste considerably. Koenig & Bauer’s powerful advice also certainly contributed to the choice.”
In addition to printing high-quality magazines, catalogs and leaflets, the printing company also provides contract orders. It takes care of all processes, from the initial design to the customer-ready printed product. In addition to printed products, T’Hooft also offers online marketing services in order to keep up with developments in the digital field.
C80 press
Q.I. Press Controls is pleased with the order at T’Hooft. Erwin van Rossem, director of Global Sales and Marketing of QIPC, explains, “Q.I. Press Controls is known by the general public to be active in newspaper printing. With this order we can emphasize our presence in the heatset segment, which has had a strong focus for years. The large players in press automation of the past have started to focus on other market segments, while we have made the choice to mainly serve our existing markets. This has resulted in optimal service and continuous improvement of our solutions. T’Hooft will continue to benefit from this in the years to come.”
Q.I. Press Controls develops and delivers innovative, high-quality optical measure and control systems. It is globally active in the newspaper and magazine printing industry. Its solutions are supported by a worldwide service network. These reliable systems are proven in the market of existing and new printing presses and offer our customers better structural results.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.