IDEAlliance has announced that HBP, a large commercial print service provider with plants in Hagerstown, Maryland, and Falls Church, Virginia, has achieved IDEAlliance G7 Process Control and Conformance (G7 PCC) Master Qualification, becoming the first G7 Master print provider to have its capabilities in media production qualified through independent testing.

The IDEAlliance G7 PCC program assists print providers, agencies and premedia operations with the tools to implement process control and best practices to create lasting efficiencies and productivity gains. HBP operates five sheet fed presses, as well as a variety of digital presses, including Xerox iGen4, HP Indigo, Konica BizHubs, and several wide format devices. The company, already a highly automated production facility, looked to G7 PCC Certified Expert, Ron Ellis, of Ron Ellis Consulting LLC, and the IDEAlliance G7 PCC program, to achieve further productivity gains.

"It comes down to efficiency," says Jim Hill, CTO at HBP, Inc. "We needed to find ways to produce product more cost effectively and efficiently. G7 has helped in this regard, but a G7 calibration is a moment in time, and pressrooms are constantly changing. With the G7 PCC program we now have standard operating procedures that tell our staff how and when they are going to read samples, and what to do if the sample is out of spec. This will be a big plus for us – everyone will be able to take care of his or her own problems and not slow down production."

"The G7 PCC program is tailored to serve the needs of multiple segments of the media supply chain," commented Joe Fazzi, Vice President Media Production Technologies for IDEAlliance. "Leading printers such as HBP can utilize G7 PCC to assure consistency and quality in their proofing, brand color management and print processes. As the first print provider to achieve G7 PCC Master Qualification, we applaud HBP's leadership and support of the G7 PCC qualification program."