Swug has named its speaker line-up for this year’s conference, which takes place from August 29-30 at the Qualmark 4 Star Plus-rated Millennium Hotel Rotorua.

The conference will host around 150 delegates and suppliers, including some from Australia. Guest speaker Sir Ray Avery will discuss his life and latest invention: incubators designed for developing countries. Dan Blackbourn, chairman of Swug New Zealand, says, “Our two-day event will include a gala Wednesday Awards Evening at the spectacular Skyline Rotorua, at which attendees will bear witness to the quality being produced by print sites throughout the sector as well as sharing in the bestowing of the Apprentice of the Year. Thursday’s programme will include an educational tour of the paper-making plant of Norske Skog in Kawerau (formerly known as the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company) as well as an entertaining networking dinner/quiz night in the evening.”

The list of speakers includes:
Anthony Payne, human resources director for Fairfax Media Print and Logistics Division and director of Health Safety and Environment for Fairfax Media, will talk about occupational health and safety standards in Australia and what the potential legislations changes will mean here
Chris Smallwood, managing director of Thermal Imaging Services, will discuss preventative resources for printing plants
Russell Wieck, operations manager for NZME Ellerslie, will explain changes happening at Ellerslie and the challenge of continuous improvement for quality and what the IFRA club challenges were
Andy Stephens, managing director of Global Press Technologies, will deliver a presentation on the importance of blanket cleaning and the difference between UV and conventional printing
Molisi Saulala, the Swug New Zealand Apprentice of the Year 2014, will will present on his prize trip for winning the award
Steve Packham, technical service manager Web for DIC Australia, will talk about optimising the benefits of participating in quality competitions
Mitchell Mulligan, managing director of Bottcher Australia, will discuss the impacts of running half webs and suggestions for improvements
Malcolm Lochhead, application specialist for Fujifilm New Zealand, will present on getting consistent colour across multiple devices and print technologies
Martin Okkes, manager at Manroland Web Systems Service Centre, will make a presentation on the importance of maintenance and maintenance initiatives such as optimisation of presses to achieve continuous productivity improvements
Steve Gallop, general manager and co-owner of Inkwise (formerly Guardian Print), will deliver a presentation on the new plant
Simon Ellis, chief executive officer of Beacon Media Group is this year’s Who am I speaker
Shaun Thiele, managing director at Indisol, has a presentation called ‘What’s it Oil About?’ where he will talk about increasing reliability and preventative maintenance practises while extending fluid life and lowering maintenance costs
Ruth Cobb, general manager at PrintNZ, will talk on training and what else PrintNZ has to offer
Ricky Baker, plant manager at the FFX Petone Print Centre, will discuss the recent upgrade at the Wellington plant
Willie Townend, account director at Norske Skog Australasia, will give the pre-plant message before the delegates tour the company’s paper-making plant in Kawerau.

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