Today’s fast and ever changing competitive market demands global action and like it or not, without realising it you’re probably already competing internationally with foreign-owned competitors who are all fighting for your market share. So our advice, turn this competition to your advantage – get to know the landscape and be proactive about tapping into markets across international borders – a process that is easier than you may believe.
We are already distributing our own product, Ultra Board, in Europe and have also established links in South America and Australia. Not bad for a company based in Cambridge! However, rather than having to establish operations abroad, which would be time consuming and costly, we chose to work with a number of trusted global resellers who distribute Ultra Board on our behalf. Although, you may feel like you are introducing a middleman into the relationship, we have found that it really is the best way to get your product on to the international market and makes reaching customers overseas simpler.
Why is this? Well to start with, it can help you avoid many logistical problems, helps to avoid the dreaded time delay issues, breaks down any language barriers, and reduces costs and other trade-related risks. All of which we think are worth losing a small cut of your profits to your reseller partners overseas.
It is important to however, to not become complacent and rely solely on your resellers to push your product abroad – remember your product won’t sell itself! Educate your distributors and provide them with the correct information, so they can help you market your product globally. Make sure you leave budget to develop new promotional materials, invest in travelling to foreign locations in order to build relationships and bear in mind the costs to ship your product overseas.
Given these reasons, we believe the decision to embark on international trade should be done with eyes open.
The UK wide-format printing industry is currently undergoing a profile-boosting refresh, as prism becomes FESPA UK.
The rebrand now places the UK association under the global FESPA umbrella brand which not only means more support and guidance, but also opens up countless opportunities for existing and potential members. At Dufaylite HQ, we were honoured to host the first board meeting of FESPA UK, where there were some very interesting, not to mention exciting discussions about the future and all the great things that are to come.
A recent feature in leading industry title, Image Reports, offers a great insight to both FESPA and the reasons behind this exciting change – in fact I couldn’t have said it better myself so click through to find out more…
Image Reports 13th December 2011
Despite gloomy economic predictions for the year ahead, there remain signs of positivity that companies are still investing in sustainable development. Household brands such as Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Marks & Spencer, are continuing to invest their money in all things green and we feel that it is only a matter of time before other retailers and businesses follow suit – which is great news for companies like Dufaylite!
This year we’re also excited to see the sustainability agenda placed well and truly in the spotlight, with London 2012 set to be the greenest Olympics in history. LOCOG has committed to a programme which will almost halve the games’ carbon footprint and result in the world’s first sustainable Olympics – a bold statement and one which clearly shows that these issues are at the forefront of both business and society.
On top of this, the 1st April will mark another rise in landfill tax, forcing organisations to focus on their recycling strategies at a time when saving money is paramount. The print industry has answered this demand with a Planet Friendly Print Program at FESPA DIGITAL 2012 and the world’s first, dedicated, sustainable print-focussed exhibition, EcoPrint in Berlin – great signs of things to come. Both events will be showcasing green printing technology, expertise, applications, solutions and innovations, and will not only offer advice and guidance but also demonstrate that sustainability is important and will remain so for years to come.
2011 has undoubtedly been a challenging year for businesses with the impact of the economic downturn still being felt, but we are confident that sustainability is an important issue which will not be ignored by those looking to cut costs. 2012 is definitely a year to look forward to, and we can’t wait to find out what the next twelve months will bring – watch this space!
Filed under 2012, Creative, Environment, FESPA, sustainability
Tagged as Dufaylite, FESPA, Investment, London 2012, Olympics, sustainability, Sustainable Business, Ultra Board
Click image to play video
Forget Gary, Louis, Kelly and Tulisa – there’s a new panel in town and it’s called Ultra Board.
Recently selected by Insight Print Media as its substrate of choice, Ultra Board was used to produce a unique stage for Sunday night’s live X Factor show. The top TV show tasked Insight Print Media to design the backdrop for its celebrity performer and international superstar, Rhianna, and thanks to its flexible yet ridged properties, UItra Board was used to create 10 foot props such as giant phones, over-sized lipsticks and a chair.
