Darrell Hedge, Quadrant’s Studio/Pre-Press Manager.

Quadrant Design & Print Solutions, part of the Linney Group and based in Hertford, has long been established as a high quality, fast turnaround, B2 offset printer. Founded in 1969, the company employs 48, has a £multi-million turnover and offers a wide range of services from design through to print and fulfilment. It boasts a long list of blue chip clients, many of them in the pharmaceutical sector. Quadrant recently made the strategic decision to go digital and invested in an HP Indigo press 5500 driven by the Indigo Production Stream Server, developed by Kodak’s Print On- Demand Solutions Group. This acquisition is already said to be delivering dramatic gains in speed and efficiency, while showing a promising return on investment. Quadrant prides itself in being able to function within the tightest of time constraints while also striving for print perfection. The company is ISO 9001:2000 certified and follows strict procedures to ensure precision in design and delivery. To ensure quick job turnarounds and superior print quality at a cost-effective price, Quadrant has consistently invested in the latest technology throughout its manufacturing plant.

Given these high standards of technical competence, it's not surprising that when considering an investment in digital printing, the team at Quadrant would spend no less than 18 months researching the market for best possible solution. “Going into digital was a business decision for us,” explains Peter Chisholm, Operations Director. “We used to outsource a significant amount of finished digital products and we expected that this amount was going to grow year on year given the ever-increasing market interest in digital. Nevertheless we had to ensure that adding digital would have a positive impact on both our profitability and cash flow.”

Darrell Hedge, Studio/Pre-press Manager, adds, “We have always been strong on quick turnarounds but we also needed to make sure that the quality was there. We are already successfully converting some litho work to digital and we expect to be able to mix litho and digital into one product to meet client needs. For example, we would able to add personalised inserts in brochures.”

Following thorough research of all solutions in the market, Quadrant decided to invest in the HP Indigo press 5500 driven by the Production Stream Server, powered by CREO. “We felt that the HP Indigo press was the best one in the market,” says Hedge, “but for us the digital front end was as important as the quality of the press. When we looked at the workflow of our outsourcing partner we thought it was lacking in efficiency. We were convinced that the front end of the digital press had to be fully integrated with our existing Prinergy Workflow System to make it all worthwhile.”

The current configuration fits perfectly into Quadrant’s prepress workflow. Customers can upload files into Quadrant’s workflow through the Kodak InSite Prepress Portal System. Using automated process plans the PDFs are dropped into the appropriate hot folder which triggers job processing according to a pre-defined set of parameters. They are then refined and optimised in Prinergy and are ready for approval on the InSite Software or for output of a digital proof. Once customer approval is obtained, the files are ready for plate or HP Indigo output.

“Integration, automation and speed were key factors in our decision,” states Hedge. “We were looking to add digital capability without having to increase our manpower. With the Production Stream Server fully integrated into our Prinergy workflow there are virtually no set-up times for digital. We just create an HP Indigo hot folder queue making it possible to get a job printing out on digital in 2.5 minutes from receipt of the file on our InSite Software!”

Quadrant also uses its Indigo 5500 to output finished digital proofs.

The team at Quadrant was also impressed by the spot colour capability of the Indigo and has found the Custom Colour Dictionary supplied with the Production Stream Server a very useful tool, saving time on jobs that don’t require custom mixed inks or one-off proofs. Quadrant is in the middle of adopting the ISO 12647 colour standard throughout the workflow and sees added value in using ICC profiles.

A good imposition capability was a given and the Production Stream Server rates high in this field. Quadrant finds the Digital Front End imposition tools useful. When it needs to, it also has the flexibility to use Prinergy and Preps so basically an imposition scheme is prepared for digital in the same way as it would be with a job for output on a similar format litho press.

Currently Quadrant resorts to digital for runs below 1000 copies but the decision also depends on pagination. Says Hedge, “Some of our work is training manuals for Human Resources and they can range from 10 to 90 pages in which case the threshold for digital can drop to 200 copies.” Quadrant has built a detailed costing model into its MIS system which indicates whether the job should be printed litho or digital when time constraints have also been taken into account.

And how about variable data? Most of the client applications that Quadrant deals with at present feature basic personalisation of names and addresses. The team is working to further develop its ability to manage variable data as well as educate clients in the intricacies of databases. When talking to clients about variable data digital printing, the team first looks at the data it currently has and then sits with the client to explain what can be achieved.

Quadrant has invested in the XMPie VPS output option which allows exporting of Variable Print Specification VPS straight to the Production Stream Server. At present, variable data jobs are the only ones that do not go through the company’s Prinergy workflow. Quadrant exports VPS out of Adobe InDesign to the Production Stream Server.

“We moved away from PPML as it was too generic,” commentsd Darrell Hedge. “We use VPS in our Prinergy workflow and to have the same functionality in digital was a big advantage for us. What’s more, the Production Stream Server has all the processing power to handle complex variable data.” In the near future Quadrant will be able to publish some VDP pages through to Prinergy and InSite, allowing customers to approve actual VDP pages through the Internet.

In addition to this robust functionality, Quadrant has also found another use for its HP Indigo press 5500. Hedge explains, “We are increasingly using it to output finished digital proofs. The proof comes out properly collated as a booklet many times on the actual paper stock, thus making it easy for the client to visualise the final printed product.”

When asked about installation, training and after- sales service, Hedge has nothing but praise. “The installation,” he says, “was virtually seamless and the trainers were very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions.” As for service calls, Quadrant generally logs those on the dedicated section on the web and the comapny says it has been very impressed by the excellent communication between HP and the PODS Group.

Quadrant has been using this new digital solution for the past six months. The company has not started to actively market its digital capability to its client base but a marketing plan is already in place.

“In line with what digital can do for our clients, we will not be using a blanket marketing approach,” concludes Darrell Hedge. “We have devised a series of three mailers that focus on saving money, saving time and the power of variable data. We have profiled existing and potential customers according to the issues they are facing, allowing us to be very targetted and focussed in the marketing communication with them.”

With its advanced digital technology and the right business vision for litho and digital, Quadrant is looking forward to an exciting future. The company’s passion for excellence in print is evident in every aspect of what it does and this is perfectly described by leading quality guru W Edwards Deming, whose saying appears on the back of Quadrant’s business cards: “Anybody’s job should not merely be to do it right but to do it better.”

www.linney.com/quadrant

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