GD 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.

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.”

Bluetree Group, the UK’s largest online printer, has further cemented its ‘great relationship’ with RENZ and Plockmatic Group with an investment in the flagship RENZ Inline 500 Classic punching and binding machine to expand production capacities and maximise automation. Personalised products such as photobooks, calendars and wire-bound books are among key applications produced easier with the installation at Bluetree Group’s state-of-the-art print factory in South Yorkshire.

Long-standing customer Bluetree Group had initial discussions with RENZ UK at Hunkeler Innovation Days in February. After visiting the RENZ headquarters in Germany, the deal – including round-the-clock service and support – was finalised in August.

In peak periods, the RENZ Inline 500 Classic will be producing around 35,000 calendars a week for Manvers, Rotherham-based Bluetree Group which has a £60 million turnover and employs 320 staff, of whom 250 work in production.

Iain Bullock, Managing Director of Renz (UK) Ltd, said: “The reputation of RENZ has been built on the foundation of quality, innovation, flexibility and, most importantly, its people. This deal with Bluetree Group is testament to our commitment to provide unrivalled products, services and support. This, together with the opening of our new showroom in at the Morgana Systems premises in Milton Keynes, sends a strong, positive message to our partners and customers and is another sign of our unwavering cooperation to grow our business successfully within Plockmatic Group.”

Ed Hudson, Plockmatic Group’s UK General Manager, said: “The RENZ team have worked tirelessly over the past few months, and this deal is recognition of their and our collaborative efforts.  Moving forward, we are confident we will together achieve further sales success and market penetration. With all our customer requirements, our mission is to offer the best technical and most cost-effective solution in every case, helping them to find the right solution for their business.”

Plockmatic Group signed an agreement in June to acquire Chr. Renz GmbH, with subsidiaries in the UK, Australia, Argentina and Turkey. The acquisition is an opportunity to enter into the ring wire binding segment, which is a natural complement to Plockmatic Group’s existing offering. Closing of the transaction is expected shortly.

“The acquisition of RENZ by Plockmatic Group has further cemented our great, long-standing relationship,” said Mark Young, Managing Director of Bluetree Group. “It provides reassurance thanks to a great support network behind the companies. We did look at competitors, but RENZ offered by far the best solution and we felt it is best to stick with the people we know well. Our investment plan was built around the fact we are now approaching our busiest three months of the year – and the RENZ Inline 500 Classic will be crucial to our success. The machine has been running really well.”

Customer Profile

OSO Hotwater is a Norwegian manufacturer of high-quality stainless steel water heaters, supplying both domestic and international markets. With over 90 years of innovation and a growing product portfolio, the company manages all technical documentation internally – including the printing of user manuals and installation guides.

Challenge

As their product range expanded and evolved, so did the volume and complexity of their printed documentation. Manuals needed to be regularly updated, produced in small batches, and often translated into up to 23 languages. Previously, they were running a toner-based press from another manufacturer, paired with a standard booklet maker solution. The setup couldn’t keep up, lacked speed, struggled with thicker booklets and forced the team to split single manuals into multiple stapled sections. This often caused delays on the production floor, where operators couldn’t complete packaging because updated manuals weren’t ready.

Manual reprints due to changes also resulted in waste and rising costs. And when jobs required immediate turnaround, external print suppliers simply weren’t fast or flexible enough.

“I spend maybe an hour a day running the system—sometimes even less. It’s basically starting the job, loading paper and picking up the finished prints.”

Stig Røed, Technical Documents Developer, OSO Hotwater

About @Graphiken  

@Graphiken is a digital print shop based in Malmö, founded in 2014. They serve both large and small businesses as well as private customers, and have continually expanded their range of services over the years. Their offering spans everything from wedding invitations and event cards to posters and high-volume product catalogs. Their strength lies in providing customized solutions that combine high quality with creative print possibilities.

The production line includes a Canon imagePRESS C10000VP, a Canon imagePRESS C850, and large format printers Canon iPF9400S and PRO-4100.

Broader brochure production with DigiFold Pro XL and BM5000

In 2022, @Graphiken saw the need to upgrade their previous booklet maker to offer a wider range of brochures in various formats and finishes. They chose the BM5000, which allows them to produce brochures in several sizes, including A4 landscape, A6, and others. It also enables production of booklets with SquareFold spines, which create a printable, squared-off spine that gives the appearance of a perfect-bound book.

In addition to the booklet maker, @Graphiken invested in a DigiFold Pro XL, a creasing and folding machine specifically designed for digitally printed and long-sheet jobs. It handles sheets up to 1300 mm. This opens the door to new applications such as covers for landscape booklets, oversized perfect-bound book covers, and multi-panel brochures in varied formats.