The straight-talking managing director of Shiremoor Press in Newcastle-upon-Tyne heads up a company just three years shy of its 50th anniversary. What started as a one-man letterpress printing company in the late 1960s became a thriving litho colour and commercial printer in the eighties, nineties and noughties. 

Last year was the point he crossed the process Rubicon and bought one of those digital presses, a Konica Minolta bizhub C1085. Why?

The challenge

“I entered digital with hesitation; I’m a litho man through and through and have always been cynical about digital technology. But due to the demands and amounts of work we were getting, it made sense to look at adding more capacity and another discipline. We do a lot of campaign work using litho and large-format kit, even I could see there could be certain benefits in moving into digital.”

There was another factor. Print may have been cut to the bone, but it’s still costly for those plying the craft. Shiremoor Press was outsourcing an eye-watering £10,000 of work a month, most of it run off on digital machines. Whisson was keen to bring as much of this in-house as possible. With this in mind, the rapid turnaround times and all the other plus points of digital machines began to soften his resolve.

Though Whisson was a long-time champion of the specialised colours and techniques achieved on offset kit, Shiremoor Press tentatively explored what the trademark small runs of digital could bring to his company. And the variable data for customising copy on individual pieces. And the much-hyped benefits of cheap and fast production with less set-up and maintenance hassle. 

If done properly, this could enable his team to push down pricing – without giving it away like all the “fools” – and tap into the benefits of those tantalising quicker turns. As long as Whisson and his team could avoid cutting corners like those self-same fools, the move into digital would prove “economic in time and finance and allow clients to produce what they want, when they want it to a more tailored audience”. 

The method

First came the research; a digi-cynic like Whisson was not going to be rushed into a purchase or take a snap decision. Early last year he immersed himself in literature and took advice, a process that took three months and ended up with him looking at Xerox, Ricoh and Konica Minolta machines.

What swung it towards the Konica Minolta bizhub C1085 was not just its impressive specs: the four-colour digital press fires off up to 85 A4ppm and can handle stock thicknesses from 55gsm to 350gsm. Shiremoor Press has had a long-standing working relationship with the distributor Apex Digital Graphics and Whisson rated its service, back-up and, most crucially, after-sales support.

The machine cost circa £85,000 and installation was as as smooth as the print runs were alleged to be. Whisson was away when the machine was delivered at the end of May, and when he returned three or four days later the kit was running almost “perfectly” with no hiccups. 

“The machine looked and felt right – it’s made of metal, not plastic – and the quality was excellent. We bought the Konica Minolta through Apex, which did an ISO calibration. The machine was so good it was classed as a proofing press rather than just a digital press, it was that accurate.”

But a machine is only as good as the person behind it: “The Konica Minolta is reliable, no doubt about it, but it comes down to the operator. We needed a reliable, skilled digital operator with a strong track record and found just that in Damian Baker.”

Baker was a former lead demonstrator for Xerox digital equipment in New Zealand. 

“Because this is where we wanted to be; we are not in the business of churning out jobs for £20 or £30 a pop, we wanted to target high-quality work such as brochures and short-run personalised vouchers. Small orders are not for us, we wanted to actively seek jobs where we could offer a full-service solution – or one-stop shop – to clients, which is another reason why digital, at long last, made sense for us to run alongside all our other kit.”

The result

The Konica Minolta has been running just over a year and Shiremoor Press is targeting work such as POS and retail-focused print. Whisson has kept to his word and turned down all those twenty-quid jobs. Most orders come in at three of four figures and jobs include high-end brochures and personalisation. Runs up to 500 go on to the digital machine.

Such work is well suited to the press and Whisson singles out the high-quality suction paper feed and registration systems, stable image reproduction and inline automatic density control for producing colour-consistent results. Post-printing the equipment is equipped with de-curler, stapler and stacker, and booklet maker, making this a nifty all-rounder.

He has not, however, been blinded by the rapid turnaround times and technological advances of this type of print: “Digital still needs good technical support. The equipment has come along way in recent years but none of these machines are 100% reliable. That’s why it’s important to have good support in place.”

Whisson is quiet on turnover and how much the technology could bring the company, but for campaign work digital is a valuable addition to his existing litho and large-format mix. It has, he insists, “completed our transition to a one-stop shop”.

He adds: “Enquiries for digital print are going well, which is ideal of course. Both existing customers and new clients seeking fast turnarounds are impressed by the quality of the output. A big advantage for us and one that helped boost our confidence was that I know and trust the managing director and sales team at Apex. We have purchased pre-press and printing equipment from them in the past and I know they are a reliable company. 

“Everything has fallen into place with our new digital venture. But the key to getting the most out of digital print is not so much the technology itself but the people who use it, and know how use it properly, rather than the type of people who simply hit the green button and walk away.” 

VITAL STATISTICS

Shiremoor Press

Location Newcastle-upon-Tyne 

Inspection host Managing director Keith Whisson

Size Staff: 29; turnover: undisclosed 

Established 1969

Products A wide range of commercial items including marketing materials and short-run packaging for commercial and retail customers across the UK, Europe, the US and Africa, print for schools and other educational organisations

Kit Konica Minolta bizhub C1085 press, Epson 9000 wide-format printer, five-colour Ryobi 750 series B2 litho press, two Heidelberg GTOs, proofing capability, laminating, die-cutting, creasing and folding kit

Inspection focus Moving into digital printing

TOP TIPS

Attitude Train your staff, reassure clients and, above all, inform yourself on how digital can be a sound, profitable complement to, but not a replacement for, litho printing. 

Research “Take as long as it takes and then – if necessary – longer” when it comes to researching the pros, cons and technology of digital printing, cautions Whisson.

Trust Moving into a new technical sphere such as digital inevitably requires lots of ‘hand-holding’, so choose a supplier you know and trust and who offers bullet-proof backup.

Train Digital machines have different needs, advantages and disadvantages that make debuting with the technology a steep learning curve, so put in place adequate training.

Expertise Don’t stint on your search for good digital operators; Shiremoor Press recruited a former pro from the other end of the world and one from the UK with a great track record.

Limitations Know the limits - as well as the bonuses - of digital technology; for example upkeep costs and the types of paper and card that can run on digital machines. 

Idiots – don’t be one Be realistic on the strengths and weaknesses of digital and understand it is not an easy fast buck.