ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- With a goal of becoming the most flexible print services provider in its market, Trosa Tryckeri of Sweden recently upgraded its digital color capabilities with the new KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus digital color production press with KODAK NEXPRESS fifth imaging unit solutions and the KODAK NEXGLOSSER glossing unit. The company is taking advantage of the increased capabilities of the new NEXPRESS 2100 plus system, including the ability to print on larger media and a wider range of substrates. A user of the NEXPRESS 2100 press since 2003 and a beta customer of the new NEXPRESS 2100 plus press, this 86-year-old printer is growing its business by expanding its digital capabilities to produce new applications like versioned printing, web-to-print, personalization and packaging, while profitably complementing its offset business. Trosa Tryckeri was founded in 1919 to print the local newspaper, and is now one of Sweden?s largest sheet-fed printers. With 70 employees in pre-press, production and logistics, Trosa Tryckeri serves customers in the technology, health and medical markets, as well as the entertainment and food industries, with everything from large volume printing to small runs and occasional copies. The company?s print services include wall calendars, posters, brochures, annual reports and point-of-purchase materials. With more than one million calendars per year, the company is the largest calendar provider in Scandinavia. The move to digital printing was made after close consideration of market economics, benchmark testing, and motivation from one of their existing customers. Scania, a major producer of trucks and an important client for Trosa Tryckeri, required a bi-annual update of their 500+ page sales binders. Only 1,250 copies were required but they were needed in 11 languages. Marketing Director Greger Lundberg recognized that the complexity of the job required digital printing. "The ability to say yes to our client and to handle this job was one of the main reasons we purchased our original NEXPRESS 2100 press," Lundberg said. Bengt B?ckstr?m, production manager at Trosa Trykeri was drawn by the 2100 press? ability to print on virtually any kind of paper, and was even more impressed with the expanded substrate range of the 2100 plus system. "The substrate flexibility strongly influenced our purchasing decision. All of the papers that we use on our offset presses can also be used on the NEXPRESS presses. Interchangeability between digital and offset print is of great importance to us," B?ckstr?m said. "We can even mix several different papers in the same job." The new 2100 plus can print on paper weights ranging from 60 g/m2 up to 350 g/m2 (16# bond up to 130# cover) up to a .4 mm thickness. Digital and offset go hand-in-hand Trosa Tryckeri?s digital capabilities work in harmony with its offset production. The ability to do short runs with near offset quality has been a strong selling feature with many of Trosa Tryckeri?s customers. "We can instantly pre-produce 15 copies of an annual report for instance, so that it can be presented to the board of directors, giving them the ability to preview and approve the final copy," Lundberg said. "After final approval we start up the large print run in offset." The NEXPRESS 2100 press has also helped Trosa Tryckeri to provide quick turnaround for Disney, a longstanding client for over 14 years. Trosa prints up to 20 million units of Disney?s DVD & CD cases per year. With the NEXPRESS 2100 press, smaller jobs can be turned around in hours instead of days, allowing Trosa Tryckeri to complete first deliveries on the digital press and finish the larger print run in offset. Expanding opportunities Trosa Tryckeri also offers a web-to-print service that allows customers to submit and re-order jobs over the Web, or take advantage of online templates to create a new job and place and order it for delivery. One of Trosa Tryckeri?s most popular web-to-print offerings is personalized sports cards, popular among Scandinavian children. Trosa Tryckeri offers this innovative service exclusively in the Scandinavian market, and is considering expanding the concept across Europe. The company prints the cards on the NEXPRESS 2100 plus press and uses the NEXGLOSSER glossing unit to give the cards a high-impact, photo-like glossy finish. Lundberg sees big potential for the sports cards, as well as for other photo-rich applications, such as school yearbooks, personalized calendars and photo albums. With the modular design of the NEXPRESS 2100 plus press - allowing Trosa to configure the press with up to 4 paper feeders with up to 11,000 sheets, and add the new high-capacity delivery - and with the new maximum sheet size of 356mm x 520mm, Trosa is well armed for increased productivity for this and other applications. The NEXPRESS 2100 press also has enabled Trosa Tryckeri to pursue new business opportunities in prototype packaging applications, providing customers like Astra Zeneca with digitally printed packaging samples for market testing. The NEXPRESS 2100 plus press? new maximum sheet size and wider range of substrate weights and thicknesses will allow Trosa to further expand that service. In combination with European Union certification for the KODAK NEXPRESS dry inks for safe use in food packaging, the company now can expand its print product offerings. Edging out the competition The ability of the NEXPRESS press to quickly provide high-quality sample copies has consistently helped Trosa Tryckeri to win large print jobs. "There have been a number of times when the press has helped us to capture new business that could have been lost to a competitor," Lundberg said. "Digital is getting us in the door to customers who wouldn?t have considered us for an offset job, and our digital capabilities are, in turn, helping us grow all aspects of our business - including offset." Lundberg believes that digital printing provides a strategic compatibility with his firm?s 1, 2, 4, 6 & 8 color offset presses: "We are able to offer a very broad range of print applications. On one hand, we have the ability to quickly and cost-effectively print one single copy if needed and do variable data printing, and at the other end we have top capacity of our 8-color press to print up to 500,000 and more copies. This is a perfect solution for providing the flexibility we need for our customers? varied print demands."