APS Graphics

Background

As an SMB based in Swindon, APS Graphics’ seventeen-person team offers a diverse range of commercial printing services – with a customer-base spanning across various industries including food & beverage, manufacturing, and beauty & cosmetics, among others.

With access to one of the largest format printing facilities in the UK, APS produces all kinds of graphics and signage: starting from conceptual design, all the way through to manufacture and installation.

Challenge

With demand suddenly rising equal to ten times its annual turnover, APS Graphics needed to introduce a more powerful print device. But it wouldn’t be enough for this new device to just keep up with the influx of print jobs: it had to accelerate their processes sufficiently to be able to offer next-day delivery.

However, this wasn’t the only source of pressure. APS’s main print device was rapidly deteriorating under the strain of daily high-volume jobs. Delays caused by waiting for engineers to replace worn-out parts led to significant downtime - at a time when maintaining productivity was critical.

Solution

Following an audit of APS’ existing estate, Apogee recommended a Ricoh Pro C9500 production print device: which, in addition to high running speeds, can handle a wide range of substrate materials without issue. This level of efficiency has allowed APS to accelerate turnaround times while reducing running costs, allowing them to be more aggressive in the commercial printing market.

Featuring a user-friendly design, proper operational procedure of the Pro C9500 Ricoh can be taught to staff within just one day. Additionally, its presence means there is much less wear-and-tear on the more specialised devices in their fleet, since the Pro is able to handle the lion’s share of APS’ workload by itself.

Outcome

With uptime now all-but assured and running costs at a new low, APS Graphics’ ability to be competitive has never been stronger. This has opened the door to a much wider client-base, providing them with a more secure foothold in the commercial print industry.

The Ricoh Pro C9500 has been instrumental to this success, due to the fact is allows APS to achieve near-consistent operational uptime. This is partly due to its capability to handle the equivalent workload of several specialist machines – but also because APS’ other specialist devices are readily available for when the C9500 eventually requires attention, meaning uptime can be preserved while waiting for repairs. Support SLAs are also now set at a maximum of four hours for first-time fixes, as opposed to multiple days – all thanks to Apogee’s Production Print service, and their industry-leading Service Excellence.

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