Colour Quest Adds Capacity to Increase Service Levels |
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| 25.02.2004 |
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The Colour Quest Group in Hemel Hempstead is taking a third Speedmaster SM 74-5 five-colour press to ensure it can provide the rapid response that its market requires.
The company has a turnover of £4.2 million, of which £3.7 million comes from its B2 offset litho work and £500,000 from next day digital business card production. About 60 percent of sales are from print procurement companies, professional buyers who expect to benefit from extreme service.
"We won't necessarily fill the new press but we will have capacity to allow us to keep our reputation for speed and reliability at the top," says managing director Tyrone Spence. "We regularly take work at 5pm and deliver completed jobs at 9am. The third press is an investment in customer service, allowing us to give 24 hour rather than two day turnrounds as standard. It is this approach which enables us to keep work coming in."
The company looked at a number of makes but the Heidelberg brand is still highly valued by professional buyers and the resale values are comparatively strong against competitors. Having three common models means staff can move between machines easily and CtP plate formats are standard.
"Two years ago digital was the buzz word, it was sexy but now it is getting rather saturated and eventually everyone will have this type of technology on the desktop," says Mr Spence. "We will continue to offer a next day digital service but without compromise to our small offset and B2 five-colour operation. Offset still retains a quality edge and competitive unit costs in all but the shortest runs."
The press arrives this spring along with a one year old combination folder and CtP device. Colour Quest uses the Prinect Prepress Interface to take work from prepress to press, cutting makeready times and on press waste but it will be analysing the opportunities to extend its workflow networks over the coming months.
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