FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2004

Premier SGIA Imaging Symposium Ushers in New Level of Information & Networking

More than 30 industry professionals — printers, press and manufacturers including VUTEk, Thieme and Siasprint — attended the inaugural SGIA Imaging Symposium (Brussels, September 9, 10 & 11, 2004), enjoying seminars led by industry experts, plant tours and social activities that built their personal networks. The symposium provided insights into color management, solvent printing, UV printing and inks (digital and five-color screen printing) and the European Union environmental, health and safety regulations that affect day-to-day operations for every European printer.

Session leaders included Marci Kinter (SGIA), Ton Rombout (SignPro Europe), Leo Meenderman, Hans Karenbeek (VUTEk Europe), Dirk Driesen (VUTEk), Nadine Gabrische (Thieme Germany), Dennis Pique (Thieme Germany) and Saskia Desmet (Enfocus Software).

“Especially in the wake of a successful SGIA ’04 (Minneapolis, October 6­9, 2004), it’s important to reinforce that SGIA is about much more than a fabulous convention. SGIA is an educational platform,” said SGIA President & CEO, Michael Robertson.

And education is what the Brussels meeting provided, with sessions that included question and answer periods and gave everyone an opportunity to maximize the experience.

Many EU directives have an influence on printing facilities, with an emphasis on the basic obligation of owners to protect employees’ health. Marci Kinter, Vice President of Government Affairs for SGIA, provided an overview of Europe’s current environmental, safety and health situation. To help screen and digital printers, who often find material data safety sheets difficult to decipher, Kinter included a 14-question checklist designed to help them get the correct and necessary information from vendors in easy-to-understand language.

Ton Rombout, Editor in Chief of SignPro Europe, introduced Certified PDF to the group and spoke on color management. C-PDF, launched at the meeting, creates a standard in file communication between clients and printers, with profiles, job options and screen shots based on Enfocus certified technology. C­PDF was developed by a working group of 10 ZSO members, supported by the Enfocus Ghent workgroup and FESPA.

Leo Meenderman, an expert on UV technology, told the group UV inks and coatings are often preferred to conventionally air dried and thermally cured products, because of the high level of achievable quality standards UV inks and coatings. He also showed where advantages in one field will be applied to UV applications.

At their Zaventem facility, Hans Klarenbeek, Managing Director, VUTEk Europe, and Dirk Dreisen, Technical Manager, VUTEk, gave an overview of the market of wide-format digital printing in Europe, touching on the growth of UV flatbed printing as well as other methods and their market shares. Driesen’s lecture concentrated on print heads, comparing various Spectra and Xaar print heads, and led to a thorough, “fact-finding” discussion. VUTEk provided lunch on site and hosted a dinner in Brussels for the group.

A plant tour of Antwerp display printer Print and Display featured a presentation from Thieme and demonstrations of large-format offset presses and the Thieme five-color 5070 screen printing machine. Nadine Gabrisch and Dennis Pique, both of Thieme Germany, noted that sales of their new four- or five-color lines in the last period had been in eastern European countries, and western European demand was largely for second-hand lines.

Also during the Print and Display tour, Saskia Desmet, International Sales Account Manager for Enfocus, demonstrated the C-PDF profiles for screen printing and wide-format digital printing. (Following the tour, Enfocus hosted a generous lunch.)

Robertson says SGIA plans additional, similar symposiums in other countries and regions, serving those printers’ information needs.

“SGIA’s goal is to give printers around the world the information to make intelligent business decisions,” he says.

“Specialty imaging” comprises screen printing, digital imaging and the many other imaging technologies SGIA and DPI members use, and will use, to create products including point-of-purchase displays, signs and advertisements. Specialty imaging also adds value to existing products such as garments, containers and vehicles. SGIA provides its members with tools and information resources to maximize their technology, staffing and capital investments.

SGIA ( Specialty Graphic Imaging Association)
10015 Main Street
Fairfax, VA 22031-3489
Phone: 703.359.1301 or 888.385.3588
Fax: 703.273.0456
E-Mail: sgia@sgia.org
Website URL: www.sgia.org