Sidekix, a highly specialized marketing fulfilment company, has invested in a Tecnau Stack 1212 B2 sheetfed cut & stack solution to boost direct mail applications printed on a newly purchased Konica Minolta AccurioJet KM-1 inkjet printer.

Sidekix is a rapidly growing organization located in the city of Uden, in the Southeastern part of the Netherlands. The company has more than 15 years of experience in innovative and personalized marketing campaigns, fulfilment and direct mail applications with A-brands such as the National Postcode Lottery, KPN, Swinkels Family Brewers, Renewi, BankGiro Lottery, Friends Lottery, Mandemakers cuisines, Footbal International and Swiss Sense. Sidekix specializes in personalized Direct Mail productions as well as complete high-volume consumer marketing campaigns, servicing private and public organizations with very tight deadlines.

The company decided to invest in a Tecnau Stack 1212 B2-size sheetfed cut and stack solution installed nearline to a recently acquired Konica Minolta AccurioJet KM-1. The complete printing and finishing system had been specifically chosen to provide higher production volumes and a wider selection of media types to better fulfil customer requests and provide application diversity for present and future needs.

“We were looking for a new system capable of handling 24/7 production cycles and expanding application possibilities to streamline our operations and move from an almost completely manual process to an automated one. We had the opportunity of seeing a Tecnau cutsheet solution at the Sign & Print Expo in Gorinchem” said Mr. Tjeerd Nijenhuis, co-owner of Sidekix, “the Tecnau equipment displayed at the show was capable of processing multi-up impositions from single printed sheets and neatly offset stacking them for easy operator handling.” Then, he continued: “From standard A4 and A3 sizes processed on small printing equipment, we were transitioning to B2 sheets where an automated cutting system was a necessity. Pre-existing solutions to work in-line with our soon-to-be installed Konica Minolta AccurioJet KM-1 were few and they required large installation footprints and high investments. Therefore, we needed to find a better option.”

“When we firstly met Mr. Tjeerd Nijenhuis from Sidekix, the Tecnau cutsheet system on display at the Sign and Print Expo was designed to process up to SRA3+ sheets. We had already implemented a B2 cutsheet system for multiple cut and stack book-block productions on a custom Libra 800 configuration, but to process marketing communications, fulfilment documents and full-bleed variable applications, a specific system was required. We agreed on assisting the customer in this task and to provide the solution he was looking for”, explained Mr. Harm Jan Hulleman, Sales Director EMEA at Tecnau. “Thanks to the excellent relationship created, in less than six months, the customer was able to see the solution up and running with their applications in our factory in Ivrea, Italy, and immediately after, we delivered the new Stack 1212 fully-functional to Sidekix headquarters in Uden. The solution was installed in just a few days, nearline to the Konica Minolta KM-1 for more flexibility between printing and finishing B2 size sheets, but also to allow additional application possibilities for the future.”

The Stack 1212 solution was initially designed to process the 1-up and 2-up printed impositions (in the direction of travel with short-edge leading, along with multi-up across the direction of travel) requested by the customer. However, during the assessment process new requirements came up from the market and a 3-up imposition has also been implemented to further expand the range of possible jobs available.

“The Tecnau Stack 1212 implementation has been a great achievement for us. We have reached better production speeds as well as better performance and finished quality. What makes us particularly satisfied is the assistance received: Tecnau helped us from the very beginning by providing a solution tailor-made to our needs. Then, when we needed additional capabilities, they were ready and willing to adapt the machine to fit the new requirements with no delays. The result is a fully integrated system capable of handling B2 sheets printed on the Konica Minolta KM-1 inkjet press in an extremely reliable nearline process with minimal footprint,” added Tjeerd Nijenhuis.

The Stack 1212 at Sidekix is now configured with two different sets of cartridges for variable side trim, gutter and strip cut for full-bleed 2-up and 3-up B2-size applications with 1 to 12 impositions printed on each sheet. The system is also equipped with a Tecnau Connect software control package to collect essential data and keep track of critical components, solution performances and preventive maintenance required by the machine for an IoT-driven environment.

“We really appreciated the cooperation with Tjeerd on this project and the trust the customer put in Tecnau’s ability to develop a fully functional multi-purpose B2 solution and to deliver it meeting and even exceeding all expectations”, concluded Harm Jan Hulleman.