When he was younger, Justin Bailey, managing director of Global Graphics Software, worked for a neighbouring business to Crosfield Electronics in its heyday in Hemel Hempstead. The UK’s leading scanner, retouching and prepress software developer was flying at least one flag to signify it had won the Queen’s Award, in those days for technology or export sales. Now Bailey can order a flagpole for the Global Graphics software premises in Cambourne near Cambridge because the company he had has won its own Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the innovation category.
It is among several print and print related business to achieve the accolade announced on the Queen’s birthday each year. Contravision, Who’s On Your Case, have also been named winer awn will receive a visit from the Lord Lieutenant of the county to make a formal presentation, once restrictions on this kind of activity are lifted.
Global Graphics Software earned recognition for its ScreenPro software. This is designed to solve consistency and quality issues that can occur in inkjet printing. “It helps mask the artefacts that are sometimes found in single pass inkjet printing, though can also work with scanning or multiple pass printers as well,” he says.
Not surprisingly all the key vendors of inkjet printers have been examining the software to see whether implementation is possible. “ScreenPro takes condone data from any Rip or workflow, runs through the software and applies the most suitable screening at very high speed.”
The software has applications well beyond the CMYK workflows in graphic arts as inkjet expands into textiles, ceramics, wood laminate decor, wallpapers and other applications where consistency is essential. There is a seamless link to PrintFlat, a software that ensures the best profile is used to suit a job, substrate and printhead.
ScreenPro is intended to cope with fluctuations in nozzle shape over time, print head alignments but not the impact of nozzle outages as most engine manufacturers have the means to manage this issue.
“ScreenPro means that you will have more print jobs that transition to inkjet than were able to previously,” says Bailey. “There a family of screens depending on what it is you are printing and what the problem is that you are facing.”
The award follows a year after sister company Meteor Inkjet won the right to fly the flag by winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade. Likewise the International Trade award for Who’s on Your Case follows that for IDT Systems Technology for Innovation.
This technology underpins the ecommerce offer from WOYC. It has a series of subsidiaries across the world able to fulfil orders for personalised mobile phone cases, clock faces and other objects. It uses a transfer print technology printed on Epson inkjet machines where the software accounts for the distortion needed for transferring the flat image to the 3D object.
Managing director of both companies is Peter Woodd whose background encompasses holography for credit cards, banknotes and a stint at the state printing works in Germany working on security holograms for identity cards, driving licences and the like.
“When the iPhone 3 appeared everything changed forever,” he says. The company began selling systems for allow people to personalise their own phone cases, and then for someone to handle the production process behind a consumer facing website. “Who’s On Your Case because a service to enable entrepreneurs to do their business,” he says.
There are now ten businesses in different locations printing these cases and more. “It’s nice to be recognised for delivering a quality product that love and enjoy,” he says.
Contra Vision earned its award for an improved version of the window film that allows graphics to be printed one side of the film and allowing a clear view in the other direction. It achieved recognition in the innovation category having developed the high definition version of the film with 1mm sized holes rather than the previously standard of 1.6mm in diameter. It allows company’s to print high definition graphics with high clarity.
The company is a third-time winner having previously achieved the honour for international trade in 2014 and innovation in 2015.
Photocentric’s development of resins that can be used in flexible packaging and 3D printing and they are cured under visible light. Trade Copier earned the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for international trade. It refurbishes copiers and MFPs for sale in overseas markets. Standfast & Barracks earned the same accolade for its textile printing, spanning different styles of screen and gravure printing and now digital printing, while Woollard and Henry, a 147 year old engineering business, was recognised for international trade.
Its roots are in engineering for paper making and it produces dandy rolls for adding a watermark to paper, deckle edge cutters, felt guides and more for paper production and it is one of the world’s leading producers of machines for adding security threads to banknotes. It has since diversified into different sectors, including producing support vessels for the offshore oil industry.
The Global Graphics Software team is currently working from home, but gathered in January to celebrate winning a regional business award, now capping that with a first Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
