Profitable print is what every print service provider aims for. How can production inkjet provide a path to profit? Three companies shared how inkjet presses impacted their bottom line in the thINK 2016 Q&A customer panel discussion, “Profitable Print” moderated by Susan Moore, Vice President, Tharsten.

The Inkjet Customer Panel Included:

Christian Kropac, President, PCI Group:  PCI Group produces mission critical direct mail communications. In 2015 they converted from a black toner only printer fleet to a full color inkjet fleet and grew from 80 to 240 employees.  In 2016 they printed over 2 billion images and mailed over 400 million outbound packages. 

Chuck Werninger, Senior Manager of Administrative Services, Houston Independent School District (HISD): Houston ISD is the 7th largest school district in the United States with over 215,000 students and 29,000 employees at 283 schools. HISD Printing Operations has 30 full time employees with a mix of legacy offset and modern digital tools.  

Mitch Anderson, Chief Revenue Officer, Pinnacle Data Systems:  Pinnacle Data is a transactional mailer, printing 1.2 billion pages and hosting over 300 million web documents annually. The Océ VarioPrint i300 replaced seven high-quality color/toner machines, dramatically lowering cost while meeting customer quality requirements.  Pinnacle is also an early adopter in continuous form inkjet.

Questions thINK Members Asked:

• As you migrated legacy clients on inkjet platforms, what was your approach to pricing and positioning value?
• Tell me more about how I can move color and monochrome images cost-effectively to the i300?
• How much time did it take from installation of the Océ VarioPrint i300 until you were selling work off of it?
• Have you been able to take work off of your offset press -- if so, where is the threshold between running inkjet vs. traditional?
• What impact has the Océ VarioPrint i300 had on your bottom line?
• How did the Océ VarioPrint i300 impact the sales team?  Did you do any specific training with the sales team?
• How has the addition of the Océ VarioPrint i300 impacted your pre-press department?
• What are your maintenance routines and uptimes?
• With your transition to color inkjet, what were some of the key decision factors in deciding to go with continuous feed vs. sheetfed?
• What surprises did you have during installations?

Listen to recorded session, “Profitable Print” to hear the answers to these questions and learn more about profitable inkjet printing.

Tonya Powers is the Graphic Arts Segment Marketing Manager for Canon Solutions America, with a focus on marketing strategies across North America in the Commercial and Book print production markets.  She brings with her a wealth of industry knowledge that enables her to lead field relevant go-to-market production print strategies and programs for Canon Solutions America that bring value-add to the production print customer and print industry. Previous to Canon Solutions America, Tonya spent several years at Hewlett Packard on the marketing team developing go-to-market strategies within the Graphics Solutions Business for their Wide Format and Digital Press & Inkjet divisions. Tonya has been in marketing roles identifying and implementing B2B marketing strategies since 1999.