A group of more than 30 people joined the LIA Victoria contingent on Tuesday night, 30th April, to tour the impressive IVE catalogue and magazine plant at Sunshine, giving many their first opportunity to see a heatset web printing plant in full flight. Well done to all involved and kudos to IVE for supporting the initiative!
'Ive's got a lovely bunch of catalogues' - and delighted LIA visitors too!
The tour, which was part of the LIA Victoria program of technical events, offered industry professionals the chance to see inside one of Australia’s leading web printing facilities, which produces millions of catalogues a year for market leaders like Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and others.
The 'reel thing' - IVE Sunshine's huge paper warehouse
It was a record attendance for an LIA Victoria technical event, with some guests spending nearly two hours to travel to the flagship plant from as far afield as Healesville, Dandenong South and Ocean Grove.
Once there, they were welcomed by LIA Victoria President, Robyn Frampton, before gaining valuable insights into the history of the site and IVE’s catalogue business from Brad Hoffmann, General Manager Print – Web Offset, and Ken Bishop, Head of Sales - Catalogues.
Brad, Ken and Ward Glennon, Account Director, then took groups on tours covering production, prepress, platemaking, print halls, conveying, packing, distribution and waste management.
Ward Glennon leads some of the LIA group through the IVE plant“I am sure I speak for all the guests when I say that we were blown away at the sheer size, scope and professionalism of the operation,” says Frampton, adding: “IVE’s thoughtful approach not only to its production process, but the entire manufacturing operation and sustainability initiatives like the capture and recycling of reel cores and offcuts, impressed us all – and there is nothing much more exciting in print than being in the room when a large heatset web press is in full flight!”
Following the tour, the group retired to the expansive customer service area for drinks, nibbles and further discussions – a great opportunity to make new connections, particularly with many of the group attending an LIA Victoria event for the first time.
As Robyn Frampton notes: “It was fantastic to see so many new faces, and to extend our connections to our fellow ‘people in print’ through this remarkable opportunity. We are looking forward to further technical events this year, and to joining with Visual Connections and the FPLMA in a post-drupa dinner on 25 June where we will also be celebrating the presentation of our Graduate of the Year Awards.”
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