NEWS

BSP is a specialist screenprinting company and we find that many of our regular customers are surprised when they learn the range of applications for screen process printing. We can print on to almost any item with a flat surface and because of the range of inks available can offer matt or gloss finishes, opaque or transparent colours.

'In Touch' is our newsletter published on an occasional basis to show a few of the many projects in which we participate. We hope you find it interesting and informative. If you would like to join the mailing list please e-mail us at Company Email.

Click on the headings below to read the story behind the print.

BSP doubles production area and continues investment in new machines

The business in business cards

Laser Technics – at the cutting edge of customer service

Intelligency - A Case for Presentation

The Face of Xerox Fax Machines

Card Games at the Abbey

A Warm welcome to Sid

Recycling Peterborough

BAF and BSP....Partnership in Action

BSP doubles production area and continues investment in new machines

As part of BSP’s long term growth plan a mezzanine floor was installed recently to double the area of the print room. Complete with fire rated suspended ceiling the installation was carefully timed to avoid disruption to work in progress and has made a big difference to print production. the support pillars have been positioned to give an unobstructed area downstairs and a high level gate gives fork lift access to the new upper level.

The new area has enabled the purchase of another Atma 660 H/E semi automatic print machine which is already commissioned and hard at work. This allows BSP to respond quicker to customer’s needs and adds even more flexibility to our operation.

A further addition to our print room is a wide format solvent ink digital printer. This images directly to self adhesive vinyls and many other plastics, and the inks are guranteed waterproof and fade proof outdoors for three years. Using the latest print head technology it prints at an equivalent of 1440dpi with variable drop sizes so photographic quality for outdoor graphics is much more affordable. It also contour cuts materials to shape as it prints – so saving die cutting as well as film and screen costs.

The software that drives it will print sequential numbering, names, or any other variable information, so serial number stickers, car park passes for windscreens can now be produced quickly and economically.

These new additions give us the flexibility to produce quality print to plastics for any volume at highly competitive prices: Digital for low volumes, two semi automatic Atma machines for medium volumes and the high speed Svecia for high volumes.

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The business in business cards

Sometimes you are so close to an idea you simply don’t recognise the true value of it.

Because we frequently print on plastics it made sense for us to print our business cards on plastic. we chose a textured polycarbonate as this is a tough material and prints well, thus providing a good vehicle for us to demonstrate our printing skills at the same time as serving the original purpose. Polycarbonate is available in a variety of finishes and we chose to use a matt/velvet texture as this gives a diffused background and has a mark resistant quality.

Naturally we hoped our cards would attract attention to our printing, but we were not propared for the fact that a lot of people who saw them would want them for themselves! Although more expensive than conventional cards the polycarbonate variety were so different that they were always remarked on and, it seems, never thrown away.

One of our customers pointed out that it costs a small fortune to employ salesmen, and by the time they’ve got to see the right person the costs have doubled so it makes sense to have a card that stands out from the crowd. He is amongst several of our customers that now use our plastic cards – and now some of their customers are ordering them too!

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Laser Technics – at the cutting edge of customer service

Sue Cook and her father Alan run Laser Technics, a company offering laser cutting and engraving of paper, wood and acrylics. She had been looking for a good screen process printer for years, but not had much luck – poor quality, missed delivery dates and an inability to cope with digital artwork seemed to be the rule. Sue was purposefully concentrating her marketing efforts in the high quality display and point of purchase areas where the acrylic material needed screenprinting, and ther lack of a reliable printer was causing production and quality headaches.

When Lare Technics won the order to produce the sample swatches for ICI’s Perspex and Lucite ranges of acrylics Sue began to worry that the quality of print would let her down with this important new customer. when Sue contacted BSP and talked through the problems she had experienced with other printers she was surprised when BSP offered to produce a sample so she could see the quality that coul;d be achieved. The results surprised her – not only were the samples produced on time, but the quality of print was exceptional. Many of the logos included very fine detail and all was perfectly reproduced. BSP’s continuous investment in the latest equipment was winning new customers again – this time not only the printing machine, but the ionising air gun that eliminates the static charge on plastic sheets.

