Thursday, July 31, 2008

Drupa 2008

Earlier in the year a group of us from Graphico visited the Drupa show in Dusseldorf. The largest printing trade exhibition which is held every 4 years takes over the city and is a must attend event for any printer wanting to stay at the forefront of their industry.

We found a short clip on Youtube to give you a glimpse of some of the attractions at the show:

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

New employee

Today, Graphico Printing Limited has a new member of staff to allow it to offer various digital printing at lower cost. Abizar Dungarwalla who is Shaukat Dungarwalla's son became the newest employee to Graphico.

Reaching Us

We are a lithographic and digital printer based in West Croydon on London Road and are easily accessible by car and and public transport.

Our postal address is:
Graphico Printing Limited,
69-71 London Road,
West Croydon,
Surrey,
CR0 2RF

Our delivery bay and car park can be accessed from Parsons Mead which the road that runs parallel to London Road at the back of site.

If you are arriving by public transport, the most convenient train station is East Croydon which has excellent links to London Victoria and London Bridge stations. All trains from East Croydon going towards London also stop at Clapham Junction which is a hub for trains to the west country. Gatwick Airport, Brighton and other south coast stations can also be reached directly from East Croydon.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Cito Superfeeder

We were featured in the November 2007 edition of Printweek about the purchase of a new Cito Superfeeder to enhance our envelope printing capabilities. The article has been reproduced below:

Cito Superfeeder

Managing director of Graphico Printing Shaukat Dungarwalla has saved time and money and gained more control of production with his feeder.

What does the machine do?
It manages a continuous feed of envelopes to the press and collects them on the other side on a conveyer belt. This makes repacking easier and is manageable with a single minder.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
This is really the only machine that has the flexibility of continuous feed without stopping the press.

What was your previous machine?
We had a Just-Feed, which we replaced because it was manual, inconvenient and cumbersome.

Why did you make the purchase?
As I said, we purchased the Superfeeder in order to replace the Just-Feed system, which was outdated and could not meet our expectations in terms of production.

What features do you particularly like?
It is a universal machine, so the feeder fits on any press. It can be moved easily from machine to machine, meaning we can change where the production takes place, as per our requirements. The fact it is continuous feed is also a benefit.

Is there anything that you dislike?
Nothing really. It’s a simple solution for a difficult process.

Is there anything that you wish it had?
A counter would be useful.

How fast is it?
It is a variable speed feeder, so can run it as fast as you can print.

How reliable is it?
So far it seems fairly robust. It’s made of solid metal, so it should last a long time.

How easy is it to use?
Very easy. Cito provided us with a training package with installation.

How much time or money has it saved?
It has saved time in that we can now run jobs at full-press speed, which is much faster than our old solution and the quality is considerably better. It allows us to be in more control of production and saves money in the time that each job is on the press.

Has it won you any new work?
Yes, we have been able to keep many more jobs in-house, as well as becoming a trade envelope printer. So, Graphico is now able to accept jobs from our existing customer base, as well as from the trade.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
While expensive for what it does, the volume of envelopes we produce means it is worth the money.

What about the pre- and after-sales service?
Cito’s training and after-sales care is excellent on a one-to-one personal basis, with regular follow-up calls.

Who do you think the machine is right for?
It would be perfect for any company producing envelopes, as well as those who send envelopes out for printing. This is a must in this day and age, as margins are being eroded daily.

Under what circumstances would you buy another?
This machine is very flexible, being able to move from one machine to another. It can cope with high-volume demands, so I would only purchase another if the demand increased even more dramatically than it already has.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Heidelberg Suprasetter

Graphico Printing Limited has successfully completed the purchase and installation of a new Heidelberg Suprasetter to further optimise the pre-press cycle. The environmentally friendly CTP system uses the latest Fuji plates to ensure no chemicals are required in the production of the press plates. The new system replaces our Linotronic film and chemical plate solution. As well as being green, our customers will benefit from an even better finished product through the increased clarity and detail that now really sets us apart on our 4-colour jobs such as hotel brochures and restaurant menus.

Some information on the Suprasetter 75:

High Performance for Medium Formats
Equipped with extremely reliable technology, unique in its class, the Suprasetter 75/A105/105 offer superb quality with maximum production capability. Even more, this range of Suprasetter provides a high level of flexibility in throughput, format, plate handling and punching. The best conditions for combining high productivity and maximum flexibility are also ensured through seamless integration in the Prinect workflow with a free selection of the screenings or Plate on Demand, giving a direct access to plate production at the control panel of the press.

Plant List

Design & Artwork:
Gigabit Apple Mac Pro (8-Core, 3Gb RAM) network with:
- Quark XPress 7.3
- Adobe CS3
- In-house scanning and re-touching
- Layout and Design
- Extensive database of licensed stock photographs and other design aids
- In-house production of films up to A1
- Heidelberg Suprasetter CTP system
- Xerox in-house high volume digital colour and black & white production equipment
- HP DesignJet Network Poster Printer
- MICR Printing Equipment

Press Room:
A range of Heidelberg Presses both single and multi colour up to B2 size. Supported by a range of equipment for finishing to any requirement.

Warehousing & Distribution:
A complete warehousing facility to provide on demand supplies of printed stationery and unrelated products via NS International. Distribution is carried out by our fleet of vans which cover the South East daily and to the UK using our courier partners.

Plant Upgrade and Renewal:
The company policy is to upgrade or renew all computer equipment at least every three years. We have completed a comprehensive upgrade of our Pre-press IT systems in 2007 so that we are able to work with the latest Hardware and Software on the market.

