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TheMagicTouch is using white
toner technology from Oki
to transform the design and
production of promotional
mugs.
To date, the personalisation
and short-run production
of ceramic mugs has been
dominated by white coated mugs
decorated using a traditional
sublimation transfer process.
Now, TheMagicTouch has
developed transfers that can be
printed with white toner on the
TMT/Oki 711 printer and applied
to mugs using traditional mug
presses. Finished mugs cost
approximately £2 each.
To promote its new
technology, TheMagicTouch has
formed a global partnership
with ceramics coater and
decorator Listawood.
New solutions developed by
the two companies combine
TheMagicTouch’s
CPM transfer
paper and white
toner technology
with Listawood’s
patent-protected
SatinMug.
This
dishwasher-safe
mug has a tactile matt-satin
finish and excellent detail and
colour matching. It is initially
available in eight colours,
including black, red, blue,
yellow, green, cyan and pink,
plus a white version suitable
for either toner or sublimation
decoration.
Listawood can also
produce SatinMugs in specific
Pantone colours in runs of as
few as 1,000. The ability to
match specific colours has
obvious appeal for promotions
companies, charities, the B2B
market, universities and sports
clubs.
For added impact and
personalisation, TheMagicTouch
is also introducing printable mug
boxes.
The same CPM transfer
paper used for mug decoration
is also suitable for the full colour
decoration of notebooks, diaries,
iPad cases, folders and many
other B2B hard surface products.
Jim Nicol, managing director
of TheMagicTouch, says that
the transfers will give a new
lease of life to decorated mugs
as a marketing tool.
He said: “Our own experience
and research has confirmed that
the market for white mugs into
the B2B market has become
very competitive. This new
opportunity will give everyone
a good chance of making
some money and creating new
business opportunities.”
On the spot
printing
Making life easier for delivery
drivers, service technicians
and other mobile employees,
Citizen has added an iOS
Bluetooth capability to its
CMP20 and CMP30 portable
printers.
Citizen printers can already
talk to iPhones and iPads over
WiFi; with the integration of
Bluetooth chips, they will now
be able to print wirelessly from
Apple devices even when no
wireless LAN is available.
To help customers make the
most of this capability, Citizen
has produced a software
development toolkit (SDK) that
enables developers to integrate
CMP printers with applications.
Jörk Schüßler, European
Marketing Manager for Citizen
Systems Europe, said: “A good
developer can have printing
functionality up and running in
half an hour using our SDK. All
the developer needs to do is
add a printing function to the
app. This is the bit that many
other manufacturers seem to
ignore, or maybe even gloss
over, but Citizen’s SDK makes
it easy.”
Just the medicine
Animed Direct, an online
retailer of animal products
and medicines for pet owners
across the UK, has achieved
significant time and cost
savings after purchasing four
Toshiba B-EV4 direct thermal
printers from reseller and
stationery supplier Swiftclick.
The high performance
Toshiba desktop printers, which
are used to print address labels,
have significantly reduced
Animed Direct’s spend on rolls
of self-adhesive labels, enabling
it to achieve a total return on
investment in just two months.
Samantha Clews from Animed
Direct said: “Swiftclick was
targeting businesses in the local
Goring area when they contacted
us to discuss our label and
printing requirements. Up until
that point, we were spending a
minimum of £559.20 per month
on self-adhesive address labels,
with each of our four printers
using a roll every day.
“Swiftclick quickly
demonstrated that by switching
to Toshiba printers, which
offered the same high speeds,
print quality and ease of use
as our incumbent systems, we
could save almost £500 per
month on labels. In fact, we’re
pleased to say that the new
printers paid for themselves
within two months.”
She added: “With seven
times more labels on each roll
we’re spending less time on
changeover, which allows us to
ship more products. It’s been a
win-win situation all round.”
The B-EV4 series has been
developed to fit into confined
work spaces and uses the
latest 32-bit Toshiba processing
technology for rapid on-demand
printing at speeds up to five
inches a second. All models offer
203 dpi resolution for everyday
use or 300 dpi for specialist
barcodes and graphics.
With quick access to the
printhead, paper path and
sensors, paper or label rolls
can be loaded with ease. A
spring-loaded media holder
automatically centres the paper.
For further information please
contact Shaun McNamee at
SwiftClik on
01491 875708
.
New lease of life
for promotional
mugs
Printing away
from the office