Kevin Davidson, Creative Director at Insight Print Media, explains: “Once we heard that a backdrop needed to be created for The X Factor, we had no doubts that Ultra Board would be the best medium for the job. Not only was the Ultra Board flexible and lightweight but we were able to print on it effortlessly, enabling us to produce a high quality stage that could be set-up on stage within 3½ minutes – which is essential when working with TV’s tight deadlines!”
Filed under Creative, Fun
I was once told that ‘innovation is commercial exploitation of creativity’ and I’ll never forget that saying. Just look at well-known brands such as Google – after identifying a gap in the market the company went from simply being a search engine to offering other online services such as Gmail and Google Plus. But, it’s not just large global brands that have found success from re-inventing themselves, at Dufaylite we know only too well how important it is to constantly evolve and that if you’re not moving forwards, then you’re moving backwards. This is why we have spent the last 10 year’s future proofing the business to ensure that our products are always ahead of the curve.
In 1955, Dufaylite was founded by the inventor of paper honeycomb George May. Formerly used in aircrafts to make strong lightweight wings and air tanks, in the late1960’s paper honeycomb became the ‘sandwich filler’ for domestic doors. However, by the 1990’s the honeycomb was no longer flying off the shelves and Dufaylite knew that to grow the business it needed to innovate. So, when I took over as CEO in 2000, the first thing I did was identify the potential uses for paper honeycomb, to ensure that we kept moving forwards. Being innovative doesn’t necessarily mean you have to reinvent the wheel, so I simply looked at the existing product and thought of ways I could modify it to appeal to new markets. This proved highly successful and we came up with over 100 different ideas and over the course of a few years and with the support of my team, we analysed, discarded and perfected them until eventually we were left with five product ideas fit for market, and one of them was our market leading substrate Ultra Board. So when it entered the market in 2005 Ultra Board really was a revelation to the print industry and due to its great sustainability credentials, it soon became the substrate of choice for the discerning retailer.
Yet we all know that time never stands still and the key to success will always be to ensure we are constantly evolving to meet the demands of the market. Take Ultra Board for example, our sustainable substrate is widely used in retail PoS and signage across the UK but once we had a foothold in the market, we knew that we couldn’t stay complacent or rest on our laurels and so we proactively spoke to our customers to find out how it could perform better and in the last year we have made our board brighter, whiter, thinner and stronger. This has resulted in a rise in enquiries and most importantly in sales too. This really has been an essential part of our business growth and has even led to us employing staff to solely focus on product development.
However, focussing on our current customers hasn’t meant that we have forgotten about new ones. We continuously try to educate the market on how Ultra Board can be used in a variety of creative applications. Our flexible and sustainable substrate has proven to be very popular with many up-and-coming designers who have selected to use it time-and-time again. Just take a look at Shell Thomas’ pop-up shop or Julian Mayor’s angle chair for inspiration.
So what is the future for Dufaylite? Well as you can imagine we have a few tricks up our sleeve yet and 2012 is set to be another one of innovation, so keep an eye out for our new product developments and innovative uses of Ultra Board soon…
Ultra Board was the material of choice for Ultra Board fan and designer, Shell Thomas, who created a pop-up shop as part of this year’s London Design Festival. The ‘ShedShop’ was used to sell souvenirs from the Design Museum Shop to the public at Tent London- one of the largest design trade shows during the nine day festival which is open to trade/the public and a regular in the annual design calendar.
The quirky pop-up shed was chosen to symbolize ‘home-grown’ products created by young up-and-coming designers – but there were certainly no vegetables to be found in this one! Ultra Board’s lightweight and portable qualities made it the perfect material to create the shed, which ‘popped up’ at various locations across the capital during the festival.
Shell is a great advocate of Ultra Board, having used it to create every child’s best friend, Reggie the eco rocker! Shell said, “I loved working with the Design Museum Shop to create this temporary shop solution. Once we’d agreed on the requirements, making it out of Ultra Board was the obvious choice. It’s super-light, 100% recyclable and extremely versatile.”
Design Museum Shop Shed from Design Museum on Vimeo.
