The Right Tools and Technology at the Right Time

Having the right partners has made all the difference for Executive Press, located in Richardson, TX.

Those partners—Canon USA and Texas-based broker-dealer Stewart Organization—have helped propel Executive Press’ growth, providing owners David Allen and Jennifer Beaty with the tools necessary for success— the right technology at the right time, as well as the right information at their fingertips.

Topping the list of necessary technology are the Canon imagePRESS 7010 VPS, the Océ VarioPrint 120, and the Océ PRISMAsync platform with Océ PRISMAprep software.

From its humble beginnings 26 years ago as a two-color stationery and form shop, Executive Press has evolved into a full-service design, digital and offset print, and mailing business, offering a full array of services to its manufacturing and healthcare clients. As the company grew, so did its need for a larger facility; its current 20,000 square feet site is 20 times larger than its original facility.

The company, which produces a wide variety of business communication materials, uses the most environmentally-friendly printing technology available.

It’s original foray into digital print came about because one of its manufacturer clients, involved in oil and water drilling, had an in-plant department that was not a cost-effective use of the company’s money. “They came to us, and, with the promise of a three-year contract, we purchased a Canon machine, three versions back from the Canon imagePRESS C7010VPS,” explains Beaty, president of the 11-person shop.

That first machine, the Canon CLC 4000, helped the company develop a niche, providing short-run color instruction manuals and catalogs for the manufacturing industry.

“We stayed with Canon all these years because we feel that they do a great job of listening to what their customers want,” says Beaty. “Each new model gets better and addresses our pains.”

Adds Beaty, “They grow with us.”

Executive Press installed the Canon imagePRESS C7010 two years ago, upgrading from the imagePRESS Canon C7000. “The 7010 offers far better color consistency than we had previously—we never have to worry about reprinting a customer’s job six months after the original run and not having the color match,” says Beaty. The expanded media also allows Executive Press more opportunity to run more jobs digitally, instead of having to put short run jobs on its offset press.

Now, the only reason to move to offset is because of run length, says Beaty.

The imagePRESS’ inline multi-page stitcher is used for short-run booklets and magazines for the company’s healthcare and manufacturer clients, helping to slash finishing time.

The icing on the cake is the Océ PRISMAsync controller with PRISMAprepare job preparation software, strengthening the streamlined the production process and saving considerable labor hours, says Beaty.

Using the PRISMAsync suite, all of Executive Press’ jobs are run from one centralized point. PRISMAprepare automatically routes jobs between the color imagePRESS 7010 and the black-and-white Océ VarioPrint 120. Customer provided print-ready PDFs head straight to the digital press department, bypassing prepress. The software accomplishes all preflighting automatically.

“It allows the operator to do the color management and imposition right there in the digital press area,” says Beaty. “It’s an extremely valuable tool.”

PRISMAsync’s intelligent color control tools let the operator specify color settings from a central control station and save pre-configured templates for simple preparation and sending jobs.
“This software from Canon has been significant for us,” says Beaty. “It’s giving us much faster turnaround times; we are saving an average of six hours a week in production time and $1,6000 monthly in labor costs, considerable to a shop at our level.”

As a smaller production facility, Executive Press depends heavily on its dealer to help keep the shop running. The Stewart Organization, says Beaty, “understands time is money. Not only does it answer service calls promptly, it makes sure we know what best great thing Canon has come up with. Both Canon and Stewart have been instrumental in keeping us up to-date, making sure we know where the industry is headed.

“We wouldn’t be in business if we hadn’t gotten into the digital world and partnered with great vendors,” acknowledges Beaty. “It is extremely important to our success.”