Short runs on the Rise.
LaPlume & Sons Printing Co., Inc began in 1935 as a wedding and invitation printer with a single letterpress and a manual paper cutter. The company has since grown to a small, yet powerful full-service commercial G7 master printer, employing 21 people out of a 15,000 square foot facility in Lawrence, MA.
Around 2008, LaPlume integrated digital after being challenged with a growing demand for short runs of high-quality color work. "Even though we were relatively successful with a half-size, four-color process format and low cost structure, competing in the under 1,000 range became a problem," shares Scott Morton, treasurer, LaPlume & Sons Printing, Inc.
LaPlume partnered with Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. for digital color, and invested in a DocuColor 5000 shortly after its release to the market. "We justified the acquisition price by anticipating a shift in short-run color work from the offset pressroom to the new machine,” says Morton. “However, this did not materialize as we successfully grew that segment in a short period of time with new orders that were once out of reach.”
LaPlume decided on the DocuColor 5000 press after reviewing various manufacturers and competing products. “We quickly realized that Fuji Xerox had a complete product offering from affordable, entry-level to high-end, and various levels in between,” notes Morton. “For an entry-level print service provider (PSP) planning to grow, this was attractive.”
The Fuji Xerox service network was another deciding factor. “We understood that digital machines are a bit finicky in terms of up-time and service, and parts availability was a primary concern for us,” explains Morton.
The shop recently benefited from the seamless integration of a new Fuji Xerox Color Press 1000. Morton reports that clients and staff are continually impressed with the quality and material handling capabilities of the machine, which is constantly running.
Instead of hiring additional personnel to staff the digital department, LaPlume cross-trained employees. All finishing work filters into the offset area for final form processing after print.
If Morton could have done anything differently, he would have started with a DocuColor 7000 or 8000 instead of the 5000. “Once we became comfortable with the royalty based click charge model and regular visits from our service technicians, we quickly realized we needed more capacity,” he shares. “My thought at the time was that we should have stretched a bit more and started with one of the faster models.”
At the onset of the digital integration, LaPlume found itself creating extra work by comparing the digital price to that of offset.
“Essentially, we prepared two quotes for each opportunity,” explains Morton. “One of our partner relationships pointed out that this was a tactical error—being in the business of selling print, we simply ought to quote the job and choose internally how to manufacture,” he adds. Since the quality and workmanship remain high, shifting in this direction has not been an issue. Morton reports that customers are satisfied and mostly leave it up to them to choose how jobs are printed.
In general, digital pricing is profitable for the PSP, however runs are shorter as is the revenue digital jobs tend to shed in general. "We find we process many more orders and do them in record turnaround time as compared to traditional offset," says Morton. "We also experienced a decrease in offset printing, but gained on the digital side, so overall we did well in this distressed economy."
Originally published in Digital Publishing Solutions (DPS) magazine.
