The St Austell-based business took on two machines apiece from Duplo and Morgana as part of its sweeping investment. All four will be run on clean energy, generated through solar panels and a number of green-focused measures.
Nationwide is also working to update its Tharstern MIS and MarcomCentral asset management software in order to integrate the two and reduce the number of touchpoints clients are required to use.
“This operation is about making our factory more efficient and reducing touchpoints throughout our workflow,” said managing director Julian Hocking. “We are future-proofing ourselves – existing within and investing in adapting to our ever-changing industry.
“We would not be able to spend this money if we were not in a good place as a business – we are busy and it is definitely not easy but I believe you have to work hard and stay on top of things otherwise you will disappear.”
Installed across the second half of March, Nationwide’s new equipment includes a 600i booklet system from Duplo, which can generate 5,200 booklets per hour. It was chosen by Hocking for its touchscreen capabilities and compatibility with both digital and litho jobs.
Also from Duplo was a DB-290 perfect binder for short-run books. Nationwide was picking up an increasing number of these orders so decided to bring the process in-house.
Nationwide’s Morgana haul comprised the DigiFold Pro folder-creaser, which can fold more than 6,000sph, and the AutoCreaser Pro, which runs at 8,500 single creases per hour on A4 sheets.
Hocking said: “The new equipment will allow us to produce a wide variety of booklets and books with improved speed and efficiency, to an extremely high standard. The machines will integrate perfectly with our existing litho and digital printers and are extremely versatile pieces of kit.”
With the kit installed, Hocking’s next focus is on further pushing his firm’s online marketing software, MarcomCentral by Ricoh, designed for multi-location businesses looking to do static and personalised advertising.
Nationwide Print, named SME of the Year at the 2014 PrintWeek Awards, employs 16 staff on premises covering 650sqm.
