Members of a specialist PrintCity group have joined forces in a partnership visit to a customer site in Denmark as part of a strategic initiative to link world-leading expertise within the sheetfed marketplace. Eleven representatives of major companies from all over Europe within the long-term strategic alliance’s Sheetfed Activity Group went to Schur Pack at Horsens, Jutland, to talk to sales people and printers about graphic arts issues, particularly the benefits of Ultra Violet (UV) printing. The day-long seminar, which was preceded by a dinner the night before, was held at Schur Pack Denmark a/s, part of the Schur Group that is the oldest family-owned packaging business in the world. Hans Schur, Group Managing Director of Schur, said: “Innovation and tradition go hand in hand for our company and we were delighted to welcome members of PrintCity to informative and extremely relevant discussions on current trends within the graphic arts industry, particularly those such as UV. “All our activities – including thinking – are based on the customer, the customer’s needs and situation. We spend a lot of time with the customer because we understand the Schur meaning of ‘presence’ and focus on the working processes.” The companies that were represented at the Schur event were Eltosch, MAN Roland, Merck, Reeves, Sappi, Sun Chemical and Westland. John Adkin, chairman of PrintCity’s Sheetfed Activity Group and Sun Chemical’s European Product Director for Sheetfed and UV Inks, said: “The growth of UV in the UK is fairly steady, but it’s a different story in continental Europe and further afield where there are strong growth opportunities that PrintCity member companies are in a good position to take full advantage of through the networking taking place.” He added: “Our visit was also a good opportunity to discuss PrintCity’s Optimised Sheetfed UV Best Practice Guide produced by the Sheetfed Activity Group members. We also took the opportunity to review and acknowledge the contribution to the content from the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) in America, which is known worldwide for its research and training programmes for offset printing.” Before the latest seminar, Sheetfed Activity Group members had already been on a knowledge-sharing tour to Schur Park in Buchen, Germany, and may now expand the seminars to include possible future visits to other countries. The UV guide was also part of discussions as part of the MAN Roland customer forums that were held at the company’s site in Offenbach, Germany, in June. Rainer Kuhn, Managing Director of PrintCity, said: “These seminars were another practical example of how members are connecting and sharing expertise from within the 40-plus independent companies that make up our strategic alliance. “Members of PrintCity are working together for important projects within the graphic arts industry – and this visit was a practical way of networking to combine worldwide expertise to demonstrate the add-on value to member company customers.” More information on the PrintCity Optimised Sheetfed UV Best Practice Guide guide from: http://www.printcity.de/en/projects.parent.asp?idPr=5&E2=4 Copies of the guide can be ordered by e-mail: [email protected]