Printing heritage of Print Express underpins successful photobook operation  

GLAND, SWITZERLAND - Print Express, the corporate division of the Syncoms group, is building a successful personalized photo gift  and photo sharing business at PrinterPix utilizing a KODAK NEXPRESS Photo 3900 Press. PrinterPix is the new division of the Syncoms group of companies based on five sites in South Ruislip, U.K. and focuses on the photographic and consumer market.

Murtaza Daya, Chief Innovation Officer says, “The photo market is growing exponentially. Personal photography plays a huge part in keeping our memories alive, and through the medium of mobile devices and web-based communication channels, we are enabling our customers to upload, store and share their images on a global scale. With the KODAK NEXPRESS 3900 Press, we can also offer them the option to order online and treasure their images by preserving them in high-quality, bound photobooks.”

Daya continues, “Many more people are becoming aware of what is possible in a fast, mobile world. Today’s technology allows them to create and share images through multiple sophisticated devices. A few clicks and, in an instant, they can capture a selection of quality photographs. We can then provide them with a comprehensive service. We can be the facilitator by enabling them to store their treasured images in full resolution so that they can locate them in the future. There are many photobook companies out there, but we are able to offer something different—a personalized service. This is because our image store is uncompressed, and we can control full access unlike others where there are zillions of images that have to be compressed.”

PrinterPix is the first company in the U.K. to offer leather-bound photobooks at a competitive price. With a global business and an industrial factory on a large scale, the company is equipped to offer top-quality materials and specialized products targeted at the consumer. PrinterPix also works with a number of other partners and provides a white label service for national and European companies in the photo industry, manufacturing and dispatching high-quality products to other businesses without the company’s branding.

Murtaza Daya and his team visited Print Efficiently in Perivale London in October of 2012 and viewed the NEXPRESS Press in action. The KODAK NEXPRESS 3900 Press was then installed in November. Daya continues, “Our plan is to consolidate the businesses—Syncoms, Print Express and Printer Pix. We have at present five sites in total in the U.K.—two factories, two offices and one warehouse. Print Express and Printer Pix are both consumer-oriented with online ordering. We also run our commercial B2B business through Print Express.”

Print Express has used KODAK Products for the last eight years starting with an original investment in its workflow software—KODAK PRINERGY CONNECT Workflow which is used to drive jobs to the company’s digital presses and has helped streamline productivity and enhance automation. The company also uses a KODAK MAGNUS 400 Platesetter, which it finds reliable, stable and robust. “Our relationship with Kodak is one of respect,” says Daya. “We have successfully used the KODAK PRINERGY CONNECT Workflow and KODAK MAGNUS Platesetter and when we started to look for a suitable press for the photobook initiative, we were interested automatically in the KODAK NEXPRESS Press. Once we had investigated its potential, we realized we could have a machine totally focused on our purpose.”

The KODAK NEXPRESS 3900 Press has the longer sheet capacity and an automatic roll feeder so the operators can combine continuous feed and sheet-fed options from the drawers. Daya says that Print Express chose the press essentially from the operator’s standpoint, as there is very little downtime with the NEXPRESS Press. With sheet-fed jobs, the company can change substrates very quickly with the automatic feed from the drawers.  Alternatively, the continuous web-feed allows them to run the NEXPRESS Press 22 hours a day with no disruptions. “We have total confidence in this machine. There is a depth of image to the printed product from the NEXPRESS Press,” explains Daya. “The sharpness in the detail and the vivid color contrast brings a vibrancy to all printed matter. This is what our customers are looking for and at the end of the day, we are offering a product to the consumer.”

The Print Express website reflects the comprehensive and personal approach that this entrepreneurial group gives to its customers—by offering useful blogs and advice to consumers and businesses on simple ideas and creative design for branding and marketing materials. It also gives an informed understanding of the online options for consumers, marketers and designers as well as printers. Daya states, “Capturing the hearts of your target audience is not magic—it’s an art! It’s all about communicating effectively in order to make your product offerings and marketing campaigns more memorable. It’s about engaging, persuading and convincing your audience.”

Company brings printing expertise into the world of photographs

Printer Pix, the consumer-oriented division, is focused on new horizons and using the new developments and trends within the photo and image transfer markets. Daya explains, “This is an exciting new challenge and opportunity. The difference between Printer Pix and other photobook companies is that we have experience in the printing process. With our background as litho printers we know how to produce a high standard product.” The company offers spot color printing facilities and testing with KODAK MATCHPRINT Virtual Technology where the customer can request colors beyond the CMYK range to reflect a unique company style or preview the print to 99.9 percent accuracy. “We bring our printing heritage and expertise to the world of photographs,” claims Daya. “We can produce photographs on different substrates—books, canvas, calendars or even a pillow, a mug or a key ring. We also offer fine art prints of choice on posters, canvas, metal, acrylics or wood.”

Apart from photobooks, the group is using the KODAK NEXPRESS Press for a number of other commercial applications. The B2B division at Print Express is servicing a variety of corporate clients such as the NHS and the Metropolitan Police. With over thirty years’ experience in high level production of printed products, Print Express is utilizing the potential of the NEXPRESS Press technology to produce training manuals, brochures and marketing materials at a high level of quality and volume. “With this NEXPRESS Press, we have the advantage of the new automatic spool-feeder. This offers us high levels of production efficiencies which provide cost effective opportunities,” says Daya. “Using papers on the roll for web printing, there is less waste. Our customer base is diverse and we need to be able to adapt to any requirement. Print Express is our corporate division established over 30 years ago. We have built our credibility over the years—now we are engaging in new worlds and responding to the trends in the marketplace.”

Kodak’s U.K. and Nordics Marketing Manager, David McGuiness says, “Print Express is pushing the boundaries with photobook services and the company’s engagement with the public. It is exciting to see. It is developing its own unique market for our NEXPRESS Press applications.”

Conclusion­­

Murtaza Days states that he envisions becoming the largest consumer supplier of photo products in the world. “My relationship with Kodak is upbeat as the company is at the forefront of technology. We invested in the latest KODAK NEXPRESS Press because it is the best in its class. From an operational point of view, the press is outstanding in terms of functionality and production. That is the great thing about Kodak—the company wants to work with us and is constantly looking at how to develop products that meet the trends in the marketplace. It is a partnership more than anything else. We share the same goals—to support the customer and the end user and to make a difference.”