Attention to detail is paramount in any business, particularly the fashion industry.
A 'made in Britain' fashion house, David Nieper has been designing and manufacturing all its luxury women's fashion in Derbyshire since 1961. But the Alfreton-based company has now taken the bold decision to complete the missing link in its almost completely vertical production chain – by printing its catalogues and brochures in-house for the first time. David Nieper have taken delivery of a ROLAND 704LV HiPRINT (four printing units and a coating unit) from Manroland Sheetfed UK, to produce nine million full colour catalogues a year.
Managing Director Christopher Nieper, says establishing direct control of printing was vital because now all their sales are direct to the consumer via catalogue and online.
So why chose Manroland?
"We looked at all the major machine builders. But in the end it came down to quality. When customers are buying fashion, colour is one of the critical factors and the faithful representation of our garments in the catalogues produced through Manroland printing was ahead of the others," he says.
The move, means that everything David Nieper does is now in-house, including photography, colour correction, and proofing – all linked straight through to the pre-press and print so that everything is colour-controlled.
"If we get the colours absolutely accurate it's much easier for our customers to choose the garments that will suit them best." says Christopher.
"The press was delivered with a potential upgrade to low energy curing with hybrid UV inks, and this future-proofing was another factor in choosing Manroland."
Over a third of David Nieper's sales are to overseas customers and as a result, brochures are printed in six different languages and corresponding currencies. The 704LV HiPRINT copes brilliantly with the change of plates and variable quantities.
Previously David Nieper catalogues were printed locally at Hawthornes of Nottingham, which sadly went into administration in 2012. David Nieper has since taken on a number of former Hawthornes staff, to run its new state-of-the-art facility.
www.manrolandsheetfed.com
