The Carly Press, based in Wellington, Somerset, has dramatically increased its production capacity and set itself a firm foundation for digital growth with an investment in two new Ricoh digital production presses – a Ricoh Pro® C901 press and Pro® C5100. In just three months since their installation, the increase in output and new business generated from the two presses has already led to a new graphic designer and print apprentice being employed to help manage the growing workload.
Says Mark Gladstone-Smith, Director, The Carly Press: "We invested in the two new Ricoh presses to meet growth on this side of the business as our incumbent press, a Konica Minolta machine, just wasn't up to the high volume and quality demands we were placing on it. The two Ricoh presses have already proved themselves to be more than worthy equals to our litho machines, producing the highest quality work, day in, day out. They are robust and reliable and we're very pleased with our investment in Ricoh's technology."
Mr Gladstone-Smith says the company trialled the Ricoh presses earlier in the year and was so impressed with their performance during the demonstration they ordered the presses the very next day. Continues Mark: "These presses largely sold themselves due to their outstanding performance during the demonstration. Since installation they have continued to live up to our initial excitement and expectations. They are providing us with the real flexibility we needed to diversify and grow our business."
As a third-generation print business, Gladstone-Smith says the company witnessed many changes and trends in the industry over the last few decades, and the current decade is no exception. "Today, short run work is increasingly becoming the norm, but short run that is much more tailored to the recipient – whether that be through the use of variable data printing or augmented reality. What we love about the Ricoh presses is their ability to integrate these solutions easily. And, as Ricoh offers these applications itself, their integration and use on a Ricoh press is also seamless.
The Pro® C5100S is the first Ricoh digital production printer to feature Ricoh's enhanced toner transfer technology which delivers high quality print results on heavily textured stock – perfect for direct mail and marketing applications. Wide media compatibility is one of the many key benefits of these models. A new fuser assembly uses information from the media library to optimise the fuser temperature and pressure combination for each substrate increasing compatibility and quality of output. This is ideal for challenging printing applications such as envelopes, where the balance of pressure and heat is critical to maintain a flat and perfectly printed product.
The Ricoh Pro® C901's wide media versatility and finishing options have helped to extend the range of jobs Carly Press can offer and dramatically decrease turnaround times without compromising quality. The press also employs Ricoh's next-generation oil-free imaging technology to produce output with near-offset quality while minimising costs. With a robust engine construction that provides durability and reliability, the press adds integrated full colour scanning, copying and document storage to meet image capture and print on-demand requirements.
Says Gareth Parker, Strategic marketing manager, Ricoh UK: "Carly Press is an excellent example of a printing company with a proud history that has recognised continuous improvement is a major factor for future success. Clearly, the two new Ricoh presses have quickly fitted into their recent transformation and it's great to hear they've also increased the team as a result of the growth in output from these machines. This is a great indicator of the improving economic climate.
"There is also a real focus on increasing customer interest in applications such as highly personalised print and clickable paper, and it seem this will also help grow the digital side of the business by providing higher value, higher margin work. I look forward to hearing more about Carly Press's successful digital transformation over the coming months."
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