Page 46 - Print 21 magazine Jul-Aug 2021
P. 46

                Business
    Winning
with Worldwide
Worldwide Print Online franchisee
Les Stock has just installed one of the first Ricoh Pro C5300S digital colour printers
in the country, along with a new Ricoh Ri 100 DTG printer, all with new Ricoh digital TotalFlow Prep workflow, at his Parramatta centre. Wayne Robinson reports.
Buying into the print business four years ago with the Worldwide Parramatta, Strathfield and Brookvale franchises,
industry newcomer Les Stock saw that me-too printing was not for him.
He says, “I bought into Worldwide because I recognised its hybrid proposition with digital and print was compelling for the market,” Stock says.
“The hybrid approach excited me. I don't necessarily want to be the printer that just prints business cards – there’s not much margin there – but marrying print with digital for interactive print solutions is what sets us apart, and what clients increasingly want. It offers the best of both worlds, and delivers real and measurable outcomes.”
Stock’s Worldwide operation provides a quartet of digital offerings to go with print, with augmented reality, online print management, integrated marketing solutions,
and is soon to launch campaigns
on demand, which also provides feedback – including a function that can convert to a Google review.
Print is a key part of Stock’s proposition to the market, either in tandem with digital, or standing
on its own. With the lease coming
to an end on Stock’s existing digital colour printer in Parramatta, he started with a blank page to assess the options. “It was a comprehensive process, looking at the costs, the capabilities, and a future long-term relationship,” he says.
“Like any businessperson
going through Covid, I’m looking
at reducing costs, improving productivity, and increasing our product range to find new customers. That was very much in my mind as I went through the process.”
When it came to the buying process, Stock said, “First of all I talked to my fellow franchisees, then during the process I really struck a nice rapport with Paul Thompson from Ricoh who took the time to demonstrate the product and walk us through that. And they bent over backwards to ensure that we not only got a machine that matched what we had, but exceeded it, which was the Pro C5300S.
“So we've got a couple of features on that machine that we didn't have on our old machine, such as online punching, and decurling, which is important to us as we print a lot of booklets. We don’t use all of them every day – for instance the long sheet printer, but they're there when we need to use them.
Above
Hybrid proposition: Les Stock, owner, Worldwide Online, Parramatta, Strathfield and Brookvale, with the new Ricoh Pro C5300S
“The quality of print from the Pro C5300S is remarkable. Its ability to print on different stocks gives us the versatility we need, and having an inline booklet maker adds to its ease of use. Since we installed it we have found that we are printing a lot more work inhouse, rather than sending
it out to the Perth hub, or to a local trade printer.”
The Ricoh didn’t come in as the cheapest machine on offer, but Stock says he is saving about $1,000 a month over the old machine, which as the business builds its way back from Covid is, he says, “more than welcome”.
Along with the Pro C5300S, Stock also invested in a new Ricoh Ri
100 DTG direct to garment printer – his first. “We do get asked for promotional products. T-shirts are an easy thing to do, bags are easy things to do as well,” he says.
To drive the print Stock also bought the TotalFlow Prep digital workflow from Ricoh, which he says is, “easy to use, intuitive and logical.”
With the economy now emerging out of Covid, Stock believes his vision for a hybrid digital and print communication business, with the new Ricoh print equipment, will enable him to meet the evolving needs of the business community. 21
          The Ricoh Pro C5300S
The new Ricoh Pro C5300S draws
much of its technology from its well- established big brothers; the Pro C7200 and Pro C9200.
Henryk Kraszewski, product marketing manager at Ricoh, said, “The new Pro 5300S will produce everything from regular brochures – saddle stitched
and folded – to 1.26-metre banners, to
envelopes and carbonless sets. It is a real workhorse for any print business, but at an entry-level price.”
New to the format is the vacuum
feed table found on the Pro C7200 and Pro C9200 models, which come with mechanical registration beloved of printers everywhere. It will print on stock up to 360gsm with no loss of rated speed for anything up to 256gsm. Stocks include
synthetic and textile papers. It prints duplex at the same speed.
Key benefits of the enhanced system include high image quality, with Ricoh 2400
x 4800dpi VCSL technology, and new gloss control to address different image output demands. It has high productivity with a speed of up to 80ppm and a monthly duty cycle of 450,000. The vacuum feed large-capacity tray supports a wide range of substrates.
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