Page 32 - Print 21 Sep-Oct 2019

Paper
Spicers celebrates
KPP ownership
Printing royalty rocked up to the Waterview in Homebush during PrintEx, as Spicers officially launched itself under new owners Kokusai Pulp & Paper (KPP).
Some of the country’s leading commercial and wide format printers were invited to join Spicers and KPP as they broke the sake barrel in a traditional Japanese
ritual to mark a new beginning, at an evening held during PrintEx.
Speaking to Print21 at the event Spicers CEO David Martin said, “Tonight is about being together. We are all aiming for the same goal. We have great respect for our customers, and want to thank them for their support. We want to introduce the KPP people, the customers and the Spicers leaders to each other.”
Some eight KPP top brass made the trip to Sydney, with president Madoka Tanabe presented with a commemorative artwork made in paper, by CEO David Martin.
Speaking to the assembled guests Martin said, “Spicers is about creating solutions. Tonight’s event will show how much change we have been through, and in recent times how increasingly positive that change has been.
“Spicers is 154 years old. We are now in
a new venture, under the KPP ownership, which everyone is excited about, and which will be beneficial for the Australian and New Zealand print industries.”
Printers speaking to Print21 at the event were all appreciative of the work by Martin and his team in the last three years to set the company on its current course, and
to be able to provide them with supply, consistency, and service.
Tanabe-san said, “We at KPP aim to expand throughout the Asia-Pacific. Spicers will now be one cohesive organisation
with finance and management working as one, which will create a stronger business. We look forward to working with you all.”
Guests at the event enjoyed sake from the barrel, served in traditional Japanese boxes. Tradition has it that those who crack the barrel – Martin, Tanabe, Spicers’ finance director Damien Power, and Makoto Ikuto, general manager of overseas business at KPP – are not allowed to leave the room until the last of the sake has been consumed. 21
Above Spicers leaders, printers and KPP top brass celebrate the union
Left Shop smart with Spicers: (from left) Cyndi Setia, Wayne Hood, and Glen Makary, on the PrintEx stand
PrintEx: Shopping smart at Spicers’ supermarket
Spicers was encouraging printers
to shop smart at PrintEx, calling
on them to visit its on-stand supermarket concept, which ran throughout the show and focused
on its a wide format division which it established a decade ago. A number of wide-format devices were on display, which Glen Makary, national sales manager, says reflects strong demand.
“We’ve had good growth over the last nine to ten years, and we’ve continued to evolve our portfolio through developing products with Wayne Hood, portfolio manager at Spicers, to become one of the market leaders in the sign and display space,” he said. Cyndi Setia, marketing and design manager for Spicers, says, “The Spicers Supermarket showcased a wide variety of ideas for print, packaging, labelling, signage, architecture and interior design.”
The Supermarket, she says, gave visitors the chance to discover a variety of solutions illustrated with real-world applications, drawing from Spicers’ expansive portfolio of media and substrates for commercial and digital print, labels and packaging, sign and display, as well as architectural and interior design.
Setia says that at the Spicers Supermarket printers were able
to immerse themselves in a grand opening retail experience, and explore aisles for brands like Re-Board, 3M window and graphic films, Ace Outdoor, Yupo, Palboard, Digitac, and Corflute.
The Spicers Supermarket also featured the range of 3M Architectural Finishes, including 3M Di-Noc, a self-adhesive product range that can be applied to a wide variety of surface materials from walls and partitions, to false ceilings, and even furniture.
32 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019