It is a commitment that he hopes the customers see in the service they get from the former high-street printer, which was set up by D’Arcy Ryan’s uncle in 1984. Copy Colour, which has 10 staff and is now based on an industrial park, works for a wide variety of clients ranging from sole traders to big name businesses such as Nationwide Building Society and St James Place.
These are clients that expect the best, both in quality and service, and D’Arcy Ryan, who has been working for the £800,000-turnover business since 1993, well before moving to Sweden for family reasons (his wife is Swedish), believes the right kit is essential to meeting those demands.
Hence, rather than spending time worrying and pondering kit investments, D’Arcy Ryan tends to be more decisive. When he saw the Canon imagePress C6010VP digital colour press, for example, he says a purchase was a "no-brainer".
The company had previously been one of the first in the UK to install an imagePress 7000, which it had found it to be "perfect" for the range of work that it produces, which includes business stationery, banners, promotional materials and posters.
"Copy Colour was set up when colour copying was very new and we have a long history with Canon that dates back to when they introduced the Colour T copier," says D’Arcy Ryan. "We have been very pleased with the reliability of the imagePress 7000, which we installed four years ago, and we wanted a second machine for two reasons: so we would have a back-up if something went wrong with the 7000 and because of the volume of work we were producing through our existing machine."
Essential back-up
Copy Colour works to tight timescales and aims to turn jobs around within one day, making it even more important to have a back-up press in case anything goes wrong with the 7000.
D’Arcy Ryan adds: "We have a Canon 9070, but it is not really suitable as a back-up machine."
Copy Colour, which has also recently installed a £50,000 Canon imagePress 1110 mono machine and an Intech CP2020, approached Canon to discuss its options. Canon made an offer on the C6010VP, which costs upward of £100,000, that Colour Copy could not refuse.
D’Arcy Ryan says: "When we sat down and went through the financial details, we realised that we would be getting a better package due to restructuring the finance deal that we had on the 7000. Also, the 6010 has lower running costs so there were obvious short- and long-term benefits."
He adds: "Another important factor in our decision-making was the fact that the machine’s production speed doesn’t slow down whether the weight of the substrate is 100gsm or 300gsm."
Since the 6010 was installed in April, it has become the company’s primary printer, while the imagePress 7000 has assumed the role of back-up machine.
D’Arcy Ryan says that getting staff used to working with the 6010 was a relatively seamless process.
He says: "They only needed training on the software for variable-data printing and personalisation because the actual running of the machine was more or less exactly the same as before."
The printer has also proved a hit with clients. "We have had comments from clients such as Nationwide saying they have noticed a difference," says D’Arcy Ryan. "While the print quality is similar to the 7000, the RIP technology has moved on a lot in four years. We do a fair amount of personalisation work and the speed on the RIP has been boosted by the new technology."
While D’Arcy Ryan is clearly impressed with the 6010, its installation was not completely free of teething problems.
"There were a couple of minor tweaks that had to be made just after the printer had been installed," says D’Arcy Ryan, "When we were first running the machines for double-sided jobs the print was offset by about 2.5mm. We were able to make the adjustment because it was always out by the same amount, but we knew that it wasn’t the way it should work."
Easy fix
Fortunately, the problem was easily rectified by Canon staff. D’Arcy adds: "An engineering team came from Canon to run some tests and they fixed the problem within half a day without having to take any equipment away with them. They made some adjustments on the machine which solved the problem and it has been fine ever since."
D’Arcy Ryan says that the impact of the new printer on the business has been game-changing.
"Now that we have two machines that have the same capability, speed and specification, our print capacity has almost doubled," he explains. "We had jobs we were reluctant to run on the mono so they had to be put on hold until the 7000 was free. Now we can run the jobs simultaneously. It was a no-brainer of a decision for us and we are very happy with the machine. I would definitely recommend it."
With the increase in capacity has come a projected boost to the company’s profits for the current financial year.
"Our turnover so far is up £30,000 for the first four months of our financial year, and our net profit has increased from £2,500 to £20,500 compared to this time last year," he adds.
D’Arcy Ryan explains that a number of factors have contributed to the increase in turnover and net profits: "We are attracting more volume work, and the new machine helps us to deal with the capacity," he says, "We have been concentrating on key areas of the business and have adjusted our pricing and have had a real focus on buying better in terms of the materials we use."
"Three years ago we made a small loss so if we can get back on track this year by increasing sales and boosting our profit margins it will be fantastic."
It would also, of course, make that 1,000 mile-plus weekly commute that bit more pleasant – there’s a long time to ponder on those flights, so having positive spreadsheets to peruse must make the time fly much, much quicker.
SPECIFICATIONS
Type Laser electrostatic transfer system
Substrate range 60-325gsm
Print resolution Up to 1,200dpi, 256-level greyscale
Standard paper capacity 2,000 sheets
Max paper capacity 10,000 sheets
Print speed 61 A4 ppm
Price From £100,000
Contact Canon UK 01737 220000 www.canon.co.uk
Company profile
Digital printer Copy Colour was founded in 1984 by current co-owner Keith D’Arcy Ryan’s uncle, who still retains a 10% stake in the business. The former high-street printer boasted a number of blue chip clients including British Aerospace, Rolls Royce, but began to change its business strategy when larger companies began establishing in-house copying facilities. The company is now based on an industrial estate in Swindon and produces a range of business communications from letters to large displays. The company employs 10 staff and has a turnover of £800,000.
Why it was bought...
D’Arcy Ryan explains that the company needed a back-up for its Canon imagePress 7000 and was not comfortable using its 9070. Prior to installing the 6010VP, the printer, which aims to turn jobs around within one-day, found that it had to put certain jobs on hold while waiting for the 7000 to become free. After meeting with account representatives from Canon, with whom the company has a long-standing relationship, it realised that buying the 6010VP would enable it to significantly boost its capacity and restructure their finance deal to improve their bottom line.
How it has performed...
D’Arcy Ryan says: "Buying the 6010VP was a no-brainer of a decision for us and I would recommend the machine. The print quality is good and it is reliable. It has helped us to nearly double our capacity and boost our turnover and bottom line. It is now our main printer and the 7000 is our back-up."
