The Lion Park chooses
Epson to print special
moments
T
he Lion Park, one of Gauteng’s leading tourist attrac-
tions, has installed an Epson SureLab SL-D3000 dry
lab photo printer in its new Photographic Centre, a
facility installed to complement the comprehensive ser-
vices it currently offers its visitors.
The new Photographic Centre will allow visitors to
print photos and photo books onsite after their visit to
the park, to take away as amemento of their experiences
there. After capturing images of the Park’s extensive va-
riety of wildlife, visitors can download their images via
self-help kiosks, order prints in various sizes, or design
and order photo books.
‘The Epson SureLab SL-D3000 makes it possible for
the Lion Park to stand tall alongside other tourist facilities
worldwide,’ said Andre Lacock, project manager of the
Photographic Centre. ‘Visitors are now able to take home
photos of their favourite pictures captured at the Park,
sharing them with friends and family as mementos of a
wonderful day.’
George Rosa of ImageMed, an Epson specialist re-
seller,recommendedtheprintertotheLionPark.‘ThePho-
tographic Centre needed a robust, reliable and easy solu-
tion to print larger prints than usual for use in photobooks,
without the hassle of conventional minilab machines that
use complex chemistry, and are labour intensive to oper-
ate and maintain,’ he said.
‘The printer has a very small footprint, is fast, reliable,
and easy to use,’ said Lacock. ‘The unit is also environ-
mentally-friendly, energy-efficient, does not requirewater
to operate, and doesn’t use toxic chemicals.’
The Epson SureLab SL-D3000 printer leverages Ep-
son’s core technologies and original inks to deliver high-
quality print production on glossy, matte and lustremedia,
and is ideally suited to print shop owners, studios and
professional photographers. It can produce prints up to
30.5cmwide, including photographs, greeting cards, invi-
tations, flyers, banners and promotional leaflets.
The Lion Park has also placed an order for a new Ep-
son SureLab D-700 printer; a six-colour compact photo
printer that will provide additional capacity for peak
periods at the park. The printer has the same media ca-
pabilities as its big brother, the SureLab SL-D3000, but is
more suited for small to medium runs, or kiosk printing.
It combines high quality, great flexibility, and an impres-
sively low cost of ownership.
‘The Epson brand is synonymous with the highest
quality in professional printing, and these two SureLab
printers respond directly to the Lion Park’s goals to pro-
vide its visitors with the best possible experience,’ said
Vernon Mellors, business account manager at Epson
South Africa. ‘Both models are ideally suited to tourist
environments, as well as to professionals such as school
photographers and other high-volume, instant demand
photography environments.’
T
he redesigned version of the Anapurna hybrid wide-
format inkjet printer meets the need for higher per-
formance and quality in an increasingly profession-
alised market. Agfa Graphics will present the Anapurna
M2050i at FESPA Digital 2014.
Incorporating the latest generation of print heads,
the Anapurna M2050i achieves a productivity increase
of up to 75 percent compared to its predecessor, while
maintaining its high level of print quality. Dual board or
borderless printing will increase productivity even more.
In addition, the electromechanical redesign of the system
hasmadeitmorerobuststill,fitforsustainedhigherwork-
loads.
In combination with a precision belt transport drive
system, the new print heads offer optimized dot position-
ing for excellent print quality. They guarantee printing of
good solids, fine text reproduction of up to 4pt and an out-
standing tonal rendering, producing top quality prints on
a wide variety of indoor and outdoor media – both rigids
and roll media. White printing is included too.
‘TheAnapurnaM2050gainedrecognitionasthebest-
in-segment hybrid printer,’ said Willy Van Dromme, Mar-
keting Manager Wide Format Inkjet. ‘The new i-version
with enhanced productivity and quality at an unparalleled
price point underlines our commitment to thismarket. The
print quality, features and option set are state-of-the-art
and make it a very consistent and reliable production de-
vice.’
The Anapurna M2050i uses Agfa Graphics’ large
gamut of UV-curable inks which work with a broad range
of rigid and flexiblemedia for both indoor and outdoor ap-
plications.
Thanks to Agfa’s ‘thin ink layer’ technology, these inks
deliver the highest coloring power, as well as the lowest
ink consumption per square meter in the industry. This re-
sults in better looking prints and saves on ink costs.
In conjunction with Agfa Graphics’ Asanti workflow
for the sign and display market, which adds colour man-
agement and automatic pre-flighting, users benefit from
an integrated production solution. This not only provides
consistent quality but also minimises errors, increas-
ing productivity and saving time. Asanti is completed by
the Asanti StoreFront cloud-based web-to-print system,
which comes as an optional SaaS solution.
The Anapurna M2050i will be fully commercially
available in the third quarter of this year.
A
frica is growing fast – according to research at a
rate of up to three times that of advanced econo-
mies. It’s no surprise then that supply chain oppor-
tunities abound.
According to African supply chain experts who at-
tended the SAPICS 2014 conference on Resilient Supply
Chains, at Sun City, not everyone knows how to make a
success in this unique environment.
‘Africa is not for sissies. Neither is it a place for supply
chains that are designed on a drawing board,’ said Danie
Schoeman, Managing Director, Danie Schoeman & Co.
According to Schoeman, many companies are be-
ginning to embrace supply chain design as a core com-
petence rather than a once-off strategic event. ‘In recent
years, the challenge of meeting the soaring demand for
commodities has resulted in rapid growth for companies,’
he said. ‘However, doing business in Africa, particularly
when servicing remote regions, can lead to significant
complexityandvariabilityinlogisticsandotherassociated
supply chain activities.
‘This is where it quickly becomes very clear that if
you’re gearing your supply chain for growth even in tough
parts of Africa, the traditional approach of a once-off stra-
tegic network design followed sequentially by a monthly
tactical S&OP processwill simply not support the require-
ments of the business and meet customer demand,’ he
explained.
Some still believe that the growth in Africa is only
resource-driven, but research has shown that much of
this growth is actually driven by the rise of the African
consumer.
‘This is in fact so much so that advanced economies
are beginning to look towards Africa as a trade mecha-
nism to facilitate growth within their own economies,’
said Schoeman.
During his presentation entitled, Howto develop resil-
ient supply chains for the African consumer market, Sch-
oeman discussed some of the idiosyncrasies, risks and
challenges that hamper trade in Africa for those whose
supply chains are not resilient.
An important part of this will be to understand the
African consumer. ‘The African consumer behaves very
differently to the European or US consumer,’ he said.
New Anapurna M2050i provides a best-in-
segment quality-productivity-price ratio
Building supply chains that are tough
enough for Africa
Vol 4 Issue 3 • THE GAPP TIMES
92
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