BURSCOUGH, UK - Michigan Design and Print says Quality Print Services (QPS) goes 'above and beyond' to provide maintenance support, having got the company back up and running numerous times over the past six years – including in the past month.

Manchester-based Michigan Design and Print runs a Mutoh Rockhopper for its large-format printing work, serviced by QPS under a maintenance contract, which suffered a breakdown in early June. Director Pete Hill explains that the QPS team not only fixed the issue but ensured Michigan was set up with consumables for the next day's work.

"When QPS's Engineer Paul King came out to fix the Mutoh he realised we were running low on ink and therefore couldn't finish the repair," he says. "So Managing Director Chris Bailey drove over to Manchester from QPS's HQ in Burscough, Lancashire with enough Nazdar ink to complete the job. Even though it was well past office hours, he also made sure I was able to pick up more ink from Burscough to take us through the following day."

Pete Hill adds that Michigan had used three maintenance companies before signing with QPS, with each offering contracts that did not give full cover; specifically, printheads were not included, leading to significant expense for Michigan when printhead problems arose. QPS's service, meanwhile, does cover printhead repair and replacement. 

Michigan also switched to Nazdar digital inks a few years ago, after reassurance from Chris Bailey that QPS, as supplier of both Nazdar inks and printer maintenance, would be responsible for any problems that could be associated with alternative inks. However, the print company has never experienced any ink issues since the switchover.

"There was no change whatsoever following the conversion to Nazdar inks," says Pete Hill. "The quality is exactly the same – you just get a better price."

He adds: "Chris and his team are very technical, pro-customer and friendly. We've recently renewed our maintenance contract with QPS for the fifth consecutive year and will continue to use Nazdar inks too."