Based in Canvey Island, Essex, the commercial printer made a £160,000 deal with reseller Smart Print to install a Pro C7200 and a Pro C9200. The pair replace two Xerox presses – a DocuColor 7002 and an iGen 4.
Design 4 Print took on the C7200 in mid-September and the C9200 followed last Thursday (4 October). Managing director Rod Hall had initially considered taking on an Iridesse from Xerox but found the Ricoh duo came in at a lower price point than the single machine.
“We did not hear from the company that sold us the iGen for five years and then out of nowhere they returned with a new name trying to sell us a new machine,” Hall said.
“When it came to replace our Xeroxs we decided to go somewhere new and I was recommended to try Paul Stead and his team at Smart Print.
“I was working directly with Paul and everything was installed and set up at the times promised. They are not as big as other companies, but they have certainly looked after us since we took the Ricoh printers on.
“We have had the C7200 for three weeks now and the quality compared to the iGen is already much clearer – the sharpness of the text, as well as results being glossier and the options to use white and clear inks.”
Ricoh’s Pro C7200 production press runs a maximum printable area of 323x1,252mm at speeds up to 85ppm, while the Pro C9200 prints a slightly larger 326x1,255mm area at a rate of 135ppm. The C7200 takes substrates from 52-360gsm while the C9200 can take up to 470gsm.
They will be used by Design 4 Print for jobs including A4 24pp brochures, business cards and leaflets. Among the firm's key customers are two prominent holiday park chains.
Both machines will run alongside a broad portfolio at Design 4 Print’s 743sqm premises, which includes two-colour litho capabilities, wide-format Arizona and Colorado printers from Canon and an inkjet printer from Mimaki, as well as a range of finishing kit.
Hall said he utilises his Mimaki printer for vehicle wrapping jobs, which are taking up an increasing amount of business. His plans for the future include growing this service – moving to a bigger unit and hiring a new wrapper to accommodate for demand.
With 14 staff, Design 4 Print turned over £1.3m last year and is aiming for a 5% increase in the current financial year, according to Hall.
