Export success for local stamp printer

Having successfully printed local stamps for 15 years, Southern Colour Print decided to enter the export market 10 years ago, explains Managing Director Mike Thomas.
“We went out looking for export opportunities and managed to start supplying the Pacific Islands, then moved into South East Asia, onto the African continent and as far afield as Trinidad and Tobago,” he says.
The quality of a stamp produced for the South African Post Office has seen Southern Colour Print win a Gold Medal in the Specialist Product and Processes in Security Printing section of the prestigious Pride In Print Awards.
“The Ecology of Table Mountain sheetlet is a pressure-sensitive (self-adhesive) substrate, which is printed and then ‘kiss-cut’ around the stamps. As the sheet is also printed on the reverse with information about the wildlife featured in the stamps, this process had to be done very carefully so there was no ‘bite’ into that image.
“Furthermore, we had to lay down a special security coating. Traditional water-soluble gummed stamps have this coating embodied within, but as pressure-sensitive stock is very expensive we carry a base stock and then apply the security coating afterwards.”
In addition to collecting several “Highly Commendeds” at this year’s Awards, Southern Colour Print earned Gold Medals for stamps produced for the Pitcairn Island Administration and for a Lord of the Rings stamp produced for New Zealand Post.
“The New Zealand Lord of the Rings stamps was a very interesting and eye-catching job. The images were deliberately produced off-kilter and it looks like a strip of celluloid, complete with its film frame holes and outline, has been laid down.
“Postage stamp printing is always tricky. It is done at 300 line screen — double the line screen value used in standard commercial printing — for reasons of security, fine detail and quality given that they are very small images.
“This 40-stamp gum-based sheetlet was particularly unusual in that it combined both a multitude of denominations with a multitude of images. It was quite a challenge to get the colours consistent throughout, as there were several images stepped up on to each sheet.
“There was also zero tolerance for any contraction or expansion during the printing process as the stamps needed to be pin-perforated with holes of only 0.9mm diameter.”
Mr Thomas says Southern Colour has been a regular Pride In Print Award entrant and has achieved “a wall full of medals”.
“It is a team effort and the staff get a big buzz out of winning medals.
“We also go to great lengths to make a nice presentation to our customers when we take sales trips overseas, which they really appreciate.”
Mr Thomas adds that winning these Awards is “not only a matter of fine printing”.
“The determination to select the absolute best quality work to put forward is just as critical a component.”