Opus Group is investing in two colour inkjet printers for its Australian operations to bring home short run work it had moved offshore. The multi-million dollar investment will see an Impika Evolution 20inch colour inkjet system installed at the company’s Sydney subsidiary Ligare, while a Fuji Xerox 1400 20inch will go to CanPrint in the ACT. Opus might have lost $35m in HY2014, but it is still bringing in gear in response to customer demand. Cliff Brigstocke, Group CEO of Opus, says Australian clients have been calling for digital short run.
An Impika Evolution colour inkjet printer is on its way to Opus’ Ligare in Sydney
Since 2012 the company had been shifting an increasing number of jobs to Singapore, but can now opt to produce the work closer to home. Brigstocke says, “We believe there is demand from onshore for customers wanting short-run colour print. Opus’s new colour inkjet printing and finishing systems will make it more economic for us to produce short to medium runs here.” The new machines will churn out colour short-run books, particularly reprints, says Brigstocke. Both systems will include an inline Hunkeler finishing unit, with the ability to produce book blocks or cut sheets that feed inline to MBO folders. Ligare is also bringing in a standalone book factory for printing and binding to create finished, perfect bound books – from quantities of one upwards according to the customer’s needs. Brigstocke says shorter runs are emerging as a definite trend in the current Australian publishing market.He says, “Publishing customers are moving away from traditional warehousing to focus on lowering the total cost of ownership by utilising shorter runs, quicker turnaround times, online replenishment ordering and digital inkjet technology.” He says the shorter runs also reduce waste, as the systems are capable of printing on demand.
Cliff Brigstocke, CEO of Opus Group
Customers, he says, are also looking for colour printing to enhance their products and keep up with the visual attraction of electronic platforms. The technology acquisitions signify an effort on Opus’ part to offer a combination of offset and digital services here in Australia, to provide for any mix its customers may require. Brigstocke says, “We continue to roll out the Opus network facilities in Singapore, New Zealand and our four facilities in Australia to provide flexibility in production methods and enable the best commercial outcome for clients and ourselves.” A three year plan for the Group focuses on digital content management and the expansion of its proprietary online digital assistance management system, IPalm. Opus is making this significant investment just months after writing down its Australian publishing assets, incurring a more than $34m goodwill impairment charge that put it $35.3m into the red in its 2014 half year results, and making CanPrint boss Sam Holden redundant in February to streamline its management structure. Holden has since started a consultancy business in Canberra assisting three clients requiring preparation for and engagement with Commonwealth departments and agencies, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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