The Hampshire company, which dropped litho in favour of digital some years ago, has found that trade houses are now so competitive that they even beat digital on short runs.
Sales director Stuart Reid said: “We can buy cheaper online from a litho company than we can print it ourselves. For example, if we have 5,000 single-sided A5 fliers we would normally print that in house but we send that out now. If I order on Wednesday it will come on Friday. 2,000 single-sided A5 flyers are £35 including delivery. It’s £52 for 5,000.
“Even a local litho company are happy to compete with these prices. We’re seeing it going back the other way on smaller runs. I believe that makereadies are much quicker. However these guys are bulking it all together, it’s still going on a litho press with a ridiculously cheap price.”
Rather than upgrading its four-colour Canon imagePress 7010VP, which Reid said the seven-staff £600,000-turnover company was perfectly happy with, it went for the £50,000 Heidelberg press which can produce long-sheet runs and effects not offered by trade houses.
Reid said the Linoprint has a maximum sheet size of 700x330mm, which allows Dataprint to run 6pp A4 portrait or landscape A4 books.
“It prints clear ink, it prints white ink, it will print on textured stock,” he added. “The white ink has been a hit so far. We used this on a GF Smith black board for business cards as well as invitations printed on 300gsm mirror finish board.
“It’s just thinking outside the realms of a Canon. We’re targeting the designers and trying to open up their imaginations to what can be printed in a short run on digital.”
He added that the press was versatile. “We haven’t yet found a stock it won’t run.”
Dataprint started as a screen and litho business in 1989. Today it is a digital house with both retail and trade operations producing business cards, stationery, booklets, complex reports, vehicle graphics, signs, hoardings, banners and exhibition stands.
It handles work UK wide but the majority is from within a 50-mile radius.
The company has also invested in its first MIS. The £6,500 Accura system is going in today, chosen after it was recommended by another company and following a market review.
Reid said: “One of the main reasons we got it is trying to keep on top of invoicing, things go through so fast, sometimes jobs slip through.
“Hopefully absolutely everything will be booked in. Mistakes do happen sometimes because of human error. This should be good for keeping on top of quotes, chasing quotes and for proofing purposes too. But the proof is in the pudding.”
Long-term the company may also invest in a wide-format flatbed.