Products and Services Graphico Offer

Products Include:
Letterheads
Business Cards
Envelopes
Guest Folios
Luggage Tags
Keycards
Menus
Brochures
Tent Cards
Coasters
Placemats
Bin Liners
Cheques
Unique Numbering
Room Directories
Door Hangers
Laundry Bags
Carrier Bags
Posters
Any other printed requirements

Office Stationery & Consumables:
Our personalised catalogue offers a range of
more than 14,000 products including office
furniture, 90% of which are available on next day
delivery.

Services:
Design and Artwork
Stock Management
Reporting
Customer Mailing
Variable Data Printing

Stock Management
There are a number of advantages built into the flexibility of this service. The most prominent are:

• Releasing valuable on-site space to Front of House Departments

• No risk of running out of stock. We’ll manage stock ensuring there is always back up stock available to you of stock purchased from us and from your other suppliers

• Effective cost management:
- One supplier invoice
- We can purchase and stock items for you in bulk from other suppliers.
- No extra charges
- No fixed costs

• Service expandable to other group sites

• Effective purchasing through:
- Maximising volume
- Minimising supplier drops

• Status reports - available periodically or on request

Development and the Future

Currently Graphico has over 350 clients in the hotel and leisure industry, most of which are globally recognised establishments. We are committed to providing the highest level of customer care, by continually assessing your business needs and making adjustments where necessary. We will invest in our company to stay at the forefront of our industry so that you can be
sure that you are receiving the highest quality of products possible for the best possible value.

This simplifies your purchasing procedures and furthermore enables you to manage your budget more efficiently. This commitment has resulted in our “can do” attitude that gives you the peace of mind that we will go out of our way to help you achieve your goals and targets which are especially important in hotel openings. We believe this has been paramount in establishing the long term relationships we have with our customer base.

About Us

Graphico began back in 1975 by three brothers who were studying for their printing degrees. Through our hard work and determination, we have grown from strength to strength and come to be at the fore-front of the printing industry, as well as proving to be the backbone for many other companies that have started as a result of the experience gained at Graphico.

At Graphico we pride ourselves upon providing a dedicated service as well as high quality printing. We care about our clients needs and continually push ourselves to exceed our clients expectations. Currently the majority of our clients are in the hospitality industry, which suits us perfectly, as we fully understand their hunger for complete customer satisfaction.
Our long term relationships with customers has proved invaluable, and has helped them reduce in-house purchasing, stock control and budget problems, as well as having daily deliveries of the goods they require.

Our big development recently has been our advancement in security printing. Currently, we print cheque books, giro books and statements for international banks, all fully managed in-house, from the blank piece of paper, to the end user receiving their banking documents.

We like to keep upto date with the latest technology innovations in printing and have a programme in place to regularly update our equipment. Aside from the investments we have made in new 4-colour Heidelberg presses and a variety of post-press equipment in the last two years, our most recent advances have been in pre-press hardware and software. We are now running the latest versions of all the major software applications needed for quality pre-press work on the fastest Quad-core Apple Mac Pro systems. In addition we have migrated to the latest chemical free CTP Suprasetter technology from Heidelberg which is great for the environment. Not only does this continual investement in technology ensure we are able to offer the best quality work to our clients, but it means that we can produce the work faster and more efficiently while keeping costs down through innovation.

The services we offer at Graphico

Our Services
At Graphico, we pride ourselves on being able to provide your company with a specifically tailored niche product to not only satisfy your everyday needs, but also help develop your product and service range to enable you to give your customers the attention they deserve.

Print Management:
There are many companies that will provide print management, however their services will only cover printed stock that they produce for you. At Graphico, we go the extra mile offering a full print and stock management service. With this bespoke service, we will dedicate an account manager to you who will assess your requirements and work with you to ensure that your needs are fulfilled, with daily deliveries of any of the products that we offer through our own logistics service. As our core business lies within the hospitality and service industries within the UK, we understand the need for smaller onsite storage, so with Graphico, you can opt to have us purchase and stock your goods at our warehouses, where it will be stored and then delivered to you as and how you require them. This will reduce your requirement for storage space, as well as simplifying your ordering process, as you only have to call or email us and receive your goods the next day.

Every organisation no matter how large or small can benefit from the services Graphico has to offer because what sets us apart from other companies is that we do not have a generic list of set services to offer you. Our account manager will meet and discuss with you what the best solution for your company is.

Hotel and Restaurant openings:
Through numerous customers putting their full trust in Graphico, we have become experts in managing the print and stationery requirements for hotels and restaurants that are either opening new or re-launching themselves into the marketplace with a fresh new look. By involving us at the planning stages, together we can ensure you have every base covered. Every new hotel or restaurant that Graphico has been a part of launching is currently on our portfolio, which is a testament of the quality, dedication and commitment that we offer.

Concept Development:
We are not just printers, we have an in-house team of designers and finishers who work together, to ensure the finished product exceeds the customers expectations. Starting from just a simple idea, our team at Graphico can work with you to turn the idea into a fully finished product. A service that we offer, depending on the type of job, is that we can provide you with an actual hard proof of your job so that you know exactly what you will receive when the product is delivered. This is useful to ensure that you are completely satisfied with your products, and is just another example of how you and Graphico can be more productive together.

Data Management:
We know that random direct mail cannot only be expensive but also useless if not accurate to the receiver. Therefore, at Graphico we are able to manage your databases, ensuring that they are maintained for accuracy and completeness. This allows us to provide solutions that fit with your customer contact strategy. Using our digital variable data printing services you can ensure that your customers receive specific marketing material based on their needs and more importantly, their wants. The targeted use of valuable customer data has enabled our clients to gain a much higher ROI from their direct marketing activities, whilst ensuring the end customer receives something of value to them.