Digital future is bright for Indigo Ross

There’s a sunny outlook at Suffolk-based print company Indigo Ross, following its purchase of a new Xerox 700 digital colour press. In contrast to the prevalent doom-and-gloom, the firm’s investment in this machine (valued at £62,500) reflects a growing customer demand for digital print.

Phil Roper, managing director at Indigo Ross, believes that Indigo’s trade clients are driving this trend. “They need faster turnaround times and shorter print runs compared to just a few years ago.” he says. “More and more graphic designers, marketing agencies and other trade customers want quick results and a litho-quality finish. But the timescales involved and quantities needed make offset printing impractical or uneconomical. A high-end digital press such as the Xerox 700 is the best way to offer customers the solutions they need.”

This new 2,400dpi device has a resolution of one-bit per pixel, which is higher than many rival digital machines according to Roper. This feature should help the print firm to deliver a consistency of finish that’s in line with the offset services it also offers. The Xerox 700’s new emulsion aggregation (EA) toner should have a similar effect, as its relatively low melting point helps it to handle faster throughputs than other machines. The EA toner also contributes to a low-gloss finish that eliminates the obvious shininess and slightly raised effect that plagued the output of earlier digital printers.

“I’ve been in the business for 17 years and this is the best-looking finish I’ve seen from a digital printing press,” says Roper. He’s also delighted that the Xerox 700 can output at up to 70ppm in both colour and mono, on stock weighing 64 - 300gsm. This level of speed and range of paper options combine to give Indigo Ross even more opportunities to provide what customers need.

“Having the 700 means we can meet any ‘print on-demand’ requests at a reasonable cost, without sacrificing quality or speed,” Roper explains, before adding: “We’ve also achieved the ultimate in colour control by being the first printing firm in Suffolk to add a Fiery® Colour Profiler Suite to the 700. It’s a DFE [digital front end] that helps to calibrate production, which basically means that what you see on screen is what you end up printing.”

The 700’s production runs have already included brochures, direct mail pieces, postcards, catalogues and calendars. And it’s this kind of flexibility that the firm’s customers expect, Roper says: “Recently, we were able to print 5000 double-sided full colour A4 leaflets for a new customer - at very short notice. From receiving the artwork to despatching the finished leaflets, the job took just four hours. That’s incredibly quick.”

With the Xerox 700, Indigo Ross has also been able to satisfy the environmental concerns of several customers. “We can use a wide variety of stock with the 700,” says Roper, “including paper that’s FSC-approved [Forest Stewardship Council], so it’s increased our options on that front as well. It’s proving to be a great investment.”

Dave Honeyben, managing director of First Copy in Cambridge - the Xerox Platinum Partner that sourced the Xerox 700 for Indigo Ross - agrees: “We’re delighted that Phil came to us, and feel sure the 700 will help him grow the digital printing side of his business by expanding his revenue opportunities and reducing his costs.”

Of course, Roper shares this vision and concludes: “The 700 is a quick, high-quality digital printer. Customers are already requesting it for their print jobs, so we’re as delighted as they are.”

For more information on how the Xerox 700 is helping Indigo Ross, please call Phil Roper on 01787 880260.