FULL STORY
Imatech Limited, the leading Mauritian digital printing service provider, has bought a Xerox Colour 1000 digital press, the first in the country, and will extend its business into new markets on the back of the investment. The acquisition will allow this well established business to grow from its traditional business-to-business (B2B) market into a business-to- consumer (B2C) market. In addition, it will increase productivity and reduce production time. Imatech now has two state-of-the-art Xerox digital colour presses, ensuring complete redundancy and critical backup.
‘Servicing some tenders in the country requires us to have a backup solution to ensure time-critical delivery,’ said Etienne Sanglé-Ferrière, MD of Imatech Limited.
‘Running the new 1000 in conjunction with our existing DC5000 ensures that we can comfortably avert any risk and deliver a professional and, most importantly, guaranteed service.’
Imatech can meet the needs of the demanding walk-in market, as well as the greater expectations of new-generation corporate and government customers with the ability to start short-run jobs immediately, instead of the usual market standard of a few days.
‘Turnaround times are critical to these markets,’ said Sanglé-Ferrière. ‘We have invested in digital printing as we cannot deliver short runs efficiently with traditional offset equipment.’
Imatech has a number of finishing options available to its customers, from its light production finisher to additional offline finishing options. They include crease and fold, perfect binding, stapling, and wire binding. The company will also acquire a laminating machine.
The fifth colour option available on the Xerox 1000 is important to Imatech as it provides the company with a competitive edge. The fifth colour option is a print station for clear dry ink that expands creative capabilities and impact of prints with the addition of clear effects (spot and addressable), helping capture more high-value applications. It also allows digital watermark printing, which can be used for both artistic effect and security.
‘We already have a large customer base that relies on our excellent quality and the rapid turnaround that our Xerox digital equipment delivers,’ said Sanglé-Ferrière. ‘We have to offer the highest possible level of service as this is critical in our target markets.’
‘Imatech has two colour production presses now in addition to two 4112 mono high speed printers, so it has more than enough capacity to promote the service in that market,’ said Olivier Merven, sales and marketing manager of the Africa Operations at Bytes Document Solutions, authorised Xerox distributor to 27 sub-Saharan countries.
‘The company’s offering complements the market between digital and offset or litho equipment with short runs and quick turnarounds.’
Sanglé-Ferrière said he chose Xerox because the brand is well represented in the region by Harel Mallac Bureautique, Bytes Document Solutions’ channel partner in the region. Harel Mallac Bureautique has more than 50 years’ experience in the industry and delivers the demanding post-sales service that he expects. He also chose the Xerox press because of the quality that it delivers in comparison to the competition, which he examined first-hand at the Africa Print2010 exhibition in South Africa.
The press, which prints at 100ppm, can produce high-definition image quality on a wide range of paper stock – from 55 to 350gsm – and delivers 2400 x 2400dpi. The press is also Fogra-certified, which demonstrates that a printer can consistently meet precise international standards using measurable criteria for printing and proofing to a stringent, defined tolerance.
© Graphic Repro On-line, 8 March 2011.