Sydney based trade printer, Foxcil, part of the Kirwan Group, has purchased a Konica Minolta bizhub C71cf label press, as it looks for growth in niche market areas.
Foxcil’s new bizhub C71cf label press is the first one in the country, and will join the Xeikon at Foxcil, with Kirwan saying the new press will complement it thanks to also having a 1200dpi resolution.
Appearing at PacPrint with twin-company Roller Poster, the Kirwan Group trade-printers say they do not want to compete with other print buyers and printers, saying they instead want to provide a service which people are struggling to source.
Roger Kirwan, owner, Foxcil, Roller Poster says, “In the last six-seven months we took over Roller Poster, and reintroduced that to the market. They traditionally were not so much a trade supplier, but we are re-jigging them.
“Commercial printers, and commercial print buyers need stuff and they need it now. They cannot wait weeks or months for their products, and certainly in the flexible packaging space a lot of the current suppliers are not interested in supplying within 30 days. We will turn around a job in 5.
“A key reason Foxcil chose the label press is that Foxcil’s clients demand the highest possible quality, and we are committed to delivering that. Any digital press, no matter what speed it can run, that is printing under 1200dpi, was automatically discounted from the decision-making process. Some printers are happy to compromise quality by delivering themselves manufacturing speed. Foxcil is not prepared to compromise our quality for speed.”
David Cascarino, national manager Industrial Print, Konica Minolta says, “The number of high-mix, low-volume print jobs continues to increase, and print companies need to complete orders within shorter lead times. Printing demands that were difficult to fulfil with conventional presses can now be processed efficiently thanks to the flexibility of digital printing. With the bizhub Press C71cf Label Press, Foxcil is well-equipped to meet these demands now and into the future.”
The bizhub’s small footprint also factored in the decision, with space being at a premium on the production floor as Foxcil shares a factory with Roller Poster, however the deciding factor was the support offered by Konica Minolta.
Kirwan explains, “Foxcil is turning around projects in two days and cannot have equipment down for more than a few hours. Konica Minolta offers on-site breakdown service four times faster than our other press supplier.”
As to where he sees the Group expanding to next, Kirwan says, “Roller Poster is really starting to develop some more products in the finishing space. Traditional print, wide format and long print on plastic. The next step is to develop our plastic bag offering, so short run, high quality, high street shopping bags. We see a gap in the market there.”
Foxcil was established four years ago with just two staff and has now grown to 13 full-time staff.
Kirwan have been early adopters of other label presses. The company was first to put a Xeikon label press into the Australasian market (with Kiwi Labels), and is now the first to purchase bizhub press C71cf Label Press in Australia.
“I have a couple of things bubbling away, so watch this space,” adds Kirwan.
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