Static can be a major problem in printing, especially in screen printing. Screen printers occasionally witness plastic sheets with a mind of their own, and see sparks jump several inches as a charge of static is earthed. As this happens the plastic attracts any airborne dust particles – and wiping these away only increases the static charge. Even worse is the behaviour if the ink during printing – ‘cobwebbing’ is the very descriptive name for the result when ink is attracted to plastic even before printing – leaving an uncontrolled fringe of fine ink strands round the printed design.
Fortunately for Sue BSP had consulted with the experts in static control some months before, and invested in the system recommended.

Sue was confident enough to place the order with BSP and lorry loads of Perspex were scheduled for delivery to the Buckingham factory. The artwork was E-mailed direct to BSP for output to film and production began. Sue and Alan Cook were pleased with the results “Not only didBSP produce excellence in print, but their organisation of a complicated production schule was impressive” she said. “There are over forty different colours in just one of the series we produce and each one arrived on time, correctly identified and protected against damage. The complete package from BSP is very impressive” – and ICI agreed, by making Laser Technics a preferred supplier for future items.

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Intelligency - A Case for Presentation

DBMD Intelligency is a company in the market intelligence business: they acquire, enhance and manage data fortheir clients, most of whom are multinational household names. As a company thatgathers marketing information across Europe and the Americas they field a team of researchers with the ability to discuss technical detail in almost any language. Having acquired the information base, DBMD then process the raw details into a database, marketing research document or other business tool that their client has commissioned.

The process is time consuming and costly, and the hard copy or electronic report must reflect the investment DBMD  have made - and reflect the prestigious international image of the company. DBMD  devised a high quality presentation package to reflect and enhance the value of  the reports and discs supplied.

Black was chosen as the base colour, with a matt ink specified for two colours, and a high gloss for the third. BSP were able to advise on the right types of ink to achieve the effect required, and were the first choice supplier to print this prestigious package.

Printed, diecut and creased, the presentation of DBMD's reports now matches the quality of their contents and the rest of the companies corporate literature.

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The Face of Xerox Fax Machines

Although most businesses have had a fax machine for many years, growth in the market is still strong - with more people working away from the office and the continued expansion in small businesses this growth seems set to continue. Xerox, one of the world market leaders in this area, were developing a new machine for a European launch and asked us to help with the prototype and launch production of the fascias.  These panels indicated the functions of all the operating buttons, and because they are positioned directly next to the operating keys there was the possibility of the ink literally wearing away as the machine was used. BSP advised the way to avoid this potential problem by subsurface printing - using a clear plastic (in this case polycarbonate film) and printing the image in reverse. Complex cutting formes had to be made so that a good 'fit' around the operating keys was obtained - for this a laser cutter was programmed to provide the ultimate in accuracy. The print had to be accurate too, with five colours one side and one on the reverse the register and consistency of colour had to be perfect - and it was!

A further stage involved the application of an adhesive layer so that the finished item could be permanently mounted to the fax machine. BSP were delighted to be chosen to produce these items and to date are  supplying  production for English, French, German, Danish, Italian, Portugese and Norweigian machines.

Xerox's Stephen Flint, responsible for the entire project said "I am very pleased with the result, and particularly with the support provided by BSP. The attention to detail has been impressive and all our timescales were met".

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Card Games at the Abbey

The Abbey National have many hundreds of ATM's (automatic teller machines or cash dispensers) located allround the country and as with banks, not all cards can be used at these machines. The ATM carries a sheet showing the accepted card's logos. In the past Abbey National had used an ordinary self adhesive vinyl for these logo sheets, but found that they were prone to vandalism and the graphics tended to get scratched an worn. They consulted BSP who recommended  sub-surface printing on a 175 micron textured polycarbonate, laminated with a permanent adhesive. This material protected the print and the textured surface was resistant to abrasive damage. Printed in ten colours, including a white background, BSP produced 500 each of four different sizes of logo sheets die cut to shape and delivered the finished item within seven days to meet the Abbey's tight deadline.

