The system was implemented around two months ago at the Wellington, Somerset-based firm’s 279sqm premises, where it joins Ricoh 9110, 901, 8100 and 510 digital presses, a large-format HP Latex 360 and Epson Stylus Pro 9890 and a raft of finishing kit, including two Horizon machines that were installed in May.
“We do a lot of digital print and most of that is business cards or brochures, but customers are wanting a lot of small orders every day,” said Carly Press managing director Mark Gladstone-Smith.
“We found that they were emailing or calling us and we would book these jobs in, which took a lot of admin time, and then we would send proofs to ensure they were looking at the correct file.
“So we bought Coreprint Pro to make the whole order process easier for our clients and it also streamlines everything and puts it straight into our presses and through our MIS and takes out all the admin.
“From a commercial point of view it makes our clients a bit more sticky. If they’re doing a lot of short-run orders then anyone can come in and try and shave 5% off the margin – we’re just trying to add value to what we’re doing.”
The business also looked at alternatives from Infigo Software and EFI among others but Gladstone-Smith believed the Vpress system “offered the most out of the box”.
He added: “What we particularly liked about Coreprint is that within half an hour we could have mocked up a storefront, put a basic product on it and have done a demo on the system.
“It was a big decision/investment for us which we knew would not be an overnight project. It would take time to implement and get clients ordering through their custom portals but so far it’s had a great uptake – everyone that we’ve showed the system to has grabbed it with both hands.”
The 15-staff family-run commercial printer turns over around £1.2m and serves local and national customers. It was named after Gladstone-Smith’s sister Carly who was born the year his grandfather launched the company in 1982. Father Graeme handles large-format work and mother Kim oversees accounts.
