PointOne Graphics Leverages EFI Fiery DFE for Unique and Profitable Revenue Stream

In 2011, PointOne Graphics was evaluating entry into digital printing to augment its offset printing capabilities. The company was seeking a digital printing solution that could match the G7/GRACoL color reference for both proofing and short production runs. Rick Lee, quality assurance manager, says, “There were two key factors whatever we invested in had to accommodate. First, it had to be able to operate in a business model that made sense for us. And second, it needed to be certified under the IDEAlliance Digital Press Certification program to match the GRACoL color reference. These factors were not negotiable.”

Solution

During the selection process, PointOne evaluated digital presses from five different vendors. In addition to assessing the capabilities of the presses, PointOne was also working to build the right business model for digital printing that would bring the most value to its business. The company decided to install a Ricoh (Booth 1931) Pro C901 digital press that at the time had not yet been certified to meet the GRACoL specification.

Fortunately, as the company was getting its new press up to speed, Lee learned that EFI™ (Booth 1902) had achieved IDEAlliance Digital Press Certification for the Pro C901 using the EFI Fiery® digital front end (DFE). 

“We worked with EFI and Ricoh to ensure that the Pro C901 would deliver the quality and consistency of color output that we demanded,” Low says. “We also beta-tested the Fiery/Prinergy integration, which satisfied those needs as well.”

By becoming one of the first companies to integrate the Fiery DFE with a Kodak Prinergy® Workflow, PointOne effectively created a single, hybrid workflow for offset and digital printing. Prepress workflows, integrated with digital servers and offset presses, make it easy and quick to direct jobs to the appropriate systems with job tickets and print-ready files. Operators can manage jobs with a single user interface for multiple devices for centralized operation.

Results

With the Prinergy-connected EFI Fiery DFE in place, PointOne began to develop an innovative digital printing concept, one based on the company’s demanding internal certification process for color. With the technology and expertise PointOne had on hand, the company was ready to tackle the strict consistency requirement of IDEAlliance digital press certification – a delta E color shift measurement of three or less. It is something that is rarely seen on toner-based digital presses.

“We put together a team comprised of our staff, and representatives from EFI and Ricoh,” Lee says. “Together, we were able to reach a very acceptable delta E that ranges from 2.2 to 2.5.” To maintain these tolerances, PointOne calibrates its Ricoh press daily and does a color check mid-shift to ensure that there is no drift.

After certifying the configuration to meet quality needs, Lee developed an innovative business plan where the Ricoh Pro C901 is used primarily as a proofing, rather than production, device. “Proofing actually delivers a much better ROI than short-run production with our Fiery/Ricoh configuration,” Lee explains. “Not only can we charge significantly more for Ricoh proofs, but we can turn them out faster, giving our clients contract proofs within minutes.” 

Prior to acquiring the Ricoh press, PointOne was using wide-format proofers, producing continuous tone proofs on inkjet proofing paper. “While the proofs looked great,” Lee comments, “they are hard to match on press. With our Fiery/Ricoh configuration, not only are we able to provide the client with accurate color, we can do so on paper that is similar or the same as the paper that will be used on press for the final job. We print proofs with a 150 line screen, and they are very easy to match on press as compared to a continuous tone image.”

PointOne discovered a number of additional benefits to its new proofing solution:

• With two-sided proofs generated via inkjet, the company was generating the equivalent of 112 8.5x11” contract color proofs per hour. With print speeds up to 90 pages per minute on the Ricoh configuration offers, PointOne’s proofing capacity has increased dramatically.
• For books or booklets, PointOne uses inline stitching/trimming or inline perfect binding/trimming to quickly generate final books in quantities of one or two that are almost exact replicas of the final product the customer will receive, instead of manually folding, cutting and building proofs generated by an inkjet proofer.
• Monthly consumable costs (ink and paper) for proofing have shrunk by 80% or more with Fiery and Ricoh system, depending on volumes.

In addition to its primary use as a proofer, PointOne takes advantage of the hybrid workflow made possible by the Fiery/Prinergy integration to produce emergency short runs. If press run shortages occur due to errors in bindery or for other reasons, for example, the digital press can make up the shortfall quickly and cost efficiently.

“The ROI on our Fiery/Ricoh configuration was less than two years,” says Lee. “Had we devoted our digital press to proofing earlier, we could have reached ROI even sooner, perhaps in as little as a year. Using the Ricoh C901 with EFI Fiery DFE as a proofer was a groundbreaking concept out of left field, but it has paid off. Our customers — and their customers — are delighted with the fast turnaround and high quality of proofs, and we have benefitted from increased margins, while providing a lower-cost solution for our customers.”