Prepress
npctryk Boosts Service Offering with Fujifilm Investment
Monday 30. November 2009 - npctryk is a privately owned print service provider based in Neastved, Denmark. Situated about 70 kilometres from Copenhagen where 80% of its customers are based, it offers offset, digital and finishing services. The environmentally conscious commercial clients range from small businesses to large pharmaceutical corporations.
Established in 1848 as a newspaper and printing office, npctryk was bought by the current owner, Erik Madsen, in 1981. Madsen quickly expanded the business and within three years it moved to its existing premises where it today occupies 1,600m2 and has 17 employees. It boasts two Komori presses – a half format and large format – as well as small Heidelberg and Ryobi presses in its offset department.
Claus Svoldgaard, production manager, has played a major part in the companys evolution since he started at npctryk in 2002: “We pride ourselves in offering our customers top quality print in short turnaround times, so are always looking for the latest technologies on the market that will help us stay on top of our game.”
npctryk purchased its first Fujifilm device, a Luxel P-9600 platesetter in 2002. As part of recent upgrades, the company has made a major investment in Fujifilms XMF Workflow and a Xerox 700 digital press, as well as placing an order for a Fujifilm Luxel V-8 platesetter.
Claus continues: “My first big project after starting at npctryk in 2002 was to look into acquiring a CTP device. We tested a number of leading brands, but soon decided that Fujifilms Luxel P-9600 was the best solution for us. We immediately saw a big improvement in our plate production and have repeatedly achieved consistent, good results. Weve been so impressed with the P-9600 platesetter that we were only too keen to upgrade to the next generation platesetter, the Luxel V-8, which will be installed mid December”.
Workflow at its best
Continuing its relationship with Fujifilm, npctryk upgraded its workflow system in March 2009, becoming the first Danish printer to fully implement Fujifilms XMF workflow. It also chose Fujifilm as its digital partner, investing in a Xerox 700 Digital Color Press to replace its two smaller Xerox DC250 and Xerox DC470 printers.
Claus continues: “We were very excited when we first heard about XMF Workflow. And, when we saw first-hand how it could improve our printing processes, we upgraded as soon as it became available in March 2009. Due to our excellent track record with Fujifilm, it was our first port-of-call when we decided to develop our digital department.
“The technical support and training we received from Fujifilm during these installations were fantastic and we are extremely satisfied with both of our recent investments. XMF is extremely easy to use – simple and logical – and its cross-media capability means that we can use this one workflow solution to output to the Xerox 700 or to our offset presses, without any third party products. Also, as it picks up any problems or mistakes in preflighting, it contributes to huge time and cost savings as we can fix these problems before the job goes to press, something we werent always able to do before.”
XMF is the revolutionary new print workflow solution from Fujifilm. It is unique in that it has been designed from the ground up around JDF and the Adobe PDF Print Engine to maximise the benefits of the latest generation of print production technologies. With Fujifilms image processing, imposition and intelligent automation technologies built-in, XMF improves the control of quality across multiple print processes, increasing efficiency and productivity, ensuring colour consistency and optimising print production.
Fujifilms XMF Workflow is completely integrated with npctryks offset and digital presses, and with every device calibrated to ISO 12647, the company is seeing massive savings. “We havent experienced any problems and were amazed at the time savings we could achieve with the integration of XMF and our digital press,” says Claus. “Before, it took about half an hour to print a proof on our plotter. Using XMF we now print directly to the Xerox 700, saving 75% of the time it took before. With customers always demanding shorter turnaround times, this massive saving helps us to ensure we keep them happy.”
A digital future
Priding itself on providing consistent, top quality print, npctryk is now confident in its ability to offer customers the option to do short run prints at short notice to the same quality as if it has been done on offset. Claus continues, “The complete cross-media integration of XMF workflow makes it very easy to print jobs on either offset or digital at the click of a mouse – thanks to Fujifilm.”
Claus envisages the company will expand its digital capabilities in the future: “Although the biggest part of the companys business is still offset, our customers are more-and-more interested in digital options. The Xerox 700 in conjunction with XMF has already proved to be a fantastic investment, as it saves us an incredible amount of time and produces excellent quality print. Not only that, expanding our digital offering in the future will be relatively straight forward due to XMFs ease of integration with both digital and offset presses.”
Green credentials
Environmental responsibility is also a big concern for npctryk, and it continually investigates ways and means to make its processes greener. This included joining the local ecolabelling scheme to receive the Svanemerket stamp of approval, providing assurance to customers that all of its products have gone through thorough environmental assessments.
Claus explains: “Environmental responsibility is high up on the agenda in Denmark and a lot of our customers are interested in how we can provide them with greener print. Our investment in the Svanemerket label scheme gives them more peace of mind. And, when we introduce Fujifilms Luxel V-8 CTP device to our pressroom, we will save considerable amounts of water and electricity, not to mention chemistry, making it a perfect candidate for another Svanemerket label.”
He concludes: “We are delighted with how Fujifilms products have helped us to simplify and streamline our processes to date, while making it easy for us to stay environmentally responsible. We are very excited about the installation of the Luxel V-8 platesetter, which will be completed in December, and look forward to building on our relationship with Fujifilm in the future.”