Page 50 - Packaging News magazine Jul-Aug 2021

50 PACK & LABEL PRINTING www.packagingnews.com.au | July-August 2021
Aussie Dscoop printers look to
A panel of leaders from evolving Australian printers presented to the world at HP Indigo user group event Dscoop, with packaging seen as a major growth opportunity.
how he finds out what those chal- lenges are, with Ellis replying that you have to ask the right questions.
Andrew Price said, “A lot of inno- vation comes from the customers. Printers need to consider what they are asking, what the real need is, whether it has legs, as we are a capital equipment heavy business.” Price said Rawson holds regular blue-sky meetings with customers and that they were transitioning into card-
board packaging. Price said Covid had seen packaging work at the company “booming”.
Will Currie talked about creating efficiencies in print, particularly around materials handling, and said that ware- housing was diminishing as the market increasingly turned to print on demand.
Price said the Rawson experi- ence was that customers were a mixed bag, he would be print- ing runs of 50, 5000, 100,000, on both digital and offset accord-
ing to need. Murphy said CMP could print hybrid, giving an example of a million run scratchie job that was printed offset, then printed on the HP Indigo 7900. He also said digital enabled same-day turnaround.
CMP is currently printing about 55-60 per cent of its work offset, with 15 per cent digital and 25 per cent wide format. However, Murphy said digital represented the biggest num- ber of jobs. Price concurred, it is printing about 80/20 offset digital, with packaging the fast growing area.
Ellis says Luminar is printing 85 per cent digital, 15 per cent flexo. He said, “Our HP Indigo 20000 digital print system is giving FMCG brand owners opportunities that simply did not exist before, and they are taking
THE world’s biggest graphic arts user event Dscoop had to be held online this year, but that did not stop a lively four-day forum from occu- pying the minds of print business leaders around the world.
Australian print business own- ers were considering the challenges and opportunities of the post-Covid world on the opening day of the global online event, with a live round-table webinar viewed by the 3000 printers registered for Dscoop.
Hosted by Dscoop APJ chair Kelvin Gage, and broadcasting from the Rawson Print Co boardroom in Sydney, the panel comprised printers Andrew Price, managing director of Rawson; Benn Murphy, director of Clarke Murphy Print; Matt Ellis, managing director of Luminar; and Will Currie from HP Indigo supplier to Australia and New Zealand, Currie Group.
All present in the boardroom were optimistic for the future of their busi- nesses and of print post-Covid. All of them highlighted the need to be open
to new ideas, to see and take oppor- tunities. All are running businesses that are evolving rapidly, as they seek new opportunities, invest in new technologies, and work hard to get alongside customers. All are target- ing packaging and labels as key growth areas.
Gage opened proceedings asking the panel to share their experiences and thoughts on the transition. Murphy recounted how his great-grandfather had a 16-week lead time for print jobs, and if someone phoned to ask him how it was going that would blow out to 20 weeks. He said today 16 hours is more common. He shared how jobs of mul- tiple components were growing, and said that prior to the pandemic CMP was experiencing double digital annual growth.
Matt Ellis at digital and flexo pouch producer Luminar said, “The core of who we are is helping our customers to innovate. It is all about the cus- tomer, and helping them solve the challenges they face.” Gage asked Ellis
Challenges and opportunities for print post-Covid: (l-r) Will Currie, Matt Ellis, Benn Murphy, Andrew Price and Kelvin Gage
We have customers with $150m turnovers who are placing new orders for digital packaging solutions every week.”
– Matt Ellis