DES keeps punters up to standard with ISO seminars

Crowds flock to DES IS0 seminars in Melbourne and Sydney.

The two information sessions on ISO 12647-2 attracted held on 17 and 18 February drew a combined crowd of 270 people according to sales director, Russell Cavenagh, who considered the enthusiastic response a “stellar result.”

Guest speakers at the events included David Crowther, colour management specialist, DES; James Hawkes, chairman of the Australian 3DAP committee and colour manager of ACP Magazines and Christoph Thommessen, sales director, CGS Publishing Technologies and Bernd Ruckert, product marketing manager, CGS Publishing Technologies.

Ian Clare, general manager at DES, said the impetus for the seminars came from its

“The build-up of publicity over ISO in Australia over the past 12 months has been extreme. There has been a lot of confusion and people are asking questions, which is why we put on this seminar,” he said.

Crowds at DES' Sydney session listen eagerly to ISO presentations.

Clare advised printers not to think of ISO in the short-term: “ISO is not an end in itself, but part of a process that leads to waste and cost reductions and quality improvements.”

Fellow speaker, Christoph Thommessen noted similar benefits.

“When you standardise the printing process you are able to offer better measurable solutions and faster make-ready times, less waste and proof of quality,” Thommessen said.

In a controversial move that deviated from other speakers, Thommessen even went as far as to suggest that ISO standards are not always worth the hype.

“Standards are not the right option for every printer,” he said, citing printers with a 2-colour process as one example that would not be suitable for ISO standards.

“Every printer must decide for themselves. Standards are demanding so don’t take it easy – but they do save you big bucks,” he concluded.