Nationwide Print brings digital production in house with Ricoh Pro C751
London, 14 November 2011 – Cornwall’s Nationwide Print has responded to market demand and taken its first steps into on-demand digital printing by investing in a Ricoh Pro C751 from Ricoh UK. Having previously outsourced customers’ digital print work, it has transformed its service offering and now enjoys greater flexibility, better responsiveness and higher margins on short-run jobs. Nationwide Print’s staff completed their training on the press on 3rd November.
After thoroughly researching the market, Nationwide Print decided the Ricoh Pro C751 was the best digital colour press to meet their current and future digital
production printing needs, thanks to its high-quality output, wide array of compatible media, as well as its scalability and variable data and web-to-print applications. It has opted to include an inline stapler onto the press, large capacity SRA3 trays that boost on-press capacity to 6,500 sheets and an EFI E41A Fiery controller - leaving the door open for a web-to-print solution in the future. As a business with a clear environmental focus, Nationwide Print uses solar panels to produce around half its energy, which will account for a significant portion of the press’s energy consumption.
Julian Hocking, Managing Director, Nationwide Print said: “After outsourcing digital work for some time we decided we wanted to bring production in house in order to boost revenues and exercise greater quality control. The Ricoh Pro C751 matched our needs in every area. It is fully scalable in terms of finishing and software options and the quality of output is on a par with our litho equipment. It can also print on much of the same media, which was critical to our decision in opting for a Ricoh press. The investment now means we can offer a much faster service for our customers. Operationally, we are now more efficient and therefore more competitive as a result.
“The machine’s user-friendliness has impressed the team – it has been in full operation for just over a week and we have already run several variable data jobs through it. As part of our digital strategy we intend to fully embrace digital’s potential and aim to eventually integrate a web-to-print solution.”
The Ricoh Pro C751 will work alongside the company’s three Heidelberg Speedmaster presses, guaranteeing Nationwide Print a responsive production workflow for a diverse range of jobs. Among the work Nationwide Print expects to put through the Ricoh press are business cards, posters, flyers, booklets and programmes, and it is looking forward to producing these items on-demand for customers.
Stephen Palmer, Production Print Director, Ricoh UK said: “This first digital print investment is an important step for Nationwide Print. The solution it chose needed to meet its current, short-run, fast turnaround needs but also afford it scope to grow. In this respect the Pro C751 is the perfect fit – the light production press is tailor-made to help clients achieve their business development goals and manage operational efficiency. The Pro C751 series offers an innovative package of technology and benefits that I am sure will make a powerful contribution to Nationwide Print’s growth. This is an exciting time for Nationwide Print and Ricoh is delighted to be its partner of choice as it embarks on its digital journey.”
The Ricoh Pro C751 is a 75ppm light production cut-sheet digital colour press. It can process substrates up to 300gsm and its modular design allows for the addition and combination of a range of options, including: stapling, ring-binding, hole punching, a new multi-folding unit, large capacity input trays, 100-sheets staple finisher, booklet-maker, stacker, GBC StreamPunch ProEX and Plockmatic booklet maker.
Nationwide Print has been in the Hocking family since it was established in the 1930s, when it originally produced shipping labels for British China Clay. Today, the company utilises the latest technology to offer a complete litho and digital solution for its customers. Current printing and finishing equipment includes three Heidelberg Speedmaster presses, processless CTP, a Polar guillotine, a three-knife trimmer, stitcher and collator. Its commitment to sustainable manufacturing has seen it secure work from the Eden project and it also counts Armani among its customers.
