The Embodiment of Craftsmanship Spirit in the Heat Transfer Printing Industry

Surface Printing Experts

At the recently held 67th Printing Industries of America Awards Ceremony, Chinese printing companies achieved outstanding results once again. Among them, the printed works submitted by Artron and China Business Press won 7 and 3 Benny Awards, respectively, while Artron made history by winning 3 out of the 4 Grand Awards. Whether in terms of the level of hot transfer printing technology, the creativity of hot transfer printing design, or the artistic appeal of hot transfer printing, these award-winning works undoubtedly embody the craftsmanship spirit of printing professionals.

It must be pointed out that, although some printing enterprises in our country have reached the highest level of global printing craftsmanship, for the 100,000 printing enterprises and the heat transfer printing industry, there is still a need to fully develop a culture of craftsmanship. The so-called culture of craftsmanship is not entirely equivalent to the spirit of craftsmanship. Just as corporate culture in management includes the layers of values, systems and behaviors, and material aspects, the culture of craftsmanship should be a combination of spirit, behavior, and products.

It is undeniable that the spirit of craftsmanship is indeed the core of the culture of printing craftsmen. However, the spirit of craftsmanship also requires fertile ground to grow. This not only demands that printing enterprises closely align with the needs of society and customers and consciously abandon the pragmatism of crude or mediocre production and management concepts, but also necessitates the continuous promotion and advocacy within the enterprise of values that pursue excellence and perfection, making the production of high-quality printed works the belief and value pursuit of every employee. As Wan Jie, Chairman of Artron Culture Group, stated, Artron creates each printed product and every book like an artist, crafting each book with the spirit of craftsmanship, so that it can consistently launch art books recognized worldwide.

Improving systems and processes to guide employees' craftsmanship is another level of cultivating a craftsmanship culture. If a printing company's processes and systems cannot even ensure qualified production, how could it produce world-class printing products? Standardized process management and excellent process control can maintain high standards across all stages of printing products—from design to production, from prepress to postpress, and from craftsmanship to technology—thereby laying the foundation for producing printing masterpieces. At the same time, printing enterprises need to establish corresponding institutional rules, such as procurement systems for raw and auxiliary materials, production operation standards, quality management systems, employee training systems, and employee incentive systems, providing a comprehensive institutional guarantee for the production of printing masterpieces.

Similarly, the culture of craftsmanship also requires product output, which necessitates that printing companies make every effort to create high-quality printed works. Exquisite printed materials are a concentrated reflection of a printing company's craftsmanship culture and serve as visible symbols through which the company conveys its craftsmanship culture to the outside world. Artron won the grand prize with 'The Big Book of Peter Rick,' which, when opened, measures approximately one meter. This monumental book is the culmination of Artron's focused research in recent years and is also the largest square-spine hardcover book produced to date. Utilizing its independently developed patented binding technology, Artron has made this book indestructible both to dropping and to turning pages. It can be said that the design, binding, and printing of this work are all ingeniously crafted, representing a perfect fusion of traditional printing civilization and modern printing craftsmanship. It is through such high-quality works that Chinese printing companies can perfectly interpret and express the culture of printing craftsmanship on the world stage.同样，工匠文化还需有产品产出，这就要求印刷企业必须全力打造印刷精品。精美印品是印刷企业工匠文化的集中体现，是印刷企业向外界传达工匠文化的显性符号。雅昌此次斩获全场大奖的《彼得·里克大书》，全书展开尺寸约1米，这是雅昌近几年潜心钻研的“巨作”大书，亦是现今制作的最大型方脊精装书。凭借独自研发的专利装订技术，雅昌把该书打造为“摔不烂、翻不烂”的书。可以说，该印品的设计、装帧、印制均别具匠心，是传统印刷文明和现代印刷工匠技艺的完美结合。正是凭借这样的精品，中国印企才能在世界印刷舞台上完美诠释和表达印刷工匠文化。