Page 51 - Print21 Nov-Dec 2019

Digital Finishing
“The Scodix has enabled us to offer spot UV at a realistic price – so as opposed to taking that embellishment off the table because someone wants to do twenty and you can’t offer UV because it’s going to be too expensive, we can now offer that as a creative option. Its sheet size was appealing over other devices out there, its ease of use, its versatility, the fact that it will print on various uncoated materials. All of those are important.
“We can now suggest UV as opposed to avoiding it, which is probably a difference in our outlook – we would tend to not suggest UV, because we knew the pain and cost of outsourcing it. Now it’s, ‘do you want UV with that?’ It’s a different mentality,” he says.
Gold tells Print21 that the Scodix press offers options which competing products do not.
“The ones that are on the market currently are pretty narrow; it’s down to, as far as I know, business cards and fairly straightforward things, maybe brochure covers.
“This machine is more diverse. You can have a conversation with a customer and offer it as an add-on solution. We don’t dictate to our customers, saying you can only have it at such and such a size – we are willing to look at it, test it out, and see if it does work,” he says.
A finish you can feel
Showing off a number of projects that have been finished with the Scodix S75, Gold points out to me how the machine has played into one of print’s biggest advantages over other media: touch.
“Because you’ve got the ability to kind of raise or drop down the UV effect, it’s not just your standard spot UV – it can be really attention grabbing because it’s a high build. So, it’s a little bit out of the ordinary. It’s eye-catching.
“That’s what it’s about. Printing
is tactile, and if it’s in someone’s hands, you want them to hang on to it. These types of things make people want to hang on to print a little bit longer,” he says.
Gold adds that the Scodix unit also applies UV varnish accurately, with virtually no margin of error – and can process same-day jobs easily.
“This particular product is, I would say, pretty much registration perfect because it reads the fiducials. It’s one less headache for both the customer and for us, because it is going to be right every time.
“One of our key clients has requested it for pretty much every job since they found out about it,
and there’s also several different patterns you can use for various different techniques. We’ve got a Snap outlet that uses us, and they were impressed with not only the turnaround, but the quality,” he says.
According to McDiarmid, the Scodix S75 has allowed Emerald Press not only to say yes to UV finishing work, but to say yes with confidence.
“Printing is tactile, and if it’s in someone’s hands, you want them to hang on to it. These types of things make people want to hang on to print a little bit longer.” – Kewyn Gold
“Having that is a selling point, because we can safely say that it’s the best quality in the market.
“It’s another string to our bow – there’s cheaper alternatives, but it’s about quality,” he says.
Daniel Sheeley, press operator, says the 7900 is a big step up from its predecessor.
“It’s brilliant – a lot faster. Quality is unbelievable, and it’s a lot more user-friendly: I can teach anyone to run it in about half an hour,” he says.
Sheeley also has plenty of praise for Currie Group’s service and support from the coalface.
“They’re normally pretty responsive, and the guys there are so knowledgeable – half the time they can actually talk you through how to fix it and get the machine up and running again; otherwise they can identify the issue and have parts here ready to go when a technician comes up. They’re good at what they do,” he says.
Phillip Rennell, sales and marketing director at Currie Group says, “Emerald is a print business that consistently pushes the boundaries as it seeks to deliver more value to its customers.
Currie Group is proud to be a trusted supplier to Emerald. Our relationship is long standing, valued and mutually beneficial.”
Gold says that with Currie Group’s support, Emerald Press has become the closest thing to a one-stop shop for adding value to print.
“We offer hot foil, digital foil, everything internally – and it’s so rare that you can find a company that can do that all under one roof. It’s pretty exceptional, to be honest.”
It’s hard to disagree with that. 21
“Previously we found that, yes, we could say yes to a three-day turnaround – and our next three days would be hell, and full of stress, and full of running around. So, profit-wise, although this was a big investment, we see longer term that all those problems have gone.
“We’re open to trade work as
well – we’re offering the machine to whoever needs it,” he says.
Kicking goals with
Currie Group
The Scodix S75 isn’t the only piece
of kit that Emerald has purchased from Currie Group: the printer also boasts HP Indigo digital presses including the 7900 – which helped propel Emerald into a weekly MVP spot in Currie Group’s State of Indigo competition last year – and a suite
of Horizon equipment for finishing and binding, including a StitchLiner saddle stitcher; a SmartSlitter cutter and creaser; a creaser-folder; and a PUR perfect binder.
“We’ve worked with Currie Group since early days, twenty-five years easily,” says McDiarmid. “We’ve bought printing machines, bought Horizon gear, bought just about everything they sell.
“It’s been a great long-term relationship – successful and amicable. Fruitful for both of us.
“The Horizon gear suits our workflow, it has a good footprint, it’s versatile, it works, it’s reliable – it’s just good kit,” he says.
McDiarmid says that the HP Indigo 7900 Digital Press – an upgrade to its old 5500 – has enabled Emerald to produce offset-quality print in short and medium runs.
Main
Say yes to
spot UV: the Scodix S75 has enabled Shaun McDiarmid (left) and Kewyn Gold
to confidently produce spot UV inhouse
Below
User-friendly operation: Daniel Sheeley (left) and Tony Hawkins, with the HP Indigo 7900 Digital Press
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