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A Warm welcome to Sid

Earlier this year we took delivery of a new print machine which incorporates the latest technology in semi automatic design. Manufactured by the Atma corporation in Taiwan the machine is pneumatically powered (hence the name of Sid......hissing Sid?) and replaces one of our small hand bench machines. Because the entire print cycle is automated all the settings can be stored for the next time a job repeats, ensuring consistency and a faster set up time. An added advantage is Sid's speed and accuracy of both registration and squeegee pressure. We (and our customers) are finding an improvement in the quality and speed of turnaround for 'medium' run lengths. Larger production runs are printed by the high speed Svecia and it's jetspeed dryer, whilst we retain one handbench for low volumes and proofing.

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Recycling Peterborough

Most local authorities now actively promote recycling of many items that in the past have gone to landfill sites. The householders of Peterborough are now getting 'the message' with the help of BSP. Shanks and McEwen look after waste disposal in Peterborough and when they studied the recycling project found itessential that householders remain aware of which types of  waste can and cannot be successfully recycled. The plan was to provide each householder with a plastic box to store recyclable waste until collection day. The box had to be inexpensive and tough enough to last many years, so moulded polypropylene seemed ideal for the job. A vinyl sticker indicating acceptable materials would be stuck to each box and the rest seemed easy.

Unfortunately polypropylene has a 'high surface energy' and normal self adhesive vinyls will not adhere properly. Faced with this problem BSP recomended a special grade of vinyl with an adhesive made for the job. 60,000 labels were printed in full colour and cut to rounded corners to enable easy fixing to the boxes.

The adhesive keyed well to the recycling boxes so now everyone in Peterborough knows just what can be recycled.

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BAF and BSP....Partnership in Action

Bafbox, as the name suggests, are specialists in the design and manufacture of plastic boxes - and specialist boxes at that. Dealing mostly, but not exclusively with customers in the electronics area, Bafbox design and make good looking plastic enclosures where production volumes are not high enough to make injection moulding economic.

The most frequently used material is polystyrene, purchased in sheet form. The surface of the styrene is textured to minimise any surface marking during the manufacturing process or final use.

Bafbox's designers produce a CAD/CAM programme from their customers drawings and this digitised information is sent to the computer controlled milling machines which then automatically create the shapes and apertures required. Parts are then heat bent so that the two halves snap together accurately.

BAF stands for British and French, and up to 1995 all production was completed in France, but David Thompson, Baf's managing director, saw the potential for growth in this area and decided to manufacture in the UK and find a source for screenprinting printing the product. This wasn't easy -  a textured surface makes production of fine detail print difficult to achieve and none of the British companies Bafbox tried seemed to be able to produce the quality of work that they were used to from their French colleagues. When David asked BSP to run a production trial he was more impressed with the results, but still not satisfied. He did, though, note a difference in attitude from BSP, as BAF's commercial director Ian Watson pointed out; "It's important to form partnerships with people who show a positive attitude and demonstrate the will to get an agreed result. BSP's level of commitment was clear enough to convince us that that they were the people to help us with our long term objective of manufacture solely in the UK."

"BSP's understanding of what was required was evident as they met all our criteria; although we try to allow a reasonable turnaround time occasionally we have an urgent project ; either way the quality of print is of paramount importance and we welcomed BSP's uncompromising attitude to quality".

A joint programme between Bafbox and BSP commenced to ensure that Bafbox's customers knew how to obtain best results and BSP worked hard to provide a quality of print that reflected the quality of finish of Bafbox's manufacturing process. BSP now produce a wide variety of print on Bafboxes - some simple, some more complex and more of a challenge, but Baf's David Thompson is happy with the results.

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