Perth trade printer Port Printing Works is aiming to grow its digital business to half its turnover as new technology spurs innovation.
Port’s digital activity currently accounts for 20 per cent of its business, and the company is now aiming to grow that to 50 per cent through constant innovation and embracing new technology.
The 30-staff family printer installed Australia's first Scodix S74 Pro in 2013 when it saw an opportunity to separate itself from the competition and offer products no one else could.
Director Tom Wagenaar says the company entered both wide format and short-run packaging in the past year and made Port Printing a full service firm, led by the Scodix and an HP Indigo 5500.
“We spent 2013 working out how to use the technology and what it can do, and expanding our knowledge of new markets, and then last year 2014 we really went for it with great success,” he says.
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Wagenaar says the Scodix made 3D gloss UV printing economical and opened up endless possibilities for opening new markets and creating customised products.
“The products you can create with it are unique because raised embellishment cannot be done with conventional UV,” he says.
“There are not many of these around so it is not a service most printers can provide, it really sets us apart.”
One of the most successful products the Scodix makes possible is business cards that use gloss UV to raise text or logos above the surface of the paper, giving them texture and notability.
Since then, Port Printing has utilised the technology on anything from book covers to postcards, presentation folders, packaging, and even printing braille.
“You always have to be adding something different to your business and 3D UV has a tactile feel to it, you can run your fingers over it and feel the definition,” Wagenaar says.
“We are always thinking of ways to use it, or new products we can create with the technology.”
He says the company’s national client base gave him the confidence to be able to recoup the value of such a big investment in new technology.
Wagenaar says the willingness to experiment, and access to technology that is still a rarity in the country, is making Port Printing a destination for printers and media agencies that want to impress their clients with bespoke or outside the box creations.
“With offset is take 300 runs to get something good, but with a high-quality digital machine it is only one or two, so we can do one-off jobs and prototypes easily,” he says.
“Clients come to us for something really different and we work with them to create something new. They know we offer something unique and that also helps with loyalty.
“We are now able to think outside the square. If you have the means you are not just an order taker, you always have to be looking for new opportunities and opening new markets.”
Wagenaar says Port Printing has evolved to a full service firm incorporating design, all kinds of printing, logistics, and distribution – allowing it to manage entire campaigns for its media agency clients.
All this is managed through a web-to-print system integrated into the workflow to make the process as lean as possible without needing to have sales reps out on the road.
“We have changed to offer a complete solution, because it is not just about printing anymore, it is about communication,” he says.
“There will always be added competition in our market but we have been around for longer than many of the big trade printers, and we keep plodding along, a lot of it by word of mouth. When people move around the industry they tell everyone about us.”
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