Lucky 13 For APN Print

APN media release (May 2008)

Lucky 13 For APN Print

APN Print New Zealand earned five prestigious gold medals, seven highly-commended citations and even took out the Apprentice of the Year at this year’s Pride In Print Awards.

The company’s coldset division produced a strong performance, with gold medals going to APN Print Hastings (Hawkes Bay Today), APN Tauranga (Bay of Plenty Times) and APN Print Christchurch (both for The Star Weekend and Lifestyles magazine). Highly-commendeds were also earned by APN Print Tauranga (both for The Daily Post and Bay of Plenty Times) and APN Print Ellerslie (New Zealand Herald).

In the company’s heatset division, APN Manukau earned a gold medal for its production of the Foodtown Magazine, as well as highly-commendeds for its work on The Fox Collection, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, Taste and Summer Sara Sixteen Plus.

Representing the reelfed sector of the industry, APN Print Wanganui’s Richard Hughes was named New Zealand’s Print Apprentice of the Year ahead of other top binding and finishing, digital, paperboard and packaging, screen and sheetfed apprentices.

Almost 1000 people attended the printing industries’ glamour annual event, which this year was presented to a theme of the “deadly sins” at Auckland’s SkyCity on Friday May 16.

APN Print New Zealand general operations manager Dan Blackbourn says the company’s focus on achieving the highest standards was reaping rewards.

“In terms of APN Print coldset it shows again the commitment we have to our own internal clients to producing a top-quality commercial product,” he says.

“Christchurch and Tauranga have traditionally produced good quality work and now the newcomer to the fold is Hastings. This is just reward to all our printers and everyone else involved in delivering these products.”

Mr Blackbourn says it is also pleasing to have APN Print’s push for quality duly recognised in front of its peers.

“This is something we initiated a few years ago, with full buy-in from all staff. It entails purchasing new equipment, such as computer-to-plate, to improve our technology and training printers on other presses through our printers’ exchange programme to expand their knowledge.”

APN Print New Zealand heatset sales and marketing manager Tim Harris says it is encouraging for his division to have won a gold medal for what was essentially a standard magazine production.

“Ideally we are trying to win a gold with every publication, but it is not as though that magazine went through any extra processes or anything outside the norm,” he says.

“So this gold recognises the high level of workmanship we deliver on a day-to-day basis.”

With the company’s heatset division having enjoyed a dominant performance at last year’s Pride In Print Awards, Mr Harris says the medal haul achieved by the coldset division this year would serve as healthy competition.

“We’ve won more than double the gold medals of any other heatset printer over the history of Pride In Print and that’s where we want to remain.

“We are delighted that our coldset division has performed so well this year and that is going to inspire us even more to take another overall step forward. It’s given us a challenge to up the ante -- watch out next year!”

Established 15 years ago, Pride In Print regularly attracts between 750 to 1050 individual entries from between 140 to 180 different print companies, explains Pride In Print chairperson John North.

“Every year between 700 and 1000 print industry participants attend this glittering event and celebrate excellence in print,” he says.

“To put this in context, these awards nights attract more attendees than high-profile sports awards programmes. Well done the print industry!”

Mr North says gold medals are won by small and big companies alike -- “on old machines and the latest technologies, for all sorts of work. There is much anecdotal evidence that major customers are now using Pride In Print participation and success as a selection criterion when choosing a printer.

“I am very proud that this very diverse industry has co-operated and participated in such an inclusive manner that today we have this showcase that is the envy of other industries.”

ENDS

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