GRAPHIC DISPLAY
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Check out these eye-catching applications in our web site’s Case Histories section. http://www.graphicdisplayusa.com/case_history.html?uid=ss4c77c89248a11 ]]> If you are a manufacturer of rigid media or vinyl, how are you making products more eco-friendly? Was this initiative taken based on customer demand or something else? Alcan Composites USA has intensified its efforts to ensure that the company’s ecological footprints are small and green through its Care & Conserve™ sustainability initiative, which assesses the company’s entire supply chain from raw materials to disposal. Our best practices are focused on reusing/recycling materials and on reducing material consumption/disposal in landfills. Sustainability is practiced in both our business operations and product manufacturing. Several initiatives have been adopted within company operations, including a program that allows customers to receive all order acknowledgements and invoices electronically, reducing paper consumption and delivery fuel expenditures. Minimum recycle content has been set in the manufacturing of each of the company’s Fome-Cor, Sintra, Gator and Dibond product lines. And, supply chain directives require all paper used to manufacture the company’s paper-faced foam boards be purchased from suppliers that participate in either the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or Forestry Stewardship Council. More information about Alcan Composites’ sustainability initiatives can be found in the four-page Care & Conserve brochure available for viewing or downloading at http://www.graphicdisplayusa.com/sustainability_literature.html. While customers in recent years have requested sustainable graphic display products, Alcan Composites USA long has been focused on long-term sustainability as an integral component of business operations. We believe that sustainability and business value go hand in hand and are committed to continually looking for ways to achieve sustainability in our business. How has the economy impacted eco-friendly media sales in the last year? Do you feel there is a turnaround on the horizon? The economic crisis has definitely affected sustainability. While customers like the idea of sustainability, many can’t afford to pay a premium for sustainable products. We’ve seen an upswing in our business segment in early-2010 and are cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the year. It remains to be seen whether or not a true economic turnaround has begun. If there is a turnaround, what new developmental efforts do you have in place to support green initiatives? We will continue to support green initiatives through the company’s Care & Conserve™ sustainability program, which assesses the company’s entire supply chain from raw materials to disposal. Rather than focusing solely on materials that can be recycled at a premium, we encourage designers and fabricators to incorporate a cradle-to-grave sustainability focus in the project design phase, including selecting materials that utilize recycled content and that can be transported efficiently to reduce fossil fuel expenditures. Our Care & Conserve “People + Planet: Reducing/Reusing/Recycling” flyer is a two-page document providing six important sustainability questions for customers to consider when selecting a substrate provider. A “Product Life Cycle” diagram visually describes the importance of including best practices in sustainability throughout a product’s life cycle, i.e. cradle to grave. Additionally, our Care & Conserve “Green Logistics: Challenges for the Environmentally Responsible Specifier” describes how specifying products labeled as “recyclable” and “biodegradable” can be misleading because technology often is not available to complete these actions after the product is utilized. However, specifying products that contain recycled content and/or products that have been certified as sustainable are sure ways to reduce a company’s green footprint. Both the Care & Conserve “People + Planet: Reducing/Reusing/Recycling” flyer and “Green Logistics: Challenges for the Environmentally Responsible Specifier” are available for viewing and/or downloading at http://www.graphicdisplayusa.com/sustainability_literature.html. Have your customers been asking for eco-friendly media, or is it simply an added bonus when they find out the media they plan to use is green? While customers often request “green” media, their purchasing decisions still are directed by economics. At this point, they will not pay a premium for these products. To read what others in the industry are saying, visit Digital Output on-line at: http://www.digitaloutput.net/Content/ContentCT.asp?P=1709 ]]> FROM WHAT INDUSTRIES/OR TYPES OF BUSINESSES DO YOU SEE THE GREATEST DEMAND FOR SHORT-TERM POP PROJECTS? We’ve seen the highest demand for short-term POP in the seasonal retail market. Product brands heavily utilized during one season or another – such as self-tanning products in summer – often are promoted with short-term POP signage and displays. JUST HOW SHORT-TERM ARE THESE PROJECTS BEING DISPLAYED FOR - WEEKS, MONTHS, ETC.? Short-term POP is displayed on average for one month. WHAT MAKES YOUR MEDIA ESPECIALLY CONDUCIVE TO SHORT-TERM POP AND RAPID TURNAROUNDS? PLEASE DESCRIBE ANY SPECIFIC PRODUCTS THAT YOU OFFER FOR THIS TYPE OF WORK. Alcan Composites USA offers a wide range of graphic display boards to meet customers’ needs for both price and value. When creating short-term POP designed to be displayed for only a few weeks, price is king in the substrate choice. In POP designed to be displayed for one to two months, the