Reducing Costs, Capturing Growth for Denver AlphaGraphics

Replacing aging equipment is a common occurrence at most print shops—and it can present a great opportunity to improve the business by increasing productivity and automation.

When an older press needed replacement last year at the downtown operation of a three-location AlphaGraphics in the Denver area, owners Robin and Edward Rothschild looked at presses from three manufacturers, with just that in mind.
AlphaGraphics Arvada/Denver/Golden is a full-service operation offering design, print, fulfillment and digital marketing, including a consumer-oriented online business, PosterDog.com, for creating custom posters. The downtown Denver operation is distinguished from the other locations in that it is “highly focused on rapid turnaround, high quality digital output,” Edward said. “The demands are high in our Downtown market. We must meet and exceed them to satisfy our growing customer base.” And the press they were replacing wasn’t measuring up, due to cost and reliability issues.
After examining the three manufacturers’ offerings, the franchise chose the Xerox^® Versant^® 2100 Press. “The Xerox product was well priced for the capabilities it brought to us and has outstanding quality,” said Rothschild.

Those capabilities include fast 100-ppm print speeds, Ultra-HD Resolution with 10-bit imaging technology offering four times the resolution of industry standard 8-bit technology—and automated color management. Automated capabilities ensure even toner distribution, limit staff time for color calibration and ease matching of spot colors, approved proofs and previously printed jobs.
“Furthermore, we have always considered Xerox’s support and service outstanding in the Denver market,” said the franchise owner who has been a Xerox customer since the franchise’s founding in 1996.
And since its installation in January 2015, the Versant 2100 has delivered. Running costs are 20 percent lower than the previous press, and uptime, image quality, paper handling and registration are all improved. In addition, the new Xerox press gives the downtown Denver operation its first capabilities to do two things it previously could do only at its other locations: print on heavier stocks (up to 350 gsm /130 lb. cover) and print in full-color on envelopes. The envelope printing, in particular, introduced an exciting growth opportunity.

“Pure gains in new sales—say digital envelopes—may add a few percentage points in growth and probably 50 percent improvement in margin versus running them on a digital envelope printer in one of our other centers,” Rothschild said.
In addition, the Versant 2100’s advanced image quality is inspiring future initiatives. “Working with Xerox, we are using the installation of the Versant to springboard into G7 certification to further establish and maintain our quality leadership,” Rothschild said.
 
That’s truly how a replacement device fulfills its promise to advance the business!