November 14, 2007 - MALVERN, Pa. - IKON Office Solutions, the world's largest independent channel for document management systems and services, today announced that PROVIDE LLC has installed a Canon imagePRESS C7000VP digital color press, an IKON CPP 650 color printer/copier, and a Canon imageRUNNER Pro 7110VP digital press, enabling PROVIDE to be a full-service solutions provider for their clients' business printing, direct mail and marketing needs.
Based in Newark, Delaware, PROVIDE was founded in 2004, and initially offered clients basic black-and-white laser printing, lettershop and mailing services. "We started out with very limited printing capabilities and quickly found ourselves outsourcing most of the large black-and-white jobs and all of the color work. We saw tremendous opportunity not only in color, but in the 'cut sheet' personalized laser printing market," explains Steven Crane, President, PROVIDE. "We serve a wide range of clients, including retail stores, marketing firms, insurance companies, local and state government agencies, educational institutions, the financial sector and various other industries. As we began to expand our business, many of our clients looked to us to develop 'customizable' solutions for their document creation and mailing needs."
IKON's solution for PROVIDE consists of the Canon imagePRESS C7000VP, the IKON CPP 650 color system, and the Canon imageRUNNER Pro 7110VP, providing them the ability to offer a full-suite of color and black-and-white production applications to their client base. "With the addition of our new equipment from IKON, we are now able to control every aspect of the job. Beginning with the graphics and data files and ending with a completed full color or black-and-white document, PROVIDE can now offer our clients 'customized' full service solutions," explains Crane.
In addition, Doug Ainsworth, PROVIDE's owner and CEO, recently started a new venture, Trigger Marketing. Created as a separate entity from PROVIDE, Trigger is focused on the dynamic, event driven, targeted marketing segment. "This type of segment has been historically used by large corporations in loyalty and retention programs," explains Ainsworth. "We plan to create small business marketing campaigns focused on customer acquisition, and target the right customer at the right time with the right message."
Ainsworth is excited about the potential of IKON's digital solution. "Our new equipment, especially the Canon imagePRESS C7000VP, is ideal for this kind of digital production shop and one to one marketing, as Trigger's printed materials need to be turned around quickly and be efficient on short runs while delivering high impact, vibrant graphics."
IKON has many years of experience in meeting and exceeding the demands of commercial print shops and corporate print centers. IKON customers have the ability to maximize their color solutions by engaging with IKON's color and production specialists and its Professional Services team, who provide customers with a suite of services and application development including variable data integration for marketing and personalized communications, advanced color management, forms design, data stream conversion and custom workflow solutions to help improve productivity, reduce turnaround time, and improve effectiveness.
"I took a full year to thoroughly research all of the companies and digital production equipment in the marketplace today," explains Crane. "IKON was the only company that could put together a comprehensive solution that was right for our needs, and worked for us. IKON has been a true business partner throughout this process, from research and installation, to training and ongoing support."
"IKON is uniquely positioned in the marketplace to deliver our customers the best of both worlds," explains Brian Edwards, Senior Vice President, U.S. Sales and Services, IKON Office Solutions. "We have the experience in the print production environment to create state-of-the-art digital solutions for commercial print customers like PROVIDE. Moreover, because we are the world's largest independent channel for document management systems and services, we can create a bundled equipment solution through our partners that no other company can match."
In the future, PROVIDE's goal is to focus on driving volume up through their web to print platform, and turn their digital print department into its own production facility. "Along with our expertise in the lettershop and mailing side of the business, we now offer outstanding quality, streamlined production solutions and competitive pricing in both black-and-white and color," says Crane. "PROVIDE is now a 'one call' solution for all of our clients marketing and business communications needs."