Hope to see you at thINK 2018! This will be my third thINK conference, but the 2017 conference was an important one for us at Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance. We knew we would be taking delivery of an Océ VarioPrint i-series, as well as a Canon imagePRESS C10000VP in the coming months. The conference gave us a chance to talk to people who had already installed inkjet so we would know what to expect. I’ve got to say that the Klik Bracelets really helped with that process. I’ve been to a lot of conferences and that was – hands-down – the best way to get people to interact with each other.

The Move to Inkjet
When we started looking at inkjet, we were running six toner devices 24/7. As an insurance company, most of what we print is invoices, declarations, policy changes, and id cards. But we also print marketing postcards for our agents on a daily basis, as well as some higher-quality marketing print. Two years ago we brought agent business cards inhouse rather than continue outsourcing. We knew we could get the same quality or better and have more control over the process.

Our plan was to do the transactional and postcard printing on an inkjet device and also have a toner device for high-quality marketing. We did our homework, presented these two new printers to our executive leadership team, and they were all in. The great thing about our in-plant print shop is how well we are supported. We don’t have the justification challenges many other in-plants face. Our company looks to our department as an asset. We have extremely high expectations of the quality we put out and it shows. 

No Surprises Installation
We knew our department was moving to a newly constructed space, so we had it built out with the i-300 in mind. Honestly, there have been no surprises. We had a great Canon project team and excellent facilities coordination on our side. From our CIO on down, it was extremely well coordinated. The training was phenomenal, both for press operators as well our graphics and marketing team. Our operators were very comfortable with the equipment, and you could tell they were comfortable.

When we ran our first test print on the i-300, it was noticeably faster than our existing toner equipment. We feel it opens our doors to more printing opportunities, and our eyes are wide open as we look forward to the future.

Inkjet Advice
If you’re thinking about inkjet, ask your Canon Rep to talk with others in the industry who are already running the machine. That was our biggest deciding factor. Our Rep, Dave Szazynski put us in touch with two nearby companies who were running the i-300. We took several trips and not only were we able to talk to the owners, but also the operators who actually run the machines. Everyone was so helpful in talking with us and guiding us. That experience was invaluable. 

Second piece of advice: If you have the ability and you have the room to make the change, get an i-300. Inkjet is definitely the wave of the future – just with the cost savings alone.

Michele Woodrum is Team Lead, Mail/Print Services at Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance.