TacaTech – a new online resource for the print industry – has been launched in beta. The service is free except for a nominal fee for equipment sales and job applications.

The database currently has more than 200,000 entries for printers, manufacturers, suppliers and consultants, and will continue to grow as the website builds up its presence.

It is the brainchild of Ilan Alon and Yaron Shifman. Initially, TacaTech was developed to connect printing and packaging businesses worldwide with skilled experts who can repair and service equipment as well as provide advice, guidance and expertise. This has been expanded to include the latest in job vacancies, equipment sales and a discussion forum.

‘After working in the industry for more than 14 years, I asked myself the question on how people could easily look me up,’ explained Yaron Shifman. ‘How could people find out about my skills and expertise? Yes, there are a number of social media channels out there, but I thought there was scope for something much more targeted that was also highly searchable.’

Ilan Alon added: ‘I searched the internet and couldn’t see anything like TacaTech. The printing and packaging industry is bigger than the automotive one and yet there was not an easy-to-search database. That is when I knew we could create something unique, accessible but, most importantly, useful to every operation involved in this industry.’

A process of ‘careful and diligent tagging’ means that TacaTech can, through a few clicks, provide access to hundreds of thousands of printing businesses, print shops, service experts, parts and equipment suppliers, the ability to buy and sell via the printing and packaging marketplace, up-to-date news on the latest jobs, and market trends and insight via the Forum pages to see what the industry is talking about.

Continued Mr Shifman: ‘I have been in many print shops who tell us about problems with old equipment and how they are looking for help. With the site, they can just enter a few keywords and find official experts that we have screened. There are a lot of talented people from the industry and this is one way we can ensure that talent is utilised.’

The information used to generate a TacaTech profile may have been directly submitted by a TacaTech member, or may have been found on the public web, and ‘intelligently assembled into a single, concise professional profile specifically designed for the printing and packaging industry’, the company said.