A great night out at the 2009 Asian Print Awards in Kuala Lumpur
The 2009 annual Asian Print Awards soared to new heights in printing standards this year in an event that successfully combined the prestigious awards with a spirit of camaraderie that lasted well into the night. Around 500 industry veterans attended the awards presentation and dinner at the Prince Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Winners ascended the stage to deafening applause and cheers, particularly from the Thai contingent. It seems that seven years since its inception, the Asian Print Awards is fully embraced by the industry as the regional event where technology and operator skill combine to ensure products of the highest quality gain the recognition they deserve. As Alf Carrigan, chairman of the judging committee, remarked: “This year the overall quality of entries was the highest in the seven years of competition, supporting our belief that the awards help to improve and promote print in Asia.”
Companies from seven different countries achieved gold medal status. Paul Callaghan, president of the Asian Print Awards Management, said: “This year we proudly welcome two new countries to the elite group of Gold winners: Thailand and Indonesia. From previous comments and listening to the judges deliberate over the past years, I thought that it would take a year or two more until we had the pleasure of telling Asia that two more countries had stepped up to the plate to show the world what they can do as quality printers.
“On another note, the quality from India has also increased dramatically and printers from India who take that extra care are winning more and more medals. So congratulations to our entries from India – keep up the great work.”
Award winner Jenny Bolsen, general manager of Magna Colour, said: “No matter what the size or industry of your business, the efforts to identify attainable awards and to pursue qualification and nomination can pay off handsomely in future sales. Businesses of all sizes, from multi-national corporations to small local businesses, should be aware of the value of attaining awards for business excellence. The positive effects from attaining a business award include free press coverage, greater employee satisfaction, and access to bigger contracts.”
The Awards kicked off with Posters, Showcards, which won Gold for Ko Karn Pim Thien Kwang Co Ltd (Thailand). Pragati Offset Pvt Ltd (India) was awarded Gold in the next two categories: Leaflets, Flyers, Folders and Brochures as well as Postcards and Greeting Cards. In the category Multi-Piece Productions and Campaigns Gold went to Colourscan Pte Ltd (Singapore), while in Catalogues, Booklets (4 or more colours) the Gold was awarded to Sirivatana Interprint (Public) Co Ltd (Thailand). The Sheetfed Magazines (4 or more colours) category saw Gold going to Paramount Printing Co Ltd (Hong Kong) and Toppan Printing Co Ltd (Japan) won the Calendars category. SNP Leefung Printers (Shenzhen) Co Ltd (China) scored the ultimate prize in Limited Editions and Art Reproductions.
Pong Pat Printing (Thailand) was another double winner taking Gold in the category of Packaging Sheetfed Offset as well as being named Böttcher’s Best in Packaging Printing Converting Processes. Two Thai companies, Soontorn Film Co Ltd and Thung Hua Sinn Co Ltd, shared Gold in the category of Digital Printing Electrographic/Laser. Standard (Chan’s) Co (Hong Kong) took Gold in the Digital Printing Ink Jet category and was also the winner of Fuji Xerox’s Best Use of the Digital Printing Process Award. The Gold for Embellishment went to Everbest Printing Co Ltd (China) which also took home GMG’s Best Application of Creative Colour.
In the category of Self Promotion, two Japanese firms – Team PJ 365 and EINS Corporation shared Gold. Sing Kee Printing Factory Limited (Hong Kong) took Gold in the category of Innovation in Printing and was also named winner of Kodak’s Best in Innovative Printing. In the category of Speciality Printing TKS Siampress Management Co Ltd (Thailand) bagged Gold along with Phoenix Blankets’ Award for Best in More Than One Production Process. Magnacolor K.O.L. Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) won Gold for Digital Colour Proofing and also earned HP’s Best of the Best Award for this category. Times Printers (Singapore) was named winner of the Technotrans’ Environmental Printer Award.
