Galway-based print company, Standard Printers, have completed a €4million investment over the past two years in a range of new state of the art print technology which includes its most recent acquisition, the Xerox iGen4 digital press, the first of its kind to be installed in Ireland.
Standard Printers is a leading provider of print solutions and marketing materials such as brochures, flyers, booklets, newsletters, magazines and business cards for both large and small businesses and office, wedding and personal stationery for individual customers. The company boasts a wide customer reach with a client base extending across Ireland.
Standard Printers was founded in 1967 by Michael Cunningham, and is a family owned and run business. The company employs 40 people in Ireland and has 250 employees in its sister packaging company, Western Plastics, which is based in Ireland and North America. Standard Printers is one of the leading commercial print providers in the west of Ireland and offers a one stop service from design to production from everything from business cards to large size posters, digital print to full colour B1 format offset production.
The installation of the Xerox iGen4 print press in January of this year has significantly expanded the company’s digital print offering, allowing for increased productivity, flexibility and service range for customers. The company, which currently employs 40 staff, is exploring options to expand its team in the coming months to facilitate the new print capacity.
The iGen4 press allows for quick turnaround time with the capability to produce full colour same day print runs extremely competitively. In addition, the machine has a number of important additional features such as Variable Data Printing (VDP ) which allows for extended personalisation options. The personalisation of printed materials for the end user is increasingly important in adding extra value to marketing materials.
Speaking about the investment, Paul Cunningham of Standard Printers said Standard Printers has been established for more than 40 years and in that time it has witnessed many changes in both the print and the economic landscape in Ireland.
“Our experience has shown us that maintaining a profitable business is about the ability to adapt to cater for customer’s changing needs. As a result, we continually evaluate our business and plan for strategic investments which allow us to remain at the top of our game. This most recent investment followed months of research in order to select the best equipment to bring our business to the next level.
“Standard Printers attended a number of European print exhibitions during 2008 where they were given the opportunity to experience first-hand the newest selection of top-end digital print presses on offer.
“Following extensive research we selected the Xerox iGen4 and we strongly believe that we have found the right technology to add further value to our business and benefit our customers. We understand that in the current climate offering flexible options in terms of print quantities is crucial. Print requirements can vary greatly depending on budget, volume and deadlines and the iGen4 digital press complements our existing equipment, giving us increased flexibility to assist customers in meeting their business challenges in the most cost effective and efficient way.
“The iGen4 installation was seamless and we have been successfully delivering large volumes of high-end collateral and marketing materials with vibrant image-quality for the last two months”, Paul Cunningham added.
Mark McPhillips, General Manager for Xerox Ireland Ltd said Standard Printers’ investment in the iGen4 was a strategic business decision. The productivity of digital presses i.e. the amount of "uptime" print providers have on their systems to produce pages for their clients - is a key factor to increasing print revenue.
“The iGen4 increases productivity by automating operator tasks, reducing the need to interrupt the press for adjustments and decreasing overall operating costs. As a result, the iGen4 improves the break-even point between digital and traditional offset printing, making it faster and more economical to print jobs on digital”, Mark McPhillips added.
