PRODUCTION PRINT DIRECT
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customer, I can produce these labels for you with 24 hours’ notice, and they can be printed as required, rather than having to buy in a year’s worth in one go,” explains Mike. “Being available to print on demand is attractive to their customers. A lot of companies are now fully realising that they must change and be more flexible in the way that they do things, and this is one way they can do that.” It also creates opportunities as it means that new printers may be required. “You’ve got this legacy of ageing equipment that needs to be replaced,” Mike says. “When you start looking at the cost of that equipment and the much lower volume requirements of their customers, then digital starts to look like a very attractive option. It’s a market led demand. “We see label production as coming to a place that cut sheet digital production has been for the last 15 years, and that’s coming at a reasonable pace. I think similarly with packaging, demand is created by end users and that is forcing change on the industry. Nobody now expects to wait weeks for print, and nobody now expects to order tonnes of stuff. They expect to be able to order what they want, when they want and for it to be delivered with a quick turnaround. You only need to go back about 20 years and you would wait two to four weeks for print. A lot of jobs are now required next day, if not same day and it’s driven by customer expectation.” Konica Minolta partnership The inclusion of Konica Minolta’s Industrial Print solutions is designed to meet growing demand for digital print solutions. “In the past many commercial printers have outsourced
their label requirements believing that it is too expensive or complicated to do in-house,” says Mike. “However, Konica Minolta’s range of digital label and packaging press solutions addresses this by delivering the flexibility of short run jobs with predictable and affordable costs. Working together with Konica Minolta, we can provide cost-effective industrial print solutions that open these opportunities to embrace label printing, enabling our customers to deliver a more diverse offering with attractive margins, with the flexibility and certainty of completing jobs in-house.” Along with the digital presses Konica Minolta also offers full workflow solutions that enable label printers to optimise their operations, accurately estimate job requirements/costs, and manage workloads more efficiently. These systems also facilitate the introduction of variable data printing, QR codes, and the ability to combine other processes with digital label printing. “The AccurioLabel portfolio delivers highly versatile and low-cost digital alternatives to Flexo, with a cost per linear metre and options for web-to-print, which work exceptionally well for flexible quick turnaround jobs that our customers need,” says Mike. “Working in close partnership with Konica Minolta, we offer the collaborative benefits of a respected manufacturer and local expert supplier to deliver market-leading label equipment and a fully tailored end-to-end solution. “Konica Minolta has brought some stunning products to the market that sit exactly where demand is headed. It’s got the quality we know because it’s using technology that we’ve been servicing independently but have been working with for years. “We know how to make it produce what our customers expect. Konica Minolta have always built a product that is fit for purpose and very serviceable. So we’re not going to find any nasty gremlins that nobody expected. That’s why we stick with Konica Minolta as a manufacturer almost exclusively on the cut sheet, labels and packaging side. “We only got the accreditation from Konica Minolta in January so we’re looking to start our marketing campaigns for this with immediate effect.” With this on board, Mike is looking confidently to the future for Production Print Direct, and, as the sector continues to change, the company is well set to capitalise on this and help more customers to make the transition to digital.
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Working in close partnership with Konica Minolta, we offer the collaborative benefits of a respected manufacturer and local expert supplier to deliver market-leading label equipment and a fully tailored end-to-end solution.
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