Johannesburg, 19 Mar 2014
Claremont-based printing services provider TopCopy has purchased a high-volume, high-quality Xerox Colour 1 000 digital press from Bytes Document Solutions and Oxbow in preparation for its new 24-hour print service.
"With 60% of our customers doing business with us online - via e-mail or the Web - we need to be available for them whenever they need us," says owner and manager Dimitri Haralambous.
"Today's technology makes it possible for a business like ours to offer mid-volume, top-quality digital services at prices nearing those of litho printing, except with same-day or 24-hour turnaround times," says Haralambous. "In fact for anything up to or around the 700-sheet mark, I'd say we compete very attractively against the bigger, slower, high-volume commercial print houses."
With outstanding print quality from its 2400x2400dpi engine, advanced and accurate colour management, and broad media latitude that accommodates stocks from lightweight 55gsm to 350gsm at full-rated speeds of 80 to 100ppm, the Xerox Colour 1000 has raised the bar of what TopCopy can produce for its customers.
Other notable features include low-melt dry ink that requires no fuser oil to deliver a smooth, offset-like finish at high speeds, and flexible finishing options that allow systems to be custom-built for specific volumes and applications.
"It's helped us win some of the jobs we were losing to higher-volume printers," says Haralambous. "Print has become a commodity, it's no longer a luxury service, so when we compete, we compete on price first. Our customers want better service and better quality, but only if it comes at a better price, and with the Xerox Colour 1000 we've been able to give them this high-quality high-service commodity."
Oxbow managing director Brett Furlong says it's not one or two features but rather a number of productivity and quality innovations that makes the Xerox Colour 1000 a game changer for companies like TopCopy.
"The Xerox Colour 1000 reduces operating costs and lifts the volume ceiling, but new features like support for heavy 350gsm stock at full printing speed, and a fifth colour that adds a high-class gloss finish to a printer's repertoire, makes the machine a solid investment for print houses wanting to close the cost gap between digital and offset printing with quality to match," says Furlong.
"Topcopy is a good example of a business that can now generate new revenue streams from customers that would previously not consider digital printing as a litho alternative."
Haralambous concurs: "We can now run 20 000 A4 clicks a day - an increase of 30% on the previous-generation DC700 - which means customers can get higher volumes of their brochures, business cards, booklets, pamphlets and posters printed at top commercial quality at the same or lower price than before. It's essentially a production machine in a retail environment."
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