FUJIFILM's Customers Sing Praises of Their Technology Investment

Fujifilm’s Tuesday press conference featured Terry Mitchell, VP of Marketing, FUJIFILM Graphic Systems Division, North America, moderating a panel of five customers discussing how their digital investment made an impact on their operation.

Leading off was David Gilson, President of Gilson Graphics in Grand Rapids, MI. Two years ago, the firm installed the J Press 720, the first in the US; in December of 2012 it installed the J Press 540W, which is making its formal debut at PRINT 13.

Originally purchased because it was only the digital press with the large sheet size on the market, “it takes a lot of the variables out of the equation—this is a solid benefit that we didn’t initially anticipate,” said David Gilson.

 The 540W, initially used to run black & white books at a price point it couldn’t hit with offset, but is helping the firm move into four-color direct mail with a variable component.

Wright Printing in Omaha, NE, runs three J Press 720s for its Folder Express division, which specializes in presentation pocket folders and related products for the trade.

Again, the larger sheet side played a role in the purchase, letting Folder Express produce presentation folders in one pass, necessary for the 24-hour turnarounds. The streamlined workflow and reduced makeready also contribute, reported Doug Boysen, President.

Print Fulfillment Services, a trade printer in Louisville, KY, specializes in short-run fulfillment.

The operation runs waterless offset, so “we don’t have waste in our offset production,” said Brett Heap, General Manager. “For us, it’s about quality. Our customers want offset quality, and the only press that can compete with offset is the J Press. We had produced 1,000 pieces on offset and lost a few, so ran them on the J Press. The customer didn’t complain about the digital; he complained about the offset. He wanted the entire job scrapped and run on the J Press.”

“We would be out of business if we didn’t have a digital press for short run,” said Erik Landrowski, Vice President of NGS Printing in Elgin, IL. The company produces a full-range of customized graphics using both screen and digital printing. In 2011 it installed an Inca Onset S20; early in 2013 it installed an Inca Onset Q40i.

“For us, it’s about quality; we are known for quality—it’s where we hang out hat,” said Landrowski. “We work with brands and retailers that care about quality.”

Panaprint, Inc., Macon GA, which specializes in publication printing, recently installed Fujifilm XMF Workflow to manage its print production. “We left [the other vendor] because of issues with support and cost,” said Jerry Axtell, Prepress Manager. “The service and support form Fujifilm have been unparalled; whenever you call, they answer you that day. Also, the automation with XMF is what I call common-sense automation; with our other workflow, we needed a programmer involved.”