Heidelberg-owned Zaikio has developed an open platform with the aim of “democratising the printing industry” by connecting printers, brand owners, customers, suppliers, and equipment and software manufacturers. 

Although it announced a deal with Antalis last month, this was initially only in the German market making Premier the first UK paper merchant to embrace the Zaikio concept. 

Premier Paper marketing director David Jones said the move was part of the group’s ongoing efforts to make ordering as convenient as possible for customers. 

“We are constantly looking to improve our service and to give our customers the opportunity to search for and order their desired material directly and without fuss. We aim to be a supplier that is easy to deal with and Zaikio Procurement simplifies the ordering process and frees up valuable time and resources for our customers,” he said. 

Use of the Zaikio platform is free of charge for printers. 

Antalis, Sappi and Metapaper are already on board in central Europe, with Zaikio stating that “many more will follow” and plans to add suppliers of ink and printing plates to the platform “soon”.

Karl Ciz, partner success manager at Zaikio, commented: “Zaikio has global ambitions and Premier’s involvement will be incredibly valuable to the UK automated procurement service. This way we can really help UK printers in their daily challenges. More partners, countries and markets will follow in the coming months.”

Orders for materials can be automatically synched through a printer’s MIS or ERP system if it is connected to Zaikio Procurement, with eight MIS suppliers currently signed up.

Zaikio’s Mission Control option for a “plug and play” workspace for printers is slated for release in Q4 this year.

Premier Paper was taken over by Japan Pulp & Paper Co just over two years ago. The business holds over 30,000 tonnes of products across its UK branch network with next day/same day availability.