Well we have travelled 450 miles; drunk 120 litres of water; eaten 75 mars bars and suffered one broken arm – but we’ve finally made it and the Eiffel Tower has never looked so beautiful. So the celebrations begin with the popping of a few champagne corks and a toast not only to us successfully completing our epic journey but also to the memory of the man who inspired us all to do this in the first place, the late Jim Walton. I for one feel incredibly proud to have been involved and to have raised money for PCSFAP (Prostate Cancer Support Federations Awareness Programme) and the Graham Fulford Trust. Raising awareness of prostate cancer has been the driving force behind this whole exercise and it has been an amazing adventure. I can’t wait to count up all the pennies and pounds donated by all you lovely people to see if we have managed to hit our target, but in the meantime, please don’t forget that there’s still time to give generously if you haven’t already and we would appreciate you digging deep to spare whatever you can… www.justgiving.com/blackpool-paris
Thanks to everyone for all of their support and here’s to next year…… maybe!!!
After three hours sleep on the stupid (definitely not relaxing) ferry crossing, we get back on our bikes to tackle the next leg of our journey. Although completely shattered, we all are feeling super excited to finally be on French soil – especially seen as we know that at a day in Paris lies ahead.
A couple of hours later the excitement fades away, as we are all absolutely melting in the blistering heat – I don’t think we can blame Michael Fish for getting this weather forecast wrong! It’s 33 degrees and believe me us Brits are not built for doing any form of activity in a tropical climate, in the month of September. Heat just makes everything seem twice as hard and twice as long; and this leg seems to go on for miles – its hill, followed by hill, followed by hill, followed by hill…Cheers France!
So we all pedal on through the day and we finally arrive in the dark – in what feels like the middle of the night to us. We then all reach for a well deserve pint – obviously it’s purely to replenish the fluids that we have lost in today’s heatwave – followed by a belly flop into our beds…BUMP.
Wow, so now it’s finally here, the last leg of the journey is officially tomorrow. Bring it on Paris…we’re coming to get you!
You’ve guessed – its day four and the journey continues. Our muscles are aching and our legs are growing weary and even though it’s a fairly short day today – with only 67 miles to cover – we are all feeling the burn and suffering from fatigue. Every hill feels like a mountain but is it going to be worth it? Absolutely!
So as the day goes on and even amidst all the tiredness, I am proud to say that the team spirit still lives on and we are all pulling together to make sure that with a mix of stamina, strength and determination; we will finish this epic journey! Inspirational talk I know, but we really are committed to completing this ride despite the blisters. Then something monumental happens -, we reach the coastline and finally conquer England - it feels incredible and I can speak for everyone in saying that we can’t believe that we’ve cycled 305 miles and made it this far. As Gordon Ramsey would say:
“English leg of the journey. Done.”
So now we’re waiting for a ferry to take us to Caen in France and are all ready to crawl into bed. We plan to relax, put our feet up and enjoy the ride before facing tomorrow, our penultimate day – wish us luck!
Well day three is here and it really is a great start to the day for us all because the sun is shining, which provides a welcome relief from the rain and wind we’ve battled through for the last two days. So, with a smile on our faces, we rub our aching muscles and give ourselves a little pep talk; before heading south from Kidderminster. Whilst en route, everything seems to be going well as we cycle along happily for 20 or so miles, then everything changes and we have our first accident.
I won’t fill you in with all the gory details but two of our riders fell off their bike, which meant a trip to A&E and the bicycle repair shop was in order. We soon discover that the bike is salvageable but unfortunately one of the riders’ (Liz Young) arms isn’t. Always the trooper, Liz is still continuing on our trek and hopes to cycle some of the final stretch to the Eiffel Tower, even with a fractured radius (arm). What a commitment to the cause!
Whilst the bike and Liz’s arm begin their recovery, the rest of us have to carry on and head for the beautiful Cotswolds but we quickly find out that beauty can be deceiving, as we have a 1 mile 1:6 gradient hill to climb (which is STEEP) before lunch! With one last big push we manage to make it to the top and after a quick bite to eat (there’s nothing like cycling to build up an appetite), we attack another five massive hills before finally reaching the half way point – a lovely – and very welcome – B&B in Malborough.
Only another 238 miles to cover now – wish us luck!
