PRIMA – part of the US/UK photobook, wall décor and personalised products giant District Photo, is buying PMI Pty Ltd, Chris Zapris’ similar business established with the help of Vic. Govt. Government funding in 2012. The two previously fierce competitors use different production technologies – which ones will win out?
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| Parent District Photo in the USA has fleets of HP Indigos |
District Photo was once a network of film processing laboratories. It was founded in 1949 by Merv Cohen. Today, District Photo is a global e-commerce group that includes digital print imaging businesses. They can put photos and designs on almost any item, including Mugs. T-Shirts. Canvas wall art. Other textiles. And of course Photobooks. PRIMA Printing was established in Australia as a subsidiary to District Photo in 2016. It is headed by Amnon Judah.
The Cohen Family still controls District Photo, with the founder’s heirs Neil and Keith Cohen managing the investments. In 2019, the Cohen Family joined Apollo Private Equity as minority shareholders to merge Snapfish and Shutterfly online photography businesses. Snapfish has been renamed TruPrint/Harrier Group, the UK acquisition.
Interesting connection to Snapfish is that PMI was originally established as the Australian production center for Snapfish by HP. However – HP sold off Snapfish in 2015 to – wait for it – District Photo, who had originally sold Snapfish to HP in 2005, for US$300 million. Is this something you are following?
District Photo set up PRIMA Printing Australia in 2016. Snapfish was also purchased by them. Both PRIMA Printing and PMI also offer production services for major retailers, such as Woolworths Coles, OfficeWorks, and OfficeWorks. Now, the two will come together – but what of the production equipment?
Two differing imaging approaches
Prima Printing, Noble Park (Vic) is currently operating:
8 x Ricoh 9210A3 printers for Photobooks
5 x Epson Surecolor 600 Eco-solvent wide format printers (Canvas, wall art, etc.)
16 x Epson Surecolor F7200 dye-subs for home décor, soft signage etc
2 x Kornit Atlas DTG printers for T-Shirts, Tote Bags etc
PMI in Melbourne and Brunswick differ in the fact that they are currently running:
5 x HP Indigo Electroink presses
8 x HP Latex Large Format Printers
Both operations use Horizon PUR binding. PMI, District Photo USA and District Photo USA also have silver-halide production capabilities. This is a reflection of the group’s photolab origins.
How will the merging of these two fierce rivals affect how operating four distinct production technologies? In the short term, it probably won’t make any difference. Both companies are close to their busiest seasons for personalised gifts and phtobooks. Orders come in online from a variety of sources – both organisations operate multiple websites and deal with multiple outlets in order fulfillment.
Maybe customers will notice a difference longer-term, just as they did with Kodak-Fujifilm – Agfa differences in photochemical image days. ‘Fuji is contrasty and has brighter greens…Agfa is warmer and great for autumn shots’ they would say. Eco-solvent is more vibrant and will last outdoors longer. Ricoh’s dry toner is mature technology. All toner companies have invested time in research and development to address the challenges of inkjet.
While Indigo has been the preferred photo-quality press for a number of years, is built ‘like a press’ for higher duty cycles and has extensive extra colour capability with IndiChrome; many customers can no longer tell the difference in the end results.
District Photo USA, a US-based photo agency, uses Indigos as well as inkjet. PRIMA’s Ricohs are an exception to this rule.
It’s a fascinating conundrum now that Australia’s two largest photobook, canvas and other wall art and photo-gifting are merging. PMI Imageworks was founded as a competitor of Glenn Innes (NSW-based wholesale fulfillment company Photo Create), who created the entire personalised print game. Rob Tolmie, a former executive at Photo Create, assisted in the creation of PMI.
PMI was granted a $2.6 million government boost in 2012, from a fund set up to create jobs following the closure of the Ford plant in Broadmeadows, boosting manufacturing employment in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
The digital printing imaging industry is dynamic. In the end it will probably come down to dollars and cents and if the ‘value proposition’ suits customer expectations.
These two print companies have been able to successfully adapt to the shift from analogue to digital, and the increase in ecommerce. This is a lesson for printers of any size.
www.pmicorp.com.au
www.primaprinting.com.au