Buyers' Guide

Suggestions that the screen printing process is on its last legs may be wide of the mark; the signs are that although it's in decline, the technology is far from dead. Indeed, according to Prism's president Peter Kiddell, there is still a lot of demand.

There are industries that are absolutely dependant on screen printing, he says. It’s a standalone process that’s highly profitable.

The manufacturing sector is one example. For displays in products such as radios and cars, the printed parts are produced using screen as, according to Fespa sales and marketing director Marcus Timson, there are no other practical processes. Screen is also migrating from Europe into the Asian market, where there is a manufacturing boom.

With screen print you need more people and more skills, so it’s not as fashionable in the UK because of the costs involved, says Timson.

While years ago there were a significant number of printers focusing on screen printing, today many successful firms are hybrid. They install a mix of technologies such as screen, digital and large-format litho. But the suggestion that printers are getting rid of their screen presses altogether in favour of digital is simply not true, according to Timson.

Five or six years ago that might have been a reality, he explains. Printers were clamouring for digital and the ability to produce sophisticated marketing campaigns delivered to different areas. But now printers are realising that screen offers some benefits that digital doesn’t.

In the arts sector, screen process or silk screen printing is big news: Silkscreen print, as they call it, has become very popular now that it’s got some cash in it, says Kiddell. And of course, there are a limited number of people who can do it well. With screen, skills and expertise is needed to operate in the market.

But the main problem for screen remains the take-up of large-format digital market. Screen inks are still cheaper than digital, but Kiddell reckons that’s where screen might lose out long-term as ink manufacturers will switch their attention to digital because there’s more money to be made.

Kiddell adds: Ink manufacturers are going after digital because a litre of screen ink will cost £20 while digital inks will cost £100."

WHAT'S NEW IN... SCREEN PROCESS PRESSES

• EFI Vutek has launched a high-speed UV wide-format flatbed machine, the DS Series. The sub-€1m (£787,000) price tag means that the manufacturer is gunning for the screen sector. We have pushed the economics of digital into screen like no other machine has to this point, said Chuck Dourlet, EFI Vutek vice-president of marketing

• Bangkok is to host the first ever FESPA World Expo Asia-Pacific in 2008. The event will be held at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre on 28-30 November. The event is the region’s only exhibition dedicated to screen and wide-format printing technologies

• Industry trade body the Digital and Screen Printing Association, changed its name to Prism. The move was announced at Sign and Digital UK 2008. Prism extended its membership to include all suppliers within the digital, screen and pad printing markets throughout the UK. John Keith, Prism business manager said: We are excited to officially launch Prism and roll-out the new member benefits and initiatives