Halloween Point of Sale

One of our clients wanted to promote some of their snack products in the period up to Halloween last year (2007).

Lamport Gilbert designed a range of images to be used on their Point-of-Sale and Point-of Purchase units, so successfull was this promotion we have been invited to repeat the trick this year.

With the headline Great Deals for Less we produced a striking Pumpkin and Bats image which struck a chord with adults and children alike.

Look out for them soon in Esso outlets.

FSC and PEFC - a Perspective.

Lamport Gilbert consider their responsibility to the environment very seriously and as part of our environmental policy have gained both FSC & PEFC Chain of Custody. The following small report gives some background information the FSC and PEFC Forest Certification Programmes and how using recycled papers and materials from sustainable sources can help our environment.

The Environment
Issues such as quality, price and service have always been regarded as key considerations for us and our customers, however more recently there has been growing concern regarding the materials used for manufacture, their impact on the environment and the requirement to maintain the integrity of these products throughout the supply chain.

Many organisations are becoming more aware of Environmentally Friendly Products (EFP) and their Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) to the environment. Our customers are now frequently asking questions on issues such as the source of raw materials, the credentials of the supplier, the availability of EFPs, the standards accredited to these products and what claims and statements they can make when using them.

Does Recycling Paper Help the Environment?
Recycling paper helps the environment in a number of ways. It reduces the amount of waste paper going to landfill and rubbish dumps, reducing the number of landfill sites we need. It also reduces the amount of natural resources needed to produce paper. Recycled paper does not use wood and the process of making paper from recycled pulp uses fewer resources such as fossil fuels and water.

Why Certify Forests?
Consumers, public and enterprise procurement policies in increasing numbers are seeking evidence of environmentally sound business practices. The most effective way to guarantee that the timber and paper products you sell come from legal and
sustainable sources is by sourcing them from independently certified forests. This is where PEFC and FSC can help you.

The Certification Programmes
There are two main forestry certification programmes, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The FSC is an international network to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC has developed a system of forest certification that allows consumers to identify wood and wood based products from well-managed forests. To date, 78 million hectares of forest in 82 countries are certified to FSC standards
and with the FSC ‘tick-tree’ logo, it is probably the most widely recognised brand.

Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is an independent, non-profit, non governmental organisation founded in 1999 which provides a framework for mutual recognition of national forest certification schemes across the world. PEFC currently covers over 200 million hectares of forest producing millions of tonnes of certified timber to the market place making it the world’s largest certification scheme.

There are few differences between the two schemes, except to say that the amount of forest covered by the PEFC is approximately 2.5 times that covered by FSC. This is because the PEFC is a global umbrella for the assessment and recognition of 32 different national forest certification systems awarded through independent third party certification.

In December 2006, the UK Government confirmed that the PEFC sustainable forest management certification provided an assurance that its certified timber-based products originated from legal and sustainable sources.

Chain of Custody
Any company carrying out material alteration to FSC or PEFC material and want this to be identified as a certified product, need to gain Chain of Custody certification. Chain of Custody provides evidence that products originate from well managed forests and verifies that these products are not mixed with products from uncertified forests at any point in the supply chain. This evidence is provided by FSC or PEFC registration.

The Process & Implications
The process involved for an organisation to obtain FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody is relatively straight forward but extremely important. Systems and procedures need to be put in place to prove that we can separate products produced using certified materials throughout the manufacturing process. This will involve labelling certified material, identifying certified products on all paperwork for example estimates, job tickets, delivery notes, box labels and invoices. In order to do this, we are working with our management information system provider to help us facilitate this process.

There are a number of certification bodies (110 in the UK), many of which are able to audit organisations for FSC and PEFC, however we have found out that BM TRADA are the only UK certification body who can offer an organisation both PEFC and FSC Chain of Custody in one audit.

Corporate and Social Responsibility
As a company, we have a key responsibility to the environment. Following this process gives us and our customers the satisfaction that we are using raw material from a sustainable source, and also enables us to provide proof of this and to promote it.

Colour Management

A complete colour management solution is now in place across our sister companies.

We have been working with Heidelberg Graphic Equipment Ltd within their Axis colour control software.

Our aim is to cross calibrate colour standards, between the pre press department and the printing press. This will give a standardised product that can be monitored on line, to a recognised ISO standard.

