Inkjet & Digital Printing

Digital Presses Boost Profitability

Thursday 07. February 2008 - B Squared Partners with Fujifilm for Upgraded Equipment

B Squared Design and Printing is a graphic design and boutique print shop in Manhattan that prides itself on being able to say “yes” to customers.

“Our motto is it can always be done,” says President Tim Boucher. “We had a job that came in today where the customer needs 90,000 color impressions 11″x17″ double-sided, due tomorrow night in Florida. And it will be done. We’ve never said ‘no’ to anybody.”

In addition to a can-do attitude, B Squared operates the right equipment˜such as two DocuColor 5000 digital presses˜that contribute to its success. In September 2007, B Squared replaced its two older digital color presses with two Xerox DocuColor 5000 digital presses because they can print high-quality products quickly and on heavy stocks. The presses˜which print at speeds up to 50ppm and offer a 2400 x 2400 dpi resolution˜enable the company to attract new business that it couldn’t obtain before. Furthermore, the new equipment has improved productivity, accelerated jobs through production and boosted profitability.

“The company has grown 25 percent this year˜a lot of it has to do with those machines,” enthuses Boucher. “We’re turning jobs around faster, which allows us to have more clients. In the few months that we’ve had the digital presses from Fujifilm, they have increased our business by about $600,000 because they’ve allowed us to print to different stocks and to do things that we weren’t able to do before.”

Printing on heavier stocks gains new business
B Squared Design and Printing was established six years ago when a graphic design firm and printing company merged to offer their Manhattan clients a wide range of services. Today, with 30 employees, the company operates 24/7, producing sell sheets, invitations and financial booklets, among other things, for Fortune 500 clients. About 75 percent of the business involves digital printing. When the company needed to replace its two older digital presses, the company chose two DocuColor 5000s with EFI Fiery RIP stations because it wanted reliable machines at the right price point.

With the new machines’ ability to print on heavier papers, the company is gaining new business. B Squared carries about 10 stocks ranging from 24 lb. text weight to 110 lb. cover and can run business cards and tent cards, for instance. It only buys Xerox papers to ensure the highest print quality. “Now, we’ve opened up our doors to the publishing field,” reports Boucher. “We’re producing postcards and invitations on the heavy card stock for a large publishing company. It’s business we couldn’t get before and now we’re landing contracts.

“At 5 o’clock, we might get a call for three lots of 350 double-sided 110 lb card stock by tomorrow morning,” he adds. “It gets done. The presses don’t slow down even when printing double sided on 110lb. card stock.”

Speeding production
B Squared also appreciates the color accuracy and consistency that the DocuColors produce, which is speeding jobs through production and saving money. With the new technology, the colors are printing correctly right from the clients’ files. With newfound confidence in the color accuracy, the clients don’t need to see as many rounds of proofs, which can save significant time.

“From the first click to the last click, they’re coming out of the machine perfect,” says Boucher. “In the past, we’d go two to three rounds with the clients to get their color right. Now we just print it and it works. I send them one proof, they like it, and we’re done. We save hours. Previously, the client would go home at 6 o’clock, so we were forced to wait until the next day to get the approval and run the job. Now, clients often say, ‘No need to see a proof, the colors are fine, run the job.’ To us, clients are saving on deliveries and we’re saving on sending messengers. I went from three messengers to two because I didn’t have as many proofs being done anymore. It saved me an entire salary.”

The new machines also allow the company to offer customers a higher quality product. The older machines used to produce oil banding across the pages that the company is no longer experiencing. The machines are running at about 80 percent capacity, reports Boucher, and have produced approximately 1.1 million color impressions since September.

“The DocuColors have definitely increased profitability,” states Steve Milillo, vice president of operations. “Because of the color consistency, we can run two-up instead of one-up on a lot of projects, which is then allowing us to run more jobs. We also save time because instead of having to call the technician to change the drums, which can take a few hours, we can do it in a matter of minutes. Also, the RIP functionality is much more user-friendly.”

As a design and print shop, B Squared can get involved in every aspect of a job, from designing programs for a presentation to printing packaging, posters and banners. For one large New York financial firm, the company produces the materials for its annual meeting every year. They design, print and fulfill everything from posters, banners, meeting booklets, save-the-date cards, invitations and table cards at the event to the promotional items they hand out, including gift bags and pens.

“We added the promotional items about a year and a half ago˜it’s a good business for us,” says Boucher. “Another company wanted 16,000 custom-made mesh bags for the holidays, so we did that. That then grew into more work˜they needed envelopes, labels and a letter ˆ and they needed them mailed out by Friday of the same week. Just another example of our policy of never saying ‘no.’

“We’ve never missed a deadline,” Boucher continues. “We pride ourselves on turning jobs around instantly and with the quality that clients need. We make sure that every job we do is right. The two DocuColor 5000 digital presses have been a great benefit to our company. Our clients come to us because they know we’ll get it done. And we do.”