McPherson’s Printing Group on fire at Galley Club Awards

Australian print group, McPherson’s, roars back against offshore printers at this year’s Galley Club Awards.

From the onset, it looked as though things were grim for Australian printers after China-based 1010 Printing won the first two awards, followed by Toppan China taking out category three Sheetfed -Limp sewn/perfect bound/saddle-stitched book (for a full list of winners click here).

Spirits soon picked up, when local businesses began to step into the limelight. All up, McPherson’s Printing Group, won three awards, including the coveted Australian Printed book of the Year, for FireStorm – Black Saturday’s Tragedy, coming in at equal place with 1010 Printing, which also scored three awards.

“It was particularly exciting to win across a couple of different categories,” said Dimitri Dimech, innovation and technology manager at McPherson’s.

Pictured: Dimitri Dimech (l) and Greg Brown (r) receive the Galley Club award for Australian Printed book of the Year from president, Michael Schulz (centre).

The book, printed on a Heidelberg 8-colour press, was “a real challenge” to produce, according to Greg Brown, national sales manager. “It was a difficult job to print because of the nature of the type,” he said. “Registration was critical, so to be able to maintain quality whilst taking advantage of the most economical type of production was a real challenge. It was a tremendous job and we’re very happy to be involved.”

On another level, Brown was pleased that McPherson’s managed to scoop three awards, the same amount as 1010 Printing. “There’s a lot more awards available to printers outside of Australia – our ability to win awards is more difficult in some ways,” he said.

A team of Ricoh and InfoPrint Solutions staff , who recently signed on for joint Platinum sponsorship of the awards, were also in attendance.

According to Kathy Wilson, general manager, production and business solutions for Ricoh Australia, the sponsorship shows that both companies are continuing to ramp up their commitment to the production market.

“I’m very impressed by the quality of the work,” she told Print21. “Sponsoring these awards was a great way for Ricoh and InfoPrint Solutions to announce our three-year joint venture.”

Pictured: Rene Kisselbach, general manager ANZ of InfoPrint Solutions, Kathy Wilson, general manager, production and business solutions for Ricoh Australia and Galley Club president, Michael Schulz.