substrate’s value and properties are considered along with pricing. Products in our cost-competitive Fome-Cor® board line allow more artful displays to be created with three-dimensional effects and pillowed edges through die-cutting and embossing fabrication techniques. Fast turnaround is key in both substrate availability and finished POP. No one wants to wait. Decisions are made closer to promotion rollout. DESCRIBE ANY ESPECIALLY CREATIVE APPLICATIONS OF SHORT-TERM POP YOU HAVE SEEN. WHAT MARKETING MESSAGES ARE BEING USED ON THEM? Messages are seasonal or “sale” focused. To read more on this subject from Digital Output, follow this link: http://www.digitaloutput.net/Content/ContentCT.asp?P=1684 ]]> * How is the wide-/grand-format industry faring overall? Within the overall graphic display industry, our fabricators tell us that their business is down on average 30 percent to 50 percent, depending on the shop, and business hunger is driving aggressive sales approaches. We’ve certainly seen some shops close in this economy. * The current worldwide economic crisis had had a profound impact on the industry as a whole. What areas were hit hardest? When do you see things beginning to turn around? In this country, areas with the highest foreclosure and unemployment rates – especially Southwestern states including California and Arizona – have also taken the hardest hits in the graphic display industry. We at Alcan Composites have taken our lead from federal government economic forecasts, which predict the start of a slow economic recovery in late-2009. We’ve timed the launch of our new Legends of Mythology marketing communications campaign to coincide with that forecast. We believe that the worst is definitely behind us. * What technological developments have helped move the industry forward? Digital printing is king. It allows shops to print smaller quantity jobs without incurring high costs in materials and labor to set up screens for printing. Technological advances in inks – including aqueous, solvent and UV inks – are helping to fuel this digital printing mega-trend. Additionally, more flatbed printers are being developed to facilitate direct printing on thicker rigid substrates such as Fome-Cor®, Sintra®, Gator® and Dibond® graphic display boards, which reduces the material and labor costs that would be required to mount digital images. * Sustainability has been a growing trend. Has the current economic crisis affected it? The economic crisis has definitely affected sustainability. While customers like the idea of sustainability, many can’t afford to pay a premium for sustainable products. Alcan Composites’ Care & Conserve™ sustainability initiative assesses the company’s entire supply chain from raw materials to disposal. Rather than focusing solely on materials that can be recycled at a premium, we encourage designers and fabricators to incorporate a cradle-to-grave sustainability focus in the project design phase, including selecting materials that utilize recycled content and that can be transported efficiently to reduce fossil fuel expenditures. Additional Care & Conserve sustainability tips can be downloaded from our web site at www.AlcanCompositesUSA.com. * How are shops responding to and coping with these challenges? We’ve seen workforce reductions at shops, as well much greater competition for business with customers who’ve established long-standing relationships with particular fabricators. Unfortunately, many shops have cut product inventories, which can make it difficult to fulfill print orders that are required on average to be turned around within two days. This practice hurts the industry as a whole. Some shops have focused on improving their operations with efforts that not only save long-term costs but contribute to sustainability – such as switching from propane-powered forklifts to electric forklifts and installing energy-efficient lighting. * What growth do you foresee in this market? Where is the greatest growth opportunity for shops (niche/application)? Why? Following government forecasts, we expect to see a slight economic turnaround through the end of this year and are cautiously optimistic that the graphic display industry will experience growth in early 2010. Any new types of business opportunities should be examined by shops. We’ve seen some of our distributors start selling manufacturing equipment in addition to printing substrates in an effort to expand sales and attract new customers. * Where do you see the wide-/grand-format market in 12 months? It remains to be seen, but we’d expect this market to be up along with the rest of the economy. To read the responses of others in the industry, visit Wide-Format Imaging on-line at: http://www.wide-formatimaging.com/print/Wide-Format-Imaging/Reset-Economy----Brings-Cautious-Optimism/2$5331 http://www.wide-formatimaging.com/print/Wide-Format-Imaging/Reset-Economy----Brings-Cautious-Optimism/2$5331 http://www.wide-formatimaging.com/print/Wide-Format-Imaging/Sustainability-and-the-Economy/2$5406 ]]> <p>With this in mind, Alcan has released a new product to the market: <br />e-panel™ White/Mill Finish.</p> <p>The material still comes with standard white polyester paint on the top side to receive graphics, but the back (unseen) side has a mill finish. For more information, please visit: e-panelUSA.com</p> <p> </p>]]> Quote From : Jim </p>
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<p>http://www.screenprintdow.com/pdfs/ScreenPrinting_Oct.pdf.html</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> <p>Very good insight, congrats on the feature!</p>]]> <p> </p>]]> |
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