Inkjet & Digital Printing
Hellendoorn targets short-run growth with Kodak NEXPRESS SE2500 Digital Production Color Press
Thursday 07. April 2011 - German print firm uses extensive inline finishing options to add value to print products and increase range of services
A. Hellendoorn KG has made its first foray into digital printing by investing in a Kodak NexPress SE2500 Digital Production Color Press. The traditional full-service printer, based in Bad Bentheim near the Dutch border, is using the digital press to complement its offset equipment, which comprises 13 sheet-fed offset printing machines. The NEXPRESS Press will give fresh impetus to Hellendoorns short-run work, as the system can process orders more efficiently than the companys existing small-format sheet-fed offset press, saving the company time and money.
The NexPress SE2500 Press will also enable Hellendoorn to expand its already extensive range of services: “These days, just about anyone can offer digital printing,” says Managing Director Thomas Westhuis. “We wanted to differentiate ourselves from other companies digital print offerings by adding value that our customers can really see. What really sets the new NexPress Press apart, aside from its excellent print quality, is the inline finishing. It enables us to create highly distinctive print products that really grab your attention, and will prove very popular with customers that want their advertising and marketing collateral to stand out from the competition.”
Color with understated elegance or brilliant high gloss
The exciting capabilities of the Kodak NexPress Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions were crucial to Hellendoorns decision to invest in the system. The company was particularly impressed with Dimensional Printing, which adds a three-dimensional effect to images, graphics and text. If KODAK NEXPRESS Dimensional Clear Dry Ink is used on its own, it is even possible to create transparent 3D effects to mimic blind embossing or to simulate textured surfaces and substrates. All this is in addition to four-color printing, plus everything happens in a single pass.
Hellendoorn is also using the Fifth Imaging Unit to create a high-gloss finish in spot or full-page coating for digital color prints. Sheets are coated with KODAK NEXPRESS Dimensional Clear Dry Ink in the Fifth Imaging Unit, and the Kodak NexPress Glossing Unit gives them a mirror smooth surface. This high gloss-finish adds value to the printed image by creating outstanding brilliance. The finish can be applied either to the whole sheet or to specific areas (spot gloss). The spot glossing creates a visual effect similar to spot UV varnishing.
Versatility in use
Hellendoorn, which employs a team of 28 people, installed the Kodak NEXPRESS Press in its prepress department in September 2010. The company typically uses the NexPress SE2500 Press for short runs or pre-publication runs of books, catalogues or company reports. It also handles personalized jobs involving variable data printing, often using a combination of printing and digital printing.
Westhuis is convinced that the capabilities of the NEXPRESS Press will help Hellendoorn raise its profile as a high-quality print provider for commercial and industrial customers and advertising agencies: “At present, these new digital production capabilities give us a unique selling point in an area covering almost 100km, even into Holland.”
Westhuis and his team know that nothing can beat actually showing customers what can be achieved in terms of perception and touch. This is why Hellendoorn produces its own marketing, so it can demonstrate the extent to which digital printing has evolved: a three-part slipcase with an image brochure, media pockets and print samples vividly highlight to potential customers the power and versatility of the Kodak NexPress Press.