Standard Bank Group has increased its turnaround times on print jobs with two new Xerox Color 1000 digital press machines, supplied by Bytes Document Solutions.
Colin Bekker, senior manager in the Group’s Marketing and Design Services department, said all Standard Bank’s internal printing is done via the Marketing department, which includes a full-size design, production studio and a digital printing facility stocked with Xerox technology.
We had two iGen3s but chose to replace one of them with Colour 1000 digital press machines, which offer a fifth colour that functions as a varnish. It has already saved us a tremendous amount of time as the finishing and varnishing of items like brochures and business cards are now completed inline.
Bytes Document Solutions worked with us to ensure we have the most appropriate equipment on the print floor, said Bekker. The most important thing in our planning was the demands of the bank. One of the things we’ve learnt is that we’re not into large volumes. We want targeted communications and these Color 1000 machines are ideally suited for that, as they allow flexibility and variation.
We have many requests for short runs of DL and A5 type leaflets, which come off the machines already varnished, finished, folded and stacked. We use our remaining iGen3 for A4 or oversize printing, plus direct mail. However, when we do have high-volume jobs, we run them on all the different machines. Bytes has access to a storage area in our print room in which to store printer maintenance parts and this allows us to speed up service and reduce downtime.
The service Bytes Document Solutions provides is a key component of digital printing’s success. It certainly gives you the confidence of having back-up when you need it, concluded Bekker.
