Printivity (printivity.com), an online digital printing company with locations in New Jersey and California, has achieved unprecedented savings in time and labor hours after implementing a next-generation modernization of its prepress workflow under the guidance of automation specialist Significans Automation (significans.com).

The system Significans Automation created allowed Printivity to automate repetitive tasks and redeploy staff to higher-value functions. Lucero Kabashima, prepress manager at Printivity’s New Jersey production facility, explains that the company has witnessed a 50 percent reduction in prepress staff hours, with the number of orders in her department requiring manual work being reduced by 25 percent. Furthermore, the time it takes an average file to go through the prepress department has decreased by a whopping 31 percent!

According to Kabashima, the potential for poor quality and bad customer service had to be driven out of the business wherever feasible. So in April of 2022, she set out to determine how to improve throughput, automate repetitive work, reduce errors, and support growth within the organization without adding prepress personnel.

The company had purchased some automation software –- but quickly realized that they needed help with implementation to unlock its full potential. After an extensive review of potential suppliers, one company stood out above all others: Significans Automation.

“Other companies gave us a sense that we were just another customer,” explains Kabashima. “But Significans showed that they really cared and were more invested in our long-term success.”

The majority of Printivity’s online orders are for marketing products like saddle-stitched booklets, business cards, and other printed collateral. With artwork coming in from a wide range of online customers with various levels of production savvy, files are often submitted in the wrong format, with incorrect dimensions, or missing crucial information like crop marks and bleeds. In the past, a lot of time was spent manually resizing files and making the necessary adjustments to ensure an order comes out as expected. But with Significans Automation guiding the automation, the software now automates these repetitive, day-to-day tasks, freeing up prepress personnel to focus on higher-value creative work, particularly in graphic design.

All of this automation has had an incredible impact on the bottom line. Kabashima estimates that these automation-related efficiencies have translated to savings of over $7,500 per month, a figure she expects to increase significantly over the coming months.

“An added benefit of these time savings and automation is that we are now able to take on more business, so I’ve given management the green light to beef up our marketing efforts to expand our product lines and get more orders,” says Kabashima.

Andrew Oswood, Significans Automation’s Workflow Specialist, explains that his job is always more effective when clients are as diligent and actively engaged as Printivity. “Lucero and the team are very detail-oriented and have provided great feedback throughout the process to help develop workflow optimizations,” explains Oswood.

Overall, the process of improving efficiencies in prepress has been an overwhelming success thanks to Kabashima’s diligence, the company’s commitment to process improvement, and the knowledge and experience of Significans Automation.

“When we set out on this journey, we weren’t just looking for a vendor,” concludes Kabashima. “We wanted a partner relationship that could help us best navigate our foray into the world of automation, and we found that partner in Significans Automation.”