Wellington-based commercial printer The Colour Guy is leveraging the power of digital print to grow its business with a new iGen3 digital production press from Fuji Xerox
Using the power of variable data printing, The Colour Guy expects to grow its partnerships with customers by producing more attractive materials that invoke better response rates and higher sales.From Offset to Digital
The Fuji Xerox production fleet is well known to The Colour Guy, with a relationship going back seven years and a DocuColour8000 already churning out a considerable number of impressions per month. But for longer print runs, the team used a Heidelberg DI offset press. Instead of purchasing a second DC8000 to accommodate their growing digital print volume, The Colour Guy chose to invest in its first iGen3 to take the bulk of their printing volume and tap new business markets. As a commercial print shop, The Colour Guy uses its iGen to produce a wide range of materials, from brochures and pamphlets to direct marketing collateral and mailers. The company says that the versatility of the iGen is perfect for this role.
Craig Stone, managing director, The Colour Guy, says, “We’ve been able to convert many of our current customers over to digital print from offset. We can reduce costs, make changes and amendments on the fly, and keep more of our storage space available by printing on demand. That translates into better all-around customer service.”
For example, one of The Colour Guy’s government customers estimates they will save up to $100,000 per year by using digital printing on the iGen3. The business plan for The Colour Guy is to grow existing business by educating customers and by becoming marketing experts within the digital print space, enabling them to become true partners to their clients.
Print more, save more
Stone reckons that for a commercial print shop, volume and productivity are the ultimate metrics of success. With the iGen3, The Colour Guy plans to put as much volume through the machine as possible. The company says that so far, the iGen has responded better than expected. “This machine has surprised us, as we thought we'd have more maintenance,” says Stone. “Productivity has been great. We put through enough volume to make up for any downtime. The productivity level we see on the iGen easily supersedes any competitors; the volume of the iGen is two or three times that of the DC8000.”
Come January, the full variable data capabilities of the iGen will be unleashed when The Colour Guy officially opens this area of the business. Using XMPie on the front end for variable data, complemented by FreeFlow and Creo rip software,
the company wants to be a powerhouse in producing 1:1 direct marketing materials with personalised and customised content.
“We're just starting out with variable data, but knew that Fuji Xerox has the most experience and is second to none in this area. That's why we chose them to help us grow our business,” says Stone.
Ensuring a Greener Future
Looking ahead, The Colour Guy is planning to keep its membership in the Sustainable Business Network in place with the acquisition of a new Fuji Xerox Nuvera 288 Digital Perfecting System using emulsion aggregation (EA) toner.
Developed by new Fuji Xerox researchers and protected by more than 400 patents, EA toner produces sharper images using 40-50 per cent less toner per page, requires 25-35 per cent less energy to make, generates less waste and contributes to printer reliability. This technology offers energy savings of 60-70 per cent per printed page over other technologies.
The Colour Guy was previously runner-up in the regional Get Sustainable Challenge Awards in New Zealand, but next year the Nuvera system may just help it capture the top spot.
“We always educate our customers on the environmental impacts of printing, and ways to make the process more earth friendly,” says Stone. “And quite often, the customer will revise the specifications for the job based on the information we provide them. That's a big difference, but environmental responsibility is really just common sense for us.”
