As their business grew, Color Ink’s customers began asking for wide and super-wide format graphics and for more complete, turnkey services. To accommodate these new requests, the company started by outsourcing to a couple of local imaging firms. The problem was that the mark-up on these outside purchases was insufficient to keep Color Ink profitable on those types of jobs. They soon realized that in order to stay competitive, they again needed to bring the printing capability in-house. By owning their own press, they could not only pass the savings on to their customers but also have more control over the results and offer better turnaround on jobs.
After investigating its options, the company purchased its first superwide printer, an EFI VUTEk QS3200 (a 3.2-meter roll-to-roll and flatbed printer) for its high quality and speed. They also invested in the EFI Fiery® XF RIP to help manage pre-press and print quality.
Color Ink had experience with EFI’s Fiery RIP, which drove their direct-mail printing device. “Some full color variable data projects can contain forty different elements changing on each sheet. The robust capabilities of the Fiery RIP allow us to process files quicker and to continue printing while processing. For example, with Fiery on the front end, job processing of a four-color 1,000-record VDP job has, incredibly, been reduced from four hours down to seven minutes,” said Meissner.
Download Full Case Study: EFI Fills the Missing Piece of the Puzzle for Color Ink