Acorn Press

When Acorn Press's demand for digital print and quicker turnarounds for jobs grew, they turned to Apogee.

The Background

Pre Press Manager, Andy Gaulton, is responsible for ensuring the firm has the right technology to support its client demands and the business growth.

“We are a 100% commercial business partner and our clients demand a very wide range of substrates. We are now using a Konica Minolta 1085 press, provided and supported by Apogee which delivered very good quality and registration, much better than previous models. Demand for our digital print increased and as the volumes and the need for quicker turnarounds for jobs grew, we recognised it was time to upgrade.”

The Solution

"I spent time with my Apogee Account Manager, James, and visited their Digital Print Evaluation Centre in Birmingham to see what options I had. Together with Technical Specialist Kate, we tested devices there and I was really impressed with the Konica Minolta 1085, the quality and colour consistency was another step up. At that time our volumes couldn't justify such a large investment but quickly our volumes grew and our decision was made."

"Apogee delivered the new press on 23rd December. I had wanted to get the new press in and up and running but so close to Christmas I didn't dream that would be possible. Their Service Manager Mark was brilliant. I'd expected it to be 2 days or more, he had it installed with jobs running that same day! This meant we could complete jobs for clients and clear down before Christmas, and Kate trained our operators the following week. I have some very experienced people in the team so her focus was on workflow shortcuts like hot folders and automating processes which have really helped the guys here and we can call and get telephone support whenever we need to. I have got quite a few workflows set up now and they flow right through the business."

The Outcome

"Acorn's sales of digital print have really picked up with the improved quality of output the new press delivers and clients are starting to ask 'did you print this digitally?'

It gives our own salespeople the confidence to propose digital print solutions to our clients as an alternative to litho and and today 25% of client jobs are satisfied through our digital press. The ability to collate jobs makes digital a good choice for clients where instant set-up is a major advantage, for example a run of 200 really high quality holiday brochures, each 150+ pages, is perfect as we can print it paginated, finish and bind it far quicker than by litho."