How the REVORIA PRESSTM PC1120 is creating new revenue opportunities for Grace Printing
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A family-owned Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Grace Printing & Mailing has been servicing Chicago and its suburbs since 1992. Boasting a staff with more than 250 years of combined production management and printing industry experience, the Skokie, Illinois, printer handles books, brochures, banners, business cards, catalogs, direct mail, specialty finishes, die-cut products – about anything you can think of. Services include digital marketing solutions, printing, mailing, warehousing, promotional products and fulfillment.
Operating from its 50,000-square-foot facility, the printer delivers direct mail and every door direct mail to USPS daily, as well as Sectional Center Facility (SCF) drop shipments all over the country. In an effort to go above and beyond for clients, Grace Printing & Mailing features in-house graphic design and prepress departments that not only produce new ads, brands and marketing materials from concept, but also go above and beyond supporting their clients making sure every design and art file is ready for press before it gets printed.
The Challenge
With a reputation based on family values and by keeping promises, Grace Printing is committed to putting its clients first, helping them to get their message out through multiple channels. Committed to keeping innovation at the forefront of its production process, CEO Titus Eapen and his team sat down to evaluate the best way to increase the efficiency, quality and effectiveness of his press process.
Among the challenges it was looking to tackle were cost-effective ways to print metallic and wider color gamut and better PMS matching, as well as cost- effective in-line booklet with square back spine, high speed envelope printing and white ink. With its laundry list in check, Grace Printing took a deep dive into three vendors, including Ricoh’s 5-color, Canon 4-color toner devices and FUJIFILM’s REVORIA PRESS PC1120.
“The printing industry has evolved over the last decades and we are always looking for newer technologies that will be able to keep us at the forefront,” Eapen says. “We wanted a machine that could give us versatility and ease of changeover between colors, married with the customer service needed to keep things moving forward.”
The Solution
After reviewing the pros and cons from each manufacturer, FUJIFILM’s REVORIA PC1120 hit the mark with the Grace Printing team. The Revoria met each of the tenets Eapen and company had on their list, including the ability to print six colors, and the ability to print white base and then print full color again, and put a white or metallic ink on top.
Grace is not new to digital presses. But their existing fleet needed an upgrade in order to keep up with production, quality and consistency demands of their team and their customers. And the FUJIFILM REVORIA PC1120 delivers. “The majority of our digital toner work is now being transitioned from our Kodak Nexpress and other devices to the Revoria,” Eapen says. “The color consistency in digital toner printing
is something you have to be all in on, and the Revoria is able to manage the consistency much better than other devices. In addition, there is less time for daily maintenance and ease of operation.”
The Result
As one of the first printers in the Midwest to enter the digital printing landscape, Grace Printing has long prided itself on updating and adding the technology needed to stay ahead of the competition. The FUJIFILM REVORIA PC1120 is the next step in its promise to deliver on that promise. Today, the Revoria is helping print on clear material with white base and full color thereafter, and do short-run metallic (gold/ silver), plus adding color to simulate any metallic ink.
Grace is also tackling old challenges. The Revoria is helping Grace print a double hit of white ink on a 9×12 black envelope. “This was unheard of on a digital machine,” Eapen says. “Printing envelope itself was always a challenge and even if possible, it would take a lot of change over time. Printing white on a black substrate is difficult without double-hitting. This solves the problem.”
Looking ahead, Eapen says Grace Printing & Mailing will continue to be a forerunner on what the technology world offers the print industry. “Our company is always looking to be at the forefront of technology and Fujifilm is a company where we go to learn. Its sales and support team is really good and treats us like partners for the long-term. That makes a difference.”