Setting the standard: Print 21 magazine article

Australia is known for its 'she'll be right, mate' attitude, but the recent introduction of an Australian printing standard means that near enough will not be good enough anymore. Mitchell Jordan discovers what effect this could have on the country.

It was a court case that is still talked about by printers today. In 2005, Sydney-based company, Craft Printing, received a job from PMA Solutions, requesting 475,000 copies of a brochure for the Cancer Council's Australia's Biggest Morning Tea promotion.

What might have seemed like a simple enough job was quickly clouded when the original Iris proof produced by Craft could not be matched on the press. In accordance with common industry practice, the printers then concentrated on achieving acceptable skin tones for the subject of the image - people in the foreground - at the expense of the blue sky background.

Ignoring blue made the customer see red. The Cancer Council maintained that the sky was the key colour across all the different printed products of its annual fundraiser and refused to accept the result. Unhappy, Craft Printing sued for payment.

In a watershed moment, which many believe set back and damaged attitudes towards proofing, the judge found the brochure of acceptable commercial quality, and should be paid for, citing the lack of an Australian standard for printing.

Outraged, Kumaresh Pasupati of PMA Solutions told Print 21: "We're flabbergasted at the result. The precedent it sets is very dangerous for our industry."

The dust settles
Not long after the Craft decision, the LIA and Printing Industries entered into discussions to determine if there was common ground to enable both organisations to seek ISO registration through Standards Australia as an observer member. Registration was granted in July 2007 to ISO Technical Committee 130 - Graphic Technology.

A local technical committee was formed with the LIA's Bob Lamont as chair and Printing Industries' NSW general manager, Robert Fuller as alternate chair. Known as the TC130 Technical Advisory Group, the membership, which is largely Sydney and Melbourne-based, spans technical, business and marketing expertise.

"Our initial focus has been on the promotion of ISO 12647-2 and we are very pleased to have recently been advised by Standards Australia that acceptance in principle has been given to make ISO 12647-2 the Australian standard," says Lamont (pictured).

"We are not changing or modifying anything contained in the international standard, we are simply telling the world that Australia embraces the ISO standard as its standard."

Fellow committee members, Bruce Sinnott of Generic Publications and Andre Siebeneicher, GMG, Germany, both reckon that when it comes to ISO, global is definitely the way to go.

"The main benefit is that it's not an Australian standard, it's a worldwide standard," says Sinnott.

"Print, in particular advertising and brand management is directly affected by globalisation, a major incentive leading to the adoption of an international standard. The printed result is quite close to the 3DAP guidelines, which is pleasing."

Siebeneicher believes that such a conformation is both vital and necessary. "The decision to choose the well-established 12647 as a printing standard will help the Australian industry to stay competitive in a globalised printing market," he adds.

Australian idle?
In most spheres, from cultural to technological, Australia often gets criticised for its reluctance and is sometime viewed as being backwards in comparison to the rest of the world. These perceptions also abound in printing circles.

"There are some notable exceptions, but in general, Australia lags behind - especially when compared to Europe," Lamont says.

When word got round of TAG and its intention, Lamont experienced some of this animosity and aversion first-hand.

"One of the common arguments that we run up against is companies that are saying 'We are top-class printers: we don't need to conform to the standard because we are already performing better than it'," he says.

"The answer to that is: 'That's great', and if you can guarantee that there is a quality control mechanism in place to measure and control your output on a continuous basis then you're already working to the standard."

Others tell TAG that the standard is too wide. Lamont points out that: "Standards are continually evolving, and ISO12647-2 will be upgraded and modified by consensus and over the years and it is likely that the standard will become narrower."

Change is not always immediate, and takes some adjusting and getting used to. Russell Cavenagh (pictured), sales director at DES, the distributors of EFI, CGS and PrintSpec products, has been involved in helping printers implement ISO for years and believes that it is important for businesses to realise that it is a journey - albeit a worthwhile one.

"ISO is not a shrink-wrapped software solution. It's an organisational culture change: you have to adopt internal customer attitudes and an attitude of continual improvement, all of which he requires the buy-in of management," he says.

"We really try to make people understand that you can't just install the software yourself; there needs to be an implementation which means investing in measuring equipment, time and training."

Predicting the future
It isn't only court cases like Craft Printing that make having a standard a priority for so many businesses. Talking to many printers, Cavenagh hears the same thing: businesses are all looking for ways to increase profit.

"Lowering your costs by reducing waste is the best option," he says, "and one of the best ways you can reduce wastage is to produce more predictable pieces of print."

There would be few people, in business or the wider world, not aware of the pressure to adopt, at least on a superficial level, some degree of sustainable practices or dedication to the environment. Word of mouth has also spread about ISO, which both Lamont and Cavenagh feel has great marketing potential.

Cavenagh recounts that many of DES' early customers were able to turn their ISO compliance into a sales tool, proving that they achieved consistency in printing. "It gives you a very good paper trail," he says.

No one wants to be preached at or beaten over the head repeatedly and told what they should or shouldn't be doing, but Cavenagh thinks that the adoption of AS/ISO12647/2 will be embraced.

"You can't enforce the standard upon people - it's something that it driven by the market," he says.

"I think it will prove popular because printing companies will appreciate that it is not only a benefit for their customers but also a reason for their customers to stay with them."

It was once assumed that the printer knew best. However, cases like Craft have seen members of the public challenge printers, along with a growing consumer awareness of the printing process.

"In markets like that of the print buyer, the stakes are higher," Cavenagh says.

"Many print buyers are well-educated. They are doing things like buying their own paper to put on someone else's press and are therefore likely to want to say what standard it gets printed to."

Lamont does not ever see a day when printers in Australia are forced to adhere to AS/ISO12647/2; but he does believe that printers are more and more likely to move towards it without question.

"It will only be compulsory in the sense that in less than ten or less years' time if you're not ISO-compliant then you will be a rather unique animal," he says.