Guest post by Shelley Sweeney, Vice President/General Manager Service Bureau/Direct Marketing @shelleysweeney
More people are joining and investing in the growing inkjet movement, but it’s a big decision that most printers can’t take lightly. The act of investing in inkjet is akin to the experience of buying a house. No wonder printers seek information from trusted peers and attend events like the Inkjet Summit to hear in detail about inkjet successes. They learn all inkjet systems are not equal, so buyers want to be sure they get what fits their business strategy.
Business executives came away from the Inkjet Summit convinced of the necessity to keep going, along with encouragement that the journey will be rewarding. Through the examples and experiences of their peers, they got validation that they’re on right path. Stories shared at the event opened eyes and imaginations to what inkjet means beyond just a great piece of equipment. They show the way for others who are following closely along on their own inkjet journeys.
In today’s post, learn how inkjet added value to postcards through personalization for a direct mailer. Then subscribe to this newsletter to make sure you hear about another inkjet journey in an upcoming blog, where you’ll learn how Office Depot added production inkjet printing, made a 100M-impression shift to an inkjet press and captured huge savings in operations and labor. Now on to today’s inkjet journey.
Inkjet Journey #1: Success with Personalization and Postcards
This is the story of DOCAPOST and their commitment to the state-of-the-art technology. This omni-channel provider (annual revenue 15M Euros, 160 employees,) helps marketing clients manage digital transition through customized services that deliver significant business results. They are experts in document management and have the digital capacity to manage millions of unique messages for their clients. A strong production force backs up document creativity to meet many needs:
- Media competitiveness – offset coated stocks up to 9 point (250 gsm)
- Hyper-personalization – variable data printing
- Multi-media – digital and paper formats, specialties
- Value added finishing for postcards – lamination, foiling, labeling
- Just-in-time and on-demand campaigns
Good Reasons to Commit to Inkjet
DOCAPOST was already competitive in “hyper-personalized” mailings, and adopted inkjet in 2011, producing customer campaigns on uncoated and high-end inkjet coated stocks. Color management is extremely important, and they bring expertise that’s been critical to their success and market leadership.
Customer requests for hyper-variable content on standard offset coated stocks led to the next stage of their inkjet journey. In late 2017, they added the Xerox® Trivor® 2400 High Fusion Inkjet Press. The omni-channel provider found it easy to transfer work from their existing inkjet press, and after four months, they are filling the press with high production volumes. Other results include:
- Better quality and gamut close to offset
- Lower production costs
- Fewer production delays
- Less ink used
- Improved customer service
Inkjet Success with Coated Stocks
Evolving inkjet adoption moved the business into higher value jobs and new volumes. It met growing customer desire for better quality, more jobs and reduces production costs by using standard offset coated paper without treating the paper. The migration to coated stocks for hyper-personalization is in fact outpacing expectations for a number of reasons.
DOCAPOST found that inkjet production delivers superior quality using standard offset coated and uncoated stocks up to 9 point (250 gsm). This lowers production costs, helping DOCAPOST be more competitive. The capability also simplifies paper decisions. When printing on coated stocks, it is a simple process of applying ink directly to paper. Other printing technologies may need to add treatments to paper inline to print on these stocks.
Intrigued by inkjet? There’s lots of good stories and useful information available to help build your inkjet strategy. For example, make sure you thoroughly understand inkjet total cost of ownership by downloading and reading this guide. And be sure you’re subscribed to this blog for the second Inkjet Journey story coming soon.
