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USAGD Print has come a long way from its humble roots in the family garage. Run today by father and son team Gary and Craig Dobbs, the south coast online printing services specialist began life when Gary was just 14. Under the guiding eye of his father Keith, the pair would produce company newsletters and stationery on the weekend. Gary went on to set up his own printing company when he was just 20 years old and today his son Craig is the Managing Director of what remains a family run business. The operation offers a streamlined online ordering process and fast turnaround times for a wide range of applications from A4 or A5 booklets to flyers and professional banners.
GD Print’s production stays sharp with UK first from Plockmatic Group
Addressing operational demand
One of keys to success in running a healthy business is recognising operational demands and responding to them with wise investment. To enhance production flexibility and application versatility Gary and Craig identified the need to invest in a new Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14010s and a Konica Minolta AccurioPress 7090 ENHANCED.
A key deciding factor for choosing the former press was its ability to support long sheets up to 1,300 mm or 900 mm in duplex. To ensure the finishing matched the high quality production, investment was made in the UK’s first Morgana Systems EBA68 Guillotine with SpeedCut.
States Craig: “We wanted the production flexibility to print on longer sheets which is why we chose to upgrade from our Konica Minolta C14000 to the new Konica Minolta C14010. Then we needed a guillotine to handle the longer sheet.”
Perfect partnership with Morgana
After researching the options to support GD Print’s throughput the EBA68 Guillotine with SpeedCut was identified as the best solution. “We are a long-standing Morgana Systems customer and bought a Morgana PowerSquare™ 224 last year, but we did look at other systems on the market,” explained Craig.
He went on to say: “We liked the large LCD screen and the ability to store up to 50 programmes. That will help us set up regular jobs faster which is especially important as jobs are getting smaller and smaller and turnaround times are shorter.”
An important factor was how the new solution would help us meet customer expectations. He states: “We do a lot of order of services, and we can’t let anyone down. Sometimes we get a file at 3pm for a funeral the next day. The investment we have made helps us ensure we can provide that level of service.”
Business challenge
- To enhance application versatility and production agility
- Evolve print production capabilities to meet customer need for shorter runs and fast turnaround times
Solution
- High quality, creative capability that delivers application flexibility
- Simple set up and ease of use to maximise capacity
Advantages
- Production flexibility
- Responsive delivery that addresses customer demand
- Easy system integration for smooth adoption
“We were asked to produce a printed logo for the inside of a keyring. The job was 90 up and the logo had to be centred. We put it into the SpeedCut and boom, it immediately planned the cuts. It was fast and accurate. It removes manual programming and reduces errors. This is very useful for out-of-the-ordinary jobs.”
Simple set up
Effortless operation was a highly valued capability as well. Craig adds: “We also liked how easy, with minimal training, the guillotine is to set up. It’s simple-to-follow prompts via the touchscreen means anyone can be comfortable operating it. Another consideration was that we only don’t have three-phase electricity, and this is a solution that will run on single-phase power. We also get great service from Morgana Systems, and we didn’t want to move away from that.”
He continues: “The ease of use and the larger blade size were the main factors for our choice, but I also liked the fact there is a very simple step by step process for the safe changing of the blade.”
Streamlining with SpeedCut
The investment included SpeedCut – a software solution designed to streamline production of even the most challenging jobs. It was put to the test almost straight away, says Craig: “We were asked to produce a printed logo for the inside of a keyring. The job was 90 up and the logo had to be centred. We put it into the SpeedCut and boom, it immediately planned the cuts. It was fast and accurate. It removes manual programming and reduces errors. This is very useful for out-of-the-ordinary jobs.”
Investing in business success
Return on investment was not a main consideration Craig adds: “The system was brought to support a larger sheet size and for its speed of use. We didn’t look at it for its return, it was necessary to invest in the future of the business. If you don’t do that you could wake up one day and find you are technically so far behind that you can’t catch up.”
He added: “We like working with Morgana Systems/ Plockmatic Group because of the quality of their systems and the quality of their service. A solution can be the best in the world but, if it isn’t supported, it could end up being worth nothing.”