This ensures and enables a number of key functions

- Axis colour control has been installed on both CD presses. This gives us the ability to scan running sheets to ensure colour consistency from the beginning to the end of the print run.

- Axis colour control is profiled to the ISO 12647-2 industry Print Colour Standard. This is the industry recognised colour standard.

- CIP3 information is sent to both printing presses containing ink usage and duct settings for faster make readies. This results in faster colour correctness and reduced waste paper coming off the presses, at the set up stage.

- Dot gain curves on both CTP output devices enable us to produce plates on either site to conform to the ISO 12647-2 dot gain tolerances on press.

- ICC Colour profiles on both the Lamport Gilbert and Blackmore proofing devices, provide consistent press match proofs across the group.

- Monitor calibration in place to give press likeness on screen

Point of Sale Gathering

A recent visitor to Lamport Gilbert was asking about the production of "Point of Sale" material.

We were able to show him a range of items we have produced for a wide range of customers, and while we had them all in one place we took this photograph.

Our experience in handling this sort of work goes across many companies and sectors, including forecourt, Pubs and Restaurants.

Our creative team work very closely with the client and ensure the item not only works in creative terms but the phsyical size is suitable for its environment and the materials suit the location its to appear in.

A New Generation....

The next generation of delivery vehicles have just arrived at Lamport Gilbert.
Running on LPG, our new vehicles will reduce the carbon emmissions of delivering printed material to our clients, and further enhance our already impressive environmental credentials.
In addition the clean looking livery will draw attention on the highways and by-ways of Berkshire - but if your stuck behind it in a traffic jam at least you know your not getting a nose full of noxious fumes!
Why choose LPG? for a start the noise from LPG fueled diesel engines is quieter than from a diesel fueled unit keeping noise pollution to a minimum.
A fuel spill will evaporate quickly - so no risk of ground or water contamination - the same can't be said for diesel or petrol.
LPG vehicles emit 20% less carbon dioxide, less Nitric Oxide and 120 times less of fine particulates. (According to European research)
LPG is also cheaper currently than diesel - so our clients and the environment win all round.
Few printers are as advanced as Lamport Gilbert in reviewing their business and preparing it via carbon reduction for the challenges of the coming decade, which means our clients, and their customers see the benefits.
By the way the vehicle livery was designed by our in-house team - well done guys!

Fresh Thinking for Charities

For over 65 years Lamport Gilbert have been delivering print to the UK’s major charities. Certainly , we’ve learnt a lot in that time about how charities work and how we can deliver best value to them, but we are always willing to listen and learn.
We run regular “Print Appreciation” courses, delivered by our senior account manager Bob Sym who has worked with charities for many years, assisted by specialists from throughout the business.
We deliver in 1 day a practical understanding of Graphic Design, Pre-press, papers, impositions, artwork preparation, proof–reading, printing (including colour management) and binding.
It always happen thaton these days we learn more about how charities operate and plan for the future, and its always fascinating the detail that they think through and then deliver to people throughout the world.
We recently had such a day at our Reading plant when three people from St John Ambulance joined us, it was hard work but we had some fun as well so I hope they went away thinking it was a worthwhile use of their time, we certainly thought our time was well spent.
Bob or I would always be pleased to hear from any UK charity that would be interested in talking to us and perhaps joining us in a day where we can all learn from one another, look forward to hearing from you.
If you are a regular reader of “Third Sector” magazine then you may have seen our advert in the Directory section, we know a lot of people in the sector read this mag if for no other reason than the jobs section, next time you read it take a second to look us up and maybe call Bob Sym or myself if you think we can help.

Image is Everything...

Lamport Gilbert have been recently undertaking a PR and Advertising campaign throughout the Thames Valley and in the process of looking at possible opportunities, we were introduced to the Newbury Weekly News.
They are about to run a special on best environmental practise and as this fits very well with our environmental credentials we met with Morgan pr from Hungerford who are writing the story for the paper.
In business your image is everything – so says the opening statement on the Morgan pr website and when it comes to achieving the very best profile they offer a bespoke service that can make a difference to any company’s image.
I am looking forward to seeing the story they write because the empathy they displayed at our meeting gave me confidence that they understood our situation and would be able to write our story in an interesting and authoritative way.
It was also good to meet a brother blogger! Even if his writing is far superior to mine.
We are pleased to link with the Morgan pr blog especially as it’s the first company we have linked to.